How smart are your pets? Our dog Mayo is really smart. Our other dog Noodle…not so much. Happy #kidlitartpostcard day. My name is Mark Hoffmann and I’m a kidlit author/illustrator. I am rep’d by Jenn Laughran (@literaticat) with @andreabrownlit.

Happy Book Birthday to THUNDER NELSON DOES THE IMPOSSUMBLE by @marthabee.bsky.social, that latest in the Kids in Mrs Z.'s Class chapter book series, in which Thunder finds a baby possum and brings it to school. What could POSSIBLY go wrong? (hijinx and hilarity ensue) 😜 bookshop.org/p/books/the-...

Happy Book Birthday to CHRIS MAKES A FRIEND by @alexgino.bsky.social, about a 12 y.o. bookworm who resents having to spend summer at her grandparents. She wants to chill and READ, not play outside! But when she meets a kindred spirit, an unexpected friendship blooms. 😍 bookshop.org/p/books/chri...

It's a Booklist star for SQUIRREL: HOW A BACKYARD FORAGER SHAPES OUR WORLD by @nancycastaldobooks.bsky.social! ⭐ "An entertaining examination of [squirrels’] lives and relationships with humans.” ⭐ Read the full review here @literaticat.bsky.social

I just accidentally opened “threads” and was smacked in the face with aggressive hot takes about “audiobooks aren’t reading” — ARE WE STILL TROTTING THIS OLD NAG OUT? For the love of god, let it go to pasture already, it’s *exhausted* 😭😭😭 YES, AUDIOBOOKS COUNT AS READING 😭😭😭 DON’T MAKE ME FIGHT YOU

My mom is great and I’m glad she is visiting — but also, three know-it-alls in one small house is TOO MANY. We are all arguing about how to cut carrots and AGGRESSIVELY playing Jeopardy AT each other 🥵 (Why would you ask me how I wanted to cut the carrots if you didn’t want the answer to be COINS)

Happy Halloween from Popshepsut the Sphinxadoodle! 😍

Amazon is helping fund a $300 million build of a ballroom for the White House. Independent bookstores are donating to food banks and organizations that help with food insecurity. They are not the same.

This is the face of an animal who just ate a Blackwing pencil. And she’d do it again!

Just landed after this week's school visits & turned on my phone to learn that THE TROUBLE WITH HEROES has been named one of @publisherswkly.bsky.social's Best Books of 2025! I'm absolutely thrilled and honored to be in such great company - congrats to all of the creators on this year's list!

Happy Book Birthday to @nancycastaldobooks.bsky.social and her first book for grownups: SQUIRREL: HOW A BACKYARD FORAGER SHAPES OUR WORLD! If you like entertaining and accessible nature books like those by Sy Montgomery, this is one for your TBR pile! bookshop.org/p/books/squi...

A Bard College student and Afghan asylum seeker whose family fled under threat from the Taliban BECAUSE THEY WERE WORKING ALONGSIDE THE U.S. has been taken by ICE for “expedited removal” after being called in for an asylum hearing. humanrightsfirst.org/library/huma...

It's a Booklist star for HOW TO SAVE AN OTTER by Kate Messner (@katemessner.com)! 🌟 “. . . both relatable and inspiring . . . will resonate with young readers and leave them eager for more.” 🌟 Read the full review here @literaticat.bsky.social

Apparently the Patagonian Toothfish got rebranded as “Chilean Seabass” — and now it has been rebranded AGAIN as the “Glacier 51 Toothfish” — who is its publicist?! glacier51toothfish.com

Also new this week: KEEP IT CLEAN by Don Brown, the latest in the graphic novel nonfiction series BIG IDEAS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD! This one is about the history of sanitation across centuries and around the world! This is SUCH a fun series for GN fans, get into it! bookshop.org/p/books/keep...

HOW TO SAVE AN OTTER and HOW TO SAVE AN OWL are the first two installments of a delightfully sweet new chapter book series by @katemessner.com — WILDLIFE RESCUE is about two siblings, Ivy and Ezra, who are “critter couriers” and help animals in need! Perfect for young animal-lovers! ❤️❤️❤️

New Release: AT THE EDGE OF LOST by @marthabee.bsky.social is a fast paced adventure story about a boy and his dog — best friends who are separated and must brave the odds to find one another again and make it home. The Booklist ⭐️ compared it to WHITE FANG! 😍 bookshop.org/p/books/at-t...

