From mega-bestselling fantasy titans Brandon Sanderson and Kazu Kibuishi comes a picture book about an ordinary boy who is having an ordinary afternoon....until an unexpected adventure takes him by surprise. 

In bookstores everywhere!

Torpedoed: The True Story of the World War II Sinking of "The Children's Ship”

On September 17, 1940, the SS City of Benares, a passenger ship traveling from England to Canada with one hundred children on board, was struck by a torpedo fired from a German submarine. It was 10:00 pm, in a raging storm. Within thirty minutes the ship sank, leaving passengers struggling to survive until rescue arrived. For some that would be late the next day; for others, not for more than a week. For many, help did not arrive in time.

In Torpedoed, award-winning author Deborah Heiligman provides a deeply moving and true account of the attack and sinking of “The Children’s Ship,” for middle-grade readers. On the anniversary of the sinking we’re remembering the lives lost and shining light on this often overlooked tragic event from WWII history.

A note from the author:

A few years ago, my editor showed me a photograph of a custom-made child’s life jacket, bright red silk. Do you want to look into this story, she asked? I did! And what a story it turned out to be--one full of drama and despair, triumph and joy. It’s a tale of people who survive against the odds. The stories of heroism, bravery, altruism and community astonished and inspired me. Everything is true—culled from interviews, reports, letters, autobiographies. I even met and interviewed the last two remaining survivors.

Although this is a story of war, I hope readers will find it life-affirming. And I pray my telling it will lead to less war and more peace.

Learn more about Torpedoed by Deborah Heiligman here.

On sale 10/08/2019.

The Inspiring Norfolk Airport and Envelopes Filled with Hubris: Defining Creative Moments for the Author and Illustrator of Two’s a Crowd.

Matthew: Hello, there. My name is Matthew Swanson. I’m the author of The Real McCoys series.

Robbi: And I’m Robbi Behr. I’m the illustrator. 

M: We are married and have four kids and make books together in the hayloft of a barn on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

R: The people do not want to hear about our family. They want to know about The Real McCoys, especially book 2, Two’s a Crowd, which just came out! 

M: Right. Two’s a Crowd is the second book in a critically acclaimed middle grade mystery series about an overconfident fourth grader named Moxie McCoy who thinks of herself as the world’s greatest detective. She’s great at some parts of solving mysteries but is terrible at others.

R: And so she is forced to join forces with her quiet, shy, observant little brother Milton, who not coincidentally, has the exact set of skills that Moxie lacks.

M: Moxie interrogates the suspects and collects the clues. 

R: Milton notices the small details and strings them all together. It takes both of them to get anything done.

M: Kind of like you and me.

R: This is true. Two’s a Crowd is a true collaboration. It has been written like a novel, but it has 1,000 illustrations. Our librarian friends tell us that it’s part of a new genre called hybrid, a cross between a graphic novel and a traditionally illustrated chapter book.

R: But I want to point out that even though you do the words and I take care of the pictures, I feel like we’re both equal contributors to both parts of these books. I’ve had a lot to say about the writing and you’ve had a lot to say about the illustrating.

M: Agreed. You’re a remarkably good editor. But then there’s the fact that I can’t draw to save my life.

R: I feel these people need some evidence. Here are a few of Matthew’s drawings:

M: I just gave myself goosebumps. I mean…do you think it’s possible that I’m just a man before my time? 

R: I love your drawings. They just aren’t very good. But what you are good at is helping me think through my illustrations. Maybe you can’t execute your own ideas, but you sure do help me with mine.

M: This has been an invigorating introduction. But perhaps we should get to the point. For this post, we have been asked to talk about a defining moment that helped us realize when we wanted to devote our lives to writing and illustrating books. 

R: That sounds interesting. I look forward to hearing. You first.  

M: All right. Since I was really little, I loved doing creative stuff. In elementary school, it was community theatre. Throughout high school and the early part of college I wrote a lot of poetry. Rhyming poetry. Truly awful rhyming poetry. My college application essay was a four-page poem in heroic couplets. At one point I offered an invocation to Zeus.

R: I’m so glad this was before we met. I don’t think I could have handled it. 

M: I took a poetry workshop in college and learned in an abrupt and painful way that I am not, in fact, a gifted poet. It was a disturbing insight. I spent a full year fretting. 

R: This story is so sad. 

M: It gets better! My junior year, I took a fiction workshop and found my stride. People liked my stories, but they didn’t understand them. I was good at certain parts of writing and lousy at other parts. I wanted to be a writer but didn’t think I was good enough, so when I graduated from college, I moved in with a girl, went to work at a grocery store, and surrendered my dreams of literary glory.

R: This story got sad again. 

M: It was a really nice grocery store. 

R: I’m talking about how the story with the girl ends. 

M: Ah yes. Well, as you know, the girl and I eventually broke up, I got a job as a college admission officer, and I got together with you.

R: See? THE SADDEST. 

