Congratulations to Carole Boston Weatherford on winning the 2025 Children’s Literature Legacy Award! The award honors an author or illustrator whose books have made a significant and lasting contribution to literature for children and is administered annually by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association.
Congratulations to Carole Boston Weatherford on the publication of Kin: Rooted in Hope, illustrated by Jeffery Boston Weatherford (Atheneum, September 19, 2023). From the promotional copy:
Carole and Jeffery Boston Weatherford’s ancestors are among the founders of Maryland. Their family history there extends more than three hundred years, but as with the genealogical searches of many African Americans with roots in slavery,
Continue Reading Throwback Thursday: Carole Boston Weatherford on Persistence & Poetry »
Today I am excited to introduce our Cynsations readers to Maureen Charles and Ashley Walker who recently collaborated on a nonfiction project for older readers. Their book Music Mavens from Chicago Review Press comes out this fall as part of their Women of Power series.
Photo credit: Alvin Trusty
Celebrated and legendary illustrator Jerry Pinkney died of a heart attack Oct. 20 at Phelps Hospital in Sleepy Hollow, New York. He was 81.
Obituary: Jerry Pinkney by Shannon Maughan from Publishers Weekly. Peek: “Renowned children’s book illustrator Jerry Pinkney,
Photo credit: Velma Cooper
Celebrated illustrator Floyd Cooper died on Friday, July 16, 2021, in Easton, Pennsylvania after a battle with cancer. He is survived by his wife Velma and sons Dayton and Kai and his grandchildren. He was 65.
By Janet Wong and Sylvia Vardell
Janet: More than a year ago, back in February 2020 (although it seems like 2010…) we had an open call for poems for HOP TO IT: Poems to Get You Moving (Pomelo Books, 2020). Our plan was to curate an anthology of 75 poems that encourage movement—short poems to help “get the wiggles out.”
We first thought about doing a movement-themed book at the end of 2015,
By Kekla Magoon
As I was working on the initial draft of my new picture book biography, The Highest Tribute: Thurgood Marshall’s Life, Leadership and Legacy illustrated by Laura Freeman (Quill Tree Books, 2021), I naturally gravitated toward reading biographies written by other children’s writers, for inspiration and to gather a sense of the many and varied styles that were possible.
Happy New Year and welcome back to Cynsations!
We love bringing you upbeat and useful information and inspiration about the children’s-YA literature community, writing, illustration, and publishing. And we are particularly excited about what we have lined up for you in the coming months.
As always,
Image above: “Sunlight through storm clouds 2” by Holaday98 is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Following the publication of my picture book When A Kid Like Me Fights Cancer, illustrated by Angel Chang (Albert Whitman & Co., 2019), a reviewer stated something that struck a chord.
By Cate Berry
The third annual Picture Book Summit online writing conference will be Oct. 7.
To find out more about this opportunity, which not only allows, but encourages attendance in pajamas, I interviewed one of the founders, Emma Walton Hamilton.
What prompted you to start the Picture Book Summit?
Continue Reading Guest Interview: Emma Walton Hamilton on Picture Book Summit »
