Cover Reveal: WHAT I’LL CARRY

Posted on October 19, 2026 by viviankirkfield

Hello dear friends! I often mention how much I love this kid-lit community…and how wonderful it is to meet up with kid-lit folks at conferences and book events. I also talk about how fabulous it is to work with folks on manuscripts…and then find out that they have a book coming out…even if the book isn’t based on the manuscript I helped them with. And today, we have a DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE/DOUBLE YOUR FUN guest! Charlotte Sheer and I met in person at the 2019 New England SCBWI Spring Conference in Springfield, MA.

She and I have worked together on manuscripts as well! And so, when Charlotte reached out to let me know that her debut middle grade novel in verse is coming out next year, we put our heads together to celebrate with a COVER REVEAL!

Oh My Goodness! The cover just pulls me right in! I want to find out what is going on…why the girl looks so sad/worried. Luckily, Charlotte stopped by to chat with us. And what could be better than sharing the story behind the story…I think we all love to learn what inspired an author to write a particular story…and how the path to publication unfolded.

ME: Welcome, Charlotte! I loved seeing that photo from 2019…it was fun to see my hair brown…during COVID, I decided to let nature take its course and now my hair is whatever color it wants to be…white/grey/brown…I think they call it salt and pepper. I call it saving lots of money and time.
I’m so thrilled about WHAT I’LL CARRY, dear Charlotte. Can you tell us a little bit about the book?

CHARLOTTE: It’s wonderful to be here, Vivian. I’m excited about the book…and happy to share a little bit about how it came to be.
WHAT I’LL CARRY by Charlotte Sheer – a middle grade Novel in Verse
(Behrman House/Apples and Honey Press, April, 2027)
The story of my writing journey for WHAT I’LL CARRY began more than ten years ago, before I retired from teaching fifth grade English at Foxborough Regional Charter School in Foxboro, Massachusetts. In connection with a Holocaust educational project my students were doing, a special guest came to school and spoke about how Nicholas Winton’s kindertransport mission rescued her three-year-old self and her nine-year-old sister, as well as 667 other Jewish children in Czechoslovakia, from the Nazis’ reach during 1939.

It was like a lightbulb switched on for me! This amazing lady’s personal story was a snapshot of actual history, experienced by children. It seemed like the perfect basis for a book which might
serve as a soft entry point for middle grade children to begin learning about causes and effects of World War II.

The manuscript began as a picture book in 2015, but by 2019 I agreed with my many critique partners that such an important, emotional story deserved many more pages. As the story
evolved, so did the need to tell it in verse, making some of its heavy themes more approachable for middle grade readers.

And I, a Late Bloomer kidlit author did NOT give up, persevering more than a decade to see my way to book publication. (A little side story: I wrote a play in fifth grade and couldn’t think of a
good title. I don’t recall what the story was about, but my teacher, Mrs. Oliver suggested I call it “Perseverance Wins”. That was the first time I heard that important word…and it turns out, I never forgot the title of my play or what it meant!)

Originally titled, TAGGED FOR DELIVERY, the manuscript won the 2022 New England SCBWI Windows and Mirrors Award and the 2023 SCBWI Novel in Verse Award, the first year it was
ever offered. The recognition helped me acquire the agent who spent a year and a half finding me the best publisher for my book.

Here’s a little description from the book sale sites:

Readers might consider the question, “What would you carry, if you had to leave the only home
you’ve ever known?”
When the Nazis invade Czechoslovakia, Alena and her two sisters flee their village on the Kindertransport to England, leaving their beloved parents and home behind. The once sheltered girls are nearly entirely on their own.

As Alena struggles with her inner turmoil and her growing recognition of what hatred feels like, she slowly grows into a self-sufficient young woman, finally able to contribute to the war effort herself.
Inspired by a true story, this historical fiction novel in verse is not only about surviving impossible cir cumstances but also about taking ownership of your choices, finding your voice, and learning to stand up for yourself.

Publication is set for April 13, 2027, appropriately during National Poetry Month (and just before Holocaust Remembrance Day in early May).

As I’ve pondered “clever” ways to market my debut book, the question occurred to me, “Who IS the oldest debut author of a traditionally published children’s picture book or novel?
I discovered that Laura Ingalls Wilder was 65 when her Little House on the Prairie published. I will have beaten her by 11 years when my book publishes next April.

Additional info about me:
Before retiring as a fifth-grade teacher, I began the Holocaust Stamps Project, an idea inspired by my class. An interactive educational initiative, it was completed by kindergarten through
grade twelve students from 2009-2018, during which time students and countless community members collected, trimmed, and counted 11 MILLION postage stamps, one for every Holocaust victim (6 million Jewish, 5 million others considered inferior by the Third Reich). I regularly returned to the school to work on the project with the students, assisting with design and completion of eighteen 18 x24 inch collage artworks, made from thousands of the stamps, each telling stories about causes and effects of the Holocaust. Today the stamps collection and artworks form the ce nterpiece of a permanent public museum exhibit,
“A Philatelic Memorial of the Holocaust” at the American Philatelic Center in Bellefonte PA.
For my work on the Holocaust Stamps Project, I was presented with the 2017 Leadership in Holocaust Education Award at Fanueil Hall in Boston.

