Conference Updates & KidLit News, July 11

Welcome home to all the lucky people who got to attend the International SCBWI conference in Los Angeles this past week. I’m looking forward to hearing all about it!

Meanwhile, as our local chapter’s Regional Advisor, Assistant Regional Advisor, and Illustrator Coordinator were living it up in California, Dotti Enderle stayed home and took care of our monthly meeting. IT was a good thing, too, because we had a lot of new faces at last night’s meeting. Dotti, who is the author of over 70 published books, talked to us about writing series. We learned a lot about the importance of keeping a detailed series bible. I do this with my own writing, but Dotti gave us some great tips for including information I hadn’t considered.

Happy Book Birthday

Today I am celebrating more new books by two prolific picture book authors, both members of the SCBWI Blueboard!

PIECE BY PIECE

By Stephanie Shaw

Illustrated by Sylvie Daigneault

Published by Sleeping Bear Press

Drawing inspiration from the natural world around her, a weaver woman with a magical touch crafts exquisite fabrics. And from the fabric she fashions a wondrous dress, with a bodice that sparkles of starlight and lace like the foam of an ocean wave. The weaver envisions the food and clothing she will be able to buy for her children from the sale of the dress. But when she takes the dress to a local shopkeeper, the weaver is told her work is not saleable. And so she starts over again.

Harkening back to the magic and lessons learned from classic fairy tales, this imaginative tale reminds readers of all ages of the importance of pursuing one’s dreams and following one’s heart.

Available July 15. Buy the book!

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DORIS THE BOOKASAURUS

By Diana Murray

Illustrated by Yuyi Chen

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Hooray for books! They make me ROAR!

Doris the Bookasaurus thinks books are mega-dino-tastic! They make her spiky tail wiggle and her imagination soar.

Her boisterous little brothers, Max and T.J., do not agree. They want her to stop reading and play Chomp the Flag and STEGO Blocks . . . until Doris shares her pirate book aloud. Soon they’re using their imagination for on an epic adventure to Sharktooth bay.

With charming rhyming text about an adorable dinosaur family, Doris and her siblings show rambunctious readers everywhere that reading and playing go perfectly together!

Buy the book!

Local Events

JULY 18, TUESDAY, 11:00 AM: EMMA VIRJAN, PB AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATOR

What this story needs is a pig in a wig, on a boat in a moat with a frog, a dog, and a goat on a log. . . .

As a panda in a blouse, a skunk on a trunk, and more hop on board, it becomes clear that what this story really needs is a bigger boat Join Pig on an exciting boat ride as she discovers that life is more fun with friends in this fantastic funny read-aloud with cumulative text from author-illustrator Emma J. Virjan.

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Giveaways

This month on Sharon Criscoe’s blog, author/illustrator Cyndi Marko is giving away an autographed copy of THIS LITTLE PIGGY: AN OWNER’S MANUAL to one lucky person. Just leave a comment on the blog post to be automatically entered for a chance to win.