Let’s Celebrate Our Members’ Success!
Congratulations to these Children’s Book Insider members who are building exciting careers writing for children & teens.
Many of these successes stemmed from CBI At Presstime listings or one of our monthly Above the Slushpile Submission Opportunities. We’re honored to have helped you on the road to success!
April 2025:
Robin Currie announces that her new picture book, Just Enough Room for Christmas, will be published on September 2 by Good Books/Skyhorse Publishing.
In a tiny barn in Bethlehem, Old Hannah the cow lives alone until the cold wind drives other animals to seek shelter. One by one, they squeeze in, but when a tiny mouse stirs up trouble, the barn erupts into chaotic mooing, meowing, and barking. Will there be enough room for a little family to have a silent night? Pre-orders are available on Amazon.


Evelyn Bookless (evelynbookless.com) writes, “I want to share the good news about my picture book JINX! which comes out May 6th with Reycraft Books (illustrated by Anna Süssbauer) that was a direct result of your Above The Slushpile submission opportunity with Wiley Belvins, which I submitted in December 2021. Wiley responded quickly with an offer and the book is coming out in a few months.
JINX! is an interactive story tempting you to squirm, screech and giggle… But don’t let it, because if you do, you lose! Or maybe you can stay as silent as a mouse and win the game. It won’t be easy. You’re up against one clever character with sneaky skills to make you scream!
Ice Cream Man: How Augustus Jackson Made a Sweet Treat Better, written by Glenda Armand and Kim Freeman and illustrated by Keith Mallett, has won the Texas Bluebonnet Award!
The Texas Bluebonnet Award is one of the oldest and most prestigious children’s choice literary awards in the country. A total of 36,000 students, all in third through sixth grade, voted. Each student had to read at least five books from the 2024-2025 Texas Bluebonnet Award list in order to vote.
Congratulations Glenda and Kim!

March 2025:
Phyllis Schwartz (www.phyllisfeelsgreat.com) announces the publication of her third picture book on March 7: Laggie and Grillo: An Unlikely Friendship, illustrated by Siski Kalla and published by Catch a Leaf Publishing. Yoshi wants a pet so badly she befriends some backyard critters who aren’t likely to get along and brings them into her circle of family and friends for fun and frolic.


Katie Lee Reinert’s debut picture book, Ready to Smile Again, releases from Gnome Road Publishing on March 18. When Dexter the chipmunk’s home is destroyed, he tucks all of his things away in his cheeks for safekeeping. But now, he can’t smile or talk, so he must figure out how to let go of his fear in order to truly live (and smile) again. For more information about Katie’s upcoming books, please visit her website at www.KatieLeeReinert.com
Jan Fenimore announces the publication on February 10th, 2025 of an early chapter book, titled Tales of the Tarahumara Indians. It is written for children 9 to 12 and available at Amazon. The book is published in English and Spanish and includes three fiction stories of Tarahumara children and their overcoming of struggles in a hardscrabble society.

February 2025:

Tomeko Brown announces the second edition publication of her book An Instrument for Florenda available for pre-order now on Amazon. Publication is scheduled for March 4, 2025. An Instrument for Florenda is well-suited for beginning readers who need the predictability as they transition to more complex material.