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YAYYY! Donalyn Miller just announced the 8th Annual #BookADay Challenge on her blog.

Do read Donalyn's inspiring post above about why she started the Challenge, how to involve young readers, the various ways you can approach it. An excerpt:

"It doesn’t matter if you actually read a book every day or not. Dedicate more time to read. Celebrate your right to read what you want. Make reading plans. Share and collect book recommendations. Connect with other readers.The #bookaday challenge is personal, not a competition. Finish that series. Tackle that epic historical your mother gave you for your birthday (last September). Try audiobooks. How would you like to grow as a reader this summer?"

I will be mainly be posting my #BookADay reads on Twitter at @inkyelbows but will link to posts in my #BookADay archives.

Yes, I do read books the rest of the year! But I love the specific summer reading challenge as extra motivation. I've been working a lot of weekends and evenings in recent months, and I think it would be good to get out of that habit and do more reading instead.

Deeply saddened to hear that teacher/librarian Debbie Alvarez has died. Though we don't know each other in person, Debbie and I have emailed each other as well interacting on social media. She has been so generous in her support of me and my work on her blog, including a post just last week. 

Like many others, I'm a fan of her blog, The Styling Librarian:

I love the tagline in the top right corner: "In my opinion, books are the best accessory."

The portrait in the top left corner was done by me. While Debbie was interviewing me for her blog, I discovered that she was just about to have a surgery (she didn't say what it was for), so I asked for her address so I could send her something to help cheer her up while she was recovering. She was hesitant, saying that it was sweet of me to offer but that shipping to Hong Kong was crazy expensive, and that my found object art posts already brightened up her days. I insisted, and here's what she wrote about it. 

Photo: BENJAMIN BRINK/The Oregonian

 Debbie never mentioned the word "cancer" in any of our emails; I only found out when we became Facebook friends and I followed one of her post links to her personal blog, and then scrolled back to older entries. And then I felt like an idiot, because I remember telling Debbie about having a cold bug in the household when she first approached me about doing an interview. I was complaining about a cold and there Debbie was, about to head into cancer-related surgery.

Sometimes the lack of comments on my own blog made me wonder how many people actually read it, but Debbie encouraged me: "So excited, just love how you share thoughts with others, your enthusiasm got me to finally pick up a pen and become persistent with my own writing and join SCBWI here in Hong Kong." 

Despite what she was going through, Debbie continued to support others, post on her blog about the love of reading, and embrace life as fully as possible. Debbie Alvarez was an inspiration to me, and the world is a lesser place without her.

Added to my For The Love Of Reading resource for teachers, librarians, booksellers and young readers: a free, print-ready "Reading Lets Your Imagination Soar" poster. For all my free, print-ready material, please see Debbie's Print-Ready Archive.

I've also added a greeting card version of just the found object art to my Zazzle card shop (Canada/U.S.).

I've added a free, print-ready poster version of this wonderful Madeleine L'Engle quote to my For The Love Of Reading page.

You can find links to ALL my free, print-ready bonus goodies at Debbie's Print-Ready Archive.

 It's been a while since I've awarded the Incredibly Prestigious and Exquisitely Ephemeral Golden Marmot Award, but this week it NEEDS to go to Chuck Wendig for this wonderful tweet:

If you like a book by any author, the kindest thing you can do is tell everyone. Friends, family, review sites, squirrels, robots, dolphins.

— Chuck Wendig (@ChuckWendig) August 24, 2015

I've been a fan of YA writer Kari Maaren fan ever since I heard her perform Kids These Days, a song from the viewpoint of a traditional vampire complaining about the Twilight generation of vampires. The song in the video above, Being Watson, is one of my favorites of Kari's; Kari is a Sherlock Holmes fan but is especially fascinated by Watson. You can hear the song and read the lyrics on Kari's Being Watson page. Do check out Kari's other songs, which range from Everybody Hates Elves (one of her extra-popular songs, especially with her kazoo solo!), a musical plea to George R.R. Martin to finish his Game Of Thrones books, a song about YA book clichés, an unusual take on Disney princesses, and a song in praise of Voldemort.

Anyway, Kari recently launched a tongue-in-cheek Bad Poem A Day blog and GUESS WHAT? Her poem today mentions my picture book, WHERE ARE MY BOOKS? woohoooo!!!

Check out Kari's poem today, WHERE ARE MY BOOKS?

You can find out more about Kari and her projects (including upcoming book projects) at Karimaaren.com.

I love this Liana Brooks quote so much I decided to illustrate it. :-)

And on the topic of helping the authors whose work you enjoy, here are some ways to help authors even if you can't afford to buy their books.

Many thanks to my friend David Diaz for his friendship and mentorship. I got to know David through the SCBWI, when I was chosen for the SCBWI-LA Illustration Mentorship program in 2010. David has been recently touching base with many of the Mentees, past and present, to find out how they're doing...he is doing this on his own time and volition, not because it's an official part of the program. He and I chatted yesterday, and I had the chance to thank him again for his early advice. I also told him how my venture into found object doodles started because of HIM, at one of his Lost Weekends.

