Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao

by Kat Zhang, illustrated by Charlene Chua

 (Chinese)

author & illustrator of #cbadspotlight pick 
AT THE MOUNTAIN’S BASE

A family, separated by duty and distance, waits for a loved one to return home in this lyrical picture book celebrating the bonds of a Cherokee family and the bravery of history-making women pilots.


At the mountain’s base sits a cabin under an old hickory tree. And in that cabin lives a family — loving, weaving, cooking, and singing. The strength in their song sustains them through trials on the ground and in the sky, as they wait for their daughter/sister/granddaughter/niece, a pilot, to return from war.


With an author’s note that pays homage to the true history of Native American U.S. service members like WWII pilot Ola Mildred “Millie” Rexroat, this is a story that reveals the roots that ground us, the dreams that help us soar, and the people and traditions that hold us up. 

Thank you, Traci & Weshoyot, for joining me for a #cbadspotlight conversation today!

What were your inspirations for writing and illustrating this book?

Traci: I read the picture book, In a Village by the Sea, written by Muon Van and illustrated by April Chu. I fell in love with its circular structure. I wanted to challenge myself to see if I could write a tight, lyrical story in verse. I also wanted to shine a light on Native women’s service in the armed forces which is often overlooked and share that the family is sacrificing just as much as the servicemember in keeping them in their prayers and sending out good thoughts for their safe return.

Weshoyot: My inspiration for illustrating this book was from Traci’s line about weaving. That really inspired me to incorporate a subject I wanted to show with my illustrations, but also learn more about. I spin and knit and engage in a lot of fiber crafts in my spare time, and being able to learn more about Indigenous ways weaving is traditionally used, really inspired me to create these pages.

What messages do you hope kids (of all ages) take away from this book?

Traci: I hope they see the magic that is the written story and the visual story and how they weave together. I want them to see the strength of Native women both as the core of the Cherokee family as well as their contributions outside of it such as when they are serving as warriors in battle.

Weshoyot: I hope kids are able to relate to the family, and realize that Native families feel the same emotions as they do. We are all human.

Did you work together on the vision for this book? What was the process like?

Traci: Thankfully, yes. Our Kokila publishing team was very supportive of this. Weshoyot wanted to feature Cherokee finger weaving in her artwork, so I provided research materials for her to reference. I saw her sketches and color drawings and shared those with Cherokee culture keepers in my community for their feedback. I enjoyed working with her so much. Getting to present the book together at a teachers’ workshop at the National Museum of the American Indian last fall was a wonderful event that I never anticipated happening.

Weshoyot: It was a very easy collaboration, in that I was given a lot of freedom to interpret Traci’s words into the look of the art. While I did receive feedback, I really appreciated Namrata and Jasmin giving me room to play with how I wanted to try to visualize the poem. My process for this was quite similar to my comic book work I have done: starting with thumbnails, moving on to pencils. The way in which it differed was in the hand-painted colors. I usually go to inks first. In this book, I went in with color first and then inks as accent. It allowed me to play a bit more abstractly. We had a revision on one page, which visually felt a bit redundant. I loved the way one of the spread pages opened the story to breathe a bit, and decided to go that route with the problematic image. Instead of two images, it turned into the family spread that shows all the woman working together.

What is your favorite part of making picture books?

Traci: Getting to work with so many people! When I’m writing, my family, my community and my critique partners are all helping shape my drafts. After a publisher buys my words, I continue to work with an editor, an illustrator, an art director and all sales and marketing staff to make the story as strong as it can be. I love the collaborative nature of this work.

Weshoyot: I think I really really enjoy the ability to abstract the storytelling and the potential to break linear visuals. I have been thinking a lot lately on what I learned making this book, and how I would do things on future books, with the knowledge I now have from this book. I am excited to try some new things out in future work.

#cbadspotlight is putting the spotlight on inclusive #ownvoices books. What can you share with students about the connection you have to this book or the choices you made while writing it to add diverse representation?

Traci: I am a Cherokee Nation citizen and usually write about Cherokee and other Native people. So I wrote the poem, envisioning a Cherokee family but I did not state that explicitly as I wanted to let the illustrator decide who the family would be. I was explicit that the pilot is female.

Weshoyot: I feel like I did quite a bit of research into finger-weaving prior to doing the art for this book, so I could not only illustrate it accurately but have a connected thought process I could talk about afterwards. The way I incorporated traditional arts not only allows the reader to see more nuances in this art form, but also to connect it with the family who are Indigenous. I hope this not only adds knowledge for the reader, but perhaps encourages them to learn more, if they’re so inclined. Our stories and traditions and ceremony are so closely tied to our traditional crafts and our day to day. They make up who we are. And they tell our stories long after we are gone.

#classroombookaday is a goal to read aloud a picture book every day of the school year to students at any grade. What would you like to say to the teachers who are taking on this challenge?

Traci: I’m jealous of the students in your classes! They have the opportunity to experience the wonderful marriage of text and art every day of school. It is also a fabulous way to build classroom connectivity among students and bring in so many topics for further inquiry that simply are not present in your curriculum. I applaud your commitment.

Weshoyot: I would like to thank them. There is nothing better than engaging the mind through a daily practice such as reading, which can inspire the mind in so many wonderful ways. Thank you for making sure these students, at any grade level, are being read to daily.

with co-authors 
Kabir & Surishtha Sehgal

and their other books A Bucket of Blessings, The Wheels on the Tuk Tuk, Thread of Love, & P Is for Poppadoms!: An Indian Alphabet Book 

Learn all about Holi, the Indian Festival of Colors, in this lush picture book from bestselling mother/son duo Surishtha Sehgal and Kabir Sehgal.


Spring is here, and it’s almost time for Holi, the Indian Festival of Colors. Siblings Mintoo and Chintoo are busy gathering flowers to make into colorful powders to toss during the festival. And when at last the big day comes, they gather with their friends, family, and neighbors for a vibrant celebration of fresh starts, friendship, forgiveness, and, of course, fun!

Thank you, Kabir, for joining me for a #cbadspotlight interview today!

o   What was your inspiration for writing this book?

