OUR 2026 SCHOLARSHIP WINDOW IS NOW OPEN! Boyds Mills offers scholarships each year thanks to the generous support of our community! Apply now! 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗼𝘄 January 22 – February 9 Click the link in our bio for all the details!

Publisher Preview: Red Comet Press (Spring & Fall 2026) afuse8production.slj.com/2026/02/05/p...

"Make believe. What a wonderful phrase for the active commitment we make to fiction. It’s most commonly used to describe the way kids play." lookingatpicturebooks.substack.com/p/an-excerpt...

Happy World Read Aloud Day! #kidlit

Agents & Editors requested humor & horror at the 2026 #SCBWI NYC Conference. All attendees for this Indiana SCBWI Spooky Webinar will have an agent submission opportunity. #kidlit #kidlitart Register now: www.scbwi.org/events/stay-...

Nosy Crow Publisher Preview (Summer 2026) Creepy, Spooky, Fun List! #kidlit afuse8production.slj.com/2026/02/03/n...

The official press release for the #Comics4Liam project! comixaction.com/2026/02/02/c...

The Department of Justice has demanded voter files from nearly every state and is suing those that refuse — despite states’ authority over voter rolls and elections. Here's what you need to know:

With federal agents storming the streets of American communities, we decided to write a guide on what to do if ICE invades your neighborhood. There’s no single right way to approach a dangerous moment, but there are steps you can take to stay safe. www.wired.com/story/what-t...

Daring to Make a Difference: Five Characters Fighting For Justice The activist titles in this list are glimmers of light in the darkness, illuminating ways young characters can make a difference in their worlds. fromthemixedupfiles.com/daring-to-ma...

Writing #kidlit

Agents & Editors requested horror & humor at the 2026 #SCBWI NYC Conference. All attendees for this Spooky Webinar will have a submission opportunity. #kidlit #kidlitart Register now: www.scbwi.org/events/stay-...

Tips for capturing sensory details and emotional impressions while in the field #kidlit www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCbS...

Teachers! Librarians! Writers! Don't miss this amazing interview about nonfiction craft. tinyurl.com/554v86nk @kirstenwlarson.bsky.social @dheiligman.bsky.social offer so many pearls of wisdom. #TLsky #Skybrarians #kidlit #nonfiction #edusky

Care for your neighbors. The man who sells you fruit. #iceOUT www.npr.org/2026/01/29/n...

January 2026's new Young Adult releases include a queer sci-fi enemies to lovers romance (IF ALL THE STARS GO DARK), a cozy fantasy romance (A BARISTA'S GUIDE TO LOVE AND LARCENY), and a beloved sapphic romance rerelease (HER NAME IN THE SKY). Learn more! bit.ly/49d4lcW #newbooks #books #edusky

Congratulations to our 2026 Youth Media Award Winners & Honors! Find out more about our these incredible books at the link! tinyurl.com/2hmzk89y @fineangeline.bsky.social, @adinaking.bsky.social, @vanlieshoutstudio.bsky.social, @juanamartinezn.bsky.social @alyssacolman.bsky.social

I'm attending No Kings's event, “Eyes on ICE: Document and Record” - sign up now to join me! www.mobilize.us/indivisible/...

NEW: The story of America’s largest national strike for 100 years. Here are the biggest protests from Jan 30, 2026. And national news still did their best to ignore the scale of what happened yesterday. Soundtrack courtesy of The Boss 💪

At least 3,800 kids, including 20 infants, have been detained since Donald Trump returned to office.

I hear your voice #IceOut www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDaP...

Trump sending federal troops into American cities is not keeping us safe.

A Rare Bird can do anything! Fly fast through the forest, or splash in the bird baths, or meet animals from faraway lands….. afuse8production.slj.com/2026/01/28/a...

A lot of people gathered tonight outside the Department of Veterans Affairs in D.C. for a vigil memorializing Alex Pretti, who worked as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital.

