September 2022

Upcoming September Program

A Zoom Conversation with Author & Poet Margarita Engle

Thursday, September 22nd, 1 p.m. (via Zoom)

Our September meeting will be a conversation with Cuban-American author and poet Margarita Engle, most recently the author of a novel in verse, Singing with Elephants, a powerful story about the friendship between a young girl and Poet Gabriela Mistral. 

Her novels and picture books have garnered many awards including the NSK Neustadt Prize, three Astrid Lindgren Award nominations and multiple Pura Belpré awards among others, and she was the first Latine person to receive a Newberry Honor for her book The Surrender Tree. She was selected by the Poetry Foundation to serve as the sixth Young People’s Poet Laureate from 2017-2019.

Margarita was born in Los Angeles to an American father and a Cuban mother. Summers spent in her mother's homeland during her childhood gave her a deep bond with Cuba, which has inspired many of the stories she has written. She currently lives in Central California with her husband. (Photo Credit: Marshall W. Johnson)

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From Guild President Jason Wells

Hello Children's Book Guild members.

I am thrilled to be the new president. I want to thank Erica Perl and everyone who worked with her during what was one of the most transformative periods in our history. Behind the scenes, Erica led an effort to strengthen our functions and for the upcoming year we will continue to do that. We expect virtual meetings to continue, but we will also want to get all of us together in person at least once, if not a few times. We have a fantastic group of people handling everything from programming to the newsletter, the website, and much more. Please feel free to contact me if you have ideas for the organization. Here's to a terrific end to 2022 and to what lies ahead for us all in 2023.

Jason

Members’ Books Set in Mid-Atlantic

Guild members Pamela Ehrenberg and Laura Melmed, with web help from Alan Hechtkopf, have updated the list on the Guild website that was originally created by Laura to highlight Guild members’ Books Set in the Mid-Atlantic Region: DC, MD, VA, as well as Delaware, NY, NJ, and Pennsylvania. Many thanks to those who submitted updates and suggestions! Feel free to email Pam and/or Laura (PamelaEhrenbergAuthor@gmail.com; LauraMelmed@gmail.com) with additional titles to add; please format like the ones currently on the list and include a high-resolution JPG of the cover image. We'd also love to hear your thoughts (with thanks to those who have weighed in!) about whether a bookmark and/or other written material would be effective in sharing this unique-to-the-Guild resource. Many thanks in advance for your thoughts and for helping to get the word out!

Member News

Guild members Mary Amato (author) and Rashin Kheiriyeh (illustrator) collaborated to create Perfect Partners (Reycraft Books 2022), a new picture book. Cat wants a painting partner and assumes it has to be another cat. But when she joins the Artist Club, she finds that her perfect partners-in-art are actually . . . well, you'll need read it to find out! In teaching news, this fall Mary Amato is offering a playful yet rigorous online writing course through The Writer's Circle (NJ) that will involve a deep dive into four different prompts in four different genres. Email Mary at info [at] maryamato [dot] com for more information.

Fred Bowen appeared at the National Book Festival on Saturday September 3rd. He and award-winning illustrator James E. Ransome were speaking about their latest book, Hardcourt: Stories From 75 Years of the National Basketball Association.

Moira Rose Donohue is pleased to report the August 2022 release of her book from Abdo. It is part of the Core Library of US States, Virginia, and is intended for grades 4-8.


The Italian rights to Lezlie Evans’ book I'm a Feel-o-saur, Dinosaurs Have

Feelings too! recently sold. This title is also being distributed in Australia at The Big W (like our Target chain) as well as in New Zealand, which makes Lezlie a Happy-saurus! Lezlie's title Finding Christmas will be making its way to bookstore shelves this fall in softcover as well as hardcover. The newly released softcover will be out in September.

Claudia Friddell is excited for the October 11th release of her new narrative nonfiction picture book with Calkins Creek—Road Trip! Camping with the Four Vagabonds: Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, and John Burroughs. Jeremy Holmes’ quirky 3-dimensional paper cut illustrations transport young readers back in time for a whimsical peek into the real-life road trip adventures of the American icons who spent their summers together exploring backroads and pioneering recreational camping.

The first two books in Laura Gehl's new Ruby Celebrates! series released in August. The Rosh Hashanah Recipe and The Hanukkah Hunt, both illustrated by Olga and Aleksey Ivanov, are humorous stories featuring Ruby's large, diverse, joyful multigenerational Jewish family. Two more books in the series will release early in 2023.

Gareth Hinds invites Guild members into his weekly meditation group for folks in the industry. Gareth and other authors who are experienced meditators from different traditions lead the group. More information and a signup form can be found here.

Kitson Jazynka had her 15th story published in the New York Times for Kids in the Sunday Times on August 28, since the special section launched four years ago. If you've never seen these super-fun and highly illustrated pages (published by the NYT Magazine) look out for the pull-out section in the print edition (only) of the last Sunday of every month. Also fun to follow on Instagram!

Terry Jennings will be doing her very last event for The Little House of Hope at Scrawl Books at the Reston Town Center on Saturday, September 24th at 11:00am. She says, "We will be serving Pastelitos de Guayaba and playing Immigrant Bingo with prizes. Hope folks who have grandkids can come and join in the fun."

Jacqueline Jules is excited to share the September release of The Porridge Pot Goblin by Apples & Honey Press. This modern version of Eastern European folklore includes a working single mom and two siblings who want to let her rest while they get ready for Shabbat. But first the kids have to dispatch a pesky goblin on their own, which takes ingenuity, cooperation, and courage. An end note explains the Jewish origin of goblins.

Brenda Seabrooke shares that her new book Sherlock Holmes: The Persian Slipper and Other Stories, nine stories published by MX in London, will soon be published. A portion of the royalties will go to the upkeep of Undershaw, a school for children with special needs in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s former home in Surrey.

Susan Stockdale’s book and print sale will be held on Saturday, September 24th from 7-9:30pm at St. Columba’s Episcopal Church, 4201 Albemarle St NW, Washington DC, as part of the Tenley Circle 2022 Art All Night Celebration.

Georgia O’Keeffe’s time in New Mexico and the paintings she created that were inspired by the region solidified her legacy as one of the most famous American modernists. But did you ever wonder how an artist like O’Keeffe found her inspiration to begin experimenting with new and different color schemes and compositions? Joan Waites' A Bone for Bo; Painting with Georgia O'Keeffe, which comes out in October, hints at how O’Keeffe may have found her fresh perspective in the Red Hills of New Mexico by imagining the relationship between the famous painter and her dog.

An Open Book Foundation will participate in District Hunt, a DC-based scavenger hunt held October 1-10. This annual, themed event highlights the work of area nonprofits, and is put together by DC nonprofit Game Genius. This year's theme is "literacy." Guild members can play in two ways: against other teams on October 1 or on your own time between October 2-10. This year's game is called "The Wordsmith’s Wriddle.” The event directly supports Game Genius' play-based mission while promoting local organizations in the DMV region. Click here for ticket information. AOB invites Guild members to use the discount code (PARTNER22) to waive registration fee.