Happy Summer, friends! It’s time for another summer of Teachers Write, our free, online summer writing camp especially for teachers & librarians. If you haven’t already registered, you can sign up here. Once that’s done, just pull up an Adirondack chair and join us with your notebook or laptop! Teachers Write begins on July 10th.

Whether you’re a long-time camper or brand new this year, I’m so glad you’re here. Just like always, you’ll get mini-lessons and writing prompts delivered right to your in-box. This year, we’re going to focus on poetry and play!

While Teachers Write is designed especially for teachers and librarians, anyone is welcome to follow along with our weekly writing prompts, mini-lessons, and challenges. You can participate as much or as little as you’d like. The goal is to get writing in a fun, low-pressure atmosphere and to have fun. Teachers and librarians who write for themselves are stronger mentors and more empathetic facilitators for student writers, too.

This summer, some amazing mentor poets will be joining us, and they’re just as excited to write with you as I am. Watch for an announcement soon!

Teachers Write 2023 will begin on July 10 and wrap up on August 4, with each week’s writing prompts and lessons delivered to your email inbox on Monday morning (and look for some midweek bonus posts this summer, too!). Educator-writer Jen Vincent will also host weekly check-in posts on her blog, where those who wish can continue the conversation online, sharing reflections, writing, and feedback.

Don’t forget – this is a no-pressure, participate-on-your-own-terms summer, so feel free to sign up, even if you think you might only try one or two prompts, or if you’d just like to watch from the sidelines. However you choose to participate, I think you’ll come out of this season of writing feeling more confident about writing poetry and excited about your toolbox of new ideas to try with student writers, too. But most of all, I hope that writing in community with us brings you joy, which is so essential in our teaching and writing lives.

Join us, won’t you? You can sign up for Teachers Write 2023 here, and then look for an email from me in your in-box on Monday, July 10th!

Happy World Read Aloud Day, friends!

To celebrate, I’m sharing a sneak preview of FERGUS AND ZEKE FOR PRESIDENT! This read-aloud video of the first chapter will be available throughout February (so you can bookmark it to share on Presidents Day, too!)

FERGUS AND ZEKE FOR PRESIDENT comes out on May 23 from Candlewick Press and is available for pre-order now! Signed copies may be pre-ordered from my local independent bookseller, The Bookstore Plus in Lake Placid, NY. Pre-order here and just leave a note in the comments about how you’d like it signed!

And if you don’t want to wait, the other great books in the FERGUS AND ZEKE series are available right now. That includes FERGUS AND ZEKE AND THE 100TH DAY OF SCHOOL

Happy World Read Aloud Day! I hope your day is full of amazing stories!

My first book tour in over three years is coming up early next month! Grace Lin and I are hitting the road to share our magical new picture book ONCE UPON A BOOK, and we’d love to see you along the way!

If you buy a book at one of our events, you’ll also get this cute enamel pin as a thank you, while supplies last. Can’t make it in person? No worries! If you pre-order from Porter Square Books, we’ll sign your copy when we’re there on February 7th, and they’ll include a pin when they ship out your book!

Here are the links to sign up for our in-person events, along with pre-order links so you can reserve your book and your pin.

Tuesday, February 7th – 7pm : Porter Square Books, Cambridge MA. Get your free ticket for the event HERE!  (and if you can’t make it in person, just pre-order the book from Porter Square and you’ll still get the special pin!)  

Wednesday, February 8th – 6pm: Books of Wonder, New York, NY. Get your free ticket for our NYC event HERE!

Thursday, February 9th – 6pm: Mrs. Dalloway’s Bookstore, Berkeley, CA. Get your free ticket HERE!

Hope to celebrate stories with you soon!

It’s December 1st, and that means the internet is aswirl with Best Books of the Year lists. Everyone from PW to NSTA to your favorite book blogger is sharing their favorite titles of the year. It’s a wonderful way to discover new titles and build up your to-read list, but the truth is, this can also be a tough time of year for authors and illustrators, especially those who are new to publishing. So please consider this post a virtual hug, from me to you.

