PIcture Books

How To Kill a Tardigarde

Posted by on Jul 27, 2023 in Animals, Nonfiction, PIcture Books | 0 comments

I don’t know why you’d want to (they’re kind of cute, if also terrifying), but I’ve been researching tardigrades for a new book. And they are HARD to kill.

Tardigrades are also called water bears or moss piglets.

Heat? They can survive temps up to 300 F.

Cold? They’re fine at -200 F.

Pressure? They’d be perky at the bottom of the Marianna’s Trench.

Vacuum? They have been blasted into space and survived. Some laid eggs in space. Eggs that hatched.

They are tiny (1.5 millimeters long at most), harmless, and indomitable.

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WOMBAT UNDERGROUND in Indiana!

Posted by on Mar 16, 2023 in BOOK: Wombat Underground, PIcture Books | 0 comments

lfVery excited and honored that Wombat Underground has been chosen for the Indiana Library Federation’s Read Aloud Indiana list! It’s included in their “Ageless” category which I love, since I hope this is a book that will appeal to many different readers.

A picture book is always meant to be read aloud–slowly, savoring each line and embracing each pause–and also shared between readers, experienced together. So lovely to have this book recognized as a read-aloud!

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Picture Book Contest

Posted by on Jan 5, 2023 in PIcture Books | 0 comments

Baby boy turns the page in the book with animal. He is very happy and excited by watching pictures. Child concept.

Astra is once again running its picture book contest–open to manuscripts (no illustrations) for ages 3-8 written in English, French, German, Spanish, Japanese, or Chinese. The deadline is April 30, 2023, so plenty of time to polish up your latest manuscript!

 

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The Jean Little Library Praises Brown Is Warm

Posted by on Sep 29, 2022 in Book: BROWN IS WARM, PIcture Books, Reviews | 0 comments

516s3uxFsoL._SX496_BO1,204,203,200_I’m both elated and humbled by this review for Brown Is Warm from the Jean Little Library.

This book is perfect in combining the diversity I want to see in my collection with subjects that teachers and parents are looking for and which will make it a popular choice and, possibly, an enduring classic.

Verdict: If you long for beautiful and diverse high-concept books but know they won’t circulate well for you, this is the book you need for your collection! If those high-concept books are easy circulators for you, this lovely book will be a wonderful addition. Either way, I recommend it for most collections.

Along with the illustrator, the editor, the designer, and the production team, I work my hardest at making a book that is beautiful, lyrical, a pleasure for the senses. But the one thing that is always a bit up in the air is reader engagement. I try to keep my readers in mind always, but I’m not sure any writer can ever really read their own work as a reader would–coming to it completely fresh. And the difficulty is doubled when the writer is an adult and the reader is a child.

It’s so gratifying, then, to hear praise from a librarian not just for the literary quality of the book (I mean, thanks for that, I do appreciate it), but also because she believes it will circulate–go into a reader’s hands over and over again. Because that’s what makes a book complete.

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