Cover Reveal: WHERE IS OUR LIBRARY? A Story of Patience & Fortitude

Thanks for having me at Kid Lit Frenzy, Alyson! I’m sure you’ve heard it before, but you and your website have long been one some of the best resources for children’s book fans everywhere - from educators, to families, to booksellers, to authors and illustrators. Thank you for all you do to support children and the kid lit community. I hope you and all of your readers are staying healthy.

So where did Where Is Our Library?: A Story of Patience & Fortitude start? Well, it’s the sequel to 2018’s Lost in the Library (also A Story of Patience & Fortitude), which follows the two world-renowned marble lion statues that sit outside the New York Public Library’s Schwarzman building on 5th Avenue.

Quick review (with spoilers): In Lost in the Library, Patience goes missing (he’s lost in the library). Fortitude ventures into the library for the first time and searches through all the historic rooms until he finally finds Patience in the Children’s Center while reading all of their favorite books.

But why another adventure? And why this particular one?

The answer is … because of back matter.

As fans of Kid Lit Frenzy surely know, back matter is a section at the end of some picture books (often nonfiction) that may illuminate certain topics in more depth, share additional resources, and so on (Alyson, I’m sure you have a better definition of backmatter up your sleeve. - Thanks Josh, I am actually working on a special post about backmatter, but what I will say is that it is often the part of the book that people skip but may contain some of the most important information of the whole book that you don’t want to miss.).

Because Lost in the Library takes place in a real building, I was asked to write a few bullet points of back matter. My facts were checked by folks at the New York Public Library and some of the points were edited, including one very big one below. I wrote the first sentence, but when I saw the final version of the book, another was added.

The Children’s Center would be moving? In 2020?! Just two years after the book’s release?! But that’s where Fortitude finds Patience?! That (sort of) ruins the plot of the book! (thanks for pointing that out in your review, Kirkus … *eyeroll*)

But like any author worth their salt, I realized (six months later) that this problem could be the conflict of their next adventure...

In Where Is Our Library? Patience and Fortitude visit the children’s section one night only to find … the books are ALL GONE! And rather than searching through the library to find them, they search through ALL OF MANHATTAN, stopping at literary locales all along the way. They visit all over the island from Broadway shows featuring children’s books (of which there are MANY!) to statues of Alice in Wonderland and Hans Christian Andersen in Central Park to many of my favorite NYC picture book settings (in books like Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, And Tango Makes Three, Henry and the Kite Dragon, The Curious Garden, and more) to many of the nearly 100 NYPL branches.

Where Is Our Library? is an ode to both New York City and the picture books that take place there. I hope you enjoy taking a tour of the city through the eyes of a pair of marble lion statues in search of their beloved books. And without further further ado, here is the cover:

And because the whole jacket looks so gorgeous, here’s that, too:

Where Is Our Library?: A Story of Patience & Fortitude is illustrated (gorgeously, once again) by Stevie Lewis, published by Henry Holt/Macmillan in conjunction with the New York Public Library, and will be available at bookshops and libraries everywhere on October 27th, 2020.

Josh Funk is a software engineer and the author of books like the Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast series, the It's Not a Fairy Tale series, the How to Code with Pearl and Pascal series, the A Story of Patience & Fortitude series, Dear Dragon, Pirasaurs!, Albie Newton, and more. For more information about Josh Funk, visit him at joshfunkbooks.com and on Twitter at @joshfunkbooks.

Stevie Lewis illustrates children's books, including Lost in the Library, Sun! One in a Billion, and Moon! Earth's Best Friend. She lives in Flagstaff, Arizona and can be found at chocosweete.com and @chocosweete on Instagram.

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge: Cover Reveal - Swish!: The Slam-Dunking, Alley-Ooping, High-Flying Harlem Globetrotters

Thank you Don for stopping by Kid Lit Frenzy to talk about your upcoming book with Suzanne Slade.

Well, here it is, Alyson—ta-da! I’m excited to share the cover of an upcoming picture book that I had the honor of illustrating: Swish!: The Slam-Dunking, Alley-Ooping, High-Flying Harlem Globetrotters (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers), written by prolific author Suzanne Slade. The book will publish later this year in November 2020.

Swish! is the story of the Harlem Globetrotters, which formed in the late 1920s. The original team was called the New York Harlem Globetrotters. But guess what? They weren’t from New York—they were from Chicago! Some of the original ballplayers came right out of high school, such as Toots Wright, Kid Oliver, Fat Long, Runt Pullins, and Andy Washington, and they barnstormed their way across the Midwest, going up against anybody who’d have them. They played some of the most high-flying, groundbreaking basketball of their time and won the hearts of Americans wherever they went . . . at least while they were on the court. Off court, because of the color of their skin, they often weren’t allowed to stay in hotels. Many a night, the team slept in an old Model T car. Swish! is a story of resilience in the face of remarkable adversity.