You can find out more about David on Wikipedia, Facebook and an Illustrator Spotlight via Kidlit411.

Thanks to Andrea Skyberg for featuring my Office Cave in her Tuesday Studio Tours today.

Find out why my office looks NOTHING like the rest of the house, how my hero husband Jeff helped enhance my office, my envy of those who have appealing-sounding creative rituals, music I'm listening to (including Ookla the Mok) and a sampling of my new OfficeCrazyDanceBreak playlist, the most useful tool in my studio, and advice for those who want to make a personal space where they can be creative. Plus LOTS of photos!

Thank you, Andrea!

Earlier today, I posted about the book launches of my good friends Arree Chung (NINJA! from Henry Holt) and Brian Won (HOORAY FOR HAT! from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). And as some of you already know, my very  first chapter book illustration project launches in hardcover today, and the books are by JUDY BLUME (!!!). I posted about the Judy Blume project, including how I became a Judy Blume illustrator.

When the three of us discovered we all had books coming out on June 3rd, we decided to do some joint promotion. I met both Arree and Brian through the SCBWI: Arree through one of David Diaz's Lost Weekends (David is one of my SCBWI Illustration Mentors) and Brian through the SCBWI Illustration Mentorship program. We've since become friends and have exchanged mutual encouragement and advice.

Below: photo from the 2013 SCBWI Summer Conference, when Brian, Arree, Christina Forshay, Kimberly Gee and Jen Betton and I were hanging out in the hotel room. I had met Christina, Kimberly and Jen through the SCBWI Mentorship Program as well. They all kindly agreed to pose for one of my I'M BORED In The Wild photos. :-)

I'm grateful to the SCBWI for so many reasons. You can read the thank you letter I sent to the SCBWI a couple of years ago, and their response.

As I was putting together blog posts about Arree and Brian, I was struck the number of similarities in how we found out way to publication. All three of us found our agents because of the SCBWI or SCBWI connections. All three of us got our first "big break" in getting noticed in the kidlit publishing industry largely because of the SCBWI. And of course all three of us met through the SCBWI and SCBWI connections.

So on behalf of Brian, Arree and myself I'd like to send out a big THANK YOU to the SCBWI! 

To aspiring children's book writers and illustrators who have never heard of the SCBWI (Society Of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators): I strongly encourage you to check out all that the SCBWI has to offer. Do go over to the SCBWI website RIGHT NOW.

I went over just now to see what was up, and was delighted to find my friend Jessica Lanan is this month's Featured Illustrator! I met Jessica through the SCBWI Illustration Mentorship Program.

And that's another reason I'm so glad I joined the SCBWI and have been attending their events. It gives me so much joy to watch the blossoming careers of children's book writers and/or illustrators I've met and befriended.

If you're nervous about attending your first SCBWI conference, please do read my SCBWI Conference Newbie comics (which I created when I was a nervous SCBWI Conference newbie). 

And I hope to see some of you at the SCBWI Summer Conference in Los Angeles this year! 

You can read my posts today about Brian's and Arree's book launches:

Inkygirl Profile: Brian Won and HOORAY FOR HAT! (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

Inkygirl Profile: Arree Chung and NINJA! (Henry Holt)

Martha Rago, Associate Creative Director at HarperCollins Children's Books

I recently posted two mini-interviews with Martha Rago and Lauren Rille over on the KidLitArtists blog.

With the SCBWI Summer Conference coming up, I asked HarperCollins Associate Creative Director Martha Rago about how SCBWI portfolio showcases help publishers HarperCollins Children's find illustrators.

Martha says that the Showcase is a great way for art directors to see a lot of work all at once when they're looking for something in particular. She also points out that the event connects many artists with agents.

Read more of what Martha Rago says about SCBWI portfolio showcases.

Lauren Rille, Associate Art Director at Simon & Schuster Children'sI asked Lauren Rille what the biggest mistake or misconception that aspiring children's book illustrators make.

Lauren said that artists new to the process tend to have the misconception that being asked to revise means that they're doing it "wrong."

You can read more about what Lauren says about the revision process here.

I'm delighted and honoured to be a Sharp-Schu Trifecta guest today. Please do go visit their blogs today to find out more about how I helped create the new look for Judy Blume classics like Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret and Freckle Juice.

On the Mr. Schu Reads blog, K-5 teacher-librarian John Schu congratulates new book releases and then explains the Sharp-Schu Trifecta, with links to my Nerdy Book Club guest post and Colby Sharp's interview with me about the Judy Blue project. He also provides some wonderful Judy Blume videos, quotes and resources. Do read to the end of his blog post, where you'll find a great anecdote about meeting Ms. Blume for the first time.

