11.15.2017: Free Books for Schools in Need

November 15, 2017 Anica Rissi

UPDATE (11.19.2017): Thanks to all of you who helped spread the word about these donations! The response has been overwhelming--I've already promised to send far more books than I originally budgeted to buy. I am going to fill all requests that have already come in (approximately 900 books), but unfortunately now I need to start turning new requests down. If you'd like to be among the first to know about future giveaways and other book news, please sign up for my newsletter (see sidebar).

This fall, I'm hoping to donate copies of the Anna, Banana chapter books and my picture book The Teacher's Pet to high-poverty public elementary schools* (meaning either Title I or schools where more than 70% of the students qualify for free or reduced-price meals). If that's your school, please be in touch! And if you know of a school in need, please encourage a teacher, librarian, or administrator there to reach out to me. My email is anicamroserissi at gmail dot com.

In the final weeks of 2016, I sent more than four hundred books to schools in twenty-three states. I hope to donate even more books this year.

If you're inclined to share this post to help spread the word, please do. You'll also find the below graphic in shareable form on my Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, and Twitter accounts. Thank you!

Anna Banana and The Teachers Pet donations.jpg

*U.S. schools only, due to shipping costs. Giveaway ends December 15, 2017.

The Anna, Banana chapter books are best for students in grades 1-4. For more information about the series, please click here. The Teacher's Pet, illustrated by Zachariah OHora, is best for students in Pre-K through graduate school. For more information about the book, including reviews and a peek inside, please click here.

6.20.2017: GULP! The Teacher's Pet is here!

June 20, 2017 Anica Rissi

*On the day the science project hatched, our whole class was amazed. We'd never seen Mr. Stricter so excited. "I always wanted a pet," he said.*

My first picture book, The Teacher's Pet, goes out into the world today! It's about a teacher who is so enamored of the new class pet, he can't see all the trouble it's causing. I had a lot of fun writing this silly, semi-autobiographical tale...and even more fun seeing how illustrator Zachariah OHora brought the story to life, telling a visual story that surprised (and delighted) even me.

(For those who don't know: Picture book writers and illustrators work separately for most of the process, and writers don't prescribe what should happen in the art. Instead, we try to leave lots of room in the text for illustrators to play, invent, and imagine new facets to the story--and that's where the magic happens.)

The book has been named one of The Best Children's and YA Books of June 2017 by Brightly, and one of the Best New Picture Books of June 2017 by The Children's Book Review.

In a starred review, Publishers Weekly wrote, "Rissi's very funny text is a model of understatement and restraint...allowing OHora to make the most of the story's physical comedy in thickly painted scenes spiked with neon orange. Mr. Stricter is a classic bumbler cut from Amelia Bedelia's cloth, and readers will hope that his class has more oddball tales in store."

Bookseller Todd Wellman selected The Teacher's Pet as a staff pick at Boswell Book Company, saying, "It's lovely to recommend a truly laugh-out-loud picture book in which the illustrations and text flatter each other so well. Rissi and OHora have devised a story that the reader will gleefully suspend disbelief for. Mr. Stricter has introduced a class pet, but it grows and grows into something unexpected that he loves but the students realize requires a different sort of compassion. All members of a classroom are shown to be contributors to the educational experience as the kids problem-solve and help their educational environment be successful."

I will be doing several book festival, library, and bookstore events in the next few months, including in Michigan, Maine, Georgia, New York, and New Jersey. If you're interested in coming to a The Teacher's Pet story time, I would love to see you there! Please visit my events page for more details.

The Teacher's Pet bookmarks and stickers for event attendees — *The Teacher's Pet* bookmarks and stickers for event attendees

6.6.2017: Watch Out for Wolf!

June 6, 2017 Anica Rissi

Picture-book news:

I'm the luckiest duck to get to work with editrix Rotem Moscovich and illustrator Charles Santoso (if you don't already know his work, check out the wonderful Ida, Always by Caron Levis and I Don't Like Koala by Sean Ferrell) on a new picture book featuring five little piggies and one very big surprise. Hey, piggies: Watch Out for Wolf!

Here's the announcement from Publishers Weekly:

Pre-order links won't be up for a while, but if you'd like to add the book on Goodreads, please click here.

Meanwhile, my first picture book, The Teacher's Pet, illustrated by Zachariah OHora, comes out in two weeks. It recently received a starred review from Publishers Weekly and was named one of the Best Children's and YA Books of June 2017 by the editors at Brightly. There's still time to pre-order a copy by following one of these links: B&N | Amazon | Indiebound | BAM | Target | iTunes | Indigo. I can't wait for you to meet Mr. Stricter, Bruno, and the clever kids who must save the day!