Yippee! Counting to Bananas is a finalist for the 2023 Oregon Book Awards for the Eloise Jarvis McGraw Award for Children’s Literature, along with some other incredible books!
Congratulations to all the finalists!:
Zoey Abbott of Portland, Pig and Horse and the Something Scary (Abrams/Abrams Books for Young Readers)
Cathy Camper of Portland, Arab Arab All Year Long! (Candlewick Press)
Dane Liu of Portland, Friends Are Friends, Forever (Henry Holt and Co.)
Trudy Ludwig of Portland, Brave Every Day (Alfred A. Knopf/Knopf Books for Young Readers)
Carrie Tillotson of Tigard, Counting to Bananas: A Mostly Rhyming Fruit Book (Flamingo Books/Penguin Young Readers)
Will I see you at the awards ceremony on April 3rd?
🍌The first review is in for B IS FOR BANANAS, and Kirkus Reviews calls it “an a-peeling alphabet adventure”! So happy for our team with illustrator Estrela Lourenço, editor Cheryl Eissing, and all the other amazing folks at Flamingo Books. 😍 And thank you Kirkus Reviews!
🌛Read the full review here.
🌟Preorder your copy.
🍌Release Date: April 11, 2023 from Flamingo Books/Penguin Young Readers
Congratulations to all the winners of School Library Journal’s 2022 Undies Case Covers Awards! And hugest congrats to Estrela Lourenço, the mastermind behind the case cover for our book, COUNTING TO BANANAS, winner of the category for best “Something to Read.”
I have loved the case cover she made all along, but recently found out from Estrela that the premise is that not only does Banana want to be the star of our book, but rather Banana wants to take over all media, from books to newspapers and magazines to flyers. So brilliant!
Check out more about the awards and winners here.
Special thanks to Travis Jonker, Carter Higgins, and Mel Schuit for putting on this fun and fabulous award!
Do you know about Portland Book Festival? This daylong event features 100+ presenters in all-ages events, pop-up readings, an extensive book fair, food carts, and more at Portland Art Museum and neighboring venues, including me! It’s coming up on November 5th, 2022.
Come see me at:
Story Time with host Emily Arrow for a reading of Counting to Bananas
11:50am-12:10pm
Fields Ballroom, Portland Art Museum
Book Signing
12:10-12:30pm
Fields Ballroom, Portland Art Museum
Crafting with Counting to Bananas Activities
12:30-1:30pm
Fields Ballroom, Portland Art Museum
Counting to Bananas was nominated for the 2023 Red Bud Read-Aloud Award! Many thanks to Kyle and Kenneth Brown for organizing this very fun award where school children get to vote bracket-style for their favorite read-alouds.
I had so much fun celebrating the grand opening of Barnes and Noble’s new Hillsboro, Oregon store with a story time and book signing earlier this month. The store was big and beautiful, and the kids were a delight. One girl even stood at my table with me to help her complete her entire counting activity sheet. Such a joy. And the banana hat was a hit!
I had so much fun reading Counting to Bananas at my local Barnes and Noble store last Saturday. Plus, my parents surprise-showed up, and my Dad took my picture!
I’m so delighted that Counting to Bananas was chosen as one of Amazon’s Best Books of 2022 So Far, for children’s books ages 3-5. What a great list of books, authors, and illustrators to be included with!
I’m so excited that Counting to Bananas is out in the world today! I think Banana here is pretty delighted, too.
Since picture books don’t often have space for an acknowledgements section, I want to take a moment to acknowledge the MANY people who have helped usher this book into being.
First of all, for Estrela Lourenço for her amazing art bringing banana to life.
For my agent, Tracy Marchini, for believing in this story.
For my editor, Cheryl Eissing, for seeing the potential in this manuscript when it was just text on a page.
For art director, Ellice Lee, and all the design team for making this such a beautiful book.
For publicist Lizzie Goodell, and marketing marvel Leah Schiano, for all the behind the scenes work on letting people know about this book.
For the entire Flamingo Books/Penguin Young Readers team, of whom I’m sure there are many I don’t even know about.
For my MANY critique partners over the years.
For Carter Higgins and the 12×12 Picture Book Challenge, for Carter’s critique Ninja Visit a few years ago, that really helped me take this manuscript to the next level.
For my parents-in-law, for watching my son on many Saturday mornings so I could go to critique group meetings.
For my sisters, (aka Plan and Plelly), for our years of goofiness together.
For my parents, for always encouraging me and believing in me.
For my husband, Jason, for supporting me through some of my most bananas ideas, and encouraging me every step of the way.
For my son’s swim instructor, Lisa, for actually counting to bananas in swim class.
For my son, Evan, for his infectious laughter, and always being my first audience.
And for all the future readers, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
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Events
Upcoming Events:
The Book Nook B Is for Bananas Book Launch & Pajama Party
April 15, 2023, 10am
Hillsboro Barnes & Noble
Pajama Storytime
April 19, 2023 10am
Green Bean Books
Bananas Storytime
March 19, 2023, 2pm
Hillsboro Reads
Local Author Fair
March 18, 2023
Hillsboro Reads
Toddler Time Story Time
March 7, 2023
World Read Aloud Day
February 1, 2023
Funny Women of Kidlit Confab
November 12-13, 2022
Portland Book Festival, Portland, OR,
November 5, 2022
Storytime at Barnes & Noble Hillsboro, OR, September 3, 2022
12×12 Picture Book Chat with Estrela Lourenço and Julie Hedlund, July 12, 2022 4pm
Storytime at Barnes and Noble Bridgeport Village, Tigard, OR, July 9, 2022
Author Visit, Hiteon Elementary, Beaverton, OR, May 6, 2022
Story Time for Independent Bookstore Day at Third Street Books, McMinnville, OR, April 30, 2022
Book Launch and Story Time at The Book Nook, Canby, OR, April 23, 2022
Virtual Story Time with Estrela Lourenço and Green Bean Books, April 12, 2022
Virtual Book Launch in conversation with Kimberly Wilson and Annie Bloom’s Books, April 12, 2022
Virtual Story Time: The Silver Unicorn Bookstore, April 9, 2022
Conference Speaker: NJASL Mini-Con, “From Blah-Blah to Ha-Ha! Funny Information Picture Books That Liven Up Reading” (presented with Hannah Holt), April 2, 2022