The cover design was a true collaboration between super talented designer Saho Fujii and myself. Initially, I created a few very sloppy thumbnail sketches, as well as a single color image. Saho then pulled a few of the book’s interior sketches and proposed these other designs.

I loved both her designs, but we all felt the version with the Globetrotter spinning a basketball on one finger best captured the spirit of the book as a whole. I tweaked and added a bit of pizzazz to the font, and we were off! And the conk! I love the conk! (You can Google that.)

After illustrating the book, I jumped right back into the cover art, proposing these four color versions.

Thankfully, Saho, editor Deirdre Jones, and the whole jacket team at Little, Brown loved all four covers! (That never happens!) In the end, we decided on the yellow version. To illustrate the book, I used a program called Clip Studio Paint. It’s a Photoshop-like program with brushes I love.

I began my career working as a book designer at an educational publisher, so I can’t help but have my fingers all up in the cover design process. Creating a successful book cover is truly a collaborative effort. I’m more than pleased with the results, and I think my young readers will be too.

Of course, I’d be remiss if I don’t mention that I am the only children’s book illustrator who can now say that I have a Swish! and a Whoosh! in my body of work.

__________________

And now for the cover reveal:

Look for Swish!: The Slam-Dunking, Alley-Ooping, High-Flying Harlem Globetrotters coming in November 2020.

About the Author: Suzanne Slade is the award-winning author of over 100 children's books. Hailing from Chicago, Suzanne has written several titles about inspiring ground-breakers from her hometown: SWISH! THE SLAM-DUNKING, ALLEY-OOPING, HIGH-FLYING HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS, EXQUISITE: THE POETRY AND LIFE OF GWENDOLYN BROOKS (April 7, 2020), and DANGEROUS JANE (about Jane Addams.) As mechanical engineer by degree, she also writes engaging science titles such as her recent 2020 NSTA Best STEM Book, A COMPUTER CALLED KATHERINE: HOW KATHERINE JOHNSON HELPED PUT AMERICA ON THE MOON.

About the Illustrator: Don Tate is an award-winning illustrator of numerous critically acclaimed books for children, including CARTER READS THE NEWSPAPER (Peachtree, 2019); NO SMALL POTATOES (2018); WHOOSH! LONNIE JOHNSON'S SUPER-SOAKING STREAM OF INVENTIONS (Charlesbridge, 2016); many others.

He is also the author of POET: THE REMARKABLE STORY OF GEORGE MOSES HORTON (Peachtree,2015); IT JES' HAPPENED: WHEN BILL TRAYLOR STARTED TO DRAW (Lee & Low Books, 2102), both books are Ezra Jack Keats award winners, and most recently, and the forthcoming WILLIAM STILL AND HIS FREEDOM STORIES: FATHER OF THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD (Peachtree, 2020).

Don is a founding host of the The Brown Bookshelf –a blog dedicated to books for African American young readers; and a member of the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign, created to address the lack of diverse, non-majority narratives in children’s literature.

He lives in Austin, Texas, with his family.

Don’t forget to link up your nonfiction reviews…

Cover Reveal: Rosie Stronger Than Steel by Lindsay Ward

In 2012, I first discovered Lindsay Ward’s work in her book When Blue Met Egg.

In listening to her describe her creative process with paper cutting, I was truly in awe and I continue to be in awe of her work. Her upcoming book, Rosie: Stronger Than Steel, which releases in April 1, 2020 will be out at the end of Women’s History Month but in time for the 75th anniversary of V-E Day. This book seems to be a bit of a departure in terms of text/story for Ward, as she explores mixing fiction with history in a celebration of the hard-working women in the United States and Great Britain during World War II. The author’s note at the end provides readers with information about the women factory workers in the US and the Women’s Land Army in England and how these women worked incredibly hard and made a significant contribution to the war effort.

Though the book does not release until April 2020, I hope that the cover gives you enough of a glimpse to get as excited about this book as I am.

So, here is the cover reveal….

Rosie: Stronger Than Steel
by Lindsay Ward
Two Lions Publishing (April 1, 2020)
Fiction * Women’s History * War
Audience: Ages 4 to 8

Description of the book:
This is our Rosie,
stronger than steel.
She’ll plow all the land
with a turn of her wheel.

Built by women in the United States and sent to England to dig and plow alongside female farmers during World War II, Rosie the tractor does whatever is needed to support the war effort. She works day and night to help grow crops for the troops…even when she has to hide in the fields. This is because she knows, like the women who built her and the women who farm with her, that they all must do their part.

Inspired by the group of American women collectively known as “Rosie the Riveter” and the British Women’s Land Army, this is a story about taking action and coming together for the greater good.

Mark your calendar for April 2020 so that you don’t miss Rosie: Stronger Than Steel.

About the author/illustrator:
Lindsay Ward is the creator of the Dexter T. Rexter series. Although she isn’t afraid of flying, she always looks forward to cookies during her flights. She is also the author and illustrator of Brobarians, Henry Finds His Word, and When Blue Met Egg. Her book Please Bring Balloons was also made into a play.

