It’s another day to smile because we are celebrating a brand new book by Dana Marie Miroballi!!!
Happy Book Birthday: INVENTIONS TO COUNT ON: A Celebration of Black Inventors
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Category Archives: Book Birthday
Happy Book Birthday: PLIGHT OF THE PELICAN: How Science Saved a Species
YES! YES! YES! It’s time to sing Happy Birthday to another beautiful new book! And this book has a VERY SPECIAL back story…this book was an Honorable Mention in the 2022 #50PreciousWords Contest. If you check yesterday’s blog post where we announced the prize winners and Honorable Mentions, who knows how many books-in-the-making you will find!
Author Jessica Stremer is such a fabulous writer…and her books are incredible. And what a wonderful partnership the editor created when they signed on Gordy Wright to do the illustrations!! The cover invites and intrigues…and the reader can’t wait to open the book to see more!
And we are so lucky…Jessica stopped by to chat…and to share her story behind the story of how her #50PreciousWords entry became a REAL BOOK!!!
ME: WELCOME, Jessica. thank you for stopping by.
JESSICA: Thank you so much for having me, Vivian. I’m excited to share how PLIGHT OF THE PELICAN came to be a book.
Pelicans are one of my favorite birds. I tried writing a story about them years ago, but it just wasn’t working, primarily I think because it was missing the “so what” factor.
In early 2022, my family and I took a trip up the coast of California when I began brainstorming ideas for the 50 Precious Words competition. Pelicans once again popped into my head. My books GREAT CARRIER REEF and LIGHTS OUT both have a hopeful environmental theme and I wondered if I could find a way to incorporate that approach into my entry. Here’s what I came up with:
Soaring
Skimming
Climbing
Spotting
Diving
Splashing
Scooping
Gulping
Toxins leaching
Silently building . . .
Courting
Nesting
Shells thinning
Eggs crushing
Numbers dwindling
Pelicans needing
HELP
Researchers observing
Laws changing
Toxin banning
Scientists offering
HOPE
Eggs hatching
Numbers growing . . .
Chicks chirping
Feathers molting
Fledging
Flapping
Lifting
Flying
Species SURVIVING
Pelicans on Parade
That entry received honorable mention and had a lot of my critique partners excited, so I decided to flush it out into a full picture book manuscript, sticking to the sparse language while working in some layered text for additional context.
My editor loved the concept, but wanted the layered text incorporated into the main body of the manuscript. She also had the brilliant suggestion to add a few spreads about animals that are currently at risk to show that there is more work to be done. Each revision was a lot of work and I’m really proud of how this book turned out.
I was also excited when my editor said that Gordy Wright, who also illustrated my debut picture book GREAT CARRIER REEF, signed on to also illustrate this book. His work elevates the story to a whole new level.
I’m grateful to Vivian for continuing the 50 Precious Words competition. Without her PLIGHT OF THE PELICAN wouldn’t exist.
ME: AND WE ARE GRATEFUL TO YOU, JESSICA, FOR WRITING SUCH BEAUTIFUL BOOKS!!!
Dear friends, here’s a little bit about how you can buy this book and how to find out more about Jessica and Gordy.
Here is the link to the publisher’s website.
Signed copies of the book can be purchased through Books and Company.
Jessica Stremer is a children’s book writer with a background in biology and ecology. Her passion lies in inspiring curiosity, wonder, and respect for our natural world. Jessica’s debut picture book, Great Carrier Reef, also illustrated by Gordy Wright, was a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection and received two starred reviews. She lives in Wisconsin with her family.
Gordy Wright is an illustrator and printmaker who paints by hand in gouache and acrylic. Recent projects include Wild In the Streets by Marilyn Singer, and Strange But True by Kathryn Hulic, as well as Great Carrier Reef, by Jessica Stremer, which received two starred reviews. Gordy graduated with a first class degree in illustration from the University of the West of England, and lives in Bristol.
Thank you so much, dear friends, for spending your precious time with us here. And thank you for the books bought at Toadstool Bookshop in Keene for the #50PreciousWords Literacy Initiative that is supporting the Children’s Literacy Foundation’s work in supplying books to underserved schools in Vermont and New Hampshire. And thank you to all who mailed books to me…those will be delivered to Sunset Heights Elementary School in Nashua, NH this month.
Happy Book Birthday: MAMIACHI AND ME!
Hello everyone!!! One of my favorite posts to create…a Book Birthday post for a dear friend!!! So please, tune up your instruments and get ready to sing along for MAMIACHI AND ME! MY MAMI’S MARIACHI BAND, written by Jolene Gutiérrez and Dakota Gutiérrez and illustrated by Mirelle Ortega and published by Abrams Books for Young Readers…launching TODAY!!!
First of all, look at that cover! The joy and energy EXPLODE off the page! The illustrator did a fantastic job choosing the color palette…and her art is amazing – we feel the emotional connection between the two characters…and we become emotionally connected as well!