Renée Watson won the John Newbery Medal for her novel All the Blues in the Sky (Bloomsbury). Cátia Chien won the Randolph Caldecott Medal for Fireworks (Clarion). Legendary Frybread Drive-In: Intertribal Stories won the Michael L. Printz Award. www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

Join us February 14 at 10am ET for an interactive webinar led by Stuti Telidevara with Park, Fine & Brower Literary Management, as we delve into the secrets of age-appropriate suspense, from tension that tingles to jump scares that spark giggles. #writehorror4kids www.scbwi.org/events/stay-...

Don’t obey in advance. Pulling books “just in case” teaches power what it can take. Libraries should stand firm, not shrink. Don’t pre-ban. #FreedomToRead #StopBookBans

Agents & Editors requested horror at the SCBWI NYC Conference. All attendees for this spooky Webinar will have a submission opportunity. #kidlit Register now: www.scbwi.org/events/stay-...

Snow much fun! 🐼❄️ Giant Pandas Bao Li and Qing Bao played in the snow at Smithsonian’s National Zoo yesterday🥺 🎥: Smithsonian National Zoo

Who’s running for Indiana’s congressional, legislative seats

Welp, #kidlit world, you know what to do.

History teachers across the country and at every grade level should organize a teach-in this week by having students explore the Boston Massacre as part of the #America250 commemoration.

TONIGHT: Join the mass call on documenting and recording law enforcement encounters. We’ll discuss how you can keep taking action as federal agents terrorize our communities. Using our constitutional right to document and record ICE & CBP is more important than ever: www.mobilize.us/nokings/even...

#Storystorm 2026: Snow Day!

Before speaking with two armed men at the Pretti vigil last night, a man approached & asked if I was going to tell the truth. I said yes. He told me how frustrated he was at the media & the harm it’s causing to his community. I asked if he wanted to share words for the media on camera, & he did:

This is Alex Pretti.

According to its new privacy policy, TikTok now collects more data on its users, including their precise location, after majority ownership officially switched to a group based in the US. www.wired.com/story/tiktok...

We need to move away from every publisher releasing another version of a competitor’s bestseller, and instead invest in originality, responsiveness and relevance. #kidlit www.thebookseller.com/comment/what...

We Need Diverse Books Announces ‘Unbanned’ Initiative This will provide 20 under-resourced schools, including in the book banning hotspots of Texas and Florida, with diverse titles by censored authors. #kidlit www.diversebooks.org/programs/unb...

Pick up the nearest book. Turn to page 42 and post the second sentence. The far end of the foyer opened into the bar, and there two dozen of the Ilium Works' bright young men, identical in their crew cuts and the tailoring of their tuxedos, surrounded two men in their middle fifties.

Best Nonfiction of 2025: A Roundup of Lists tinyurl.com/yy2c5vzu #TLSky #SchoolLibrary #EduSky #SchoolLibrarians #TLSkyChat @fuse8.bsky.social @ncte.org @ala-booklist.bsky.social @slupodcast.bsky.social @slj.com @thehornbook.bsky.social @txlib.bsky.social @scifri.bsky.social

Warming temperatures are forcing Antarctic penguins to breed earlier and that's a big problem for two of the cute tuxedoed species that face extinction by the end of the century, a study said. https://to.pbs.org/49Jiy0m

#SCBWICanadaEast is hosting Bookish: a Virtual Book Club on Jan. 21 at 7 pm ET. This month: Parallel Narratives. Parallel narratives with text and illustrations can be very satisfying—especially when they finally intersect! Register for free at www.scbwi.org/events/booki... #SCBWI #CanKidLit #kidlit

As the young protagonist visits Grandad’s art studio, first-person text sets the scene: “the trill, cheep, chirp of birdsong drifts through the open window, mixing with the bop, tap, clap of Grandad’s jazz.” #kidlit www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-593-57...

We live in a storytelling moment deeply fascinated by darkness—and for good reason. Stories have always descended into shadow to help us metabolize our fear, trauma, and moral failure. - K.M. Weiland #kidlit www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/sense-of-won...