iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Melanie Ellsworth @melaniebellsworth.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

In the autumn, we do more stopping than walking!

brown dog and white dog with tan ears and tongue out walk up meadow path in the fall

Melanie Ellsworth @melaniebellsworth.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Do you have a little one learning math? This picture book by Vicky Fang, illustrated by Angel Chang, is an engaging way to teach skip counting that pulls the reader in with animal facts, adorable illustrations, and activities to practice what they've learned. @fangmousbooks.bsky.social

This picture book, LOTS AND LOTS OF OCELOTS: A SKIP COUNTING BOOK by Vicky Fang, illustrated by Angel Chang, depicts 5 ocelots of varying sizes interacting with the title text against a grassy green background.

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Melanie Ellsworth @melaniebellsworth.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

PENGUINS DON'T WEAR PANTS by @abicushman.com will have you and the kids you're reading to laughing out loud! Hilarious text and illustrations, a touch of dark humor, and the best page turns ever make this picture book a perfect read. @harperkids.bsky.social

Picture book title reads, "PENGUINS DON'T WEAR PANTS" in large orange font, surrounded by various types of illustrated penguins, some wearing beach hats and helmets for riding scooters, one carrying a large drum, one in a top hat.

A page from the interior of the picture book displaying penguins doing various silly things, like sitting on a toilet, riding a unicycle, and wearing sparkly purple pants.

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Melanie Ellsworth @melaniebellsworth.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

Vicky Fang @fangmousbooks.bsky.social introduces a delightful character in her new early reader, ONE MAD CAT. Cat is easily frustrated but always ready to help friends solve a mystery. Readers will laugh their way through this story! Includes a fun map of Cat's path through school.

Book cover with a pink background with title in white block letters reading ONE MAD CAT and the missing book. Features a small white and tan cat with a grumpy expression under the title and author's name Vicky Fang below. Cover decorated with a puzzle piece, magnifying glass, a book with a question mark, a pawprint, and the tracks of the cat.

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Melanie Ellsworth @melaniebellsworth.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

Can't wait for this picture book coming in Sept. With lyrical, lovely text, author @angkunkel.bsky.social pulls us along with Pop and grandchild on an adventure into nature. E.B. Goodale's stunning illustrations start in the dark and erupt into light as the sun rises and the snow geese arrive.

Grandfather and grandchild, wearing orange hats, stand in meadow with binoculars watching snow geese fly over the hill as the sun rises.

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Melanie Ellsworth @melaniebellsworth.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

Loved learning about cellist Beatrice Harrison's fascinating life and the connections she forged between music and nature in this beautiful picture book. @patricianewman.bsky.social #edusky

Picture book cover depicting title BEATRICE AND THE NIGHTINGALE and author Patricia Newman and illustrator Isabelle Follath's names in a full moon shining over a night time garden. On the left, a young woman with dark curly hair and a long mauve dress plays a cello next to a small black dog, while across from the woman, a nightingale sings on a flowering bush.

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Melanie Ellsworth @melaniebellsworth.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

Such fascinating history behind the fortune cookie - I was totally captivated by the story and the author's personal connection. Stunning collage-style illustrations. All age groups can enjoy and learn from this picture book! @pragmaticmom.bsky.social @kongsavage.bsky.social

Pink title centered, scene depicts a Japanese grandmother seated in front of a table with a basket of fortune cookies, grandson and granddaughter flank her, background is of tea gardens in spring in Golden Gate Park, colorful collage-style illustrations.

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Melanie Ellsworth @melaniebellsworth.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

Looking forward to the May release of THE QUIET OCEAN, a sequel to THE QUIET FOREST. The playful language and hilarious illustrations make this a perfect read aloud. The deeper message of working together to create calm really resonates. @abicushman.com @simonkids.bsky.social @ssedlib.bsky.social

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Melanie Ellsworth @melaniebellsworth.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

Read this picture book gem by @isabellakung.bsky.social today! Got lost in the gorgeous illustrations. This journey through a child's big feelings is so thoughtfully and gently done, reminding readers of the power of processing strong emotions through art and imagination.

Book cover of the picture book NUNU AND THE SEA by Isabella Kung depicts a young Asian girl and her backpack on a life-sized origami sailboat in a sea of blues and pinks. The girl holds out her hand as an origami crane is about to land on it.