The inspiration is our motherland of India. Surishtha was born in India and experienced joyous Indian festivals such as Holi. We thought this jubilant springtime tradition would make for a vibrant and welcoming picture book. We are so delighted with how Festival of Colors turned out. 

o   What message do you hope kids (of all ages) take away from this book?

We hope that children learn about Holi. It’s a festival in which there is so much joy. Throughout the festival, everyone puts color on each other. At the end, everyone is covered in colors. It’s like a rainbow of colors has enveloped everyone! Through learning about Holi, children will also learn about life in India and how we ought to celebrate traditions from around the world.

o   What was your writing & revision process like for this story?

We wanted to “get out of the way” of the story. So that means writing the story with the fewest words so that the colors and flowers could be the protagonists. There is a fuller description of Holi in the author’s note at the end, to put the story in context. It took us a few revisions to pare the book down to what it was always meant to be.

o   Was there any part of the process where you worked together on the vision for this book?
Yes. Like all of our books, we truly appreciate our mother-son collaboration. We exchange ideas and don’t get too attached to them. We want what’s best for the story and reader.

o   What is your favorite part of making picture books? 

o   #cbadspotlight is putting the spotlight on inclusive #ownvoices books. What can you share with students about the connection you have to this book or the choices you made while writing/illustrating it to add diverse representation?

All our books feature characters and stories from India. We think it’s important that children experience diversity from an early age, to prepare them for the world. Festival of Colors is a fun book because it’s all about sharing in a colorful experience with each other. It’s a personal story for us because it’s a tradition we experience every year.

o   #classroombookaday is a goal to read aloud a picture book every day of the school year to students at any grade. What would you like to say to the teachers who are taking on this challenge?

Thank you for making this commitment. What you’re doing is beautiful and important. You’re not only boosting literacy of children but also helping to expand their imagination and encourage their creativity. 

author of #cbadspotlight pick 
THE ROOTS OF RAP: 16 Bars on the 4 Pillars of Hip Hop

and also many other wonderful nonfiction titles including By and By: Charles Tindley, the Father of Gospel Music, Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library, Be a King: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Dream and You, How Sweet the Sound: The Story of Amazing Grace, Gordon Parks: How the Photographer Captured Black and White America, Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins, Sibert Honor Book Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, and more.

Explore the roots of rap in this stunning, rhyming, triple-timing picture book!


A generation voicing 


stories, hopes, and fears


founds a hip-hop nation.


Say holler if you hear.


The roots of rap and the history of hip-hop have origins that precede DJ Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash. Kids will learn about how it evolved from folktales, spirituals, and poetry, to the showmanship of James Brown, to the culture of graffiti art and break dancing that formed around the art form and gave birth to the musical artists we know today. Written in lyrical rhythm by award-winning author and poet Carole Boston Weatherford and complete with flowing, vibrant illustrations by Frank Morrison, this book beautifully illustrates how hip-hop is a language spoken the whole world ’round, it and features a foreward by Swizz Beatz, a Grammy Award winning American hip-hop rapper, DJ, and record producer.

Thank you, Carole, for joining me for a #cbadspotlight post today!

Book Trailer

The Roots of Rap: 16 Bars on the 4 Pillars of Hip Hop celebrates emceeing, deejaying, breakdancing and graffiti, and pays homage to rap’s originators. The book made lots of book of the year lists. And the illustrations by Frank Morrison, a former B-boy, won a Silver Award in the Society of Illustrators Original Art Show and a Golden Kite Honor from the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

The Roots of Rap connects the genre to the African American oral traditions that came before it.

In the late 1970s, I was writing spoken word poetry for adults. When I revisit those poems, they read like rap. I didn’t realize that rap was more than just party music until “The Message,” by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, hit the airwaves in 1982. I still consider “The Message”—with its biting social commentary—as the greatest rap song of all time.

Four decades later, hip hop still gives voice to marginalized urban youth and has become the language of global youth culture. Hip hop is vital to youthful expression and to the cultural history of the late 20^th and early 21^st centuries.

That’s why educators should integrate hip hop in the curriculum. As poetry, it has musical qualities that help kids memorize concepts and build reading fluency.

Plus, rap resonates with students. Witness the fact that freestyling and rapping are almost a rite of passage—so much so that hip-hop dreams are surpassing hoop dreams among urban youth.

I hope that The Roots of Rap will not only usher hip hop into the classroom but will also inspire young wordsmiths to write their own raps. My website offers resources and a playlist for the book.

As teens, my own two children reintroduced me to hip hop. The Grammy Award-winning album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, is still a favorite. I now teach a hip hop course at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina, where I am a professor. And I tour K-12 schools with my son, award-winning children’s book illustrator Jeffery Weatherford—a rapper who upstages me every time.

with author Isabel Quintero & illustrator Zeke Peña 

A celebration of the love between a father and daughter, and of a vibrant immigrant neighborhood, by an award-winning author and illustrator duo.


When Daisy Ramona zooms around her neighborhood with her papi on his motorcycle, she sees the people and places she’s always known. She also sees a community that is rapidly changing around her.


But as the sun sets purple-blue-gold behind Daisy Ramona and her papi, she knows that the love she feels will always be there.


With vivid illustrations and text bursting with heart, My Papi Has a Motorcycle is a young girl’s love letter to her hardworking dad and to memories of home that we hold close in the midst of change.

Thank you, Isabel & Zeke, for joining me for a #cbadspotlight author & illustrator conversation today!

Jillian: Both Isabel’s words
& Zeke’s illustrations evoke a specific, yet universal, sense of place,
family, & community. How did your two parts inspire or influence each other
during the creation process of this book? Did the idea of this book being a
read aloud, play a role in the creation process of the book?

Isabel: I had
written the book about seven years ago, around the time I was sending my first
book, Gabi, a Girl in Pieces, out.
That’s when I had the first draft of the story done. At that time it was
rejected from a few places so I put it away for a while until a couple of years
ago. By that time Zeke and I had already worked on Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide together and it turned
out that we worked well together. I showed him a draft of My Papi Has a Motorcycle and he liked it, which was a good thing
because I really wanted him to be the one who illustrated it. Working with Zeke
is a true collaboration. He helped me see holes and strengths in the story.
What needed to be read vs. what needed to only be seen? I think that was the
biggest influence, knowing where writing or illustrations needed to be doing
the heavy lifting in regards to storytelling. From the beginning I imagined the
book as a picture book, so it wasn’t complete until Zeke was able to help tell
that story with his illustrations.

