There are SO MANY options available to diversify picture book author/illustrator studies. The world is vast and who we choose to highlight, promote, & uplift should reflect that if we are doing our job right as librarians. So #BeAnAmbassador in all the ways and in all the spaces that you can.

Congratulations!🎉 Serving on the 2026 Caldecott Committee has been the highest professional honor of my career as well as being one of the most exhilarating, exhausting, & rewarding growth experiences. I am so proud to have been part of the deep work this committee of 15 people came together to do.

It's finally January - the month of the award announcements!🎉 After a year of looking at many, many hundreds of illustrated books, we are down to just our nominated titles. Which are bound by confidentiality. There will be many, many hours of discussion to come to consensus on the Caldecott winners.

Headed to #NCTE25 this week, but my focus is very much on Caldecott committee work at the moment. I can't say anything about books I'm reading, BUT I'd love to hear what 2025 picture books stand out to YOU with most potential to be named the "most distinguished American picture book for children."

I can't believe we're less than two weeks out from #NCTE25 already! Looking forward to leading a session on early chapter books this year. Who else will be in Denver? And what sessions are you doing?!

🤓Fun Fact Friday 🤓 Our Opening Keynote speaker, Jillian Heise, is on the 2026 Caldecott Committee and the Founder of Classroom Book A Day! Don't miss her presentation at MASL 52! #MASL52 #GrowingTogether #ClassroomBookADay www.mimasl.org/masl-52-conf... @heisereads.bsky.social

Started a new book today. #Dragonborn #VacationRead #HeiseReads

MASL 52 Teaser....We'll be Growing Together with Jillian Heise (@heisereads.bsky.social) as our Opening Keynote Speaker in Grand Rapids this December!

Weekend mindfulness task accomplished.✅ Lego wildflower bouquet from the niblings.💕 Headed to my library tomorrow.💐

Current commute audiobook read. "The Small and the Mighty is the encouragement we all need in an age of doomscrolling and division." Being reminded of our common humanity & inspired by the hope of it all from America's Government Teacher™️ @sharonsaysso. ❤️🤍💙

For the start of #BlackHistoryMonth, resharing this Virtual Picture Book Read Aloud Library - a Google Slideshow covering 233 titles, in 7 categories, with book covers linking directly to copyright-compliant video read alouds of recommended picture books. heisereads.com/bhm2024-ralib/

So maybe it’s time to retire the whole sad books vs funny books discussion. The idea that stories have to be one or the other is a false dichotomy. Let’s share stories that let our kids know it’s okay to grieve. It’s okay to laugh. And it’s okay to do both at the same time.

1. Did you know that Girl Scouts has, for a long time, accepted trans girls and nonbinary scouts? Trans kids are under attack. Every year, I make a thread of trans and nonbinary girl scouts you can get your cookies from. Lets get our cookies from them this year in solidarity!

2025 Trans Girl Scouts To Order Cookies From!

This year, consider ordering your Girl Scout cookies from a trans girl scout to make their day!

erininthemorning.com

May I also suggest Simone by Viet Thanh Nguyen & Minnie Phan It beautifully ties together a child’s evacuation from a wildfire and her mother’s escape from a flood as a child in Viet Nam.

The devastation from wildfires can be hard to fathom. These books can help young people process what's happening. 📙They Hold the Line: Wildfires, Wildlands, and the Firefighters Who Brave Them 📗What to Bring 📘I Am the Storm 📕Wildfire! Thoughts with those on the front lines fighting to save.🙏🏻

The last book I read in 2024 & the first book I'll finish in 2025.📚 The Games Gods Play is a perfect vacation read (for adults)! It's giving Lore meets Fourth Wing meets Hunger Games vibes & I'm loving the banter and sass and all the allusions to Greek mythology.

When everyone you know who has read it raves about it, you have to dig through your TBR stack to find the copy you know you set aside because it's from a favorite middle grade author. Tucked Jasmine Warga's A STRANGE THING HAPPENED IN CHERRY HALL into my carry-on so I can read it in one sitting.

Fascinating article if you're interested in more critical readings of picture books! www.anisfield-wolf.org/resources/wh...

“Why Black, Not Blue?”: Redefining the Color Black in Children’s Picture Books

By recognizing how language and art can perpetuate racist or discriminatory beliefs and thoughts, we can begin to understand how racism operates in subtle forms.

anisfield-wolf.org

'Tis the season to read a good book!📚 When you're cleaning out your home reading room to prep for the Caldecott Committee year, so you get to be the jolly elf delivering stacks of joy in the form of picture books to all of the classroom teachers in your building. (And this was just for one floor...)

What a delightful new Santa story for Christmas time read alouds from Joanna Ho & Thai My Phuong!🎄 A CITY FULL OF SANTAS is adorable!🎅 Thank you @harperkids.bsky.social for the review copy! ❤️ #WNDB #ClassroomBookADay

We had way more than Just One Flake this week, so it was ironic this was the book I grabbed to preview for January's snow themed lesson planning.❄️ It's a delightful picture book from @100scopenotes.bsky.social for the winter season! #ClassroomBookADay

A new favorite! So much joy discovering UNFLAPPABLE in my TBR stack! Love the message it sends through these birds' determination (plus the hilarious peanut gallery worms). Share this read aloud for themes around STEAM, perseverance, & supporting friends. #ClassroomBookADay

We need to keep talking about how weird it is for people to think they should have a say in reading choices for anyone's kids but their own. You're not in charge of what other people's children eat or wear or when they go to bed. Why on earth would you get to choose what they read?

When I was teaching 7th grade a student’s dad came up to me in the grocery store once & told me he was worried about his son. “He keeps…” He paused here, and sighed. “…reading graphic novels all the time. What should I do?” My answer? “Get him more graphic novels.” #LetKidsReadWhatTheyLove

I talk to a lot of aspiring picture book writers who have spent YEARS working on their first book. And revision is great! It's essential! But you know what's really the key to picture book success? Write something new. Then do that again. (thread)

Grabbed a new ARC off the TBR stack for today's in-flight reading. Chose based on what sounded good & one I thought my nieces might like to read when I'm done. So far, THE ROSE BARGAIN has been a great choice - very readable - perfect for a plane!

Books. When buying books for gifts this holiday season, please don't buy from Amazon. Please shop at your local independent bookstore/bookseller. Ask for recommendations. If they don't have a particular book in stock, ask them to order it. Support creatives, local businesses, and your community.

Avoided the Milwaukee snow & made it to Boston with @jennyseiler.bsky.social for #NCTE24! Ready for four days of focusing on "heart, hope, & humanity" through books and literacy.💜 And already looking forward to visiting her in her city next year as we "dream boldly" in Denver!🏔️

Looking forward to #NCTE24! I'm too busy to make a pretty graphic right now, so these screenshots from the scheduling app will have to do. 😂 Saturday 8:15am Building Empathetic Viewpoints Through Picture Books author panel.

What's everyone up to today? I'm currently looking through sessions for #NCTE24 & figuring out which ones are going to be best for me to attend to keep centering heart, hope, & humanity in my work.