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Nancy Hudgins
@nancyhudgins.com
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🎈Celebrating🎈
Books Good Enough For You: The Storied Life of Ursula Nordstrom, Editor of Extraordinary Children's Books
Pub. Date: 3/24/26 by Abrams BFYR.
Rep’d: Rachel Orr, Prospect Agency
#MG #SCBWI #HighlightsFoundation #InkedVoices #nonfictionkidlit
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November 13 is the book birthday for🎈🎈WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE!🎈🎈 In February 1963, #Sendak mentioned to his editor, #UrsulaNordstrom, that he had a book idea about wild horses. She encouraged him to write it. Nine months later it was published. #kidlitnonfiction #kidlit #thegoodolddays #BOOKSGEFY
The book jacket has a Caldecott in the lower left hand corner, partially obscuring the sailboat on the river headed toward one of the Wild Things. The boat is light orange with yellow sails. To the right is a huge Wild Thing, taking up three quarters of the book. His eyes are closed and he's faintly smiling. He's sitting on a small spit of land in the forefront with one hand resting on his knee and his head is resting in his hand. While he has the body of a monster, with gray fur, horns coming out of his head, a pig-like snout and claws on his hand, his feet are human feet. Also in the foreground are two palm trees, their leaves painted a rose color. In the background is the other bank of the river with six varied trees against the blue sky.
November 9, 2025 at 5:17 PM
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My #MG recommendations were:

365 DAYS TO ALASKA, by @cathycarrwrites.bsky.social
#kidlit

TWELVE DAYS IN MAY: FREEDOM RIDE, 1961, by Larry Dane Brimner #kidlitnonfiction
It's a colorful cover. The main character is drawn in the center foreground. She's wearing boots, brown sienna pants and a navy blue T-shirt; she has a purple lumberman's shirt tied around her waist. She is facing right, taking a step. from a meadow with a stream beyond and white-capped mountains beyond that, into a paved asphalt road on her right, with two wooden houses painted in neutral yellow-white and the ocean beyond--signifying her journey from Alaska to the Connecticut suburbs. The cover is black. The title and subtitle take up most of it. To the left is the well-deserved Sibert Medal awarded to the author. Underneath it is a picture of a Greyhound bus from 1961. The words in the title are in gray and white, except May, which is in red. The subtitle words are in blue. It's striking.
October 29, 2025 at 2:34 PM
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I'm writing my monthly newsletter and realized I didn't post my recommendations for September.

For #picturebooks, they were:

THE RABBIT LISTENED, written and illus. by Cori Doerrfeld

HOW TO MAKE A BOOK (ABOUT MY DOG), by @bartography.bsky.social l, illus. by @sarahhorne.bsky.social