Zeke: It was an honor working on this
story that means so much to Isabel and her life. I was really grateful that she
would want to collaborate with me on it. Because the story comes from a
specific memory and lived experience for Isabel it was important to get some of
those specific details into the illustrations. But we also tried to weave in
some universal things that many people can relate to in communities all across
this country. We want to allow readers to engage with the story and also bring some
of their own imagination and experience to it. Isabel plays a critical role in
my process by giving me feedback and direction on some of those specific things
like the way a character looks or how many more stray cats to add to a page.

Isabel: Yeah. I think Zeke and I
have a mutual admiration for each other, and so I have to say the same–it was
an honor to be able to share this very special book with him and have him add,
or complete I should say, the story. The specificity was important. Zeke was
able to take the neighborhood I grew up in, the one that lives only in my
memory from 30 years ago, and make it relevant and as vibrant as if we could
still walk those streets and see those same things still. Also, I think the
color palette, and the choice he made with the markets and homes, captured the
essence of the living in a Latinx neighborhood in Southern California and in
the Southwest so many folks could recognize neighborhoods in the pages.

I really loved the cats Zeke added. They’re fun and add some fun things to find
in the book.

Zeke: Thinking about the read aloud
was an important concern for us. We wanted this to be fun. Isabel has provided
some fun words and sounds for people to imagine and I try to do the same
visually.

Isabel: When I write books I often think
about how they sound read aloud. It’s the teacher and elementary school library
tech in me; I can’t turn it off. I like to imagine how a teacher or librarian
or parent would share the book with the children in their lives. So, when I
finish a draft I always read it out loud to my imaginary student/child
audience. I think about pauses, cadence, where voices could change, what words
would allow for change in tone so that the story isn’t so one dimensional. This
was definitely true for this book. I thought about the kids I used to serve and
how I would’ve read the book to them.

Zeke: In terms of inspiring and
influencing each other it’s a back and forth process like a conversation.
Isabel will write something and I’ll respond with a drawing, then she will see
that and write or edit some text to create a fluid experience for the reader.

author of #cbadspotlight pick 
THE PROUDEST BLUE

A powerful, vibrantly illustrated story about the first day of school–and two sisters on one’s first day of hijab–by Olympic medalist and social justice activist Ibtihaj Muhammad.


With her new backpack and light-up shoes, Faizah knows the first day of school is going to be special. It’s the start of a brand new year and, best of all, it’s her older sister Asiya’s first day of hijab–a hijab of beautiful blue fabric, like the ocean waving to the sky. But not everyone sees hijab as beautiful, and in the face of hurtful, confusing words, Faizah will find new ways to be strong.


Paired with Hatem Aly’s beautiful, whimsical art, Olympic medalist Ibtihaj Muhammad and Morris Award finalist S.K. Ali bring readers an uplifting, universal story of new experiences, the unbreakable bond between siblings, and of being proud of who you are.

Thank you, S.K., for joining me for a #cbadspotlight interview today!

author-illustrator of #cbadspotlight pick 
A BIG BED FOR LITTLE SNOW

and also The Ugly Vegetables, Dim Sum for Everyone!, Bringing in the New Year,
& Caldecott Honor book A Big Mooncake for Little Star

A companion to the Caldecott Honor book A Big Mooncake for Little Star!


A heartwarming and tender picture book introducing readers to their first snow, from award-winning, bestselling author-illustrator Grace Lin.


When it was quiet, Little Snow grinned and then jumped, jumped, jumped! 
Little Snow loves the new big, soft bed Mommy made him for the long, cold winter nights. But Mommy says this bed is for sleeping, not jumping! What happens when he can’t resist jump, jump, jumping on his new fluffy, bouncy bed?
Bestselling and award-winning author Grace Lin artfully introduces young readers to their first snow through striking illustrations and heartwarming moments. 

Thank you, Grace, for joining me for a #cbadspotlight video today!

author of
I WILL BE FIERCE!

a January #cbadspotlight pick to set the tone for a new year.

It’s a brand-new day, and a young girl decides to take on the world like a brave explorer heading off on an epic fairytale quest. From home to school and back again, our hero conquers the Mountain of Knowledge (the library), forges new bridges (friendships), and leads the victorious charge home on her steed (the school bus).


This story is a powerful declaration about courage, confidence, kindness, and finding the extraordinary in everyday moments.

Thank you, Bea, for joining me for a #cbadspotlight interview today!

What was your
inspiration for writing this book?

Childhood is not easy. Even a child with the best possible
circumstances can feel powerless, and so many children do not have the best
possible circumstances. As a child, I often escaped into books. Stories were
the one place I was not afraid to answer the call to adventure. In the pages of
books, I dared to walk with giants. I
wanted to write a book that would help kids carry that feeling with them out
into the world. 

What message do you
hope kids (of all ages) take away from this book?

I hope I Will Be
Fierce helps readers recognize their inner fierceness! I hope they will
feel empowered to chart their own course, stand up for their beliefs, and claim
their place as the hero of their life story. I want readers to know it is not
only okay, but necessary, that they take an active role in their lives and in
their communities. When readers turn the final page, I hope they feel
confident, courageous, and ready to take on the world.

What was your writing
& revision process like for this story?

I tend to write very clean first drafts. I actually queried
agents with the first draft of I Will Be
Fierce, and I signed with my dream agent, Melissa Edwards of Stonesong.
(This isn’t something you should necessarily do, even though it happened to
work out for me.) Before we went out on submission, Melissa suggested I add a
bit more to the story, which I did. After the book was acquired, my amazing
editor, Connie Hsu, suggested I add a bit more still and rearrange the order of
some of the events. So, the final book is the third draft of the story.

Was there any part of
the process where you worked together with your illustrator on the vision for this book?

Although the illustrator of I Will Be Fierce, Nidhi Chanani, and I did not work together, I
felt from the beginning that our visions for this book were aligned. From
Nidhi’s initial sketches, which Connie shared with me, I could see that Nidhi
understood perfectly what I wanted to accomplish with this book. Her ideas
blended with mine, and we ended up with a book we both love.

