Cover Reveal: ELSA’S CHESSBOARD

Posted on February 17, 2025 by viviankirkfield

I feel so lucky that I meet so many amazing kidlit authors and illustrators. Sometimes I meet them at conferences. Sometimes our paths cross during an online class. And other times, mutual friends bring us together.

That’s how I connected with Jenny Andrus. She’s in the #Kidlit Foxes author promo group with a couple of other folks I know – and when she reached out and I heard the story behind her debut picture book, ELSA’S CHESSBOARD that releases from Neal Porter/Holiday House on April 29, I just knew I had to help spread the word…and the COVER!

Illustrator Julie Downing has created a cover that truly engages and informs! Look at the background. We can tell right away that this is a book about a time in the past. And look at where the focus is…right on this young girl…and look how the artist has made her active. She’s not just sitting at a chessboard…we can see she is involved in an on-going game! I can’t wait to open the book and turn the pages and read the story…and I’m sure that’s how young children will feel, too.

Here’s a little bit about the book:
Elsa’s Chessboard
Jenny Andrus (author)
Julie Downing (illustrator)
Neal Porter Books/Holiday House
Launch date: April 29, 2025
ISBN: 9780823454082

ME: I asked Jenny what inspired her to write the story.

JENNY: My grandmother (we called her Oma) lived with us when I was growing up, and we were very close. I could talk to her about almost anything–except chess. Even though Oma was passionate about the game, I resisted her every effort to teach me how to play. There was always something else that I would rather do. Eventually, she gave up trying. How I wish I could go back in time and take her up on that offer. Since that’s not a possibility, I went with the next best option: I wrote a book celebrating her life and the game she loved.

Here’s a short summary of the story

Growing up in 1900s Vienna, Elsa loves watching her brothers play chess. “No girls!” they tell her when she first asks to learn; but she wears them down, and soon she’s such a pro that they give her a special chess set of her own. Elsa carries her chessboard with her everywhere, always ready for a game. She even gets to know her future husband over games in the park. But when World War II grips Europe, the young Jewish family flees to America, where they find themselves surrounded by unfamiliar languages. Luckily, Elsa knows one language that can always bring people together: chess!

And here’s a little bit about Jenny:

Jenny Andrus is an author, children’s book reviewer, and librarian. She has written stories for newspapers and magazines, and co-authored a book for new parents, Bay Area Baby. For 14 years, she was a K-8 school librarian, where her favorite part of the job was sharing picture books with kids.

And here’s a little bit about the illustrator:

Julie Downing is the author and illustrator of Hello, Moon; Hello, Sun; and Night in the City. She has illustrated over forty-five picture books, including Cubs in the Tub: The True Story of the Bronx Zoo’s First Woman Zookeeper by Candace Fleming. She has won many awards and citations, including a Parents’ Choice Award, the New York Public Library’s Best Books, APAAL Best Illustrated Book, and the Irma Black Silver Medal.

To find out more about the creators of this beautiful book:
Social media links / website
Instagram:
Jenny: @jennyandruswrites
Julie Downing:@juliedowning

Bluesky
@jandrus.bsky.social

Facebook
@jenny.andrus.94

Websites
Jenny: https://jennyandruswrites.com/
Julie: https://www.juliedowning.com/

Preferred Pre-Order Sales Links
Bookshop.org
Barnes & Noble
Amazon

Reviews welcome on the store sites, as well as on:
Goodreads
Edelweiss

Thank you, everyone, for spending your precious time with us. I’ll be away for the next 2 weeks – and will return JUST IN TIME for #50PreciousWords which takes place right here on the blog on March 2 and March 3. Our wonderful judges are all ready to read your fabulous stories…have you written yours yet? As always, the prizes are amazing! Check out the Heads Up post for guidelines and prize list: https://viviankirkfield.com/2025/02/01/heads-up-the-50preciouswords-2024-international-writing-contest-is-coming-soon-2/

Cover Reveal: VERA LA VALIENTE IS SCARED Plus Critique Giveaway

Posted on February 3, 2025 by viviankirkfield

I love welcoming back creators who have been here before – and today’s featured cover is from a very prolific author, the lovely Ana Siqueira who stopped by to chat with us about the book!

ME: Welcome, Ana! We are so happy you stopped by on your COVER REVEAL day! And thank you for offering a fabulous giveaway!!! One lucky winner is going to receive their choice of a PB CRITIQUE or a 30-minute Ask-Me-Anything Chat. That is so generous of you!!!
Could you tell us a little bit about the book and the inspiration behind it?

ANA: Hello Vivian! It’s lovely to be here. And of course…doesn’t every author love to chat about their book!!! Here’s a little info:

Vera La Valiente is Scared
Written by Ana Siqueira
Illustrated by Teresa Martinez
Launching from Beaming Books in August 2025

And here’s the inspiriation for it:

Vera La Valiente is Scared was inspired by a match between my son and my sister.
My son Joao Felipe was scared of roller coasters. And even though he suffered some peer pressure (and family pressure), he was always brave to say “No, I don’t like roller coasters.” Now, I see he was really brave to do so.

