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!
August 2025:
Mary Bleckwehl’s 18th children’s book is her debut graphic novel So Stinkin’ Hot, released in January 2025.
The tale is written for ages 6–11 but anyone who loves to laugh and make friends with some wild and crazy animals will enjoy it. Fed up with sweating and sweltering in the African sun, a hare-brained hyperactive zebra named Zippy and his five safari friends escape to a MUCH cooler place only to find there’s “no place like home.”
Available from your local bookstore or online. Mary is available for school and library presentations (marybleckwehl.com).
Claire A.B. Freeland (clairefreelandwrites.com) and Jacqueline B. Toner announce the August publication of their picture book, Making Sense of Your Senses: How Your Brain Perceives the World, illustrated by Katarina Gasko, from Magination Press.
Here’s the description: Explore the science behind how we make sense of the world around us. Kids will discover how our bodies pick up clues from the environment and how our nervous systems turn all those observations into messages for our brains to interpret and fill in the blanks—all at lightning speed—to form our perceptions.
Leslie Eva Tayloe (leslieevatayloe.com) writes that her picture book, The Attic Door, has received its second award: the Literary Titan Book Award.
Congratulations Leslie!
July 2025:
Christine Van Zandt is excited to announce the upcoming publication of her nonfiction STEM picture book, The Legendary Life Story of the Lever: How a Deceptively Simple Machine Moves the World Forward (Mighty Models series) from Union Square & Co. Lesley Breen’s engaging art illuminates 10 historical moments—Ice Age through Space Age—showing the lever in action. Content ties with Simple Machines curriculum; all six simple machines are included in the back matter as is a build-it-yourself catapult model. Publication date: December 9, 2025.
Arlene R. Schenker is thrilled to announce that her debut picture book, Call Me Gebyanesh, was published in April, 2025 by Apples & Honey Press.
Dealing with a young girl’s struggle in immigrating to Israel from Ethiopia, this book for ages 4-8 is recommended by the School Library Journal as “a good fit for collections that support social-emotional learning in early elementary students.”
June 2025:
Sherry Dunn (sherrydunn.com) is excited to announce the publication of her new picture book, Baxter and The Power of Mud (Book 1 of Jasmine’s Paws & Tales Series), from Hasmark Publishing International. For ages 6-10, this is heartwarming story about friendship, self-acceptance, and finding the people who love you just the way you are.
Baxter and the Power of Mud is the first adventure in the Jasmine’s Paws &
Tales series, celebrating the magic of shelter pets and the joy of second chances. Available on Amazon.
May 2025:
Longtime CBI subscriber Sonja Anderson announces that her debut picture book, A Christmas Wish for Little Dala Horse: A St. Lucia Celebration (illustrated by Agnieszka Potocka) will be released by Tyndale Kids on September 9, 2025!
Children will love to hunt for hidden Swedish Tomte (gnomes) while hearing about a shy little Dala Horse, a newly carved Christmas gift, who finds the courage to help a young “gingerbread” girl overcome her fears of going onstage for her dance around the Christmas tree. It is available now for pre-order on Bookshop.org and other sites.
Leslie Eva Tayloe received an Honorable Mention for her submission, Down Hill in #50 PreciousWords writing contest. Her Moonbeam Award winning picture book, Save the Trees, made the Long List for the 2025 Green Earth Book Award. And, her picture book, The Attic Door was awarded the 2024 Story Monster Approved Award.
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.
