From The Mixed Up Files

You probably already know Sherri L. Smith. She has written scores of books, most of which  have been selected for various “it book” lists including JLG Best Books For Children. Sherri’s book The Blossom and the Firefly was the Golden Kite winner, and Flygirl was the California Book Award Gold Medalist. So when I had the chance to interview her about her beautiful new book, Candace, the Universe, and Everything, I was over the moon. The book is a touching, generational book that will be perfect for moms and daughters to share. It mixes science...

“Let Books Be. Protect the Freedom to Read.” That’s the theme of this year’s Banned Books Week. A joint effort by the American Library Association (ALA) and the Banned Books Week Coalition, this annual week of focus provides the opportunity to make a bold, collective statement about the freedom to read.    This year’s campaign features three separate illustrations that highlight the importance of libraries. According to the ALA, award-winning illustrators Hyesu Lee, Loveis Wise, and Mikey Burton created artwork that “embraces joy and creativity as acts of resilience, reminding our communities that a handful of people running organized censorship...

The recent rise of books being taken out of libraries has made an impact on young readers. Now, more than ever, young people have less access to titles representing diversity. “The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom tracked that of the 4,235 unique titles challenged in 2025, 39 % represent the...

I read the following books from this month’s list as the basis of the activities below. The Spider Lady: Nan Songer and Her Arachnid World War II Army by Penny Parker Klostermann, illustrated by Anne Lambelet Have you ever heard of the woman who harvested spider silk to help U.S....

I first crossed paths with Katya Tabakh on Instagram and fell in love with her art and her illustration skills. As a follower and participant of the Instagram Book Series Challenge, the pieces from Katya caught my eye immediately. I was completely blown away by her Alice in Wonderland illustrations,...

As a young child picking strawberries alongside his family, Pedro Martin learned that hard work is survival. Even then, he loved to draw cartoons when he wasn’t in the fields and especially loved Saturdays when he could watch cartoons and draw. While in the fields, he imagined the characters of...

Get cozy this fall and cuddle up with one of these amazing new books. October 6th The Creeps By Tahlor Mejia Front Desk meets Stephen King! In this perfectly frightening middle grade read, a twelve-year-old boy moves into a creepy motel where breaking the rules doesn’t just mean getting kicked...

“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write.” This famous quote by Stephen King encapsulates an important truth for writers: We should always be reading, and the parenthetical in that quote tells us why. Reading gives us tools, and the only...