Category Archives: Cover Reveal

Cover Reveal: VERA LA VALIENTE IS SCARED Plus Critique Giveaway

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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.

Cover Reveal: SARANG SAVES THE SCHOOL

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15

Hurray!!! It’s time to take a peek at an upcoming book written by one of my Storm Literary Agency sisters, Korena Di Roma Howley and illustrated by Joowon Oh and published by Candlewick. It’s quite a special book…with an engaging cover that you are going to see in 3…2…1…

Congratulations, Korena and Joowan!!
And we are so lucky because Korena stopped by to share a bit of the story behind the story – and we also have pre-order links…yippee!

ME: Welcome, Korena!! Thank you so much for stopping by! Can you tell us where the idea for the story came from?

KORENA: Thank you so much, Vivian. It’s wonderful to be here and to see the cover and know that the book will be arriving in bookstores on July 8th!
Here’s why I wrote this story:
In 2019, I read a news article about South Korean grandmothers who had enrolled in school for the first time. I was incredibly moved by their story, and when I began to write picture books the following year, it quickly came back to mind. My fictionalized telling went through many iterations, but the bond at its heart—between a granddaughter and grandmother who each discover that change can be made at any age—remained the same. The name Sarang means “love” in Korean, and I chose it for my young character because, when all is said and done, love is indeed what saves her schooI.

ME: Oh, I love that, Korena! So many children are going to relate to this story.

And, dear friends, we all have a part in helping new books get into the hands of the children who need to hear these stories.
We can:
Buy the book
Review the book
Put it on your Goodreads WANT TO READ SHELF
Tell friends about the book (please share this post on your social media)
Ask your local library to purchase copies for their collection

And here’s a little bit about Korena and some links to follow so you can connect with her:
Korena Di Roma Howley grew up in Asia and the U.S. and always had plenty of books in tow while traveling around the Pacific. A freelance journalist and editor, Korena primarily reports on science news and education for multiple outlets. Her second picture book, A Hanbok for Hana, also with Candlewick and illustrated by Jaime Kim, will be published in 2026. She lives in Virginia with her husband and son.
Website
www.korenahowley.com
Instagram and Twitter
@korenahowley
BlueSky
@korena.bsky.social

Preferred sales pre-order links:
The Fallen Acorn Bookshop
Bookshop.org
Barnes & Noble
Amazon

And here’s a little bit about the book from the Amazon sales page:
Inspired by true events in South Korea, this tender and tenacious tale of female empowerment—at any age—proves that it’s never too late to fulfill a dream.

At a seaside school in a sunny fishing village, Sarang and her classmates are surrounded by empty desks. More and more families have been moving away, and, with so few students, their rural school may be forced to close. Their village may be getting smaller, but it’s still home—a place filled with love and memories. So Sarang hatches a plan. If the school needs more students to keep its doors open, why not offer local grandmothers, including her own beloved Halmeoni, the education they were denied as girls? Can Sarang and the other students and villagers convince the reluctant grandmothers to join forces and embark on their educational journey together? Set in contemporary South Korea and inspired by real events, Sarang Saves the School is a fresh and timely take on the power of intergenerational bonds and a charming testament to taking action for causes you believe in.

I hope you all have a wonderful week, dear friends! Our next post will be on Saturday, February 1st…and it will the HEADS-UP-THE-#50PreciousWords International Writing Contest-IS-COMING-SOON post! Yes, it’s almost time for #50PreciousWords!!! Are you ready? There are over 60 amazing prizes! And 8 amazing judges ready to read your stories! If you don’t already follow my blog, please click on the ‘follow my blog’ icon on the right sidebar. I’m actually updating my website a little, so if things look a bit strange or different, please don’t worry. It’s business as usual with #50PreciousWords!

