An Interview with Debut Picture Book Author Leah Schanke

April 24, 2025
goodreadswithronna
1800s, Ages 4-8, Author Interview, History, Juvenile Fiction, United States

AN INTERVIEW WITH

DEBUT AUTHOR LEAH SCHANKE

ABOUT HER NEW HISTORICAL FICTION PICTURE BOOK

FREEDOM AT DAWN

(Albert Whitman & Co.; $18.99, Ages 4-8)

INTERVIEW:

GoodReadsWithRonna: Welcome, Leah. Congratulations on your debut picture book, Freedom at Dawn: Robert Smalls’s Voyage Out of Slavery. It’s terrific to have this chance to chat with you on the blog. I’m guessing most people don’t know about the courageous escape to freedom made by enslaved boat pilot or wheelman Robert Smalls during the Civil War. Can you tell us how you first learned about him and what inspired you to write about this historic event?

Leah Schanke: I first learned about Robert Smalls when I was researching another US Civil War story. Smalls was a Civil War hero, yet he was forced out of a streetcar in Philadelphia because of the color of his skin. I made a note to myself to learn about Smalls because I was not familiar with this important figure in US history. I was inspired by his daring, dangerous plan, his fearlessness, and his accomplishments after the escape to freedom. I also feel a personal connection to his story because of my family roots in South Carolina.

Freedom at Dawn int1 attack on Fort Sumter. — Interior spread from Freedom at Dawn: Robert Smalls’s Voyage Out of Slavery, written by Leah Schanke and illustrated by Oboh Moses, Albert Whitman & Co. ©2025.

GRWR: I love how you’ve made Lizzy Smalls, the oldest of Robert Smalls’s two children, the narrator. It brings the reader right on board the Planter with the family. Did you try other approaches?

LS: In 2012, I wrote a picture book biography of Robert Smalls. There were already other picture book biographies, and mine didn’t stand out or offer anything unique. I put the story aside until 2020. My critique group did a brainstorming exercise, and one of the items was to tell a story from a different perspective. That is when I decided to try telling the story from Smalls’ daughter’s perspective.

GRWR: Readers learn from Lizzy that soon the Union will launch an attack on Charleston, meaning the harbor will be harder than ever to escape unless they leave right away. It helps that Smalls knows the secret whistle code to pass Confederate boats. You build tremendous tension in these scenes as Mama, Lizzy, and baby Robert wait for Papa’s boat to arrive. Then, once on board the Planter, Lizzy’s descriptions make my heart race with every read. “The guards on shore must think Papa is the real captain.” What would they do if they saw he was not white?. Was this one of the most challenging parts of the book to write, or was it when they raised the white flag?

LS: Writing the suspenseful elements of the story was a lot of fun. It was more difficult writing the part about raising the white flag. In an earlier version of the story, I gave Lizzy more agency in which she shouts to the crew to pull down the Confederate and South Carolina flags (and replace them with the white flag of surrender). I agreed with a critique I received that this deviated too much from the historical facts.

Freedom at Dawn int2 Someone's pulled the whistle cord. — Interior art from Freedom at Dawn: Robert Smalls’s Voyage Out of Slavery, written by Leah Schanke and illustrated by Oboh Moses, Albert Whitman & Co. ©2025.

GRWR: What was your reaction the first time you saw Oboh Moses’ stunning artwork? He manages to capture the atmosphere on board and the strong emotions all the escapees are feeling as they hide below deck in this life-or-death situation. Do you have a favorite spread?

LS: When I first saw black and white illustrations, I was impressed at how Oboh Moses captured the story, but when I saw them with color, to say I was absolutely amazed is an understatement. My favorite spread is the battle at Fort Sumter (top illustration). The spread really shows a very important battle in US history in an engaging way. I hope it sparks curiosity in learning more about the US Civil War.

GRWR: How long did it take you to write Freedom at Dawn, and then how long to find an agent and sell the book? I applaud you for making it look easy.

LS: Writing Freedom at Dawn took about one month for the first draft because I already knew the story well from the traditional biography I had written years earlier. I had an agent when I wrote the story, who showed little interest in it and with whom I parted ways. I submitted to agents in the hopes of another agent relationship, but it didn’t lead to an offer. I sold Freedom at Dawn on my own through the fall 2023 Savvy Authors Pitchfest and engaged a literary attorney to negotiate the contract on my behalf.

