Little Rosetta and the Talking Guitar (Doubleday) by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow has received its second starred review, this time from BookPage, which says ”

“It’s difficult to convey the intricate charm of Pinkney Barlow’s gleeful cut-paper artwork. Textured and patterned papers create movement and depth, while colorful musical notations and bits of sheet music are incorporated throughout. Perhaps most impressive is the sense of place achieved by both text and art: Readers will truly feel as though they’ve visited Cotton Plant and met many of its animated, expressive denizens, from Pastor Murray, “mender of souls and mender of guitars,” whose shirt is made from blue-lined notebook paper, to Miss Mable, who compliments Tharpe’s “fast finger pickin’” as she hangs her laundry out to dry. ”

Little Rosetta and the Talking Guitar will be published February 28, 2023. Get the book here

Read the full review here

La La La (Candlewick) by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Jaime Kim, is featured in an article on wordless picturebooks in Books Ireland Magazine. The article calls the book “a fascinatingly abstract piece… with bewitching artwork that is beaming with vibrant color throughout.”

Read the full article here

Get the book here

Mr. Schu Reads blog features a cover reveal for I Ship: A Container Ship’s Colossal Journey (Millbrook Press) by Kelly Rice Schmitt, illustrated by Jam Dong. The book will be published October 4, 2023.

Pre-order the book here

See the full blog post here

London Ladd’s Perish, originally created for the New York Times Book Review, has been selected to Communication Arts Annual 64!

Congratulations London!

My Red, White, and Blue (Philomel) by Alana Tyson, illustrated by London Ladd, and Standing in the Need of Prayer (Crown) by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Frank Morrison are featured in an article in School Library Journal called “Three Books to Celebrate Black History”.

See the full article here

Get My Red, White, and Blue here

Get Standing in the Need of Prayer here

Little Rosetta and the Talking Guitar: The Musical Story of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Woman Who Invented Rock and Roll (Doubleday) by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow has received a starred review from Publishers Weekly!

“The sounds of early 20th-century Cotton Plant, Ark., contribute to a child’s musical innovations in this sensory early life portrait of Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1915–1973), godmother of rock and roll. When young Tharpe receives her first guitar, she resolves to create a story to tell at her church’s anniversary. Inspired by the sounds of her African American community as she practices (a sewing machine’s whirrrr, a rolling train’s gruumm), the girl works “to match the town’s song,” growing more confident until, at the anniversary, “the notes poured over the crowd like summer rain.” Final spreads note that as Tharpe’s unconventional style revolutionized popular music, she would continue telling stories of “the joy and trials/ of those who came before her./ … the story of her people” for more than 50 years as she traveled the globe. Framing the figure’s musical stylings as an outgrowth of community and place, Pinkney Barlow smartly uses lively onomatopoeia and crisp, textured collage art to layer the origins of the subject’s sound onto every page. An author’s note concludes.“

The book will be published February 28, 2023. Pre order it here

London Ladd is the SCBWI Featured Illustrator of the Month!

See him interviewed by Painted Words own TeMika Grooms here

Learn more about SCBWI here

Four Painted Words Artists have books on the 2023 ALSC Notable Books List!

They are:

Standing in the Need of a Prayer (Crown) by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Frank Morrison

Killer Underwear Invasion! (Chronicle) by Elise Gravel

Ivaliz Explains it All (Random House) by Andrea Beatriz Arango, illustrated by Alyssa Bermudez

Everything in its Place (Doubleday) by Pauline David-Sax, illustrated by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow

See the Complete List here

Ivaliz Explains it All (Random House) by Andrea Beatriz Arango, illustrated by Alyssa Bermudez has been named a Newbery Honor book!

In this timely and moving illustrated novel in verse, a preteen girl navigates seventh grade while facing mental health challenges. A hopeful, poetic story about learning to advocate for the help and understanding you deserve.

Get the book here

Standing in the Need of a Prayer (Crown) by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Frank Morrison has won the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award!

This stunning and deeply moving picture book based on the popular spiritual from an award-winning author and critically acclaimed illustrator. The classic lyrics have been reworked to chronicle the milestones, struggles, tragedies, and triumphs of African American history.

Congratulations Frank!

Get the book here