South Dakota Children's Book Awards

In addition to its other mentions and accolades, The Day The Universe Exploded My Head has been nominated for a Prairie Bloom Children’s Book Award by the South Dakota Library Association. This is a very special honor, as the awards are decided by readers themselves. For Universe, that means the 2nd and 3rd graders of South Dakota have singled out our book, and love it as much as we do. If you’d like to see all of the other wonderful books for all grades, nominated for this year’s awards, check out the South Dakota Librarian Association website.

And if you’d like to get yourself or someone you know a copy of The Day The Universe Exploded My Head, click here.

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A New York Public Library BEST BOOK of the YEAR!

This week, we received more stellar news about THE DAY THE UNIVERSE EXPLODED MY HEAD: the New York Public Library has named it one of the Best Books for Kids of 2019!

This list is such a wonderful collection of books of all genres, curated by a discerning group of librarians who are experts in their field. There’s something really special about getting recognition from your hometown library, especially when your hometown is the Big Apple. UNIVERSE was a labor of love—all whopping 56 pages of it. It is full of brilliant, hilarious poetry by author Allan Wolf, and beautifully designed by my Art Director, Lisa Rudden at Candlewick Press.

Perhaps what is most gratifying in having others appreciate this book which means it might make its way into the hands of more kids. I ❤️ NY and I ❤️ NYPL!

Princeton Children's Book Festival

For years, I've been hearing from my friends in the kidlit world about the Princeton Children's Book Festival, and I am thrilled to be participating this year. The roster of authors and illustrators is incredible, with such luminaries as Lauren Castillo, Greg Pizzoli (check out his great illustration for the event above), Dan Yaccarino, Rebecca Stead, Tor Seidler…the list goes on, and on. Look for me in the purple tent, where I'm sharing a table with my pal Lori Richmond, who's debut picture book, A HOP IS UP was just released.

I'll be introducing the world to YOU ARE NOT A CAT! written by award-winning author Sharon G. Flake, a few days before it's publication date of October 4th. I'll also be signing some of my other picture books, including A BIG SURPRISE FOR LITTLE CARD and THE WRONG SIDE OF THE BED. For the more science-minded picture book readers, I'll also be signing copies of the first two of my collaborations with author David A. Adler: THINGS THAT FLOAT AND THINGS THAT DON'T, and SIMPLE MACHINES. And if that's not enough to entice you, I'll have stickers, buttons, make your own Little Card giveaways, and more!

The weather report looks like it will be a perfect fall day in Princeton, NJ. For more information, check out the festival website here.