Freedom at Dawn int3 I try to be brave. — Interior spread from Freedom at Dawn: Robert Smalls’s Voyage Out of Slavery, written by Leah Schanke and illustrated by Oboh Moses, Albert Whitman & Co. ©2025.

GRWR: I learned even more about Robert Smalls from the backmatter. Are there any interesting facts that stand out to you after all your research?

LS: It was important to me to give information in the backmatter about Elizabeth (Lizzy) Smalls’ life since I told the story of the escape from her perspective. I was amazed that she lived to be 101 years old and had 11 children.

I had a timeline that had to be removed from the backmatter to maintain the 32-page format. It was very interesting to learn that in the summer after the escape, Robert Smalls traveled to Washington, DC, and met with President Abraham Lincoln, Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles, Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, and Secretary of the Treasury, Salmon Chase. Although the details of the meetings are unknown, it is believed Smalls was an instrumental voice in reminding them that African American men were capable and willing to join the fight against the Confederacy.

GRWR: What’s it like after so many years to finally have a debut? Does it seem surreal at times?

LS: It’s been a thirteen-year journey to reach this point! It does feel surreal, but I’m so glad I stuck with it and kept working on improving my storytelling craft. I hope my long journey to publication helps other writers to not give up. The submission process and passes or no response at all can wear you down. Sometimes it helps to recharge by disengaging from submitting, and focusing on writing stories and reconnecting to the love of writing for children.

Freedom at Dawn int4 Raising the white flag. — Interior spread from Freedom at Dawn: Robert Smalls’s Voyage Out of Slavery, written by Leah Schanke and illustrated by Oboh Moses, Albert Whitman & Co. ©2025.

GRWR: What is your writing regimen? Do you write daily? And do you have a favorite place where your ideas can flow unimpeded?

LS: I work full-time and commute over one hour in each direction to the office. During the morning commute, I focus on anything writing-related, e.g., writing, revising, critiquing, and catching up with social media. I also go to the library on the weekend to do research and write.

GRWR: Have you always been focused on writing for children?

LS: Yes, I have always been focused on stories for children. I enjoy bringing stories about little-known but important figures and events in US history to a younger audience.

Freedom at Dawn int5 Mama with Baby Robert in her arms. — Interior spread from Freedom at Dawn: Robert Smalls’s Voyage Out of Slavery, written by Leah Schanke and illustrated by Oboh Moses, Albert Whitman & Co. ©2025.

GRWR: Please let me know if there’s anything I didn’t ask that you’d like to mention.

LS: While the story is focused on the escape and Smalls’ skills and fearless leadership, he could not have pulled off the escape on his own. He needed the crew to operate the ship. There was a community of people on board who worked together and risked their lives for freedom. Everyone on the ship was brave. I’d like readers to understand that there are different ways to be brave, and that in the story Lizzy learns that she is brave too.

GRWR: Thank you, Leah, for sharing your perspective with us today. I’m excited for children to read Freedom at Dawn!

BUY THE BOOK:

Purchase copies of Freedom at Dawn here.

BIOGRAPHY:

Leah Schanke is a children’s book author whose multicultural heritage and interest in U.S. history inspire her to write historical fiction and nonfiction books for children with a focus on little-known but significant figures and events. FREEDOM AT DAWN, illustrated by Oboh Moses, is Leah’s first children’s book. With family roots in South Carolina, she was especially intrigued by the idea of telling a children’s story about Robert Smalls’ heroic life. Leah lives on Long Island, NY, with her family.

Find out more at https://www.leahschanke.com

e

FOLLOW LEAH:

https://www.instagram.com/leahschanke/

https://bsky.app/profile/leahschanke.bsky.social

ILLUSTRATOR OBOH MOSES INFO:

https://www.instagram.com/obohdraws

https://bsky.app/profile/obohdraws.bsky.social

Portfolio: https://www.agoodson.com/portfolios/oboh-moses/

Share this:

An Interview With London Ladd, Illustrator of Under The Freedom Tree

GRWR CHATS WITH ILLUSTRATOR LONDON LADD

Under The Freedom Tree – a 2014 Junior Library Guild Selection!

Today Good Reads With Ronna and London Ladd discuss how, as the illustrator of Under The Freedom Tree (Charlesbridge, $16.95, Ages 6-9) by Susan VanHecke, he came up with the illustrations for this picture book which we’re highlighting for African American History Month (also known as Black History Month). If you didn’t see yesterday’s post where we interviewed author Susan VanHecke, please click here to read it.

