Jennifer Harris
@mypbjam.bsky.social
Picture Book Writer. English Prof. http://mypbjam.com (she/her)
#kidlit #SCBWI #CANSCAIP Rep'd by Jackie Kaiser, Westwood
#kidlit #SCBWI #CANSCAIP Rep'd by Jackie Kaiser, Westwood
I was fortunate to do a fall course with Kyo Maclear, and also attended CANSCAIP in Toronto, where you can do one-on-one meetings with editors. Both turned into community building opportunities. This is what I love about Bookish, which I host--I meet fabulous people and learn so much #kidlitchat
November 12, 2025 at 2:20 AM
I was fortunate to do a fall course with Kyo Maclear, and also attended CANSCAIP in Toronto, where you can do one-on-one meetings with editors. Both turned into community building opportunities. This is what I love about Bookish, which I host--I meet fabulous people and learn so much #kidlitchat
In Toronto and feeling witchy? Here's the event for you! @picturebookseh.bsky.social
October 15, 2025 at 5:02 PM
In Toronto and feeling witchy? Here's the event for you! @picturebookseh.bsky.social
My undergrad English class on Young Adult Literature has just decreed Isaac Blum’s THE LIFE AND CRIMES OF HOODIE ROSEN meets the criteria for Young Teen Lit.... Thoughts? @youngteenlit.bsky.social
October 2, 2025 at 2:50 PM
My undergrad English class on Young Adult Literature has just decreed Isaac Blum’s THE LIFE AND CRIMES OF HOODIE ROSEN meets the criteria for Young Teen Lit.... Thoughts? @youngteenlit.bsky.social
In order to stay creative, I need to make time to read. I'm holding too much in my head related to my day job, volunteering, parenting, etc. Books are a palate cleanser for my brain. Latest obsession below! #kidlitchat
April 16, 2025 at 1:13 AM
In order to stay creative, I need to make time to read. I'm holding too much in my head related to my day job, volunteering, parenting, etc. Books are a palate cleanser for my brain. Latest obsession below! #kidlitchat
Just me, over on Instagram, @mypbjam, talking about Easter witches, shark girls, picture books, and what kidlit editors are apparently looking for in this weird moment... #kidlit #picturebooks
April 15, 2025 at 11:14 AM
Just me, over on Instagram, @mypbjam, talking about Easter witches, shark girls, picture books, and what kidlit editors are apparently looking for in this weird moment... #kidlit #picturebooks
I run a wild instagram account where I talk about children's books by staging scenes with dolls. Every week, my family brainstorms ideas, builds furniture, sets, and props. Handle there is also @mypbjam #kidlitchat
April 9, 2025 at 1:31 AM
I run a wild instagram account where I talk about children's books by staging scenes with dolls. Every week, my family brainstorms ideas, builds furniture, sets, and props. Handle there is also @mypbjam #kidlitchat
we're pretty spread out. But my local kidlit authors have gone bowling recently, and are planning a potluck #kidlitchat
January 15, 2025 at 2:19 AM
we're pretty spread out. But my local kidlit authors have gone bowling recently, and are planning a potluck #kidlitchat
Still trying to figure out Instagram for author community. I feel like it’s a good place to amplify the work of others, which has led to me connecting with people I wouldn’t otherwise. But is it community? Not sure... #kidlitchat
January 15, 2025 at 2:16 AM
Still trying to figure out Instagram for author community. I feel like it’s a good place to amplify the work of others, which has led to me connecting with people I wouldn’t otherwise. But is it community? Not sure... #kidlitchat
Writing resolutions for 2025: be accountable to my kidlit community by making sure I'm giving back. As part of that, I'll be hosting a monthly picture book club overseen by SCBWI-Canada East. Still figuring out what else I can take on that's manageable! #kidlitchat
January 8, 2025 at 2:15 AM
Writing resolutions for 2025: be accountable to my kidlit community by making sure I'm giving back. As part of that, I'll be hosting a monthly picture book club overseen by SCBWI-Canada East. Still figuring out what else I can take on that's manageable! #kidlitchat
Hard to narrow down favorite #picturebooks from 2024! Definitely: Champ by Payam Ebrahimi, Tove and the Island With No Address by Lauren Soloy, X. Fang’s We Are Definitely Human… and my book! The Keeper of Stars (illus Dorothy Leung). Because you get to love your own work, right?! #kidlitchat
December 18, 2024 at 2:08 AM
Hard to narrow down favorite #picturebooks from 2024! Definitely: Champ by Payam Ebrahimi, Tove and the Island With No Address by Lauren Soloy, X. Fang’s We Are Definitely Human… and my book! The Keeper of Stars (illus Dorothy Leung). Because you get to love your own work, right?! #kidlitchat
The most extravagant thing I can imagine--a stay at Sophie Blackall's Milkwood retreat. Only thing better would be if they insisted everyone dress in their coziest clothes #kidlitchat #picturebooks
December 11, 2024 at 2:25 AM
The most extravagant thing I can imagine--a stay at Sophie Blackall's Milkwood retreat. Only thing better would be if they insisted everyone dress in their coziest clothes #kidlitchat #picturebooks
Main problem with teaching a class in #picturebooks: I can no longer navigate my office floor, and I keep realizing that when I want a book at home, it's at work! #kidlitchat
December 4, 2024 at 2:22 AM
Main problem with teaching a class in #picturebooks: I can no longer navigate my office floor, and I keep realizing that when I want a book at home, it's at work! #kidlitchat
Sometimes, even magical intervention isn't enough to help with bedtime.... (from my forthcoming #picturebook THE WITCHING HOUR, illus Adelina Lirius)... #picturebooks
December 3, 2024 at 12:56 PM
Sometimes, even magical intervention isn't enough to help with bedtime.... (from my forthcoming #picturebook THE WITCHING HOUR, illus Adelina Lirius)... #picturebooks
Forever grateful to the editors who champion and acquire my picture books--but also deserving of celebration: every publicity and marketing person who gets my books onto shelves and into the hands of readers. The ones on this one are KILLING IT with a riotous almost-NSFW sales pitch! #kidlitchat
November 27, 2024 at 2:16 AM
Forever grateful to the editors who champion and acquire my picture books--but also deserving of celebration: every publicity and marketing person who gets my books onto shelves and into the hands of readers. The ones on this one are KILLING IT with a riotous almost-NSFW sales pitch! #kidlitchat
Dangers of teaching a creative writing class in #picturebooks: office floors become impassable! And it's hard to resist buying *just one more book* to share with students. Tell me your favourites of 2024--what should I add?
