I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Lynne Marie for a long time, after meeting at a SCBWI conference and later rooming together. Not only is she a talented writer, but she generously devotes most of her time to mentoring other authors. And many of them have gone on to publish picture books—a few of these authors writing for her imprint Dancing Flamingo Press.
Continue Reading Lynne Marie Talks About the Value of Writing Mentorships to the Writing Journey »
This morning, Mary Ann Cappiello, Professor of Language and Literacy at Lesley University, and Xenia Hadjioannou, Associate Professor of Language and Literacy Education at the Harrisburg campus of Penn State University, sent the letter below to The New York Times requesting that the paper add three children’s nonfiction bestseller lists to parallel the existing picture book,
Continue Reading Announcing the #KidsLoveNonfiction Campaign »
By Cynthia Leitich Smith, Gayleen Rabakukk, Stephani Eaton, Suma Subramaniam, Bree Bender and Gail Vannelli for Cynsations
Spotlight Image: Fly by Brittany J. Thurman, illustrated by Anna Cunha (Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, 2022).
Author/Illustrator Insights
Authors Share Readers’ Letters to Show Impact of Books by Kara Yorio from School Library Journal.
I’m pleased to welcome Gayatri Sethi, author of Unbelonging (Mango and Marigold Press, 2021) and co-founder of desi kidlit community to Cynsations! Welcome, Gayatri!
What do you love most about the creative life/being an author? Why?
Collaboration. I love working with creatives,
Continue Reading Gayatri Sethi and Annika Sarin on Defying Categorization & Unbelonging »
Happy Holidays, Cynsational readers!
Effective immediately, this blog is on winter hiatus. We’ll return after the ALA Midwinter Conference with more inspiration, insights, and info on children’s-YA writing, illustration, literature and publishing. In the meantime, you’re welcome keep up on those topics with me on Facebook,
By Cynthia Leitich Smith, Gayleen Rabakukk, Stephani Eaton, Suma Subramaniam, Bree Bender and Gail Vannelli for Cynsations
Spotlight Image: Thank You, Neighbor! by Ruth Chan (HarperCollins, 2021).
Author/Illustrator Insights
Q&A With Kekla Magoon by Sanina Clark from Publishers Weekly.
I spent an informative and inspiring hour talking with authors A.S. (Amy) King, Jason Reynolds, Francisco X. Stork, Bill Konigsberg (not pictured), and Cory McCarthy about mental health. In the course of our conversation, we covered our own mental health,
Continue Reading Young Adult Authors on How Writing about Mental Health Saves Lives »
Kristen Balouch is an author and illustrator of award-winning picture books, most notably Mystery Bottle (Hyperion Books for Children, 2006), which won the Ezra Jack Keats Award. In addition to writing and illustrating books for children, she is a fabric designer and gardener.
All of her passions,
Continue Reading Author-Illustrator Interview: Kristen Balouch Talks Inspiration & Design »
The Cynsations team is thankful to have you as a reader!
Cynsations blog is on hiatus for the week. We’ll return on November 29 with more inspiration, insights, and information related to the children’s-YA publishing community.
In the meantime, keep up with Cynthia Leitich Smith on Facebook,
By Cynthia Leitich Smith, Gayleen Rabakukk, Stephani Eaton, Suma Subramaniam, Bree Bender and Gail Vannelli for Cynsations
Spotlight Image: I Am the Subway by Kim Hyo-eun, translated by Deborah Smith (Scribble US, 2021).
Author/Illustrator Insights