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