iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Naomi Danis @naomidanis.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

<I kept my head down during Torah study, hoping no one would call me Rakhel... No one talked to me. They only stared.> CALL ME GEBYANESH, a picture book by Arlene Rosenfeld Schenker and Gebyanesh Addisu, illustrated by Chiara Fedele, is highlighted in LilithMagazine. lilith.org/.../feminist...

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Naomi Danis @naomidanis.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

<The next day, Leila tried to blend in. She didn’t want anyone to see she was Jewish. She tied back her curls. She tucked in her Star of David necklace.> SHARING SHALOM, a picture book by Danielle Sharkman, illustrated by Selina Alko, is highlighted in LilithMagazine. lilith.org/articles/fem...

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John Schu @mrschureads.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

#Bookaday I added @naomidanis.bsky.social and Pete Oswald's Kindergarten Gets Ready to my 2026 Books I Love presentation! www.pinterest.com/mrschureads/...

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Naomi Danis @naomidanis.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

<As [Maurice] Sendak himself put it, the picture book is “an ingenious juxtaposition of picture and word, a counterpoint. … Words are left out—but the picture says it. Pictures are left out—but the word says it.”> MacBarnett with Jon Klassen @stephenking.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2025/08/29/b...

nytimes.com

A New ‘Hansel and Gretel’ Unites Stephen King With Maurice Sendak

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Naomi Danis @naomidanis.bsky.social · 28/08/2025

<What book best captures the complexity of being a politician today?> Senator LisaMurkowski: <Robert Fulghum’s “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten” .. with a few rules that honestly would make life a whole lot easier if we all adhered to them.> www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/b...

nytimes.com

Join the Club: Lisa Murkowski Hasn’t Finished ‘Master of the Senate’

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Porter Square Books in Cambridge & Boston @portersqbooks.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

Writers of the Cambridge area! There is still time apply for the 2026 Writers in Residence program! A writer for adults & a writer for kids will get a place to work, the staff discount, & some other fun stuff. Deadline is 8/31! 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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Naomi Danis @naomidanis.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

<Family life is a drama rich in emotional alliances & rebellions, secret signals, idiosyncratic rules & ancestral rites. Plus jokes....[C]hildren’s books contain some of the most intense & memorable sibling relationships in literature.> —Annie Barrows www.nytimes.com/2025/08/22/b...

nytimes.com

Great Children’s Books About Siblings

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Naomi Danis @naomidanis.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

<Illustrated children’s books that blend instruction and delight appeared, independently of one another, in two thriving commercial cities half a world apart: London and Edo (now Tokyo).> —Leonard S. Marcus www.nytimes.com/2025/03/28/b...

nytimes.com

The American Picture Book’s Unsung Parent: Japan

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Naomi Danis @naomidanis.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

<Frustrated by the vitriol in so much of what we read and hear, I began asking my business students at Stanford for an antidote: Surprise someone with a long overdue email saying thank you.And make it cinematic. Make the recipient laugh and cry.> — GlennKramon www.nytimes.com/2025/08/22/o...

nytimes.com

Opinion | Why You Should Send Thank-You Notes, Even Years Later

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Naomi Danis @naomidanis.bsky.social · 08/08/2025

<“Just because a book is tiny and its readers are little doesn’t mean it can’t be perfect,” Mr. Ahlberg told The Guardian in 2006. “On its own scale, it can be as good as Tolstoy or Jane Austen.”> Allan Ahlberg, 87, Dies; Teamed With Wife on Acclaimed Children’s Books www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/b...

nytimes.com

Allan Ahlberg, 87, Dies; Teamed With Wife on Acclaimed Children’s Books

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Naomi Danis @naomidanis.bsky.social · 03/08/2025

"It's about you, but it's not JUST about you." "You never know who needs to ready your story." "Vulnerability connects." "Who you are and what you've experienced holds inherent value." Ruth Chan in her breakout session: So You Want to Write a Memoir #scbwisummer25 @ruthchang.bsky.social

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Naomi Danis @naomidanis.bsky.social · 03/08/2025

"My activist work is thru the biographies I write." Don Tate: Engaging Picture Book Biographies "How did I succeed? I was not afraid to ask for help. I always tell 3rd graders, never be afraid to try something new. You never know where it will lead you." @dontate.bsky.social #scbwisummer25

