iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Anne Appert (they/them) @anneappert.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

In NYC? Don’t know what to do with your afternoon? Come join me and several other AMAZING graphic novel creators at Books of Wonder!

Image of 4 books across a blue background advertising an event. Text across the top reads Graphic Novels for Young Readers!
The first book is The Hidden Dominion of Geordie James By Mike Dawson. The second book is Loch Ness Monster’s Unbelievable Science by Anne Appert. The third book is Baby Sitters Little Sister by Shauna J. Grant. The fourth book is unicorn boy and the slumber party of doom by Dave Roman. Text below reads Saturday, May 30th, 2pm est. text at the bottom reads books of wonder, 42 west 17th street, New York, NY, 10011.

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Dr. Damien P. Williams, dread portent down from a mountain cave @wolven.blacksky.app · 21/04/2026

Here's wishing every single hospital administrator who complied in advance a very wakes up in a cold anxious sweat every day until they a) reverse course and b) apologize.

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Ebony Elizabeth Thomas @ebonyteach.blacksky.app · 18/12/2025

Collective failure to repudiate Trumpism is how we got here. Throwing trans folks under the bus is how we got here. Denying the fact that healthcare is a human right is how we got here. I don’t know what else to say. We are not getting through to enough people for some reason.

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KidLitArt @kidlitart.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

December's topic for #KidLitArt chat will be - Year End Roundup: All About Hope Join your hosts on Dec 18, 9pm EST/6pm PST for an hour-long chat about hope! Banner art by @anneappert.bsky.social

Art of three bunnies looking up at fireworks in the night sky. Text reasd year end roundup: All About Hope #kidlitart. Art by Anne Appert

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Adria Karlsson @adriakarlsson.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

It was so fun to get to table with @anneappert.bsky.social at the Newton Children’s Book Festival on Sunday! I saw so many people and failed utterly at taking photos… so here are two I managed and one from Victoria. They star the very cool @weyakindesigns.bsky.social and @andrewchacket.bsky.social !

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Vicky Fang | Kidlit Author & Illustrator @fangmousbooks.bsky.social · 09/11/2025

Lots of goodies in my newsletter this month, including free holiday swag, a new educator's guide for Ava Lin, my NCTE appearances schedule, and my 2026 Highlights Workshop with @kazwindness.bsky.social and @anneappert.bsky.social!⁠ vickyfang.substack.com/p/holiday-go...

vickyfang.substack.com

Holiday Goodies & An Educator's Guide!

Stickers, signed bookplates, and a new educator guide for Ava Lin

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Victoria K. Chapman (she/her) @weyakindesigns.bsky.social · 16/11/2025

Had so much fun seeing friends, meeting new friends, and looking at and buying SO MANY BOOKS at the Newton Children’s Book Festival today! In photos: @phaeacrede.bsky.social @adriakarlsson.bsky.social @anneappert.bsky.social @andrewchacket.bsky.social #kidlit #kidlitcommunity

Victoria K. Chapman takes a selfie with author, Phaea Crede at the Newton Children’s Book Festival.

Victoria K. Chapman takes a selfie with author, Andrew Hacket at the Newton Children’s Book Festival.

Victoria K. Chapman takes a selfie with authors and illustrators, Anne Appert and Adria Karlsson at the Newton Children’s Book Festival.

Victoria K. Chapman takes a selfie with author and illustrator, Adria Karlsson at the Newton Children’s Book Festival.

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GM Connie Chang 🌈🐸 @byconniechang.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

Trans rights is a winning platform. Pro immigration is a winning platform. Taxing the rich is a winning platform. Affordable housing is a winning platform. Free childcare is a winning platform. Hating Andrew Cuomo is a winning platform. SOCIALISM IS A WINNING PLATFORM

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Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com · 05/11/2025

6. Similar results followed in New Jersey, where Dem Mikie Sherrill won decisively. Her opponent, Jack Ciattarelli, ran a platform centered around the forced outing of trans students and opposition to gender-affirming care. His campaign pushed ads accusing Sherrill of “pushing LGBTQ+ on children."

cnn.com

Democrat Mikie Sherrill will win New Jersey governor’s race, CNN projects | CNN Politics

Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill will win the race for governor in New Jersey, CNN’s Decision Desk projects, maintaining Democratic control of the seat one year after the state showed signs of shifting ...

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Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com · 05/11/2025

1. On Tuesday Night, Democrats won elections nationwide in a stunning rebuke of anti-transgender politics. From Virginia to New Jersey to New York and beyond, anti-trans candidates fell left and right after spending tons of time and money campaigning on hate. Subscribe to support our journalism.

erininthemorning.com

"A Stunning Rebuke Of Anti-Trans Politics"—Dems Win Elections Nationwide Despite Anti-Trans Ads

As election results poured in on Tuesday night, it became clear that Democrats were winning nationwide against anti-trans opponents.

