We stand alongside over 100 grassroots and national advocacy organizations, publishers, booksellers, parent groups, and professional associations in opposition to H.R. 7661.
Want to help? Use the @_everylibrary_ action center to urge your representative to vote NO, or better, yet, to not take it up for a vote. /hapf2m9r
I remember struggling to read. There were days I felt my friends were passing me by. Words on the page might as well have been shapes pressed against the wrong-sized holes. Then my mom brought home physical books that read the words aloud. That’s when things began to change. Listening while seeing words on the page is how I learned to read.
Next year, you’ll meet Colton, a 12-year-old boy from Raleigh, NC (with ties to Pittsburgh) who has hyperlexia. We often think of hyperlexia as “reading early,” but it can come with challenges: difficulty with comprehension, trouble recalling words, social struggles, language delays, and more.
Colton shares his struggles in his journal and soon discovers he’s not alone. His dad, a well-known former baseball player, carries a literacy secret of his own.
I want you to think about the people around you: your coworker, a neighbor, a family member in your home, or even a stranger walking down the street. Now consider the real possibility that they grapple with functional illiteracy. One in five people do.
Some learning struggles stay hidden, especially when the world favors embarrassment and shame over honesty and help. Other struggles are forced into the open and sometimes the only way forward is to ask questions, seek understanding, and challenge assumptions.
I hope WORDS FAIL opens honest conversations about functional illiteracy and shows children, like the child I dedicated this book to, that they are powerful no matter how they process words.
@galltzacker@agentzacker@penguinrandomhouse@penguinkids@carnegielibrary@carnegiemellon@rifpittsburgh@louisvillefreepubliclibrary@carmichaelsbookstore@carmkidsbooks@kyhumanities
Are you a Middle Grade author and/or illustrator wondering how to make sense of the current market? @agentzacker has some advice about how to keep creating for this key age group.
It’s pub day for Come Catch a Dream! Within its pages is my ode to perseverance and always knowing failure is only a sign to get back up, try again and spin.
Huge thank you to my agent, @agentzacker who took this dream from imagination to page.
My editor, @marthamihalick who saw my words and heard the message within. @isleniamil for her heartfelt brilliant work! I’m still in awe! Everyone at @greenwillowbooks@harperkids who had a hand in creating this book!
And as always, shout out to the kids. 💕📖💕
@galltzacker@harperkids #picturebook #childrensbook #kidlit #iceskating #figureskating #kidlitreview @picturebookauthor #authorgram #iceskating⛸❄️ #perserverance #family #familylife #love #library #librarian #librarylife📚
Happy book birthday to Liftoff!: How the Apollo Moon Missions Made Alma Thomas’s Art Soar
The African American abstract painter Alma Thomas created more than twenty paintings inspired by the Apollo Moon Mission. This STEAM picture book takes a close look at the creation of one of those paintings “Snoopy Sees a Sunrise” and at the Apollo 10 Mission which was nicknamed the “dress rehearsal” for the man’s first walk on the Moon.
Please join me this Sunday November 9th at the Brooklyn Museum Children’s Book Fair 11am-3:30pm. I’ll be reading LIFTOFF! And leading an art activity for kids at 12pm.
AND…
You’re invited to the LIFTOFF! launch party at the Sugar Hill Children’s Musuem on November 16th at 2pm.
There will be a reading, book-signing, art activity, refreshments AND a raffle of five copies of LIFTOFF!
Links in bio
@galltzacker@galltzackerart@lernerbooks@instachinz@carkneetoe@agentzacker
Been thinking a ton about Katie. And Mami. Always Mami. And because I feel helpless, I’ve decided to honor Katie’s life and legacy. If you feel as I do, please join me in any way you see fit. Closer to Free link in my bio 🚲💔
