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Published by The Writing Cooperative on 3-31-2021 When pale green stems poke through the dirt, spring is just around the bend. And this season of renewal is the ideal time to refresh a passion for creating.  These five invigorating resources for kidlit creators can rev you up and spring you forward. The Children’s Bookshelf Newsletter The Children’s Bookshelf from Publishers Weekly is a free, digital newsletter reporting semi-weekly on upcoming children’s books; industry, library, and bookstore news; interviews with book creators, agents, and editors; kidlit conferences and book fairs; and children’s book markets around the world. Peruse a few articles from recent issues: “Spring 2021 Children’s

"In January it's so nice while slipping on the sliding ice to sip hot chicken soup with rice!" So wrote masterful author-illustrator Maurice Sendak more than fifty years ag0. But January also brings a tasty list of freshly awarded children's books to feast upon. On January 25th, the American Library Association revealed the 2021 ALA Youth Media Awards, citing exemplary literature in book and digital formats for children and teens. These prestigious awards commend works published in the United States during the prior publishing year (November 1 – October 31). To make the content even easier to digest and access, explore

Published by The Writing Cooperative, a Medium Publication, October 22, 20202 A children's book conference inspires you. A monthly critique group enhances your craft. But with Internet access and a smartphone, kidlit writers and illustrators of board books, picture books, middle grade, and young adult can learn all year round on their own terms.  A wide web of enrichment awaits! Kidlit Podcasts: Are you listening to podcasts when you exercise? Tune in on the treadmill or when out for a walk. I adore Literaticast on Apple Podcasts, hosted by kidlit agent Jennifer Laughran of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency. Her guests are agents, editors,

Black Lives Matter, Me Too, Gay Pride and other civil rights movements, continue to beg the question: Are you part of the problem or part of the solution? So I turned to TED talks for answers. Nine inspiring speakers reveal our hidden biases—why they go unchecked, how they harm, and ways we can do better.   Without exception, everyone is biased. We have biases about race, religion, gender, sexuality and more. We might profess to feel one way but react otherwise. Do these sound familiar? Africans are poor. All Asians love martial arts. Jewish mothers are overbearing. White men

After a long hiatus from kidlit, I skipped back over with bluebirds on my shoulders to write for children again. But soon I remembered what I didn’t miss: dealing with rejection! Since I’d been published multiply in the 2000s, I thought I could woo a new editor. So I researched names to query then waited for my welcome. When the kidlit rejections rolled in, it didn’t go well. Imagine writer roadkill. Source: Roadkill Toys Why was my writing rejected? Lots of reasons: tastes had changed, picture books were abundant, and submitting via agent had become the norm. This expression was truer than ever: Children’s

Geographically speaking, 2020 is an epic mess, and it’s not over yet. A killer virus has us by the throat. Cataclysmic fires continue to devastate the west coast. And storms and earthquakes are shaking us up. Beyond U.S shores are more quakes, fires and floods, a locust infestation, a fatal volcanic eruption, and COVID-19 on every continent but Antarctica. Sounds like the plagues at a Passover Seder. But that mayhem is our here and now, so I was plagued by questions that were dead serious: - Would my family and friends survive the pandemic? - Would New York City revive? - Would

If COVID-19 could talk it would say a killer virus makes time stand still. Three months inside feels more like a year. But don't get comfy in limbo. Time is promised to no one. As a New Yorker, isolating in the epicenter of a global pandemic, I had an epiphany while washing my bananas (and the rest of my precious groceries). If I had anything to say about what I actually loved doing (writing for children), I shouldn’t let it wait. So, I decided to move forward on KidLit Crossing, a survival blog for children's authors and illustrators. What held me back