Category: Award

NOZZLEWOCK is a WA State Book Award Finalist!

8/26/2025

I am delighted to share that the award committee at the WA Center for the Book has selected BEWARE THE DRAGON AND THE NOZZLEWOCK as one of the Finalists for the 2025 Award, in the Books for Young Readers Category. Many thanks to them for this honor. Never did I think a book I wrote would be an award finalist in my home state. Yay!

Congratulations to all the other finalists. See the full list here:
https://washingtoncenterforthebook.org/2025-washington-state-book-award-finalists-announced/

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ALA honors 3 Books as Best Graphic Novels for Kids

2/14/2025

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The American Library Association (ALA) has included three of my books in their prestigious annual Best Graphic Novels for Kids list. Having just one book on this list is a great honor - having three feel unprecedented, wow!
The three books are:
* OWL & PENGUIN: HERE AND THERE
* ZOONI TALES: A FRIEND TILL THE END
* ZOONI TALES: KEEP IT UP, PLUCKY PUP
Thank you ALA!

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Boston Globe Best Book Honor

1/30/2025

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The Boston Globe has named BEWARE THE DRAGON AND THE NOZZLEWOCK as one of the 75 BEST BOOKS of 2024 across ALL CATEGORIES of books across all ages! Wow, what a high honor indeed!

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Three Little Mavericks

12/11/2023

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Every year the Texas Library Association publishes it's Little Maverick Reading List to encourage recreational reading amongst elementary school students. It is a great honor for any author to end up with just one book on the list, but this year I have THREE, yes THREE, books on the list. Thank you Texas Librarians for selecting these books for your young readers:
* Owl and Penguin
* Owl and Penguin: Best Day Ever
* Bobo and Pup-Pup: Hatch an Egg

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OWL & PENGUIN is a ALA 2023 Notable "best of the best" Book

2/6/2023

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The American Library Association (ALA) has selected OWL & PENGUIN for another honor - naming it to their 2023 Notable Children's Book list.

"Each year a committee of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) identifies the best of the best in children's books. According to the Notables Criteria, "notable" is defined as: Worthy of note or notice, important, distinguished, outstanding. As applied to children's books, notable should be thought to include books of especially commendable quality, books that exhibit venturesome creativity, and books of fiction, information, poetry and pictures for all age levels (birth through age 14) that reflect and encourage children's interests in exemplary ways."

Look for OWL & PENGUIN everywhere books are sold!

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OWL & PENGUIN is a THEODOR SEUSS GEISEL HONOR Winner!!!

1/30/2023

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Whoa! OWL & PENGUIN is a Theodor Seuss Geisel Award Honor Book. Every year the American Library Association committees sift through thousands of books to identify the 4 or 5 they believe to be "the most distinguished American books for beginning readers". After the Newberry and the Caldecott, the Geisel is one of the biggest book awards for children's literature, kinda like an Oscar for Beginning Readers. [ Receiving a Geisel Honor is like being 'Oscar Nominated' :) ]

It's humbling to think that of all the hundreds of beginning reader books published in 2022, Owl & Penguin was selected as one of the top 5 books considered the "most distinguished American books for beginning readers." Whoa! :)

About the award:
"The Theodor Seuss Geisel Award is given annually to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished American book for beginning readers published in English in the United States during the preceding year. The winner(s), recognized for their literary and artistic achievements that demonstrate creativity and imagination to engage children in reading, receives a bronze medal. Honor Book authors and illustrators receive certificates, which are presented at the ALA Annual Conference. The award was established in 2004 and first presented in 2006.
The award is named for the world-renowned children’s author, Theodor Geisel. "A person’s a person no matter how small," Theodor Geisel, a.k.a. Dr. Seuss, would say. "Children want the same things we want: to laugh, to be challenged, to be entertained and delighted." Brilliant and playful, Dr. Seuss charmed his way into the consciousness of four generations of youngsters and parents. In the process, he helped them to read."

Thank you to my editor Sally Morgridge, my publisher Holiday House books, my agent Rosemary Stimola, the American Library Association, the Geisel Award committee, and the my writing group - the Tighty-Writeys!

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Texas Bluebonnet Honor for A HATFUL OF DRAGONS

11/6/2020

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Woohoo - My book, A Hatful of Dragons, has been selected for the 2021-2020 Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List - one of the most distinguished reading lists for kids across the United States! This is a rare and prestigious honor - only 20 books are selected for this list every year, and kids in Texas in grades 3, 4, 5, and 6 are asked to read books from this list 'just for fun' - as a way to promote reading and literacy. Last year over 130,000 kids participated in this reading program! Read more about it here: https://txla.org/news/2021-2022-texas-bluebonnet-award-master-list-released/

“The Texas Bluebonnet list is a prestigious list composed of titles from diverse, imaginative and creative authors. The titles on the list offer students in grades 3-6, quality literature that is both fiction and nonfiction to be read for pleasure,” said Jacqui Bridges-Sheppherd, TBA coordinator. “Titles were chosen that allow the books to act as windows into reality and imaginary worlds while offering a view into someone else’s experiences; and mirrors that reflect a reader’s own life or culture while building their identity. This literature also takes the student’s interests in mind and provides positive reviews for parents, teachers and librarians.”