Category Archives: Cover Reveal

Cover Reveal: GRACE LEE BOGGS: GARDENS OF HOPE Plus Giveaway

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When we look around the world, we see lots of sadness and pain. But when we look around the world of picture books, we see…
HOPE!!!

Yesterday we celebrated the book birthday for A FLICKER OF HOPE, written by Cynthia Harmony. And today, we are revealing the beautiful cover of GRACE LEE BOGGS: GARDENS OF HOPE, written by Songju Ma Daemicke and illustrated by Lin.

What do I see in this vibrant cover? Child agency! Diversity! Intergenerational interaction! Healthy plants growing! The hope and promise of the future!

Here’s a little bit about the book from the Amazon sales page:
Grace Lee Boggs brought gardens to inner cities and planted seeds of hope and activism in the minds of young people.

When Grace Lee Boggs was eight years old, her teacher gave her a copy of The Secret Garden. As a Chinese-American who had experienced prejudice, Grace wanted to grow a garden of her own that would help people heal from the injustice in society. Grace dedicated her life to fighting for civil, environmental, labor, and women’s rights. In 1992, she and her husband founded Detroit Summer, a multicultural and intergenerational youth program that inspired kids to become leaders in their community. Together with these “solutionaries,” Grace finally created the garden she dreamed about, one that continues to inspire people to make the world a better place for everyone.

I’m so happy that Songju stopped by to chat with us and share why she wrote this story::

SONGJU: In the summer of 2020, I first read the name Grace Lee Boggs from the author’s notes of a children’s book, Leave It to Abigail!: The Revolutionary Life of Abigail Adams,  by Barb Rosenstock. Grace Lee Boggs was the only Chinese American mentioned. I looked her up on the internet and was immediately drawn to her. Grace, a thinker, philosopher, and a tireless social activist, went beyond class and racial boundaries, devoting her life to fight for equality. She planted many seeds for change throughout her life. These seeds continue to sprout today, growing the world into a more just place. It’s my honor to tell her story and hopefully inspire young people to continue Grace’s legacy and her fight for a better world.

Here’s a little bit about Songju:
SONGJU MA DAEMICKE, a former software engineer with Motorola, is an award-winning Chinese-American children’s book author. Her book, Tu Youyou’s Discovery – Finding a Cure for Malaria, is a finalist for the 2023 SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books; Cao Chong Weighs an Elephant was a Best STEM book, among many other honors. Her first board book, Our World: China received a starred review from the School Library Journal. When she is not writing, she loves attending to her garden, hiking, and shooting her next special photograph. 
You can find out more about Songju here: www.songjumadaemicke.com
Twitter: @SongjuDaemicke
Instagram: @SongjuDaemicke
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/songju.daemicke

And here’s a little bit about the Illustrator:
Lin graduated from Hengyang Normal University with a degree in Environmental Art Design. She is an illustrator and painter working on children’s books, magazines, and other publications. She lives and works in Pingxiang City, China.

Dear friends, we can help important books like this one become a success. How will you help GRACE LEE BOGGS: GARDENS OF HOPE become a success?

You can add Grace Lee Boggs: Gardens of Hope to your Goodreads Want-To-Read list:  https://bit.ly/49wEnz4
You can Pre-order:
Bookshop:   https://bit.ly/3SNq5mm
Amazon:      https://bit.ly/3TcR7EZ
Barnes & Noble:  https://bit.ly/49s4S8M

Please make sure you leave a comment and share the post widely to be entered in the Giveaway:  One winner will receive a copy of Grace Lee Boggs: Gardens of Hope. U.S. address required for book mailing.

I hope you all have a wonderful rest of the week…we are counting down the days till #50PreciousWords!!! Are you ready???

Cover Reveal: A TEDDY BEAR FOR EMILY…And President Roosevelt, Too!

