Good News!

Hey everyone!
I've been meaning to share some recent good news with everyone. Boats for Papa was given the Golden Kite Award for Best Picture Book Text for 2016! I'm so thrilled by such a great honor. This book means so much to me and to have it acknowledged by SCBWI is sooooo huge!

 

Thank you so much! I even get to put a big shiny gold sticker on my book!!! woo hoo

I will be accepting the award at this year's SCBWI Conference in L.A. alongside other amazing and talented peers in the picture book world. Ahhhhh!!!

And if that's not enough, just this past weekend my second picture book Before I Leave was reviewed in the New York Times Book Review! I'm having another one of those "am I dreaming?" sort of moments. To have received a review once was a lifetime achievement, but twice??? Uh-mazing.

Okay, glowing moment over. But I had to share it online so one day when I'm old and forgetful I can go onto my blog and get a reminder for this cool moment.

jx

It's 2016 ALREADY?!

Wowza wowza! Where did the time go? I feel like I just posted in my blog and it's already been over two months! So much has happened in my little corner of the world. The holidays were so much fun, a bit of a blur now, but I really did savor every second as much as possible. I was even fortunate enough to do a couple of interviews over the past couple of months. I was on the Podcast Storybook Spotlight hosted by Karen Santhanam.

It's sad to 2015 go because it was the best year of my life so far, but 2016 is already off to a great start!

In book world, there was much talk about Boats for Papa and the infamous Caldecott Medal, but alas, it was not meant to be. It was so exciting and flattering to be included in conversations with some of my favorite illustrators, it made me feel like a winner! I DID however get listed as one of the Notable Children's Books for 2016 by the ALA- such a HUGE honor!!!

I have to also make a special call out Sam Juliano for his generous and loving review of Boats for Papa on his blog. It was such a special review, I was truly touched.

And with the new year comes the launch of my second picture book, Before I Leave, staring the adorable hedgehog Zelda (pictured above). I've been lucky to receive a couple of starred reviews already from the School Library Journal, Publisher's Weekly and a lovely review from Kirkus! This was such a fun and sweet book to work on I'm excited for the world to see it on February 16th! As always you can pre-order through Amazon, but whenever possible, buy local and support your indy bookstores! And if you are in Seattle on February 16th, I am having a book launch for my book at Secret Garden Books in Ballard at 7pm. Hope to see you there!

AND in leading up to my book release, I will be posting a hedgehog a day until February 16th.

So much more to come for 2016! I can't wait. I hope you have a happy happy new year!

Intentions

Whoa I know- two blog posts in one day- I'm probably blowing your mind. But this came up in a conversation earlier today with a friend and he encouraged me to share it. The conversation was about my audience for Boats for Papa. It's come up several times that there is some question about who the book works best for- children or adults. So here were my thoughts on the matter:


"I genuinely created this book with children in mind. I myself was basically Buckley, and I know there are many children out there who have absence in their life. I felt so different from others because my father wasn't there everyday. But my mother was-something I only began to realize and appreciate the depth of once I became an adult. So by sharing my story, I hoped to create something that would make a child connect to the content in some way-so that they would feel safe and loved and not alone. Absence takes so many shapes and means different things for everyone, and maybe some young children don't have personal experience with it, but knowing you have love still around you is something I feel that every child (and adult) can benefit from. And hopefully creates conversations about compassion for others who do have personal experience with it. So I hoped that even if absence isn't a connection for the reader, that love is.

The overwhelming byproduct of this book touching adults in an emotional way has been beautiful, but wasn't the motivation for the work. I honestly had no clue that adults would feel so strongly about it. I felt I had created something that was touching, and I hope that everyone who reads it at least understands its heart in some way, but adults weren't the target at all. I just got a letter from a friend who shared that he wished he had this book when he lost his father when he was 6. And so many others have shared they felt a level of personal healing from reading it and yes- these were adults. But another friend says every time they read the book and they get to the part when Buckley thanks his mama, he turns around and kisses her!  And I just read a Facebook post about a friend of a friend who's son "finally connected with a book about grief" and he asked her to read it twice and then he made a boat. I totally lost it. I understand that a child emotional depth is different than an adult-but something made him feel and connect when he read it. And that is what I am so humbled and honored to be apart of. Whether I'm helping the 6 year old in real life or the 6 year old inside an adult, I can't tell you how much that touches my soul."



And I will add that I didn't write the book expecting children to cry when they read it. I know that is more of an adult reaction to the story. 

Hopefully that can shed some extra light. I know though that art is only part what the creator intends and the rest is what the world feels from receiving it. I think that is an exciting and beautiful process and I welcome the discourse.


jx

Final boat-final day-BOOK LAUNCH DAY!