It's a School Library Journal star for AT THE EDGE OF LOST by Martha Brockenbrough (@marthabee.bsky.social)! 🌟 “A timely, heartfelt, and emotive adventure for fans of survival or dog narratives utilizing a quick pace to grip readers.” 🌟 Read the full review here @literaticat.bsky.social

45 Outstanding Offerings from Kate Messner, Chloe Gong, and More | Starred Reviews, October 2025 www.slj.com/story/45-out...

Maybe it was vanity, or hubris, or sheer cussedness that made me SURE I could do the “burrito method” of easily putting on the duvet cover without having to look up a tutorial. At last — rumpled, breathless, inside out and upside down in spirit — I had to admit defeat. ONE DAY I SHALL PREVAIL!

They are arriving because of the mass mobilizations and they have figured out that Twitter isn't going to be the main space to monitor activity.

Not only that. they NEED your attention. Deprive them of it and keep it moving.

Calling all Daniel Pinkwater fans! Breaking news: the cult classic, LIZARD MUSIC, just got picked up by MGM with Dwayne Johnson as the Chicken Man! Congratulations @danielpinkwater.bsky.social and @bowedtie.bsky.social on this adaptation! Link to Variety article @literaticat.bsky.social

We went to a different part of the park than usual and noticed an octagon-shaped structure that is evidently called a “Gaga Pit” for playing “Gaga Ball” — I am pretty confident that is not and has never been a game in my world, which means we must have found a pocket dimension / alternate timeline??

🎉 Congrats to SPACE CASE: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL on making another return appearance on the indie bestsellers list this week! 🎉 We are beyond proud of @wardjenkins.bsky.social for illustrating this! @literaticat.bsky.social

Hollywood News! @bowedtie.bsky.social’s adaptation of @danielpinkwater.bsky.social ‘s classic LIZARD MUSIC is one step closer to the big screen! It’s gratifying to see the care and enthusiasm thats already gone into the project, and I can’t wait to see what’s next. 🦎🎷 variety.com/2025/film/ne...

Jennifer: all due respect but you do NOT have time to keep replying to racist whackos in the comments on your town newspaper’s Facebook page. GET IT TOGETHER! (tough love message to myself)

Listen I love Sandra Oh, but she and Meredith Grey have full responsibility for “you’re my person 🥹” entering the common parlance, and I need them to take accountability for that. It’s TOO MUCH. No, you Love is Blind dingdong, this other dingdong you have known for 24 hours is NOT “your person 🥹” 😤

I am so thrilled to share the cover for THE WISE PICKLE, written by Sarah Howden and published by Tundra. This delightful story follows a pickle who mysteriously appears in front of a dry cleaner's, slowly desiccating and telling wisdom to animals. Available June 2026.

It's a 💫third💫 star for NUNU AND THE SEA by @isabellakung.bsky.social! This time from The Horn Book! 🌟 “This sensitive, engaging book acknowledges overwhelming feelings and offers a compassionate nudge toward healthy coping mechanisms.” 🌟 @literaticat.bsky.social

It's a #BookBirthday for NINA & THE KEEPER OF THE KEYSTONE by @momteacherwriter.bsky.social ! Part of a super fun MG fantasy series in which Nina and her friends get advice from historical figures via a magical mailbox. Perfect for the 8-12 year old REBEL in your life! bookshop.org/p/books/nina...

It's a #BookBirthday for NUNU AND THE SEA! This gorgeous picture book by @isabellakung.bsky.social is about a little girl with BIG emotions. It's a masterpiece! Don't believe me? Welp, it has THREE starred reviews, you can read them yourself! bookshop.org/p/books/nunu...

