Category Archives: Mary Kuehner

by | February 16, 2024 · 9:23 pm

Storytime, Early Literacy, and Bells. Oh My!

Most of us have heard of the Caldecott and Newbery medals – children’s book awards that have been around for, well, a VERY long time. But have you heard of the CLEL Bells? No? Take a seat, I’ve got a story to tell.

I’ve been a librarian, as of this summer, for 25 years. And in those 25 years, my job has changed quite a bit – in good ways and bad. But one incredibly satisfying way in which it’s changed is in the way children’s librarians view their work. While we still work hard to connect children with the right book at the right time, and help them grow a love of reading through storytime, we recognize now that our work goes beyond that. And a big reason for that shift in thinking came with the advent of Every Child Ready to Read.

Every Child Ready to Read (ECRR) is a framework created in the mid-2000s in a partnership between the Public Library Association and the Association of Library Service to Children (both divisions of the American Library Association). Using the most current research available at the time, it focused on how libraries could (and did) empower parents and caregivers to help their children get ready to learn to read later on. It helped librarians understand how the activities we did every day in our storytimes helped build early literacy skills, and gave us the language to talk to caregivers about these skills and how to encourage them at home.

It was a shift that wasn’t easy for some librarians. Storytime had always been about THE BOOKS, primarily. And while reading stories continued, now many of us were incorporating early literacy “tips” into our programs that explained more of the WHY we do what we do in storytimes: Why songs and movement were important learning tools along with books. Why we ask questions as we read stories. Why we don’t expect the children to sit quietly the whole time. How all of these things are building language skills and vocabulary knowledge and brain connections. Breaking this “fourth wall” and speaking directly to the parents was hard for many, but most of us practiced and got used to it. Because we know, WE KNOW, that this is important. The work we do was, and is, helping children get ready to read.

The first iteration of ECRR described six skills that young children needed to develop in order to make learning to read easier. They were:

  • Print motivation – loving books and reading, and therefore being motivated to learn to read;
  • Print awareness – understanding that print is all around us and is used for many purposes (in books, on signs, lists, letters,
    etc); knowing how print works (in English we read left to right, top to bottom);
  • Narrative skills – understanding how stories work (beginning, middle and end) and being able to tell stories and retell/describe events and make predictions;
  • Vocabulary – knowing lots of words!
  • Letter Knowledge – recognizing letters and knowing their names and sounds;
  • Phonological Awareness – being able to hear and play with the smaller sounds that make up words, like letter sounds and rhymes.

The second iteration, recognizing feedback from a lot of librarians that said that sharing terms like “phonological awareness” with parents felt… inauthentic (read: a little too highfalutin’) when we were trying to let parents know the simple benefits of singing with one’s child, turned the six skills into 5 practices that librarians could encourage caregivers to do with their children at home to build early literacy skills – all of which are things we do in storytime. The 5 practices are:

  • READ. Seems obvious, doesn’t it? But really, there is nothing better for building a future reader than reading or sharing books with them.
  • TALK. Recent research has shown how vital conversations are to growing a young child’s brain. They are learning language, how to communicate, vocabulary, social-emotional skills, and so much more.
  • SING. Not only does singing promote phonological awareness, but it also develops memory skills and grows vocabulary and language.
  • WRITE. Here it doesn’t mean just working with crayons and pencils and words. It means growing fine motor skills that allow us to hold a crayon or pencil. It means understanding that writing is used for more than just books, it’s also used to communicate in lists, signs, letters, and more.
  • PLAY. Children learn best through play, and that includes learning skills they can use when later reading – like building their imaginations, background knowledge about the world, and vocabulary.

One outgrowth of this shift was the creation of Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy (CLEL) which I had the good fortune to be involved with from its inception. Born in 2008, this organization, sponsored by the Colorado State Library, seeks to support libraries and librarians across Colorado in our work with young children and families. The organization has grown by leaps and bounds and now includes an annual conference attended by librarians many parts of the country.

One of the things CLEL realized in our early years is that nobody was recognizing books that were particularly good at supporting early literacy skills growth. As the center of storytime remains the book, CLEL wanted to create an award that would do just that. And the CLEL Bell Awards were born.

The CLEL Bells are an “annual recognition of five high-quality picture books that provide excellent support of early literacy development in young children.” There is one for each of the 5 practices above – READ, TALK, SING, WRITE and PLAY. Additionally, the committee creates an activity sheet to go along with each book to extend the learning. And without further ado, the 2024 winners, announced just a couple of weeks ago, are:

READ: This is a Story by John Schu and Lauren Castillo

TALK: A Day With No Words by Tiffany Hammond and by Kate Cosgrove

WRITE: Scroll by Hui Li

SING: We Belong to the Drum by Sandra Lamouche and Azby Whitecalf

PLAY: Quiet Time With My Seeya by Dinale Dabarera

The award has been in existence 10 years and all of the past winners are listed on the website, along with their activity sheets. In the first year the award committee, which I got to be a part of, also selected 25 “Silver Bell” awards to recognize 5 books in each practice category published in the prior 25 years.

Go check out these amazing picture books – and share with your little ones!

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Filed under Awards, Best Books, Early Literacy, Mary Kuehner, Picture Books

by | July 21, 2023 · 7:23 pm

Is that REALLY what’s happening? Unreliable Narrators in Picture Books.

I realized recently that two of my manuscripts have unreliable narrators. One is a “voice over”-type style, describing what’s (not actually) happening in the action on the page, and one is also omniscient but instead describing a character incorrectly. That character happens to be a potato, but that’s neither here nor there.