Also, Vera is my big sister. I always saw her as this brave girl and I thought she could face everything, even roaches, without trembling. But of course, just like all of us, she has her fears. I believe a lot of pressure was placed on her to be strong and brave all of the time. So this book shows that it is okay to have fears. And to show your fears is an act of bravery.

ME: Oh, that’s such an important issue to write about, Ana. And I love that this is really a ‘family’ story. I know kids will definitely relate to it!
How about challenges or humorous moments on the path to publication…can you share any of those?

ANA: As I’m sure there are with every book, there were challenges.

This story, like many others, took a while to create shape. I tried many different versions, including one where Vera helped another girl who was scared of water rides. But with the help of my critique partners, I was able to shape it in a way that I believe it’s funny and heartfelt, without being didactic.

ME: Can you give us a little summary of the story?

ANA: Sure…I’d be happy to.

VERA LA VALIENTE IS SCARD is a hilarious story about what it really means to be brave.

Meet Vera the Brave–La Valiente! She dives like a dolphin, climbs like a mountain goat, and defends her amigos like un león. But she trembles when she hears her teacher say, “We’re going to Rocking Roller Coasters!” Oh no! Vera tries to convince the teacher her plan is not the best, but Ms. Rodríguez does not change her mind about the field trip. Now if Vera can’t face her fears, everyone will discover she’s not that brave after all! But what if being brave is much more than she expected?

Vera La Valiente Is Scared redefines what it means to be brave. It’s okay to show your feelings and fears! And maybe, with some help, you can even face some of them.

ME: Thank you so much, Ana. And now folks, here’s what you’ve been waiting for…

WOW! I think Teresa Martinez has done a fabulous job, engaging the child reader with a cover that POPS off the page! I love the strong reds! And Vera’s brave yellow shirt!

And here’s an inside spread…look how the main character grabs our attention because she’s dressed colorfully – and the rest of the page is muted.

Dear friends, we know that books don’t become a success without our help.
Here is some info for pre-ordering:
Pre-Order
Signed Copies at Tombolo Books
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Bookshop.org
Beaming Books

And here’s some info about Ana:
Ana Siqueira is a Spanish-language teacher and an award-winning children’s book author based in Tampa, Florida. Her books include Bella’s Recipe for Success (Beaming Books 2021), If Your Babysitter is a Bruja (S&S 2022), Abuela’s Super Capa/ La Supercapa de Abuela (HarperCollins 2023), Our World Brazil (Barefoot Books 2023), Boitata: the Fire Snake (Capstone 2023), La Mala Suerte is Following Me (Charlesbridge 2024), Vera la Valiente is Scared (Beaming Books 2025), Mami’s Heart (HarperCollins 2026) among others. She also has a chapter book series coming soon. It’s titled Carolina and the Creepy Creature Catchers. Ana co-founded Latinxpitch, a pitch event to promote Latin authors and illustrators.

She lives in Tampa Bay with her husband and loves to play with her Cuban-Brazilian-American grandkids.

And remember in the beginning of the post, I mentioned that Ana is prolific…take a look at some of her books:

To connect with Ana:
Social Media
@asiqueira.bsky.social

Instagram
Twitter

And here’s a little bit about the fabulous illustrator:
Teresa Martinez is a Mexican illustrator based in Puerto Vallarta. She’s the illustrator for dozens of picture books including Duck, Duck, Taco Truck, written by Laura Lavoie, Playing at the Border: A Story of Yo-Yo Ma, written by Johanna Ho, and The Last Tamale, written by Orlando Mendiola, among many others. You can see her amazing portfolio and learn more about her: https://astound.us/teresa-martinez

I hope you all have a wonderful week! And I hope you are also spreading the word about #50PreciousWords which will happen right here on the blog on March 2 and March 3.
Also, World Read-Aloud Day is Wednesday, February 5…if you are an author, are you reading to a class? If you are a teacher, have you connected with an author so that your students will have a free author visit that day? I’ll be reading ONE GIRL’S VOICE with the 4th graders at P.S. 97 in the Bronx. I’ll tell them that they are the FIRST kids to hear the story because the book doesn’t launch until February.

And don’t forget to leave a comment to be entered into the giveaway…Ana is asking that you put a number from 1 to 1000 in your comment…and Ana will choose the winner…if you can read minds, maybe you’ll guess the number Ana is thinking of.

Happy Book Birthday: MISSY WANTS A MAMMOTH Plus Giveaway

Posted on August 6, 2024 by viviankirkfield

Yay! I am so excited about this brand-new book that launches TODAY! And I’m pretty sure that when you hear more about it, you will be, too! Book 1 of the Missy & Mason series is : Missy Wants a Mammoth, written by Pam Vaughan and illustrated by Ariel Landy.
It is with Pixel+Ink. You can see more details here:

https://silverunicornbooks.com/item/2wJn2c0AgM5Kp0MsTH7gtw

Just look at that cover! So engaging and inviting! I already want to know what is going to happen. Will the mammoth come to life like in the movie Night at the Museum?

