T-minus one day to launch!! 🚀 (St. Paul, MN) #writingcommunity #scbwi #kidlit

Great big Friday thanks to @viviankirkfield.bsky.social for her #PictureBook review! 📕 💜 Comment in the link to enter for a #free #book copy. @esckeyes.bsky.social viviankirkfield.com/2026/05/08/p...

Less than a week to go before book launching! 🚀

Can you help me brainstorm questions people might ask at bookstore events beyond, “How did you get started writing?” or “Why did you write this book?” Red Balloon Bookshop launch 5-12-26 Wild Rumpus story time 5-23-26 Niche Books story time 6-20-26 #WritingCommunity #SCBWI

That moment you realize your outfit makes you look like a certain #celebrity…

Sick day today. 🤮 Trying to make the best of it with a little 🎨 #art play.

Great workshop today by @kfjbooks.bsky.social! We created collage art related to specific manuscripts in progress. Mine motivated me to power through a tricky spot. Onward! ✂️ ✍️ 📚 #WritingCommunity #KidLit

How’s a #writer supposed to get anything done with the first TICKS of the season making their debut? 😟

A hearty shout-out to Vicki Palmquist for her detailed book review for A FOREST BEGINS ANEW! vickipalmquist.substack.com/p/a-forest-b... 🌲 🔥 🌱 🌼

Can anybody identify these creatures that lie in the thousands under my garden’s leaf litter? Hoping they’re harmless detritivores! #Organic #Gardening

Spotted in the wild: Pickles and Paradise by local author Kristin Johnson, at a school book fair hosted by Red Balloon Bookshop. 🎈 📚 💜

Thank you, EXPO Elementary, for hosting my #author visit to kindergarten & grades 2, 3, & 5! The marvelous Mark Ceilley again coordinated everything like a pro. Astra Books for Young Readers #schoolvisits #WritingCommunity

Your interview brought back college disco memories! 🕺

Huge thanks to Mark Ceilley and Greenleaf Elementary for hosting my author visits with twelve fabulous classes! @markceilley.bsky.social #WritingCommunity #KidLit

I got to be a guest #author in St. Paul for curious 1st, 4th, and 5th graders! They had great questions and enthusiasm. #WritingCommunity #KidLit

Thanks so much, Jill Esbaum, for today’s feature on Picture Book Builders! Check it out here: picturebookbuilders.com/2026/03/a-da... #PictureBooks #WritingCommunity #KidLit

Great new #PictureBook by Abby Cooper at Niche Books today! Perfect gift for #BabyShowers and young families.

Save the date for my book’s birthday party at Red Balloon Bookshop in St. Paul! 🎉😁 Preorder copies or RSVP for this free event at: redballoonbookshop.com/event/2026-0....

Would YOU walk under this roof overhang? ❄️ #Blizzard #SnowDay

Big shout-out to Tonja Drecker for reviewing my #PictureBook on her fabulous Bookworm for Kids blog! Read here: www.bookwormforkids.com/2026/03/a-fo... #WritingCommunity

Free #library class + bad #art = #relaxation

WARNING: Undignified babble ahead! 😂 Elly MacKay @AstraKidsBooks Emily Keyes Astra Books for Young Readers #KidLit #WritingCommunity

So many weird emotions before my first opening! 📚 📦 😂

Something has arrived!!! 📚 #KidLit #WritingCommunity #AstraBooksforYoungReaders @Emily Keyes @AstraKidsBooks

You know it’s gonna be a good day when you go to work dressed as your favorite #book character. I’m the homely kitten from the oldest American #PictureBook still in print. 🐈‍⬛ 📕 💜 #WritingCommunity What would yours be?

This morning’s #research rabbit hole: thermoregulation in #bumblebees, and how to use the pertinent info in a way a five-year-old would understand. 🐝 📕 #WritingCommunity

I LOVE this book, can’t wait to read the post.

Looking forward to reading this!

🥹 Read the full review here: www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews... @esckeyes.bsky.social

I got the BEST feeling today when a #teacher told me that her kindergartners, after my visit, were telling each other they want to be #authors when they grow up. 💜 ✍️ 📚 😊 #WritingCommunity

Teresa, what a clever idea to include pronunciation guides with your book. Very smart and unique!

THE DOG WHO SAVED THE BEES was a natural fit to include in this article! Great book, great resources.

SO honored to be a guest blogger for #NF Fest 2026! Check it out at www.nffest.com/2026/02/teac... #KidLit #WritingCommunity

My first classroom visit as an author!! It only took me 20 years. 😂 😂 #Persistence #KidLit #Determination #Goals

The precise moment you regret your good deed of picking up some kind of trash from an #elementary #school hallway:

Sage advice.

Ok, so I take pity on lost winter souls and feed them strawberries. Could be worse habits. 🍓 🪲 #KindnessMatters #wintervibes #NatureLovers

The big kids invited me to play! I get to guest blog for this year’s NF Fest!! 😁

I love my #Library system! Tonight’s free #Art program was beginning Ojibwe beadwork. I will wear these often!

Today I Zentangled my #Dog. #IsThisArt #Relaxation

Need some stress relief? Try scribbling doodles. It soothes my 💜 and 🧠. #LearningThroughArt #MentalHealthMatters #ArtTherapy

Time for another exciting rendition of #Library #Book return pile. #BookNerd

I found three tiny jumping #spiders (like the one in the picture) huddled inside a bag blowing through the snow. What to do? I took a guess and released them in my fern. Now my kitchen is fully stocked with jumping spiders for the winter and I feel like a total maniac. #KindnessMatters #Wildlife

#Teaching the last week before #Christmas may be bonkers, but at least I have a job with Silly Socks Day.

#Library return run? ✅ Hunkering down all weekend with a new pile of #KidLit? ✅ Stay warm, everyone! 🥶 📚

More meaningless 🎨 ✍️ scribbles to relax my 🧠. #ArtTherapy #MentalHealthMatters #Relaxation

I'm so excited to finally share the cover of my upcoming book, A Forest Begins Anew! This writing journey to publication has been a long time coming, and seeing real proof like this is surreal. Feel free to share. Wahoo! #KidLitAuthor #WritingCommunity #STEM @esckeyes.bsky.social