WOW! When author Katie Williams told me about her upcoming book, I was thrilled! What a perfect book for Women’s History Month – a story about America’s first published poet…who was a WOMAN!!! It’s an honor to reveal the cover of POET, PILGRIM, REBEL

TA-DA!!!!!

I was lucky enough to get to chat with author Katie and she shared a bit of the story behind the story (which I always LOVE to hear) and why she was drawn to write about Anne Bradstreet.

KATIE: I was drawn to Anne’s journey as a writer for several reasons. My mother informed us a few years back that we were directly descended from her, so I took a special interest in her beautiful poetry. As I read more and more non-fiction picture book biographies, the story of her life started to form in my head–the trouble was, how to capture the heroic journey of a woman who lived over 400 years ago! The book started out quite long, well over 1000 words. I crafted draft after draft, each time attempting to hone in on the early experiences that had shaped Anne’s desire to write and her success in doing so. I played with titles, changed tenses, and fiddled with scenarios and I relied heavily on mentor texts such as Jen Bryant’s Louis Braille biography, Six Dots. Once I felt that I had it as polished as I could get it, I hired the wonderful Susan Kralovansky from Yellow Bird Editors. With her insight I felt that the manuscript was truly ready to query. I decided to participate in #pbpitch on Twitter and was thrilled when two different publishers ‘liked’ it.While one passed, Beaming Books loved it and decided to publish it. I couldn’t be more thrilled with the final product and I can’t wait for readers to learn more about this amazing pioneer.

Dear friends, this is a book you will all want to read and to share with your children. I was lucky enough to get a sneak peek at the ARC (advance reader copy) and it’s EXACTLY the kind of book I would have loved as a kid…and love reading now! I hope you will hop over to the Goodreads page and put it on your WANT-TO-READ shelf. It also helps authors if you ask your local library to purchase copies of your favorite books and tell friends about them. And if you want a copy for yourself, it’s available for pre-order and will be launching August 3, 2021. And…ONE LUCKY PERSON is going to win a picture book critique with the author. YES! Katie is donating a critique as a giveaway. Please make sure you leave a comment below (maybe you can tell us who your favorite poet is) and also please share the post on social media…that definitely helps spread the word about upcoming books so that people can pre-order.

To connect with Katie and find out more about her:
Twitter: @KatieWills79
Debut group website: https://www.newbooksforkids.com/

It’s the start of a new week…and a busy week here on Picture Books Help Kids Soar. Tomorrow we have a special unbook birthday post for the wonderful writer’s planner that Judy Cooper and Dea Lenihan created. At the end of the week, please be here for Perfect Picture Book Friday when COW SAYS MEOW by Kirsti Call is in the spotlight. And on Saturday, I’ll be welcoming a dear old friend, Julie Rowen-Zoch for Will Write and Illustrate for Cookies. It will also be a busy week since I’m still reading #50PreciousWords stories AND I have two virtual school visits.

Please stay safe and well!