It's finally here! BOOK LAUNCH DAY! My number one & last boat of #30boatsin30days is ready to set sail! Thanks for following along this past month! Now the excitement really begins!!! #BoatsforPapa is officially out in the world! Grab a copy at your local bookstore!!!

It is also available online retailers such as Amazon and Barnes & Nobel! 

This has been such a fun project this past month as I've geared up towards the big day. I'm soooooo excited to have reached this milestone moment in my life! Today is the birth of my picture book career and the culmination of my dreams and hard work from my entire life. It's all I've ever wanted to do. It's this such special moment in time and I've made the best book I could make to start my journey. It's a part of my heart and soul and I'm honored and humbled that I get to share it with the world and leave it behind for others to experience. And if I'm dreaming, don't wake me up.

2 days until launch!

Today's#BoatsforPapa #30boatsin30days is a galley ship. It's a sailing vessel that is propelled mostly by rowing! 

 

Only 3 days left!

Today's #30boatsin30days boat is a 19th century warship called "Frigate." #BoatsforPapa

These are some of my most favorite boats. They make me think of pirates and the movie "The Goonies."

4 days to go!

Today's #30boatsin30days Boat fact: The lookout point on the upper part of the main mast on a ship is called the "crow's nest." #boatsforpapa 

I love these parts on the old ships. Though my fear of heights wouldn't make me a very good lookout.

5 days!!

Today's #30boatsin30days is a caravel- a 15th century Portuguese sailing vessel used for exploring during the Age of Discovery! #boatsforpapa

6 days!

Today's #30boatsin30days boat is a pusher boat which is designed to push barges! #BoatsforPapa

I love the big fancy ships, but some of my favorites are rusty old barges and tug boats. There is something magic In the power of these quite small boats.

7 days!

Today's #30boatsin30days boat is a Bermuda Sloop- a sailing vessel from Bermuda in the 17th century! #boatsforpapa 

Yo ho ho!8 days to go!

Today's #BoatsForPapa #30boatsin30days Boat fact: When pirates seized a ship they'd have to ready it for piracy by reinforcing the decks to support the weight of heavy cannons. 

9 days left!

#30boatsin30days Boat fact:If you see the nautical flag pictured here (representing the letter H) then it means a pilot is on the ship. #boatsforpapa 

7 Impossible things!

Hey everyone!
I am SOOO thrilled to announce that today Boats for Papa was featured on Jules Danielson's awesome book blog 7 Impossible Things Before Breakfast! It's such an honor to be recognized on this site where so many other amazing picture books have been featured and reviewed! I've learned about a ton of great picture books and illustrators because of this site and got to have a special sneak peek at their process. Now I get to be part of that! So please check out the link to get a look at my upcoming book- but fair warning: **SPOILER ALERT** The post does contain a lot of details about the story so keep that in mind if you'd rather read the book first.

Thank you thank you thank you, Jules for including me on your blog!

Repost: 15 days

So there were some technical difficulties and I realized that day 15 didn't post. So in case you missed it on Intagram or Facebook, here it is:

I can't believe I'm halfway there.It's exactly two weeks until my book hits the shelves! #30boatsin30days #boatsforpapa

10 days:FINAL COUNTDOWN!

Only ten days to go! Today's #Boatsfor Papa #30boatsin30days Boat fact: The colorful nautical flags you see on boats are part of an alphabetical and numerical coding system for signaling to other ships.   

Each flag represents a letter or a number that communicates a specific message to other ships nearby. Like my personal favorite: J (which they call 'Juliet') means-"I am on fire and have dangerous cargo on board: keep well clear of me."

or
"I am leaking dangerous cargo."

11 days!

Today's #30boatsin30days boat fact:The phrase "weigh anchor" means to pull up a ship's anchor in preparation for its departure. #boatsforpapa 

12 days left!

#BoatsforPapa #30boatsin30days boat fact for the day: The rope used to raise a sail is called a "halyard. 

The term comes from the phrase "to haul yards," as in yards of fabric. 

13 days-port!

Today's #30boatsin30days Boat fact: On a boat "Port" means "left" and "starboard" means right. #boatsforpapa

You can remember this because "port" and "left" both have four letters.

14 days left!

Today's #30boatsin30days for #BoatsforPapa is a floating home called a houseboat (or a boathouse).

In parts of China, thousands of people live on houseboats permanently and they buys their goods off of supply boats. Take that land dwellers!

16 days!

Today's #30boatsin30days boat fact: The front of a ship is called the "bow" and the back of the ship is called the "stern." #boatsforpapa