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Naomi Danis @naomidanis.bsky.social · 03/08/2025

Regarding the relationship between the beginning and the ending of your picture book. "Think about balance, not symmetry. Like eyebrows, they should be sisters, not twins." Heidi E.Y. Stemple on Revising Your Picture Book at #scbwisummer25 @heidieys.bsky.social

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Naomi Danis @naomidanis.bsky.social · 03/08/2025

The Ins & Outs of Author Publishing. Lee Wind explained why <author-publishing> is a better description than <self publishing> or <indie-publishing> and why the decision to author-publish says more about a particular project than about you as a book creator. > #scbwisummer25 @leewind.bsky.social

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Naomi Danis @naomidanis.bsky.social · 03/08/2025

"Do not despair if you feel invisible... You can learn something from everyone. Please credit illustrators. To late bloomers, it's never too late. Pay it forward." Advice from Debbie Ridpath Ohi, SCBWI StephenMooser Member of the Year Award recipient #scbwisummer25

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Naomi Danis @naomidanis.bsky.social · 03/08/2025

"Harold (and His Purple Crayon) was just trying to get home the whole time. Use your secret weapon, your creativity. That's all I'm trying to do when I make a book. Trying to get home, taking my time." Bryan Collier #scbwisummer25

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Naomi Danis @naomidanis.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

Eighth-grader Melanie whose mom suffers extreme anxiety after an accident, finally has a friend who understands, Dorit, whose dad suffers from his experience in the 1967 SixDayWar in Deborah Lakritz's THINGS THAT SHIMMER. @lilithmagazine.bsky.social lilith.org/articles/mor... @deblak1.bsky.social

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Naomi Danis @naomidanis.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

A large family’s chaotic seder goes on for six months because they’re missing the afikomen to complete it. ONE LITTLE GOAT: A PASSOVER CATASTROPHE, a graphic novel by DaraHorn illustrated by @theo-ellsworth.bsky.social is highlighted in @lilithmagazine.bsky.social lilith.org/articles/mor...

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Naomi Danis @naomidanis.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

In the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp a mother shows her 12-year-old daughter two pieces of chocolate they will save for when most needed. TWO PIECES OF CHOCOLATE by Kathy Kacer illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard, highlighted in @lilithmagazine.bsky.social #KidLit lilith.org/articles/mor...

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Naomi Danis @naomidanis.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

Flying a paper airplane and doing a handstand in the aisle at Friday night services, RACHEL FRIEDMAN BREAKS THE RULES in their early chapter book by @sarahkapit.bsky.social, illustrated by @genevievekote.bsky.social, highlighted in @lilithmagazine.bsky.social lilith.org/articles/mor...

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Naomi Danis @naomidanis.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

JELLA LIPMAN AND HER LIBRARY OF DREAMS: THE WOMAN WHO RESCUED A GENERATION OF CHILDREN AND FOUNDED THE WORLD'S LARGEST CHILDREN'S LIBRARY, a picture book biography by Katherine Patterson, illustrated by Sally Deng, highlighted in @lilithmagazine.bsky.social lilith.org/articles/mor... #librarian

lilith.org

More Books for Curious Kids

Books for young readers

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Naomi Danis @naomidanis.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

“How had being pregnant turned me from a law-abiding citizen who just wanted to go to college to a girl who had to watch what she googled and lie to her period app...?” BIOLOGY LESSONS, a young adult novel by Melissa Kantor, highlighted in @lilithmagazine.bsky.social lilith.org/articles/mor...

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Child's Play (International) @childs-play.co.uk · 26/04/2025

Want a great green read about transport, pollution and energy? BYE, CAR by @naomidanis.bsky.social illustrated by Daniel Rieley will spark classroom discussion and ideas for sustainable alternatives, inspiring young environmentalists, engineers and innovators. More via bio #EarthMonth #kidlit

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Naomi Danis @naomidanis.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

Writing Humor for Kids, Seriously Amazing panel of #KidLit authors Cece Bell (El Deafo), Christopher Paul Curtis (The Watsons Go To Birmingham), Eugene Yelchin (The Genius Under the Table), moderated by Elizabeth Levy, May 3, free in NYC. worldvoices.pen.org/event/25-wri... @penamerica.bsky.social

worldvoices.pen.org

Writing Humor for Kids, Seriously - PEN World Voices Festival

Funny books for kids can transport young readers to an amusing and entertaining universe, serving as a refuge from life’s difficult moments, as well as easing the approach to serious subjects. A panel...

