🍌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
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!
I just learned that Counting to Bananas has been selected as one of the Today Show’s best books for 3-year-olds! Thank you Today Show!
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!
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?