BLOG TOUR & GIVEAWAY
We’re joining other reviewers this week as part of a special Charlesbridge Publishing blog tour and hope you’ll take the time to visit all the bloggers’ sites. We’re also delighted to be giving away one copy of Under The Freedom Tree, so enter by clicking here for a chance to win. This giveaway ends at midnight PST on February 24, 2014. Please be sure to write Freedom Tree in the subject line and include your address. Like us on Facebook for an extra entry. A winner will be chosen by Random.org and notified via email on February 25th. Good luck!

REVIEW
Under The Freedom Tree shares the story of three captured slaves, Frank, James and Shepard, during the Civil War, who take an enormous risk to escape across dangerous waters in Virginia to reach the Union Army on the other side only to discover they are still not totally free. However, with the help of clever General Butler, a lawyer before the Civil War, the three fugitives are able to remain with the Union side on a technicality. The winds of change were beginning to blow in the right direction.

Under-The-Freedom-Tree-jpg — Cover image, Under The Freedom Tree by Susan VanHecke with illustrations by London Ladd, Copyright © 2014, Charlesbridge Publishing.

VanHecke delivers a powerful tale told poetically in free verse and based on actual accounts of the creation of America’s first “contraband camps.” After word of Frank, James and Shepard’s successful escape, others followed suit. First hundreds then thousands.

Runaways.

Stowaways.

Barefoot, mud-crusted.

Better forward than back.

Former slaves built a community in what was known as Slabtown, or the Grand Contraband Camp. By day they worked for the Union, but they were freer than they’d ever been, some living in a home of their own for the very first time. Silent witness to this all was the majestic old oak tree, the Freedom Tree. Illustrator Ladd conveys so much spirit and emotion in every spread, whether by depicting children being taught under the shade of the oak or the joyful gathering of the community to hear the reading of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. “Lives forever changed under the Freedom Tree.”

Be sure to sit down with your kids and read this fantastic picture book that helps shed light on a little-known yet inspiring event of the Civil War. Also included are a bibliography and author’s note at the end providing more historical information that helps place many of the events in Under The Freedom Tree in context.

INTERVIEW WITH LONDON LADD

Good Reads With Ronna: When a publisher approaches you with a book to illustrate, do you see the completed manuscript or is it still rough round the edges? I’m curious because I wonder if your illustrations have ever influenced the direction a book can take?

London Ladd: It depends on the publisher. Most of the time I’ll get a completed script, but there have been a few times I will get something that’s in the last stages of editing. It’s minor wording that doesn’t affect my ideas.

Good Reads With Ronna: What is your illustration process, i.e. do you research the subject matter, then sketch and finally paint the art to be used?

London Ladd: I’ll usually read and reread the manuscript, then I do a few small quick thumbnail sketches. After that I start diving into the research and this is the most fun because I get to learn new things, but sometimes I get so involved I get lost and have to pull myself back into focus. After gathering myself I do more sketches to storyboard all the pages. Then I take A LOT of reference photos. I draw the final sketches and send to the publisher for feedback and after things are approved I paint the final artwork.

GRWR: In terms of medium for Under the Freedom Tree, did you use acrylics and combine them with pastels and colored pencils like your bio describes or did you try something different with this book?

Ladd: I primarily use acrylic paint, but recently for Under the Freedom Tree, I’ve combined colored pencils and pastels. I feel it adds more depth to the art and creates a signature look. When I’m working I get messy so my clothes will get covered in paint. It’s a bad habit I’ve tried to stop but I get so locked in I can’t help it. In the past I’ve tried oils on top of the acrylics but when it got on my skin I had bad reactions and discontinued use.

Under-The-Freedom-Tree p4-5_300-jpg — Interior spread from Under The Freedom Tree by Susan VanHecke with illustrations by London Ladd, Copyright © 2014, Charlesbridge Publishing.

GRWR: What is your favorite illustration in Under the Freedom Tree?

Ladd: That’s a difficult answer because I really love each illustration in this book for various reasons. If I had to pick one right now it would be the first page with them running because when I first read the manuscript that page came alive so clearly in my mind’s eye and heart. I could vividly hear the sound of the crickets chirping, the pounding feet of the three men in the tall grass, the hurried sound of their breathing in the night as they sneak off. If you watch the book trailer that’s exactly how I saw it in my head.

GRWR: Which was the most difficult to complete and why?