It got me thinking about this type of story and what other picture books have unreliable narrators. I really gravitate toward this kind of storytelling, because it’s often funny and can make for a great read-aloud. Kids LOVE correcting the reader and having the opportunity to feel like, for once, they know more than the adult.

An unreliable narrator can be an omniscient voice, but it can also be a character in the story – main protagonist or not. They can be unreliable for malicious or devious reasons, for silly reasons, or simply because they’re just wrong or don’t know any better. The thing they all have in common is that they cannot be trusted to give the full, correct picture of what’s happening.

So, without further ado, here are some of my favorite picture books with unreliable narrators:

Cover image of the picture book Snappsy the Alligator Did Not Ask to Be In This book, an aggrieved alligator holding a copy of the same book with a chicken looking on.

Snappsy the Alligator Did Not Ask to Be In This Book by Julie Falatko and Tim Miller

An unreliable narrator (a chicken) follows Snappsy around describing things that Snappsy is decidedly NOT doing – like hunting defenseless bunnies or buying snacks for a party. Snappsy gets more and  more exasperated as he just wants to live his life, quietly.

A Unicorn, a Dinosaur and a Shark Walk Into a Book by Jonathan Fenske Cover of the picture book A Unicorn, a Dinosaur and a Shark Walk Into a Book. Yellow with cartoon images of the three main characters.

No, it’s not the start of a joke, although the book is seriously funny. The narrator tries to get the three creatures to make this the BEST BOOK EVER (I mean, c’mon, what’s better than a UNICORN, a DINOSAUR and a SHARK in one book) but they won’t do what that narrator asks. How will the narrator convince them?

Cover for the picture book The Panda Problem featuring a friendly panda perched in a bamboo stand.The Panda Problem by Deborah Underwood and Hannah Marks

As the narrator explains to us right at the start, every good story has a problem. And, in this book, they insist, the panda is the one with the problem. Panda begs to differ. The narrator insists that the story must have a problem, though, so panda tries to invent some.

My Cat, the Silliest Cat in the World by Gilles BacheletCover of the picture book My Cat, the Silliest Cat in the World. The cat is actually an elephant.

The unseen narrator describes their silly cat, which, as one can clearly see from the book’s cover, looks suspiciously like an elephant.

Cover of the picture book How to Give Your Cat a Bath in Five Easy Steps. A girl with afro puffs and a white cat look over the edge of a bathtub filled with water. How to Give Your Cat a Bath in 5 Easy Steps by Nicola Winstanley and John Martz

Anyone who has a cat knows there’s nothing easy about giving a cat a bath. Yet, the narrator insists it can be done, while the hapless child becomes increasingly frustrated as she tries, and fails, to get her cat into the bath.

Cover for the picture book Have You Seen Gordon? A rabbit looks through binoculars and we see a crowd reflected in them.

Have You Seen Gordon? by Adam Jay Epstein and Ruth Chan

So, okay, this is cheating a little because in this story the narrator isn’t unreliable as much as the main character, Gordon, is uncooperative. This is ostensibly a seek-and-find book, but Gordon refuses to make himself hard to find. He prefers to stand out.

These are just a few of the picture books with unreliable narrators that are in the world. Which ones do you love? Sound off in the comments so we’ve all got a great list!

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Filed under Mary Kuehner, Picture Books, Uncategorized

by | April 17, 2023 · 9:00 am

Let’s hear it for audio books!

See what I did there?

I have a long commute to work. LONG. Sometimes my trip home takes an hour. So I joke that I get a lot of reading done in the car – via audio books!

Now, if anyone’s ever told you listening to audio books isn’t REAL reading they are 1000% WRONG. The story might be entering your consciousness via your ears instead of your eyes, but the picture it paints for you is the same. The impact can be the same. And if the book is read by a REALLY GOOD voice artist, then it can be even more impactful. Also, this article points out why continuing to question whether or not it’s “real” reading is ableist.

Anyhoo, here are a few middle grade books I’ve read (via audiobook) recently and LOVED:

Finally Seen by Kelly Yang; audiobook read by Cindy Kay

I ADORE Kelly Yang’s Front Desk series. This book, a standalone, may outshine that series for me. When Lina arrives in the United States after being apart from her parents and younger sister for five years, she is surprised to find that life is nothing like what she imagined – or what her mother told her in letters. Her family is barely getting by, and, after an embarrassing moment in class, Lina decides to never speak at school again. But with the help of a friendly librarian, an understanding friend, and a book that reflects her own experience back to her, she finds the courage to use her voice.

Tumble by Celia C. Pérez; audiobook read by Victoria Villarreal

When Addie Ramirez’s stepfather proposes adopting her, she decides that it’s time she learned more about her biological father – whom she knows very little about. Her hunt leads her to the famous family of luchadores, the Bravos. As Addie gets to know her relatives and learn more about her father, she finds that bringing the two halves of her family together is going to be much harder than she imagined. This is a warm, poignant, funny read.

 

The Last Mapmaker by Christina Soontornvat; audiobook read by Sura Siu

This is a magical fantasy set on the high seas! Twelve-year-old Sai wants nothing more than to leave her low-born status behind – but to do that, she must hide her ancestry and pretend to be high-class. Her work as an assistant to the country’s most celebrated mapmaker might be her best chance to alter her future. And when he is offered the chance to go on a once-in-a-lifetime journey to map the furthest reaches of the world, and decides to take  Sai along, she’s guaranteed a celebrated future. That is – unless anyone finds out her truth.

