Nancy Hudgins
@nancyhudgins
🎈Celebrating🎈 Books Good Enough For You: The Storied Life of Ursula Nordstrom, Editor of Extraordinary Children's Books Rep’d: Rachel Orr, Prospect Agency #MG #SCBWI #BoydsMill #InkedVoices #nonfictionkidlit
📚 Newsletter rec: #MG #kidlitnonfiction HOW TO BUILD A HUMAN: IN SEVEN EVOLUTIONARY STEPS, by Pamela S. Turner, art by John Gurche. Turner’s steps: standing up, smashing rocks, getting swelled heads, taking a hike, inventing barbecue, starting to talk and becoming storytellers (!) Fun!
So fun to meet local teachers and librarians--and sign copies of my book--at Napa Bookmine's Educator Night!
📚 Rec from my newsletter #PB #kidlitnonfiction MANFISH: A STORY OF JACQUES COUSTEAU, by Jennifer Berne, illus. by Éric Puybaret. How Jacques Cousteau became Jacques Cousteau, well-told by a veteran biographer. The art is engaging, especially the pull-out page. One of my favorite #PB #biographies
📚 Rec from my newsletter #PB #kidlit BLUE FLOATS AWAY, by @100scopenotes.bsky.social, illus. by @grantdraws.bsky.social. A small iceberg floats away from his parents, starting an adventure that follows the water cycle. “Sneakily educational” said one reviewer. Mixed collage, crayon and painted art.
📚 Rec from my newsletter: #MG #Kidlitnonfiction THE FOG OF WAR: MARTHA GELLHORN AT THE D-DAY LANDINGS, by Michelle Jabès Corpora. Gellhorn talked/faked her way onto an LST headed for Normandy on D-Day. She was the only woman reporter on the beach.
📚 Rec from my newsletter: #MG #kidlit THE GHOST OF SPRUCE POINT, by @nancytandon.bsky.social Tweens on summer vacation come to believe a house is haunted and set out to prove (or disprove) it. Fast-paced. A great summer read, especially if you're on the coast of Maine, where it takes place.
📚 Rec from my newsletter: #PB #nonfictionkidlit Winner of 2026 Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award: THE POET AND THE BEES: A STORY OF THE SEASONS SYLVIA PLATH KEPT BEES, by Amy Novesky, illus. by Jessica Love. A lyrical picture book changing the narrative about Plath. The art is beautiful and lovely.
📚 Recommendation from my newsletter: #PB #kidlit THE ROUGH PATCH, written an illustrated by @brianlies.bsky.social. If you know a young one who is grieving a pet's death, you might try this one. A story of friendship, loss and renewal—and so—a happy ending.
📚 #MG #nonfictionkidlit rec from my newsletter: TWELVE DAYS IN MAY: FREEDOM RIDE, 1961, by 𝗟𝗮𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝗗𝗮𝗻𝗲 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗻𝗲𝗿. Telling the story in the present tense makes it more intense. Compelling narrative. Contemporaneous photographs. Studies in courage. #BeAnAmbassador
📚📚📚 #MG rec from my newsletter 365 DAYS TO ALASKA, by @cathycarrwrites.bsky.social Fish-out-of-water story about a girl who is uprooted from her family's off-the-grid existence in Alaska to suburban Connecticut. Well-drawn characters. Affirming. #kidlit #BeAnAmbassador
🎈📚 #PB #kidlitnonfiction recommendation from my newsletter HOW TO MAKE A BOOK (ABOUT MY DOG), by #bartography@bsky.social, illus. by @sarahhorne.bsky.social Chris lays out his process from idea through publication. The art is super cute. The dog steals the show. Chris is cute, too. #BeAnAmbassador
#PB Recommendation from my newsletter: Fiction: THE RABBIT LISTENED, by author/illus. Cori Doerrfeld. As a former mediator, I love that listening is at the core of this book! Heart-warming. #kidlit #BeAnAmbassador
Recommended #kidlit: #MG CITY SPIES, by @jamesponti.bsky.social. A series about MI6-recruited teenagers; each has different strengths. Page-turner. THE WOMAN WHO SPLIT THE ATOM: THE LIFE OF LISE MEITNER, by @marissarmoss.bsky.social. Physics-made-easy, even for me. Cool graphics. WWII. Gripping.