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Naomi Danis @naomidanis.bsky.social · 30/03/2025

“Some say that messy people’s bedrooms are where the legends about monsters under the bed were born.” I'M A MESS: A GUIDE TO A MESSY LIFE by Einat Tsarfati, translated from the Hebrew by Annette Appel, is a graphic self-acceptance book. lilith.org/articles/fem...

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Naomi Danis @naomidanis.bsky.social · 30/03/2025

Bold, outspoken trailblazer, Congresswoman Bella Abzug (1920–1998) was never a sugar-and-spice girl. ABZUGLUTELY! BATTLING, BELLOWING BELLA ABZUG, a picture book by @saraharonson.bsky.social, illustrated by Andrea D’Aquino, tells her story. lilith.org/articles/fem...

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Naomi Danis @naomidanis.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

WHAT JEWISH LOOKS LIKE by @teachandtransform.bsky.social and @carolinekpritchard.bsky.social, illustrated by Iris Gottlieb, includes a gun control activist at age 11 among 36 diverse Jews in a stereotype-defying anthology for middle-grade and older readers. lilith.org/articles/fem...

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Naomi Danis @naomidanis.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor and psychologist, Dr.Edith Eger, in a young adult edition of her memoir, THE BALLERINA OF AUSCHWITZ, hopes readers will be inspired to transcend victimhood & "choose to dance though life, even in hellish circumstances.” lilith.org/articles/fem...

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Naomi Danis @naomidanis.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

In LET IT GLOW, Marissa Meyer & @joannelevy.bsky.social's middle-grade novel, two 12-year-old identical twins, adopted separately at birth, one by a Christian family, the other by a biracial interfaith couple raising their family Jewish, discover each other. lilith.org/articles/fem...

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Naomi Danis @naomidanis.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

In MIXED-UP MOONCAKES by @christinamatula.bsky.social, Erica Cohen Lyons & @tracysubisak.bsky.social, Ruby shops with her Chinese grandma for persimmons, pomelos & red chrysanthemums for the Mid-Autumn festival, and with her Jewish grandpa for lulav & etrog for Sukkot. lilith.org/articles/fem...

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Naomi Danis @naomidanis.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

In their picture book MANY THINGS AT ONCE by @veerawrites.bsky.social, illustrated by Nadia Alam, the narrator is told by her parents she is lucky to be both Indian and American, both Jewish and Hindu; sometimes feels she is not “enough.” lilith.org/articles/fem...

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Naomi Danis @naomidanis.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

I LIKE YOUR CHUTZPAH by Suzy Ultman affectionately introduces a few favorite Yiddish expressions one might say admiringly to a young or not-so-young loved one, and is highlighted in lilith.org/articles/fem...

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Naomi Danis @naomidanis.bsky.social · 08/03/2025

<"We all know how difficult it is to say something concisely, whereas to use many words is much easier,” he [Uri Shulevitz] said in a 1986 interview> AlexWiliams www.nytimes.com/2025/03/07/b...

nytimes.com

Uri Shulevitz, 89, Acclaimed Children’s Book Author and Illustrator, Dies

A Caldecott Medal winner, he turned childhood memories of fleeing the Nazis in Poland into magical stories.

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Reposted by Naomi Danis

John Green @johngreensbluesky.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

Hearing from Community Partners International, which works from Myanmar to Bangladesh, that USAID cuts mean 14,000 people with HIV losing access to lifesaving meds and a total stop in all HIV and TB screening. So many people will die due to these chaotic, sudden, horrifically implemented cuts.

