Cheryl B. Klein
@cherylklein.bsky.social
I notice things for a living. Editorial director, Workman Kids; author of THE MAGIC WORDS: WRITING GREAT BOOKS FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS and five picture books, most recently IT’S HARD TO BE A BABY; 6yo mom; Virgo/goofball. Opinions my own.
Pinned
Cheryl B. Klein
@cherylklein.bsky.social
· Nov 11
Hello, new followers! I'm a children's book editor with 24 years in the business & author of THE MAGIC WORDS: WRITING GREAT BOOKS FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS and five picture books. I post about books, writing craft, politics, publishing, NYC, my 5-year-old son, & things that make me laugh.
Reposted by Cheryl B. Klein
More National Book Award-winning writers need to spend the later portion of their careers picking one billionaire and just absolutely going to town.
November 11, 2025 at 3:34 AM
More National Book Award-winning writers need to spend the later portion of their careers picking one billionaire and just absolutely going to town.
Reposted by Cheryl B. Klein
This isn't "internal recriminations." It's voters expressing overwhelming opposition to what the people they elected to represent them are doing, and anyone--either in journalism or politics--who characterizes it as infighting is either not seeing and hearing what's right in front of them or lying.
The sooner we get past internal recriminations and back to fighting united, the better off we all are — the likelier our victory next November.
November 10, 2025 at 11:14 PM
This isn't "internal recriminations." It's voters expressing overwhelming opposition to what the people they elected to represent them are doing, and anyone--either in journalism or politics--who characterizes it as infighting is either not seeing and hearing what's right in front of them or lying.
Reposted by Cheryl B. Klein
Unfortunately still true bsky.app/profile/adam...
American politics makes a lot more sense when you realize that the GOP is afraid of pissing off the GOP base, and the Dems are afraid of pissing off the GOP base, but neither party is afraid of pissing off the Dem base.
November 10, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Unfortunately still true bsky.app/profile/adam...
ICYMI for writers from over the weekend
For querying writers: I did a critiques today for an SCBWI conf & got questions about what kind of books you can cite as comps, & I think it’s worth distinguishing between *pitching* comps and *selling* comps. A brief 🧵:
November 10, 2025 at 2:47 PM
ICYMI for writers from over the weekend
Reposted by Cheryl B. Klein
Maybe Zohran Mamdani should have come out for ending the shutdown so Democratic Senators could have opposed it.
November 10, 2025 at 4:02 AM
Maybe Zohran Mamdani should have come out for ending the shutdown so Democratic Senators could have opposed it.
Fine, I’ll do it. I’m a resident of New York State and I’ll primary Chuck Schumer.
#IVolunteerAsTribute
#IVolunteerAsTribute
November 10, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Fine, I’ll do it. I’m a resident of New York State and I’ll primary Chuck Schumer.
#IVolunteerAsTribute
#IVolunteerAsTribute
Reposted by Cheryl B. Klein
Every educated adult in the U.S. knows this but the senate shouldn't exist. There is no justification for North Dakota and South Dakota to have four senators between them when the combined population of both states is smaller than that of Chicago.
November 10, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Every educated adult in the U.S. knows this but the senate shouldn't exist. There is no justification for North Dakota and South Dakota to have four senators between them when the combined population of both states is smaller than that of Chicago.
You know how we say TACO for Trump Always Chickens Out? Feels like we should call our senators DOLLs — Dems (who) Only Like Losing.
They caved in March so they could get a better deal now. They’re caving now so they can get a better deal in some indeterminate future. The better deal is always just beyond their reach, but continuing to cave will get them there. And if you don’t agree with that, you don’t understand Politics,
November 10, 2025 at 3:51 AM
You know how we say TACO for Trump Always Chickens Out? Feels like we should call our senators DOLLs — Dems (who) Only Like Losing.
Reposted by Cheryl B. Klein
This is predatory capitalism. They gave tax breaks to billionaires so that folks could get bills like this for healthcare.
I thought my new health insurance premium was going to be $350 per month until I got this letter informing me that it would be $1,228.28 PER MONTH. I CURRENTLY PAY $50. Is my math mathing? Is that.... a 2,356.42% increase?
2256.42%????
TWO THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED FIFTY SIX POINT FORTY TWO PERCENT😩
2256.42%????
TWO THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED FIFTY SIX POINT FORTY TWO PERCENT😩
November 10, 2025 at 1:23 AM
This is predatory capitalism. They gave tax breaks to billionaires so that folks could get bills like this for healthcare.
I have D senators (effing Schumer himself!) and I just called & left a message saying this—no donations to D senators as long as he’s leader & keeps giving in. This whole thing is shameful, spineless, stupid.
Have R senators? (Like me?) Call Schumer’s office to tell him you will never donate to another D senate campaign again as long as he’s Senate leader. Tell him this deal is a shameful joke and a betrayal.
(202) 224-6542
(202) 224-6542
I just did this and if nothing else it was cathartic. I said I would make it my life’s mission to make sure there’s a primary challenger for any D involved in this deal, it’s fucking embarrassing.
November 10, 2025 at 1:21 AM
I have D senators (effing Schumer himself!) and I just called & left a message saying this—no donations to D senators as long as he’s leader & keeps giving in. This whole thing is shameful, spineless, stupid.
At the absolutely stunning Brooklyn Museum for today’s Brooklyn Children’s Book Fair. Open today until 3:30, lots of great authors, artists, & activities on a rainy day. Come on through!
November 9, 2025 at 3:49 PM
At the absolutely stunning Brooklyn Museum for today’s Brooklyn Children’s Book Fair. Open today until 3:30, lots of great authors, artists, & activities on a rainy day. Come on through!
