writesinla.bsky.social
@writesinla.bsky.social
People are always talking about staying in their lane around politics and social issues. Kids are our lane. All kids everywhere always are our lane as children’s book folks: creators, writers, illustrators, editors, reviewers, readers, educators. dlvr.it/TRDqnc THE FATE OF FAUSTO by @oliverjeffers (2018). Why this picture book? It’s a fable. It’s about a white man who wants to own everything, and it speaks to colonization, greed, billionaires, environmental degradation, and white supremacy. It speaks to the powers that be and have… dlvr.it/TRBHSN SHOW WAY by @jacqueline_woodson illustrated by @hudson.talbott. Why this picture book? It’s incredible. It shows us:
history, family, love, perseverance, storytelling, writing craft. It brings us all the way to now and all the way back to the beginning. Show us the way of… dlvr.it/TR3HHb A RAMADAN NIGHT written by @nadinepresleyauthor illustrated by @asma.enayeh. Why this picture book? It lovingly and richly portrays one special night of Ramadan with a father and son. It teaches figurative language through metaphors! It’s gorgeously, thoughtfully, creatively,… dlvr.it/TR1QHZ J IS FOR JUSTICE: A Social Justice Book for Kids written by @nekimal illustrated by @hiccupbk. Adorable Baby Joy loves her city as much as she loves her Mama and Daddy and “brown sugar oatmeal with apples and peaches.” And she discovers, like all kids can, that she loves… dlvr.it/TR0M7V RHEA’S RODEO by @laekanzeakemp illustrated by @rizzyfig. This picture book is a stunner with so much heart! It’s about Rhea, her horse Galleta, Escamuza Charra (women’s Mexican rodeo), tradition, and how the best prizes aren’t necessarily gained when you win. Instead, this… dlvr.it/TQxZHz SCHOOL VISITS ARE COOL!
Author visits leave a lasting impression,inspiring kids to read, write, create-and keep making! In-person or virtual, interactive, and flexible. Plus when we read and talk about To Make, we always include crafting! Here’s a testimonial from Jessica… dlvr.it/TQwPyg Had a super neat author visit with a school here in LA to kickstart the year! I got to share To Make with 145 eager student-makers at @jtdschool. They were delightful as was the generous, thoughtful librarian. At interactive presentations like this one, we talk about the steps… dlvr.it/TQvM3S TEN MICE FOR TET written by Pegi Deitz Shea and Cynthia Weill with illustrations by To Ngoc Trang and embroidery by Pham Viẽt Dinh was published in 2004 and is worth a read twenty years later. Ten mice celebrate Tet, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year via incredible and charming… dlvr.it/TQtMPl A huge thanks to the folks organizing to raise money to combat I C E and support immigrants and communities in Minnesota. It’s only a couple of days, starting now! Thursday the 29th (ending Friday, January 30), and the goal is 30k, so let’s do this!
From… dlvr.it/TQd731 COMMUNITY SNOWMAN by @deborahkerbel.books and @tinemodeweghansen. Why this picture book? Because we all need it right now! It’s wordless and so perfectly captures people showing up for people in their community in ways that are fun and joyful and also meaningful and practical,… dlvr.it/TQXnbt The other morning, I woke up early and caught the sunrise by surprise, my favorite. I was stuck in place, transfixed, looking out the giant windows of our apartment. Like the dawn in LA’s winter sky, our impending move unfurled over me, grief after six years of struggling,… dlvr.it/TQQh9R ASTRO by @manuelmarsol translated by @lizzie_davis_
This picture book is going on my favorite existential kids book shelf and honestly helped me keep going. A planet. A traveler. An arrival. A curious narrator. A friendship. A loss. Questions, despair, grief. And then… dlvr.it/TQP3hG The first of hopefully many picture book creators I admire. First up, Donald Crews! This year I discovered (very late as it’s from 1992) SHORTCUT here in LA at @otherbooksla. It is such a gem of suspense and storytelling. And his others! Gems as well of color, composition,… dlvr.it/TQJkP0 A JOURNEY TOWARD HOPE written by Victor Hinojosa and Cory Voorhees with illustrations by Susan Guevara. This picture book is about four migrant/refugee children traveling north from their respective countries on their own just like over 50,000 kids do every year. They have… dlvr.it/TQGpqc Shared my most influential reads (and a few quotes) in my latest newsletter, PSA from Danielle Davis. Here are books that made an impact: middle grade fiction, picture books (as a writer and reader), adult fiction, and non-fiction + a few quotes in the mix! What is one fave… dlvr.it/TQFqnp Invisible and external milestones and intentions for the year past and presently unfolding. I believe it’s important to celebrate our wins the way we do with children.