#kidlit
The cover has a white background. In the upper third is the book's title, in large green-blue letters. In smaller letters underneath it say New York Times bestseller. In the left lower quadrant is the author's name, in smaller light-chocolate letters. In the right lower quadrant is a drawing from the book of a young child in blue and white horizontally striped pajamas hugging a light chocolate colored rabbit. The cover background is shades of orange and it is busy. The book's title takes up most of the cover. On the lower left is the author's name. On the lower right is the illustrators name. Drawings from the book abound, including one of the author and one of his dog. It has a semi-collage feel. The title letters are cleverly different colors and textures. For instance, the K in book is an actual open book with the red cover on a vertical line as the vertical line in the K and the book pages are splayed out into two pieces, making the angular parts of the K.
October 29, 2025 at 2:15 PM
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T-shirt du jour.
Royal blue T-shirt. Drawing of 11books on a shelf with plants at each end. Titles include Forever By Judy Blume and A Wrinkle in Time by M. L’Engle. Underneath in capitalized white letters: I’m with the banned.
October 9, 2025 at 3:36 PM
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🎈Happy Book Birthday🎈 to STEVIE, written and illus. by John Steptoe. John was just 16 years old when he took his portfolio into #UrsulaNordstrom. She encouraged him to write a book and use his paintings to illustrate it. Edited by UN. Pub'd in 1969.
#kidlit #kidlitillustration
The cover sports one of Steptoe's drawings. It is white with a color inset, which takes up all but about a 1.5 inch border. The inset is in mostly greens and blues, with a background of a car, and a foreground of a large boy standing, and a smaller boy sitting next to him. The title is at the top, on the white space in blue letters.
October 1, 2025 at 4:49 AM
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It’s coming . . .
#kidlit #biography #kidlitnonfiction
A badge or banner that reads: Censorship is so 1984. Read for your rights. Little Free Library- Banned Book Week. Oct. 5-11, 2025. White letters on a black background. Censorship has a bold red line through it. There is a line of rainbow colored stars. The logos for little free library and banned book week also appear.
September 21, 2025 at 2:24 PM
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🎈Happy Book Birthday🎈 to THE PIRATE RABBI, by David Sherrin, illus. by @barbaradilorenzo.bsky.social! The MC, a rabbi, who had always wanted to be a pirate, finally gets his chance. Based on a true story. Cool art! #PB #kidlit
The cover art shows a pirate and his dog standing on the prow of a pirate ship. The background is a cloudy medium blue sky. Beneath is the ocean, depicted by a swath of turquoise blue on top and shadings down to deep blue at the bottom. The ship is sailing from left to right and takes up two-thirds of the cover in a triangular image. The title is in dark blue in the upper right hand portion across the sky. The author's and illustrator's names are in black print on the foresail. The pirate is wearing brown boots, tan breeches to the knee, a white shirt and scarf and mid-length blue jacket. The dog is tan.
September 16, 2025 at 5:11 PM
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🎈Today is Else Holmelund Minarik’s birthday.🎈 This first-grade teacher walked into #UrsulaNordstrom’s office with a manuscript written in blue crayon. Ursula saw in it the first book for the I CAN READ! series. LITTLE BEAR, illus. by Maurice Sendak, published in 1957. #kidlit #kidlithistory
The cover, by Maurice Sendak has a dark blue background with light blue vines surrounding an oval with a white background. In the oval, the title is in reddish-brown color; the author and illustrator names are in black. In the center is a mother bear in a chair holding Little Bear on her lap. A scroll saying "A I Can Read Book" is centered underneath the oval. This cover is the current one, not the original.
September 13, 2025 at 2:55 PM
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Happy 100th birthday to Ronni Solbert! #UrsulaNordstrom chose her to illustrate BRONZEVILLE BOYS AND GIRLS, a book of poems by Gwendolyn Brooks, first published in 1956. Solbert used pen and ink. Fifty years later, HarperCollins re-issued the book in color, illus. by Faith Ringgold. #kidlit #poetry