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Teddy Bears! I’ll bet just about all of us have had at least one. And today, children still hold them close to their hearts – in times of joy and in moments of sadness or fear. But how and when did these cuddly stuffed toys come about? Great question…and the answer lies in Nancy Churnin’s upcoming picture book, A TEDDY BEAR FOR EMILY…And President Roosevelt, Too! And TODAY we are revealing the cover and posting pre-order links.

Continue reading →

Cover Reveal: PERFECT MATCH

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Hurray for new books in the pipeline!!! And what a joy to be able to give a cover reveal shout-out to a book written by a long-time kid-lit friend, Lori Dubbin. Lori and I met at a conference back in 2015 – and I couldn’t be happier that I get a chance to help her celebrate.

Now, here’s a cover that’s filled with action – illustrator Amanda Quartey did such an amazing job that I’m ducking my head in case the ball comes my way! And her color palette is so vibrant…I love it!

Here’s a little bit about the book from the Amazon sales page:
When Althea Gibson first dreamed of joining the big American tennis leagues, she was denied because she was Black. Angela Buxton dreamed of joining the best tennis clubs in Britain, but she was rejected because she was Jewish. When Angela heard that Althea was coming to Britain to compete, she skipped school to see the match. If Althea didn’t let hatred stop her from playing the game she loved, Angela wouldn’t either. At the French Championships in 1956, Angela told Althea about her dream of winning Wimbledon with a doubles partner. To win as a team, they would have to stick to their strengths together. And they did.

We are fortunate that Lori stopped by to chat – I asked her how the story came to be:

LORI: Writing a picture book may appear to take only 500-900-ish words, but it takes thousands of words of revision along with patience, sweat, and tears to get a picture book to publication. I started writing Perfect Match in 2015 (it had a different title then) after I opened an old nonfiction book, Great Jews in Sports by Robert Slater, which had been a Bar Mitzvah gift to my oldest son. I landed on a page about a British tennis player, Angela Buxton. There was a picture of Angela in her tennis outfit and the text mentioned her doubles partner had been Althea Gibson. Right away, I wanted to know more about this duo. Sadly, I learned Althea and Angela were treated as outsiders by the elite tennis world of the 1950s because of their race and religion.
But these two women just wanted to play the game they loved. They became close friends and doubles partners, and together they defied the prejudices of the time with dedication, teamwork, and perseverance.

I so admired their perseverance and hard work, and learned – on a much different level – how I needed to persevere in communicating their story. The process of writing this manuscript took sixty-something revisions, five title changes, and eight more years to get to publication.

We all know the path is hard. There are rewarding days and days when that positive energy turns in the opposite direction. Staying connected to other writers and illustrators through 12×12 webinars, writers’ blogs, and my critique group helped me keep moving forward. I realize now I was improving as a writer and learning my craft, which allowed me not to worry about how many years were whooshing by me. Keep learning and keep at it – one day an agent or an editor will love the manuscript that is such a part of your heart.

I love the way the illustrator, Amanda Quartey, captured Althea and Angela’s highs and lows, their action on the tennis court, and their friendship on the page.

Althea and Angela’s story is relevant to what’s happening in the world today, and it feels like the right time for it to enter the world.

WOW! Thank you so much, Lori! Those are important insights…thank you so much for sharing them.

And dear readers, I’m going to share how we can help upcoming books like PERFECT MATCH become a perfect success:
We can buy it
We can review it
We can put it on our Goodreads WANT TO READ shelf
We can tell friends about it (share on social media, please)
We can ask our local library to purchase copies for their collection

I’ve already put it on my Goodreads Want To Read Shelf…and I’m sharing this post on my social media and will request my local library buy it.
How can you help?

I hope you all have a fabulous week! This past weekend was my birthday (77) and I’m so excited that the my Facebook Birthday Fundraiser for the Stuart Kirkfield Scholarship at Highlights is 79% funded! Woo-hoo! If you’d like to join in, please check it out – there are 3 more days and any amount of support is appreciated: https://www.facebook.com/donate/1108264050308830/1113485846453317