here’s hoping 2026 is just one year

whatever 2026 holds i don't think anything next year will be funnier than Chicago Pope. 2025 was overall a huge stinker but Chicago Pope was an all time great B-plot

‘Asterisk’ comes from a Geek word meaning “little star.” *Greek

You know what’s a really cute word? sundae

It’s the “season of love and giving”…but this year, doesn’t it seem more like a “season of fear and taking”? Like many of you, I’ve been saddened by the human impact of draconian government budget cuts and how angry many housed Americans are at unhoused Americans. 🧵 1 of 9

I think there’s a broad hunger for this kind of shift and journalists/writers/podcasters should evangelize it aggressively. And we should say that it doesn’t need to be total: You don’t need a print newspaper to tone down the algorithm’s role in your life. mattdpearce.substack.com/p/four-big-t...

We say goodbye to actor, filmmaker and activist Rob Reiner. A dedicated storyteller with sincerity that imbued his prolific work and the causes he believed in, Reiner’s heartfelt portrayal of the human condition reminds us of the power of film and its abilities to stay with us.

The review angels are being wonderfully kind and generous to The Sweater. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

GLASS: LOOKING IN, LOOKING OUT (@candlewickpress.bsky.social) by @larissatheule.bsky.social; illus. by Victoria Tentler-Krylov will receive a starred review in the January/February 2026 #HornBookMagazine. Congratulations! #HBMag #HBStars www.hbook.com/story/januar...

★ “Offering community care alongside space to heal is the gentle model animating” the picture book THE SWEATER, a “compassionate woodland tale” from Larissa Theule and illustrator Teagan White

From this minister's op-ed: "People wanting to experience God are more likely to meet the Divine trying to shut down the Broadview, Illinois, ICE facility than we ever were in church...God does not live in our houses of worship, but...with those who are bearing the brunt of cruelty in this moment."

What's from Chicago, hates Illinois Nazis, and is holy as fuck? It's the Pope in 1982.

is it finally mueller time

THE SWEATER 2.10.2026 <3 Viking Children's Books / Penguin

Boo.

Unless I absolutely must for professional reasons, I will not be watching your nuclear war movie. I will not be watching your incredibly bleak and depressing murder show. I will not be watching your artistic despair. It’s nothing personal, I just don’t order water when I’m already bailing my boat.

Gonna talk in entomology class today about how Jewish scientists forced to work in Nazi concentration camps secretly sent fake vaccines to the eastern front and managed to kill 4,000 Nazis with typhus.

Remembering Ursula Le Guin on her birthday 🎂 📷 Dan Tuffs, 2005 "We like to think we live in daylight, but half the world is always dark, & fantasy, like poetry, speaks the language of the night."

Happy Book Birthday to @larissatheule.bsky.social & TOVE UNDER THE TREE!

Happy Book Birthday Dance to "Tove Under the Tree" written by @larissatheule.bsky.social and published by Candlewick Out in bookstores everywhere! And if you order from Books of Wonder, you can get free stickers!

Today’s Daily Cartoon, by P. C. Vey. #NewYorkerCartoons Get more cartoons and other funny stuff when you sign up for our humor newsletter: https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/vKRskx

First review, Kirkus ⭐ "An enduring reflection on seasons of togetherness and separation, in nature and in life." Illus. Tegan White 2.10.2026 www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews...

Pope Leo XIV: "I often wonder, even though the teaching of Sacred Scripture is so clear about the poor, why many people continue to think that they can safely disregard the poor." "Dilexi te"

"Those who ban books want to lock away ideas they fear. But in truth, they are trying to steal our freedom." #BannedBooksWeek honorary chair @georgetakei.bsky.social encourages all of us to stand up for the freedom to read! #CensorshipIsSo1984 youtu.be/qwtzX15AKvQ?...

If you like yelling about misuse of the passive voice, THIS IS IT.

Please join me in congratulating Woman on her appointment

We are thrilled to announce that our NEW Large Language Model will be released on 11.18.25.

ok this breakdown of AI writing indicators is incredible. Huge shout-out to the Wikipedia community for this

Were you or your kids assigned full books to read in high school English — novels, nonfiction or plays from beginning to end — or mostly shorter excerpts? We are digging into this very controversial maybe-trend and need your help: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/24/u...

“I’ll be 10 min late sorry!!!” -ashamed -fragile -unreliable “A thousand apologies. The relentless slog of time has overtaken my faculties.” -powerful -commanding -honest

In the weird, terrible moment we're all experiencing of contested reality / distorted reality / unreality, I was heartened by this wonderful Zach Helfand piece about the brilliant, heroic fact checkers of @newyorker. May they save civilization.

The opening spreads for The Sweater: A Story of Community illus. Teagan White 02/10/26

I think I'm a pretty good copy editor, and I'd say that an appropriate rate of response to copyediting should be 85 to 90 percent flat-out yes, 5 percent absolutely not, what are you thinking?, and the rest is Oh, interesting, let me do some improvements of my own.

“It is the perfect storm for educational catastrophe.” — @aaslala.bsky.social President Amanda Kordeliski 📚💙

A lovely first review for TOVE UNDER THE TREE. "Employing quirky humor and an eclectic, accepting sense of both community and individuality, Theule (Mouseboat) blurs fantasy and reality to consider themes of ecological interdependence." —Publishers Weekly www.publishersweekly.com/9781536232813

There's no such thing as other people's children.

Right after "Don't use semicolons," "Don't use adverbs," "Don't use speech tags beyond 'said' and 'says,'" and "Don't ever use the word 'that,'" my favorite piece of writing advice is "Don't listen to people giving writing advice who only ever tell you not to do things."

Reading this was a real pick-me-up.

I think the central thesis is sort of ... the way you become better at helping is the same way you get better at lots of things, which is by trying, messing up, and listening to people who explain how you might do it better. And you will still screw up, and repeat the cycle.

Stopped in my tracks by this sign pointing out the IMLS absence from #ALAAC25

THE SWEATER, illustrated by Teagan White, comes out February, 2026. It’s sweet and beautiful and I hope you will like it. www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/714047...

GLASS: LOOKING IN: LOOKING OUT is the second book in the Material Marvels series. Out Feb '26! www.candlewick.com/978153622583... @candlewickpress.bsky.social #MaterialsScience #MaterialsHistory #STEAMEducation #STEM

ARCs! 💛

This is neat. Julie writes about her design process for the cover of TOVE UNDER THE TREE. @candlewickpress.bsky.social thesketchbug.substack.com/p/tove-under...

This is my first cover reveal on Bluesky! A new era. TOVE is a young chapter book with full, gorgeous color illustrations by Julie Benbassat. Out Oct 14 with Candlewick Press. #KidLit

Soo excited for my new TBR pile! #ALAYMA

Kafka and the Doll on display at the Morgan Library as part of the Kafka exhibit.

I wrote about a Bechdel-like test that can help us consistently represent climate reality in kids book, because climate change is our new normal, and Earth’s youngest readers will never know world without it. Would love if you take a look. Thanks for having me, SLJ. www.slj.com/story/a-kid-...