How This Book Was Made: Bye Land, Bye Sea by René Spencer and Rodolfo Montalvo

How This Book Was Made: Bye Land, Bye Sea

Go behind the scenes of Bye Land, Bye Sea by René Spencer and Rodolfo Montalvo. Two children from different backgrounds show that friendship has no language in this epic bilingual story about being lost and finding a friend who understands.

Read on for an interview with René Spencer, Rodolfo Montalvo, Emily Feinberg, Executive Editor at Roaring Brook Press, and Mina Chung, Associate Art Director at Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group to learn more about how this book was made, preview interior art, and take a peek into the artist’s sketchbook.

Read More »

Teacher’s Guide: Saints of the Household by Ari Tison

Ari-Tison-book-Saints-of-the-Household 1

Winner of the Pura Belpré Award and Walter Dean Myers Award for Young Adult Literature!

Saints of the Household is a haunting contemporary YA about an act of violence in a small-town–beautifully told by a debut Indigenous Costa Rican-American writer–that will take your breath away.

Max and Jay have always depended on one another for their survival. Growing up with a physically abusive father, the two Bribri American brothers have learned that the only way to protect themselves and their mother is to stick to a schedule and keep their heads down.

But when they hear a classmate in trouble in the woods, instinct takes over and they intervene, breaking up a fight and beating their high school’s star soccer player to a pulp. This act of violence threatens the brothers’ dreams for the future and their beliefs about who they are. As the true details of that fateful afternoon unfold over the course of the novel, Max and Jay grapple with the weight of their actions, their shifting relationship as brothers, and the realization that they may be more like their father than they thought. They’ll have to reach back to their Bribri roots to find their way forward.

Told in alternating points of view using vignettes and poems, debut author Ari Tison crafts an emotional, slow-burning drama about brotherhood, abuse, recovery, and doing the right thing.

Find even more educator resources here!

Read More »

The Truth About Dragons Activity Kit

The Truth About Dragons Cover Image

Celebrate AANHPI Heritage Month and The Year of the Dragon with The Truth About Dragons, winner of the 2024 Asian Pacific American Award for Literature and a Caldecott Honor! 

The Truth About Dragons is an unforgettable lyrical picture book that celebrates biracial identity from the award-winning author of Paper Son: The Inspiring Story of Tyrus Wong, Immigrant and Artist.

Enter the sweepstakes for a chance to win a classroom poster. One grand prize winner will win a virtual visit with Julie Leung and Hanna Cha! Plus, download the free activity kit!


The Truth About Dragons Sweepstakes Image

Read More »

How This Book Was Made: I Am Both by Kerisa Greene

How This Book Was Made: I Am Both

Go behind the scenes of I Am Both: A Vietnamese Refugee Story by Kerisa Greene. I Am Both is a inspired by Kerisa’s family’s journey on the last flight out of Saigon and is a compelling exploration of identity, immigration, and family.

Read on for an interview with Kerisa Greene, Rachel Diebel, Editor at Feiwel & Friends, and Naomi Silverio, Associate Designer at Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group to learn more about how this book was made, preview interior art, and to discover one of the most inventive uses of rice paper we’ve seen in a picture book!

Read More »

Teacher’s Guide: Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley

#1 New York Times bestselling author of Firekeeper’s Daughter Angeline Boulley takes us back to Sugar Island in this high-stakes thriller about the power of discovering your stolen history.

Perry Firekeeper-Birch has always known who she is—the laidback twin, the troublemaker, the best fisher on Sugar Island. Her aspirations won’t ever take her far from home, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. But as the rising number of missing Indigenous women starts circling closer to home, as her family becomes embroiled in a high-profile murder investigation, and as greedy grave robbers seek to profit off of what belongs to her Anishinaabe tribe, Perry begins to question everything.

In order to reclaim this inheritance for her people, Perry has no choice but to take matters into her own hands. She can only count on her friends and allies, including her overachieving twin and a charming new boy in town with unwavering morals. Old rivalries, sister secrets, and botched heists cannot—will not—stop her from uncovering the mystery before the ancestors and missing women are lost forever.

Sometimes, the truth shouldn’t stay buried.

Read More »