My child this morning this morning before I’ve even had my coffee: “Mom. Did you know Formosan black bears eat corpses?” 🤦‍♀️

What did I say. Cops in NJ are showing up & flying Trump flags while helping ICE abuse protesters. White liberals need to wake up: your local cops are only too happy to bash your head in while trading chuckles with their buddies in ICE. #ACAB

🚨Ian Austin, 6-tour combat veteran, shows us his injury after NJ state police struck him with a projectile outside Delaney Hall ICE prison. "We're willing to f*cking die here!" he shouts at police. WE'RE LIVE ⬇️

I can tell the dudes I work with who use ChatGPT for everything. They’re wildly overconfident, yet have the problem-solving capabilities of a potato.

Historically, hungerstrike is a tool of last resort, when people have literally nothing else to fight back with but their own lives & bodies. That should tell you something about the desperate conditions inside Dilley (& other ICE concentration camps), that hundreds of people are doing this.

I keep seeing people saying if ICE won’t let senators or the NJ Governor into Dilley, they should show up with state police & force entry. I hate to break it to y’all, but cops will NEVER stand against ICE. They didn’t here in VT (state & local cops actually helped ICE abuse us).

Some people think it's frivolous or indulgent to make art in times of fear, tragedy, & great suffering. But those are the times it's needed most. Some small, beautiful thing could be what keeps a person going when the world is closing in around them. It takes courage to sing into the darkness.

Makes me think of this time I got into a cab, and the driver (southern white man) told me he’d been reading the Quran. I was like “Neat. Just, like, for fun?” And he said, “No. Because it’s important to know your enemy.” 😱🫣 Some people seek knowledge & understanding. Some people seek ammunition.

If Ichiban says it, it must be true.

I nominate Maggie Tokuda-Hall to be the next National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. Let’s have somebody in that role who not only loves & appreciates modern #KidLit, but who’s fought tirelessly against book bans & soft censorship (sometimes at great personal & professional cost).

Last night I was playing the song Hot Goblin, by Em Beihold. I started doing the robot and my 9yo looks at me and simply says “Respectfully, NO.” 🤣 Roasted by a 9yo.

Society wants me to be pretty. I’ve chosen stubbornly compelling.

Good morning to everyone who isn’t a fascist. And good morning most especially to the old folks who got arrested this week for sitting in at our local ICE offices. Now THAT’s how you Boomer. ✌️

Please help: What can I do about my tween’s stinky feet? It straight up smells like durian in here. I’m debating on whether to pour baking soda in their shoes.

This wonderful picture book, by Stephanie Lucianovic & George Ermos, is structured as a how-to manual for pet funerals. It’s a sweet, sad, and— at times— even humorous book for kids about death. It lets allows them the space to feel however they feel, & reassures them there’s no wrong way to mourn.

I finished my picture book dummy. Taking a short break before diving into edits, but the accomplishment it feels good.

I had a critique partner once who was writing a MG fantasy novel. He didn’t like most of my feedback (🤷🏻‍♀️). And when I suggested he read THE GIRL WHO DRANK THE MOON, by Kelly Barnhill, as a mentor text, he said “Oh, I don’t read MG novels. I don’t think they’re very good. That’s why I’m writing one.”

Look, I know I’m fixating. But Barnett’s apologies are about HOW he said, not WHAT he said. He didn’t actually retract his statement that the vast majority of #KidLit is crud. Given that he only ever praises books from 30-40 yrs ago, I don’t think he *actually* likes picture books from this century.

Yesterday I featured some of my kids’ favorites. Now here are some of mine. Some speak to the outcast child I was. Some speak to my heart now. Others are so clever that I wish I’d thought of them! But all are outstanding examples of what this medium is capable of. #BeAnAmbassador

My kids are older now, so my picture book collection isn't what it was. But here is a sampling of their favorites that I'm NOT allowed to donate EVER. Some are funny. Some lyrical. Some didactic. Some arty. Some informational. But all of them gave my kids things they needed. #BeAnAmbassador

Thing is, if Mac Barnett is going to stand by his stated belief that the vast majority of children's books are garbage, then have the guts to be more specific. Which books-- according to YOU-- are in that 5.3% of non-crud? (You're not allowed to name your own books)

He told ChatGPT he was a nazі іncel who wanted to dіe, then asked how many people you’d have to shoot at his school to get on the news. ChatGPT helped him pick his ammo, pick his target, pick the best time for the massacre, and then told him how to use the gun. Then he did. youtu.be/IbG-JGdGniY

Happy #KidLitArtPostcard Day! I’m Mili, author/illustrator, and I’m sharing a cover concept for my #MG #GN about destined dreams and finding hope in despair. Seeking representation. P.S. I love working on covers and posters. Find my work at: milifay.art #KidLitArt #KidLit #illustration #F #YA

