This is what I’ve been up to for the last month and a half. Four final rounds of revisions for my next book, going back and forth with my editor (the amazing Christy Ottaviano!) strengthening the story, and now it’s finally DONE.

When I shared @taradairman.bsky.social putting ONE CAN BE in a Colorado @littlefreelibrary.bsky.social I forgot that @jennbertman.bsky.social also put the book in a LFL at Colorado’s WOW! Children's Museum for double the fun. #onecanbe #50states #colorado #megakidlit #booksky

Looking forward to watching the #ALAYMA this morning and cheering for my colleagues! And like always - I'm sharing my poem "What Happened to Your Book Today." A reminder of why we make books for young readers. ❤️https://katemessner.com/what-happened-to-your-book-today-a-poem-for-after-the-ala-awards/

An interview in which I offer my advice to K-12 writers! Thank you for having me on your blog, @etcharles.bsky.social!

Hey reader friends! If you’re over on Instagram, I’m doing a fun giveaway of Sisterhood of Sleuths and the Once Upon a Book Club subscription box! You can check it out here: www.instagram.com/reel/DQWvZgQ...

ONE MONTH until the book release event for my #mg #graphicnovel debut at @boulderbooks on 10/9. I hope you can join me for this event along with my editor, Kristie Choi. You can learn more about this and my book at EugeniaWangComic.com#mg#graphicnovel@SimonKids @TheTobiasAgency

In my latest newsletter, I share an update on my writing prompts, my next book, and a whole lot more. Plus I’m giving away a copy of my favorite book that I read over the summer! open.substack.com/pub/jennifer...

Today is the last day to place an order for the Once Upon a Book Club box featuring Sisterhood of Sleuths! Here is the link if you're interested: www.onceuponabookclub.com/products/twe...

Check out this treasure I found at my library—it’s the new picture book GO, BABY, GO! written by Tara Dairman and illustrated by Olivia Amoah. It’s adorable! #kidlit #picturebooks 📚👍

500 book plates signed and stamped with a lobster for Once Upon a Book Club Box! Sisterhood of Sleuths is their tween pick for September! These book boxes look so fun—along with the book, there are gifts you open as you read the story. I would have loved this when I was a kid! #kidlit 📚🧡

My 2nd picture book, GO, BABY, GO! hits shelves today! A great read-aloud for ages 3-7, or new-baby gift for runners. If you see it out in the wild, I’d love a pic 😊 Biggest thanks to wonderful illustrator @modoodles.bsky.social and lovely publisher Peachtree for bringing this book to life.

Public broadcasting is about more than content. It's about an ethos. That there need to be spaces in society that are not soaked in the logic of consumerism and profit. Where people are treated as citizens, valued for humanity and their ideas rather than disposable income. It's simple, but powerful.

Talk about The Wire, Sopranos, Game of Thrones all you want, but the greatest US television program ever made is Sesame Street. It's not even close. 50+ years of treating kids across class, ethnicity, religion not as mini-consumers...but as citizens with a stake in this world.

“I truly felt like someone backed up a truck to my imagination and stole everything that I’ve created.” —David Baldacci The Authors Guild asked Baldacci to stand before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee, and he delivered a powerful testimony. Read about it! authorsguild.org/news/david-b...

#teachers #librarians #parents #grandparents Remember playing in our neighborhoods with friends as kids? For parents interested in bringing more play into their homes, there's a new book that's a friendly guide to building a culture of play in your family. www.broadleafbooks.com/store/produc...

Left copies of two of my books in a cute Little Free Library in Boulder last night. Loved the quote on the box: What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?

All, I have a book to finish, so unless something happens (hopefully not) I'm off. But please consider this a reminder: vet your sources. We're increasingly getting our news from social media; check who's sharing something before you repost it. This is especially true for platforms like TikTok.

Take a listen and seriously consider it. While this is not an uncommon practice, I am glad people are beginning to speak up about it.

Yesterday I did a story time reading of my picture book, A GOOD DEED CAN GROW, illustrated by Holly Hatam, at the local children’s museum and it was so much fun! The kids were excited to spot some of the many hearts Holly worked into the art, we talked about kindness, and we made turtles. #kidlit

For anyone in the Lafayette, CO, area, I’ll be doing a storytime reading of A GOOD DEED CAN GROW tomorrow at the WOW! Children’s Museum at 11:00, as part of an @scbwirockymtn.bsky.social collaboration. The museum is a great place for littles and I’d love to see you there!