What is your favorite
part of making picture books?

My favorite part of writing picture books is creating new
characters. There is a special moment when a reader stops thinking about a
character as a person in a book and starts thinking about that character as a real
person. That’s when characters become friends and family. They become a part of
our lives. I’m always delighted to hear from readers who view Fierce Girl in
this way.

#cbadspotlight is
putting the spotlight on inclusive #ownvoices books. What can you share with
students about the connection you have to this book or the choices you made
while writing/illustrating it to add diverse representation?

Fierce Girl is the best version of me. She is the girl I
wish I had been and the woman I try to be every day. She is also a person of
color, which I am not. That part of the character came from the book’s
illustrator, Nidhi Chanani. I was happy Nidhi brought this vision to the book
because there aren’t enough books with strong protagonists who are girls of color.
Nidhi also made sure that the world around Fierce Girl reflects the diversity
of our society.

#classroombookaday is
a goal to read aloud a picture book every day of the school year to students at
any grade. What would you like to say to the teachers who are taking on this
challenge?

Thank you! I love hearing from K-12 educators who have read I Will Be Fierce in their classrooms. As
a former teacher, a mother, and an author, I believe reading to kids is the
single greatest thing you can do to help them realize their full potential. I
am grateful for the teachers and librarians who are putting in this work every
day.

author of #cbadspotlight pick 
WHEN AIDAN BECAME A BROTHER 

When Aidan was born, everyone thought he was a girl. His parents gave him a pretty name, his room looked like a girl’s room, and he wore clothes that other girls liked wearing. After he realized he was a trans boy, Aidan and his parents fixed the parts of life that didn’t fit anymore, and he settled happily into his new life. Then Mom and Dad announce that they’re going to have another baby, and Aidan wants to do everything he can to make things right for his new sibling from the beginning–from choosing the perfect name to creating a beautiful room to picking out the cutest onesie. But what does “making things right” actually mean? And what happens if he messes up? With a little help, Aidan comes to understand that mistakes can be fixed with honesty and communication, and that he already knows the most important thing about being a big brother: how to love with his whole self.


When Aidan Became a Brother is a heartwarming book that will resonate with transgender children, reassure any child concerned about becoming an older sibling, and celebrate the many transitions a family can experience.

Thank you, Kyle, for joining me for a #cbadspotlight interview today!

What was your inspiration for writing this book?

Grumpiness! I was really dissatisfied with a lot of the gnc/trans-themed picture books I was seeing, because they had repetitive plots that usually hinged upon violence and bullying. I wanted to create a story where the character’s trans identity informs and enhances the entire story, but isn’t set up as a conflict to resolve or a problem to overcome.

What was your writing & revision process like for this story?

Fun, but very challenging. The text went through three major drafts before being picked up by my editor. Once it found a home it went through innumerable drafts after that. Some of those changes were significant to Aidan’s character or the overall arc of the story, and others were smaller choices of words that nonetheless became very significant. One thing about writing picture books is that, because they’re so short, every word has to be the exact right one. And there are little things that I still wish were different about it, because revising is never done.

Was there any part of the process where you and the illustrator, Kaylani Juanita, worked together on the vision for this book?

Kaylani and I didn’t work together, but I love how much our visions for the story aligned. And one thing that feels really special is how much of ourselves we each put into the book. I’m transgender, like Aidan, and Kaylani has a Filipina mother and a Black father (while Aidan’s mom is Black and his father is Filipino), and it’s beautiful how much this book has become both of ours.

What is your favorite part of making picture books? 

I love putting together words that don’t seem like much on their own but together turn into something magical.

#cbadspotlight is putting the spotlight on inclusive #ownvoices books. What can you share with students about the connection you have to this book or the choices you made while writing it to add diverse representation?

#classroombookaday is a goal to read aloud a picture book every day of the school year to students at any grade. What would you like to say to the teachers who are taking on this challenge?

author/illustrator of #cbadspotlight pick 
DON’T TOUCH MY HAIR!

An entertaining picture book that teaches the importance of asking for permission first as a young girl attempts to escape the curious hands that want to touch her hair.


It seems that wherever Aria goes, someone wants to touch her hair. In the street, strangers reach for her fluffy curls; and even under the sea, in the jungle, and in space, she’s chased by a mermaid, monkeys, and poked by aliens…until, finally, Aria has had enough!


Author-illustrator Sharee Miller takes the tradition of appreciation of black hair to a new, fresh, level as she doesn’t seek to convince or remind young readers that their curls are beautiful–she simply acknowledges black beauty while telling a fun, imaginative story. 

Thank you, Sharee for joining me for a #cbadspotlight interview today!

1. What was your inspiration for writing this
book? / What was your inspiration for the illustrations in this
book?  

Don’t Touch My Hair was inspired by my own
experiences. I had recently transitioned back to my natural unprocessed hair
and noticed people were very interested in how it looked and felt. It wasn’t
only happening to me but a lot of black women were sharing their stories
online. As an adult I felt frustrated by this and I imagined it must be even
worse for children who didn’t know they could set their own personal
boundaries. So I set out to make a book to teach kids about consent a
lighthearted fun way.

When it came to the illustrations I wanted the
book to still feel bright, colorful and fun so that all the hands didn’t feel
scary but you could still feel Aria’s discomfort.

2. What message do you hope kids (of all ages)
take away from this book?

Consent is something I think we all need to
learn at an early age. I hope kids can empathize with Aria and be able to see
how their actions make other people feel in the real world. Even if they don’t
have Aria’s problem we’ve all felt the discomfort of having our space invaded.
I hope being aware of that feeling will make them think about how they interact
with their friends, families and even strangers.

3. What was your writing & revision process like for this story? / What was
your process for creating & revising the illustrations for this story?

Writing is the hardest part for me. I always
want to rush to the drawing first but it was fun to think up silly situations
for Aria to get stuck in. Those were the funniest scenes to draw and write. The
revision process was pretty painless because I had been working on the story
for over a year so I was used to writing and rewriting it. Every time I got
closer to the final draft I could see it all coming together and it was very
satisfying. 