M: One day, I had a really long layover in the Norfolk airport. I took out my laptop and started to write. But for some reason, instead of writing the serious stories I thought I was supposed to be writing, I let myself write a weirdo story with a funny voice. The story was called Top Gun, but it was not about fighter pilots. It felt so good. It was so fun. Something in me started to sing. And from that moment, everything changed. I stopped writing like somebody else and started writing like me. 

R: Are you almost done? 

M: Almost. Today, I know that a project is going to work if I feel like I did that day in Norfolk. It felt like Norfolk when I was writing Two’s a Crowd. But every once in a while, I still start working on something that my HEAD thinks is a good idea, and the experience is awful and painful and doomed to failure. 

R: Wait. So was that your defining moment? In the airport? 

M: Yes.

R: That felt like a long moment. 

M: You DID interrupt me a few times.

R: True. I will try to make my story short and uninterruptible.

M: Go for it.

R: I actually am not sure if I had a DEFINING MOMENT. 

M: Well, then, your work here is done. You have answered the question. That really WAS short and uninterruptible.

R: No, no, I’m not done! Ok. Let’s see. I have to say growing up I always liked art and liked making things. Drawings and elaborate machines and costumes made out of paper bags.

I always thought that illustrating picture books would be a “fun job” that could maybe turn into a career, but I had NO IDEA back then how hard it actually is to break into this business. 

As a project in college, I made a picture book and comped it up and even sent it out to some publishers. I found it again the other day in my parents’ house –in a manila envelope on which I had written in big letters, “HANDLE WITH CARE – ORIGINAL BOOK COMP INSIDE” like it was some kind of amazing priceless artwork. In retrospect, I see it was a really truly TERRIBLE book and that it’s no wonder I never heard back from any publishers about it. I cringe at the thought of it coming across anyone’s desk.

Anyway. Long story short (or maybe I mean long story less long): I think I always wanted to be an illustrator. It just took me a while to figure out how. But when I realized how much fun it was to work with Matthew on books, it really lit a fire under both of us to make it happen. We self-published for ten years before breaking into commercial work, and now we have 60-some very strange illustrated books to show for it.

M: 62. I recently counted.

R: Well, I wish you had been around to write the manuscript for that class I took in college. It was truly horrendous. We could’ve saved ourselves a few years, and I wouldn’t have felt such shame when I came across that envelope full of hubris. 

M: If it turns out we can’t make a living in children’s books, maybe selling envelopes full of hubris could be a worthy plan B?

R: Who would buy them?

M: Aspiring college students, maybe? 

R: Are we done? 

M: I think so. We need to put these people out of their misery. 

R: If you are interested in more misery, you can find us on our site or visit our shop to browse our wares and book us to speak at your school, library, or muffler convention.    

M: And if you want to hear us say things out loud, follow us on Facebook or Instagram where we post a new 60-second video every single day.

R: The videos are about nothing at all. Such as what we had for lunch. That sort of thing. Do not expect to be enlightened. 

M: But do expect to have a defining moment. 

R: No. Do not expect that, either. That is not going to happen.  

M: Well then, what can they expect?

R: Envelopes full of hubris. Nothing more. Nothing less.

M: Sounds like a defining moment to me.  

Ten Reasons to Read The Real McCoys: Two’s a Crowd by Matthew Swanson and Robbi Behr

Matthew: Hello, I’m Matthew Swanson, author of The Real McCoys series.

Robbi: And I’m Robbi Behr, the illustrator.

M: We are married. We have created many children.

R: We have created four children. Does that count as many?

M: Oh yes. In fact, I was going to say “so many.”

R: I appreciate your restraint.

M: We are here to talk about Two’s a Crowd, the second book of The Real McCoys, a critically acclaimed, densely illustrated middle grade mystery by Robbi and me.

R: “Critically acclaimed”? Where is your restraint now?

M: Our editor Erin insists that we put our best foot forward.

R: How about “kids seem to like it, and so do a handful of adults who write reviews?”

M: I can live with that.

R: What were we talking about again?

M: Two’s a Crowd. We are supposed to tell these people ten things about it.

R: Will it be a problem if we only come up with nine?

M: If that happens, I will dig deep and heroically come up with a tenth.

R: This is pretty much why I keep you around. Alright, let’s do this thing.

1) THIS BOOK IS THE LOVE CHILD OF A GRAPHIC NOVEL AND A CHAPTER BOOK

R: That seems like an inappropriate way to describe a children’s book.

M: Yes, but I thought you’d like that.

R: I totally do. And it’s so true! But I’ll let you explain what we mean.

M: Two’s a Crowd is a densely illustrated 336-page illustrated novel with a ton of interaction between image and words. It has some of the conventions of graphic novels but is technically part of the new genre of “hybrid” novels, according to the cutting-edge librarians we know.

R: It’s not broken into panels, for example.

M: And it has a running narrative that could stand on its own without the illustrations. But there are some speech bubbles, and lots of hand lettering, and illustrations that bleed into the words and that literally knock the characters over from time to time.

