February of 2020 was the last time I had participated in an in person presentation with teachers and students. Shortly after that, we were all scrambling to figure out how to make meaningful connections using virtual communication tools.

The Plum Creek Literacy Festival was one of the casualties of 2020. It had been pushed off, rescheduled, and retooled. I am delighted to say this past week I was able to take part in the in person Plum Creek Literacy Festival in Seward, NE! I cannot thank Executive Director, Dylan Teut and his team of real life superheroes enough for pulling the whole celebration off. I say celebration because that is what it felt like. After more than a year of not sharing with educators and students in person, there I was stress sweating in front of a room of over 250 students. We laughed, we cheered, I did funny voices...okay maybe it was just me who thought they were funny. It’s hard to describe the feeling of asking a question and having every hand in the room shoot to the ceiling and then have every answer that follows melt your heart. The students were just magic and their teachers were incredibly generous hosts. Who themselves went to incredibly great lengths to pull all the school visits off.

At one point I literally found my self in a tornado of paper airplanes that the students had made based on my book Float beforehand. I was ambushed by sneaky kindness (which is the best kind I think). These first return to face to face school visits will be imprinted on my heart for a long time to come.

I could never have guessed that I was in such dire need of a tangible reminder that reading matters, books matter, and most importantly, book joy matters. The Plum Creek Literacy Festival sure did its work on me. I was exhausted when I left, but much more full than when I started.

Another side to the experience that I didn’t see coming was the amazing fellowship between the bookmakers. Every person that I got to share a meal with, talk book making with, run errands with inspired me deeply. It was comical after awhile. I kept wondering if there would be a lull in it, but there never was. It can be a solitary business making books. Last week I felt lifted up, and compelled to lift others up in turn. I couldn’t have imagined a better group of authors and illustrators to do this with. I know I’ve got some amazing new friends.

Dylan, Dawn, Jeanne, Beth, Marianne, Rose and the rest of the team I can’t thank you enough for making this happen! I hope this week included many naps for you all. You deserve all the naps!

artwork by the wildly talented Amelia, Erica, and Olivia

The staff of the small but mighty East Hill Inn & Suites! You made us feel so welcome!

It is truly a distinct and precious honor to get to make books for young people. I’m extremely grateful that for whatever reason I get to do it, even on the worst days. Throughout this past year, like the rest of the world, I felt like I was in the midst of a great big storm. Finding everyday joys and feelings of peace seemed almost impossible. One of the spots I did find solace in the middle of it all though was in my work. At least there was some semblance of normal at my art board. The paint still smelled like paint and the ink still stained my fingers. Also, It just so happened that one of the books I was building during 2020 was Hope At Sea: An Adventure Story. At the time I had no idea the impact this book would have on me. I was writing the story and making the art, but it wasn’t until I looked back on the completed project that I understood just how it had sustained me.

Hope At Sea is a book about a young girl who doesn’t just want to hear stories of her father’s adventures anymore. She wants to be a part of those stories, so she stows away on his merchant ship as it departs for a long ocean voyage. On the surface it’s about the life and times of a 19th century clipper ship and Hope’s desire to see the world, but at its core it’s about a father and daughter’s relationship and the question of “What is a family to do when the storms of life come?”

It is with immense joy that I get to share the cover of my newest book Hope At Sea: An Adventure Story with you all for the first time. It officially releases Oct. 19th from the one and only Anne Schwartz Books. You can preorder it now.

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