A Green Velvet Secret by Vicky Grant; audiobook read by Gabi Epstein

Yardley’s best friend, Gidge, is dying of cancer. Gidge also happens to be Yardley’s grandmother, who has decided to use all of her last moments to “fix” her karma by writing letters to everyone she decides she needs to make amends with. Yardley is devastated when Gidge is gone, and remembers her as she helps out in a vintage clothing store Gidge introduced her to not long before passing away. Yardley’s not sure she believes in reincarnation, but when a woman arrives at the shop to pick up a package left for her, and it contains a green velvet dress that once belonged to Gidge, she’s convinced that the woman is Gidge, returned to her. This is a moving story of how we handle grief and remembrance, as well as a twisty mystery. CW: includes assisted suicide.

Cold-Blooded Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce; audiobook read by Bethan Rose Young

If I had to choose ANY genre as my favorite middle grade, I would say it’s “plucky victorian girls solving mysteries and defying gender norms.” The Myrtle Hardcastle series fits that bill – and every book in the series has been delightful. This is the third, and in this outing, Myrtle and her governess set out to find the person who murdered a shopkeeper in his shop on the day he’s to unveil his annual Christmas window display. Twists and turns lead us to the local college belltower, and a ceremony that took place there many years before – and included Myrtle’s own mother.

Witchlings by Claribel Ortega; audiobook read by Cyrina Fiallo

I remember finishing this book and then sitting in my car marveling at how much I loved it. It’s just wonderful, and I CAN’T WAIT for #2 in the series. Seven Salazar knows she’s a witch – she lives in a town of witches and every child at 12 years old participates in a ceremony to be sorted into a coven which will determine what kind of magic they will master. But when the ceremony takes place, Seven is distraught to learn that she is a “spare” – a witch not sorted into any coven who will be treated as an outcast and be stuck in a life of servitude. Seven is determined NOT to accept this fate, so she invokes the “impossible task.” If she and her fellow spares can complete this task they will have a second chance at becoming their own coven and coming into their full powers. But the impossible task is called that for a reason…

What are you listening to and enjoying? Please share!

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Filed under Audiobooks, Book Review, Mary Kuehner, Middle Grade

by | January 17, 2023 · 12:41 pm

My Best of 2022-ish.

Hello friends! Last year I put together a post of some of the picture books I was looking forward to in 2022. There were a LOT of them. Well, now that the year has ended, I thought I’d follow through with some of my favorites of the year… and a half. Yes, some of these came out in 2021 but most were 2022, and I read them all in 2022. Since I read PBs AND other books for kids, I thought I’d include some of my fave early readers, graphic novels and middle grade books as well. This list is by no means exhaustive – while I WANT to read everything on my TBR or every new PB that comes out, I miss A LOT. Time, friends, is fleeting. 

PICTURE BOOKS:

Anzu the Great Kaiju by Benson Shum. Are you familiar with Kaiju? Think Godzilla. But this little guy, rather than being scary, is quite sweet. 

Bathe the Cat by Alice B, McGinty and David Roberts. A family, some chores, and a naughty cat with access to the refrigerator alphabet magnets. 

Cover of the picture book The Boy With Flowers in His Hair by Jarvis. The head of a boy with flowers growing from it is shown on a plain white background. Big and Small and In-Between by Carter Higgins and Daniel Miyares. I could spend hours with this book. So much to ponder, and gorgeous illustrations. Would make a great writing prompt book! 

The Boy With Flowers in his Hair by Jarvis. Simple, quiet, and loving. A boy with (really) flowers in his hair begins to lose them. His best friend comes up with a solution to support him until they grow back. 

Color the Sky by David Elliot and Evan Turk. Birds, rhyme, and flowing color. 

Don’t Eat Bees: Life Lessons from Chip the Dog by Dev Petty and Mike Boldt. Chip the Dog knows what’s up. This is hilarious and will resonate with dog owners everywhere. 

Dress-Up Day by Blanca Gomez. Gomez’s illustrations remind me of Christian Robinson so I therefore love them. A little girl misses dress-up day in her classroom so decides to wear her costume the following day – with surprising results. 

Cover of the picture book Ice Cream Face by Heidi Woodward Sheffield. Illustration of an African-American boy holding an ice cream cone in front of a pink background.Everybody in the Red Brick Building by Anne Wynter and  Oge Mora. Everyone is awakened by a series of noises in the red brick building. 

A Grand Day by Jean Reidy and Samantha Cotterill. An ode to a day with the grandparents. 

Ice Cream Face by Heidi  Woodward Sheffield. A boy experiences many emotions while waiting in line to get ice cream. 

I’m Hungry!/¡Tengo Hambre! by Angela Dominguez. Dominguez writes THE BEST simple, toddler-friendly bilingual stories. A Spanish-speaking tiny dino communicates with an English-speaking bird in order to get something to eat. 

It’s So Quiet: A Not Quite Going-to-Bed Book by Sherri Duskey Rinker and Tony Fucile. Mouse can’t sleep because it’s TOO quiet. Well, not for long! 

Like by Annie Barrows and Leo Espinoza. We are more alike (and still different) than we think.

Cover of the picture book Lizzy and the Cloud by the Fan Brothers. A girl in a yellow rain slicker stands holding a floating cloud on a leash.

Lizzy and the Cloud by the Fan Brothers. A little girl buys a pet cloud in the park – the have lots of fun, until the cloud outgrows her.

Miguel’s Community Garden by JaNay Brown-Wood and Samara Hardy. Book 2 in the garden series! Great for building background knowledge. Help Miguel find the sunflowers in his garden by comparing what we know about sunflowers to the things that we find growing!