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Mombian @mombian.bsky.social · 11/10/2025

Today is National Coming Out Day, and as many of us queer parents know, coming out is not always a simple matter of finding the courage, but of balancing our needs and those of our children. Here are my thoughts, plus some resources for LGBTQ parents. mombian.com/2025/10/11/r...

mombian.com

Rainbows Are Made of Visible Light: Thoughts As an LGBTQ Parent on National Coming Out Day - Mombian

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Adria Karlsson @adriakarlsson.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

Got my 2nd piece done for #ABLArtFest - this one is for #TheCrystalBallReveals! This started out fun and ended up slightly ominous… what with the approaching rain clouds and all. . @andreabrownlit.bsky.social #kidlit #illustration #cutpaper #picturebookillustration #itsybitsy #spider #treehouse

Child with black pigtails and a green hoodie gazes into a crystal ball sitting on a brown wooden chair. A friendly spider is perched on top of the crystal ball. Inside the crystal ball is a treehouse with a same size spider web built next to it and a tiny image of the kid and the spider waving at each other. In the top of the crystal ball are approaching rain clouds. All of the image is rendered in cut paper.

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Adria Karlsson @adriakarlsson.bsky.social · 05/10/2025

My 1st piece for #ABLArtFest - the prompt was #fallfestivities! I adore the sneaky dragon, the determined bunny, and the trying-ever-so-hard robot…. But the mad scientist and dog for sure “steal” the scene (see what I did there?!). #kidlitart #illustration #cutpaper @andreabrownlit.bsky.social

Four kids are trying to eat donuts hanging on strings without using their hands. The first one is a curly redheaded white kid dressed as a purple dragon and is cheating- using their hands to hold the donut. The second is a south Asian kid with straight black hair in a large pink bunny suit. The third is Black kid with an Afro and a hair pick, dressed up as a mad scientist - his donut has been stolen by a white dog. The dog is running away with the donut. The fourth kid is a smaller white kid dressed as a robot who has not gotten any donuts yet. There’s a large tree with fall leaves and a stone wall in the background.

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Steph Lau (she/her) @stephlaubooks.com · 30/09/2025

Pleased* to announce my second picture book! MEDUSA'S PET ROCK is slated to launch Fall 2026, with @harpercollins.bsky.social *Pleasssssssed Thanks to my agent @allielevick.bsky.social and editor Megan Ilnitzki for loving this story as much as I do ❤️🐍🏺 Can't wait for you all to read it! #kidlit

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cynthia yuan cheng @cynthiaycheng.bsky.social · 30/09/2025

I'll be co-teaching an introductory course on graphic novels this fall via @highlightsfound.bsky.social! If you've wanted to make a GN but don't know where to start, this might be the workshop for you. I'm honored to teach alongside @mythjae.bsky.social & @anneappert.bsky.social for this course! 💞

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Charlene Chua @charlenedraws.bsky.social · 26/09/2025

If you want to join the #KidLitArt chat tonight, here's how! 👇

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Jasmine W. @mythjae.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

I'll be a guest lecturer for @highlightsfound.bsky.social ✨ If you or anyone you know has been interested in getting into graphic novels, this is the course for you! Taught by @cynthiaycheng.bsky.social myself and @anneappert.bsky.social Register here: www.highlightsfoundation.org/workshop/fro...

A promo for the From Story To Script: An Introduction to Writing Graphic Novels course, showing photos of the three lecturers, Cynthia Yuan Cheng, Jasmine walls, and special guest Anne Appert. This is a 4-week online course from October 23 - November 13

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Charlene Chua @charlenedraws.bsky.social · 16/09/2025

Happy #BiWeek ! 💗💜💙

Painting of a cat in the colors of the bi flag

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Anne Appert (they/them) @anneappert.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

I personally like to cross them off with highlighters. That way at the end of the day I can see what I did and I have a very colorful (sometimes sparkly) ta da! List.

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Anne Appert (they/them) @anneappert.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

What a lovely description. I always strive for a painterly, textured style with my work! Here are samples of some of the styles I do (including some watercolor type illustrations) and my portfolio. Thank you for considering! www.anneappert.com

An illustration of a mole on a purple watercolor background opening a jar of fireflies that is exploding into fireworks above the mole’s head.

An illustration of two brownstones with flowers in the windows and bushes along the sidewalk. A parade of diverse children walks in front of them holding or wearing towels and carrying toys. At the bottom of the steps stands a kid dressed in a koala onesie watching the other children.