I was lucky enough to read the book – and the quality of the illustrations continues throughout every page. And the emotional connection comes not just from the pictures…THE TEXT hooks you from the very beginning – and pulls you into the story with every page turn!
Here is a little bit about the book from the Amazon sales page:
Mamiachi & Me is a lyrical and empowering picture book written by Jolene and Dakota Gutiérrez and illustrated by Mirelle Ortega, winner of a Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor, about what it means to be a mariachi in an all‑female band.
Today’s the day! Rosa will take the stage next to her mami and play along with her popular mariachi band. But as they fasten the shiny botonaduras and tie the moños on their charra suits, Rosa begins to worry. What if the audience doesn’t like her? Is she ready to perform?
With her mamiachi and madrinas by her side, Rosa’s stage fright is soothed away by the sound of trumpets, guitars, and violins. Centering on the power of sisterhood, community, and music, the warm and lively text by mother-and-son writing duo Jolene and Dakota Gutiérrez—joined by Mirelle Ortega’s beautiful illustrations—provides a unique perspective to the male-dominated world of mariachi.
Back matter includes additional context on the history of the beloved Mexican tradition and the rise of all-female mariachi groups, as well as a glossary, a bibliography, further reading, and a fun, detailed look at a mariachi’s signature charro suit!
BELIEVE ME…if you are a teacher, you will want this book for your classroom! If you are a parent, please don’t miss this heartwarming and empowering story that your kids will want to hear over and over again!
And we are so lucky because Jolene stopped by to chat with us and share the story behind the story. WELCOME, JOLENE! It was wonderful seeing you at the NCTE conference a couple of months ago in Boston. And I’ve got my fingers crossed that we will meet up again this coming November in Denver.
JOLENE: Hello Vivian! Yes, it was great seeing you in Boston. Let’s put our positivity hats on for Denver. Thank you for helping celebrate MAMIACHI AND ME! The way Mamiachi & Me: My Mami’s Mariachi Band came about is that during the pandemic, my husband watched an NPR interview with Mariachi Flor de Toloache and when he was telling me about it, he said, “I just watched this great piece with an all-female mariachi band.”
What I *heard* was, “I just watched this great piece with an all-female mamiachi band.”
So I said, “Did you just call them mamiachis?”
And he said, “Um, no…”
But my brain was already racing with a story idea. During that same time, my son was learning from home and missing out on all of the performing arts programs he used to participate in, including the mariachi program he’d planned to join his senior year. My daughter and I had just finished co-writing a manuscript (it was The Ofrenda That We Built), so I was eager to create something with my other child. Luckily, Dakota said yes and we co-wrote Mamiachi & Me.
Oh Jolene…I love that! And that just shows us that story ideas are EVERYWHERE and we need to be open and alert! Thanks so much for stopping by…and Happy Book Birthday!!!
Jolene Gutiérrez is an award-winning neurodivergent teacher librarian who has been working with neurodivergent learners at Denver Academy since 1995. Jolene writes for young readers and hopes her books will help some readers feel seen and will help others learn and grow in compassion. Her books have been printed in 10 countries and 9 languages. Jolene is an active member of SCBWI, part of the KidLitCollective group, and a co-creator of #KidlitZombieWeek and Picture Book Gold. Jolene is represented by agent Kaitlyn Sanchez and is the author of Unbreakable: A Japanese American Family in an American Incarceration Camp (Abrams Childrens, 2026, co-authored with Minoru Tonai), Mamiachi and Me: My Mami’s Mariachi Band (Abrams/Appleseed, 2025, co-authored with her son Dakota), The Ofrenda That We Built (Chronicle, 2024, co-authored with her daughter Shaian), Too Much! An Overwhelming Day (Abrams/Appleseed, 2023), the Stars of Latin Pop series (Rourke, 2021), Bionic Beasts: Saving Animal Lives with Artificial Flippers, Legs, and Beaks (Lerner, 2020), and Mac and Cheese and the Personal Space Invader (Clear Fork/Spork, 2020). Find her online at www.jolenegutierrez.com or on Facebook, Bluesky, Instagram, or Threads @writerjolene.
Dakota Gutiérrez is a college student with a passion for music and writing. His family has roots in Jalostotitlan, Jalisco, Mexico, where some of his favorite memories are of visiting the plaza to watch the mariachi bands perform on the weekends. Dakota is a student at the Colorado School of Mines where he is majoring in Civil Engineering and is active in the Kappa Sigma Fraternity and intramural sports. He will graduate with a Master’s Degree in May 2026.
Mirelle Ortega is an award-winning Mexican artist and writer for kidlit and animation based in Los Angeles, California. She is the author-illustrator of River of Mariposas and IMagic: Once Upon a Faraway Land, for which she received a 2023 Pura Belpré Award Illustration Honor and an International Latino Book Award bronze medal.
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Buy the book
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Ask our local library to purchase copies for their collection
I hope you all have a WONDERFUL WEEK!
VIVIAN KIRKFIELD - Writer for Children 