# Excuse My Whimsy A place to follow along as I write children's books and think deeply about picture books, libraries, and childhood wonder. Page: Feed: --- ## [If You Love Your Library, Learn Who Pays for It](https://bachmanrachel.substack.com/p/if-you-love-your-library-learn-who) _2026-08-16 · Rachel Bachman_ Why Public-Library Funding Matters Long Before the Budget Cuts Arrive ## [Mac Barnett Is Right. Except When He Isn’t.](https://bachmanrachel.substack.com/p/mac-barnett-is-right-except-when) _2026-08-09 · Rachel Bachman_ On Make Believe, children’s literature, and the limits of a very short book ## [Who Can Actually Read in America?](https://bachmanrachel.substack.com/p/who-can-actually-read-in-america) _2026-08-02 · Rachel Bachman_ Literacy is not a light switch and the statistics are more complicated than the headlines suggest. ## [Painting Colorful Animals](https://bachmanrachel.substack.com/p/painting-colorful-animals-138) _2026-07-23 · Rachel Bachman_ Video 2: The Underpainting [Listen](https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/208243255.mp3) ## [Painting Colorful Animals](https://bachmanrachel.substack.com/p/painting-colorful-animals) _2026-07-23 · Rachel Bachman_ Video 1: Getting Started [Listen](https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/208211057.mp3) ## [The Very Hungry Slop Machine](https://bachmanrachel.substack.com/p/the-very-hungry-slop-machine) _2026-07-19 · Rachel Bachman_ Why Children Deserve Better Than AI-Generated Books ## [Live with Rachel Bachman](https://bachmanrachel.substack.com/p/live-with-rachel-bachman-18b) _2026-07-17 · Rachel Bachman_ A recording from Rachel Bachman's live video [Listen](https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/206747997/be0c70c13ea35d3ba46742799eeff1b8.mp3) ## [Books for Children Who Feel Everything](https://bachmanrachel.substack.com/p/books-for-children-who-feel-everything) _2026-07-12 · Rachel Bachman_ Five recent picture books that make room for sensitivity, sadness, and wonder ## [Live with Rachel Bachman](https://bachmanrachel.substack.com/p/live-with-rachel-bachman-062) _2026-07-10 · Rachel Bachman_ A recording from Rachel Bachman's live video [Listen](https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/206376318/ded4d764ff575583bd5c256e0190a2a2.mp3) ## [Reluctant, or Overruled?](https://bachmanrachel.substack.com/p/reluctant-or-overruled) _2026-07-05 · Rachel Bachman_ Why children’s reading preferences deserve more respect than adults often give them. ## [Ship everywhere from one CLI (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/ynkWgIbMHqbw) _2026-07-05 · **Sponsored**_ One codebase, hosted runners, encrypted credentials, and automated submissions across stores ## [Where Did the Boy Books Go?](https://bachmanrachel.substack.com/p/where-did-the-boy-books-go) _2026-06-28 · Rachel Bachman_ The missing realistic middle-grade stories boys need to keep reading. ## [A Frog, a Log, and a Dead Story](https://bachmanrachel.substack.com/p/a-frog-a-log-and-a-dead-story) _2026-06-21 · Rachel Bachman_ The Dangers of Choosing to Write Your Picture Book in Rhyme ## [Live with Rachel Bachman](https://bachmanrachel.substack.com/p/live-with-rachel-bachman) _2026-06-19 · Rachel Bachman_ A recording from Rachel Bachman's live video [Listen](https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/202659108/ce9d5664ba1e0f2a37d43a6745b91c97.mp3) ## [Spooky Is Not a Season](https://bachmanrachel.substack.com/p/spooky-is-not-a-season) _2026-06-14 · Rachel Bachman_ Six Picture Books to Read this Summerween ## [When the Book in the Mail Stops Coming](https://bachmanrachel.substack.com/p/when-the-book-in-the-mail-stops-coming) _2026-06-07 · Rachel Bachman_ What funding cuts to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library reveal about how we value early literacy. ## [The Best Picture Books Are Built, Not Just Written](https://bachmanrachel.substack.com/p/the-best-picture-books-are-built) _2026-05-31 · Rachel Bachman_ What makes these deceptively simple books work ## [Underpaid, Overqualified, and Smiling](https://bachmanrachel.substack.com/p/underpaid-overqualified-and-smiling) _2026-05-24 · Rachel Bachman_ The self-sacrificing competition inside libraries, museums, and other feminized workplaces ## [The Safe Place for Danger](https://bachmanrachel.substack.com/p/the-safe-place-for-danger) _2026-05-17 · Rachel Bachman_ On the stories children reach for when the adults finally let them ## [I Sang the Song. I Read the Book. Did It Matter?](https://bachmanrachel.substack.com/p/i-sang-the-song-i-read-the-book-did) _2026-05-03 · Rachel Bachman_ On the beautiful, ridiculous, hard-to-measure work of early literacy. ## [Trade Bitcoin and Ethereum Today (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/Pe3eeg9bQOj4) _2026-05-03 · **Sponsored**_ Buy, sell, and margin trade BTC and ETH with EUR, USD, CAD, GBP, or JPY. ## [Gen Z Parents Don’t Hate Books](https://bachmanrachel.substack.com/p/gen-z-parents-dont-hate-books) _2026-04-26 · Rachel Bachman_ They Hate All the Judgment that Comes with It