Cynthia Leitich Smith's Blog, page 76

In Memory: Geoffrey Hayes

By Gayleen Rabakukkfor Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations

Author and illustrator Geoffrey Hayes died in June while Cynsations was on summer hiatus.

Obituary: Geoffrey Hayes by Shannon Maughan from Publishers Weekly. Peek: "...Hayes, best known for the comics-style artwork and expressive animal characters in his many titles for emerging readers, died suddenly on June 2, of apparent natural causes, in Asheville, N.C. He was 69."

His first book, Bear by Himself (Harper & Row, 1976) was edi...

Event Report & Videos: Don Tate Launches Strong as Sandow: How Eugene Sandow Became The Strongest Man on Earth

By Cynthia Leitich Smith
for Cynsations

Author-illustrator Don Tate hosted a tremendous, successful book launch for Strong as Sandow: How Eugene Sandow Became The Strongest Man on Earth (Charlesbridge, 2017) Sept. 9 at BookPeople in Austin. From the promotional copy:

Friedrich Müller was born sickly and weak, yet he longed to be athletic and strong, like ancient Greek and Roman gladiators. Little Friedrich Müller exercised and exercised but to no avail.

As a young man, Müller found himself u...

Cynsational News

Chandler & Christina launch This Is Not the End (Hyperion) at BookPeople.By Cynthia Leitich Smith & Gayleen Rabakukk
for Cynsations

Congratulations to fellow Austin author Chandler Baker on the release of This Is Not The End (Hyperion, 2017) in August at BookPeople in Austin! Note: Chandler is shown in conversation with author Christina Soontornvat. See also a video interview with Chandler about the book from Mr.Media.com.

OurStory App from We Need...

Guest Post: Tara Dairman on Making Connections in a New State

By Tara Dairman
for Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations

Moving 1,000 miles was not the way I anticipated kicking off 2017, but hey, not much about the last year has been predictable. So when my husband received a new job offer in January, we found ourselves relocating from Colorado to Austin, Texas, in a few short weeks.

Austin has a well-established kidlit community, and I was lucky to have a few friends here already. But still, it was hard for me to leave Colorado, where I had strong bonds wi...

Guest Interview: Emma Walton Hamilton on Picture Book Summit

By Cate Berry
for Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations

The third annual Picture Book Summit online writing conference will be Oct. 7.

To find out more about this opportunity, which not only allows, but encourages attendance in pajamas, I interviewed one of the founders, Emma Walton Hamilton.

What prompted you to start the Picture Book Summit?

Jon and Laura Backes Bard, Katie Davis, Julie Hedlund and I are longtime friends and colleagues in the children’s lit community. We all regularly contribute to...

Guest Post: Yolanda Ridge on Writing Across Gender & Inside Hudson Pickle

Yolanda Ridge and her sonsBy Yolanda Ridge 
for Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations

When my stepdad finished reading my debut novel, Trouble in the Trees (Orca Book Publishers, 2011), he told me he enjoyed learning about my childhood.

(He also proudly proclaimed to have read it in two straight hours – a compliment that missed the mark since it had taken me over a year to write the book – but that’s a different post.)

The main character is nothing like me, I protested, easily dismissing the id...

Call for Applications: Cynsations Intern

By Cynthia Leitich Smith
for Cynsations

Applications are invited for an intern to assist in the production of Cynsations and associated web-/social media for October to March of 2017. It may also include author event and manuscript research support.

Duties would include assistance with:
coordinating, conducting and formatting interviews, guest posts, and announcements that tie into the children's-YA literature, writing, illustration, publishing, educational and gatekeeper communities; promot...

In Memory: Rebecca Bond

By Cynthia Leitich Smith
for Cynsations

Author-illustrator Rebecca Bond died in August while Cynsations was on summer hiatus.

Obituary: Rebecca Bond by Emily Kantor from Publishers Weekly. Peek: "Rebecca Bond, who created 10 books for young readers, died on August 2 after a brief illness. She was 45.

"Bond was named a PW Flying Start in 1999 for her debut picture book, Just Like a Baby (Little, Brown). Bond went on to write and illustrate...Escape from Baxters’ Barn (HMH, 2015) and Out of the Woo...

In Memory: Michael Bond

By Gayleen Rabakukk
for Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations


Author Michael Bond died in June while Cynsations was on summer hiatus.

Obituary: Michael Bond by Shannon Maughan from Publishers Weekly. Peek: "Bond, widely known for his books starring the duffle-coat-donning Paddington bear, died at his home in London following a brief illness. He was 91."

Veronica Horwell wrote in The Guardian of Paddington's beginnings. Peek: "He bashed out the bear opus in 10 days in the spring of 1957 on a typ...

Cynsational News

By Cynthia Leitich Smith & Gayleen Rabakukk
for Cynsations

Interview: Mitali Perkins on You Bring the Distant Near by Elissa Gershowitz and Anatasia M. Collins from The Horn Book. Peek: "You say Ranee is a tricky character to love, but the USA, too, can be tricky to love for new arrivals like her. (Not so for me. I loved America from the time our plane landed at JFK airport.)"

"Change Happens When Enough People Demand It" by Debbie Reese from The Horn Book. Peek: "Native children...know abou...