BOOK OF FLIGHT earns 2020 Indiana Author Award Nomination

Congratulations to Book of Flight and the seven excellent children’s books selected for the 2020 Eugene & Marilyn Glick Indiana Authors Awards shortlist.

We love this award because it encourages people to read local and celebrate the creative forces in their community. You know the shortlist books are superb because they were selected by a committee of former winners, writers, educators, local bookstore owners + librarians who have all been reading + reviewing nominations for the past five months. As you can imagine, the shortlists are made up of the best books nominated in each category + display exemplary quality given the conventions of their nominated genre. Huzzah!

Feast your hungry eyes upon the CHILDREN’S SHORTLIST

• “The Magnificent Mya Tibbs: Mya in the Middle” by Crystal Allen

• “Granted” by John David Anderson

• “Book of Flight” by Gabrielle Balkan

• “Clackety Track: Poems About Trains” by Skila Brown

• “Can I Be Your Dog?” by Troy Cummings

• “Hello, I’m Here!” by Helen Frost

• “Wake Up, Woods” by Gillian Harris, Shane Gibson and Michael Homoya

• “Attucks!: Oscar Robertson and the Basketball Team that Awakened a City” by Phillip Hoose

ABOUT THE AWARD
The Eugene & Marilyn Glick Indiana Authors Awards celebrate the best books by Indiana authors written in eight different categories and published during the previous two years. Books must be nominated to be considered. 

Winners will receive a $5,000 prize, a physical award featuring Indiana limestone and the opportunity to make a $500 gift to an Indiana public library. A Literary Champion Award recognizes an individual or organization for significant contributions to Indiana’s literary community. Winners of the Literary Champion Award receive a $2,500 prize.   

NEW BOOK: 50 Odd Couples: True Stories About Unlikely Animal Friendships

With the good people at Scholastic and The Dodo, I had the good fortune to write about 50 unlikely animal friendships. It is available through Scholastic Book Clubs and, as of February 4, 2020, everywhere books are sold. I wrote under the name Gabe Polt for this one.

“These pairs of unlikely animal friends -- as seen in The Dodo's viral videos -- are sure to warm your heart! These animal pairs don't look like they'd be the best of friends -- but sometimes a new friend is closer than you think! This book features more than 100 pages of unexpected, heartwarming, and unlikely animal friendships! These 50 odd couples -- from dogs and ducks and cats and mice, to lions and tigers and even bison and pigs! -- have all been featured on The Dodo. Their inspiring stories are the perfect example of the compassion, resilience, and love that animals have for their humans -- and for each other. Each true story is accompanied by adorable full-color photos of these mismatched animal friends and simple nonfiction facts.”

112 pages with color photos

DEAL: Book of Bones as a Book Club Paperback

Hip hip hurrah! Scholastic Book Clubs has a $9 touch-and-feel paperback edition of Book of Bones available this fall. Big bucket list item for me! Contact your child’s teacher to find out if your school participates in the SBC. See the entire Scholastic Book Clubs October Spooktacular Flyer here.

REVIEW: 50 Cities: "a coffee table book for kiddos"

In KTVK's "Look what we found!" segment, Good Morning Arizona hosts delight in being able to "sound like an encylopedia" thanks to the Phoenix spread in #50citiesbook. 

REVIEW: 50 Cities has "modern spin" - Goop

From the Tiniest Astronaut to Future Engineers: 12 Ways to Jump-Start Kids’ Imaginations

The golden ticket: activities and toys that both entertain your kiddo and encourage their future paths. Here, our picks for inspiring the littles in your life.

View fullsize

JET-SET TRAVELER
From LA to Charleston, kids get to explore the entire country via this beautifully illustrated book. Author Gabrielle Balkan includes every facet of the cities she covers, including facts with an unexpectedly fun cultural bent (we love the Willie Nelson trivia on the Austin page) and a modern spin (city parks and food trucks get prominent mentions).
– goop

Touch the Best Bones: Book of Bones and its Korean debut!

Korean publisher  키다리의 참좋은날 made a surpasingly useful video showing exactly what it's like to experience the textures pages. They even changed the title to "Touch the best bones" to really make the special feature stand out. Why didn't we think of that?! 

Book of Bones Trailer

The delightful and talented Meagan Bennett designs every children's book at Phaidon. In addition to keeping an eye out for interesting talent (like Sam Brewster), Meagan helps figure out how a book will come together (such as having a question on one page and an answer when you turn the page), what colors to use (like yellow, instead of say, green for the cover) , what special features to add (such as textured pages).

Meagan ALSO makes book trailers about the finished book so we can engage all of our senses when we learn about bones! Check out some of her handwork here! Isn't she great?

Book of Bones Activity Kit

The clever people in the Phaidon marketing department have put together an excellent activity kit for the bones lovers in your life. Download this kit and watch your naturalist enjoy matching facts to animals, helping a lizard find its food, completing a skeleton drawing, and more! 

jestem szczęśliwy

According to the online translator I used, the way I should say "I am happy" in Polish is "jestem szczęśliwy" ... and I am! SO happy, that BOOK OF BONES will soon pub with the Polish publisher Kocur Bury. According to the same online translator, "Kocur Bury is an independent publishing house created by friends whose passion is the book, especially the children." 
I love them already! Don't you?

THE 50 STATES featured in Best Atlases For Kids: a wiki.ezvid Top Ten List

Very pleased to learn about this collection of children's atlases -- the ones on outer space and animals are especially appealing -- and to see THE 50 STATES in the #2 slot! Huzzah!

10 Best Atlases For Kids | January 2017 | Wiki.Ezvid.com
We spent 25 hours on research, videography, and editing, to review the top choices for this wiki. The earlier a child begins to understand his or her place in the wider world, the better. Therefore, a book that helps educate a youngster about everything from geography to international politics to global history is a priceless resource. Fortunately, most of the atlases on our list are not very expensive but are bristling with maps, facts, photos, and more.

The 50 States is a bright and playfully-illustrated guide to all things American. The book highlights thousands of important and interesting places around the United States and notes hundreds of historical figures who played a role in the country's past.

• helps with learning state capitals
• loaded with information on nature
• great resource for social studies

Read more at Wiki E vid

Watch the video here, on youtube, and at Wiki Evid.

It's Notable

The 50 States was selected as a 2016 Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People. Find a preview of the entire selection online at the National Council for the Social Studies-Children's Book Council. The May-June 2016 issue of Social Education will feature a 16-page annotated, illustrated, and National Standards for Social Studies-connected pullout reference of all K-8 books, including 28 Days: Moments in Black History that Changed the World by Charles R. Smith and Illustrated by Shane W. Evans (Roaring Brook Press), Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan (Scholastic Press), Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña and Illustrated by Christian Robinson (G.P. Putnam's Sons), and many other wonderful choices.