March Book Madness!
Gianna Marino’s IF I HAD A HORSE (Roaring Brook) is one of #Fuse8 / SLJ’s 2018 Caldecott predictions:
“If you can read this book without getting a certain song from the Secret Garden musical caught in your head, you’re better than I. Folks have been gaga for Marino’s work for years, but I always held a bit back. She’s talented, no question, but I was waiting for The Big One. The book that would push her over the top and get folks talking. That book has finally arrived and it was worth the wait. Look at the use of watercolors, and how they shift in mood and tone to fit the different times of day. It’s a book done entirely in silhouettes (something I haven’t seen done this well since Peggy Rathmann’s The Day the Babies Crawled Away). It’s lush and moving and beautiful. I don’t even LIKE horses, and I was swept away by Marino’s work. Brava.”
—Elizabeth Bird/ SLJ
Gianna Marino’s IF I HAD A HORSE (Neal Porter Books/ Roaring Brook)
is also featured in
“3 New Animal Picture Books to Love”
and “Two illustrators change up their style with Grandma’s Purse and If I Had a Horse.”
Spotlight on Brian Bowes by 4by6.com:
Click here for a free portfolio pack of 4 postcards.
Alma Fullerton’s HAND OVER HAND is on the top 10 Amelia Bloomer List,
a project of the Feminist Task Force of the Social Responsibilities Round Table of the ALA.
Congrats Dow Phumiruk!
Planning ahead:
Holocaust Remembrance Week
(starting on April 8th)
Andrea Alban’s Anya’s War – based on a true story — is a rich, transcendent novel about a little-known time in Holocaust history.
Where’s East/West?
Going to TXLA? (Texas Library Association /starting April 3rd)
Look for:
Patricia Newman: signing and promotion for ZOO SCIENTISTS TO THE RESCUE, her upcoming picture book NEEMA’S REASON TO SMILE, a STEAM session and
panel: Playing with Nonfiction (and the sneaky work it accomplishes)
Dave Butler: signing and promotion for WITCHY WINTER
Stay tuned next month for D.J. Butler’s second book in the trilogy launched by WITCHY EYE – WITCHY WINTER, another Americana flintlock adult fantasy novel:
“Butler follows Witchy Eye with a satisfying second tale of a magic-filled early America … Fans of epic and alternate historical fantasy will savor this tale of witchery and intrigue.”
— PW
After presenting the history of LGBTQ rights and how books like ONE TRUE WAY (Scholastic)
can be used in the classroom at OCTELA (the Ohio chapter of NCTE),
Shannon Hitchcock wowed students at school visits in Omaha.
Listen to her podcast interview about the book, its inspiration, and her process on #SoBookingCool here.
Meanwhile, over at
REACHING THE KIDS WHO NEED US MOST
BY SHANNON HITCHCOCK:
Speakforthem.org states that “suicide is the leading cause of death among gay and lesbian youth nationally.”
I have to be an ally, and I hope you’ll be one too …
– Shannon Hitchcock
How can teachers and parents use One True Way as a learning tool
for introducing the concepts of tolerance, inclusion, acceptance, and kindness?
There are so many possibilities. One True Way could be part of a unit on bullying. According to statistics compiled by the Human Rights Campaign, LGBT youth are twice as likely as their peers to say they have been physically assaulted. One True Way could also be included when studying Civil Rights by charting the history and struggle for LGBT rights. Another possibility is in a language arts class by having students interview a peer and write a profile like the ones Allie does for her school newspaper in One True Way.
Shannon is delighted to be serving as a Scholastic National Writing Juror.
Find out more about their Art and Writing Awards here.
via
One True Way is a great addition to diverse middle school collections. Add it to Barakiva’s One Many Guy, Federle’s Better Nate Than Ever, Sayre’s Husky, Wittlinger’s Saturdays with Hitchock, Gino’s George, Hennessey’s The Other Boy, Polonsky’s Gracefully Grayson, and other books that show different experiences with sexual orientation and gender identity in a way that will make middle school readers more understanding of the challenges faced by the people in the world around them.
