Huge thank you to Imagination Soup for selecting B IS FOR BANANAS as one of 2023’s Best Picture Books!
Of the process, Melissa says “Every month of 2023, I’ve read around 250 newly published picture books, adding up to three thousand books. Of those three thousand, these are my picture book picks for the best books of 2023.”
See all the wonderful selections here.
Eeep! B IS FOR BANANAS is one of Amazon’s Best Books of the Year for ages 3-5!
Thank you Amazon Books!
Thank you to Good Housekeeping for selecting B Is for Bananas as a 2023 Good Housekeeping Best Kids’ Book Award winner!
According to Good Housekeeping, “The process started in spring when 200-plus nominations rolled in for the 2023 awards. In addition to input from literary experts, Good Housekeeping tested the nominations with the best book critics—kids themselves. Helping this program stand out from other lists, more than 125 children (and their families) read and reviewed the selections. In addition to overall ratings from both children and parents, the Good Housekeeping team reviewed their detailed survey responses pertaining to the quality, innovativeness and engagement of the books to determine the winners.”
What an honor to receive an award from kids themselves!
See all the winners here.
Thank you so much to the Oregon Council of Teachers of English for selecting Counting to Bananas as an Honor Book for the 2022 Oregon Spirit Book Awards in the picture book category! What an honor!
I’m so happy to share the B Is for Bananas, illustrated by Estrela Lourenço and written by me, has been selected for Amazon’s list of Best Books of the Year So Far for children’ ages 3-5. It joins Counting to Bananas in being selected for this great honor last year. Thank you Amazon!
Update: This podcast aired on June 20, 2023, and you can check it out now!
This morning, I’ll be recording on the Reading with Your Kids podcast with Jed Doherty. I’m so excited to share in their mission of helping families grow through reading. I probably wouldn’t be an author today without all the books I read with my parents as a kid and all the story times my mom took me and my sisters to at our local library. Stay tuned to hear more about when the podcast episode will air, and be sure to subscribe to the podcast at their website: https://readingwithyourkids.com/
I’m delighted to share that my third picture book, and my first nonfiction book, will be coming in Spring 2025 with Beach Lane Books!
ALPACAS HERE, ALPACAS THERE, illustrated by Elisa Chavarri, spotlights alpacas living in North and South America and how, as different as their upbringings and surroundings may be, the result is the same – beautiful, silky fleece that keeps people cozy and warm around the world.
Thank you to School Library Journal for this fabulous starred review for B IS FOR BANANAS!
“PreS-K–This is the toddler book of all toddler books, and one to leave preschoolers squealing. Laughter will be the name of the game every time this book is read; it is hilarious! A little banana is supposed to be ready for bed, but getting ready is the last thing on the menu. Written as an alphabet book, the narration is often co-opted by the little banana. “J is for jammies” is instantly corrected to its retort: “J is for jumping! Look—banana splits!” The banana is literally jumping around the page and doing the splits. Every page depicts a solid eye-appealing background color with banana in action around the featured letter. The banana speaks with speech bubbles while the adult’s words are written in an oval elsewhere on the page. The sarcasm is easy to recognize and even the littlest child will understand the game. Most pages feature only one black capital letter and a word that has something to do with settling down and going to bed. There are also reminders of things to do prior to sleep like taking a bath, brushing teeth, “going” and washing hands after. Children will be worn out by this. VERDICT A must-have for all picture book collections, paired with an even more soothing title afterward.
–Tracy Cronce”
Check out this adorable banana-themed pie from Stephanie Hockersmith of Pie Lady Books! If you haven’t checked out all of her pies yet, they are a must-see. What’s better than a combo of books, art, and dessert?! I’m feeling inspired to try making a banana cream pie or some banana bread or something now! See Stephanie’s full post about B IS FOR BANANAS on Instagram. Thank you, Stephanie!
🍌B IS FOR BANANAS is out today!
I feel so lucky to have gotten to make this book with our amazing Team Banana. Thanks to Estrela Lourenço for her amazing illustrations and friendship! Thanks to Cheryl Eissing for her wonderful editorial eye, and for reigning me in when I try to put leeches into too many books. Thanks to the whole Flamingo Books team and Penguin Young Readers for ushering this book into being. Thanks to my agent Tracy Marchini for her help along the way. And huge thanks to my critique partners, without whom this book would still be a pile of first draft garbage. Books truly are a team effort, and this book wouldn’t be here without these people and many more.
This book takes a lot of inspiration from real life in raising my son. I am a proponent of playful parenting thanks to influences like Aha Parenting, and Lawrence J. Cohen (www.playfulparenting.com). This book incorporates some of the silliness my son and I have gone through with our own bedtime routine. I hope this book is both fun and silly for kids to read with their grown-ups, and also an inspiration for parents to play with their kids!
