Il Sung Na’s Welcome Home, Bear and Betsy Snyder’s I Can Dance made it to Amazon’s list of Best Books of 2015! Welcome Home, Bear and I Can Dance were both included as one of the best books of the year for the baby to age 2 category. Congratulations to Il Sung Na and Betsy Snyder! You can buy Welcome Home, Bear here and I Can Dance here.

Publisher’s Weekly praised the first book in Sarah Dillard’s upcoming series Mouse Scouts. Sarah Dillard’s adorable books tell the adventures of a scouting troupe of young mice as they work to earn their badges. Publisher’s Weekly admired the illustrations and wrote, “It’s easy to imagine children finishing this book with an increased interest in both gardening and scouting.”

Check out the full review here, and pre-order Mouse Scouts (on sale January 5th) here!

The First Book Blog chose Sunday Shopping, written by Sally Derby and illustrated by Shadra Strickland, for one of its Five Favorite Books of October. The First Book Blog chose Sunday Shopping as the best pick of the month for ages eight to ten.  They write, “This sweet story about a Sunday tradition between a loving grandmother and her granddaughter is also a great opportunity for imaginative play!” Congratulations, Sally and Shadra!

You can see the full list here and buy your own copy of Sunday Shopping here.

K.G. Campbell’s hilarious children’s book Dylan the Villain received an awesome review from Publisher’s Weekly! Dylan the Villain tells the story of a little boy born to be a super-villain and his exciting and challenging experiences at a school for villains just like him. Publisher’s Weekly writes that “Readers will easily pick up on the satiric notes in Campbell’s comedy, and his jaunty, vivid characters will remind some of them of a Pixar film.”

You can read the full review here. Dylan the Villain will be coming out soon!

Elizabeth Zunon, illustrator of Poems in the Attic, will be doing several appearances this upcoming month.  November 8th she will be signing copies of Poems in the Attic at the The Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza, a book store in her hometown of Albany, New York, from 2 to 4 pm. You can find more information about the event here.

The New York State Reading Association will be having a conference on diverse literature from November 9th to 11th in Saratoga Springs, and Elizabeth will be speaking there on the 11th! Her session is entitled “Weaving Worlds Together” and will begin at 9:10 am. Further information can be found here.

If you’re in the area for either of these events, we hope you’ll have time to see her!

Race Car Count, written by Rebecca Kai Dotlich and illustrated by Michael Slack, made Amazon’s November Best Books of the Month for ages 3 to 5. Race Car Count is available online here!

One Plastic Bag: Isatou and the Recycling Women of Gambia  written by Miranda Paul and illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon, won a Eureka! Honor Award. The Eureka! Gold and Honor Award are awards established by the California Reading Association to recognize great children’s non-fiction books and assist parents and teachers in picking books for their kids to read. Check out the full list of winners and purchase One Plastic Bag here. Congratulations, Elizabeth Zunon!

The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators’ (SCBWI) latest bulletin featured both Shadra Strickland and Constance Lombardo. Shadra Strickland beautifully illustrated the cover, and Constance Lombardo wrote an SCWBI success story article. Constance is author/illustrator of the hilarious middle school illustrated novel Mr. Puffball: Stunt Cat to the Stars, and her article is about the process of trying to get published and eventually finding success with her first novel, Mr. Puffball. Constance went from children’s picture books to graphic novels to illustrated novels, but at last she found herself with a “book that was better than I could have imagined.” The process was hard and it took years, but thanks to her positivity and hard work, in the end she succeeded. Congratulations to Shadra Strickland and Constance Lombardo. Check out Mr. Puffball here!

Poems in the Attic, written by Nikki Grimes and illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon, was recently nominated to the 2015-2016 Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List. The Texas Bluebonnet Award is a program aimed at encouraging reading in grades three through six, and allows students to vote for their favorite book. It’s one of the most prestigious programs in the country, and has been running since the early 1980’s! The winner will be announced in February.

Congratulations to Elizabeth Zunon and Nikki Grimes! Poems in the Attic can be purchased here. Here’s the Master List for 2015 to 2016.