As someone who’s published more than fifty books for young readers, from picture books to chapter book adventures to novels and nonfiction, I know how you feel. Sometimes, my books are on those amazing lists, and that’s exciting. Sometimes, they’re not, and that can be disappointing. But every day, as people who create books for kids, we should remember why we write. A while back, I wrote a poem about that….

What Happened to Your Book Today
by Kate Messner (Copyright 2011)

Somewhere, a child laughed
on that page where you made a joke.
Somewhere, she wiped away a tear,
Just when you thought she might.

Somewhere, your book was passed
from one hand to another in a hallway
busy with clanging lockers,
with whispered words,
“You have got to read this.”
And a scribbled note:
OMG – SO good
Give it back when ur done.

It’s looking a little more love-worn lately,
rougher around the edges than it did on release day.
There are dog eared pages and Gatorade stains.
Someone smeared maple syrup on the cover
because she read all through breakfast.
Pages 125 and 126 are stuck fast with peanut butter
Because Chapter 10 was even more delicious
than lunch.

Somewhere, tiny hands held up your book
And a little voice begged, “Again!”
Somewhere, the answer came,
A grown-up sigh…and a smile…
And the fourteenth read-aloud of the morning.
That same book. Again.
Your book.

Somewhere, a kid who has never read a whole book on his own
(Really. Not even one.)
picked up yours and turned a page.
And then another.
And then one more.
And it was pretty cool, turns out.
He brought it back – huge smile on his face –
(and I mean huge)
And asked for another one.
And he read that, too.

Somewhere, a teenager who thought she was alone
Opened your pages and discovered she’s not.
And somewhere, somebody who thought about giving up
will keep on trying,
keep on hoping.

Because of that book you wrote.

Somewhere tonight – listen closely and you’ll hear–
A child will turn the last page of that book,
That book you wrote,
and sigh.
Can you hear it?
It’s the sound of a story being held close
Right before a young voice says,
“It feels like this was written just for me.”

And it was.

Are you ready for World Read Aloud Day? It’s an annual celebration of sharing stories from the amazing folks at LitWorld and Scholastic. This year’s World Read Aloud Day will be February 1, 2023!

If you’re new to this page, I’m Kate Messner, author of more than fifty books for kids, including these recent releases.

I’m also a former middle school teacher and a forever reader. Each winter, I help out with LitWorld’s World Read Aloud Day by pulling together a list of author & illustrator volunteers who would like to spend part of the day doing quick virtual read-aloud visits with classrooms around the world to share the joy of stories.

This year, because I have two new books coming out just after World Read Aloud Day, I’ll be offering two special virtual author visit opportunities!

ONCE UPON A BOOK, my picture book collaboration with Grace Lin, releases on February 7th. To celebrate, Grace and I are offering a virtual author visit from 1-2pm EST on January 31, the day before World Read Aloud Day! We’ll offer a read-aloud excerpt from Once Upon A Book, share the story behind this collaboration, and invite readers to use their own imaginations, writing in response to art! The session will wrap up with time for Q&A with classrooms. Best of all, it’s FREE with your pre-order of ONCE UPON A BOOK from the Eric Carle Museum Bookstore! After you order, you’ll be emailed link for the webinar on 1/31. Later, you’ll get a link to our video replay, which will be available for two weeks. You can learn more and pre-order your copy of ONCE UPON A BOOK here.

The fifth book in our acclaimed Fergus and Zeke easy reader series is also coming out just after World Read Aloud Day! FERGUS AND ZEKE FOR PRESIDENT is a playful celebration of America’s presidents that will also spark great discussions about what qualities make a leader. I’ll be sharing a first-chapter read-aloud right here on this page just before World Read Aloud Day. Add a bookmark now so you’ll remember to check back to share it with your readers! FERGUS AND ZEKE FOR PRESIDENT is available for pre-order now, so you can pick up your classroom or library copy to share later on.

And of course, there’s also an AMAZING list of authors and illustrators who have volunteered to Zoom into classrooms for World Read Aloud Day!

WORLD READ ALOUD DAY IS FEBRUARY 1, 2023!

