GG McQueen is celebrating the release of her debut picture book, Squash & Pumpkin: #SquashGoals. Squash is tired of all the attention Pumpkin gets each fall and creates a plan to become the hottest new gourd of the season! With illustrations by Michael Slack, this story is packed with fall festival shenanigans, humor, and a lot of heart.
This story came to McQueen while exploring a farm stand with her niece. She recalls, “I was staring at this incredible display of different types of squash, and the thought popped into my head: What does it feel like to be one of the other gourds, when pumpkin is the star of autumn? That was the essence of the book!”
McQueen was a television writer and producer in New York City before moving to Rochester. As a kid, she used to watch the credits at the end of movies and think about who all the people were and the jobs they did. She ended up working in television production and eventually writing for television. She performed theater and comedy and even did some voiceover work. But the best time of her life was the college semester she spent working at Disney World as a popcorn scooper at EPCOT.
For any young writers out there, McQueen wants you to pay attention to what makes you happy and infuse it into your writing. She believes that if you are experiencing life, you are a storyteller. So follow the fun!
She is excited to meet her readers and is hosting events this fall all over the Rochester area, from Schutt’s Apple Mill and Stokoe Farms to scarecrow and Halloween festivals. McQueen is also one of over fifty authors who will be featured at the Rochester Children and Teen Book Festival on November 8 at Monroe Community College.
Squash and Pumpkin: #SquashGoals is now available at all major booksellers. For more information and updates, check out ggmcqueen.com.
FUN FACTS with GG McQueen!
Favorite Food: Butternut squash is my all-time favorite comfort food. I don’t want Acorn Squash and Pumpkin to know, though!
Favorite Subject: English and art. The art room was my happy place!
Favorite book: What’s Under My Bed? by James Stevenson and Miss Nelson Is Missing by Harry Allard and James Marshall.
Catherine Valleroy has been writing since she was eight years old. She spent years in education, fundraising for the University of Rochester and the Rochester Institute of Technology, but her heart was always set on writing. She especially loves poetry, journaling, and meditation.
Valleroy believes that centering oneself is giving the opportunity to write what comes to the surface. One particular story that had been on her mind for decades recently came to the surface in the form of her debut picture book.
Years ago, her young nephew Noel became overwhelmed at the commotion of construction at his house. At just three years old, he knew exactly what he needed at that moment. He walked up to his uncle with his arms raised and said, “Need love.” Valleroy’s dedication page reads: “To Noel who needed love and to Dave who gave it.” Her debut picture book was written for children but can be enjoyed by people of all ages.
Need Love is the first picture book in a three-book series focused on feelings, behaviors, and interactions. Illustrator Tera Colleen did a fantastic job creating the characters without gender, race, or body shape.
A perfect holiday gift, her book will be available for purchase online when it launches this October. Valleroy is working on the next two books in her series, Don’t Be Afraid and Sharing is Caring as well as a spoken word album. When she’s not writing, you’ll find her running meditation groups and performing at The Little.
Valleroy had a very special twenty-one-year-old cat named Dixon who had been affectionately nicknamed Poetry Cat. Many poems have been written over the years with “P.C.” by her side. Now she has a new poetry cat named Precious.
Valleroy wants to encourage everyone to write, especially kids. “GO FOR IT!” she says. “Find your inner voice. No matter what you write, it’s wonderful!”
Visit her blog catherines-poetic-kids.com for more information and updates.
FUN FACTS with Catherine Valleroy!
Favorite Food: See-food. Because I see food and I eat it!
Favorite Subject: You guessed it…English!
Favorite book: The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss.
This article originally appeared in the Fall 2025 issue of (585) Kids.
Views: 6
