If new books are like babies, maybe cover reveals are like ultrasounds. What do you think, my friends?

The lovely Sandra Nickel has a new picture book in the pipeline, due to launch in September 2022 – and I’m HONORED to be sharing the awesome cover of BIG BEAR AND LITTLE FISH, illustrated by Il Sung Na and published by Carolrhoda Books.

OH MY GOSH! I LOVE THIS COVER! I am right there with big bear…and definitely right there with little fish. And I’m wondering, what is going to happen? And aren’t those the feelings a great picture book cover is supposed to elicit?

Here’s a little bit about the book:
Bear Loves Being Big!
At the carnival, she wants to win the biggest teddy bear of all. But instead she wins a fish. A very little fish. Bear and Fish can’t possibly have anything in common, can they?
Although Fish might look small, she proves to be bigger than Bear ever thought she could be, and Bear learns that sometimes even a big bear can be small in the big, wide world. Gentle, accessible prose by Sandra Nickel is paired with richly textured illustrations by Il Sung Na in this sweet story of an unexpected friendship. 

And here’s a little bit about the author:
Sandra Nickel is the author of picture book biographies about the inventor of nachos (Nacho’s Nachos), the discoverer of dark matter (The Stuff Between the Stars), and the first woman meteorologist (Breaking Through the Clouds). She is the winner of a Christopher Award, a Finalist for the Golden Kite Award, and holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. You can keep up to date with Sandra at:
https://sandranickel.com/https://twitter.com/senickelhttps://www.facebook.com/sandranickelbooks
https://www.instagram.com/sandranickelbooks/

And here’s a little bit about the illustrator:
Il Sung Na was born in Seoul, South Korea. He writes and illustrates picture books including A Book of Sleep and That’s My Carrot!, and he also illustrates the work of other authors, such as My Tree by Hope Lim. Currently based in Kansas City, Il Sung spends his time teaching illustration and working on new books. You can keep up to date with Il Sung at:
http://www.ilsungna.com/
https://www.instagram.com/ilsungna/

And I thought, since BIG BEAR AND LITTLE FISH is about a bear (and a fish), you might be interested to know that today is a special day for bears.
Oh yes...it’s National Winnie the Pooh Day.
You mean you didn’t know it was National Winnie the Pooh Day?
Hahaha…neither did I. But I love that there is a day to celebrate the birthday of the author who created the Winnie the Pooh series, A.A. Milne.
If you and your children love bears, why not check out one of the Winnie the Pooh classics. Here’s a audio version of the original classic (narrated by Christopher Plummer) available for free on YouTube: https://youtu.be/OdYMhVlhqA0
And here’s a read-aloud of Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (narrated by Maurice Evans) https://youtu.be/wij7zg0MV-w

And if you’d like to Pre-Order a copy of Sandra Nickel’s upcoming book, BIG BEAR AND LITTLE FISH, here is a link from Bookstop.org: https://bookshop.org/a/14501/9781728417172

I hope you all have a wonderful week…please stop back for Perfect Picture Book Friday when we’ll be featuring PLANTING FRIENDSHIPS by Melissa Stoller, Shirin Shami, and Callie Metler Smith. And skip back on Saturday when we’ll be turning the Will Write for Cookies spotlight on author Maxine Schur and illustrator Milanka Reardon and their new book, CHILD BY THE SEA.