Read Island by Nicole Magistro and Alice Feagan. Take a magical trip to the land of stories!

Swim, Jim by Kaz Windness. Jim is an alligator, so he should not be afraid to swim, right? Well, he’s NOT afraid of swimming. He’s afraid of SINKING. Will he find a way to overcome his fear?

Where is Bina Bear? by Mike Curato. This warmed my introvert’s heart. Bina Bear wants to be at the party to support her friend, but also… she doesn’t want to be there.

Wonder Walkers by Micha Archer. Take a walk and wonder about the world around.

EARLY READER:Cover of the book That Egg Is Mine! by Liz Goulet Dubois. A blue chicken chases a yellow duck who is holding a spotted egg.

Duck and Cluck: This Egg is Mine! by Liz Goulet Dubois. Sadly, Goulet Dubois passed away this year, not long after her debut early reader was released. This is a fun, sweet story about two friends fighting over an egg they find. Perfect for those just finding their reading feet. Is that a thing?

GRAPHIC NOVELS:

The Aquanaut by Dan Santat. A girl who lost her father at sea is visited by a mysterious… creature? Are they bringing her a message from her dad?

Cover of the graphic novel Miss Quinces by Kat Fajardo. A disheveled girl wearing a fluffy pink dress and combat boots.

Garlic and the Vampire by Bree Paulsen. An anthropomorphized garlic, who lives in a vegetable town overseen by a witch, makes a dangerous trek to visit a vampire who has moved into a nearby castle. No, it’s not scary at all – it’s sweet.

Miss Quinces by Kat Fajardo. Sue would rather spend the summer at comics camp with her friends than have a quinceañera party. But her mom has different ideas – she will be spending the summer in Honduras visiting extended family and yes, she WILL have a quinceañera. Can Sue and her mom compromise?

The Tryout by Christina Soontornvat and Joanna Cacao. Can Christina make it on to the cheerleading squad – and survive her first year in middle school? Based on the author’s experience.

MIDDLE GRADE:

[It became clear to me as I put together this list that I mostly gravitate toward stories with adventure, magic, mystery and kids finding out they are not who they thought they were. Plus school stories.]

Amari and the Great Game by B. B. Alston. The second in the series. Not quite as good, but only because I loved the worldbuilding of the first and of course that didn’t need to happen this time. But still excellent, fun, and suspenseful.

Cover of the middle grade novel Daybreak on Raven Island by Fleur Bradley. An old prison building is seen in silhouette with three silhouetted children standing in front of it. The sun is just coming over the horizon. Daybreak on Raven Island by Fleur Bradley. If you want a suspenseful, atmospheric, spooky story this is for you! Three kids get stuck on an island overnight – an island that just happens to be home to a long-abandoned prison that harbors a LOT of secrets.

A Duet for Home by Karina Yan Glaser. A girl, her mother and her sister move into an apartment in a shelter for houseless families. There she meets other kids like her, some who are new and some who’ve lived there for years. What will they do when the city decides to shut the shelter down?

Falling Short by Ernesto Cisneros. Isaac and Marco couldn’t be more different – one is tall and athletic, the other short and academic. This year, though, they each want to achieve what the other has, for different reasons. Luckily, they have each other.

Hana Hsu and the Ghost Crab Nation by Sylvia Liu. Hana loves to build bots and can’t wait to join Start Up and be connected to the whole world through a neural net. But when her classmates begin to get sick, she finds out being connected to everything might not be the dream she thought it was.

Hide and Geek by T. P. Jagger. Four friends try and solve the final puzzle of a local toymaker in order to save their town.

Cover of the middle grade book Maizy Chen's Last Chance by Lisa Yee. A young Asian-American girl wearing an I heart LA tshirt is holding a fortune cookie.

Hither and Nigh by Ellen Potter. A missing brother and a mysterious magic teacher. Are they connected? Nell’s going to find out.

Jennifer Chan is Not Alone by Tae Keller. One of the most compelling school stories I’ve ever read – about bullying and when it’s time NOT tofollow the crowd.

Maizy Chen’s Last Chance by Lisa Yee. Maizy and her mom spend the summer helping her grandparents out at the Minnesota restaurant they’ve had for years. Through an act of racist vandalism, Maizy begins to learn about her family’s history and secrets.

Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun by Tolá Okagwu. Onyeka’s hair is magical! That leads her to be enrolled in the Academy of the Sun where she discovers things are NOT as they seem.

Cover of the middle grade book Shinji Takahashi and the Mark of the Coatl by Julie Kagawa. A large green coatl chases two children who are running across a compass. Shinji Takahasi and the Mark of the Coatl by Julie Kagawa. This reads like an Indiana Jones adventure – but with kids as the heroes.

Sisterhood of Sleuths by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman. For fans of Nancy Drew! While trying to uncover the truth about a photograph she finds, Maizy learns her grandmother might have been connected with the original author(s) of the series.

Sofia Acosta Makes a Scene by Emma Otheguy. Sofia’s family is all about ballet, and Sofia wants to be, too, but her real talent lies somewhere else.

Team Chu and the Battle of Blackwood Arena by Julie C. Dao. Two siblings are competitive about everything, especially laser tag. But when they discover a ghost within the game at the new arena, they have to work together to figure out what’s going on!

Those Kids from Fawn Creek by Erin Entrada Kelly. I will read anything and everything Entrada Kelly writes. This is, in my opinion, one of her best. It will surprise you.