Cover has a light yellow, sandy hue. Title is in black letters at the top, followed by author and illustrator. Below is a tree to the left, whose leafy branches are behind the cover. In the mid-ground is a wooden fence. The foreground has a boy leaning against the tree, two boys playing marbles and two girls walking hand in hand towards the street. On the right in the mid-ground are two boys playing ball in the street. Mostly pen and ink, with light mint green for the leaves and on the girls' dresses and also on some of the fence panels. Other fence panels have an olive green wash. The predominate color is brick red for an urban house of apartment building facing the reader. The steps and the sidewalk are a muted, grayer red. At the top is Bronzeville in bright yellow and Boys and Girls in black below. The Bronzeville is at the top of the cover and really stands out. A woman and child look out of the window on the left. Two girls stand on the stoop facing the street. On the sidewalk, a boy is walking up the steps. In the foreground, a boy on the right is chasing a ball rolling left. On the left is a girl pushing a baby carriage towards the right. Very colorful and fun!
September 7, 2025 at 5:01 PM
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Two iconic children's books, both edited by #UrsulaNordstrom, were published on this day. In 1947, GOODNIGHT MOON, by Margaret Wise Brown, illus. by Clement Hurd. In 1952, A HOLE IS A DIG, by Ruth Krauss, illus. by Maurice Sendak. Like many of the books Ursula edited, each broke new ground. #kidlit
Bold greens and reds are the colors of the room depicted on the cover. The walls are green, the flooring is red. A bright moon and starry sky are seen through a window on the left, with a red and green-striped curtain on the left margin. On the right is a fireplace with a fire burning. On the wall above the fireplace is a picture of a cow jumping over the moon. The title is in big yellow letters on the top half of the cover. The cover is light green. There are two circles with white backgrounds. The smaller one of the top has two Sendak-drawn children, one is giving flowers to the other. The circle on the bottom is oblong and has Sendak-drawn children jumping rope, with a half circle of children, one mom, one cat and one dog are watching. The drawings whet the appetite for what lies inside the book. The title and sublitle are in black letters at the top. Ruth's and Maurice's names are midline. A border of Connecting small geometric shapes, filled in with white, make a border around the cover.
September 3, 2025 at 5:21 PM
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🎈Happy 65th Book Birthday🎈 to THE SECRET LANGUAGE, by #UrsulaNordstrom, illus. by Mary Chalmers. The legendary children’s book editor wrote an #MG novel about an 8-year-old girl going off to boarding. Tantalizingly, she denied it was autobiographical, except "in some of the details.” #kidlit
The cover is a painting of the red brick school in the background. The title and authors name are printed in black across the background. In the foreground are 7 girls in coats and dresses, wearing white socks and Mary Jane shoes. Several are carrying a suitcase, two are hugging each other, one is waving to someone in the distance. So, it appears girls are arriving at boarding school for the new year. Most of the girls coats are a shade of brown or rose. A medium blue coat on the girl in the middle makes her stand out.
August 31, 2025 at 3:30 PM
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🎈Happy Book Birthday🎈 to HAROLD AND THE PAPER CRAYON, written and illus. by Crockett Johnson—70 years ago today! Edited by #UrsulaNordstrom. One of my book’s chapters is about how it was made. So fun to research! #kidlit
This is the cover for the 60th anniversary. It has a dark brown/purplish background. Harold is on the cover wearing medium-blue pajamas with footies. He has a violet purple crayon in his hand and there are purple swirls strewn about.
August 24, 2025 at 7:39 PM
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🎈HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY🎈
BABY, LET’S GO TO THE ORCHESTRA!
By Janna Matthies, illus. by Monique Felix.
Just got my copy. What a stunning cover!
Janna’s rhymes are fun and Monique’s art is clever!
See for yourself! #PB #kidlit
The cover has a beautiful orangey-red theatre curtain which takes up 90% of the cover. A female conductor is looking out towards the audience in the fold where the two curtains come together. The bottom 10% is white, where the curtain hits the stage. A teddy bear plush toy and a mouse and a rat? toy peek out from under the curtain. The title and the author’s and illustrator’s names are in white letters on the red curtain.
August 14, 2025 at 5:41 PM
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🎈Happy Book Birthday🎈 to @clairebobrow.bsky.social's

