A New Chapter in my Writing Life

 After 28 years of submitting manuscripts to agents and editors and publishers, I finally have a 32-page, beautifully illustrated, hard cover picture book out in the world! It is a dream come true, and I am savoring every minute of it. The book is Nighty Night, Dinos, which began as a contest entry in 2020 that didn't win, and it was released from Familius Publishing on June 16, 2026. That same day I was notified that, because the pre-orders had done so well, the book was out of its first print run and a second printing has been ordered! 

  June was a fun and busy month. I read my book and did a craft project a Mini College on June 18th, then at Our School Preschool on June 19th, Strawberry Days with the local bookstore, Alpenglow, on the 20th, Carbondale library on the 22nd, Silt library on 23rd and the Tattered Cover Kids bookstore in Aurora  (Denver area) on the 28th. I was a guest on several authors' blogs--writers are so supportive and generous! We visited family in Boulder and stopped by the Boulder Bookstore, where it was a thrill to find my book on the shelf! I did my program at the Glenwood Springs library on June 30th.

   In July I read the book at the Newcastle library on the 7th and heard my first ever podcast interview on Jed Doherty's Reading With Your Kids program. On July 25th I had a table at a local authors event at the Glenwood Springs library. School starts here in August, so I'm hoping to book some classroom visits. I'm ending my Tuesday Kidlit Trivia featuring other authors and I'm celebrating my own journey on my blog now that I FINALLY have a published picture book! Woohoo!

Tuesday Kidlit Trivia for June 2, 2026

 This author/illustrator was born to German immigrants in New York in 1929, but his family returned to Germany when he was a child. He felt life there was grey--the buildings, the teachers, even the weather, except for his art classes, where he learned to explore color. At age 22 he came back to the US and worked as a graphic designer for the New York Times. When a friend suggested he try illustrating children's books, he began by creating the art for others but eventually wrote his own books, beginning with 1, 2, 3 to the Zoo, in 1968. His most famous book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, was published in 1969 and is still loved by children today. This is Eric Carle, who passed away in 2021 at the age of 91.

Tuesday Kidlit Trivia for May 26, 2026

 The best parenting advice Stephen Colbert ever got came from author Maurice Sendak. "Just love them unconditionally," was his advice. Colbert's 2012 book for children (except for that one page with the stripper) was titled "I am a Pole, and So Can You!" Sendak's review? "The sad thing is, I like it."

Tuesday Kidlit Trivia for May 19, 2026

 This writer, born in a Scandinavian slum in 1805, grew up with a mother who never learned to read but remembered dozens of old folk tales. When his father died, the young son son had to go to work, as a weaver, a tailor and in a tobacco factory. He had a beautiful singing voice and he moved to the big city hoping to find work on stage, but then his voice changed, and he decided to become a poet. He had no luck selling his work until he began to publish the tales his mother used to tell him, and he's been called the father of the modern fairy tale. This is Hans Christian Andersen, who died in 1875 mourned by the whole world.

Tuesday Kidlit Trivia for May 5th, 2026

This author was born in 1849 in England but moved to live with relatives in the US after her father died. She wrote magazine articles in her teens to support her mother and siblings. She shocked Victorian society by wearing her hair loose, making more money than some male writers, buying herself a house and divorcing two husbands. When her 16-year-old son died in her arms of tuberculosis, she fell into depression but was helped by writing about a dying garden brought back to life, which mirrored her own journey through grief. This is Frances Hodgson Burnett and her novel was The Secret Garden, published in 1911.

Tuesday Kidlit Trivia for April 28, 2026

 This Canadian author/illustrator lets the young readers in on the joke as the rather slow-witted bear searches for his missing hat, asking character after character. GQ magazine called the book "the most subtle endorsement of murder you'll ever find," No violence is shown, but the inference is there, which has led to some parents wanting the book banned. It's told completely in dialogue. Does it condone lying, stealing and revenge killing, or is it just a fun read? Check out I Want My Hat Back by Caldecott winner Jon Klassen.

Tuesday Kidlit Trivia for April 21, 2026

 This Newark author, born in 1931, always knew she wanted to be a writer. She began by writing odes to her deceased parents--who were alive, and not amused! She wrote for Redbook magazine for years before her children led her to write picture books. Her son Alex inspired her tale of a boy having an awful day. The Tenth Good Thing About Barney helps children deal with the grief they feel for a cat who has died by thinking of his value, as a playmate and as garden compost. This is Judith Viorst, and her book about her son Alex is the classic Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day, published in 1972.