Cover of the middle grade book Witchlings by Claribel Ortega. Three girls look fearful standing in front of a menacing pair of eyes.Undercover Latina by Aya De Leon. Andrea comes from a family of spies, and is tasked with going undercover to befriend the son of a suspected white supremacist terrorist.

Valentina Salazar is Not a Monster Hunter by Zoraida Córdova. Valentina’s family gave up monster protecting (NOT hunting) when her father was killed. But now Valentina must convince them to join her on a quest to protect a magical egg that could wreak havoc on the whole world.

Witchlings by Claribel Ortega. Seven Salazar can’t wait to be placed in the coven of her dreams (with her best friend) and begin learning magic. When she’s not placed in a coven, and instead becomes a “spare,” she must take on an impossible task to prove herself worthy.

Happy reading, friends!

5 Comments

Filed under Best Books, Book Review, Early Readers, Graphic Novels, Mary Kuehner, Middle Grade, Picture Books

by | April 18, 2022 · 8:45 pm

Pick Yourself Up, Dust Yourself Off…

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been feeling a little discouraged lately.

I started querying in 2016, admittedly too early. But I’ve been working ever since, creating new stories, revising, submitting, attending workshops and webinars, getting critiques, and revising again. I feel great about several of my stories that I know are really strong. And yet I counted the other day – I’ve sent out over 100 queries and am still unagented. Now, that’s over 8 different stories, and some of them definitely weren’t quite ready for primetime. And still. It feels like I’ve been doing this forever.

Anyone who’s been in the querying trenches for a while knows that it’s a windy, switchback-filled highway of emotions. There can be the highest of highs (a request to see more manuscripts! A revise and resubmit! A positive critique from someone you really admire!) and some pretty low lows (ANOTHER form rejection? A not-so-positive critique?). How do you manage these feelings and keep heading toward your desired destination – representation and publication – when it feels like there are so many roadblocks along the way?

Here are a few things I’ve come up with – but I’d love to hear what solutions you’ve found to keep things running!

Talk to your critique group/community of writers

My fellow Story Spinners always  make me feel good about my writing and that it’s worth it to keep going. Also, cheering for them helps me feel more excited about my own journey – we can do it, together!

Find a great craft webinar to get your engine revving.

I’ve taken some great webinars from The Highlights Foundation, The Writing Barn, and SCBWI, of course. Those always seem to leave me feeling excited and renenergized – at least for a while!

Grey kitty with wide-open eyes sitting on a colorful carpet and looking directly at the camera.

No matter what I do, Pip will always be proud of me. And a little surprised at my existence, honestly.

Take some time off if you need to.

The pandemic was hard for me, as I’m sure it was for all of us. I didn’t do as much writing as I hoped to do – and that’s okay. Unless you’ve made a commitment to someone else to produce something, take a break if you need to. It’s okay. Try again tomorrow. And then, even if all you do is open your document and change 3 words, you’ve done something.

Remind yourself how far you’ve come! Celebrate! 

Celebrate the little accomplishments! I never thought I’d have this many stories done – much less stories that I feel really proud of. I never thought I would find such a wonderful community of writers. I never would have imagined I’d have actually sent out 100 queries. Even if they haven’t resulted in signing with an agent, it’s a big thing to have achieved! I’ve NOT given up! That’s a big deal!

What do YOU do? Please share in the comments!

5 Comments

Filed under Mary Kuehner, Motivation

by | January 23, 2022 · 4:31 pm

2022 Picture Books To Look Forward To – According to Me.

Hello friends!

In my non-writing life I’m a librarian and recently I had the opportunity to share with patrons some picture books I think will be standouts in 2022. I thought I would share those same picture books with you you! Some disclaimers first:

  • These are books a) I think will be big sellers and/or b) look cool or important to me. HIGHLY subjective.
  • I’ve only actually READ a few of them, so my assessment is based on the past successes/work of the authors and illustrators, the covers, and publisher summaries.
  • Most, if not all, of these will be published in the first half of 2022.
  • I’m sure I missed a lot of great books because while I looked at several sources it’s impossible to know EVERYTHING that is coming out in 2022. Also I only had 20 minutes for my part of the presentation so I definitely had to be selective. There were more on my list.

So, without further ado, my picks. Add yours in the comments!

BOARD BOOKS (Ages birth – 2)

  • I’m Up and I’m Still Up by Antoinette Portis 
    • Companion books about a baby who is… you guessed it, awake. With repeating words and shapes, this will be a regular read-aloud.
  • Puppy Dog, Puppy Dog What Can You See? by Amelia Hepworth and Pintachan 
    • You can’t go wrong with an interactive lift-the-flap! For babies and toddlers, this will be a sure hit. Ask the question and then look at the hints to guess before lifting the flap to see if you’re right. Includes a mirror at the end to even further involve your little one in the story! Others in the series are Ladybug, Little Hen, and Elephant 
  • Little Seed by Benson Shum 
    • How cute is this? Little seed wants to hug the whole world! How do you hug a panda? An armadillo? 
  • My Nap/Mi Siesta and My Party/Mi Fiesta by Raúl the Third and Elaine Bay 
    • From the team behind the ¡Vamos! books we have this bilingual board book series featuring their character Coco Rocha who is, yes, a cockroach.  
  • First Morning Sun by Aimee Reed and Jing Jing Tsong 
    • Sharing your child’s milestones with rhyming text and beautiful illustrations. 
  • Boop the Snoot by Ashlyn Anstee 
    • What kid doesn’t want to be invited to “boop the snoot” of various animals? I might get a copy of this for myself, it looks so cute.  
  • Baby Bug by Wednesday Kirwan 
    • Baby bug explores the natural world and learns how to wiggle, roll and splash from her creepy crawly friends. The thick,dark outlines on the pictures make this a great book to share with babies under 1 whose eyesight is still developing!  

