We love counting down the end of the year with Betsy Bird’s 31 Days, 31 Lists. This year’s lists include a number of books by Painted Words authors and illustrators:

• Fairy Finds Her Song by Bea Jackson (Simon & Schuster) – “Easy Books“
• Tate Tuber by Michael Slack (Holiday House) – “Easy Books”
• No More Gnomes by Beth Mills (Lerner) – “Funny Books“
• Not A Dog, illustrated by Laura González (Charlesbridge) – “Bilingual Children’s Books“
• Some of Us, illustrated by Huy Voun Lee (Little Brown) – “Books with a Message (Social & Emotional Learning)”
• A Song For Two Homes, illustrated by Charly Palmer (Random House Studio) – “Books with a Message (Social & Emotional Learning)”
• Lady of the Lines, illustrated by Elisa Chavarri (Astra)  – “Unique Biographies for Kids“

The 2024 ALA Rainbow List has been announced, and Unstoppable: How Bayard Rustin Organized the 1963 March on Washington (Little Bee Books) by Michael G. Long, illustrated by Bea Jackson has been honored in the Early Elementary category.

The Rainbow Book List, assists librarians, educators, caregivers, LGBTQIA+ members, and community allies in selecting quality books for LGBTQIA+ youth.

See the complete list here

In a review of Esperanza Caramelo, The Star of Nochebuena (Knopf) by Karla Arenas Valenti, illustrated by Elisa Chavarri Kirkus says “Chavarri’s effervescent artwork offers an appealing depiction of Navidad, with all its baked-in promises of magic.”

Read the full review here

The book will be published September 12, 2023. Pre order it here

Freshman Year (Christy Ottaviano Books), by Sarah Mai has been selected by the Junior Library Guild. The book, a stylish graphic novel about the unique angst, humor, and self-doubt universal to the experience of going away to college, will be published in February 2024.

Pre-order it here

The Children’s Book Council “Hot off the Press” list for May includes Unstoppable; How Bayard Rustin Organized the 1963 March on Washington (Little Bee Books) by Michael G. Long, illustrated by Bea Jackson, Arithmechicks Find Their Place (Astra) by Ann Marie Stephens, illustrated by Jia Liu and Not a Monster (Charlesbridge) by Claudia Guadalupe Martinez, illustrated by Laura Gonzalez.

This unique online bibliography features anticipated bestsellers, either recently published or forthcoming, published by CBC members.

See the full list here

Booklist has given a starred review to Unstoppable: How Bayard Rustin Organized the 1963 March on Washington (Little Bee Books) by Michael G. Long, illustrated by Bea Jackson. The review says “the colorful, expressive illustrations align perfectly with the text and help convey the enormity of the 250,000-plus crowd that assembled that day.”

Congratulations Bea!

Unstoppable will be published May 2, 2023. Pre-order it here

Jump In! (Bloomsbury) by Shadra Strickland is on Kirkus’s list of 40 Most Anticipated Books of 2023. In a starred review, Kirkus calls Jump In! “A moving grooving snapshot of urban life where kids create the fun and beckon everybody in.”

Jump In! comes out January 31, 2023.

Pre order the book here

See the full list of Kirkus’s 40 Most Anticipated Books here