The authors & illustrators listed have volunteered their time to read aloud to classrooms and libraries all over the world. These aren’t long, fancy presentations; a typical one might go like this:

• 1-2 minutes: Author introduces himself or herself and talks a little about his or her books.
• 3-5 minutes: Author reads aloud a short picture book, or a short excerpt from a chapter book/novel
• 5-10  minutes: Author answers a few questions from students about reading/writing
• 1-2 minutes: Author book-talks a couple books he or she loves (but didn’t write!) as recommendations for the kids

If you’re a teacher or librarian and you’d like to have an author Zoom with your classroom or library on World Read Aloud Day, here’s how to do it:

• Check out this list of volunteering authors and illustrators, and visit their websites to see which ones might be a good fit for your students. Note that this is a list of traditionally published book creators. This year, the wonderful Judy Campbell-Smith, author of AJ’S NEIGHBORHOOD, has also put together a list of self-published authors & illustrators offering WRAD visits. For both lists, you’ll want to check out the authors’ books ahead of time to make sure they’re a good fit for your readers.
• Contact the author directly by using the email provided or clicking on the link to his or her website and finding the contact form. Please be sure to provide the following information in your request:
  • Your name and what grade(s) you work with
  • Your city and time zone (this is important for scheduling!)
  • Possible times to connect on February 1st. Please note authors’ availability and time zones. Adjust accordingly if yours is different!
  • Your preferred platform (Zoom, Google Meet, etc.)
  • A phone number where you can be reached on that day in case of technical issues
• Please understand that authors are people, too, and have schedules and personal lives, just like you, so not all authors will be available at all times. It may take a few tries before you find someone whose books and schedule fit with yours!

If you’re a traditionally published author or illustrator who would like to be added to the list, you can fill out this form to sign up.  The wonderful Judy Campbell-Smith is also coordinating a list of self-published and ebook authors – if that’s you and you’d like to volunteer, please fill out her form here. Once your schedule is full, please send an email via my website contact form, and I’ll remove your name from the list. Please note that due to deadlines and other obligations, it may take up to a week for me to update.

“Rethinking Thanksgiving: History, Holidays, and Gratitude” is a virtual author visit with Kate Messner and Traci Sorell, whose books explore history and culture. It’s aimed at readers in grades 3-7 and invites students to take a critical look at the “First Thanksgiving” myth and consider multiple views on gratitude. The virtual author visit video runs about 45 minutes and will be available throughout the month of November.

Cost: Because so many educators have reached out to request this video and we know it’s a tough time for budgets, we’re making this virtual author visit available to everyone. If you can, please pay it forward by making a donation of any size to the We Need Diverse Books Native Fund or the Highlights Indigenous Storytellers Scholarship fund.

Be sure to check out Kate and Traci’s books featured in this visit – HISTORY SMASHERS: THE MAYFLOWER and OTSALIHELIGA: WE ARE GRATEFUL!

I’m celebrating a book birthday today! This picture book biography has been a long time coming – almost seven years – so I woke up with happy tears in my eyes, and a few sad ones, too. Here’s why…

ONLY THE BEST: THE EXCEPTIONAL LIFE AND FASHION OF ANN LOWE is co-authored by Margaret Powell, illustrated by Erin Robinson, and published by Chronicle Books, and it’s about one of the first African American fashion designers – a woman whose work was so amazing and sought-after that she designed Jackie Kennedy’s wedding dress (and never got credit for it at the time – the elaborate press write-ups of the wedding simply mentioned that “a colored dressmaker” had created Jackie’s gown.)

I’m so excited to introduce you to Ann’s work, and I’d also like to take a few minutes to introduce you to my friend and coauthor, Margaret Powell. Margaret passed away in early 2019, and oh my goodness, how I wish you could have met her. She was one of the smartest, loveliest people I’ve ever known, and she made it her life work to make sure people would know about Ann Lowe’s amazing talents.

It was Ann who led me to Margaret. I’d see one of Ann Lowe’s stunning gowns at the Smithsonian and made a note to look her up to learn more about her work. When I read about her history – how she’d learned to sew alongside her mother and her grandmother, an enslaved seamstress in Alabama, and how the fabric flowers she crafted from scraps as a child became a hallmark of her debutante gowns – I could immediately see her story as a picture book.

As a writer, when I have a “spark moment’ like this, the first question I ask myself is, “Is there enough information – and enough conflict and interest – here for a picture book?” As soon as I starting digging into the research, I realized that the answer to that question was a resounding yes.