BOOKS FOR TODDLERS (Ages 1 – 4)

  • Little Pups in Big Trucks by Bob Shea and Brian Won (Adurable series) 
    • This is a new series by two book creators I love, Bob Shea and Brian Won. These puppies are just beginning puppy school. But when their teacher is stuck under some rocks, they’ll have to use everything they’ve just learned to help her!  
  • How To Say Hello to a Worm by Kari Percival 
    • The subtitle for this book is “a first guide to outside.” And that’s just what it is – a guide for littles on engaging with nature.  
  • I’m Hungry/Tengo Hambre by Angela Dominguez 
    • Another great bilingual title from Angela Dominguez that seamlessly blends the two languages. Dinosaur is hungry, and bird is trying to figure out what he wants to eat.  
  • Little Cat Hide and Seek Emotions by Audrey Bouquet 
    • This looks like a sweet and fun way for children to learn the names for different emotions – which goes a long way toward easing their frustration when they don’t have the words to tell you how they feel.  
  • Big Green Garage by Jen Arena and Mike Dutton
    • The book advertises “15! Satisfying!  Novelty! Elements! And that is enough to pull any child in. Flaps to lift, gears to turn, tabs to pull and levers to… lever?  

FAVORITE AUTHORS/ILLUSTRATORS (All ages but mostly 3+)

  • Endlessly Ever After by Laurel Snyder & Dan Santat 
    • Fractured Fairy Tale! Choose-your-own-adventure! What’s not to love? 
  • The Blur by Minh Le and Dan Santat 
    • The team behind Drawn Together brings you a new superhero: THE BLUR. This child is able to do everything with supersonic speed, including growing up. Parents, sound familiar?  
  • The Year We Learned to Fly by Jacqueline Woodson & Rafael López 
    • From the team behind The Day You Begin! Two children hear from their grandparents how their ancestors used their “brilliant and beautiful minds” to show their strength and resiliance. The children then follow suit, using their imaginations to overcome boredom dream of what might be.
  • Somewhere in the Bayou by Jarret & Jerome Pumphrey 
    • By the authors of the award winning Old Truck and last year’s Old Boat. A group of swamp critters discover that the log they’re using to travel across the pond isn’t a log after all.  
  • Hey Bruce! By Ryan T. Higgins 
    • Another title in the super-popular Bruce series! In this outing, readers follow the geese’s instructions to make Bruce do whatever they want. It’s interactive! 
  • Creepy Crayon by Aaron Reynolds and Peter Brown 
    • First we had creepy carrots, then a creepy pair of underwear, and now a crayon gets creepy! The first two in the series were super popular, so there’s no doubt this one will be too.  
  • Everything Will Be Okay by Anna Dewdney and Judy Schachner 
    • Little Bunny is having a bad day. In this rhyming story, Bunny finds some good in a day that starts out with a lot of bad. From the author of the Llama Llama books and illustrator of Skippyjon Jones.  
  • Believe in Yourself: What We learned from Arthur by Marc Brown 
    • For your nostalgia needs, Marc Brown has brought back his beloved character Arthur on his 25th anniversary. Filled with quotations and life lessons – this will be a popular book for graduation gifts!  
  • Llama Llama Back to School by Anna Dewdney and Reed Duncan 
    • While Anna Dewdney sadly passed away, this popular series (also now a Netflix show) continues.
  • I Love You Like Yellow by Andrea Beaty and Vashti Harrison 
    • Andrea Beaty wrote the Ada Twist, Scientist series and Vashti Harrison wrote and illustrated the Little Leaders series – both New York Times bestsellers. This rhyming book celebrates unconditional love.  
  • Love You By Heart by Peter H. Reynolds 
    • Peter H. Reynolds is the author/illustrator of the “Creatology” series that includes The Dot and Ish and other bestselling books. This celebration of love will be a popular gift book.  

NEW AND NOTABLE (All ages but mostly 3+)

