ICYMI, @suzylevinson.bsky.social was interviewed on the Children's Literature podcast about her new picture book DINOS THAT DRIVE, illus. by @dharbin.bsky.social. bit.ly/4pvV6Kw Suzy reads (and sings!) her poems. Mel Rosenberg says he's "in awe" of her work. Not to be missed! #kidlit #poetry #dinos

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Many thanks to Kirkus Reviews for this enthusiastic review of BOOKS GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU! #kidlitnonfiction #kidlit #UrsulaNordstrom www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews...

Have you seen this from Popular information? “One hundred and eighty-one public libraries in Tennessee are reviewing their children’s collections after Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett (R) ordered them to remove books with LGBTQ themes or characters.” This is just nuts.

November 13 is the book birthday for🎈🎈WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE!🎈🎈 In February 1963, #Sendak mentioned to his editor, #UrsulaNordstrom, that he had a book idea about wild horses. She encouraged him to write it. Nine months later it was published. #kidlitnonfiction #kidlit #thegoodolddays #BOOKSGEFY

November is Native American Heritage Month — a time to honor the stories, traditions, and voices of Indigenous communities. 📚✨ Let’s celebrate the authors and illustrators sharing Native stories with the world. #kidlit #12x12PB

We are so thankful for this wonderful community. Please consider yourself formally invited to our forthcoming author events!

My #MG recommendations were: 365 DAYS TO ALASKA, by @cathycarrwrites.bsky.social #kidlit TWELVE DAYS IN MAY: FREEDOM RIDE, 1961, by Larry Dane Brimner #kidlitnonfiction

I'm writing my monthly newsletter and realized I didn't post my recommendations for September. For #picturebooks, they were: THE RABBIT LISTENED, written and illus. by Cori Doerrfeld HOW TO MAKE A BOOK (ABOUT MY DOG), by @bartography.bsky.social l, illus. by @sarahhorne.bsky.social #kidlit

Last weekend I was at the Prospect Agency client retreat at the Highlights Foundation near Honesdale. So wonderful to be in the midst of such warm and multi-talented creatives. Hung out with old friends, met new ones. And got a sneak peek at upcoming titles--2026 will be a great year for #kidlit!

Go Rose! #USWNT

Worth your time—by my friend @scribemarjie.bsky.social And you get to hear her read it!

@mychal3ts.bsky.social : “Book bans declare some voices, some stories, don’t deserve to be heard, to be told, and I cannot accept that,” he said. “I refuse to believe that. No voice should ever be silenced. No voice should ever be made to feel invisible.” I’m with Mychal.

Deborah Caldwell-Stone, Director, ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom, “Behind every book ban is a young reader being denied the chance to read, the chance to find out that literature is a way out to a better life, a better world, a better understanding of themselves, a way to grow and live.”

If you get a chance to hear Maria Corina Machado's reaction on the call from the Nobel committee informing her she had won the Nobel Prize for Peace 2025, I recommend it highly. (Sorry for no link, I found it on Substack.) That's how normal, humble people do it.

T-shirt du jour.

Levar Burton: “Literacy is an incubator for empathy, and absent an exposure to a wide variety of literature, you grow up in an echo chamber, in a very narrow silo of information and experience.” What he said.

Great sign in Portland: Portland isn’t a war zone. It’s a bookstore with a city around it.

🎈Happy Book Birthday🎈 to STEVIE, written and illus. by John Steptoe. John was just 16 years old when he took his portfolio into #UrsulaNordstrom. She encouraged him to write a book and use his paintings to illustrate it. Edited by UN. Pub'd in 1969. #kidlit #kidlitillustration

Thanks for posting! It's brand new. I'm waiting for my copy today. Congratulations to @suzylevinson.bsky.social !

Well done Reading Rainbow! Congratulations to @mychal3ts.bsky.social 🎈🎈🎈

It’s coming . . . #kidlit #biography #kidlitnonfiction

This made me laugh! Feeling better about my book buying habits already. #kidlit #nonfictionkidlit

🎈Happy Book Birthday🎈 to THE PIRATE RABBI, by David Sherrin, illus. by @barbaradilorenzo.bsky.social! The MC, a rabbi, who had always wanted to be a pirate, finally gets his chance. Based on a true story. Cool art! #PB #kidlit

@michellemarkel.bsky.social I like your style

I’m going today!

