Children's Lit Newsletter 10/30/25

LINK HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFkXlGs3xno

First, thank you to all of you who have told me to get this going again, I really appreciate your support. When I get told by an INCREDIBLE author/illustrator AND one of my daughter's 20 something friends, that my voice is needed - it fills my heart (and possibly my ego) :-)

Before I go further, I have to thank my incredibly patient and absolutely delightful editor, Jordan Godburn, a Senior at University of Southern California who makes sense of what I send her and my lovely friend Bea, who watches all the videos and takes notes (so, um, I don't have to) .

I'm going to try to post every other week. This week's video is about Mary Anning and the Children's Books that have been written about her.

Future videos will include a panel with one of the original Young Lords and Black Panthers (and one of the first women) Ms. Denise Oliver-Velez (an incredible person and fascinating story teller) in conversation with:

Kekla Magoon author of

Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther Party’s Promise to the People

and

Rita Williams Garcia author of the

Gaither Sisters Trilogy One Crazy Summer, P.S. Be Eleven, Gone Crazy in Alabama

One Crazy Summer is also now out in a wonderful graphic novel!!

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Another future video is a panel with Publisher and Editor Extraordinaire, Arthur A. Levine and two of his authors: Daniel Nayeri and Mari Lowe. I wanted to know how Levine Querido, a new and small publishing house, could turn out so many incredible and multiple prize winning books. If you want to know more - subscribe to Sharon's Book Rx YouTube Channel (please, seriously) :-)

Speaking of Arthur A. Levine and Levine Querido, check out the fabulous article about Arthur and his publishing vision further down in this newsletter.

TICKETED EVENT AT SANTA CRUZ HIGH AUDITORIUM: Join us for an immersive theatrical spectacular with Mac Barnett and Shawn Harris, the authors of The First Cat in Space and the Baby Pirate's Revenge! There will be live music, dramatic performances, and thrilling adventure, all in celebration of the fourth book in the bestselling First Cat in Space graphic novel series. And if you show up dressed as your favorite character from the books, you’ll get a special prize from Shawn & Mac!

https://bookshopsantacruz.com/barnett-harris

Mrs. Dalloway's Bookstore is thrilled to present a special exhibit celebrating the artwork of Bay Area illustrators and cartoonists: Jon Agee, Lisa Brown, Shawn Harris, Briana Loewinsohn, Elizabeth McConaughy-Oliver, Dean Stuart, and Eugenia Yoh. A special panel discussion will be led by Thien Pham. Original artwork, fine art prints, and much more will be displayed and for sale. Start your holiday shopping early!

Opening Reception: Friday, November 7, 7:00 - 8:30pm

Come Mingle & Chat + Shop Art & Books

JON AGEE is the author/illustrator of many acclaimed books for children, including the Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor winner It's Only Stanley and the ALA Notable Books Little Santa, Terrific, Milo's Hat Trick, and The Incredible Painting of Felix Clousseau, and a series of popular wordplay books including the IRA-CBC Children's Choice book of palindromes, Go Hang a Salami! I'm a Lasagna Hog! Jon grew up along the Hudson River in Nyack, New York, and went to college at the Cooper Union School of Art in New York City, where he studied painting and filmmaking. Now a full-time author, he lives in San Francisco with his wife, Audrey.

LISA BROWN is a New York Times bestselling illustrator, author and cartoonist. Her work includes The Airport Book, The Hospital Book, and How to Be. Her first graphic novel, The Phantom Twin, received starred reviews from the School Library Journal and Booklist. For adults, Long Story Short is a collection of comic strips about classic novels. She lives in San Franisco and teaches in the illustration department of the California College of the Arts.

SHAWN HARRIS is an award-winning author and illustrator of books for kids. His authorial debut Have You Ever Seen A Flower, was called a “stunning tour de force…” by The New York Times, and received a Caldecott Honor, while The Eyes and the Impossible, a #1 New York Times bestseller, written by Dave Eggers, was awarded the John Newbery Medal. The National Museum of Wildlife Art gave Shawn the Bull-Bransom Award, for excellence in the field of children’s book illustration with a focus on nature and wildlife for A Polar Bear in the Snow, by Mac Barnett, with whom he also creates The New York Times bestselling The First Cat In Space graphic novel series. Shawn lives in Half Moon Bay, California. When he’s not making books, he likes to sing, surf, and play racquetball.