4. Was there any part of the process where you worked together on the vision
for this book?

I didn’t have a cover in mind when I created Don’t Touch My Hair
so it was fun to collaborate on how to represent the story on the cover. It is
the first thing the reader sees and I wanted it to draw people in and want to
read the story. My editor helped me not put the entire story on the cover. Just
enough to hint at what the story is about.

5. What is your favorite part of making
picture books? 

My favorite part is seeing it all come
together. I work in watercolor and paint some pieces in stages that I combine
on the computer. This is all planned in my head so I don’t know how it will
look until I edit it. I love to see the pieces fit together and then when they
add the text it finally feels like a real book! It’s so exciting!

6. #cbadspotlight is putting the
spotlight on inclusive #ownvoices books. What can you share with students about
the connection you have to this book or the choices you made while
writing/illustrating it to add diverse representation?

Growing up I rarely saw books with characters
that looked like me or had hair like mine. If I did I found it hard to relate
to them. I think of this every time I write. I want to make characters that
represent, me and my family and friends. By creating books through my unique
perspective I feel like I am adding another piece to the puzzle of
representation so someone else who experiences the world like I do can feel
seen. I make it a point to have diverse characters in all of my books because
that is what my community looks like

7. #classroombookaday is a goal to read
aloud a picture book every day of the school year to students at any grade.
What would you like to say to the teachers who are taking on this challenge?

Thank you for inspiring future readers.
Reading a book a day is a great way to be introduced to all kinds of books and
brings a reader closer to finding what they like to read!

author & illustrator of #cbadspotlight pick 
SATURDAY

and also her debut picture book, THANK YOU OMU, a Caldecott Honor book.

In this warm and tender story by the Caldecott Honor-winning creator of Thank You, Omu!, join a mother and daughter on an up-and-down journey that reminds them of what’s best about Saturdays: precious time together.


Today would be special. Today would be splendid. It was Saturday! But sometimes, the best plans don’t work out exactly the way you expect….


In this heartfelt and universal story, a mother and daughter look forward to their special Saturday routine together every single week. But this Saturday, one thing after another goes wrong–ruining storytime, salon time, picnic time, and the puppet show they’d been looking forward to going to all week. Mom is nearing a meltdown…until her loving daughter reminds her that being together is the most important thing of all.


Author-artist Oge Mora’s highly anticipated follow up to Caldecott Honor Thank You, Omu! features the same magnificently radiant artwork and celebration of sharing so beloved in her debut picture book.

Thank you, Oge, for joining me for a #cbadspotlight interview today!

1. What was your
inspiration for writing this book? / What was your inspiration for the
illustrations in this book?   

This book at its heart is a book about love. It’s a celebration
of the loving bond between a child and a parent, the reciprocity of that love,
and the preciousness of the time we spend with those we care deeply for. It was
very important that while the palette and overall composition of the book had a
playfulness to it, the entire book felt rich and warm.

2. What message do you hope kids (of all ages) take away from
this book?

This isn’t a message driven book, but I hope this story is true
to the fact that life has its disappointments and setbacks, that no matter how
strong or old you are, we all have vulnerable moments, and how one of the most
beautiful things about life is how love can light and lead us through life’s
darker moments. 

3. What was your writing & revision process like for this
story? / What was your process for creating & revising the illustrations
for this story?

Any picture book author will tell you, writing a story for a
picture book is very hard! With my editor as my witness, this book went through
many drafts and I wrote many other manuscripts before coming to this story. My
process, whether for the words or images always comes down to rhythm. As a
writer, I am in love with the sounds of words. Therefore it is important to me
to revise my writing out loud, reading my drafts over and over, until I
establish a good rhythm. Illustration wise, especially in regards to this book,
I wanted the musicality of the words to be displayed in the images as well. It
was really important to me that Ava and her mother looked like they were
dancing from page to page. 

4. Was there any part of the process where you worked together
on the vision for this book?

The whole book process is a collaboration. My editor worked with
me on revising and sharpening the overall pacing and vision of the book. My art
director was the one who posed the idea of calendar endpapers. Even my sister
suffered through my many desperate late night requests to read over my drafts!
I think one of the strangest things about making a book is that while only your
name makes the cover, no one makes a book by themselves. I am grateful to the
entire team at LBYR, my agent, my family, my mentors, and my friends for making
this book possible.

5. What is your favorite part of making picture books? 

Sharing them with people! I once had a wonderful woman come up
to me with happy tears and tell me point blank that “I told her story”. All my
books are personally special to me, but to have them become special to other
people is a truly beautiful and humbling thing. What a gift. 

6. #cbadspotlight is putting the spotlight on inclusive
#ownvoices books. What can you share with students about the connection you
have to this book or the choices you made while writing/illustrating it to add
diverse representation?

One of the things I love the most about my artistic practice is
that the collages I make are in many ways accessible. Every kid has made a
collage before. Everyone has crayons, paint, or newspaper scraps around. And
just like every kid can make a collage every child can write, can draw, and has
a story. I think I would want them to take away that their stories matter. I
want them to think about their families, their friends, their languages, their
culture, their everyday experiences and think I everything I am is worthy to be
written or drawn on a page. 

7. #classroombookaday is a goal to read aloud a picture book
every day of the school year to students at any grade. What would you like to
say to the teachers who are taking on this challenge?

I
really commend that challenge. Being read aloud to was my favorite experience as a child. It made me fall in love with words, and revealed to me that books
have magic, have power. I think picture books have so much to offer us and I am
grateful for all the teachers sharing that message with children. 

 by Maxine Beneba Clarke, illustrated by Van Thanh Rudd
#cbadspotlight pick for December.

What’s the best fun in the whole village? Riding the patchwork bike we made! A joyous picture book for children by award-winning author Maxine Beneba Clarke.


When you live in a village at the edge of the No-Go Desert, you need to make your own fun. That’s when you and your brothers get inventive and build a bike from scratch, using everyday items like an old milk pot (maybe mum is still using it, maybe not) and a used flour sack. You can even make a numberplate from bark, if you want. The end result is a spectacular bike, perfect for going bumpity-bump over sandhills, past your fed-up mum and right through your mud-for-walls home.