On the Nerdy Book Club blog, I wrote a guest post with help from my Judy Blume project art director Lauren Rille. Find out why I was terror-stricken as well as ecstatic when I found out I was going to be a Judy Blume illustrator, how the new covers got created, samples of my early sketches, insights from Lauren Rille about the process, a request from Ms. Blume about cultural diversity.

On Sharpread, Colby Sharp does a 5,4,3,2,1 interview with me, which means he gave me five questions which I need to answer with 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 sentence. :-D I had a lot of fun with this.

Thanks so much to Colby Sharp and John Schu for inviting me to be part of their Trifecta today, and to Cindy Minnich for her help with my Nerdy Book Club guest post!

In KidLitArtists.com today, I interviewed Lauren Rille, who was my art director on the Judy Blume project.

I asked her what common misconception aspiring or new children's book illustrators tend to make. Her answer applies as much to writers as well as illustrators, I think: That some people misinterpret a revision request as an indication that they're doing something WRONG.

Do read Lauren's full reply on the KidLitArtists blog for more details.

It's International Book Giving Day! The goal: to get as many new, used and borrowed books into the hands of as many children as possible. You can celebrate this EVERY day, of course: find out how.

I created a special bookplate in honor of the occasion. You can download it from the International Book Giving Day website.

And...

Thanks to Nancy Tandon for giving International Book Giving Day and my bookplate some blog love today!

I posted about working on NAKED! over on Pixel Shavings today:

Overall Narrative, Thinking Vs Drawing and NAKED! Sketching: What I'm Learning About The Picture Book Creative Process - by Debbie Ridpath Ohi

I mentioned earlier that the members of my MiG Writers critique group have all posted their work goals for the coming year: here's the post. Thanks to Christy Farley (whose YA novel GILDED debuts this November) for putting this post together!

One of the reasons I'm so looking forward to the SCBWI Winter Conference in NYC later this month is because it'll be the first time that all the members of MiG Writers will be meeting in person!

You can find out more about us on our blog: http://migwriters.blogspot.com.

 I was thrilled to find out that the French version of I'M BORED was available for ordering online, and then got curious about the process.

How does a picture book get translated? Are there any issues that children's book writers and illustrators need to be aware of, when working a project?

I interviewed Tracy Philips from the S&S UK Translation Rights team about the process, over the I'M BORED Scrapbook Blog.

What a wonderful idea. :-)

You can find more info about Hallows Read on their official website.

Nominations are open for 2012 Cybils, the seventh annual Children's And YA Bloggers' Literary Awards:

Here's info about how you can nominate.

I've updated the I'M BORED blog with early sketches, pacing and advice for aspiring picture book writers.

As much as I enjoy e-mail and online message boards, there's nothing like being able to hear a person's voice and seeing their face while you're chatting. So it was exciting for me to finally be able to "meet" my MiG writer friend, Christina Farley, via Google+ Chat this afternoon. SO much fun!!

Christy posts about kidlit/YA in her Chocolate For Inspiration blog -- what a great blog title. :-) Christy's one of the most productive writers I know, so i was quizzing her about how she does it, and also got some classroom presentation advice.

And she has some VERY EXCITING book news which she hopes to able to share publicly very, very soon...

This week, I'm awarding the Inkygirl Golden Cupcake Award to Maggie Stiefvater for her The World According To Maggie blog.

I'm a huge fan of Maggie's books, including her Wolves Of Mercy Falls series and most recently, The Scorpio Races. Wonderful stories and characters, but I especially love this writer's voice.

Just some of the things I love about Maggie's blog:

- She talks about her writing process.

- Lots of great visuals. Not just photos but also Maggie's own drawings.

- Her wry, frank personality shines through everything she posts.

I've tweeted about Maggie's great posts frequently from @inkyelbows; her blog is one of my go-to blogs when it comes to looking for tweetable quotes. 

She also comes up with the BEST post titles, like her recent:

Why I'm A Writer & Not a Fighter Pilot

in which she answers reader questions about knowing one's goals as well as keeping true to yourself and your dreams despite other people. Do go visit her blog now! You'll be delighted, inspired and moved.

http://maggiestiefvater.blogspot.com

Established in July/2010, the  Inkygirl Golden Cupcake Award is given to blogs  or sites I find particularly inspirational to writers, especially those that may not already be well-known. Criteria is unapologetically subjective.

If you win the award, you do NOT have to display or acknowledge the award (but feel free, if so inclined). Just bask in the ephemeral, golden glory of online blog stardom and then move on, continuing to be an inspiration to the writing community. And THANK YOU for doing what you do.

Here is a list of other winners of the Inkygirl Golden Cupcake Award.

Just posted a comic in Writer Unboxed about author platforms and sheep, plus a winning Non-Denominational Spring Festival Lagomorph cartoon caption winner, PLUS my exciting two-book contract news for those who hadn't heard. :-)

As I mentioned earlier, my MiGwriters group is posting a series of interviews with our agents all this week.

Up today: Ginger Knowlton of Curtis Brown (MY agent, woohoo!)