BRIANA LOEWINSOHN is an award-winning cartoonist living in Oakland, CA, where she teaches high school art and draws comic books. She is the recent recipient of a Harvey Award for her young adult graphic Raised by Ghosts. If she doesn’t text you back, she is probably gardening.

ELIZABETH MCCONAUGHY-OLIVER is an illustrator, muralist, and book designer. Elizabeth received her BFA from California College of the Arts, had worked with nonprofit 826 Valencia and the Meta Open Arts Program, and has exhibited with The Society of Illustrators, The Birdcage San Francisco, TigerBunny Studio, and many more. Using color, shape, and playful characters, Elizabeth’s work focuses on personal experiences to communicate a more open understanding of what it means to be a POC in today's society. Raised in Salt Lake City, Utah, and she now lives in Brooklyn, New York.

DEAN STUART is an illustrator and a gallery artist. Over the course of his career, he's created art for galleries, magazines, and graphic novels. He lives in Oakland, California. Cassi and the House of Memories is his debut graphic novel. You can visit Dean online at DeanDraws.com.

EUGENIA YOH is a Taiwanese-American author-illustrator in the Bay Area. She is a children's book designer at Chronicle Books during the day and a children's book illustrator during the night. Eugenia has co-authored two picture books with Vivienne Chang, This Is Not My Home and What If We... During the night she also turns into a tiny orange, but usually nobody is around to see that happen.least.

THIEN PHAM is a graphic novelist, comic artist, and educator. In his memoir, Family Style: Memories of an American From Vietnam, about a Vietnamese immigrant boy's search for belonging in America, "Pham reflects the push-pull conflict of assimilation and cultural loss as explored through food in digitally illustrated panels portraying visual feasts and expressive emotion, making for a vivid and insightful telling that offers joy and hope amid the terror." --Publishers Weekly, starred review. Thien lives in Oakland.

THIS EVENT is free but registration is requested. Registration ends at 6:00 pm on November 7.

BECAUSE SEATING is limited, please register only if you plan to attend.

Meet and Greet with Emily Rosen featuring her heartfelt and warmly illustrated new picture book - Waiting for Max: A NICU Story.

Drop by our Larkspur store at Marin Country Mart on Thursday, November 6 from 11:00am - 12:00pm

This heartfelt and imagination-filled picture book helps families navigate the NICU journey from a sibling’s perspective—offering comfort, connection, and a big dose of hope.

Louise can’t wait to meet her new little brother, Max! But he arrives earlier than expected and must stay in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) until he’s strong enough to come home. Waiting is hard. Really hard. So Louise uses her BIG imagination to dream up creative plans to bring Max home.

Inspired by author Emily Rosen’s own NICU experience, Waiting for Max gently validates the big emotions that come with welcoming a premature baby. With whimsical illustrations and an honest, child-centered voice, it’s a reassuring story for big siblings, loving families, and anyone supporting NICU journeys.

Here's what makes Waiting for Max special:

• Sibling-Centered Storytelling: Offers comfort and age-appropriate perspective for young siblings navigating the NICU experience.
• Empathy Through Imagination: Shows how creative thinking and play can help kids process fear, sadness, and uncertainty.
• Gentle Guidance: Encourages meaningful conversations about medical situations and family changes.
• Authentic & Hopeful: Written and illustrated by NICU-connected creators, with a heartfelt author's note for added context.

A perfect gift for NICU siblings and family members, Waiting for Max reminds readers that love and patience can bridge any distance. At its heart is the message that no matter how long it takes, some things truly are worth the wait.

First paragraph and author information reprinted with the permission of The Jewish Book Council. Link for full article will be at bottom of paragraph.

What’s the scoop on pub­lish­ing? What Jew­ish books are agents, edi­tors, and pub­lish­ers espe­cial­ly excit­ed for us to read? JBC’s series Book­Watch is here to answer these fre­quent­ly asked ques­tions. Each month, a pub­lish­ing insid­er writes an email to intro­duce them­selves, give us a behind-the-scenes look at their work, and tell us about forth­com­ing Jew­ish books they can’t wait to ush­er into the world.

This piece orig­i­nal­ly appeared in a JBC email on Fri­day, Octo­ber 3. Sign up here for our emails to be one of the first to know the lat­est Jew­ish lit­er­ary news!

