Here's wishing every single hospital administrator who complied in advance a very wakes up in a cold anxious sweat every day until they a) reverse course and b) apologize.

Collective failure to repudiate Trumpism is how we got here. Throwing trans folks under the bus is how we got here. Denying the fact that healthcare is a human right is how we got here.

I don’t know what else to say. We are not getting through to enough people for some reason.

Art of three bunnies looking up at fireworks in the night sky. Text reasd year end roundup: All About Hope #kidlitart. Art by Anne Appert

December's topic for #KidLitArt chat will be - Year End Roundup: All About Hope

Join your hosts on Dec 18, 9pm EST/6pm PST for an hour-long chat about hope!

Banner art by @anneappert.bsky.social

It was so fun to get to table with @anneappert.bsky.social at the Newton Children’s Book Festival on Sunday! I saw so many people and failed utterly at taking photos… so here are two I managed and one from Victoria. They star the very cool @weyakindesigns.bsky.social and @andrewchacket.bsky.social !

Holiday Goodies & An Educator's Guide! Stickers, signed bookplates, and a new educator guide for Ava Lin

Lots of goodies in my newsletter this month, including free holiday swag, a new educator's guide for Ava Lin, my NCTE appearances schedule, and my 2026 Highlights Workshop with @kazwindness.bsky.social and @anneappert.bsky.social!⁠

vickyfang.substack.com/p/holiday-go...

Victoria K. Chapman takes a selfie with author, Phaea Crede at the Newton Children’s Book Festival.

Victoria K. Chapman takes a selfie with author, Andrew Hacket at the Newton Children’s Book Festival.

Victoria K. Chapman takes a selfie with authors and illustrators, Anne Appert and Adria Karlsson at the Newton Children’s Book Festival.

Victoria K. Chapman takes a selfie with author and illustrator, Adria Karlsson at the Newton Children’s Book Festival.

Had so much fun seeing friends, meeting new friends, and looking at and buying SO MANY BOOKS at the Newton Children’s Book Festival today! In photos: @phaeacrede.bsky.social @adriakarlsson.bsky.social @anneappert.bsky.social @andrewchacket.bsky.social
#kidlit #kidlitcommunity

Donate - Authors Against Book Bans Thank you for donating to Authors Against Book Bans. Your donation directly supports the freedom to read by powering our work with our partner organizations, bringing the author muscle to the fight to...

Everything we've accomplished over the last year has been with free tools & volunteer efforts. Now that we are officially a nonprofit, with your support we can do a whole lot more

Trans rights is a winning platform. Pro immigration is a winning platform. Taxing the rich is a winning platform. Affordable housing is a winning platform. Free childcare is a winning platform. Hating Andrew Cuomo is a winning platform. SOCIALISM IS A WINNING PLATFORM

Democrat Mikie Sherrill will win New Jersey governor’s race, CNN projects | CNN Politics Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill will win the race for governor in New Jersey, CNN’s Decision Desk projects, maintaining Democratic control of the seat one year after the state showed signs of shifting ...

6. Similar results followed in New Jersey, where Dem Mikie Sherrill won decisively. Her opponent, Jack Ciattarelli, ran a platform centered around the forced outing of trans students and opposition to gender-affirming care. His campaign pushed ads accusing Sherrill of “pushing LGBTQ+ on children."

"A Stunning Rebuke Of Anti-Trans Politics"—Dems Win Elections Nationwide Despite Anti-Trans Ads As election results poured in on Tuesday night, it became clear that Democrats were winning nationwide against anti-trans opponents.

1. On Tuesday Night, Democrats won elections nationwide in a stunning rebuke of anti-transgender politics.

From Virginia to New Jersey to New York and beyond, anti-trans candidates fell left and right after spending tons of time and money campaigning on hate.

Subscribe to support our journalism.

Rainbows Are Made of Visible Light: Thoughts As an LGBTQ Parent on National Coming Out Day - Mombian Today is National Coming Out Day, and as many of us queer parents know, coming out is not always a simple matter of finding the courage, but of balancing our needs and those of our children. Here are ...

Today is National Coming Out Day, and as many of us queer parents know, coming out is not always a simple matter of finding the courage, but of balancing our needs and those of our children. Here are my thoughts, plus some resources for LGBTQ parents. mombian.com/2025/10/11/r...

Child with black pigtails and a green hoodie gazes into a crystal ball sitting on a brown wooden chair. A friendly spider is perched on top of the crystal ball. Inside the crystal ball is a treehouse with a same size spider web built next to it and a tiny image of the kid and the spider waving at each other. In the top of the crystal ball are approaching rain clouds. All of the image is rendered in cut paper.

Got my 2nd piece done for #ABLArtFest - this one is for #TheCrystalBallReveals! This started out fun and ended up slightly ominous… what with the approaching rain clouds and all.
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@andreabrownlit.bsky.social #kidlit #illustration #cutpaper #picturebookillustration #itsybitsy #spider #treehouse

Four kids are trying to eat donuts hanging on strings without using their hands. The first one is a curly redheaded white kid dressed as a purple dragon and is cheating- using their hands to hold the donut. The second is a south Asian kid with straight black hair in a large pink bunny suit. The third is Black kid with an Afro and a hair pick, dressed up as a mad scientist - his donut has been stolen by a white dog. The dog is running away with the donut. The fourth kid is a smaller white kid dressed as a robot who has not gotten any donuts yet. There’s a large tree with fall leaves and a stone wall in the background.

My 1st piece for #ABLArtFest - the prompt was #fallfestivities!

I adore the sneaky dragon, the determined bunny, and the trying-ever-so-hard robot…. But the mad scientist and dog for sure “steal” the scene (see what I did there?!).