  • I Forgive Alex by Kerascoet 
    • From the team behind  I Walk With Vanessa. A boy named Alex upsets a friend and must ask for forgiveness. Wordless.
  • Being a Dog: A Tail of Mindfulness by Maria Gianferrari and Pete Oswald 
    • Enjoy the day with a child and their dog and follow the cues to bark, wag and sniff along. Backmatter includes a mindfulness walk you can take with your little one.  
  •  Beauty Woke by NoNiequa Ramos and Paola Escobar 
    • A puerto rican girl feels great about her heritage and how she looks but later starts doubting as she grows older and sees how people who look like her are treated. Her community helps her find that pride again! 
  • A is for Bee: An Alphabet Book in Translation by Ellen Heck 
    • How language is similar and different around the world.
  • Powwow Day by Traci Sorell and Madelyn Goodnight 
    • Traci Sorrell is one of the most well-known Native American (Cherokee, to be exact) authors writing picture books today! River feels the healing power of her community as she recovers from illness and wonders if she’ll ever dance in the Powwow again. 
  • Berry Song by Micaela Goode 
    • Micaela Goade won a Caldecott medal for illustrating We Are Water Protectors, but this is the first book she’s written AND illustrated. A grandmother and granddaughter gather gifts from the earth: salmon, herring eggs, and so many kinds of berries, and express their gratitude for these gifts.  
  • Kindergarten, Where Kindness Matters Every Day by Vera Ahiyya (the Tutu Teacher) and Joey Chou 
    • Vera Ahiyya gained fame during the pandemic for her Instagram content as The Tutu Teacher. This is her first picture book, and it’s about the ways we show kindness to each other from the point of view of new kindergarteners.  
  • See You Someday Soon by Pat Zietlow Miller and Suzy Lee 
    • Pat Zietlow Miller has FIVE picture books coming out this year! I chose this one to share because I love Suzy Lee’s illustrations and the topic is especially timely – that those we love, even though they’re far away, are never far from our hearts.  
  • I Love You Because I Love You by Muon Thi Van and Jessica Love 
    • A call-and-response celebration of love featuring diverse families 
  • Blue by Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond and Daniel Minter 
    • You didn’t think anyone could create a WHOLE picture book about a color? Well, these two did!  And it sounds really cool! How did ancient Afghan painters make blue? When did blue become a mainstream, and not-expensive-to-create color? 
  • Big and Small and In-Between by Carter Higgins and Daniel Miyares 
    • Billed as YOU ARE (NOT) SMALL meets THE QUIET BOOK. It makes the concept of size personal. 
  • Daddy Speaks Love by Leah Henderson and E.B. Lewis 
    • Celebrates fathers, especially Black fathers, and how they guide and influence their children. With illustrations by the iconic watercolorist E.B. Lewis.  
  • Shapes: My first pop-up by Matthew Reinhart and Ekaterina Trukhan 
    • Matthew Reinhart is the KING of amazing pop-up books. This one is for toddlers and is a companion to a similar book about colors! 
  • Baby, Sleepy Baby by Atinuke and Angela Brooksbank 
    • I LOVE the partnership between Atinuke and Angela Brooksbank. They’ve created some of my favorite books, especially B is for Baby. This book is a lullaby based on a song Atinuke’s father used to sing to her in Nigeria.  

HUMOR (All Ages but mostly 3+)

  • No Bunnies Here by Tammi Sauer & Ross Burach 
    • A bear comes looking for some bunnies, so, thinking bear’s intent is to eat them, a bunny attempts to convince bear that there are NO BUNNIES HERE. A story about assumptions! Hilarious.  
  • My Parents Won’t Stop Talking! By Emma Hunsinger and Tille Walden 
    • A common lament! A girl’s trip to the park is ruined when her parents meet friends and then WON’T STOP TALKING to them!  
  • Don’t Eat Bees: Life Lessons from Chip the Dog by Dev Petty and Mike Boldt 
    • Seems like an obvious thing to do, right? But still, it happens. Chip gives us hilarious life lessons only a dog could have learned. From the author/illustrator team behind I Don’t Want to Be a Frog.  
  • Goodnight Butterfly by Ross Burach 
    • From the author/illustrator of The Very Impatient Caterpillar and The Little Caterpillar that Could. Butterfly is restless and can’t sleep, but he uses some mindfulness techniques to calm down and drift off.  
  • Eyebrows of Doom by Steve Smallman and Miguel Ordoñez 
    • Just the title makes me laugh. Bear finds a pair of slugs covered in fuzz while cleaning his cave. They inspire him to do unkind things. The eyebrows next find a young girl who does an equally unkind thing. This continues until they get a surprise at the zoo.  
  • Slug In Love by Rachel Bright and Nadia Shireen 
    • Continuing the slug theme, we have Slug in Love! Doug the Slug needs a hug. But who will hug a slug? Will he find love? 
  • Counting To Bananas by Carrie Tillotson and Estrela Lourenço 
    • This is a counting book, but Banana can’t WAIT for its turn to be counted! A MOSTLY rhyming book.  

SEQUELS (All ages but mostly 3+ 

  • Queen of Kindergarten by Derrick Barnes and Vanessa Brantley-Newton 
    • From the author/illustrator team behind the King of Kindergarten we have this companion title. This girl  is READY to rock Kindergarten.  
  • Pretty Perfect Kittycorn by Shannon Hale & LeUyen Pham 
    • The sequel to one of my favorites of last year, Itty Bitty Kittycorn. In this story, Unicorn worries that he’s not as perfect as everyone thinks he is and maybe kitty won’t be his friend anymore. A common worry for kids (and some adults like me). 
  • Playtime for Restless Rascals by Nikki Grimes and Elizabeth Zunon 
    • This follows the same pattern as their previous books Bedtime for Sweet Creatures and Off to See the Sea. This outing celebrates the bond between parent and child and the play, which is the “work of childhood” according to Mr. Rogers (and he was right).  
  • Amy Wu and the Warm Welcome by Kat Zhang and Charlene Chua 
    • The series started with Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao and continued with Amy Wu and the Patchwork Dragon. Now Amy Wu tries to make a new classmate from China feel welcome by inviting him to her dumpling party!  

COLORADO AUTHORS AND ILLUSTRATORS (All ages but mostly 3+)

I feel like I should preface this section by saying that this is by NO MEANS an exhaustive list of the amazing books being created by Colorado authors and illustrators. These folks just happen to be more on my radar (as they’re my friends, and, in one case, a work colleague). Also, I’m focusing on traditional publishing here. If you’re a Colorado author with a book coming out in 2022, please add it in the comments! I didn’t exclude you on purpose, I promise!

