Anna Dewdney Dies; Author of ‘Llama Llama’ Books Was 50 from the New York Times.
Anna illustrated a number of books in the 1990s, then became an author/illustrator with the publication of Llama, Lama Red Pajama (Viking, 2005). Since then, Llama Llama and his Mama have appeared in 18 additional titles and sold more than 10 million copies. Continue Reading In Memory: Anna Dewdney »
By Cynthia Leitich Smith & Gayleen Rabakukk
How Attending the SCBWI National Conference Can Help Writers/Illustrators of Color by Andrea J. Loney on Don Tate‘s Blog. Peek: “Spending three days with so many published writers really shifted my thinking about my career. It was at that first conference that I really saw myself as a professional.
Check out the cover of Uncanny by David Macinnis Gill (Harper, Sept. 5, 2017). From the PW announcement:
Uncanny tells the story of Willow Jane Conning, who on her 16th birthday, gains strange powers and begins witnessing unnerving events, including evil spirits rising from the dead and time inexplicably standing still.
Continue Reading Cover Reveal & Author Snapshot: Uncanny by David Macinnis Gill »
David Wright is the debut YA author of Away Running (Orca Book Publishers, 2016) (discussion guide) (first chapter). From the promotional copy:
Matt, a white quarterback from Montreal, Quebec, flies to France (without his parents’
I’ve alway thought of myself as a girly-girl writer. Although I’ve written bios for kids that appeal to both boys and girls—many of them in the popular Who Was series (Grosset & Dunlap) —my real love is girl-friendly stories. I like dolls—no fewer than five of my children’s books have had the words doll or doll house in the title—and all the girly stuff that goes with them.
Continue Reading Guest Post: Writing Across Gender Lines: Fiction that Appeals to Boys and Girls »
Austin architect contributed modernist buildings to city’s landscape by Michael Barnes from The Austin American Statesman. Peek:
“Thomas ‘Tom’ Shefelman, who helped design several of Austin’s outstanding modernist buildings…. Seattle-born Shefelman, a graduate of the University of Texas School of Architecture and the Harvard Graduate School of Design,
By Cynthia Leitich Smith & Gayleen Rabakukk
“We Need Diverse Books,” They Said, and Now A Group’s Dream Is Coming to Fruition by Ron Charles from The Washington Post. Peek: “an impressive new milestone for We Need Diverse Books. Oh, the group’s chief executive and president, has edited and published WNDB’s first anthology: Flying Lessons and Other Stories,
Sarah Johnson is the first-time YA author of Crossings (Cedar Fort, 2017). From the promotional copy:
Eliinka has been able to hide her deepest secret…until now. Her only choice is to make a perilous crossing to a foreign land where she’ll discover the truth about a powerful legend and the hope for peace after centuries of conflict. Continue Reading New Voices: Sarah Johnson on Crossings »
Zetta Elliott‘s last Cynsations interview was in 2009. Since then she’s published more than two dozen
books and nearly twice as many essays, like Decolonizing the Imagination for The Horn Book (March 2010).
I’ve been thinking a lot about the lasting effects of Imperialism and how it influences both society and literature.
Continue Reading Author Interview: Zetta Elliott on Ghosts, Magic & Imperialism »
Compiled by Gayleen Rabakukk
Winners of the annual Sydney Taylor Book Award were recently announced by the Association of Jewish Libraries. Named in memory of Sydney Taylor, author of the classic All-of-a-Kind Family series, the award recognizes books for children and teens that exemplify high literary standards while authentically portraying the Jewish experience.