Stay tuned: ONE TRUE WAY will also be featured in the textbook
Queer Adolescent Literature As A Complement to the English Language Arts Curriculum.
Stonewall Award-winning Gayle E. Pitman’s talk on FEMINISM FROM A TO Z (Magination Press)
lead to great conversations at Face in a Book, in northern California.
Speaking of Gayle E. Pitman, look for her upcoming A CHURCH FOR ALL (Albert Whitman):
“This cheerful introduction to attending a Sunday-morning church service provides an overview of the experience in an inclusive, liberal Christian church … The huge cast of characters entering the church includes gay and lesbian couples, several people with canes, a child using a wheelchair, interracial families, and people with all sorts of looks, including shaved heads, mohawks, and tattoos. The church choir and the black pastor wear traditional robes, but the décor of the church is upbeat and contemporary, with banners proclaiming the welcoming and inclusive philosophy of this congregation. A simple, rhyming text describes some of the aspects of the worship service and different kinds of church members, with a repeated refrain emphasizing this church is for everyone. A cross is displayed at the front of the church, and one banner reads “God’s Doors Are Open to All,” but God and Jesus are not mentioned in the text. Cheerful, busy illustrations expand the minimal text with the intriguing cast of definitely diverse churchgoers, charmingly including children who can’t sit still during church … An author’s note explains the story was inspired by the Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco. A humorous, upbeat look at a contemporary church community where all are welcome.”
Jim Averbeck’s school visits in Chicago made the Chicago Tribune.
With support from the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, PJ Library and PJ Our Way
are hosting Stacia Deutsch (above–The NYT Best selling THE FRIENDSHIP CODE #1 Girls Who Code / Penguin Workshop; –and so many more!) along with Lin Oliver and 18 other authors on an all expense-paid trip to Israel, with the goal of inspiring authors to bring Israel and Jewish ideas to their writing.
Erin Dealey (K IS FOR KINDERGARTEN /Sleeping Bear; BABIES COME FROM AIRPORTS/ Kane Miller) and Henry Herz (CAP’N REX AND HIS CLEVER CREW / Sterling) presented at the Charlotte Huck Children’s Literature Festival in Redlands, CA.
WonderCon panel:Writing and Illustrating Books for Kids
Henry Herz; moderator – with Jenni Holm, Antoinette Portis, Dan Santat, Deborah Underwood, Eugene Yelchin
Here’s Henry’s recap on his blog.
Congrats Shiho Pate, whose art is part of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair!
Antoinette Portis and Maria Middleton, Art Director at Random House Children’s Books, will present at SCBWI CenCal’s
on May 5, 2018.
Look soon for Antoinette Portis’ BEST FRINTS AT SKROOL, the sequel to BEST FRINTS IN THE WHOLE UNIVERSE.
NYT-bestselling Alethea Kontis, a princess, fairy godmother, and geek, is author of over twenty books and contributor to over thirty more. And here’s thirty-one!
NEW SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK, an anthology by the HWA (Horror Writers Association) to be published by HarperCollins in spring 2019 — celebrating the creepy little stories for middle grade readers created by the late Alvin Schwartz and edited by Jonathan Maberry — includes a story by Alethea Kontis.
17 Exceptional Books to Understand Why We Should All Be Feminists.
Happy Spring!
Spotlight on Women’s History Month:
Reading Corner: Picture books depict lives of women in history:
“Jeanne Walker Harvey narrows the focus of Maya Lin: Artist-Architect of Light and Lines by outlining the story of Lin designing the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. While not shying away from discussing the controversy surrounding Lin’s memorial, Harvey approaches it in a thoughtful manner, conscious of the audience’s age.”
*CONGRATULATIONS ONE AND ALL*
We are thrilled and thankful to represent such amazing talent.