  • A Grand Day by Jean Reidy and Samantha Cotterill 
    • Celebrates the bond between grandparent and grandchild. 
  • Me and You in a Book Made for Two by Jean Reidy and Joey Chou
    • The sequel to What Will You Do in a Book About You? which was a popular graduation gift. 
  • Sylvie by Jean Reidy and Lucy Ruth Cummins 
    • The team behind the beloved turtle Truman! Sylvie the Spider keeps watch over her people in the apartment building where she lives, out of sight. But when something seems off, Sylvie must decide whether or not to step into the spotlight to fix things. Truman even makes an appearance! 
  • Swim, Jim by Kaz Windness 
    • Jim is a crocodile, and afraid to swim. Can he find a way to learn, but on his own terms?  
  • Her Name was Mary Katherine: The Only Woman Whose Name is on the Declaration of Independence by Ella Schwartz and Dow Phumiruk  
    • Mary Katherine Goddard, a businesswoman and newspaper publisher ,stepped up and printed the Declaration of Independence so that it could be widely distributed. And she added her name at the bottom as a printing credit!  
  • Yes We Will: Asian Americans Who Shaped This Country by Kelly Yang and Dow Phumiruk 
    • Kelly Yang is a New York Times best selling author and Dow is one of several notable Asian-American illustrators to work on this book. 
  • Luli and the Language of Tea by Andrea Wang and Hyewon Yum 
    • Luli makes friends in her ESL class by sharing a cup of tea, something familiar to all the kids in the class, no matter what their home language is. 
  • Strut, Baby, Strut by Amika Kroll and Ebony Glenn 
    • A celebration of girls as they grow up! 

Happy reading!

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Filed under 2022, Mary Kuehner, Picture Books, Upcoming

by | April 1, 2021 · 9:00 am

Let Me Introduce Myself…and My Meandering Writing Journey

One morning, I woke up with a picture book story fully formed in my head. Characters, dialogue, everything. I got out of bed and grabbed my computer. I wrote down everything I was thinking of and was SO excited. I wrote a picture book!

There was only one problem – the story had no end. My brain had not deigned to give me the solution to the conflict in the story, so I put it away, and left it. 

But I’m getting ahead of myself. This is supposed to be an introduction!

Hello, fellow writers! My name is Mary, and in January I had the extreme good fortune to be invited to join this illustrious group, The StorySpinners. I’ve been writing for a while, but my critique “partners” were friends and coworkers, as well as the occasional paid critique at a conference, so I’d never really had a group of fellow writers who would regularly take a look at my work and give me thoughtful, useful and TRUTHFUL criticism and advice. It has been a blessing. 

A little bit about me – I’m an early literacy librarian, which means I specialize in kids ages 0 – 5 and their grownups and I know a lot about early brain development and what parents and caregivers can do to help their young people get ready to learn to read. I work in a public library, and have been at this career for almost 22 years. I LOVE it, and I LOVE the books that go along with this job. To say that I’ve read a lot of picture books would be an understatement. They are my absolute favorites and it’s long been a goal of mine to one day have one of my books on a library’s shelf. Personally, I gravitate towards silly books – the funnier, the better – but I appreciate a beautifully written story no matter if it makes me laugh or not. 

But until that day in, oh, 2014, I think, I didn’t really believe I was a writer. I write for work, sure, but I’d not done much creative writing at all in my lifetime. 

ACTUAL fake news.

Or so I thought.

Recently I took a dusty box of keepsakes off a closet shelf intending to go through it and get rid of some stuff. Does anyone really NEED to keep birthday cards they got from grandma when they were 7? Probably not. 

In that box, though, I found a few remnants of my earlier writing life. An “article” I wrote for my high school’s fake newspaper, about my Spanish teacher living a secret double life as a famous matador. And a literary magazine from the school’s Writing Club, of which I was apparently the secretary. I had forgotten all about this.

My first rejection! Yay?

I remembered that time in 2nd grade where I wrote my own “autobiography,” including details from my own birth (that were, my mom has pointed out, completely wrong – the doctor did not call HER to tell her it was time to give birth). And that time in 6th grade where my teacher submitted a poem I wrote, mimicking e.e. cummings’ style, to a poetry contest. And that time in 8th grade when an English teacher encouraged me to submit a story to Cricket magazine. I still have the rejection postcard. 

So I guess I’ve been writing longer than I thought. 

At any rate, it took me at least 3 more years to figure out how to resolve that first story, and as soon as I had finished, I was RARING to go. I had joined SCBWI at that point, and had access to THE BOOK, so I read the chapter on querying and got to it.  I sent out 6 queries that month, and, surprising no one, got 3 rejections and 3 non responses. 

Soon after, I posted something on twitter about having written one picture book and starting to query. An established picture book writer, whom I really respect, called me out and said WHOA WHOA WHOA – you really need to have AT LEAST 3 polished manuscripts before you start querying. 

HELLO, RUDE BUT MUCH NEEDED AWAKENING. In my naivete and enthusiasm I had jumped the gun. I really needed to get more stories under my belt, AND make sure they were the best they could be. 

Fast forward to 2021. Lo, these many years later, I am still querying, but with 4 manuscripts I’m really proud of and lots of ideas on the go. I’ve pretty much abandoned that first story that jumped onto the page (mostly) fully formed, but I’m grateful for the push my brain gave me to get to work on fulfilling my dream. I’ve found AMAZING friends and mentors in my local SCBWI chapter, and have been fortunate enough to attend a couple of in-person conferences and have my work critiqued by established authors whose opinions, comments and suggestions mean the world to me.

And now? I am a StorySpinner. And boy am I lucky to be one. In the short time I’ve been involved my stories have already become so much better, and it’s such a joy to read my colleagues’ work and cheer them on. They’re a great bunch – Susan, Beth, Rondi, Karen and Coral – and I know I am, and will continue to be, motivated and moved by their inspiration and guidance. THANK YOU, StorySpinners!

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Filed under Mary Kuehner