It’s #KidLitArtPostcard day! I’m Sojung Kim-McCarthy, Korean author & illustrator based in the UK. I illustrate PB~MG✨ ✉️ [email protected] 🏡 sojungkimmccarthy.art 🏢 Susan Hawk | Upstart Crow Literary #KidLitArt #KidLitUK

It’s #kidlitartpostcard day! I’m an author-illustrator who loves texture and color and quirky stories with heart. ⚡️my portfolio: www.twofishillustration.com/my-work ⭐️ my agent is @jenrofe.bsky.social #kidlit #kidlitart

It’s #KidLitArtPostcard day, right? I nearly forgot. I’m Kelly. I’m an author & illustrator of subversive crud makes kids feel seen. ✌️ #KidLitArt www.authorkellymangan.com/portfolio Rep by: @tajmccoy.bsky.social

If you're part of the kidlit community, you probably already know our current "ambassador" declared in a new book that 94.7 percent of kids' books are "crud." It was a careless and harmful thing for someone in that role to say in this moment, and I've been thinking about where we go from here.

You're telling people not to bother studying your contemporaries. You're saying that scores of writers, illustrators, editors, booksellers, librarians, teachers, AND KIDS are wrong.

And when you spend years ignoring some of the amazing things going on in your field, and then dump on the field as a whole, it looks...pretty bad. Especially when you're the National Ambassador for the Thing You're Dumping On.

I know this is a staggering concept for white people (& cishet white dudes in particular) to grasp, but… have you ever considered that these books weren’t written for you, Mac?

Tracey Baptiste is a true ambassador of young people’s literature. She lifts up others in our community, speaks truth to power, and cares deeply about book access. Support @traceybaptiste.bsky.social. Please consider buying one of her books and sharing it with a young person. www.traceybaptiste.com

"We've taken care of everything, the words you read, the songs you sing, the pictures that give pleasure to your eye..." Reposted with alt text.

It’s teacher appreciation week, & I’m swamped with PTO requests for parents to write cards, poems, get our children to draw them pictures, bring muffins & coffee to school, etc. And while I’m not against any of that, my neurodivergent brain is extremely resistant to what feels like empty gestures.

We study history because it’s the context for our entire civilization. We study history to understand how we got here. We do NOT study history to feel good. If your requirement for history is that it has to take your feelings into account, then what you’re actually reading is historical fanfic.

Jonathan Ross. Don’t forget his name. Don’t forget his face. Don’t let him have a moment’s peace for the rest of his life.

A saw a psychologist saying, effectively, that Trump is one of those “when I go out, I’m taking everybody with me” type people. Evidence suggests his health is failing. I think he knows he’s not long for this world. And I think he has no compunctions about blowing everything up before he karks it.

“What a monster,” this guy says to me about a veteran who— in opposing the Vietnam War— testified about the innocent people he’d murdered with his superiors’ blessing. “MY dad never did anything like that!” Yeah, I’m sure your dad really would’ve told you that he murdered women and children. 🙄

Every day I become more discouraged at how increasingly unwilling or incapable people are of looking beneath the surface of things. It seems people no longer have the patience or attention span for nuance, or the base of knowledge to pick up on subtext. Which makes them so much easier to manipulate.

If at first you don’t succeed, try try again.

Are you kidding me? #KidLitArtPostcard is turning 5 this June? To celebrate, I would love for everyone to share an illustration of themselves as a kid. I'm sharing this now to give you extra time to join the fun. June 4th! Spread the word! #kidlitart #kidlit

May’s #KidLitArtPostcard comes with an assignment to draw yourself as a child. So I’m working on that today. Any guesses as to what I’ve done to horrify my grandmother so? 😄

I just reminded my partner that May 10 is Mother’s Day, and not to forget to get his mom something. His mom passed away a couple months ago. And now I feel like a perfect asshole.

It’s time for my annual Elderly Curmudgeon Tries to Buy Clothes complaint session: Why can I only seem to find pants that I either must be shoe-horned into, or pants that a family of four can live inside? Does nobody like pants that fit anymore?

God, you know what? Fuck Reddit. I’m so tired of people being casually garbage humans. I’m seriously considering just deleting all social media for good.

I just had the worst key lime pie I’ve ever eaten in my life. And the saddest part is that it came from the bakery where I work. 😬 I don’t know which of my colleagues is responsible for this monstrosity, but I do know the taste of a pie that’s been baked with malice.

🐁☁️🎈💕

Holy shit, I have NEVER been more excited for a movie.

I know there are people who did this ages ago who’ll probably look down their noses at me, but I’ve finally cancelled my Amazon subscribe & save, and in the process of trying to source our various household needs from other places. If you have good companies to recommend, I’m all ears.

So basically what I’m getting from these looksmaxxing guys is that they’d rather HIT THEMSELVES IN THE FACE WITH HAMMERS than make an effort to learn, grow, make friends, or treat women like people.