Ashley Spire’s The Most Magnificent Thing (Kids Can Press) has made the shortlist of the BolognaRagazzi Crossmedia Award 2022, which goes to the publishing projects that have best expanded their narrative universe to other media. The international jury examined over 80 projects, selecting 10, from which the Grand Prize and the special mentions will be chosen.

The short animated movie, produced by Nelvana, based on the book written by award-winning author and illustrator, Ashley Spires, The Most Magnificent Thing is an inspirational story about a little girl with a creative spirit, determined to make great things. When she receives her very own tool kit, the little girl sets out to make the most magnificent thing for her best friend—but it’s not as easy as she thinks! The Most Magnificent Thing is a timeless tale about learning through perseverance and hard work, the power of love, and selflessness.

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Acamy Schleikorn discusses representation in reading in an interview on KTNV, as part of Nevada’s Reading Week. Reading week was created to encourage young readers, and this years’ theme is, ‘Catch the Reading Wave’. This year, some Educators and Illustrators are putting emphasis on ‘Representation in Reading’ to make sure all students can see themselves in books and on covers.

“I want to illustrate all kinds of people, all kinds of races, ethnicities, stories, backgrounds,” said Schleikorn.

“I’m very passionate about making sure that children can see themselves in the work that I create, because it reflects the world that we live in,” Schleikorn added. “Like we come in all kinds of shades, our hair is all kinds of textures. We’re not a monolith, and I want to show that in my work.”

See the full interview here

Like a Dandelion (HarperCollins) by Huy Voun Lee, King of Ragtime (Simon & Schuster) by Stephen Costanza and Born Ready (Crown) by Jodie Patterson, illustrated by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow have been selected as CCBC Choices 2022. CCBC Choices is a best-of-the-year list created annually by the librarians of the Cooperative Children’s Book Center.

See the full list here

Get Like a Dandelion here

Get King of Ragtime here

Get Born Ready here

Born Ready (Crown) by Jodie Patterson, illustrated by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow, has been selected for the 2022 KNEA Reading Circle Recommended List in the Primary category. Each spring, the newest list is published and sent at no cost to every school in the state of Kansas as a service of the Kansas National Education Association (KNEA). School library media specialists across the state use this catalog as a respected, dependable tool for evaluating and selecting new reading material for purchase. Additionally, educators and librarians from more than 20 other states access this recommended list online.

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Nelvana and Discovery Kids has given the greenlight to a third season of Redknot’s Agent Binky: Pets of the Universe. The hit animated preschool series airs in Canada on Treehouse, and is based on the best-selling Binky Adventure graphic novels (Kids Can Press) by Ashley Spires.

Read the full press release here

Get the Binky Graphic Novels here

Stitch By Stitch: Elizabeth Hobbs Sews Her Way to Freedom (Holiday House) by Connie Schofield-Morrison, illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon, has been selected as a 2022 Notable Social Studies Trade Book!

The Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People is an annual project of the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) and the CBC running since 1972. The selection committee looks for books that emphasize human relations, represent a diversity of groups and are sensitive to a broad range of cultural experiences, present an original theme or a fresh slant on a traditional topic, are easily readable and of high literary quality, and have a pleasing format and, when appropriate, illustrations that enrich the text.

Congratulations Connie and Liz!

See the full list here

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The 2022 Booklist from Rise: A Feminist Book Project  is out and several books illustrated by Painted Words artists are on it!

Included are:

Secrets of the Sea (Clarion) by Evan Griffith, illustrated by Joanie Stone

The Library Bus (Pajama Press) by Bahram Rahman, illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard

Legacy (Bloomsbury) by Nikki Grimes, including illustrations by Vanessa Brantley Newton, Cathy Ann Johnson, Keisha Morris, Shadra Strickland, and Elizabeth Zunon