A female Western Gull was recorded riding 150km in a garbage truck from San Francisco to a compost facility in Central CA, probably to forage. TWICE. An innovator, an icon, a genius. This is one of my favorite @waterbirdsociety.bsky.social papers I've ever handled as managing editor #ornithology

If you’re in the SoCal area, my library system is unveiling our Filipino American Cultural Heritage Collection this Saturday, May 31! We’ve been working on it for 2 years, and have acquired books, movies, and cds in multiple Philippine dialects, along with some cultural art pieces. #library #booksky

This is the best team crossover video I've ever seen.

Find out about my S&S Fall Showcase live cast tomorrow in my latest newsletter! open.substack.com/pu... #kidlit #caricatures

Whew. May had a lot of #MGLit fantasy. Here's a Round Up, including titles by Lindseyleavitt , Jennifer Bell, Megan Kuyatt, Ben Guterson, Lynn Painter, and @aychanwrites.bsky.social ! msyinglingreads.blogspot.com/2025/05/may-...

A fabulous celebration of women’s history, perfect for 9+ readers, my review of #Shevolution by @loutreleaven.bsky.social, illustrated by @petrabraunstudio.bsky.social. Out now from @scholasticuk.bsky.social 🥰 worldssmallestlibrary.wordpress.com/2025/05/26/s...

This is a great idea, and a fabulous list of books! (I've, um, already read all but four of them.) #MGLit

I'm bring back the Middle Grade Summer Reading Bingo game I organized last summer, and I hope you'll join me! You can find more info in my latest newsletter on Substack: substack.com/home/post/p-.... #KidLit #MGLit #BookSky

Hey, there #bookposse friends! Look what @jennylundquist.bsky.social and @penguinrandomhouse.bsky.social shared with us! Get ready for some vacation reading!

Funny caption here.

No country has ever increased freedom and liberty by banning books - www.bookbanpetition.us

In Fahrenheit 451, the abolition of reading began with tech companies simplifying books into summaries that you could read in five minutes. Because people no longer engaged with the texts, they forgot how to think. Then came the book-burnings.

National Ambassadors for Young People's Literature Respond to the Removal of the Librarian of Congress buff.ly/WfKD1DD

So that AI-generated “Summer Reading List” full of made up books illustrates an important fact about AI art & writing we need to wrap our heads around. Because the easy story is “greedy corporate paper replaces humans with AI slop”. But that’s not what happened here, or in a lot of similar cases.

The pitch is never that AI will fold the laundry for us, it's always that AI will remove the good stuff from our lives. Picking a birthday present for my kid isn't a box I check, it's something I want to do, and six months later when that's the stuffy she sleeps with I get to feel good about that.

13 Incredible Middle Grade Books, May 2025 imaginationsoup.net/middle-grade... #kidlit

Oh good grief. This is what happens when we devalue expertise. Journalists, Librarians, Booksellers, Writers, literally ANYONE WHO READS could have made a real list of real books that actually exist.

Doesn't excuse anything, but certainly shows how content farms are contributing to the downfall...

Read this whole thread and DO NOT rely on AI as a research tool. For anything!

This article identifies the author of the "article" and the guy admits to using AI (and does all the time??) www.404media.co/chicago-sun-... Apparently it's a special insert in the paper that goes in a bunch of papers, not just Chicago Sun Times (according to the 404 piece).

There's a whole lot of this throughout the entire Sun-Times Summer 2025 section, I can't find most of the people or publications referred to or quoted in any of this (some of the publications exist but i can't find the cited people in them)

Absolutely ridiculous and infuriating.

Did you know I make mugs? Lots of them in fact! And you can even take one home! 🩸🖤✨ littleedenpottery.etsy.com #pottery #art #ceramics #bsnm #horror #handmade

So. You have a #MG tween reader who loves space. But you aren't sure what books to share, given our political climate. May I suggest The Countdown Conspiracy? It combines real danger and also hope for space travel, and VERY much doesn't shy away from how politically entangled it all is. 🚀 #KidLit

Love this. Here is my personal reminder note from my desk to help me keep going. ❤️

A little reminder I keep on my desk for those days when reaching a goal feels hard. Always helps me recommit and keep going. (Or “lock in” as my teen would say.)

Sat down to write this morning. This is how that’s going.

“There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.” —Edith Wharton #kindness

All excellent suggestions! Encouraging young readers requires regular effort and sets them up for lifelong success! 🥰📖 #WritingCommunity #writers #authors #parents #kidlit #reading #books #childrensbooks