My poetry for children appears in a half dozen anthologies.
Social media links:
Website: www.charlottesheer.com
IG: @charlotte_sheer
FB: https://www.facebook.com/CharlotteSheer.Writer
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlottesheer
#applesandhoneypress
#behrmanhouse
Pre-orders
Bookshop.org https://bookshop.org/p/books/what-i-ll-carry-a-novel-in-verse/3313d1a9bd78bc75?ean=9781681157337

Dear friends…I know we are all grateful to Charlotte for generously sharing so much about herself and how her book came to be…and most importantly, how she never gave up. Remember the 5Ps…perseverance is one of the most important elements on the path to publication. And I think Charlotte has me beat when it comes to age when first traditionally published book launched…I was 72 when Sweet Dreams, Sarah and Pippa’s Passover Plate and Four Otters Toboggan debuted.

Let’s do what we can to help make WHAT I’LL CARRY a success. We can:
Buy the book
Review the book
Tell friends about the book (please share this post on social media)
Ask your local library to purchase copies for their shelves
Add the title to your Goodreads WANT TO READ shelf

Thank you for spending your precious time with us. I hope you all have a wonderful week!

WHAT I’LL CARRY

Cover Reveal: NO FEATHERS IN YOUR HATS!

Posted on October 5, 2026 by viviankirkfield

The publishing industry is more challenging than ever…which makes posts like this all the more special! So, when author Lynn Street reached out to let me know that NO FEATHERS IN YOUR HATS! was going to be a real book, I knew I’d want to help her celebrate. This is a fabulous story…and just look at the AWEOME cover with art by the wonderful Anne Lambelet.

I know you will all love this story of how Florence Merriam Bailey saved millions of birds! And because author Street is so gracious, she stopped in to chat about the story behind the story.

ME: Welcome, Lynn! Thank you so much for visiting with us at Picture Books Help Kids Soar. Please share a little about the story…and the story behind the story.

LYNN: It’s a pleasure to be here, Vivian! And thank you for helping me celebrate the cover…I love Anne’s art so much!
Title: No Feathers in Your Hats!: How Florence Merriam Bailey Saved Millions of Birds
Author: Lynn Street
Illustrator: Anne Lambelet
Release Date: February 23, 2027

ME: What is the book about?

LYNN: This nonfiction picture book biography spotlights self-taught ornithologist Florence Merriam Bailey, who wrote the first US birdwatching guide in 1889 to help fight feathered fashions. She wanted to introduce the public to the beauty of observing birds in nature—instead of on women’s hats!

In the late 1800s, the study of birds was not considered a subject for girls. But Florence loved her feathered friends and thrived on watching their behavior in the woods and meadows around her family’s New York farm.

As a student at Smith College in Massachusetts, Florence encountered birds adorning ladies’ hats! She was alarmed to learn this fashion trend harmed up to five million birds a year. Florence urged her classmates to boycott feathered hats, and she introduced them to the beauty of living birds by leading nature walks. If her classmates met bobolinks and bluebirds up close, surely they would be eager to protect them!

But Florence’s passion propelled her to do more. After college, she decided to publish a guide to seventy common US birds—Birds Through an Opera-Glass. A remarkable achievement for a 26-year-old—at a time when ornithology was not open to women!

Through her advocacy, Florence brought the wonder of observing birds to everyone. Her efforts marked the beginnings of birdwatching, now enjoyed by 96 million people in the US.

And Florence’s revolutionary idea to observe birds in nature with opera or field glasses helped to advance a nationwide conservation movement to protect these winged wonders.

Illustrator Anne Lambelet did an incredible job with her true-to-life depictions of the birds and Victorian fashions in this book. Anne did a tremendous amount of image research, and I studied historical archives and visited Smith College to see Florence’s campus for myself.

I recently found out that No Feathers in Your Hats!: How Florence Merriam Bailey Saved Millions of Birds is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. I’m looking forward to libraries having this title on their shelves for curious readers to explore!

ME: What inspired you to write this?

LYNN:
I discovered Florence Merriam Bailey in a news article. Even though I find birds fascinating, I had not heard about her pivotal role in fighting fashion trends by authoring the first US birdwatching guide. I did not know she helped establish some of the earliest Audubon Societies at Smith College and in Washington, D.C. Florence devoted her life to championing birds, writing many articles and books about them. I particularly admired her ability to combine writing and science in a way that everyone could understand.

