Bartography Express, December 2020
Hey there,
Way to go, us — we made it to December! I hope your Thanksgiving break was a satisfying one, and that you and yours are able to end this year on a healthy, happy note. Let's hang in there, OK?

I had such a good time last month doing my reading of The Nutcracker Comes to America that I thought I'd treat Bartography Express subscribers to another video readaloud, complete with goofy facial expressions (see above) and sound effects.

Through the end of December, please enjoy my performance of my picture book Mighty Truck. And feel free to make your own ridiculous faces and silly noises...

If you're in the gift-giving spirit, I hope you'll remember that there are lots of independent booksellers that employ local workers and support local economies, and that don't have names that begin with "A," end with "n," and feature a "mazo" there in the middle. These small businesses need our support.

And if you don't have a bookstore near where you live, there are plenty of online options that will allow you to send wrapped books without ever touching a roll of tape or braving the post office.

In fact, I asked on Twitter, "Which indie booksellers are offering gift-wrapping and shipping for online orders this holiday season?" and received several bookstore recommendations. Then I asked again, and received many more bookseller suggestions.
As for which books to send, "Best of 2020" lists are all over the place lately. But I must admit that I'm partial to these recent lists that have included my 2020 title All of a Sudden and Forever:





My other 2020 picture book, Fire Truck vs. Dragon, continues to be great fun to share with readers through my virtual school visits as well as through the $10 online presentations that illustrator Shanda McCloskey and I have been providing together.
We're doing one more of those before the year closes out: next Thursday, December 10, with a recording available for a week after that. Registration for that is available here.

The past two times we've done this, Shanda has demonstrated how to draw Dragon and how to draw Fire Truck, respectively. We've heard from lots of classroom teachers how much their students have enjoyed this part of our presentations.

Now Shanda says it's time to show how to recreate her favorite illustration from the entire book. (Any guesses?)

And in case that's not enticing enough, Shanda and I are giving away three-book bundles to some lucky attendees. Copies of Fire Truck vs. Dragon will be in there, of course, as will eight other titles in one bundle or another. We hope you'll join us and get in the running for the giveaways!
Speaking of giveaways, it's now time for this month's two-question Q&A — as well as time to say goodbye to this Bartography Express feature. Assuming that my preparations this month go well, January will bring the debut of a new video feature, a passion project of mine that will be paired with giveaways of new books by several authors. (Fingers crossed!)


If you’re a Bartography Express subscriber with a US mailing address and you want to be the winner of All Because You Matter, just say so in a reply to this email before 2021 arrives, and I’ll enter you in the drawing.

In the meantime, I invite you to learn more about the book and enjoy my two-question Q&A with Tami. Here's a bit of that:

Q: How has your experience in the creation and reception of All Because You Matter shaped your sense of what’s possible in picture books in general, and in your own work in particular?

A: This book has shown me that the sky is the limit for topics that picture book authors can write about...