Reposted by Cheryl B. Klein
Loving today's news that the mysterious "fedora man" outside the Louvre heist was actually a 15-year-old museum visitor who dresses like a 1940s French detective all the time, just because. apnews.com/article/louv...
Fedora man unmasked: Meet the teen behind the Louvre mystery photo
Fifteen-year-old Pedro Elias Garzon Delvaux has become an internet sensation after an Associated Press photo captured him outside the Louvre on the day of a crown jewels heist.
apnews.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Loving today's news that the mysterious "fedora man" outside the Louvre heist was actually a 15-year-old museum visitor who dresses like a 1940s French detective all the time, just because. apnews.com/article/louv...
Reposted by Cheryl B. Klein
For querying writers: I did a critiques today for an SCBWI conf & got questions about what kind of books you can cite as comps, & I think it’s worth distinguishing between *pitching* comps and *selling* comps. A brief 🧵:
November 8, 2025 at 8:08 PM
For querying writers: I did a critiques today for an SCBWI conf & got questions about what kind of books you can cite as comps, & I think it’s worth distinguishing between *pitching* comps and *selling* comps. A brief 🧵:
Reposted by Cheryl B. Klein
I get this a lot too. I don't use ChatGPT or any LLMs in my work because I want my writing to sound like me, not like the averaged-out voice of the internet. But also, writing is thinking, and thinking is a habit. I don't want to get out of that habit.
A friend recently texted me the same thing. “Do you really not use ChatGPT?!” It was a sign of where we are culturally on this. People are compelled to use it but also starting to question the normalcy?
Recently met someone who was very surprised to hear I didn’t use ChatGPT or any LLM.
I said my job depended on doing distinctive work. That was my selling point. If I started to sound like ChatGPT and turn out what it did, then how on earth could I justify doing it? What would that make me?
I said my job depended on doing distinctive work. That was my selling point. If I started to sound like ChatGPT and turn out what it did, then how on earth could I justify doing it? What would that make me?
November 8, 2025 at 1:43 PM
I get this a lot too. I don't use ChatGPT or any LLMs in my work because I want my writing to sound like me, not like the averaged-out voice of the internet. But also, writing is thinking, and thinking is a habit. I don't want to get out of that habit.
Reposted by Cheryl B. Klein
I feel like we have the opportunity to turn David Lynch's quote into this moment's "Keep Calm and Carry On" and it's a far better rallying cry too.
November 7, 2025 at 1:15 PM
I feel like we have the opportunity to turn David Lynch's quote into this moment's "Keep Calm and Carry On" and it's a far better rallying cry too.
My councilwoman! Principled AND good at constituent service.
In 2021 a single, Muslim, Bangladeshi young woman raised in Kensington got elected to the NY City Council in D39, the district that de Blasio and Lander had represented. Her name is Shahana Hanif and she won re-election in 2025 with a remarkable 70% of the vote against seriously funded opposition.
November 8, 2025 at 3:39 AM
My councilwoman! Principled AND good at constituent service.
Reposted by Cheryl B. Klein
But god forbid a kid should pick out a library book without parental consent!
LAUSD, the second-largest school district in the country, has enabled chatbots on student devices without even notifying parents or providing any means of opting out.
I seem to remember whole congressional hearings about the terrible destructive force that is violence in video games and yet, there is a very strange quiet about an unregulated technology that coaches people to suicide.
November 7, 2025 at 2:31 PM
But god forbid a kid should pick out a library book without parental consent!
Reposted by Cheryl B. Klein
Were you thrilled & motivated by election results on Tuesday and want in on the next one? If you're a published writer, join us! We provide resources, connect each other to collective actions, and support each other!
AABB Author Sign-Up Form
Hello! We're Authors Against Book Bans, a group of authors who’ve come together to protect and promote the freedom to read on both the national and local levels. We’re creating a network of authors to...
docs.google.com
November 7, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Were you thrilled & motivated by election results on Tuesday and want in on the next one? If you're a published writer, join us! We provide resources, connect each other to collective actions, and support each other!
Reposted by Cheryl B. Klein
making Jacob the stereotypical Bluesky user is the rudest and truest attack anyone has ever made on us
November 6, 2025 at 11:36 PM
making Jacob the stereotypical Bluesky user is the rudest and truest attack anyone has ever made on us
Reposted by Cheryl B. Klein
People are On Here begging for food. People are on the street begging for food. People are starving to death in the United States, in Sudan, in Palestine. And we're letting Elon Musk have A TRILLION FUCKING DOLLARS.
November 7, 2025 at 3:18 AM
People are On Here begging for food. People are on the street begging for food. People are starving to death in the United States, in Sudan, in Palestine. And we're letting Elon Musk have A TRILLION FUCKING DOLLARS.
Reposted by Cheryl B. Klein
To put this in scale, Elon Musk's salary from Tesla alone could fund the SNAP program for the entire country into 2034.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk scored a resounding victory on Thursday as shareholders approved a pay package of as much as $878 billion over the next decade, endorsing his vision of morphing the EV maker into an AI and robotics juggernaut.
Tesla shareholders approve $878 billion pay plan for Elon Musk
Tesla CEO Elon Musk scored a resounding victory on Thursday as shareholders approved a pay package of as much as $878 billion over the next decade, endorsing his vision of morphing the EV maker into an AI and robotics juggernaut.
reut.rs
November 6, 2025 at 10:19 PM
To put this in scale, Elon Musk's salary from Tesla alone could fund the SNAP program for the entire country into 2034.
Reposted by Cheryl B. Klein
Rep. Yassamin Ansari has set up a table and this sign outside Speaker Johnson’s office.
November 6, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Rep. Yassamin Ansari has set up a table and this sign outside Speaker Johnson’s office.