A delightful story from multi-award-winning author Maxine Beneba Clarke, beautifully illustrated by street artist Van T Rudd. 

Although we weren’t able to get the author or illustrator in Australia to contribute something at this time, Candlewick has shared the teacher’s guide they created for this picture book.

#BuildYourStack: Spotlighting #ownvoices Picture Books 
with #classroombookaday Read Alouds

#BuildYourStack: Books to Bring Native & Muslim 
Representation Into the Classroom
(with Traci Sorell & Jasmine Warga)

author & illustrator of #cbadspotlight pick 
Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story 

an NCTE Charlotte Huck Award Honor Book

Told in lively and powerful verse by debut author Kevin Noble Maillard, Fry Bread is an evocative depiction of a modern Native American family, vibrantly illustrated by Pura Belpre Award winner Juana Martinez-Neal.

Fry bread is food.
It is warm and delicious, piled high on a plate.

Fry bread is time.
It brings families together for meals and new memories.

Fry bread is nation.
It is shared by many, from coast to coast and beyond.

Fry bread is us.
It is a celebration of old and new, traditional and modern, similarity and difference. 

One of the most important parts of this book, to me, is the extensive back matter in Kevin’s author’s note that provides context and around Native history in this country. It is a valuable material for educators who do any teaching around Indigenous peoples, Nations, and U.S. history.

author & illustrator of #cbadspotlight pick Bilal Cooks Daal 

and also illustrated by Anoosha: I Am Perfectly Designed

Six-year-old Bilal introduces his friends to his favorite dish—daal!—in this charming picture book that showcases the value of patience, teamwork, community, and sharing.


Six-year-old Bilal is excited to help his dad make his favorite food of all-time: daal! The slow-cooked lentil dish from South Asia requires lots of ingredients and a whole lot of waiting. Bilal wants to introduce his friends to daal. They’ve never tried it! As the day goes on, the daal continues to simmer, and more kids join Bilal and his family, waiting to try the tasty dish. And as time passes, Bilal begins to wonder: Will his friends like it as much as he does?


This debut picture book by Aisha Saeed, with charming illustrations by Anoosha Syed, uses food as a means of bringing a community together to share in each other’s family traditions.

Thank you, Aisha & Anoosha, for joining me for a #cbadspotlight video & guest post today!

And insights from illustrator Anoosha Syed!

After making the changes and getting everything approved, it’s time for the finals! Some people like to start with color tests, but again, I like to dive right in. In terms of color, I also try to be selective and smart about how I lead the readers’ eyes. Here, I made the color red a rare but striking color. I painted most of the background blue, so when you see the red, your eyes are immediately drawn to it because of how it contrasts against the cool color. That’s why Bilal’s bike, helmet, and his house are red, to signify its importance!



Finally, all that’s left is the last approval, and then it’s ready to print! Here are the finals below with the text included.




I hope this in-depth look into my process for Bilal Cooks Daal was an interesting insight into the world of picture book illustration!

author & illustrator of #cbadspotlight pick The Field 

and also co-authored by Baptise with Miranda Paul I Am Farmer & Adventures to School
and also illustrated by Jacqueline Freedom Soup

The world’s most popular and inclusive sport has found its spirited, poetic, and authentic voice in Baptiste Paul’s debut picture book—highlighting the joys of the game along with its universal themes: teamwork, leadership, diversity, and acceptance. Creole words (as spoken in St. Lucia, the author’s birthplace island in the Caribbean) add spice to the story and are a strong reminder of the sport’s world fame. Bright and brilliant illustrations by debut children’s book illustrator Jacqueline Alcántara—winner of the We Need Diverse Books Illustration Mentorship Award—capture the grit and glory of the game and the beauty of the island setting where this particular field was inspired. Soccer fan or not, the call of The Field is irresistible.

Thank you, Baptiste & Jacqueline, for joining me for a #cbadspotlight interview today!

An interview with Baptiste Paul and Jacqueline
Alcántara

Kids play soccer all around the world, but the kids in The Field are
playing their soccer game on a Caribbean island (St. Lucia) – can you point out
any elements in the text or illustrations where you were specifically
evoking that setting? Or could this story be anywhere?

JA: I have been to the
Caribbean a lot and it has such a specific feeling with the colorful houses,
the tropical foliage, the mix of backgrounds and skin tones, the lively
culture, the strong, mid-day heat, and the relief that a little rain brings –
so upon first reading the manuscript, I could “see” the place and people and
knew what I wanted the book to feel like overall. However, I haven’t been
specifically to St. Lucia (yet!) so I took a lot of YouTube trips across the
island to explore the landscape, foliage, people, and music. Then I knew
immediately I wanted the first spread to have the character playing in a
tropical forest that opened up to see the field itself, with the ocean in the
distance to place us immediately on a tropical island. Other details such as
the houses on stilts, the mix of characters, clothing, and coconuts help to
place us in the Caribbean! But in my research I also watched soccer games from
around the world and used screenshots of people playing soccer on rooftops in
Tokyo, floating fields in Thailand, to dusty fields in Mozambique. It was
really interesting to see similarities and differences in games across the
world but my goal was to subtly incorporate elements of these different
places/people while overall feeling very genuinely Caribbean.

Did either of you play soccer as children? How
about now?

JA: A bit! But not as much
as the kids in “The Field” ( I was more of a gymnastics and dance kid) but I
played with my dad growing up and pick-up games with friends during high school.
While the Chicago suburbs are a far cry from life on a tropical island, I drew
upon stories from my dad – who grew up in Honduras and played soccer every day,
just like the kids in The Field. I also drew upon a favorite childhood memory
of mine from a trip to Honduras – visiting my family in the mountains and
playing a nighttime soccer game with some other kids from the village there.
Everyone running on the uneven “field” (also a cow pasture!) in different shoes
– cowboy boots, flip flops, gym shoes. I felt like the sky was so close that
you could just grab a star from the sky. That moment came to me immediately
when I read Baptiste’s manuscript the first time. Although my daily life
wasn’t like these kids, I felt I had a lot from my own experience to draw upon
to make it feel authentic.

Kids learn through play. Do you think the kids
in this story learn anything? What does playing “the beautiful game”
teach them?