R: Bottom line is, there are lots of illustrations and lots of words.

M: Almost 1,000 illustrations! Robbi also did the page design and typesetting. She basically created a 336-page picture book.

R: Robbi did not sleep for six months. Alright. Next item!

2) IT IS FUNNY

R: That’s really more of an opinion than a fact.

M: Fair enough.

R: But yes. WE think it’s funny.

M: What in particular do you find funny about it?

Robbi: I think it’s mostly in the way you say things. The way you say things is not normal.

M: Is that a compliment?

Robbi: Absolutely. I think funny comes from being pleasantly surprised. For example, at one point you write “It’s as if Emily has told me she’s about to share a slice of pizza with a werewolf.” To me, trying to imagine what that actually looks like is funny. Until I read the manuscript for this book, I hadn’t read a metaphor anywhere involving both a werewolf AND a piece of pizza. And then I got the pleasure of drawing Emily as the werewolf in conversation with Moxie as the piece of pizza. For some reason, it cracks me up every time I read it.

M: You are very gratifying.

Robbi: I can’t help it. The book is full of moments like that.

Matthew: Alright. I guess you have either proven or entirely disproven point number two. Onwards.

3) IT’S HEARTWARMING

M: Ok, so what is heartwarming about this series?

R: I think Moxie is so well-intentioned but also so flawed that she just makes you love her. And she manages to be wildly overconfident while also being quite aware that she’s not perfect. She’s such a walking disaster that your heart aches with her every misstep. But she believes in herself and what she’s doing so deeply that you’re always rooting for her to succeed.

M: I think you did it! I also think the relationship between Moxie and her little brother Milton is worth mentioning. At the beginning of Two’s a Crowd, Moxie doesn’t think much of Milton, but as he helps her puzzle through the book’s mystery, she comes to realize how smart and insightful he is. And how much she needs him.

R: I also have a soft spot for the screaming muffin on page 224.

M: And how is the screaming muffin heartwarming?

R: It’s not, really, but I wanted to bring him up and wasn’t sure where else I was going to be able to fit him in. I’m sure he has his own heartwarming backstory somewhere.

M: Ok, so we’re already going off the rails here. What is the fourth thing?

4) IT HAS A STRONG FEMALE ROLE MODEL.

R: This is true. Her name is Principal Jones. She is all business and no nonsense and tough and capable and very good at her job. She runs a tight ship at Tiddlywhump Elementary. And yet she’s kind and thoughtful and isn’t dismissive of Moxie’s shenanigans. She loves Moxie, but knows Moxie needs a little tough love and gives her some. PJ is the absolute best.

M: She really is.

5) IT HAS SHINY DELIGHT ON THE COVER

R: I love shiny delight!

M: Should we tell them what shiny delight is?

R: It is shiny! And delightful! I love to run my finger across it!

M: “Shiny delight” is how Robbi refers to the glossy varnish our art director Natalie used on the cover of Two’s a Crowd to draw attention to the most important design elements. It is not actually called “shiny delight.”

R: SHINY!

M: It is called an “aqueous coating” or some such thing.

R: DELIGHT!

M: I think it’s time for the next thing.

6) KIDS CAN’T SEEM TO PUT THESE BOOKS DOWN

R: Apparently, this is true.

M: We created this series because it was exactly the book we wanted to make. We are delighted with how it turned out. But the question remained: would actual kids like it?

R: Since book 1 came out last November, many people have sent us photos of kids refusing to put down the book while eating breakfast and other photos of kids standing on one leg and holding the book with one hand while using the other hand to put on a sock. Seriously. The parents sending these photos also suggest that this is not typical behavior for their children, so it isn’t just that we happen to know a bunch of people with weird kids.

M: And then there was the boy who showed up to our talk at the Texas Book Festival dressed like Milton.

R: that was the absolute best!

M: My favorite story is from a mom of a family who was vacationing in Orlando who wrote and said that she literally had to yell at her daughter to “Put down that book so that we can go to Disney World.”

R: That is literally my favorite compliment of all time.

M: I would like to dwell on this item forever, but maybe should we do the next thing?

7) IT HAS A VOCABULARY FOCUS

R: Hm. Don’t all books have “a vocabulary focus”? That sounds like marketing speak.

M: I guess it’s librarian speak. It’s from one of the reviews. But all it means is that Moxie loves words, even ones she doesn’t quite know the meaning of.

R: Kind of like you.

M: Yes. Also, Moxie can’t spell her way out of a paper bag.

R: Kind of like you.

M: Yes. THE POINT IS, kids will encounter a lot of great words in this book. There’s a glossary in the back, with some of my favorite words from the book, as defined by Moxie herself. But the book’s website has an online dictionary with many more words.

R: Whenever a kid sends a word to us, Moxie defines it, and we add it to the dictionary.

M: I am very excited about this. I hope they keep doing it.

