Claire Easton, Author at Painted Words

Apr

How do You Spell Unfair illustrated by Frank Morrison, Loud Librarian illustrated by Erika Lynn Jones and Giraffe Math illustrated by Geraldo Valerio are CBC Favorites Award Winners!

by Claire Easton in Represents Comments: 0

The CBC has announced the CBC Favorites Awards 2024 and several Painted Words artists are on the list!

Making the Children’s favorites list are:

How Do You Spell Unfair?: MacNolia Cox and the National Spelling Bee (Candlewick) by Carole Boston Weatherford; illustrated by Frank Morrison

Loud Librarian (Simon & Schuster/Atheneum) Jenna Beatrice; illustrated by Erika Lynne Jones

Making the Teachers favorites list are:

Giraffe Math (Christy Ottaviano Books) by Stephen Swinburne; illustrated by Geraldo Valério

How Do You Spell Unfair?: MacNolia Cox and the National Spelling Bee (Candlewick) Carole Boston Weatherford; illustrated by Frank Morrison

Congratulations everyone!

See the full list here

Apr

From My Head to My Toes, illustrated by Bea Jackson makes the NYT Best Seller List!

by Claire Easton in Represents Comments: 0

From My Head to My Toes (Henry Holt) by Aly Raisman, illustrated by Bea Jackson has debuted at #7 on the New York Times Chidlren’s Books Best Seller list!

The book is a joyful ode to loving and caring for our bodies, from Olympic gold medalist and advocate Aly Raisman and bestselling artist Bea Jackson.

My body is my own.
My body is just right for me,
From my head to my toes

From My Head to My Toes gently introduces young readers to the topics of consent and bodily autonomy in a positive way. Cheerful and informative, this story focuses on the powerful message of self-love. Aly’s inspiring words are paired with expert-vetted resources, giving adults the tools to begin having these essential conversations with kids from a young age.

Get the book here

Apr

School Library Journal reviews Freshman Year by Sarah Mai

by Claire Easton in Represents Comments: 0

School Library Journal has given a glowing review to Freshman Year (Christy Ottaviano Books) by Sarah Mai. See the full review below!

This slice-of-life story follows Sarah, a recent high school graduate who is spending the summer before college in Minnesota, hanging out with her friends. Her boyfriend Ben tells her he loves her and wants to stay together even after she leaves for college. Unsure about a long-term relationship and about majoring in English, Sarah, who presents as white, spends the summer preoccupied, but tries to enjoy each moment. While her mom, who uses a wheelchair, helps her with moving into the dorms, she alerts Sarah to all the things that can go wrong as a college freshman, leaving Sarah feeling woefully uninformed. Luckily, her roommate, who is grounded and makes friends easily, brings Sarah along for college clubs and activities. Readers follow Sarah as she embarks on her freshman year in college: her classes are an intense blur, she tries veganism, bleaches and cuts her hair, and considers art school to cope with the stress. Eventually, Ben breaks up with her and Sarah spirals into self-doubt and depression, even with a new group of friends, including some boy interests. She eventually confides her existential worries to her mom and happily connects with her family and friends on her 19th birthday—her last teen year. A variety of story blocks make each page flow differently, and the grayscale art is realistic. College-bound high school readers will appreciate Sarah’s cluelessness, feelings of being overwhelmed, and existential self-searching with this stage of life. VERDICT A solid addition where realistic graphic fiction is in demand.

Get the book here

Apr

All Aboard the Schooltrain has made the BCALA Annual Best of the Best list, and the NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Books List!

by Claire Easton in Represents Comments: 0

All Aboard the Schooltrain: A Little Story from the Great Migration (Scholastic), by Glenda Armand and illustrated by Keisha Morris continues to earn accolades! It has been named to both the 2023 BCALA Best of the Best – Book List and the 2024 NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Books List.

Learn more about the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA) annual “Best of the Best” book list here and view the full 2023 list here.

Learn more about the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) and the Children’s Book Council (CBC) and view the full list here.

Congratulations Keisha!

Mar

Not a Monster, illustrated by Laura Gonzalez wins Blueberry Honor!

by Claire Easton in Represents Comments: 0

Not A Monster (Charlesbridge) by Claudia Guadalupe Martínez, illustrated by Laura Gonzalez has received a Blueberry Honor for nonfiction picture books.

The Blueberry Award list has been curated by librarians, collection development managers, our city’s Sustainability Manager, our school’s sustainability manager, dedicated staff from the Evanston, Illinois Ecology Center, and early childhood development experts to assure parents, teacher and kids that these books are excellent and truthful, but in age-appropriate ways, designed to support delight first and group climate action second.

See the full list here

Get the book here

Mar

All Aboard the School Train, illustrated by Keisha Morris receives the CBC-NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Books Award!

by Claire Easton in Represents Comments: 0

All Aboard the School Train (Scholastic) by Glenda Armand, illustrated by Keisha Morris has received the CBC-NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Books Award!

The Notable Social Studies Trade Books annual award list, chosen under NCSS guidance, was created to provide teachers and librarians with a list of the Notable Social Studies books published in 2023. The CBC shares this list widely so that all teachers, librarians, booksellers, and parents on their email list across the country can benefit from this valuable annual resource.

Learn more about the NCSS (National Council for the Social Studies) here

Get the book here

Mar

Ashley Spires is Nominated for a Canadian Screen Award!

by Claire Easton in Represents Comments: 0

Ashley Spires has been nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for Writing for a Preschool Program, for Agent Binky: Pets of the Universe, a series based on her Binky the Space Cat books published by Kids Can Press.

Beautiful Noise, illustrated by Il Sung Na wins a JLG Gold Standard Selection Award!

by Claire Easton in Represents Comments: 0

The Junior Library Guild has awarded Beautiful Noise: The Music of John Cage (Anne Schwartz Books) by Lisa Rogers, illustrated by Il Sung Na a Gold Standard Selection Award.

Learn more about the Junior Libary Guild here

Learn more about the book here

Feb

A Star from Publishers Weekly for Summer is Here!, illustrated by Bea Jackson

by Claire Easton in Represents Comments: 0

Publishers Weekly has given a starred review to Summer is Here (Bloomsbury) by Renee Watson, illustrated by Bea Jackson, saying “Jackson (The Twelve Hours of Christmas) employs bright light and sunlit hues to capture the ease and lengthy rhythms of an enjoyable summer’s day…”

The book will be published May 7, 2024. Pre order it here

See the full review here

Feb

TeMika Grooms featured on The Brown Bookshelf Blog!

by Claire Easton in Represents Comments: 0

TeMika Grooms has been featured on the Brown Bookshelf, in their campaign 28 Days Later. During the twenty-eight days of Black History Month, they profile a different children’s or young adult author and children’s illustrator, looking for the best new and unnoticed works by African-Americans. From picture books to novels, books fresh off the presses to those that have lurked in the background unsung for months or years.

In the post, TeMika talks about her journey to publication.

See the blog post here

Congratulations, TeMika!