JA: Of course! For me, the
main driving force for the character to start gathering all her friends to
play, is simply that – just to play. To have fun, to be together, to enjoy the
day. So I thought a lot about what the teams would look like and who would
score the goal in the end -as I really wanted the whole story to be about the
entire community of characters, not just the main kid. So I carefully created
the teams and decided the little brother would score in the end. But I love
how Baptiste continues the story after the goal and the game really
ends in just this great anticipation of the characters wanting more. I think
that helped the book feel light, carefree, and fun but also to teach us that
winning or scoring isn’t the reason for doing anything – it’s just for the love
of the game, bringing people together from different moments in their day to
enjoy life and each other. I think we can all learn a lot from remembering
that!

How does “the Field” in the book draw
the community together?

JA: One thing I like about
soccer is that you can play it by yourself, with one person, or a whole team
and have just as much fun in either situation. I wanted to show this with the
main character playing by themselves in the beginning, but then as the ball
flies onto the open field, getting the idea of gathering friends and organizing
a game. I drew upon stories from my dad’s childhood for some of the characters
– the referee / coconut stand guy is based upon a character from my dad’s life
who was named, “Pollo”, who was the town nurse, and also organized all the
games in his neighborhood. He was also the only one with a television, so
everyone would gather in his living room to watch soccer games. Also he told me
about 2 guys (the twins) who were the best soccer players around – one who went
on to play for the national Honduran soccer team. So I got the idea of 2 older
kids who were clearly amazing soccer players. Many other characters in the book
are based off ideas like this – but what I loved was that the game incorporated
the whole community – soccer brought people together from different moments in
their day – on their way home from school, on a work lunch break, taking a nap
under a tree, whatever! I tried to make it feel like the community drew
together by including different ages, talents, levels of seriousness in the
players. 

One of the young soccer players in the book has
alternately been described in reviews as a boy or a girl. What do you think
about that as an author or an illustrator? Was that a purposeful illustration
choice or something that just happened organically? 

JA: Well, both really! I
wanted all the characters to come to the game from different moments in their
day, therefore I dressed them in a wide range of outfits – to really show the
community coming together at the drop of a hat for the pick-up game. But I
really wanted the main character to be obviously a huge soccer fan so I wanted
him/her to be dressed ready for the game. I draw many, many different possible
people (from research photos and screenshots from movies) when I started
working on my character sketches and eventually, they started to morph into one
person – picking features I liked from different sketches. I had found one kid
I just loved the look of in a music video (from St. Lucia) and I think it was a
boy but I couldn’t be sure! I borrowed a lot of features from that boy and
another character who had started out being more girly started to get a bit
more boyish. But once in the soccer uniform – everyone automatically assumed it
was a boy when I showed them! I thought that was really interesting because the
same character in a more girly outfit would obviously be a girl – yet when we
see a kid playing soccer in a soccer uniform, our brains automatically say “
boy”. So I really liked this tension and felt it worked perfectly for the story
as I was really trying to appeal to everyone – old and young, girls and boys,
and represent every shade of skin tone through the characters playing. 

author of #cbadspotlight pick The Many Colors of Harpreet Singh 

and also middle grade novels Ahimsa and coming in March 2020: American as Paneer Pie

Harpreet Singh loves his colors—but when his family moves to a new city, everything just feels gray. Can he find a way to make life bright again?

Harpreet Singh has a different color for every mood and occasion, from pink for dancing to bhangra beats to red for courage. He especially takes care with his patka—his turban—smoothing it out and making sure it always matches his outfit. But when Harpreet’s mom finds a new job in a snowy city and they have to move, all he wants is to be invisible. Will he ever feel a happy sunny yellow again? 

Thank you, Supriya, for joining me for a #cbadspotlight interview today!

author/illustrator of #cbadspotlight pick & Caldecott Honor book 
Alma and How She Got Her Name 

and also illustrator of La Princesa and the Pea, La Madre Goose: Nursery Rhymes for Lost Niños,
Babymoon & Frybread: A Native American Family Story

What’s in a name? For one little girl, her very long name tells the vibrant story of where she came from — and who she may one day be.
If you ask her, Alma Sofia Esperanza José Pura Candela has way too many names: six! How did such a small person wind up with such a large name? Alma turns to Daddy for an answer and learns of Sofia, the grandmother who loved books and flowers; Esperanza, the great-grandmother who longed to travel; José, the grandfather who was an artist; and other namesakes, too. As she hears the story of her name, Alma starts to think it might be a perfect fit after all — and realizes that she will one day have her own story to tell. In her author-illustrator debut, Juana Martinez-Neal opens a treasure box of discovery for children who may be curious about their own origin stories or names.

Thank you, Juana, for joining me for a #cbadspotlight guest post today!

and also Drum Dream Girl: How One Girl’s Courage Changed Music, We’ve Got the Whole World in Our Hands, Maybe Something Beautiful: How Art Transformed a Neighborhood, Book Fiesta!, The Cazuela that the Farm Maiden Stirred, Bravo!: Poems About Amazing Hispanics, My Name is Celia: The Life of Celia Cruz, Tito Puente: Mambo King, and the recently published Dancing Hands: How Teresa Carreño Played the Piano for President Lincoln and Just Ask!: Be Different, Be Brave, Be You

National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson and two-time Pura Belpre Illustrator Award winner Rafael Lopez have teamed up to create a poignant, yet heartening book about finding courage to connect, even when you feel scared and alone.
There will be times when you walk into a roomand no one there is quite like you.
There are many reasons to feel different. Maybe it’s how you look or talk, or where you’re from; maybe it’s what you eat, or something just as random. It’s not easy to take those first steps into a place where nobody really knows you yet, but somehow you do it.
Jacqueline Woodson’s lyrical text and Rafael Lopez’s dazzling art reminds us that we all feel like outsiders sometimes-and how brave it is that we go forth anyway. And that sometimes, when we reach out and begin to share our stories, others will be happy to meet us halfway.

Thank you, Rafael, for joining me for a #cbadspotlight guest post interview today!

Teachers, librarians and students in the #classroombookaday movement. I’m here to challenge you to read aloud a picture book every day of the school year to students at any grade. 

