One of the best things about my path to publication has been the formation of Kidlit Works, the fantastic debut group I am a member of. I got to know other writers with books coming out this year—and their stories. And now that it’s 2024, I get to talk about …
My kindergartners and first graders can’t get enough of fairy tales. And the second graders have a whole unit for studying folktales and fairytales from around the world. Ying Chang Compestine is queen of retellings, and RA PU ZEL AND THE STINKY TOFU, with its feisty heroine, adorable pup, and …
Come and Join US!: 18 Holidays Celebrated All Year Long might seem like a slightly belated choice for a post the day after Christmas. But the whole point of this book, written by Liz Kleinrock and illustrated by Chaaya Prabhat, is that there are other holidays celebrated this season and …
WHAT ROSA BROUGHT by Jacob Sager Weinstein and Eliza Wheeler is the story of the author’s mother, how she fled Nazi-occupied Vienna, and what she brought with her to America. The book begins with Rosa being looked after by her loving grandmother in a sun-filled city while her parents tend …
A few years ago, I was walking home to my apartment in Brooklyn, NY, when suddenly I noticed everyone on the block was frozen. I froze too, and then I saw what had made everyone stop in their tracks—a red-tailed hawk, perched on a chainlink fence. It was absolutely majestic, …
The winner of Two New Years by Richard Ho and Lynn Scurfield from last month’s giveaway is…Arlene Schenker! Congratulations Arlene, and thank you Richard, Lynn, and Chronicle Books for this generous offer! SARA: Way back when I saw the announcement for Bábo: A Tale of Armenian Rug-Washing Day in Publisher’s …
SARA: This week I transitioned from a career in early childhood education to life as a school librarian. Two New Years by Richard Ho and Lynn Scurfield is one of the first books I put on order in my new role. It’s a beautiful story of a multicultural family celebrating …
It’s mid-August and I am ignoring all the back to school ads urging me to buy notebooks in bulk, and the social media photos of friends’ children decked out in first day smiles and shiny, oversized backpacks. School doesn’t start until after Labor Day here and I am still deep …
The apartment is quiet, the tea bag is steeping, and you’ve just opened the cover of a shiny new book, or maybe a tattered old favorite. Ahhhh. You curl up with your book and your tea and disappear into the pages. Or you don’t. The intercom buzzes, the phone rings, …
Tumble, written and illustrated by Adriana Hernández Bergstrom follows the journey of a tumbleweed as it rolls across a vast desert. The short rhyming lines explain the tumbleweed’s movements in simple terms, and are fun to read aloud. The sky, landscape, and weather shift with each page turn, suggesting the …