Barbara Ann Mojica, M.A. S.A.S., S.D.A is a historian and retired educator. Her education career spans more than forty years serving as a teacher, special educator, principal, and school district administrator. Now retired, she provides education strategies and tips for parents and teachers through guest podcasting, book reviewing, teaching videos, and personal appearances. Barbara writes monthly historical articles for the Columbia Insider under the banner “Passages.” Using the whimsical Little Miss History character to narrate her book series, Barbara hopes to educate, entertain and inspire children to learn about historical people and places.The author teaches critical thinking skills that will empower our youth to become the leaders of tomorrow. Little Miss History’s antics make reading nonfiction a fun-filled adventure for all ages. She firmly believes, “If you don’t know your history, you don’t know what you’re talking about.” http://www.littlemisshistory.com

Awards

The Little Miss HISTORY book series has garnered more than two dozen awards including B.R.A.G. Medallions, International Book Excellence Awards, Purple Dragonfly, International Readers’ Favorite Awards, Eric Hoffer, and Independent Author Network Book of the Year Awards.

3 Fun Facts

1. I love the water but I can’t swim.
2. I can’t draw but I enjoy visiting art museums and collecting art.
3. I am super organized in my work, but my desk is messy!

Illustrator, cartoonist, writer and publisher, Victor has produced comic strips, comic books, coloring books, children’s books, authored websites, written poetry and screenplays. He is mostly self-taught in all these endeavors. “I’ve been writing and drawing since the age of five. I love producing art and stories so much I started my own publishing company in 1992. www.eugenus.com

Awards
The Cecil Hemley Memorial Award for poem “Friend or Foe.”
The BRAG Medallion Award for Captain CROSSBONES in The Treasure Hunt.
Hollywood Book Festival’s Award for Best Graphic Novel eugenus, The Next Step in Human Evolution!

Fun Facts

1. I once broke into my own office after locking myself out.
2. I was mistaken for Tony Danza in a casino he frequented.
3. I beat at chess a Columbia University Chess Champion 3 times in a row and left undefeated.

Torrey Maldonado was born and raised in Brooklyn’s Red Hook. He has taught in New York City public schools for over 25 years and his fast-paced, compelling stories are inspired by his and his students’ experiences. His popular young readers novels include What Lane?, which won many starred reviews and was cited by Oprah Daily and the NY Times for being essential to discuss racism and allyship; Tight won the Christopher Award, was an ALA Notable Book, and an NPR and Washington Post Best Book of the Year; and his first novel, Secret Saturdays, has stayed in print for over ten years. Learn more at torreymaldonado.com or connect on social media @torreymaldonado.

Awards
What Lane? is a Kirkus Best Book, a School Library Journal Best Book, a Washington Post Best Book, an NPR Best Book.
Tight is a Christopher Award winner, a Washington Post Best Book, and an ALA Notable Book.
Secret Saturdays is an ALA “Quick Pick”.

3 Fun Facts

1. I got hooked on comic books in the third grade. By middle school, I had almost two hundred collectibles. I also had a cat named Snow White and she peed on and scratched my collection down to fifty comics. So I secretly wish I had the super power of pausing and redirecting pets to pee in the right places freeze to prevent people from losing things we love.
2. I’m pretty sure that, wherever I am, no one in a five mile radius can beat me in Scrabble OR no one in a five mile radius would enjoy losing as much as me in Scrabble. Visit my table to play me and even if I lose, it will be fun to play!
3. As a teen, for about a month, I taped my ears to my head with black electrical tape because I thought that would flatten my then big ears. It didn’t work. Good thing that my skull in high school grew and caught up with my ears.

Florence Minor is an animal lover of the highest order, but how could she not be, having grown up in a family of animal lovers. From childhood on, dogs, cats, birds, and turtles have always shared her home.

Her books with her husband Wendell – If You Were a Penguin, If You Were a Panda Bear, How To Be a Bigger Bunny – all feature animals of various species, and she loves sharing that connection with children. Her new book, Smitten with Kittens, pays homage to all the entertaining felines, past and present, who have brought so much love, joy and laughter to her life.

Visit Florence at minorart.com and on Facebook and Instagram.

FEATURED BOOK 2023

Get smitten with kittens in this rhyming picture book perfect for read-alouds. There’s so much to love about kittens–from their cute little mews to their unstoppable mischief-making! Turn to the back of the book for fascinating facts. Perfect for kitty loving kiddos everywhere!

“The cuddle factor is high as the animals’ smudgy heads peek around the edges of the book’s opening pages…. A final close-up of one fuzzy feline ‘all curled up in a cozy lap’ is practically pettable.” —Publishers Weekly

AWARDS:

Pennsylvania One Book Every Young Child selection, Bank Street College of Education’s Best Children’s Books of the Year, and with Wendell: New England Independent Booksellers Association (NEIBA) President’s Award for lifetime achievement in arts and letters; Honoree of the Boston Public Library’s 27th annual Literary Light, which recognizes outstanding writers from the Northeast for their inspiring work.

3 Fun Facts

1. I just discovered that swimming with dogs is almost as much fun as swimming with dolphins!
2. I feed the chipmunks around my house on a teeny-tiny picnic table that a friend made for me.
3. I’ve always been a cloud watcher and love it when I see a cloud that looks like an animal.

Wendell Minor began his career as a book cover designer, creating iconic covers for noted authors David McCullough and Pat Conroy among many others. His transition to children’s book illustrator and author of over 60 award winning books continues to be very rewarding.

As a nature lover and history buff, Wendell loves sharing those interests with children through the books he has authored or co-authored with Jean Craighead George, Tony Johnston, Robert Burleigh, Charlotte Zolotow, Margaret Wise Brown, Buzz Aldrin, Mary Higgins Clark, and last but not least, his wife Florence.

His work has been exhibited in various museums and galleries throughout the country.

Visit Wendell at www.minorart.com and on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

FEATURED BOOK 2023

CROWBAR: The Smartest Bird in the World

A young boy finds a baby crow, abandoned, cold, and hungry. He takes him home, hoping to nurse him back to health. His grandpa disapproves — he thinks that crows are pests and thieves! The boy knows that the crow he names Crowbar is capable of learning more than how to eat, caw, and fly. But can he prove it?

“Minor’s art, done in graphite and gouache and enhanced digitally, offers realistic, meticulous snapshots of the crow and family, forming a tender interspecies familial portrait. Back matter includes more about crows, with a list of additional resources.” —Publishers Weekly

AWARDS:

The Cook Prize, Bank Street College of Education’s Best Children’s Books of the Year, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library selection, Pennsylvania One Book Every Young Child selection, ALA Notable Book, John Burroughs List of Nature Books for Young Readers, Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young Children, Outstanding Science Trade Books, the 2018-2019 Artist Laureate of the Norman Rockwell Museum, New England Independent Booksellers Association (NEIBA) President’s Award for lifetime achievement in arts and letters; Honoree of the Boston Public Library’s 27th annual Literary Light (with Florence Minor) which recognizes outstanding writers from the Northeast for their inspiring work.

3 Fun Facts

1. I like green bananas
2. I love crows.
3. I love dolphins