As a child growing up in Mexico City, I commuted by metro over an hour to get to the public library. I liked spending an entire day in the stacks, where I discovered that books inspired me to dream. Each week I brought home all I could check out and carry to hold me over till my next visit. Although I struggled with mild dyslexia, picture books comforted and engaged me by answering questions and creating new ones. Without leaving home, I visited distant lands to unearth new ideas and ways of seeing beyond my own experience. I was drawn to the pictures and maps of distant places, strange bugs from foreign lands and creatures so exotic that even my own vivid imagination couldn’t dream them up. Opening books grew my confidence and I began to read more and draw pictures at the library. Books gave me the chance to explore the world before I had to go out in it. The words and images I found on the pages, watered the seeds of my imagination giving me the power to discover new worlds of art and literature. 

For this post, I’ve been asked to answer some questions about illustrations I created for our book The Day You Begin written by the gifted Jacqueline Woodson.

What was your inspiration for the illustrations in this book?

The initial spark for the illustrations in The Day You Begin, began with Jacqueline’s poetic words, “There will be times when you walk into a room and no one there is quite like you”. 

There is a boy in our story named Rigoberto from Venezuela who gets teased for his accent. This triggered my own memories connecting me to the emotions in our story. When my family moved to the border in Ciudad Juarez, I became part of a school exchange program. At a young age, I traveled alone to live with a host family in the Midwest attending school there to practice my English. 

I will never forget feeling so out of place, so different, so alone.

I also remember a new friend who listened to my story and confided that she too felt different.

I hoped the pages of our book would bring comfort to children struggling to find their place. I couldn’t help but see myself, my own child and many children in this story. In crafting the imagery I wanted children to see themselves and translate the story into their own voice. The visual journey and inspiration for the illustrations began there. 

What message do you hope kids (of all ages) take away from this book? 

Going back to school is a moment charged with emotion. There is fear, uncertainty, then hopefully relief and joy all rolled up into one. This is a book about encouragement, acceptance, diversity and finding your voice when you feel alone. 

I wanted children to know that it doesn’t matter who you are, where you come from or what your life experience is, your voice matters. 

What was your process for creating & revising the illustrations for this story?

Sketching is thinking with your pencil. It takes piles of tracing paper to find a character like Angelina. How does she think and move through the world? What are her hopes and dreams, struggles and strengths?

She wasn’t able to travel and collect souvenirs like her classmates but spent summer at home reading books and caring for her little sister. Still, her imagination and courage took her places.

When developing a story, many original ideas don’t make the cut. Still you have to try things out and keep pushing forward. It’s a combination of instincts and experimentation as you dance around the right answer with your pencil. After developing 2-3 versions that feel solid, I reached out to the creative team at Penguin Random House for feedback. 

Take the cover for example:

You might notice the school ruler on the cover, a visual metaphor I incorporated on several of the spreads. I hoped children would see this repeating element and ask questions. How many times have we asked ourselves how we measure up?

Was there any part of the process where you worked together on the vision for this book? 

Making a book is a collective effort and somehow it all comes together. There is input from writer, artist, editor, art director and it’s about striking that balance without diluting visual concepts with too many opinions. I feel gratitude for the collective effort of the amazing team at Nancy Paulsen Books that collaborated guiding our book to the finish line.  

It all ends up on the studio wall to check for pacing, transitions, consistency to consider how it will connect to young readers.

What is your favorite part of making picture books? 

Everyone has a story to tell and the question is how will you tell it? Creating children’s picture books is a platform to do my part to craft the kind of diverse world I want to live in. It’s the opportunity to share where I’ve been and how I got here as well as where I want to go. The language of an illustrator is ideas. 

#cbadspotlight is putting the spotlight on inclusive #ownvoices books. What can you share with students about the connection you have to this book or the choices you made while writing/illustrating it to add diverse representation?

It meant a lot to me that our book was also released at the same time in Spanish El Día En Que Descubres Quién Eres!

Both my parents were architects and teachers and as a child, my family moved from Mexico City to the border. I lived in Ciudad Juarez and crossed the bridge as an international student to begin my artistic path at the University of Texas in El Paso where many of my family members and friends live today. Like many around the country, I’m grieving for kids and families struggling with fear. I feel solidarity with people in beautiful communities like El Paso, in homes and schools around the world. Every child deserves to feel safe and valued. Each day we have to model kindness and humanity with our work, words and actions.

To mirror Jacqueline’s comforting and inclusive text I developed a diverse range of characters. I wanted the illustrations to give voice to unspoken feelings and dreams. Scenes from The Day You Begin was inspired by my own son who is a gifted storyteller and artist with autism. 

Truly valuing and respecting each other and diversity empowers us to explore our differences in a safe, nurturing environment. Behind every child’s face, language and culture there is the spark of promise. I want to continue to use my work to unleash the power of diversity.

#classroombookaday is a goal to read aloud a picture book every day of the school year to students at any grade. What would you like to say to the teachers who are taking on this challenge?

Speaking of power let’s talk about teachers. What you do each day goes well beyond the classroom. The value of a teacher to encourage, care, enrich, inspire and make a genuine difference is fact. Your commitment to read a picture book aloud each day will create connections in your classroom encouraging dialogue and the sharing of ideas. You have the power to expand their vocabulary and universe. Books will grow the skills of your students to learn to think independently and collectively. To escape, have fun, find comfort and themselves and achieve their dreams. 

What are you waiting for?

author of #cbadspotlight pick The King of Kindergarten 

and also #classroombookaday favorite Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut,

a Newbery Honor, Caldecott Honor, Coretta Scott King Author & Illustrator Honor book

A confident little boy takes pride in his first day of kindergarten.
The morning sun blares through your window like a million brass trumpets.It sits and shines behind your head–like a crown. Mommy says that today, you are going to be the King of Kindergarten!
Starting kindergarten is a big milestone–and the hero of this story is ready to make his mark! He’s dressed himself, eaten a pile of pancakes, and can’t wait to be part of a whole new kingdom of kids. The day will be jam-packed, but he’s up to the challenge, taking new experiences in stride with his infectious enthusiasm! And afterward, he can’t wait to tell his proud parents all about his achievements–and then wake up to start another day.

Thank you, Derrick, for joining me for a #cbadspotlight interview today!