WHEN BUMBLEBEES GO TO SLEEP!

A comforting, rhyming board book soon to be a favorite for little ones at bedtime—to be read over and over again.
(You’ll enjoy it, too!) With lovely illustrations by Natalia Vasilica. Congratulations! ❤️ #kidlit
The cover is in dark blue, purple and white. The background is a starry sky with a huge moon as the backdrop for the title, author and illustrator. In the foreground is a luscious purple flower with a charming bumblebee (yellow and black!) sitting on it.
August 5, 2025 at 4:20 PM
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Ruth Krauss was born on July 25, 1901, a contemporary of E. B. White's. She wrote THE CARROT SEED, illus. by Crockett Johnson, published in 1945.
In 1952, A HOLE IS TO DIG, illus. by Sendak was published. Ursula Nordstrom worked on both. Each has a chapter in my new bio of UN. 🎈Happy BD 🎈 Ruth!
A mustard yellow cover with the title in bold red letters. Next to Seed, Johnson has drawn a picture of the little boy in the story. He's wearing a white long sleeve shirt, brown overalls, and a brown cap. Not the original cover, as there is a stamp that says "Celebrating 75 years!" The cover is a spring green, with the title in black letters at the top and the subtitle: A First Book of First Definitions underneath. Beneath the title and subtitle is a white circle in which two of Sendak's characters are smelling flowers. Beneath that in black letters is: Pictures by Maurice Sendak. Beneath that is a white oblongish circle twice the size of the other one with 3 kids playing jump rope, with 9 kids, one mother, and one cat watching, all drawn by Sendak. The entire cover has a black and white beadlike border around it.
August 4, 2025 at 12:33 AM
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I don’t know what I was thinking--but I missed two author birthdays in July. The earlier one is E. B. White, born July 11, 1899. 🎈Happy Belated BD 🎈! I have separate chapters on STUART LITTLE and CHARLOTTE’S WEB in my Ursula Nordstrom bio, due out in March 2026. Fun backstories!
This is the cover of Stuart Little. In the foreground, Stuart is paddling a canoe down a river or creek. He has on a red shirt and yellow pants. Obviously not the original cover, as it has a stamp on it saying "Celebrating 75 years!" The title of the book and the author take up the top third of the cover. The cover of Charlotte's Web. In the foreground, Charlotte is holding Wilbur, the pig and leaning on a wooden fence. Behind her is a goose and in front of her is a sheep. The title "Charlotte's Web is written in the sky in the upper third of the cover, with a spider hanging of the C of Charlotte and a web throughout the title. Also not the original cover, as there is a stamp which says, "60th Anniversary Edition."
August 4, 2025 at 12:19 AM
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There's still time, while it's still summer, to check out
VAMPIRE VS. THE BEACH: A SUMMER HALLOWEEN STORY
by Todd Tarpley, illus. by Giovanni Abeille! Recommended by School Library Journal. A rhyming story about trying new things and getting along with others. #PB #kidlit #SLJ
A young vampire, holding a lit pumpkin surfs toward the beach. Bats and a spider web fill the air. A cute crab, as well as a starfish and shells are on the beach in the foreground. Bright colors.
July 23, 2025 at 5:34 PM
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🎈Happy book birthday-week 🎈 to author/illustrator @ciccotello.bsky.social for his fun #PB LEONARD BUILDS A HAUNTED HOUSE! Leonard tries to convince his family the new house he’s building for them will be scary. But is it? #kidlit An all seasons book--don’t wait for Halloween!
Leonard and his family of ghosts gather around a typical yard sign for house showings which reads: Leonard Builds a Haunted House.
July 13, 2025 at 7:14 PM
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News has been dreadful recently. This morning, I realized I needed a pick-me-up, so I chose to wear my bright kelly green T-shirt announcing “You Belong In Books.” (It’s greener IRL.) Feeling better already! Thanks @mychal3ts.bsky.social for the lift! Your message of JOY is wider than you may know.
A Kelly green T shirt with a drawing of Mychal Threets centered near the neck. Around it are the words: You Belong In Books. Also some yellow stars.
June 30, 2025 at 6:06 PM
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Happy Birthday Gwendolyn Brooks (1917)! 🎈 I learned from the brilliant @mariapopova.bsky.social, that #UrsulaNordstrom published a book of poems by Brooks in 1956: BRONZEVILLE BOYS AND GIRLS, illus. originally by Ronni Solbert, and, beautifully, in the reprint by #FaithRinggold. #kidlitHistory
The cover is illustrated by Faith Ringgold, in 2007. Bright red brick house in background. Bronzville in bright yellow letters at the top. Four kids on or near stoop. A girl is pushing a baby carriage. A boy is catching a ball. Two girls are standing on the steps. A woman and child are watching from a window.
June 7, 2025 at 5:26 PM
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Cover Reveal!!! @mychal3ts.bsky.social's debut picture book I'M SO HAPPY YOU'RE HERE: A CELEBRATION OF LIBRARY JOY, to be published by Random House next February. Illus. by Lorraine Nam. Congratulations to you both! 🎈🎉🎈 #kidlit #libraryjoy
The cover is drawn with librarian Mychal Threets standing in the entrance to the library, holding a stack of books with one hand and waving with the other. The book's title is in a banner at the top. On each side are bookshelves full of books. Seven kids are in the picture, waving or reading books. And a dog! Very welcome--just the tone Mychal tries to convey to everyone.
June 5, 2025 at 9:48 PM
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How could it be June already?
In May 1972, Harper & Row published WILLIAM’S DOLL, by Charlotte Zolotow, illus. by William Pène DuBois, edited by #UrsulaNordstrom. Zolotow tells a lovely story about a boy who wanted a doll. It was his grandmother who saw the value in that ask. #KidlitHistory #kidlit
The cover has a white background. In the foreground a young boy is jumping to catch a basketball.
June 1, 2025 at 5:43 PM
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🎈Happy Birthday, Margaret Wise Brown!🎈 When she and legendary editor #UrsulaNordstrom first worked together in 1937, they were just two 27-year-olds trying to make an impact in the children's book world. WHEN THE WIND BLEW was followed by THE RUNAWAY BUNNY and GOODNIGHT MOON. #kidlitHistory #kidlit
The cover is a painting of a matronly older smiling woman in a dress and an apron and with a cane and many cats following her down an unpaved road. Her dress is orange with red polka dots and her apron is yellow. The cats are all different colors and types. A green field and the horizon with clouds are in the background.
May 23, 2025 at 5:26 PM
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With the Statute of Liberty in the news, let’s turn to #kidlitnonfiction: SAVING LADY LIBERTY: JOSEPH PULITZER’S FIGHT FOR THE STATUE OF LIBERTY, by Claudia Friddell, illus. by Stacy Innerst, a #PB about France’s gift, not to President Cleveland, but to the American people. Well-researched good read
The cover is a painting of New York Harbor as it may have looked in the 1880s in the background, from the vantage point of Liberty Island. In the foreground is the title and underneath is a painting of the Statue of Liberty's torch, with a drawing of Joseph Pulitzer looking out from it.
May 20, 2025 at 3:15 PM
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You can learn more about Ruth/Crockett in @philnel.bsky.social's excellent adult biography: CROCKETT JOHNSON AND RUTH KRAUSS: HOW AN UNLIKELY COUPLE FOUND LOVE, DODGED THE FBI, AND TRANSFORMED CHILDREN'S LITERATURE. I referred to it often in writing my biography of #UrsulaNordstrom. #kidlitHistory
The cover background is in shades of taupe. Crockett is on the right-hand side, facing right and behind him is Ruth on the left-hand side, facing left. Various small drawings of Harold are sprinkled about.
May 19, 2025 at 6:40 PM