Leah Henderson is the debut author of One Shadow On the Wall (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, June 6, 2017). From the promotional copy:
An orphaned boy in contemporary Senegal must decide between doing what is right and what is easy as he struggles to keep a promise he made to his dying father in this captivating debut novel laced with magical realism.
Continue Reading New Voice: Leah Henderson on One Shadow On the Wall »
Author-illustrator Jill McElmurry died in August while Cynsations was on summer hiatus.
Obituary: Jill McElmurry by Jill Kantor from Publishers Weekly. Peek: “Acclaimed children’s book author and illustrator Jill McElmurry…died of breast cancer on August 3, at her home in Taos, N.M. She was 62 years old.
Gayleen Rabakukk
Last week, I ached seeing the images of flooding and devastation in Houston and surrounding areas along the Gulf coast. With reports of record-setting high water also came amazing stories of people helping each other. I couldn’t be more proud of my newly-adopted state!
For those in the kidlit community,
Continue Reading Children’s-YA Literature Community Joins in Hurricane Harvey Relief Efforts »
Gayleen and Cynthia at the Austin SCBWI conference
Cynsations is now officially on summer hiatus. We will return in the fall with more inspiration, insights and information on children’s-YA writing, illustration, literature and publishing.
In the meantime, keep up on all those topics with Cynthia Leitich Smith on Facebook,
By Cynthia Leitich Smith & Gayleen Rabakukk
Spotlight on Latina Illustrators by Cecilia Cackley from Latinx in Kidlit. Peek from Alyssa Bermudez: “Picture books are important because it allows children to visualize and understand their own stories as they grow up. They can see their lives reflected in this way.
Padma writing on the dock
One of the most vital aspects of timeless writing is voice. Every serious reader, every writer has (or must develop), a strong sense of what voice is. Yet, like time, voice eludes definition.
Of course, I’m going to try and define it. To me,
Continue Reading Guest Post: Padma Venkatraman on Voice: Writing Lean, Spare or Lush, Rich »
When I joined SCBWI, my biggest dream was to sell a middle-grade novel. I attended as many workshops as I could and was excited when there were speakers who wrote MG or YA.
But often I had to sit through talks on writing picture books.
Check out the book trailer for This is How We Do It by Matt Lamothe (Chronicle, 2017). From the promotional copy:
This is How We Do It follows the real lives of seven kids from Italy, Japan, Iran, India, Peru, Uganda, and Russia for a single day.
Continue Reading Book Trailer: This is How We Do It by Matt Lamothe »
Most people in the children’s literature community are familiar with picture book biographies, but did you know that there’s a second major category of nonfiction picture books?
It’s time to shine some light on concept picture books.
A concept picture book explores an abstract idea or process,
Continue Reading Guest Post: Melissa Stewart on Concept Picture Books »
By Cynthia Leitich Smith & Gayleen Rabakukk
Friendship, Family & Food: Hena Khan & Karuna Riazi on Writing for Salaam Reads by Kiera Parrot from School Library Journal. Peek from Karuna Riazi: “Fantasy has always been my first love and has always been the primary genre I write within.