I believe it’s even more important to celebrate our INVISIBLE or internal wins and not just the ones that are… dlvr.it/TQCXvF MR. LEPRON’S MYSTERY SOUP by @giovannazoboli and @machi_dg : an anticapitalist kids’ book.
Why this picture book?
It shows how more and more, bigger and bigger—solo endeavors and factories and global reach—are not ultimately satisfying.
It’s basically an anti-capitalist… dlvr.it/TQ8dW3 WITNESS by the children of The Children’s Village of @phrc_ps. How do you describe a book like this? “Children share what they witness—loved ones lost, homes destroyed, lives shattered…What Palestinian children are seeing today is not new. When my life began in 1989, children… dlvr.it/TQ7k20 Another winter solstice, another solstice anniversary spent hiking and dinner-ing at our fave @chifa_la. Another year—perhaps the most challenging and growth-inducing ever—of being partners, friends, family, comrades, collaborators. Another year of loving and discovering and… dlvr.it/TPyTbd Special solstice outing. Art + astronomy + sunset + dear ones. 🌅 Thank you to the @la.astronomical.society for the tip about Gestation III in Santa Monica at Palisades Park, a sculpture by Baile Oakes that aligns with the winter solstice on and around December 21st in the… dlvr.it/TPxfMg MOON SONG by @michaelagoade. This picture book is perfect for the winter solstice. A gorgeous invitation for today, for winter. “Come! Haagú! Follow the light” on Sheet’ka or Sitka, Alaska. And bask in the dark too. Brother and sister, warm family, discovery, dazzling magic… dlvr.it/TPxZgQ Over the last two years+ @campsbreakerz has had an amazing food initiative, Et’aam @cbcrew_etaam, delivering—by miracle!—food to 25 CB families in Nuseirat in Gaza. Now, they are turning to art therapy. You can follow and support Colors of Hope @colorsofhope.cb for more on… dlvr.it/TPtz39 Had a chance to visit @coritaartcenter a couple of weekends ago. It’s free (by appointment) and it’s a very special space with special art-books-prints from or about Corita Kent that makes you want to make…change! dlvr.it/TPtG85 NOT LIKE EVERY DAY: Finding calm during school lockdown drills written by @grubreport illustrated by @gabriellegrimard_illustratrice. This picture book is a comfort in a world where things exist that shouldn’t (hate, unsafety, injustices, rampant guns). It centers children. It… dlvr.it/TPryC8 I consider collaborating with writers on their stories to be sacred work. It’s true! It’s an honor when writers on any stage of their path trust me with their projects and process as mentor, editor, and motivator—as coach. :) I’m so struck, especially on video calls or in… dlvr.it/TPpGHJ Hello community, I wanted to share an opportunity to support mutual aid efforts for a beloved Palestinian family’s sustenance and evacuation efforts this weekend starting tomorrow, Friday 12/12- Sunday 12/14 with over thirty artists & creatives.
I am donating a one-hour… dlvr.it/TPmbVv This trio is picture books explores bullying and the power of words in vastly different, fascinating ways. 🪨🛹🪄A bird insults a rock who stays firm in who/what they are anyway. A skater girl finds words that serve her regardless of the harmful ones others serve. And a child… dlvr.it/TPj8Kk Calling all current and future picture book writers!✏️ I’ve done a re-vision and revamp of my coaching and critique services, and I hope you’ll check them out to see if working together could be a fit. I speak picture books, and I love sharing that second language with writers… dlvr.it/TPfvmH THE SLEEPER TRAIN by Mick Jackson illustrated by @blahjinder. This picture book is so special and Baljinder Kaur’s illustrations are always incredible: the colors, the patterns, the delightful characters. When a child boards a sleeper train with her parents and can’t sleep in… dlvr.it/TPdTN6 It’s Read Palestine Week, and reading creates citizens of solidarity. Check out a few of my fave Palestinian picture books. dlvr.it/TPXJDP I AM ON INDIGENOUS LAND by m Katrina M. Phillips illustrated by Sam Zimmerman @cranesuperior . Why this picture book?
