Bestselling author, beloved PBS and podcast host Kelly Corrigan. You may know Kelly’s podcast, Kelly Corrigan Wonders--it's a top 1% podcast that has hosted guests from Bono to Bryan Stevenson, David Byrne to Dr. Francis Collins (to name a few). Kelly has been called the “voice of a generation” from O Magazine and “the Poet Laureate of the ordinary” by the Huffington Post. But closer to home, she has moved me to tears listening to her — I've watched her relate her way into our hearts.
In the forthcoming lead summer title from Penguin Young Readers, MARIANNE THE MAKER (on-sale: 6/3/25), Kelly Corrigan and her daughter, Claire Corrigan Lichty, make the case for making—which just may be the antidote to the current epidemic of depression and anxiety children are facing today. At a time when arts education programs are being cut at a more vicious pace than ever before, studies show that using our hands to create has incredible benefits: reduction in anxiety, improvement in memory, and for children. Making is vital to their development: tinkering and hands-on play develops new ways of thinking, instills confidence and resourcefulness, and helps make connections.
Here's Kelly's TED Talk, as well as some articles in case you need some inspiration to go make something with your hands today!
The New York Times on Making
Heart Mind Online on the benefits of hands-on play
Montessori.org on the benefits of hands on learning for early childhood
ABOUT THE BOOK
From bestselling author Kelly Corrigan and her daughter debut author Claire Corrigan Lichty comes a new picture book about a determined young inventor!
Marianne's days are filled with schedules, structure, and soccer. There's just one problem: Marianne is a maker. She needs every minute of her weekends to scheme and dream, draw and design, to build and rebuild! This is the story of how a creator with a crackerjack imagination finds a not-so-great way to skip practice and create her masterpiece. But will her dad understand?
Told in delightful rhyme that bounces across George Sweetland's gorgeous collage-style illustrations (chock full of hidden gems,) Marianne the Maker is sure to kindle the creative spark that lives inside all of us.
Kelly's storytelling expertise brings this research to life, and her daughter, Claire's, tech-arts integration provides modern context. Their mother-daughter dynamic demonstrates intergenerational impact, along with real examples from both traditional and digital making.
Review
"A thoughtful role model for aspiring inventors."--Kirkus Reviews
About the Author
Kelly Corrigan has been called “the voice of her generation” by O: The Oprah Magazine and “the poet laureate of the ordinary” by HuffPost. She is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Tell Me More, The Middle Place, Lift, and Glitter and Glue. Between books, she hosts a podcast, Kelly Corrigan Wonders, featuring intimate conversations with high IQ/EQ types about well-being, purpose, and impact. Marianne the Maker, a collaboration with Kelly's daughter, Claire, is her second book for children. (Kelly managed to write Hello World! all by herself.)
Claire Corrigan Lichty is a graduate of the University of Virginia with a double major in computer science and drama. She writes code, stories, and jokes for stand-up, which she has performed in small clubs in Bozeman, Montana and downtown Manhattan. She's been a glue gun kid since she developed fine motor skills and hopes to be a maker indefinitely.
George Sweetland is a freelance illustrator and has illustrated over ten children’s picture books. When he isn’t illustrating or teaching elementary school students, he's having dance parties and watching movies with his wife, two sons, and their energetic golden doodle in their home in Connecticut.