#kidlitart #illustration #cutpaper @andreabrownlit.bsky.social

BOOK DEAL: Megan Ilnitzki at HarperCollins has acquired, at auction, Medusa's Pet Rock and a second untitled mythology-based picture book by Steph Lau (The Abominable Snow Dancer). When it's Medusa's turn to take the class pet home, she tries to be careful, but inevitably, ZAP. Medusa's teacher won't give up, though, and she's sure that this time, she's found a class pet that even Medusa can enjoy. Publication is planned for fall 2026; Alexandra Levick at Writers House sold world rights. A headshot of a smiling woman with a felt plushie snake curled around her neck. Below is a chubby toddler Medusa, trying to share her juice box with her pet rock.

Pleased* to announce my second picture book! MEDUSA'S PET ROCK is slated to launch Fall 2026, with @harpercollins.bsky.social

*Pleasssssssed

Thanks to my agent @allielevick.bsky.social and editor Megan Ilnitzki for loving this story as much as I do ❤️🐍🏺 Can't wait for you all to read it!
#kidlit

I'll be co-teaching an introductory course on graphic novels this fall via @highlightsfound.bsky.social! If you've wanted to make a GN but don't know where to start, this might be the workshop for you.

I'm honored to teach alongside @mythjae.bsky.social & @anneappert.bsky.social for this course! 💞

If you want to join the #KidLitArt chat tonight, here's how! 👇

A promo for the From Story To Script: An Introduction to Writing Graphic Novels course, showing photos of the three lecturers, Cynthia Yuan Cheng, Jasmine walls, and special guest Anne Appert. This is a 4-week online course from October 23 - November 13

I'll be a guest lecturer for @highlightsfound.bsky.social ✨
If you or anyone you know has been interested in getting into graphic novels, this is the course for you! Taught by @cynthiaycheng.bsky.social myself and @anneappert.bsky.social

Register here: www.highlightsfoundation.org/workshop/fro...

Painting of a cat in the colors of the bi flag

Happy #BiWeek ! 💗💜💙

I personally like to cross them off with highlighters. That way at the end of the day I can see what I did and I have a very colorful (sometimes sparkly) ta da! List.

An illustration of a mole on a purple watercolor background opening a jar of fireflies that is exploding into fireworks above the mole’s head.

An illustration of two brownstones with flowers in the windows and bushes along the sidewalk. A parade of diverse children walks in front of them holding or wearing towels and carrying toys. At the bottom of the steps stands a kid dressed in a koala onesie watching the other children.

An illustration of a tree on a snowy day. In the tree are various sized mailboxes. A beaver in a winter hat and carrying a satchel delivers mail in the lowest mailbox. A bird in earmuffs carries a letter above the beaver.

A purple field of fireflies at sunset has bunnies in pjs chasing the fireflies and watching the stars. A bunny in front holds a floating star in their paws.

What a lovely description. I always strive for a painterly, textured style with my work! Here are samples of some of the styles I do (including some watercolor type illustrations) and my portfolio. Thank you for considering!

www.anneappert.com

Hey #kidlit illustrators!

We're beginning work on new Christmas/nighttime themed picture book. I'm looking for someone with a painterly, textured, and literary style capable conjuring magic, light, and wonder.

Please respond w/ samples + folio link.
Please no emails/DMs.

💙❤️ #artcommissions

Omg this is adorable

Here's a lovely photo of a plethora of my fabric art creatures. There's a green fur floor and a galaxy print fabric background in the pic. Here are some of the creatures: a watermelon ghost with a green body and pink face and twinkly black eyes and a little frown. There's a black crablike creature with wide set blue eyes and purple eyeshadow. She has red lips, four tentacle-like arms and an embroidered rainbow flower on her forehead. There's a black ghost bag covered with red embroidered flowers. There's a watermelon ghost bag. There are two yellow creatures. Each has three eyes, two tentacles, and mouths full of sharp teeth. There's a cosmic moth sitting on a little chair. The moth is black with a gray face, twinkly red eyes, and a wide grin full of sharp teeth. The moth is covered with hand-embroidered stars and planets of various sizes and colors.

Hey Bluesky, could you help me spread the word about my Big Cartel shop? A sale or two would be a colossal help.

All of my creations are designed, sewn, and hand-embroidered by me. Each takes many hours to make.

jeremycreature.bigcartel.com

Thank you!

This is so amazing!! Congrats!!!

Image of a book announcement with two headshots to the left and text that reads “ Mary-Kate Gaudet at Little, Brown has acquired world rights to Happybaras, a picture book by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen, illustrated by Anne Appert, about two capybaras with different outlooks on life who take a trip to Alaska. Publication is set for Summer 2026; Rachel Orr at Prospect Agency represented the author, and Charlotte Wenger at Prospect Agency represented the illustrator.

My next picture book was announced on Tuesday! So thrilled I get to illustrate these wonderful happybaras and their adventures, as written by my friend @sudiptabq.bsky.social .

New book deals on the way from @sudiptabq.bsky.social @anneappert.bsky.social @rebeccaefbarone.bsky.social + more buff.ly/JPLQ8ig

We read books by LGBTQ+ authors before. We will read books by LGBTQ+ authors now. We will read books by LGBTQ+ authors tomorrow. Literature is for and by everyone.

Hey Bluesky, could you help me spread the word about my Etsy shop? A sale or two would be a colossal help.

All of my creations are designed, hand-sewn, hand-embroidered by me. Each takes many hours to make.

jeremycreature.etsy.com

Porter Square Books Writers in Residence Program Porter Square Books will once again be hosting Writers in Residence in 2025

And while we're reminding folks about stuff with deadlines, applications are now open for our 2026 Writers in Residence! Assuming we make it to 2026, we'll once again welcome an author for adults & an author for young readers into our community! portersquarebooks.com/porter-squar...