🎈Today is Else Holmelund Minarik’s birthday.🎈 This first-grade teacher walked into #UrsulaNordstrom’s office with a manuscript written in blue crayon. Ursula saw in it the first book for the I CAN READ! series. LITTLE BEAR, illus. by Maurice Sendak, published in 1957. #kidlit #kidlithistory

Happy 100th birthday to Ronni Solbert! #UrsulaNordstrom chose her to illustrate BRONZEVILLE BOYS AND GIRLS, a book of poems by Gwendolyn Brooks, first published in 1956. Solbert used pen and ink. Fifty years later, HarperCollins re-issued the book in color, illus. by Faith Ringgold. #kidlit #poetry

Two iconic children's books, both edited by #UrsulaNordstrom, were published on this day. In 1947, GOODNIGHT MOON, by Margaret Wise Brown, illus. by Clement Hurd. In 1952, A HOLE IS A DIG, by Ruth Krauss, illus. by Maurice Sendak. Like many of the books Ursula edited, each broke new ground. #kidlit

Teachers & librarians are facing so many book challenges & bans. We need to fight to protect the rights of kids to read what they want. Meanwhile, as the 2025-26 school year kicks in, maybe share some banned books with your own kids & teens. Here's a recent list to get started. #kitlit #bookbans

Welcome back #colour_collective Here's a quick hedgehog for #CCStrawYellow He's testing a leaf blanket for his winter slumber. #kidlitart #Colour_collective #illustration

🎈Happy 65th Book Birthday🎈 to THE SECRET LANGUAGE, by #UrsulaNordstrom, illus. by Mary Chalmers. The legendary children’s book editor wrote an #MG novel about an 8-year-old girl going off to boarding. Tantalizingly, she denied it was autobiographical, except "in some of the details.” #kidlit

Plot twist: Your favorite quiet reading spot's hours, programs, and book budget? All decided by local elections! 📖 Libraries are community treasures funded by local votes. Be the main character, and register to vote today: shorturl.at/i2Hvn #NationalVoterRegistrationDay.

If Becky thinks it’s this great, I’m in.

🎈Happy Book Birthday🎈 to HAROLD AND THE PAPER CRAYON, written and illus. by Crockett Johnson—70 years ago today! Edited by #UrsulaNordstrom. One of my book’s chapters is about how it was made. So fun to research! #kidlit

Just launched my first newsletter! A feature is #PB and #MG recommendations. This time: PBs: ANIMALS IN PANTS, by @suzylevinson.bsky.social; HONEYBEES, by Candace Fleming MGs: CITY SPIES (all 6!), by @jamesponti.bsky.social; THE WOMAN WHO SPLIT THE ATOM, by @marissamosswriter.bsky.social #kidlit

Reach your goals with a library card.

If you’re serious about writing, you should definitely check out Inked Voices for critiques. #kidkit

This has got to stop

What she said!

I’m with you on this!

Such a great ambassador! Thanks @mychal3ts.bsky.social #kidlit

You read their stories, have them read their stories. Help them! Celebrate the pages they get right. Encourage what brings them reading joy - picture books, manga, graphic novels, comics. Reading is reading! Keep at it ✨ 🧵 2/2

🎈HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY🎈 BABY, LET’S GO TO THE ORCHESTRA! By Janna Matthies, illus. by Monique Felix. Just got my copy. What a stunning cover! Janna’s rhymes are fun and Monique’s art is clever! See for yourself! #PB #kidlit

So grateful for Betsy Bird! Smart. Funny. Thought-provoking. Indefatigable. Generous. Click through to see the cover of my new book! 🎈🍾🎈 Art by Aura Lewis! #kidlitnonfiction #UrsulaNordstrom #kidlitart #MG #megakidlitfeed

THE MOUSE BUFFET is out in the world! Yay! It's Christmas in August! 🎈Congratulations🎈 to @dellarossferreri.bsky.social for this fun rhyming #PB! Illus. by #TimBowers.

Never too late to 🎈 celebrate 🎈 a Book Birthday! Congratulations! #kidlit #PB

🎈Congratulations🎈 to Laura Sassi, for her new #PB PUMPKIN DAY FOR BOO & BELLE! You can learn more about Laura and her book here. #kidlit #Halloween #nevertooearlytostartcelebratingHalloween

Good to remember!