NEVER GIVE UP: AN INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR DEBBIE DADEY AND ILLUSTRATOR JULIANA OAKLEY

Meet Hungarian American biochemist Katalin “Kati” Karikó. She became fascinated by science as a child and grew up determined to find a way to use messenger RNA—a copy of a part of DNA that provides cells with instructions to make proteins—to help fight illness. Never Give Up: Dr. Kati Karikó and the Race for the Future of Vaccines follows her journey from her childhood in rural Hungary to leading the way in the creation of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.

Today author Debbie Dadey and illustrator Juliana Oakley join us to discuss the inspiration behind their work and their hopes for young readers as they discover Dr. Karikó for the first time.

Here are the highlights from our publishing partners’ Spring 2022 lists! From picture books to graphic novels, nonfiction about perennial favorite topics like space and dinosaurs, diverse eReadalongs, board books, and high-low fiction, there’s something for everyone from our favorite publishers.

We are so pleased to share that we have added a new picture book publisher, Soaring Kite Books, to the Lerner Publisher Services roster. Soaring Kite Books are uplifting and diverse children’s books that give a voice and a presence to underrepresented characters. Building off the pillars of diverse representation, family values, self-esteem, and kindness, the vision of Soaring Kite Books is to build a collection of books by diverse authors that parents and readers can trust. Read on to learn more about the inaugural Soaring Kite Books list!

Are you pigeonholing your picture books, limiting them to just primary grades? Gain insights from librarians and literacy luminaries Betsy Bird, Cicely Lewis, and Susannah Richards as they discuss the benefits of and strategies for using picture books with older students—including middle grade and high schoolers.

Summer’s here and you know what that means, right? FALL PREVIEWS! Take a look inside to get the scoop on all our forthcoming illustrated and photographic picture books from Carolrhoda and Millbrook Press.