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Melanie Ellsworth @melaniebellsworth.bsky.social · 22/10/2025

Such a fun, informative read by @lindsayhmetcalf.bsky.social, illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham. Filled with delicious tomato puns and a hilarious Supreme Court Food Fight between Team Fruit and Team Vegetable. Many classroom applications here!

book cover for picture book Tomatoes on Trial featuring orange background with red tomato in center, and two groups of people on lower right and lower left saying "It's a vegetable" or "It's a fruit!"

interior book scene set in the US Supreme Court with several men at the bench arguing for the tomato as a fruit, not a vegetable

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Melanie Ellsworth @melaniebellsworth.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

THE TRAVELING TACO is a yummy picture book about the journey food makes across time and cultures. Joyful, colorful, and informative! May inspire zesty classroom debates about favorite ways to prepare these foods! @redcometpressbooks.bsky.social @pragmaticmom.bsky.social

This book cover features the title, THE TRAVELING TACO, centered in yellow font on a blue background. Illustrations around the title include various food items, like fries, shrimp, pasta, and a person carrying a giant taco at the bottom of the cover.

This interior book spread is on a yellow and blue background and features ice cream in a variety of cones and dishes across different countries.

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Melanie Ellsworth @melaniebellsworth.bsky.social · 13/08/2025

Kids will be absolutely hooked by the picture book SHARKS UNHOOKED, about the awe-inspiring #Cristina Zenato, who dives with sharks and removes fishing hooks. Her story is one of courage, compassion, and following your dreams - however wild they may be! @patricianewman.bsky.social #sharks

This picture book title has a scene in the Bahamas, with the title SHARKS UNHOOKED in red at the top, 2 palm trees on the upper right and left sides, and an underwater scene of Cristina Zenato swimming in a yellow bathing suit alongside 3 sharks and several schools of fish.

This illustration includes 2 scenes - one with Cristina in a chain suit and scuba gear with her hand on a shark, and 3 other sharks approaching her and her blue bucket of mackerel. The bottom scene shows a shark swimming onto Cristina's lap while she sits in her scuba gear on the sandy bottom of the ocean in the Bahamas.

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Melanie Ellsworth @melaniebellsworth.bsky.social · 14/07/2025

Love this back-to-school read! Little Tortoise is endearing, full of self-confidence even when she's passed by all her classmates as she "hurries" to school. Lots of humor at play between text and illustrations, and a perfect ending as Little Tortoise finds a kindred soul in her teacher.

Book cover features a little Tortoise with a striped helmet carrying a lunchbox on its shell as it walks in the grass on its way towards school. A tree, blue sky, and flowers in background - illustrated with woodcut art.

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Melanie Ellsworth @melaniebellsworth.bsky.social · 28/06/2025

Science meets poetry in A Universe of Rainbows, with beautiful poems by many talented poets, selected by Matt Forrest Esenwine, gorgeously illustrated by Jamey Christoph. Loved learning about the way rainbows appear in so many different places in nature.

The cover of the picture book A UNIVERSE OF RAINBOWS has an arching rainbow with the title underneath and several rainbow-colored birds at either end of the rainbow. Mountains and crystals on the left, green slopes on the bottom, and colorful hibiscus on the right

This photo shows 2 sides of a picture book spread with the poem "Echoes of Rain" by Alma Flor Ada & F. Isabel Campoy on the left illustrated with two rainbow eucalyptus trees, and a family of three on the right looking at the trees, including a young brown-skinned girl with a straw hat and yellow dress, a brown-skinned mother in a blue sundress with long brown hair, and a light-skinned father with blue button-down shirt - all holding hands while they look up at the trees

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Melanie Ellsworth @melaniebellsworth.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

Love walks with flower finds - lady slippers and irises!

Green field with ferns, purple irises, grass and a line of distant darker green trees with blue sky above

pink lady slipper flower in wooded setting

pink lady slipper setting in brown leaves in woods

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Melanie Ellsworth @melaniebellsworth.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

FIREFLY SONG by @colleenpaeff.bsky.social and Ji-Hyuk Kim is a gorgeous #PB! Lyrically written, magically illustrated tale about researcher Lynn Frierson Faust that immerses us in a dreamy, firefly-filled summer world. Reminds us that our curiosity and attention can spark discoveries! #womeninSTEM

Picture Book cover shows a young girl with white skin and light brown hair holding up a glass jar with fireflies lighting up. Background shows green leaves and firefly glow. Titled FIREFLY SONG by Colleen Paeff, illustrated by Ji-Hyuk Kim.