The next question I ask is “Am I the best person to tell this story?” And that answer was, well, no – probably not. Ann’s life work was shaped by her history – by the talent that she inherited and honed through hard work, and by the racism that she encountered every step of the way. That’s not something I’ve experienced, and it’s not something I can write about with the same emotional depth as someone who has.

Often, when I come across a story idea like this, I’ll simply put it out to the writing community with a note – “Hey, friends! Check out this amazing person – I’m not the right person to tell this story, but maybe you are. Let me know if I can help!” And it’s great when an author who’s just the right voice for that story ends up finding it.

In this case, though, my research also led me to the person who was really meant to tell Ann’s story – Margaret. I’d come across this interview with her, in which her expertise and unbridled passion for Ann’s designs simply overflowed.

Margaret had already written her masters thesis on Ann’s work and was working on a museum exhibition of her gowns. When I reached out to her to ask about reading her Masters thesis, she shared that she was working on her own book about Ann’s life – one for adult readers.

I asked if she might want to also consider collaborating on a picture book biography for young readers – or if she’d like some help just writing it herself. We met up for brunch in New York City in December 2015 and spent two happy hours talking about Ann and gushing over her work. Margaret let me know that she’d like to work together on this book – she knew everything about Ann’s life and was excited to learn the craft and business of writing for kids.

That meeting launched months of back and forth emails and collaboration via Google docs. I had a very rough outline in mind, but Margaret had interviewed Ann’s granddaughter and understood that there were other pivotal moments in her journey that should be lifted up. We went back and forth with our editor Melissa Manlove, bringing out the poetry in the story and choosing just the right illustrator, the amazing Erin Robinson.

And while that was all happening, Margaret was diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer. She worked on our book and her adult title (which she’d sold to Simon & Schuster!) along with her museum exhibition, all through her treatments and found so much joy in that. Just a couple of months before she died, she sent me an email from DC, where she was visiting some of Ann’s gowns for her upcoming exhibition.

I so wish Margaret were here to celebrate this beautiful book with us today. This is her publishing debut, so I’m lighting a candle and taking some time to remember her this morning. I hope you’ll pick up a copy of the book and share Ann’s amazing story with some young readers. And please tell them about Margaret, too.

LitWorld’s amazing World Read Aloud Day is coming up on February 1, 2023! One of the fun traditions of this day of sharing stories is for authors and illustrators around the world to Zoom into classrooms & libraries for short read-alouds. For a while now, I’ve helped out by compiling a list of author and illustrator volunteers so teachers & librarians can connect with them to schedule virtual read-aloud sessions on that day.

Teachers & librarians: Please hold tight for right now… the list will be coming soon! Sign up for my email newsletter if you’d like to get the link in your in-box as soon as it’s ready!

Authors & Illustrators: Are you a traditionally published* author or illustrator who would like to be listed as a WRAD virtual read-aloud volunteer? Please read the information & follow the directions below…

WRAD VISITS AREN’T LONG OR FANCY PRESENTATIONS. USUALLY, THEY LAST 10-15 MINUTES AND GO SOMETHING LIKE THIS:

• 1-2 minutes: Author gives a quick introduction & talks a little about their books.
• 3-5 minutes: Author reads aloud a short picture book, or a short excerpt from a chapter book/novel
• 5-10 minutes: Author answers a few questions from students about reading/writing
• 1-2 minutes: Author book-talks a couple books they love (but didn’t write!) as recommendations for the kids

Interested in volunteering? If you’re a traditionally published author or illustrator, just fill out this form to sign up! 

*Why traditionally published? Honestly, it’s to limit the size and scope of this list because I’m one person with limited time. But this year, the wonderful Judy Campbell-Smith is coordinating a list of self-published authors & illustrators who are volunteering as well – check out her post to sign up!

Linda Urban’s first young adult novel TALK SANTA TO ME is out this week! It’s a hilarious and heartwarming romantic comedy about first kisses, family, and the true spirit of the holidays. This is an absolute delight of a book that I talked about in yesterday’s post and today, I’m sitting down with Linda to talk about the story behind this magical holiday novel. 