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Naomi Danis @naomidanis.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

"Every child deserves a story that makes them feel seen, safe, and strong." — @authorgracelin.bsky.social Grace Lin (A Big Mooncake for Little Star, The Year of the Dog) #kidlit

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Naomi Danis @naomidanis.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

"A picture book can be a refuge, a friend, and a quiet revolution all at once." — LeUyen Pham (Outside, Inside, Bear Came Along) h/t @juliefhedlund.bsky.social

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Naomi Danis @naomidanis.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

<How do I feel? Like there are so many things to do, but none of them are what I want to do. > I feel so happy to hold in my hands @lianafinck.bsky.social’s new picture book for young kids and all of us, MIXED FEELINGS. Also I love seeing her brilliant drawings with touches of color.

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We Need Diverse Books @weneeddiversebooks.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

🍎 Attention teachers, librarians, and educators! Applications for our 2025 Books Save Lives Grants are officially open! Our Books Save Lives grants provide up to $5000 per school/library to invest in shelving diverse titles by diverse authors. 📚 bit.ly/BooksSaveLiv...

A light blue promotional graphic with a light checkered grid layered over the background. Around the top and bottom are cutesy illustrations relating to schools such as a red apple, a notebook, rulers, pencils, and a paintbrush. At the center is a scrap of white paper torn along the bottom. At the top of the paper is a green bubble that says, “Applications open.” Beneath that is large, blue text that says, “Books Save Lives Grants.”

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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

Planes are crashing because Trump and Musk wanted to cut their own taxes even more. Say it over and over and over again until it sinks into people's brains and they correctly associate every crash with two billionaires who never fly commercial.

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Naomi Danis @naomidanis.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

<Fantasy is philosophy’s more gorgeously painted cousin. You can’t just tell a child a blunt fact about the human heart and expect them to believe you. ...You need to show it. And #fantasy, with its limitless scope, gives us a way...> Katherine Rundell. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4... #KidLit

lrb.co.uk

Katherine Rundell · Why children’s books?

Children’s books, to a great extent because they are written for those who cannot participate in the market, can offer...

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Naomi Danis @naomidanis.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

<It was #BeatrixPotter who taught me the words ‘disconsolately’, ‘ponderously’ and, of course, this: ‘It is said that the effect of eating too much lettuce is “soporific”. I have never felt sleepy after eating lettuce; but then I am not a rabbit.’ >Katherine Rundell. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

lrb.co.uk

Katherine Rundell · Why children’s books?

Children’s books, to a great extent because they are written for those who cannot participate in the market, can offer...

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Naomi Danis @naomidanis.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

<Yet the thing I longed for most in children’s books were stories that would salute the reader’s intelligence, acknowledging that though small and hectic and clumsy without, we were not small and hectic and clumsy within.> Katherine Rundell www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4... #KidLit

lrb.co.uk

Katherine Rundell · Why children’s books?

Children’s books, to a great extent because they are written for those who cannot participate in the market, can offer...

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Naomi Danis @naomidanis.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

<Susan Rich at Little, Brown has acquired world rights to Kindergarten Gets Ready, a picture book by Naomi Danis (l.), illustrated by Pete Oswald, in which readers are introduced to the classroom through the eyes of a kindergarten teacher preparing for the first day of school...>cont'd in comments

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Lee Wind @leewind.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

#kidlit Inspiration from Sophie Blackall at #SCBWIwinter25 on what she reminds herself and what we need to do as creatives: "Give voice to your own astonishment" - Brilliant!

a photo from the audience view of Sophie Blackall giving the closing keynote at the SCBWI Winter 2025 Conference in New York, the slide above her an illustration of her note to herself and us, "Give voice to your own astonishment" surrounded by drawings of a lighthouse, whale, child characters, and more all donee by the artist herself.

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Naomi Danis @naomidanis.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

“People make mistakes, but they figure it out.Our obligation to readers is to give them a slice of hope,no matter how bleak life seems.We can’t always give them a happy ending—that is not life—but there is always some kind of hope and resilience.> #BeverlyHorowitz #SallyLodge #KidLit bit.ly/410qjvV

publishersweekly.com

Delacorte Publisher Beverly Horowitz to Retire After Five-Decade Career

We spoke with Beverly Horowitz about insight and wisdom she's gained from her more than 50 years in children's publishing, most recently as SVP and publisher of Delacorte Press.

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Naomi Danis @naomidanis.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

"Some of us write to give ourselves bravery we did not have when we were young." @erinentrada.bsky.social #scbwiny25 #KidLit #WritingCommunity

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