R: Yes, please send Matthew some vocabulary words for Moxie to define so that I don’t have to deal with his crushing disappointment (it usually involves baking him a carrot cake, and I seriously don’t have time for that).

M: The book’s website, in case you’re wondering, is www.realmccoysbook.com.

R: I see what you did there.

8) THIS BOOK HAS A COMPANION SERIES

R: It has a companion series!

M: Yes! While I was writing The Real McCoys, I came up with the Annabelle Adams, Girl Detective series. Annabelle is Moxie’s hero and role model. She is a 12-year old James Bond-esque super detective, with adventures that are loopy and weird and unexpected. There are 58 books in the Annabelle Adams Series, and Moxie has read them all 37 and ½ times.

R: I love the titles. “Not Chinatown, Actual China.” And “The Really Bad Breakfast.” And, my personal favorite, “John Hancockamaimie.”

M: So anyway, one day while chuckling over something I had written about Annabelle, Robbi shouted across the room that I should just write an Annabelle Adams book and see what happened.  

R: What happened is that he sat down and wrote the whole book in about two weeks.

M: This is true. It was so much fun.

R: It might be my favorite thing he’s ever written. It’s so weird.

M: I love it, too. And so over the past year, we’ve published it chapter-by-chapter on The Real McCoys website. Which, in case you missed it before, is www.realmccoysbook.com.

R: I see what you did a second time.

9) SO FAR, THIS SERIES HAS EARNED FOUR STARRED REVIEWS

R: This is very exciting to us but sounds kind of braggy.

M: I think we should talk about it just a little. It’s kind of a big deal.

R: We will discuss it clinically, just stating the facts! No brags! We keep trying to teach this lesson to our kids, so if it comes off braggy, please let them know so they can give the lecture back to us.

M: Ok, so here’s the facts: reviewers at Booklist, Publisher’s Weekly, and School Library Journal gave starred reviews to book 1. And School Library Journal just gave another star to book 2. Both books are Junior Library Guild selection. That is all.

10) MORE MOXIE IS ON THE WAY

M: Yes, I’m excited to say that we are currently putting the finishing touches on the third book in the series. It’s called Wonder Undercover.

R: Matthew put his finishing touches on the words for book three about a year ago. Right now I'm scrambling to meet my next deadline for the final art.

M: In Book 3, Moxie has to go undercover to infiltrate the insidious Wonder Scouts in order to help her sworn enemy investigate the dastardly doings of her other sworn enemy. It’s delicious.

R: I love the story. There are a few wonderful screaming muffin and werewolf pizza moments that remind me why I love to work with Matthew.

M: And I love what Robbi is doing with the illustrations. She’s found a new gear.

R: Unfortunately, my new gear takes longer than the old gear did. Once again, I am getting not much sleep these days.

M: I have stocked the pantry with plenty of fortifying snacks.

R: Key factors to my success.

M: Alright, well that was ten reasons.

R: We did it! Although I think we had to dig pretty deep with the Shiny Delight.

M: I think it’s pretty clear the shiny delight was part of your agenda from the very beginning. As was talking about how kids refused to stop reading the book while eating breakfast or putting on their socks. I think that was kind of braggy.

R: Come on, those were stone cold facts.

M: Once again, we are going off the rails. It’s time to wrap this up.

R: Alright. Thank you, everyone, for listening to our ten things, including the two that we have established were maybe kind of braggy.

M: If you want to know more about us, follow us on Facebook or Instagram where we post a new 60-second video every single day.

R: Do not come looking for insight.

M: We are utterly bereft of insight.

R: I can promise they are almost never braggy.

M: You can also check out our site, or our shop to browse our wares or hire us to speak at your boat christening.    

R: We have never spoken at a boat christening.

M: But we absolutely would.  

Summer Camp Reads

Looking for the perfect summer reads for your middle-grader? Check out a few new releases that focus on the summer camp experience below!

Bad Kitty Camp Daze by Nick Bruel Bad Kitty is headed for a camp experience like no other in the eleventh installment of Nick Bruel's bestselling Bad Kitty chapter book series.

My Fangtastically Evil Vampire Pet by Mo O'Hara My FANGtastically Evil Vampire Pet, the epic spin-off of Mo O'Hara's New York Timesbestselling My Big Fat Zombie Goldfish series features an aspiring evil scientist, paranormal pets, and plenty of hilarious summer camp shenanigans.

Lions & Liars by Kate Beasley Kate Beasley outdoes herself in this hilarious, whip-smart tale of brotherhood, survival, and what it really means to be a friend.

All Summer Long by Hope Larson All Summer Long, a coming-of-age middle-grade graphic novel about summer and friendships, written and illustrated by the Eisner Award–winning and New York Times–bestselling Hope Larson.