Ladd: I think the page where the people are rebuilding after the Confederate soldiers torched Hampton. I didn’t know how to approach it. What do I show? How do I convey in my illustration the words effectively? When I traveled to Hampton to do more extensive research and see landmarks like Emancipation Oak, Fort Monroe and Sewel’s Point (the spot where the men escaped from) I stopped in the Hampton History Museum and they had this amazing exhibit from that era. There was a replica of a burnt brick wall with an actual photo of Hampton after the fire in 1862. When I saw that I knew exactly how that page should look. It’s funny because without visiting I would have never created that page.

GRWR: Is it difficult as an illustrator to try to capture a unique moment in time and have your illustration convey a mood or incident?

Ladd: Wow that’s a good question. I guess it depends on the project. For March On I wasn’t born during the march on Washington so wanted to capture the moment. What would it be like if I was there and to be a part something so special? For Oprah I felt a connection to her story. I’m also an only child who had a fierce determination to better myself and succeed. With Under the Freedom Tree it was a spiritual experience for me as an African American. The issue of slavery can be a sensitive subject, that’s why it was so important for me to visit the sites and gain a deeper understanding of what I’m illustrating. To see the Emancipation Oak, a 400 year old tree that still stands to this day in person at Hampton University, and to stand on the very shore in Norfolk, VA and look across the Chesapeake Bay, filled me with so many ranges of emotions. The contraband slaves are not widely known in history so I wanted to illustrate their amazing story of bravery, courage and strength with honor.

UnderFreedomTree -0-11_300-jpg — Interior spread from Under The Freedom Tree by Susan VanHecke with illustrations by London Ladd, Copyright © 2014, Charlesbridge Publishing.

Share this:

An Interview with Susan VanHecke, author of Under The Freedom Tree

GRWR CHATS WITH AUTHOR SUSAN VANHECKE

Under The Freedom Tree – a 2014 Junior Library Guild Selection!

Susan-VanHecke-jpg — Author Susan VanHecke, Copyright © 2014 Charlesbridge Publishing

Today Good Reads With Ronna and Susan VanHecke discuss how the seeds of a story were planted for her new picture book, Under The Freedom Tree (Charlesbridge, $16.95, Ages 6-9) with illustrations by London Ladd, which we’re highlighting for Black History Month.

BLOG TOUR
We’re joining other reviewers this week as part of a special Charlesbridge Publishing blog tour and hope you’ll take the time to visit all the bloggers’ sites. We’re also delighted to be giving away one copy of Under The Freedom Tree, so enter by clicking here for a chance to win. This giveaway ends at midnight PST on February 24, 2014. Please be sure to write Freedom Tree in the subject line and include your address. Like us on Facebook for an extra entry. A winner will be chosen by Random.org and notified via email on February 25th.

Under The Freedom Tree shares the story of three captured slaves, Frank, James and Shepard, during the Civil War, who take an enormous risk to escape across dangerous waters in Virginia to reach the Union Army on the other side only to discover they are still not totally free. However, with the help of clever General Butler, a lawyer before the Civil War, the three fugitives are able to remain with the Union side on a technicality. The winds of change were beginning to blow in the right direction.

VanHecke delivers a powerful tale told poetically in free verse and based on actual accounts of the creation of America’s first “contraband camps.” After word of Frank, James and Shepard’s successful escape, others followed suit. First hundreds then thousands.

Runaways.

Stowaways.

Barefoot, mud-crusted.

Better forward than back.

Former slaves built a community in what was known as Slabtown, or the Grand Contraband Camp. By day they worked for the Union, but they were freer than they’d ever been, some living in a home of their own for the very first time. Silent witness to this all was the majestic old oak tree, the Freedom Tree. Illustrator Ladd conveys so much spirit and emotion in every spread, whether by depicting children being taught under the shade of the oak or the joyful gathering of the community to hear the reading of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. “Lives forever changed under the Freedom Tree.”

Be sure to sit down with your kids and read this fantastic picture book that helps shed light on a little-known yet inspiring event of the Civil War. Also included are a bibliography and author’s note at the end providing more historical information that helps place many of the events in Under The Freedom Tree in context.

INTERVIEW

Good Reads With Ronna: Susan, I had no idea the story would be anything other than straightforward prose, but it was so much more. It was poetic and flowed like the water that carried the three slaves to their eventual freedom. How did you decide upon this form of storytelling?

Susan VanHecke: Thanks so much, Ronna, and your imagery is beautiful! You know, I struggled for quite a while (a couple of years, actually) trying to write the contraband slaves’ story in prose. But it was just too dry, too flat, too distant. I didn’t think it would hold young readers’ attention or get them feeling exactly what was at stake.

