When You Find a Hope: How Allie Millington Turned Rejection into Art

In this episode of The Growing Readers Podcast, host Bianca Schulze interviews author Allie Millington about her picture book When You Find a Hope. They discuss Millington's unique brain drain morning practice, her long journey to publication, and how her own experiences with rejection and perseverance directly inspired this heartfelt story about hope.

Transcription: You can read the transcription on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Children's Book Review⁠⁠⁠

Highlights:

• The Brain Drain: Millington shares her morning writing practice that helps clear her mind for creativity
• Rejection Collection: How turning hundreds of rejection letters into art became a source of hope
• Childlike Perspective: The importance of maintaining connection to her younger self when writing for children
• Full Circle Moment: How a book born from hopelessness became her published picture book
• Creative Visualization: The process of making abstract hope into something tangible for young readers
• Illustration Magic: The powerful way Anne Lambellet brought the story's emotions to life
• Success Journey: How acclaim for her debut novel Olivetti has influenced her approach to writing
• New Release: Preview of her upcoming middle-grade novel Once For Yes featuring a narrator building

Notable Quotes:

• "Even if your hope doesn't look exactly how you thought it would in the moment, don't lose sight of it. Don't let go of it." —Allie Millington on perseverance
• "The more I started getting rejections, the more and more I wanted this dream to come true for me." —Allie Millington on her publication journey
• "I'm the only one who can decide whether or not I give up." —Allie Millington on perseverance
• "If hope had a color, it would be yellow." —Allie Millington
• "It's just my desire that it would encourage others who are feeling hopeless themselves." —Allie Millington on her book
• "Finding those glimmers of hope, finding people you can hold on to, that connection, holding on to each other and taking care of each other, I think that's all we can do right now." —Allie Millington

Books Mentioned:

• When You Find a Hope by Allie Millington, illustrated by Anne Lambellet: ⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠Bookshop.org⁠⁠
• Olivetti by Allie Millington: ⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠Bookshop.org⁠⁠
• Once For Yes by Allie Millington: ⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠Bookshop.org⁠⁠
• The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron: ⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠Bookshop.org⁠⁠
• Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne: ⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠Bookshop.org⁠⁠

About Allie Millington: Allie Millington is the bestselling author of Olivetti and now When You Find a Hope. Her writing journey included years of rejection before achieving success, with her debut novel receiving acclaim including a review from Tom Hanks in the New York Times. Allie's personal experience with perseverance directly inspired her picture book about hope.

Connect and Follow:

• Learn more about Allie Millington at ⁠⁠AllieMillington.com⁠⁠
• Visit ⁠⁠The Children's Book Review⁠ website⁠ for more episodes

Credits:

• Host: Bianca Schulze
• Guest: Allie Millington
• Producer: Bianca Schulze

The Growing Readers Podcast celebrates children's literature and its power to inspire a lifelong love of reading.

Keywords: Allie Millington, Growing Readers podcast, When You Find a Hope, picture book, children's literature, hope, perseverance, rejection, writing process, brain drain, morning pages, Olivetti, Once For Yes, Anne Lambellet, illustration, creative process, publication journey, The Artist's Way, children's books, creativity, storytelling, illustrations, emotional connection, parenting, mental health