You don’t have to have read Dara Horn to under­stand the dark humor of the phrase ​“Peo­ple love dead Jews.” You just have to be a read­er long­ing for sto­ries that reflect the com­plex real­i­ty of liv­ing as a con­tem­po­rary Jew­ish per­son. If, like me, you were a gay Jew­ish per­son grow­ing up in the six­ties and sev­en­ties, you were, as they say, ​“twice blessed” with a lack of rep­re­sen­ta­tion. Dur­ing my youth, books fea­tur­ing char­ac­ters who were gay and lived to tell about it were prac­ti­cal­ly nonex­is­tent. And there were almost as few sto­ries in which Jews active­ly engaged with their reli­gion. If they did, it was most like­ly a dead­ly one, fea­tur­ing Nazis.

Continue reading here: https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/pb-daily/book-watch-with-the-founder-and-pub-lish-er-of-levine-querido

Arthur A. Levine found­ed Levine Queri­do in April 2019, build­ing on his dis­tin­guished thir­ty-five-year career as an indus­try leader. Dur­ing his tenure, he guid­ed numer­ous award-win­ning books, includ­ing two Calde­cott Medal win­ners: Mirette on the High­wire by Emi­ly Arnold McCul­ly and Offi­cer Buck­le and Glo­ria by Peg­gy Rathmann.

He has proud­ly part­nered with a long list of acclaimed cre­ators, includ­ing J.K. Rowl­ing, Philip Pull­man, Markus Zusak, and many more. His mis­sion has always been to bring a diverse selec­tion of the world’s best lit­er­a­ture to Amer­i­can read­ers. At Levine Queri­do, he con­tin­ues this mis­sion by cham­pi­oning pow­er­ful and unique voic­es from a mul­ti­tude of cul­tures, both glob­al­ly and at home.

Under his lead­er­ship, LQ has become a trust­ed source for books cel­e­brat­ed for their pow­er, beau­ty, and crafts­man­ship. The com­pa­ny’s unwa­ver­ing com­mit­ment to diverse sto­ry­telling has led to major awards and nation­al best­sellers from cre­ators like Daniel Nay­eri, Shaun Tan, and Andrea Wang. Levine Queri­do is also intense­ly proud to be the only inde­pen­dent pub­lish­er in the past five years to have won all three of the ALA’s most pres­ti­gious awards: the Calde­cott, New­bery, and Printz. In addi­tion to over­see­ing the com­pa­ny, Arthur per­son­al­ly edits eight to ten books annually.

If you live in one of these cities and would like to request a book tour author visit, please fill out this form so your school can be considered. Even if I’m not able to visit in person this time around, everyone who fills out the form will get an email in late January with a link to a 30-minute, on-demand virtual author visit that will be available to your school for the rest of the year!

We had a portrait of our Grandpuppy Gunther done a few years ago and it was FABULOUS!! We love it even more now since Gunther has crossed the Rainbow Bridge.

You can check out Jarrett's site here: https://studiojjk.myshopify.com/collections/pet-art-commissions

More info and registration here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/abbie-harlow-at-books-inc-alameda-tickets-1520529828649?aff=oddtdtcreator

Hey all!!

Recently I have given Book Talks to students and parents that can focus on Engaging Reluctant Readers, Diversify Your (home or school) Bookshelves, and Great and Engaging Books (for various ages/grades). They've been well received and participants leave with TONS of information (and quite a few win prizes). I do these in schools or libraries, but would love to be hired by companies as a 'Perk' for their employees who have children in their lives. So, using my 'Social Capital' (that's you all) to spread the word.

I also work with teachers to help find great books that fit (and expand) the curriculum (otherwise known as my idea of a good time).

Please feel free to spread the word and send people my way: sharonlevin @ mindspring.com

We now return to our regular programming.

I try (when I have time/energy/spoons) to visit store websites and pull event information. However, the best way to get your events in is to e-mail me directly with FOR THE NEWSLETTER as the subject line. There are over 2000 subscribers to this newsletter - plus it gets posted on Facebook, Twitter (I said what I said), BlueSky and my local NextDoor. I am happy to spread the word, it's just easier if 'the word' (not the religious one) comes directly to my inbox

I'm only as good as my sources, so please do feel free to share events, good news, etc.! Please e-mail me at sharonlevin at mindspring dot com and put For the Newsletter as your subject line.

I'm always happy to feature giveaways. There is NO paid advertising in this newsletter - I do not require anything to feature a giveaway. I'm just happy to do it.