I hope that readers will be as excited as I was to learn more about Florence, and to try some of her timeless birdwatching tips listed in No Feathers in Your Hats! Of the 70 bird species included in Florence’s guide, readers can spot 30 in the pages of this picture book!

ME: WOW! Thank you so much, Lynn. Students and teachers are going to ‘flock’ to bookstores to grab a copy when it launches in February!
And now, dear friends, here is information that will help you learn more about author Lynn and illustrator Anne…please links to connect with them and purchase the book!

Social media links
Website – lynnstreetbooks.com
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/lynnstreetbooks/
Bluesky – https://bsky.app/profile/lynnstreetbooks.bsky.social
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/lynn.street.1466

Lynn Street Author bio

Lynn Street is a science-inspired author sharing lively, lyrical STEM stories with young readers. She loves concepts that cross disciplines, and personal narratives set against a sea of facts. Her passion is writing for curious observers who want to discover the wonders of their world.

Lynn’s writing celebrates nature and invites readers to slow down and explore. Lynn is dedicated to environmental education and integrating art, science, writing, and nature for kids. Lynn holds an MFA in creative writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts.

Her previous nonfiction picture book, The Blue Jays That Grew a Forest, received strong recognition, honored as an ALA/ALSC Notable Book, a NSTA/CBC Outstanding Science Trade Book, and a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection.

Anne Lambelet (illustrator)

ANNE LAMBELET has been writing and illustrating children’s books since before she can remember. She has published ten picture books, and two graphic novels. She is also the author-illustrator of Beatrix and Her Friends, a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. A native of Iowa, she now lives in Philadelphia with her husband and two sons. She especially loves drawing birds, and this picture book has given her that opportunity in abundance.

Pre-order links to the online bookshops
Little Shop of Stories
My book link: https://littleshopofstories.com/book/9781682636930

Bookshop.org
My book link: https://bookshop.org/p/books/no-feathers-in-your-hats-how-florence-merriam-bailey-saved-millions-of-birds-lynn-street/8f66aca48b13bc38?ean=9781682636930&bkshp-astro=t

Amazon
My book link: https://tinyurl.com/yeyewntz

B&N
My book link:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/no-feathers-in-your-hats-lynn-street/1150247441?ean=9781682636930

Thank you for spending your precious time with us, dear friends. I am back from my trip to Greece…it was fabulous…and I’ll try to do a post in a few days to share some of the photos for those who aren’t on Facebook. But meanwhile, I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Cover Reveal: CAUGHT ON CAMERA

Posted on August 28, 2026 by viviankirkfield

Hello dear friends! Are you ready for something different? I hope so!

Usually, I’m shouting out about picture books, whether with an exciting cover reveal, a celebratory book birthday, or a Perfect Picture Book Friday. But today, for your dining and dancing pleasure, we are getting a FIRST DAY peek at the cover of a Middle Grade novel!

Yes! When long time participant of #50PreciousWords (and multiple time winner’s circle recipient) Melissa Miles reached out to let me know that her debut MG novel will be launching next year, I knew I’d want to share the good news with all of you. And what better way than for you to get that FIRST DAY peek at the cover.

WOW! The cover immediately grabs my attention…and I want to know what is going on…and how these two kids are involved. I feel connected with their adventure already and I am driven to find out more…and that’s exactly what a great cover sets out to do.

Melissa kindly stopped by to tell us a little bit about the book.
ME: Welcome, Melissa. Thanks for stopping by. Will you tell us a little bit about the book?

MELISSA: Thanks so much for having me and for helping celebrate the cover of my debut novel.
Here’s a little about the book:

A high-stakes Hitchcockian cat-and-mouse action adventure thriller perfect for 8-12-year-olds about a neurodivergent young podcaster pushed on the run after spotting a supposedly dead senator on a Times Square livestream.

After a summer of non-stop news footage of Senator Jefferson Morgan’s suspicious death just days before his testimony against the global crime ring, Double Helix, Dominic does not expect to spot him in live webcam footage of NYT Square
looking very … alive!

Dominic knows he saw him, but he can’t convince anyone to believe him.
Desperate to prove he’s right and to bring Senator Morgan to justice, Dominic creates a podcast to share his conclusions about Morgan’s identity. It goes viral in away he never imagined. Can Dominic uncover the real story behind Senator
Morgan’s fake death, evade underworld operatives, stay one step ahead of a (potentially!) untrustworthy rogue federal agent, handle new social ticks and anxieties brought on by his sudden fame AND navigate the pitfalls of middle social hierarchy . . . without losing sight of the things that make him, well, him?

This new middle grade adventure from Georgia-based teacher Melissa Miles shows the power of seeing and thinking differently from the status quo, and how being brave enough to embrace what makes you unique has the power to change the course of millions of lives.

ME: Well, Melissa, after that brief and exciting pitch, I totally can’t wait to read it! But it will definitely be hard to wait until April 27, 2027 when the book flies into bookstores.