Then one day I picked up a collection of the late, great author Virginia Hamilton’s essays and speeches. In it, she described a concept she called “rememory,” an “exquisitely textured recollection, real or imagined.” I liked that idea, especially the texture and imagination parts. I decided to make a personal visit to the Freedom Tree. There in the summer quiet, under those sprawling, sheltering branches, I could feel all those heart-pounding emotions, I could imagine all those daring events, that took place under or near Emancipation Oak.

It was a powerful moment for me, and it definitely shook loose the words. My “rememory” came in the form of free verse. I owe a debt of gratitude to Ms. Hamilton.

GRWR: Did you happen upon the history of Frank, James and Shepard accidentally or was their story one you had heard about and always wanted to share with youngsters?

VanHecke: It was totally by accident. Do you ever get those local lifestyle magazines in the mail that are really just slick vehicles for home improvement ads? I was flipping through one of those when it opened to a photo in the back. It was a stunning, sepia-toned image of a spectacular tree. The caption underneath said that this was where area contraband slaves learned to read and write and heard the Emancipation Proclamation, what some consider the first Southern reading of that important document.

I was astonished that I’d never heard of this history, especially since Emancipation Oak is just a few miles from my home. As I researched the full story, I knew I wanted my kids and their classmates to know this exciting, little-known aspect of the Civil War.

GRWR: Under the Freedom Tree is a reminder that even in many places in the North, freedom for slaves was not readily embraced. How did some African American former slaves get to be free while others remained “contraband” until the 13th Amendment?

VanHecke: I’m certainly no expert, but it’s my understanding that former slaves could become free through manumission (emancipated by their owner, usually by “purchasing” themselves) or escaping to the free states of the North. Of course, slave hunters were always on the prowl—in the North and South—and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 created harsh punishments for those who assisted runaways in any way.

That’s what made Union General Benjamin Butler’s “contraband” decision so important. Virginia was a slave state, so by law (the Fugitive Slave Act), Butler had to return to their Confederate owners those three brave souls who rowed under cover of night to Fortress Monroe. But Butler, a lawyer himself, found a loophole: Virginia had just seceded from the United States, so U.S. law no longer applied to it. Virginia was now an enemy of the United States. Therefore, clever Butler was able to declare those escaped slaves “enemy contraband,” since they were being used in the Confederates’ effort to wage war on the Union.

As word spread, more and more slaves escaped and made their way to the Union line, where they too became “contraband.” They weren’t free, and in fact labored for the Union for many months before they were eventually paid for their work. But contraband surely seemed—and ultimately was—one step closer to free.

Share this:

A Civil War Ghost Story

August 21, 2012
goodreadswithronna
Children's Book Reviews, Juvenile Fiction, MG Fiction

Amanda Hogg reviews Picture the Dead ($8.99, Sourcebooks, Ages 10+)

16 year old Jennie has had a rough life. After her parents died, she and her twin brother were sent to live with a despicable aunt, cowed uncle and two cousins – Will and Quinn. Jennie briefly finds happiness after she and Will fall in love and become engaged, but that happiness is short-lived as Will and her brother are killed in the Civil War. Jennie is devastated by her loss, terrified about her future and haunted by Will’s ghost. Luckily, Quinn, Will’s brother, comes home from the war with the intention of marrying Jennie, which should secure her future – or so she thinks.

Because Will had been kind and good to her while Quinn had been cruel and scornful, Jennie is immediately suspicious of his intentions towards her. As Quinn begins to protect and defend her from his mother, her fears about his real intentions lessen, but the frequency and intensity of Will’s spectral visits, which frequently manifest as hands wrapped around her neck, increase. To set Will’s spirit at peace, Jennie begins to investigate his death, which leads her down a confusing path strewn with lies and schemes, and makes her question who she can trust – the new, kind Quinn, or Will’s ghost.

Part historical fiction, part gothic mystery, part scrapbook, Adele Griffin’s words and Lisa Brown’s illustrations in Picture the Dead provide a complete picture of the lives wrecked, the careers created and the hearts broken by the Civil War. Picture the Dead weaves the Spiritualism that was rampant during and after the Civil War into the storyline in the character of Geist, a medium who claims he can capture spirits in photographs. The illustrations serve to explain how Daguerreotypes were made and forged in addition to providing clues to Will’s mysterious death. Picture the Dead is a transportive read that will leave readers chilled to the bone.

Share this: