Lisa Mantchev's Blog

Happy Book Birthday, THE TROUBLE WITH GIRAFFES!

The pets (and kids!) from Pet Club want you to know they have made the space EVEN MORE WELCOME with the newest addition to the authorly shelf. Available TODAY at your favorite indie store and online at all the usual places, and check out my Appearances page for upcoming opportunities to get any and all…
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One week from today…

I’ve also updated my authorly Appearances page to include the upcoming Olympic Peninsula Local Authors Event at Field Hall, Port Angeles, the PNBA Fall Trade Show in Spokane, WA, and the Bigfoot Kids’ Book Festival in Redmond, WA. If you’d like to preorder a SIGNED COPY, please head over to Port Book & News and…
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the first opinion is in!

Kirkus has weighed in on THE TROUBLE WITH GIRAFFES, and they very much understood what we were trying to do. Favorite quotes include: “Mantchev takes inclusion a step further from in her earlier book Strictly No Elephants (2015), demonstrating that removing barriers to physical access can transform a nominal “All are welcome” policy from good…
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annnnnd the pre-order buttons are LIVE!

So, two surprises… first, we had a title change, and I absolutely adore this one for a number of reasons. Remember the opening line from STRICTLY NO ELEPHANTS? Yup. There it is, right on the cover of the follow-up. Secondly, it appears there will be a BOXED SET with both the Pet Club books in…
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In time for the tiny elephants 10th anniversary…

Thrilled to bits to reveal this project is well in the works, and over the moon to be working with Taeeun and the artistic team at Paula Wiseman/S&S. Stay tuned for previews of artwork and information about preorders!

Another (tiny elephant) milestone

The word from them’s in the know is that the tiny elephant book now has over a quarter of a million copies in print and I am not even sure what to do with that information, to be honest. My first reaction is “holy heck, that is a lot of books.” Which is true. A…
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Perfectly Delightful

Just received word that THE PERFECTLY PERFECT WISH, illustrated by the talented Jessica Courtney Tickle, is a finalist in the picture book category for the Golden Sower Award 2022-2023, which is presented annually to the authors and illustrators of the best books, as voted by school-age children in Nebraska. Happy to be keeping company with…
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Felicidades!

STRICTLY NO ELEPHANTS might have debuted waaaaaay back in 2015, but it’s still finding audiences and connecting with new readers. Most recently, it was published in Spanish for the US market, so the Children’s Book Committee at the Bank Street College of Education just named it one of the best picture books of 2021 for…
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Lucky Number Seven!

TWISTY-TURNY HOUSE is my seventh picture book published by S&S, so I shall take a moment to reflect on my incredible luck of having landed there in 2013 with the sale of STRICTLY NO ELEPHANTS. The tiny elephant marches on, in numerous languages on a circuitous journey around the globe, spreading the message of “that’s…
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And the first review is in!

Publisher’s Weekly has read TWISTY-TURNY HOUSE and says many nice things, finishing with “the cat’s initial foray down the house’s twisty-turny staircase is positively cinematic as the creators show how, from very separate lives, a community of mutual joy and mischief is forged.” POSITIVELY CINEMATIC. Yes! It is! Wait, wait. Pic, or it didn’t happen?…
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