So, dear friends, pull up a chair, help yourself to a piece of yummy birthday cake, and let’s join author Pam who stopped by to tell us a little bit about the story – and the story behind the story.

ME: Welcome, Pam! We’ve met at conferences – and I’m ultra-excited to see you again for the Acadia Writing Retreat and Book Festival in October – late October in Acadia National Park should be glorious – and with Eileen Robinson as one of the faculty – WOW! And WOW for MISSY WANTS A MAMMOTH! Can you tell us a little bit about the story?

PAM: Hi Vivian! Thank you so much for the opportunity to be on your blog for my book birthday!!
First-grader Missy pushes the bounds of her imagination—and her older brother Mason’s patience—as she lays out her plan for a new pet. A must-have for fans of Charlie and Lola and Olivia or anyone crafting a case for why they need a new animal addition to the family.At the Museum of Natural History, first-grader Missy has a genius gigantic idea: she wants a wooly mammoth as her new pet. She’ll name him Malcolm. They’ll take bubble baths with strawberry-banana shampoo, and go on picnics, and she’ll swing from his tusks. They’ll be best friends. Older brother, Mason, spots one mammoth-sized problem with her plans. . . . But once Missy gets an idea in her head, nothing (not even the fact that mammoths have been extinct for ten thousand years) is going to stop her from getting her fuzzy new friend.Missy and Mason are a winning new pair for the canon of sibling stories—when Missy dreams a little too big, Mason is always there to help pull her back, and when practical Mason plays it too safe, Missy helps push him to think bigger—and Missy Wants a Mammoth is sure to charm in a massive way.

ME: Oh, I love how this sounds, Pam. And can you share a bit about the journey for this book? We always love to hear about the path to publication.

PAM: Perhaps you can remember back to the time when your debut was about to, well, debut! It’s exciting and so much anticipation of not knowing what to expect. It’s like I’ve been trekking along learning, writing, revising, learning, talking with other writers, getting feedback, reading, learning, writing, revising…you know, all those kinds of things in my little world.

And then, all of a sudden (which isn’t really so sudden), my words are going to be a book! It’s exciting and wonderful and amazing and…(maybe slightly terrifying 😉 ) It’s like a shift in the mind – coming out of that previous trek (learning, writing, revising, learning, talking with other writers, getting feedback, reading, learning, writing, revising) and figuring out the new and exciting world of having a book – go beyond my little world around me and into the wider world.

Of course I am extremely grateful in all ways!!!

Including you! So, thank you! I appreciate YOU and all you do for all of our kidlit friends and community.

One semi-humorous story is that this book, Missy Wants a Mammoth sold in 2020 and was due to come out at the end of 2022. In February of 2022 my editor asked for a meeting with my agent and me to discuss the publication process, publicity timing, next steps, etc. As a new author I was super excited to have a face-to-face (virtual) meeting with my agent and editor together!

I was all smiles when I got on the meeting. But within a minute, my editor says, “I’m just going to rip off the band-aid.” I didn’t even have enough time to process her words when she said that due to COVID challenges, the illustrator has had to step away from the project. They both assured me things would work out for the best and it was all going to be okay. My response was, I feel like we got scored on, but we didn’t lose the game. I don’t think my response was what either of them expected! So, the illustrator search continued. Then, I got a call from my editor. She said she had an illustrator that she really liked…however, she was about to go on maternity leave and she had another project ahead of us. The editor and I both thought the illustrator – Ariel Landy – was worth the wait! So…we waited. The new date was July 2,2024 until…

I received one more call that said the date got pushed out again – but only one more month – August 6, 2024.

As children’s book authors we always hear that patience and resilience are essential attributes in this industry – so there is some proof.

I would also add gratitude. I’m so grateful to be able to write children’s books and to be able to share my books with people of all ages – young and young at heart! I lead with gratitude and appreciation!

Again, thank you for all of your time, hard work, and dedication to the kidlit space and helping authors on their journeys!

ME: And we are all grateful for what you have done as ARA of NESCBWI, lynchpin of Writers’ Loft, and everything else you do for the kid lit community, dear Pam!
To find out more about Pam and connect with her: www.pamvaughanauthor.com

And, dear friends, even though it is Pam’s book birthday, she’s the one giving the present! Please make sure you leave a comment and let us know which gift you would prefer if you are the lucky winner of the giveaway: a copy of MISSY WANTS A MAMMOTH or a 20-minute Ask-Me-Anything Zoom Chat with Pam.

And what can we do to let authors know how much we love their books? We can:
Buy them
Review them
Put them on our Goodreads Want to Read Shelf
Tell friends about them (share this post on social media)
Ask your local library to purchase copies for their collection