I had a wonderful conversation with @navsaria.bsky.social about #UrsulaNordstrom and BOOKS GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU. Such a thoughtful, kind man. Check out the Reach Out and Read podcast, wherever you listen. @reachoutandread.bsky.social
Recommended kidlit: #PB ANIMALS IN PANTS, by @suzylevinson.bsky.social, illus., by Kristen and Kevin Howdeshell. Laugh-out-loud poems. Fun art. It’s hilarious! HONEYBEE, by Candace Fleming, illus. Eric Rohmann. Amazing hero’s journey. Honeybees seen in an entirely new light. #BeAnAmbassador
Charlotte Zolotow's writing was as elegant as she was. Ursula edited all her books including the ones below. #kidlit
Charlotte Zolotow wrote more than 70 children’s books, including MR. RABBIT AND THE LOVELY PRESENT, illus. by #MauriceSendak, WHEN THE WIND STOPS, illus. by Joe Lasker, and WILLIAM’S DOLL, illus. by Wm. Pène du Bois. #UrsulaNordstrom edited all of these books. #kidlit 🧵2 0f 5
The thing I like best about the #kidlit #writingcommunity, is the generosity and welcoming attitude of so many wonderful creators. Not only is @kirstenwlarson.bsky.social a smart, painstakingly rigorous, successful #nonfictionkidlit author... 🧵1 of 3
#OTD in 1917, Gwendolyn Brooks was born. A Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, she wrote one book of poems for children: BRONZEVILLE BOYS AND GIRLS, edited by #UrsulaNordstrom and published in 1956. In 2007, HarperCollins re-released it with vibrant art by #FaithRinggold. Still in print. #kidlit #poetry
In May, 1945, Ruth Krauss's THE CARROT SEED, illus. by Crockett Johnson, was published. 🎈Happy Book Birthday!🎈 It's still in print. #UrsulaNordstrom suggested Ruth write for young children. In the #kidlit world, we always talk about agency. Ruth conveys agency in her MC in 101 words.
Award winning recording artist Barbara Rosenblat performed the audiobook for BOOKS GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU. We met at Sardi’s to celebrate! And yes, she’s as smart and fun in person as she is in her recording. And yes, that is her portrait on the wall behind her. #fun #nonfictionkidlit
Seen in the wild at the Mall at Short Hills @suzylevinson.bsky.social @100scopenotes.bsky.social
Dropped by the wonderful Books of Wonder in NYC today. They surprised me with all these books to sign! 🩷 Thank you !!! @booksofwonder.bsky.social
So 🎈exciting🎈 to see my book at Politics and Prose in Washington, D.C. Of course I had to sign it! If you live in, or are visiting, the D.C. metro area, this bookstore has a large, well-curated #kidlitnonfiction You won't want to miss it!
Found in the wild: EMILY SAW A DOOR by @melrosenberg.bsky.social, illus by Orit Magia— at Politics and Prose Bookstore in D.C.
Ever been to the fabulous bbgb bookstore in Richmond, VA? Look what I found in the wild @suzylevinson.bsky.social ! #kidlit #poetry
🎉Happy Book Birthday to🎉 COWBOYS AT THE BALLET: THE STORY OF CHOREOGRAPHER AGNES de MILLE, by @clairebobrow.bsky.social, illus. by Haria Urbinati. Bobrow masterfully conveys Agnes’ gritty determination to revolutionize ballet. Buy this now! It's wonderful! #PB #biography #kidlitnonfiction
How did I miss this pub date? 🎈Happy Book Birthday🎈 to INTO THE WILDERNESS, by @havenivy.bsky.social, illus. by August Zhang. Haven's #PB highlights a child's agency and touches on the lessons one can carry from hiking in the wilderness. Also great back matter about the "wilderness." #kidlit
New this month!!! Happy Birthday to MY SOMEONE: A PET ADOPTION STORY, written and illustrated by the talented @midnightatelier.bsky.social! An endearing #PB about a little stray dog who finds his "someone." #kidlit