Kirkus calls B Is for Bananas “an a-peeling alphabet adventure”

Cover image of picture book "B Is for Bananas" with text from Kirkus Reviews.

🍌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

2022 Undies Case Cover Award Winner

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.
Book jacket and case cover of the book "Counting to Bananas."
Special thanks to Travis Jonker, Carter Higgins, and Mel Schuit for putting on this fun and fabulous award!

Portland Book Festival Appearances

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.

Announcement for Story Time with author Carrie Tillotson and her book Counting to Bananas at the Portland Book Festival, November 5th, 2022 at 11:50am.Announcement for Making Picture Books panel at the Portland Book Festival, November 5, 2022 at 3:45pm.

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

Making Picture Books Panel with Nora Ericson, Sabrina Moyle, and moderator Cathy Camper.
3:45pm-4:30pm
Portland Parks Foundation Tent

Book Signing
4:30pm
Mark Building, Portland Art Museum

Passes are on sale at Literary Arts now. I hope to see you there!

Book Signing Fun

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!Author Carrie Tillotson wearing a banana hat at a book signing event, holding a copy of the book Counting to Bananas.

Storytime Fun

Author Carrie Tillotson posing with books and sign at Barnes and Noble.

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!

Counting to Bananas Book Birthday!

It’s finally here!
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!

Be Brave, Be Bold!

Early this morning, at 6:25am to be precise, I presented at a conference as an author for the first time. Was I nervous? Yes. Was I scared? Yes. Did I feel a little bit like and imposter. Also, yes. But, you know what? Despite my reservations, I had FUN! When my friend and critique partner Hannah Holt asked me if I wanted to develop a presentation with her about funny informational picture books for this conference, at first I hesitated. Who would want to listen to me? I’m just a debut author. Could I overcome my fear of public speaking? I had before as a biostatistician, so why not know as an author?

Even though I was worried about how I might actually pull all this off, it went swimmingly. We had engaged participants, we pulled a lot of puns, and most of all we had fun. I learned that it is entirely easy for me to speak about a topic I’m passionate about, even when I might be scared to take that leap. I’m glad I did. What are you doing to be brave and bold today?Authors Hannah Holt and Carrie Tillotson presenting at New Jersey Association of School Librarians virtual Mini-Conference