Be Prepared by Vera Brosgol In Be Prepared, all Vera wants to do is fit in—but that’s not easy for a Russian girl in the suburbs. Her friends live in fancy houses and their parents can afford to send them to the best summer camps. Vera’s single mother can’t afford that sort of luxury, but there's one summer camp in her price range—Russian summer camp. Vera is sure she's found the one place she can fit in, but camp is far from what she imagined. And nothing could prepare her for all the "cool girl" drama, endless Russian history lessons, and outhouses straight out of nightmares!

Celebrate Earth Day!

Don’t miss the incredible reads on our Earth Day reading list!

Green Green: A Community Gardening Story by Marie Lamba and Baldev Lamba; illustrated by Sonia Sanchez

How to be a Elephant by David Macaulay Studio

Grand Canyon by Jason Chin

One Day a Dot by Ian Lendler; illustrated by Shelli Paroline and Braden Lamb

The Elephant Whisperer: My Life with the Heard in the African Wild by  Lawrence Anthony and Graham Spence; adapted by Thea Feldman

When I Was a Turkey by  Joe Hutto and Brenda Guiberson

Champion: The Comeback Tale of the American Chestnut Tree by  Sally M. Walker

The Boy and the Whale by  Mordicai Gerstein

Science Comics: Volcanoes by Jon Chad

Science Comics: Bats by Falynn Koch

Science Comics: Dogs by Andy Hirsch

Science Comics: Sharks by Joe Flood

If Sharks Disappeared by Lily Williams

Bloom: An Ode to Spring by  Deborah Diesen; Mary Lundquist

Earth! My First 4.54 Billion Years by Stacy McAnulty; illustrated by David Litchfield

Pedal Power by Allan Drummond

Girl Power Graphic Novels!

We’re so super-excited to celebrate the awesome girl power-ness in graphic novels! Follow along for an appreciation of some amazing graphic novels filled with girls—and girl power—all week long! 4/23 — Novel Novice 4/23 — YA Bibliophile 4/23 — Miss Print 4/23 — Infinite Golden Floors 4/24 — The Book Rat 4/24 — A Backwards Story 4/24 — Green Bean Teen Queen 4/24 — Kid Lit Frenzy 4/25 — The Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia 4/25 — Cherry Blossoms and Maple Syrup 4/25 — Daddy Mojo 4/25 — Love Is Not a Triangle 4/26 — Librarian's Quest 4/26 — Ex Libris Kate 4/26 — Bluestocking Thinking 4/26 — The Roarbots 4/27 — Flavia the Bibliophile 4/27 — Book Crushin' 4/27 — Charlotte's Library 4/27 — Me on Books

Girl Power FTW! And share your favorite girl power graphic novels with us!

Happy National Pet Day!

The most pet-tacular day of the year is here: National Pet Day! Celebrate with the adorable children’s books about dogs, cats, and even dinosaurs!

My Pet Wants a Pet written by Elise Broach and illustrated by Eric Barclay

Dogosaurus Rex written by Anna Staniszewski and illustrated by Kevin Hawkes

All the Animals Where I Live by Philip C. Stead

My Fangtastically Evil Vampire Pet written by Mo O’Hara and illustrated by Marek Jagucki

Bad Kitty: Camp Daze by Nick Bruel

Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin

Science Comics: Dogs by Andy Hirsch

Celebrate National Siblings Day with The Real McCoys!

Can these siblings solve the crime of the century? 

Learn more at RealMcCoysBook.com!

Interview with Cilla Lee-Jenkins (Future Author Extraordinaire)

Hi. I’m Susan Tan, author of Cilla Lee-Jenkins: Future Author Extraordinaire, and Cilla Lee-Jenkins: This Book is a Classic (ON SALE TODAY!). The Cilla Lee-Jenkins series is about a 9 and a half year old mixed-race girl who knows she’s destined for literary greatness. In the newest book, Cilla sets out to write a classic — a book everyone knows. I could tell you all about it, but it seemed more fun to let Cilla tell you herself. So I sat down with Cilla for an interview. 

Interviewer: Hi Cilla. Thank you for being here today.

Cilla: It’s great to be here. Especially because you have cookies.

Interviewer: I made sure they were almond cookies — your favorite. So, how does it feel to have a new book?

Cilla: It feels AMAZING. I’m especially happy because as you can see, there’s a dragon on the cover. And pretty much everyone likes dragons (and dragon fire adds excellent drama to stories).

Interviewer: I love the dragon too (which was drawn by the wonderfully talented Dana Wulfekotte). Can you tell me what the story’s about?

Cilla: Yes! It’s all about Classics and Traditions, and it starts on Chinese New Year, when my Auntie Eva asked me to be a flower girl in her wedding. This was really exciting and special, but it also made me nervous, because there are a lot of Chinese wedding traditions I don’t know. And Auntie Eva was marrying someone who comes from what looks like a Perfect Chinese Family, and I didn’t want to let her down. So, this book is all about how I decided to learn EVERY Chinese Tradition I could, to be the best flower girl possible for her wedding.  There are lots of other adventures too. Like runaway frogs, very strange looking dogs, and an Evil Plot to steal my best friend Colleen. So get excited.