An illustration of a tree on a snowy day. In the tree are various sized mailboxes. A beaver in a winter hat and carrying a satchel delivers mail in the lowest mailbox. A bird in earmuffs carries a letter above the beaver.

A purple field of fireflies at sunset has bunnies in pjs chasing the fireflies and watching the stars. A bunny in front holds a floating star in their paws.

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Brian LaRossa @brianlarossa.com · 15/09/2025

Hey #kidlit illustrators! We're beginning work on new Christmas/nighttime themed picture book. I'm looking for someone with a painterly, textured, and literary style capable conjuring magic, light, and wonder. Please respond w/ samples + folio link. Please no emails/DMs. 💙❤️ #artcommissions

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Jeremy Ghooooost Shipp @jeremycshipp.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

Hey Bluesky, could you help me spread the word about my Big Cartel shop? A sale or two would be a colossal help. All of my creations are designed, sewn, and hand-embroidered by me. Each takes many hours to make. jeremycreature.bigcartel.com

Here's a lovely photo of a plethora of my fabric art creatures. There's a green fur floor and a galaxy print fabric background in the pic. Here are some of the creatures: a watermelon ghost with a green body and pink face and twinkly black eyes and a little frown. There's a black crablike creature with wide set blue eyes and purple eyeshadow. She has red lips, four tentacle-like arms and an embroidered rainbow flower on her forehead. There's a black ghost bag covered with red embroidered flowers. There's a watermelon ghost bag. There are two yellow creatures. Each has three eyes, two tentacles, and mouths full of sharp teeth. There's a cosmic moth sitting on a little chair. The moth is black with a gray face, twinkly red eyes, and a wide grin full of sharp teeth. The moth is covered with hand-embroidered stars and planets of various sizes and colors.

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Anne Appert (they/them) @anneappert.bsky.social · 07/08/2025

My next picture book was announced on Tuesday! So thrilled I get to illustrate these wonderful happybaras and their adventures, as written by my friend @sudiptabq.bsky.social .

Image of a book announcement with two headshots to the left and text that reads “
Mary-Kate Gaudet at Little, Brown has acquired world rights to Happybaras, a picture book by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen, illustrated by Anne Appert, about two capybaras with different outlooks on life who take a trip to Alaska. Publication is set for Summer 2026; Rachel Orr at Prospect Agency represented the author, and Charlotte Wenger at Prospect Agency represented the illustrator.

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Children's Bookshelf @pwkidsbookshelf.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

New book deals on the way from @sudiptabq.bsky.social @anneappert.bsky.social @rebeccaefbarone.bsky.social + more buff.ly/JPLQ8ig

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Gabino Iglesias @gabino.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

We read books by LGBTQ+ authors before. We will read books by LGBTQ+ authors now. We will read books by LGBTQ+ authors tomorrow. Literature is for and by everyone.

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Jeremy Ghooooost Shipp @jeremycshipp.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

Hey Bluesky, could you help me spread the word about my Etsy shop? A sale or two would be a colossal help. All of my creations are designed, hand-sewn, hand-embroidered by me. Each takes many hours to make. jeremycreature.etsy.com

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Porter Square Books in Cambridge & Boston @portersqbooks.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

And while we're reminding folks about stuff with deadlines, applications are now open for our 2026 Writers in Residence! Assuming we make it to 2026, we'll once again welcome an author for adults & an author for young readers into our community! portersquarebooks.com/porter-squar...

portersquarebooks.com

Porter Square Books Writers in Residence Program

Porter Square Books will once again be hosting Writers in Residence in 2025

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Anne Appert (they/them) @anneappert.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

This is awesome! I’d love to share with my Cambridge friends, but it says on the website the deadline to apply is past?

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Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com · 20/06/2025

1. Alert, and please share widely. A lawyer at the ACLU has asked me to inform my transgender readers that they should NOT be applying for passports right now - the state department has not issued guidance to comply with the court order and they are urgently trying to get them to do so. 🧵

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Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 19/06/2025

When Dobbs came down, the media rightly saw it as the culmination of a decades long effort to eliminate abortion rights by the conservative legal movement. When Skrmetti came down, the media blamed trans people and not that same conservative legal machine. It's the same court and lawyers.

