Author Archives: Kell

Announcing THIS OR THAT: A BOOK ABOUT DECISIONS

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Just as I was ready to throw in the towel on my writing career, I am gobsmacked to announce that I will have a new picture book after all. Tilbury House Publishers has bought rights to THIS OR THAT: A BOOK ABOUT DECISIONS, illustrator to be named, for release in 2021.

Here’s what it’s about:

Alexander Levine hates making choices, but not making up his mind means he usually misses out. For his birthday, he has a plan for a day without choices, but that turns out to be a big mistake.

“We’ll make you proud,” my new publisher said when I agreed to our terms. I’m already proud. I’m so thrilled to be working with Tilbury House, which produces beautiful books for children and adults. It was an easy decision!

Fun fact: Although Tilbury House does take email subs, for some reason I chose to submit via paper. I even included the requisite self-addressed stamped envelope for my rejection. Needless to say, that’s one envelope I’m happy never to see again.

Finalist in Early Childhood Book Challenge!

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Swing, sing! The City's Backyard. Illustration by Marc Akins
Swing, sing! The City’s Backyard. Illustration by Marc Akins

The contest started with a question:

How might we inspire children and their caregivers to read together?‍

The William Penn Foundation, a Philadelphia family foundation devoted to education for low-income children, a sustainable environment, creative communities and civic life, partnered with innovation gurus OpenIDEO to enlist early childhood, literacy, and writing creators to write and illustrate stories set in an urban environment like Philadelphia for parents and caregivers to share with children and babies ages 0-3 to develop early language skills.

Philly, books, reading, babies, kids, education? Philanthropy and innovation? I was in! I was so inspired a wrote a story just for the challenge. I was so inspired I even made it rhyme!

Now I can finally announce that my manuscript, The City’s Backyard, was chosen as one of 10 finalists in the contest. I worked with illustrator Marc Akins (a fellow Philadelphian!) to revise and submit the story to the William Penn and OpenIDEO team. We didn’t win, but it was an honor to work with Marc and the Early Childhood Book Challenge team.

I’m proud of this story about a long, happy day in a city park like the Fairmount Park system, one of Philadelphia’s greatest treasures.

I desired dragons

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I desired dragons above all things. JRR Tolkien

“I desired dragons above all things. Of course, I in my timid body did not wish to have them in my neighborhood, intruding in my relatively safe world, in which it was, for instance, possible to read stories in peace of mind, free of fear.“

J.R.R. Tolkien, On Fairy-Stories, 1947

Writer Friends

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Emidio_AngeloMutual admiration, mutual criticism, mutual support —  I’m my writer friends’ biggest fan.

emidio angelo-kid stuffThese framed cartoons in Penn Wynne Library, my home away from home which was recently renovated, were created by Emidio Angelo for Penn Wynne’s last renovation in 1989. Angelo (1903-1990) was a cartoonist for the Philadelphia Inquirer, and the two Victorian women pictured here are Emily and Mabel, the stars of his 1950s syndicated strip.

 

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Favorite Children’s Books of 2016

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Today I’m posted as part of a blog party hosted by the wonderful Eileen Manes, a picture book writer who blogs at Pickle Corn Jam. Ten of us are writing about one of our favorite books of the year — here’s mine! At the bottom the post, you’ll find links to the other blogs.

One of my favorite books when my children were small was City Animals by Simms Taback. I had always wondered about early childhood’s obsession with farms. Why is it necessary for babies to know that cows moo and pigs oink? Most of them won’t encounter these animals in everyday life. Why is this somewhat anachronistic knowledge is among the very first things we impart?

That’s why I loved Taback’s lift-the-flap book. After three clues, these animals revealed itself. I’m a PIGEON! I’m a SQUIRREL! I’m a MOUSE!  These were the animals that my inner-ring-suburban children were likely to encounter (they encountered the mice with far more delight than I did).

This year’s City Shapes, written by Diana Murray and illustrated by Bryan Collier (Little, Brown. June 2016) does the same reimagining to the classic shape book that Taback did for animals, and it elevates it. Shapes can be well, two-dimensional, but this book is anything but.

The young girl in City Shapes encounters CIRCLES, SQUARES, and TRIANGLES in her own city neighborhood in Murray’s flawless rhyme and Collier’s gorgeous realistic watercolor and collage illustrations. These shapes move and live, and these words are vivid and playful.

I love the specificity and sense of place here,  I’d like to see similar journeys in more diverse, real places with other children.

But in the meantime, there’s even a pigeon!

“the pigeon flies back through the night cityscape/as city lights sparkle, SHAPE after SHAPE./But her heart starts to ache for the SHAPE/she loves best./The SHAPE that is home—/her warm CIRCLE nest….”

And now for the other writers and their picks for favorite children’s books in 2016:

Ready for the rest of our 2016 recommendations? Just follow the links! 

 

 

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New Review Roundup, Featuring Mira, Em, and Ada Twist, Scientist

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Mira Forecasts the Future has had a flurry of new reviews, especially from the UK, including a great review from BookTrust, which promotes literacy and reading among children and awards the Bailey Women’s Prize for fiction, and a three-book review featuring the wonderful Ada Twist, Scientist and The Way to Outer Space.

Here’s a roundup.

“This deceptively simple picture book not only gives youngsters a basic introduction to understanding how weather works, but also celebrates individual difference and talents – and shows how failure can be something positive if it is used as a learning experience.” – BookTrust (UK)

“…a heartwarming story. A lovely book to sit and read to your children and a great stepping stone into the world of science. ” – Chantelle Hazelden, Mama Mummy Mum

“One of our absolutely favourite reads from over the summer was Mira Forecasts the Future … Little Miss loved it so much I didn’t complain when she asked for it two or three times … a great structured story” – Amy Marie, Cocktails in Teacups

“Meet Ada Twist, Scientist, Mira, and Em”: Three new picture books featuring diverse science girls – Jill R. Bennett, Red Reading Hub, on Ada Twist, Scientist, and The Way to Outer Space

Science Girls, The Way to Outer Space, Ada Twist, Scientist, and Mira Forecasts the Future

Hooray for science girls, including The Way to Outer Space, Ada Twist, Scientist, and Mira Forecasts the Future

 

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Summer Is What You Make: Resources and a Review

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Summer is what you make. Mira Forecasts the FutureSummertime can be a time for academic slide or for exploration of all kinds of new and favorite interests. Summer is what you make it — and it’s also what you make.

Download Mira’s activity kit for your kids with games and activities — include make-your
-own-pinwheel.

Watch a video review from the Awesome Annie Show to see how she (and her mom) are inspired by Mira Forecasts the Future.