En route to the VCFA Steampunk Shakespeare party.
Welcome back to Cynsations!
Now, in its twelfth year, this blog is an upbeat, nurturing source for conversations, for sharing resources and for celebrating literature for young readers.
The big-picture goal is to offer substantial children’s-YA writer,
Continue Reading Cynsational Fall 2016: AFCC & VCFA Reports »
FERAL PRIDE by Cynthia Leitich Smith (Candlewick, 2015, 2018). Ages 14-up. Also published by Walker Australia and New Zealand.
Anti-shifter sentiment is at an all-time high when Kayla’s transformation to werecat is captured on video and uploaded for the world to see.
Suddenly she becomes a symbol of the werebeast threat and—along with fellow cat Yoshi,
Cynsations is now on summer hiatus until early fall 2016.
In the meantime, keep up with children’s-YA literature, writing & publishing news at facebook and Twitter. Thanks for your
readership and support! Note: Please hold off on sending correspondence, interview/post materials & queries until after June 1.
Enter to win one of two author-signed copies of Thunder Boy Jr. by Sherman Alexie, illustrated by Yuyi Morales (Little Brown, 2016). Obtained from BookPeople. Cynsations sponsored. Eligibility: North America. From the promotional copy:
Thunder Boy Jr.
Continue Reading Giveaway: Signed Copy of Thunder Boy Jr. by Sherman Alexie & Yuyi Morales »
Every second year the SCBWI hosts a booth at the Bologna Book Fair…the biggest children’s books exhibition and rights fair in the world. It’s all about rights and networking and for SCBWI members who are at Bologna a home away from home!
Continue Reading Guest Post: Christopher Cheng on the Behind the Scenes Scoop at SCBWI Bologna »
Little Pickle’s first book
By Lee Wind of Little Pickle Press
Little Pickle Press is an award-winning creator of high quality, high impact media and products for children and teens.
From our founding in 2009, we’ve done things differently. Here are seven steps we’ve taken to lead—and BE—the change we want to see:
1.
The Hallmark Great Stories Award will recognize and celebrate the power of storytelling by honoring new children’s picture books that celebrate family, friendship and community and that exhibit excellence in both writing and illustration.
Annual nominations will be reviewed by a multi-disciplinary panel of esteemed judges.
Betty with the 2016 award recipients
By Lindsey Lane
Bright ideas are wonderful things. They spark imagination, energy, and excitement. That’s good, right?
Executing ideas and fulfilling their promise takes a lot of hard work. The more excitement the better because, along the way, you will learn a lot and some of that knowledge will be hard won.
I headed to my first writer’s residency at The Ragdale Foundation at the end of March with an imagined vision of open space, open time, and what I call “open expectations” – no finish line, no deadline, no shoulds or have tos about the challenging revision of my middle grade novel in verse or the small community of artists of which I’d be part.
If you’ve been to a bookstore lately, you may have noticed the STEAM-y new trend in nonfiction children’s books.
No, I’m not talking about romance novels, it’s STEAM—Science Technology Engineering Art and Math. From picture books to middle grade, to YA, STEAM topics are hot right now.
Continue Reading Guest Post: Jennifer Swanson on Nonfiction Picks Up STEAM! »