👋 I'm Mark Hoffmann. I love writing & illustrating silly & cute books. Interested in picture books, board books, middle grade & kids' editorial I'm rep'd by @literaticat.bsky.social at @andreabrownlit.bsky.social 🎨: www.studiohoffmann.com #PortfolioDay #KidLitArt #KidLitlllustration #illustration

I just remembered how, at my elementary school in the 80s, one of the teachers would PIN A TAIL ON YOU if you tattled on somebody, even if they were bullying you. (The bully would NOT get in trouble.) I get “don’t be a snitch” but there’s gotta be a line! Anyway, the olden days weren’t that great.

The people on this season of Love is Blind are just… so unbelievably smooth-brained I can’t even 👀 I’m not saying the other seasons have been full of Nobel Laureates or anything but like whoa 😳 if you want to *aggressively* not think, this is the show for you

It’s hard to convey just how big and ambitious and gorgeous (and literally HEAVY) this graphic novel about Salem is 😭 I’m obsessed with Giles Corey so I’m IN. MORE WEIGHT: A Salem Story by Ben Wickey, published by @topshelfcomix.bsky.social

It's a Bulletin star for NUNU AND THE SEA written and illustrated by Isabella Kung (@isabellakung.bsky.social)! 🌟 “A metaphor for readers, showing them that like a house, a heart can repair and heal with time.” 🌟 Read the Full Review here @literaticat.bsky.social

I’m doing a module about workplace violence for the bookstore and there is a lot of talk about HORSEPLAY. I haven’t seen this term since I was a kid, one of the posted rules at the swimming pool was NO HORSEPLAY. HORSEPLAY doesn’t even feel like a real word anymore. HORSEPLAY🐴

It's a Kirkus star for NIGHTMARE JONES by Shannon Bramer, illustrated by Cindy Derby 🌟 “Delicious poetry paired with haunting art speaks with authority to the darkness so many kids crave.” 🌟 Read the Full Review here @literaticat.bsky.social

It's a Kirkus star for NUNU AND THE SEA written and illustrated by Isabella Kung (@isabellakung.bsky.social) 🌟 “Captivating. An emotional journey of epic proportions.” 🌟 Read the Full Review here @literaticat.bsky.social

And if you order from @bookshop.org today/tomorrow, there is free shipping on all orders! 😍

Happy Book Birthday to the newest in @katemessner.com ‘s HISTORY SMASHERS series! Mummies and Pyramids and Scarabs, oh my!

Happy (SCARY) Book Birthday!

Oohhh....the @publisherswkly.bsky.social holiday gift guide is out! Thrilled to see our new chapter book series WILDLIFE RESCUE on the list - and @laurelsnyder.bsky.social's terrific THE BOOK OF CANDLES, too! www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

Jovial CVS lady, to people in line: “hey, whose here for a vaccine? I’ve got bags of popcorn for people getting vaccines!” Woman snorts derisively — “You’d have to give me a lot more than that!”’ Vaccine lady: “how about 2 bags of popcorn?” 😀 Woman: “NOT FOR A MILLION DOLLARS!” 👹 dang lady ok!

Calling all artists! #ABLArtFest starts today! The prompt for the week of October 1: 🍂 FALL FESTIVITIES 🍁 Don’t forget to tag us @andreabrownlit.bsky.social and use the #ABLArtFest hashtag! We’re excited to see your art!

According to the dentist, I have a very “quiet mouth” 😇 Little does he know! 😈

Sept 15- Oct. 15 is Hispanic Heritage Month! While we love reading & sharing Latine and Hispanic stories all year long, today we wanted to take an extra moment celebrate some of the Latine and Hispanic authors and illustrators in our ABLA family. ¿Cual de estos libros te interesó mas? Let us know!

Ask the Agent Q of the Day, in which I talk pitch events! TL;DR — they can be fun! But they don’t hold a candle to querying in terms of success rate, and they aren’t a replacement for that. DO IT IF IT IS FUN FOR YOU, but it’s not worth mental anguish / stress. www.tumblr.com/literaticat/...

You know what? Not bad! Pros: Nicely seasoned, good flavor, filling, comforting. Actual visible pieces of bacon on beans. Cons: Somewhat mushy (as microwaved things often are), and the breading totally fell off the steak. Is it going to PROLONG your life? No. But it’s $5 and it won’t kill ya.