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Melanie Ellsworth @melaniebellsworth.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

AT THE WINDOW is a lovely picture book. Lim's poetic writing and Leng's watercolor art reminded me of that feeling of discovery and adventure that kids are so good at finding, even in an everyday stroll through the neighborhood. Big themes of #connection and #perspective @hopelim.bsky.social

This picture book cover is titled AT THE WINDOW by Hope Lim, illustrated by Qin Leng. A child with a backwards red baseball cap, long brown hair, white skin, and a t-shirt and shorts holds a leash as a small brown dog pulls the child down the sidewalk. Child looks up at the window of a neighbor woman who is writing in front of her window. There's a small plot with green plants below her window, and a large tree next to her house.

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Melanie Ellsworth @melaniebellsworth.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

Found this fun, energetic, musical story! Loved learning about the African-Brazilian martial arts/dance form, Capoeira. Kids will relate to Lucas' anxiety as he performs for the capoeira circle in his moving-up ceremony. And they'll cheer for him when he earns his just-right nickname! @joanapastro

Picture book title reads Lucas and the Capoeira Circle. Written by Joana Pastro, illustrated by Douglas Lopes. Picture shows a brown-skinned boy wearing loose white pants doing a martial arts move, holding himself up on his hands while his legs whirl overhead, surrounded by the greenery of a park.

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Melanie Ellsworth @melaniebellsworth.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

Thanks to teacher Michelle for sharing this photo of reading BATTLE OF THE BOOKS (by me and illustrator James Rey Sanchez) to your class! It's the biggest thrill for an author! #picturebook

White female teacher with blonde bun and glasses holds up the picture book BATTLE OF THE BOOKS showing the page she is reading aloud in her classroom.

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Melanie Ellsworth @melaniebellsworth.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

Enjoyed the fun twist on a bedtime story in BOXER BABY by Mia Wenjen & Kai Gietzen, with Dad and baby as opponents in the “naptime” arena. Hilarious illustrations, relatable themes, and #figurativelanguage like "roll with the punches" and "throw in the towel." @pragmaticmom.bsky.social

A young girl wearing boxing gloves stands in the lower middle of this picture book cover, while a parent's hand holds out a pacifier, and her stuffed monkey flies overhead. The title reads BOXER BABY BATTLES BEDTIME! by Mia Wenjen, Illustrated by Kai Geitzen

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Melanie Ellsworth @melaniebellsworth.bsky.social · 13/02/2025

Learned so much about giant manta rays, creative environmental activism, and #communityconservation from GIANT RAYS OF HOPE by @patricianewman.bsky.social. Amazing photos of these beautiful sea creatures. Highly recommend for classroom and school library collections!

The cover of the book GIANT RAYS OF HOPE by Patricia Newman features text in orange and a giant manta ray swimming through the ocean.

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Melanie Ellsworth @melaniebellsworth.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

Thanks for this winter wonderland, February!

Side of a gray barn next to an old apple tree coated in snow, with tall oak trees in the background. About 5 inches of fresh snow on the ground.

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Reposted by Melanie Ellsworth

Authors Against Book Bans @authorsabb.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

President Trump's DOE has made themselves clear: they will support book banners in their efforts to strip our institutions of learning of the books that define them. So let us be perfectly clear: we're going to do whatever we can to try and stop them.

Today the DOE announced plans to dismiss 11 outstanding complaints against book bans, and to eliminate the position of Book Ban Coordinator at the Office of Civil Rights (OCR). This distortion of the intended work of the OCR--the protection of civil rights and students' freedoms in our nation's schools--is negligent, grossly un-American, and in direct conflict with freedom of speech, a bedrock right enshrined in the Constitution.

Authors Against Book Bans unequivocally stands against all such attempts at censorship and discrimination. We stand with families, students and educators across the country who exercise free speech every time they open a book, and with the 71% of Americans who are opposed to book bans. Book bans do not protect children; history teaches us that they are a terrifying step toward tyranny.

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Melanie Ellsworth @melaniebellsworth.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

Enjoyed the picture book BUILDING A DREAM: How the Boys of Koh Panyee Became Champions by Darshana Khiani and Dow Phumiruk. Gorgeous illustrations of a breathtaking setting. Based on a true story of kids who work towards their dream of building a soccer pitch despite a barrage of challenges. #Kidlit

Children walk across walkways elevated on stilts over a bay in a Thai village to get to the cafe to watch a soccer game on TV.

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Melanie Ellsworth @melaniebellsworth.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

Happy to be here at Bluesky at long last, joining my Kidlit friends!

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