Cover Reveal: DIVYA FAR FROM HOME

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9

Every summer when I was a kid, my favorite thing to do was go to the library and take out a stack of books and sit in the backyard or on the stoop (what’s a stoop, you ask? If you grew up in NYC, you’d know. It’s the front steps to a house) and read, read, read. One chapter book after another. All of Louisa May Alcott’s stories. And Nancy Drew. And the Hardy Boys. And Walter Farley’s Black Stallion series. I was a lover of chapter books. And I know that if Sita Jit’s upcoming DIVYA FAR FROM HOME had been available, that would have been in my stack, too. That’s why, when Sita told me about her new book, I knew I’d want to share it with all of you.
GET READY! GET SET! COVER REVEAL!!!

Oh yes…I love this cover…and I can really identify with it…girl with notebook and pencil, wearing glasses…that was ME as a kid…and I’m sure lots of young readers will feel the same way.

Here’s a little bit about the book from the Amazon sales page:
Nine-year-old Divya’s life is turned upside down when her family moves from Delhi, India, to a new city halfway across the world. Divya goes from living as an only child with her own quiet bedroom to sharing a room with her cousin in a crowded home with extended family. Plus, everything is different at her new school too. Everyone keeps saying change is good–but not if you didn’t want to leave home in the first place!

WOW! And now I’m feeling even more connected to the main character in this book. When I turned 10, my family moved from Manhattan to Brooklyn. But that’s only a distance of a few miles and they are both boroughs of New York City, you might say. True. But WORLDS apart in flavor. Living in the projects and going to school on the Lower East Side was like Baskin Robbins ice cream…remember the 31 flavors tagline (now there are over 1400!). And living in the Midwood section of Brooklyn and attending school there was like…vanilla.

But there is nothing vanilla about Sita’s fabulous book…and here’s a bit about how the book came to be:

ME: Welcome, Sita! Congratulations on your upcoming book We are so excited. Thank you so much for stopping by to share a little about the story behind the story.

SITA: A few years ago, my eldest son became interested in chapter books.  We spent a lot of time at the library and book stores looking for the next series for our bedtime read aloud. I found myself enjoying chapter books as much as he did and it was then that I began plotting out my first book and to my surprise, it came to me fairly quickly.  I was really inspired to write a story about a family like mine.  Similar to Divya, I lived in an Indian first-generation multi-family home that was always busy and full of love. My parents also made sure we were close to our extended family in India who we would visit every few years.  Looking back, I really cherish these memories with my family, extended family and cousins who lived both near and far and thank them for inspiring this story.

ME: I love books that are based on the author’s own experiences!
And here’s a bit about Sita and the illustrator, Abhilasha Khatri , and their contact information so that you can connect with them and find out more about their books.

Sita Jit is a children’s book author and elementary school teacher. Just like Divya, she grew up close with her extended family in Canada and India. In her free time, Sita loves to read, listen to music, and play board games. She lives in Ontario with her husband and three children.

Abhilasha Khatri is a children’s book illustrator based in India. She transitioned into the whimsical world of children’s books after working as an architect for over a decade. She loves to work on multicultural, inclusive, and diverse children’s books. In her free time, Abhilasha loves gardening, traveling, DIY, cooking and baking, and playing with her daughter and her cats.

Social Media Links:
Sita:
Instagram: @sitajit
Website: www.storiesbysita.ca
X: @storiesbysita

Abhilasha:
Website: www.abhilashakhatri.com
Instagram: @abhilashakhatri0603

The book launches from Stone Arch Books on August 1, 2024
Pre-order links:
Barnes & Noble
Amazon

And I love that Sita provides us with a handy pronunciation guide for her name:
Sita Jit   (hear name)

Please help upcoming books like this one become a success. We can:
Preorder it – see links above
Review it – same links as for preorder
Put it on your Goodreads WANT TO READ SHELF
Tell friends about it (please share on your social media)
Ask your local library to purchase copies for their collection

Thank you so much, dear friends, for spending your precious time with us.
I hope you all have a wonderful week – and please come back for Perfect Picture Book Friday!