Linda and I chat online most mornings; we’re always going back and forth about books and the craft of writing them, and we’re approaching this conversation the same way. Feel free to pull up a chair and get yourself a latte or a cup of tea, and join us! I’ll start the way we typically greet one another…

Kate: Hello, friend! Are you ready to Talk Santa to Me? (Clearly, I’ve been waiting years to use that line.)

Linda: Excellent work, friend.

Yes, I went to santa school.  And to tell the absolute truth, I wasn’t entirely sure why I wanted to go.  I did think that maybe I’d get a picture book out of it – but I wasn’t sure.  Still, it was one of those things that strikes your interest and you just have to follow it.  So I filled out the application.  

Later, when I actually got in and felt like I needed to justify the trip to people around me, I started saying I thought it would be funny, and I started imagining what it would be like through a kind of David Sedaris, semi-cynical lens.  By the time I arrived, I had my mind made up about what I would find.

And then, the whole thing started with about 150 of us in a hotel conference room and we were asked to introduce ourselves.  Believe me, I had my notebook out, ready to record proof for my expectations, and then the first man stood up and told everyone his name and how many years he had been coming to the school.  And then he told us how he had become a santa because his brother had been one.  And when his brother died and he had to clean out his closet, there was the suit, hanging there, and he knew he had to keep doing the work that his brother had in honor of his memory.

Dang.

Well.  Maybe the next one would be more Sedaris-like, I thought.

But it wasn’t.  None of the stories were like that.  There were people who volunteered at children’s hospitals, who fill December with visits to foster homes, who learn sign language so they can connect with deaf families, who specialize in working with refugees and kids in crisis.  

Kate, these were not a bunch of cynics looking to make a few extra holiday bucks.  These were deep-hearted, dedicated, child-centered people who wanted, more than anything, to give children a few moments of love and attention and hope.  The way they talked about their work, and about kids, reminded me of the way we talk about the work we do for kids. 

Kate: Yes! I remember you telling me about this when you got home, and I remember thinking, “Well, there goes Linda’s snarky book idea…” But honestly, the stories you brought home made me tear up.

Linda: Which is not to say that it wasn’t sometimes funny, too.  The santas were great storytellers and they love their themed clothing and punny t-shirts. And, yeah, it was a hoot to watch them tint their eyebrows white and try on fake bellies and discuss the merits of yak hair beards. The santa school president had us all over to his home for an evening of songs and cookies and the over-the-top holiday decor made me chuckle, too.  These people even had real live reindeer in the yard, in the same way that some folks have sheep or ponies.  (It was pretty great, I have to say.)

They also had daughters in their late teens and twenties who helped out with things and while those girls seemed quite happy, I couldn’t help but imagine what it was like for them when they were a few years younger.  What would it be like to have friends over and have to excuse yourself to feed the reindeer?  To have a dad who was the town Santa?  

When I got back from santa school I did write a picture book about it.  It was a good picture book, too, I think – and a few publishers liked it very much, but there was no way they would publish a book which in any way might cast doubt on the idea of a one true Santa.

Kate: I remember that picture book manuscript! Part of me understands the response (kinda) but the rest of me remains upset that I’m the only person who got to read it. It was such a breath of fresh air, and we don’t really have that kind of wonderful holiday nonfiction. But nevertheless, I was delighted when you used that research in an entirely different way. But it took some time for that to happen, right? 

Linda: It wasn’t until a few years later that I got the notion to write something about a Santa school that would appeal to older readers – but I knew that my middle grade readers were sometimes as young as nine, which might pose the same problem.  Thankfully, the voice of Frankincense Wood – Francie – arrived on the scene and as soon as she started talking it was clear that this was the story of a fifteen year old.

Kate: I will honestly never forget the first time I got to read that opening page. Francie’s voice is pitch-perfect and so wonderfully funny. I love her so much.

You can pick up your copy of TALK SANTA TO ME at your local independent bookstore. Or order a signed copy from Linda’s local store Bear Pond Books. 

When an author whose work I love branches out into a new genre or age group, I always have two immediate thoughts. Make that three. 

Thought #1 – OMG YAY!!!! 

Thought #2 – But I love (author’s) books SO much…. What if this new project is different? What if I don’t love it? Gah! 