November 21, 2024 at 2:54 PM
Dangers of teaching a creative writing class in #picturebooks: office floors become impassable! And it's hard to resist buying *just one more book* to share with students. Tell me your favourites of 2024--what should I add?
Time for our annual reading of THE DUCHESS BAKES A CAKE
November 18, 2024 at 9:14 PM
Time for our annual reading of THE DUCHESS BAKES A CAKE
Happy to find the #kidlit people here. You all deserve some recognition! (I'd have photographed my actual #sussexlustreware mug here, but it's in the bedroom where the SO is sdozing, and I got up early to write.)
November 16, 2024 at 12:06 PM
Happy to find the #kidlit people here. You all deserve some recognition! (I'd have photographed my actual #sussexlustreware mug here, but it's in the bedroom where the SO is sdozing, and I got up early to write.)
In which a #picturebook author gets an advance big enough to buy out her siblings' share of a lux Cape Cod beach house--which I'm guessing is about $400,000. AND THAT'S JUST THE ADVANCE. More fantastical than anything a #kidlt author would write...! 😆 #kidlitchat #authorlife
November 15, 2024 at 3:23 AM
In which a #picturebook author gets an advance big enough to buy out her siblings' share of a lux Cape Cod beach house--which I'm guessing is about $400,000. AND THAT'S JUST THE ADVANCE. More fantastical than anything a #kidlt author would write...! 😆 #kidlitchat #authorlife
Love it! I use dolls and things we make to post about books and writing over on IG (@mypbjam) #kidlitchat
November 13, 2024 at 2:25 AM
Love it! I use dolls and things we make to post about books and writing over on IG (@mypbjam) #kidlitchat
Hi #kidlitchat! I'm a pb author and professor--they even let me teach pb writing. I also run a FB group on marketing/publicity for traditionally published kidlit authors. Always happy to chat
November 13, 2024 at 2:07 AM
Hi #kidlitchat! I'm a pb author and professor--they even let me teach pb writing. I also run a FB group on marketing/publicity for traditionally published kidlit authors. Always happy to chat
"it makes children’s fiction look like something cheap and thin, instead of what it is – a literature with its own strangenesses, its own rigours, its own power.”
November 13, 2024 at 12:50 AM
"it makes children’s fiction look like something cheap and thin, instead of what it is – a literature with its own strangenesses, its own rigours, its own power.”
summer cottage reading for the youngest is a mix of classics, books picked up at the 2nd hand store, and new books from the independent stores we pick on the road trip. The oldest has Cherie Dimaline's new YA novel, Lamar Giles' SPIN, and a rewriting of Austen, PRIDE AND PREMEDITATION #kidlitchat
July 24, 2024 at 1:08 AM
summer cottage reading for the youngest is a mix of classics, books picked up at the 2nd hand store, and new books from the independent stores we pick on the road trip. The oldest has Cherie Dimaline's new YA novel, Lamar Giles' SPIN, and a rewriting of Austen, PRIDE AND PREMEDITATION #kidlitchat
I hear May the fourth has some star connection--maybe it's my Waterloo book launch for THE KEEPER OF STARS? Seriously, what does one wear for a book launch on Star Wars day?
April 30, 2024 at 1:01 AM
I hear May the fourth has some star connection--maybe it's my Waterloo book launch for THE KEEPER OF STARS? Seriously, what does one wear for a book launch on Star Wars day?
EXCITING NEWS! THE KEEPER OF STARS (April '24), brilliantly brought to life by illustrator Dorothy Leung, has been named a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection! It’s available for pre-order, in case you want to see why JLG thought it star-worthy. YAY!!!! #canscaip #scbwi
January 5, 2024 at 1:39 PM
When the most generous debut author around, @autumnleaflet.bsky.social, sends you the cutest swag to brighten your day... congratulations Kim-Hoa on A GIFT FOR NAI NAI! #kidlit #scbwi #picturebook
December 12, 2023 at 3:34 PM
When the most generous debut author around, @autumnleaflet.bsky.social, sends you the cutest swag to brighten your day... congratulations Kim-Hoa on A GIFT FOR NAI NAI! #kidlit #scbwi #picturebook