Interviewer: Wow, an evil plot?

Cilla: Yes. It’s very Dramatic. But don’t worry — it will be okay. I’d never let evil triumph.

Interviewer: That’s a relief! Now, can you offer any tips for readers out there who want to write their own stories?

Cilla: Of course! I have SO MUCH writing advice (it’s my life’s work, after all). Most important, I’d say that you should write stories that you’d like to read. So if there’s a story you really want to see, but haven’t found, you should write it. And once you do, I bet you’ll find that other people have wanted that kind of story too, and then you’ll have readers and new friends.

Also, if you tell a joke, it should make you laugh. Or if you write something sad, it should make you feel sad too (though that one’s less fun). Otherwise, how can you ask your readers to be happy or sad along with your characters? And who knows, you might even make them laugh or gasp. Or you might move them emotionally (which is a literary way of saying “cry”) which is a BIG deal, because it means your reader is really into your story.

Interviewer: Any other advice?

Cilla: Yes. I have SO MANY people who will sit and listen to my stories, and who will clap in all the right places or tell me if something isn’t quite working. (For example, if my little sister Gwendolyn yells along with my stories, I know we’re in good shape. But if she starts to crawl away or tries to chew my toes while I’m reading to her, it means that this part of the story is boring and I need to fix it). So, all of this is to say, find people who will listen to your stories, and who like making them up too. Because they make it all worthwhile, and telling stories is one of the best things in the world!

Interviewer: Thank you so much for being here, Cilla!

Cilla: Thank you for having me! Also, can I take the rest of these almond cookies home?

Interviewer: Of course. And for our readers, Cilla Lee-Jenkins: This Book is A Classic is available now!

Cilla: Bye, see you then!!

Celebrate Women’s History Month!

Looking for great books to read for Women’s History Month? Don’t miss the incredible reads on our list!

Maya Lin: Artist-Architect of Light and Lines written by Jeanne Walker Harvey and illustrated by Dow Phumiruk

Betty Before X by Ilyasah Shabazz with Renée Watson

Because I Was a Girl edited by Melissa de la Cruz

Hillary Rodham Clinton: A Woman Living History by Karen Blumenthal

Who Says Women Can’t Be Computer Programmers? written by Tanya Lee Stone and illustrated by Majorie Priceman

Who Says Women Can’t Be Doctors? written by Tanya Lee Stone and illustrated by Majorie Priceman

Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas written by Jim Ottaviani and illustrated by Maris Wicks

Sally Ride: A Photobiography of America’s Pioneering Woman in Space by Tam O'Shaughnessy

The Firefly Letters: A Suffragette’s Journey to Cuba by Margarita Engle

Beatrix Potter and Her Paintbox by David McPhail

Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu

Mary’s Monster: Love, Madness, and How Mary Shelley Created Frankenstein by Lita Judge

Marie Curie by Demi

Brave Jane Austen: Reader, Writer, Author, Rebel written by Lisa Pliscou and illustrations by Jen Corace 

The House that Jane Built: A Story about Jane Addams written by Tanya Lee Stone and illustrated by Kathryn Brown

Brazen: Rebel Ladies who Rocked the World by Pénélope Bagieu

Happy Valentine’s Day

Celebrate Valentine’s Day with these sweet picture books!

Learn more about Love, Mama by Jeanette Bradley

Learn more about Love Monster by Rachel Bright

Learn more about XO, OX: A Love Story by Adam Rex & Scott Campbell

Learn more about Words and Your Heart by Kate Jane Neal

Learn more about I’d Know You Anywhere, My Love by Nancy Tillman

Learn more about I Love You for Miles and Miles by Alison Goldberg with pictures by Mike Yamada

Learn more about Kiss, Kiss, Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen with pictures by Dan Hanna

Learn more about Little Friends: All You Need is Love by Roger Priddy

Ice Skating, Kung Fu, and Writing!

Hi. I’m Henry Lien, the author of the fantasy PEASPROUT CHEN, FUTURE LEGEND OF SKATE AND SWORD about a young girl who dreams of becoming a legend of wu liu. Wu liu is a sport I invented that combines figure skating with kung fu. For research, I, in fact, took figure skating and kung fu lessons. It was a horrible experience. My instructors were so mean. Look what they said about me in these evaluations!

Marilyn Tabata, Skating Instructor, Belvedere Ice Arena, Recommendation Regarding Application of Student Henry Lien to Advance to Intermediate Skating I

Student said he signed up for Beginning Figure Skating I through III as research for a children’s fantasy novel. But really, I think he’s doing this because he lost a bet or else he’s setting us up for a slip and fall nuisance lawsuit. Do not enroll him, he’s TROUBLE.

