Hugs and Hurrahs

We’ve almost reached the end of another year. It’s been a very difficult one for many people in many ways, which is why I’m so glad to be able to celebrate some good news from some of our members:

Rhonda Gowler Greene had two picture books released this fall. This Magical Musical Night (illustrated by James Rey Sanchez; Little Bee Books) was released on September 7 and selected as a 2021 Best Picture Book by School Library Journal, received starred reviews from Kirkus and School Library Journal, and rights were sold for a French-Canadian edition.

Her first touch-and-feel book, Christmas in the Stable (illustrated by Virginia Allyn Scholastic/Cartwheel) was published on September 21, 2021.

 

Wow, Rhonda! That’s fantastic!

 

Kristin Bartley Lenz's poem "Soccer Rules" was published in the anthology, Rhyme & Rhythm: Poems for Student Athletes. 

 

Congratulations, Kristin!

 

Lisa Wheeler has a new book coming out on February 22, 2022,  Dino-Easter illustrated by Barry Gott (Lerner/Carolrhoda). This is the 4^th book in the Dino-Holiday series. This series features the same dinosaurs kids know and love from the Dino-Sport series.

 

That’s great, Lisa!

 

Katherine Higgs-Coulthard’s YA book, Junkyard Dogs, was picked up by Jonah Heller at Peachtree Teen. Publication is planned for spring 2023.

 

How wonderful, Kat!

 

Neal Levin has had several poems published in magazines recently. “Amazing Pete’s Amazing Feet” and “A Pledge” were published over the summer and “Cinderella a Cappella,” “Nervous Circus,” and “Fireworks” were published in November in The School Magazine, a children’s magazine in Australia. “Night Lights” was published in the August issue of Highlights Hello and “Pumpkins” was in the October 2021 issue of Highlights High Five. “Bee Yourself,” which he wrote and illustrated, was published in the July/August issue of Fun For Kidz.  His feature “10 Smart Facts About Owls” was published in Fun for Kidz. This was his 50^th double-spread color cartoon in the “10 Facts” series, featuring a different theme in each issue.

Good for you, Neal!

 

Tammy Layman Hall sold her first kid lit story,  “Outside with Hippo” to Highlights High Five Magazine.

 

How exciting, Tammy!

 

Monica A. Harris has sold eight informational passages to Data Recognition Corp. and their work with South Carolina and Alabama assessment. Topics include: biographies, art therapy, organism relationships, dietary patterns, and the evolution of fashionable items in society.  

 

Yay, Monica!

 

Joe Kimble’s book, Mr. Mouthful Learns His Lesson, got an honorable mention from the podcast Science Direction, a spinoff of NPR’s Science Friday (listen at 9:20 of the November 2 podcast). 

 

Excellent, Joe!

 

Amy Leskowski signed with her agent, Keely Boeving at WordServe Literary, in November.

 

That’s fabulous, Amy!

 

On Giving Tuesday, Paulette Sharkey took part in an Amazon Live event featuring fifteen members of AlzAuthors, a community of 300+ authors who write about Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia. Paulette talked about the experiences that inspired her picture book, A Doll for Grandma (Beaming Books, 2020).

 

What important work, Paulette!

 

That’s our last Hugs and Hurrahs post of 2021. Congratulations to all of you! Have a good rest of the year! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to those of you celebrating! Happy New Year, everyone! We are looking for someone else to take over the Hugs and Hurrahs posts in 2022. It’s been my honor and pleasure to hear everyone’s good news and celebrate with you. Now that I’ve taken on more editing responsibilities for The Mitten, it would be great to have someone else join the team to do the Hugs and Hurrahs posts. If you are interested in this role or you have news for the next Hugs and Hurrahs, please email me at sarah.prusoff.locascio@gmail.com.