IT’S GORGEOUS!
And shows us 13 natural wonders we might walk, ride, or fish on and the 13 Indigenous lands on which they reside: from a field of flowers on… dlvr.it/TPTsMx Et’aam Food Initiative @cbcrew_etaam is part of what @campsbreakerz does to support the kids of Nuseirat Camp through breaking, activities, trauma processing, and also food deliveries to nourish families. And you can support what they’re doing. “Et’aam currently distributes… dlvr.it/TPTcS0 Gift these books to grown-ups part two: vital stories for how to go forward in the world. Each of these tells anyone of any age something vital about how to create a better world and live in it via creativity, ritual, new ideas, community care. dlvr.it/TPSsy6 Gift these books to grown-ups part one: gorgeous, illuminating stories for making connections. Back in the day on my blog This Picture Book Life I made an annual picture books for grownups gift guide. I wanted to bring that spirit here. Why? Because picture books have… dlvr.it/TPQCkh A CITY DREAM words by @b.sharise illustrations by @trudihemansillu. This picture book empowers a child to change her neighborhood in Baltimore, inspiring all kids to dream big about their cities and communities and get adults to listen. Bright, bold, and full of belief!… dlvr.it/TPPSnf FIVE WORDS THAT ARE MINE words by @melissaseronrichardson illustrations by @addy.illo. 🛹This picture book is a force of power and delight. It’s about a skater. A search for words to describe her, “cinco palabras” that “fit just right.” They will not be the words that bully… dlvr.it/TPJw1K THE CITY’S MEMORY by @mariam__m._kh is part of the @zinesfromgaza project, and it is full of amazing writing and recallings and imagery and feelings. It keeps her home, her community alive. “In the end, Gaza’s archive is not a book locked in a library. It is the market’s… dlvr.it/TPJ7TK AND YET YOU SHINE: THE KOHINOOR DIAMOND, COLONIZATION, AND RESISTANCE by @supriya.kelkar.
Why this picture book?
The story of the Kohinoor diamond told with gorgeous mixed media and collage is really the story of colonization, reminding readers that current and historical… dlvr.it/TPGg10 A quartet of picture books that show we are better as a collective.
WE ARE STARLINGS: Inside the Mesmerizing Magic of a Murmuration.
From I AM WE: How Crows Come Together to Survive:
“With one thousand-two thousand-ten thousand-with uncountable eyes, we just might survive.”… dlvr.it/TPBPBp LOVE IS STILL WINNING/ El Amor Siempre Triunfa, story by @bailabomba Art by @authorjdelavega. Why this picture book? It shows how community shows up in the face of hate with the kind of love that accepts, gives, works, helps, welcomes, speaks, listens, hopes, and sings. In… dlvr.it/TP5Q6S Writing books for kids means infusing them with your values. These deeper meanings come through whether or not they’re right there on the surface. These are examples that, I think, reflect their creator’s values including: community care, the vitality of heritage and history,… dlvr.it/TP4Qmw Starts Thursday and you can sign up through Saturday!
WHAT? My online class, Writing and Revising Your Picture Book at @writersdigest! (Videos, feedback, office hours, community discussion board, and final critique.)
WHO IT’S FOR: anyone with an idea or a draft.
WHY TAKE… dlvr.it/TP44jJ CHASING DREAMS CROSSING BORDERS:
PERSIGUIENDO SUENOS
CRUZANDO FRONTERAS by @nidiamerino and Pamela Montero. This picture book tells one family’s immigration story and alludes to and portrays many others. Check out the small, local LA press who published it… dlvr.it/TP3JFQ 