Shifu Jonathan Tong, Tianjing Kung Fu Academy, Evaluation of Student Henry Lien Regarding Advancement to Sparring and Weapons Training

Student Lien enrolled in basic ba gua, xing yi, & traditional wu shu classes. His stated goal of study was research for novel re: girls doing impossible combo of kung fu and ice skating.

Instructor Tabata

The problem with this guy is that he’s 110% oomph, 110% of the time, oomph coming out of his ears. At the first class, he asked, “When are we going to learn jumps? We’ll be learning serpentines of course, won’t we? I’m going to need to be assigned a bigger patch of ice to work on because of my strength.” Down, boy, down. Where’s my squirt bottle?

Shifu Tong

Student Lien arrived at first class in proper Tainjing Academy uniform, but had ordered smallest shirt size possible to show off his physique. Looked like weightlifter who raided ten year old sister’s wardrobe. Student clearly did not realize looking strong is not what kung fu is about.

Instructor Tabata

I know the type. I could tell as soon as I saw how he moved. Probably a natural athlete who spent his childhood on roller skates, but didn’t realize that ice skating is totally different. I could tell that he’d be flat on his rear end within five minutes of stepping on the ice because he was too top heavy. I.e., his head weighed a ton. In fact, he lasted less than two minutes before splat! Right in front of all the eight-year old girls in the class.

Shifu Tong

Student Lien was hardest-working student in class. First to arrive, last to leave. Drenched in sweat by end of class. Didn’t understand that’s a sign of not working efficiently.

Instructor Tabata

He tries soooo hard. After I taught the class how to do a basic snowplough stop to skid to a halt with both feet, he immediately asked when we would learn how to do a hockey stop. Because it looked cooler. And how to do it one-footed. And when we would learn to skate backwards. The girls in the class started to leave a 15-foot radius around him so they wouldn’t be taken down when he falls. Again.

Shifu Tong

Paired Student Lien with Student Gao. Student Lien seemed displeased to be paired with a young woman much smaller than him. Seemed even more displeased as Student Gao executed every jumping kick effortlessly, while Student Lien over-rotated every attempt because he was kicking too hard. Looked like he was trying to kick his shoe and sock off.

Instructor Tabata

I heard the crash but didn’t see it. I turned and saw him flat on his back. I asked him what happened. He said he tried to do a jump. A jump. When he couldn’t even reliably snowplough stop.

Shifu Tong

Mid-way through term, Student Lien started one class by forcing himself into splits during warmup. Should have stopped him. Then, on simple jump outside crescent kick, he came windmilling down, tumbling over.

Instructor Tabata

I decided to take him off the ice for the rest of the class before he decapitated one of the girls. He still didn’t have a clue that skating wasn’t about just strength and willpower.

Shifu Tong

Benched him for remainder of class. By end, his entire upper leg had started to turn purple. Clearly torn hamstring.

Instructor Tabata

He still hadn’t learned what all the rest of the students  naturally knew. Skating was about balance and flexibility.

Shifu Tong

Student Lien hadn’t learned what Student Gao already knew. Kung fu was about balance and flexibility.

Instructor Tabata

After planking on his back on the ice, and tearing his hamstring, which didn’t happen on my watch, he seemed to chill out a bit for the rest of Beginning III and he only did stuff they learned in Beginning I.

Shifu Tong

Student Lien continued to attend every class even though he could only observe while torn hamstring healed. Offered to refund him portion of tuition for classes he couldn’t participate in but he refused.

Instructor Tabata

At the end of Beginning III, I selected the girls who qualified to advance to Intermediate I. He wasn’t selected but applied to enroll anyway. So I looked him up. HE’S A LAWYER.

Shifu Tong

Student Lien explained again that his book was about children striving to master a fictitious form of kung fu figure skating. Said this novel was very important to him. Said he needed to continue studying kung fu as research because he wanted to write something to inspire kids, especially young girls, to persevere. Said he would suffer any injury or embarrassment necessary to achieve that.

Instructor Tabata

So needless to say, I recommend that we deny this guy’s application to advance to Intermediate I. Unless we really feel like Belvedere’s slip and fall insurance policy isn’t getting used enough.

Shifu Tong

Student Lien applied to advance to sparring and weapons training classes. Recommend that his application be denied. His experiences pairing with Student Gao should have taught him that kung fu is not only for the strong.

Kung fu rewards flexibility and balance, which children, especially young girls, naturally have. His failure in class should not only teach him where he is weak, but where they are strong. If his goal is to learn how to inspire the young, he has already achieved his goal. All he needs now is to realize it.

Can you believe they said these things about me? I think this is so unfair and I hope you can use this as inspiration to persevere even when jealous people say evil things about you. Because I believe in you.

Love,

Henry

PEASPROUT CHEN, FUTURE LEGEND OF SKATE AND SWORD hits shelves April 3, 2018 but you can enter for a chance to win an advance reading copy here!

The Power of Words

The following is a guest post from Kate Jane Neal, author of Words and Your Heart.

Hi, I’m Kate, and I’m a mum of four.