Thought #3 – Still…yay!!!! (and at this point, I start counting down the days to book release)

Lately, I’ve experienced a lot of yay moments with authors-I-love-writing-something-new, so my worries have been for naught. 

I loved Justina Ireland’s YA novel DREAD NATION so much that I will admit I worried a little about reading her MG debut, OPHIE’S GHOSTS. What if I didn’t love it as much? Spoiler: I loved it even more. OPHIE’S GHOSTS was every bit as amazing for its age group – a pitch-perfect middle grade ghost story that’s also steeped in history and social justice. Yay!! 

And Sara Zarr has long been one of my favorite YA authors, so I had all those same mixed feelings when I learned that her first MG novel was coming out this year. Could A SONG CALLED HOME possibly be as wonderful as SWEETHEARTS and THE LUCY VARIATIONS and ONCE WAS LOST? 

Well, yes. A SONG CALLED HOME was just as great. This heartfelt and honest story about a girl finding her way through family changes made me laugh and cry in all the best ways, and I can’t wait to read more middle grade from Sara. Once again…yay!

So that brings me to the next story of an author branching out. You probably know Linda Urban for her pitch-perfect middle grade voice. Like me, you probably laughed along with Zoe in A CROOKED KIND OF PERFECT and felt so much empathy for the painfully shy Maddie in HOUND DOG TRUE. Linda’s latest MG novel, ALMOST THERE AND ALMOST NOT, might be my favorite of her middle grade novels. It’s about a girl who’s sent to live with her aunt, only to find that the ghost of another aunt is living there, too – and so is a very cute ghost dog. This tender, funny novel broke my heart and put it back together again. Have Kleenex ready when you read it. 

Linda isn’t just an author whose writing I admire. She’s also a beloved friend. So when she told me some time ago that she was trying something new and writing a young adult novel, I said “Yay!!” and told her to go for it. But a tiny part of me worried I might not love it quite as much – because after all, I love Linda’s MG novels a whole lot. 

I didn’t have to wait for this book to come out to know there was nothing to worry about. As soon as Linda shared the opening pages of TALK SANTA TO ME, I was hooked, laughing out loud, smitten with the main character, and dying to read more.

Linda wrote and rewrote and revised and revised this book again and again, over several years. Every scene she shared with me made me wonder how someone with a perfect MG voice could have such a perfect YA voice in her pocket, too. Thankfully, you’ll be able to read this new book soon, and I promise – you don’t have to worry. You’ll love it just as much as Linda’s middle grade novels. 

TALK SANTA TO ME is out today! Here’s what it’s about: 

(from the publisher) 

A teen girl gets the perfect second try at a first kiss in this hilarious, romp-filled young adult romantic comedy perfect for fans of Jenna Evans Welch and Hallmark Christmas movies.

Francie was born in a stable. Really. Granted, it was the deluxe model with the light-up star on the roof, one of the many Christmas items for sale at her family’s Hollydale Holiday Shop. Their holiday gift empire also includes the Santa School, which was founded by Francie’s beloved grandpa, who recently passed away.

Francie’s always loved working in the shop, but lately Aunt Carole has been changing everything with her ideas for too-slick, Hollywood-inspired Santas and horrible holiday-themed employee uniforms. Aunt Carole’s vision will ruin all the charm and nostalgia Francie loves about her family’s business…unless she does something about it.

But this winter is about more than preserving the magic of Christmas. Francie is saving up for a car and angling to kiss the cute boy who works at the tree lot next door—hopefully it will be good enough to wipe her fiasco of a first kiss from her memory.

As the weather outside gets more and more frightful, can Francie pull off the holiday of her dreams?

Ever since I read an early draft of this book, I’ve been asking Linda, “How did you DO that?” It’s what I wish I could ask every writer whose book I love. I want all the nitty gritty craft details, and this time, I was lucky enough to sit down with Linda to talk about her writing process. Our interview will be posted tomorrow, so be sure to check back then.

In the mean time, you should probably go pick up your copy of TALK SANTA TO ME from your local independent bookstore. Or you can order a signed copy from Linda’s local store Bear Pond Books. Or request it from your library. Or all of the above! And don’t forget to stop back tomorrow for our interview.