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Zodi Addams 🍁☕️🎃 @zodi777.blacksky.app · 19/06/2025

If you really want to dig into some extensive #Juneteenth primary sources, the Library of Congress has a massive archive of interviews from formerly enslaved people. Here is part of the Texas collection: www.loc.gov/item/mesn161/

loc.gov

Federal Writers' Project: Slave Narrative Project, Vol. 16, Texas, Part 1, Adams-Duhon

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(Not the Horror Author) Shirley Jackson @lioninthetrees.bsky.social · 19/06/2024

I'm Shirley, a Black/Korean woman who makes really cool art. It's Juneteenth, and Black people still have yet to receive reparations. But here are some of the ways you can financially support me today! ✨💖 ✨: paypal.com/paypalme/lioninthetrees ✨: ko-fi.com/lioninthetrees ✨: shop.lioninthetrees.com

Selfie of me in my incredible DIY San from Princess Mononoke outfit

A colourful collection of pottery featuring little dragon totems, a small barn swallow totem, larger animal totems in the back, and further in the back are mugs/vessels stacked on top of each other.

Large sgraffito dragon totem with California Poppy motifs carved into it's side, and gold glaze details on it's spine and antlers. Done with black and orange underglazes. Left side view.

Group picture of all of my November Pottery

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Victoria K. Chapman (she/her) @weyakindesigns.bsky.social · 16/06/2025

Introducing the Wild Pride 2025 Collection! I created these colorful wildlife illustrations for #Pride month with my love for nature & the LGBTQ+ community in mind. I’m donating 50% of sales to Safe Homes of Worcester, MA. To see art and find out more visit: www.weyakindesigns.com/buy-art/wild...

A colorful rainbow manatee floats in the turquoise water with little bubbles looking all happy and cute. Art by Victoria K. Chapman.

A colorful rainbow face of a red fox looks directly at the viewer. Art by Victoria K. Chapman.

A colorful rainbow frog designed after the gray tree frog sits on a tree branch with a small smile. Art by Victoria K. Chapman.

A colorful rainbow version of a northern saw-whet owl sits on a tree branch with wide, round eyes. Art by Victoria K. Chapman.

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Teen Vogue @teenvogue.com · 09/06/2025

This op-ed explains how to start an ICE Watch neighborhood program in your community. Read the step-by-step guide here ⤵️

teenvogue.com

How to Keep Tabs on ICE Agents Who May Be Surveilling Your Neighborhood

Here’s a step-by-step guide.

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Anne Appert (they/them) @anneappert.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

Just said this to my partner about new creative endeavors so now you all get to hear it too: If it brings you happiness, it is NOT a waste of time.

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Keezy Young🌼 @keezyyoung.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

hey here's something I would love us all to do like RIGHT NOW: find out if your local library is doing any kind of pride programming or display, and if they are, email them to say thank you and why it matters to you. whether or not you're queer. especially if you're in an area where it's fraught

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Anne Appert (they/them) @anneappert.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

Hooray! It’s a book birthday! Be sure to grab this whimsical, zany NEW chapter book series written by @coreyannhaydu.bsky.social and illustrated by me! @quirkbooks.bsky.social tinyurl.com/3prmm292

Photo of an enby person smiling wearing a yellow and a grey shirt and backwards baseball cap holding a book called Zoomi and Zoe

Photo of chapter book called Zoomi and Zoe on a rock. The cover has a white monster like creature on the left and a human child in a tutu

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Anica Mrose Rissi @anicarissi.bsky.social · 03/06/2025

New chapter book series by one of my forever favorites, @coreyannhaydu.bsky.social, launches today! It's filled with big, relatable feelings, irresistible characters, sparkling imagination, and delightful full-color illustrations by @anneappert.bsky.social. PLUS, the cover has actual glitter ✨

Zoomi & Zoe and the Tricky Turnaround, written by Corey Ann Haydu and illustrated by Anne Appert, held up in front of a bookshelf filled with great kid lit titles, such as the Dory Fantasmagory series and Rita Williams-Garcia's One Crazy Summer.

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Queer Liberation Library @queerliblib.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

🏳️‍🌈HAPPY PRIDE!🏳️‍⚧️ We’re kicking off our annual Pride Fundraiser today, which will keep the library thriving into the next year & beyond 🎉 givebutter.com/Jr8Tfu

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Lee Knox Ostertag @leeknoxostertag.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

kind of obsessed with 2025 pride merch...I'm calling it cowardcore.

abercrombie and fitch 'pride mid rise jorts' which are literally just jorts with a rainbow tag inside the pant.

abercrombie & fitch 'pride long sleeved striped button up shirt' that is...a green and white striped shirt. hello am I going crazy.

beige terrycloth shorts from target. nothing about them indicates pride except that they are listed as such on the website.

levi's 'pride icon' skirt which is literally just a short dark denim skirt. nothing to indicate 'pride' except that there is one image of a male model wearing it which technically you could do with any item of clothing but go off I guess

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Anne Appert (they/them) @anneappert.bsky.social · 31/05/2025

I really appreciate this because my email does weird things !

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