When my children came home from school upset by unkind things that had been said to them . . . it broke my heart. Not just for my kids but for all our children, as I knew that if this was my children’s experience, then there would be others who were also finding things tricky with peers at school.

We all react to children being bullied—possibly because most of us have, at some point in our school experience, been at one end or the other of bullying behaviour. Sadly, verbal bullying can be a very real problem for many of our children. We hope and expect our teachers to deal with the increasing tide of verbally unkind behaviour; however, our teachers are often overworked, and there are always extra pressures to deal with from all sides. To have an expectation that teachers are all-seeing, all-knowing, omnipresent beings of justice is just unfair. They do a hard job really well, and dealing with verbal bullying is like trying to juggle with sand—it becomes about who said what, and it is almost impossible to “prove,” so is difficult to discipline. Sadly, the really harmful issues of verbal unkindness can go under the radar, and our children often suffer in silence. It remains that some of our children are daily having really difficult and horrible experiences in school.

We have dealt with verbal unkindness in many ways—one if them by using the phrase “Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words will never hurt you.” This is absolute BS (Just saying!). Words can of course hurt us deeply. Words are powerful, but the really remarkable thing about words is that they can get under our skin. Words can become a part of us. If you have ever been called fat, ugly, or stupid, these type of words can wriggle into our hearts, especially if deep down we agree with them. This is especially true for young children. If we perceive that someone else’s words are true (even if they are total garbage) they can begin to define the way we see ourselves and, over time, they can become a deeply rooted belief. The thing about beliefs is that we live out of them, and as research suggests, we will consciously or subconsciously do all we can to prove our beliefs right.

As a parent there is a cry in my heart for all our children, particularly in this social media–savvy culture where kids can hide behind a device and say things that should never be said. I believe that every single one of our children deserves to be loved and to be championed into their gifts. They need to be believed in (sometimes despite their behaviour as they learn), valued, and treated with respect. All of us want our children to have a good experience at school—to have good relationships, healthy connections, to be believed in not just by their teachers but by their peers. I believe in education—teaching the mind and the heart. I believe that we get to choose the culture we want to see. I believe and hope that we can stop the harm before it starts and a good place to begin is educating children about the words we speak to each other.

I initially wrote Words And Your Heart to be used in schools to contribute to the ongoing conversation about the power of words because I believe in education and its capacity to create positive change. The book was written to help our children understand that their words are powerful—that words are, in essence, a creative force and to help children learn to use this force kindly.

I wrote this book for my family and friends. I really hope this little book helps you and yours.

Kate x

Hanukkah Traditions: Through Many Windows

The following is a guest post from Pamela Ehrenberg, author of Queen of the Hannukah Dosas.

Have you ever eaten a Turkish burmelo on Hanukkah?

I haven’t—yet. Where I grew up in suburban Baltimore, Hanukkah looked a lot like the celebrations I saw in picture books: families with the same color hair and the same color skin, lighting candles and eating potato latkes. (Though as only child, I often longed for a younger sibling to bring a bit more liveliness to our holiday!)

I had no idea that some Hanukkah menorahs in the Alsace region of France have two layers so parents and children can light candles together. Or that in Yemen, the seventh night is a special women’s holiday.

In Queen of the Hanukkah Dosas, Sadie likes to celebrate the holiday in a way that’s uniquely her own: day and night, she wears an oversized plush dreidel costume. She likes to be high up, whether on the counter or at the top of a grocery store display. And when it’s time to eat, dosas, sambar, and mango lassi are on the menu of her family’s Hanukkah celebration.

In the U.S., we’re used to the idea that there are many unique ways of celebrating Christmas, based on regional differences, cultural traditions, and family members’ ages and preferences.

But Hanukkah? There are so many wonderful Hanukkah books on the shelf, but when they’re seen all together, it’s easy to conclude that every Hanukkah celebrant needs the same color hair, same color skin, and a plate piled high with potato latkes.

Conversations about diverse books often describe “windows” into others’ experiences as well as “mirrors” to reflect readers’ own lives back to them. But no building has only one window: buildings need many windows, facing multiple directions, bringing in light from different sources. And books need lots of windows too: revealing the many unique ways to be Jewish and Asian and everything else you can be, alone and in combination—the many unique ways of being a kid.

Windows are especially important at Hanukkah (and not just for the way the window is used at the end of Queen of the Hanukkah Dosas!) It’s traditional to place the Hanukkah menorah in a window so it’s visible to people outside. Hanukkah is a holiday to be shared—whether you’re eating latkes in Baltimore, fried plantains in Colombia, or sweet precipizi in Italy. Or whether, like Sadie, you’re wearing a stuffed dreidel costume while pulverizing dal for your dosas.

Wishing everyone a year with much light, from windows in all directions!

Sources: https://www.myjewishlearning.com/jewish-and/beyond-latkes-hanukkah-around-the-world/ https://jscreen.org/blog/hanukkah-traditions-around-the-world/