Lindsay lives with her family in Peninsula, Ohio, where she often sees tractors from the 1930s and 1940s. Learn more about her online at www.LindsayMWard.com or on Twitter: @lindsaymward.

A Magnolious Cover Reveal

A Magnolious Cover Reveal

Magnolious (adjective) Very good; magnificent.

Origin: Mid 19th century: formed humorously from magnolia + -ous, influenced by magnificent. —Oxford English Dictionary

Below you will witness something so marvelous, it can only be called MAGNOLIOUS! Hold onto your seats as we reveal…

But wait! First, feast your eyes on the curious sub-title of this forthcoming middle grade from Suzanne Nelson and Random House coming to bookshelves on 6/18/19..

An Orphan,
Her Elephant,
and Some Rather Unusual Seeds?

Suzanne Nelson, please step forward and tell us about these mesmerizing three items…

“THE ORPHAN Ten-year-old Nitty Luce is an orphan and a thief on the run. Her only belongings are a blue ribbon, yellow button, red marble, and a stolen pouch of mysterious green seeds. For as long as Nitty can remember, folks have always assumed the worst of her. Still, she believes she has goodness in her somewhere. She just needs to be given the chance to prove it. But no one else puts any faith in her. Until she meets Magnolious.

HER ELEPHANT Magnolious is a circus elephant, but many believe she’s also a murderer. No one truly understands what happened on the night that her trainer died. No one understands her. Until she meets Nitty Luce.

Happen-chance and a blinding dust storm bring Magnolious and Nitty together, and the two of them embark on a journey through dust-riddled wastelands, searching for hope and safety. When they stumble upon a barren farm belonging to the curmudgeonly Windle Homes, Nitty offers him help with his farm in return for shelter.

AND SOME RATHER MYSTERIOUS SEEDS After all, Nitty still has the pouch of mysterious green seeds. She’s been told that the seeds will grow whatever she needs them to grow. She believes the seeds might help Windle and his dying farm. More than that, the seeds might help her and Magnolious. Because they both need something extraordinary to happen. Something that will prove their goodness and bring back the hope that the dust storms have stolen.

But as the seeds start to grow, so does a mystery involving the farm and the surrounding town of Fortune’s Bluff. Soon, Nitty, along with newfound friends Twitch and Bernice, are trying to save Windle’s farm, Fortune’s Bluff, and beloved Magnolious from foulsome rotten villainy. This is a story about hope, faith, and finding family. This is a story about magic, mysterious seeds, and—yes—even mustaches.

This is a story about an orphan girl and her extraordinary elephant—a story about how the smallest seeds can sprout the greatest friendships.”

AND NOW (drumroll please…)

What a beautiful cover! Available to Pre-Order: Random House | Amazon | IndieBound

Thank you Suzanne for sharing your wonderful cover and special book with the readers of Kid Lit Frenzy. And thank you Kristen Cappy for pulling it all together.

Cover Reveal: We Are (NOT) Friends by Anna Kang & Christopher Weyant

Ever since You Are (Not) Small by Anna Kang and Christopher Weyant came out in 2014, I have been a big fan of the book and each of the following companion books.

Recently, I learned that there would be a fourth book in the series. The latest book by the creative team of Kang and Weyant looks at changes in friendship. How do you introduce a new friend into the existing friendship pair. When you’re friends, sometimes three’s a crowd and sometime it is just right.

Two fuzzy friends are having a fun playdate when a new pal hops in. As the day continues, each friend feels left out at times. It isn’t so easy to figure out how to act when everything seems to change. With humor and heart, the beloved characters from Theodor Seuss Geisel Award winner You Are (Not) Small navigate a friendship triangle as only they can.

I asked Anna and Christopher to share a quick thought about their latest book. Here is what they had to say:

“We are so excited to share the next installment in the lives of our fuzzy creatures! In WE ARE (NOT) FRIENDS, a third party enters the picture, suddenly shifting the balance, something all kids (and adults) experience in their friendships.” –Anna Kang & Christopher Weyant

So, are you ready for the cover…

I am excited to say that this may be one of my favorites of the series. I can really see young children connecting with our fuzzy friends and the challenge of welcoming in a new friend. I look forward to sharing more when we get closer to the release date.

Mark your calendar. We Are (NOT) Friends will be out on May 1, 2019.

About the creators: Anna Kang and Christopher Weyant are the creators of Theodor Seuss Geisel Award winner You Are (Not) Small as well as series titles That’s (Not) Mine, I Am (Not) Scared, and We Are (Not) Friends. They also wrote and illustrated Eraser, Can I Tell You a Secret?, and Will You Help Me Fall Asleep? Christopher’s work can also be seen in The New Yorker, and his cartoons are syndicated worldwide. This husband-and-wife team lives in New Jersey with their two daughters and their rescue dog. Visit them at www.annakang.com and www.christopherweyant.com.