2023 CLCSC AWARDS CEREMONY: Celebrating Books and Reading for Children

Book signing at the CLCSC Award Ceremony

On Saturday, October 21, 2023, the Children’s Literature Council of Southern California (CLCSC) held their annual awards ceremony at the Luminarias restaurant in Monterey Park, California. Winners this year included Marie Arnold (no relation), Joe Cepeda, Nikki High, Rex Ogle, and Benson Shum, honored for their contributions to the Kid Lit community.

After eating a delicious brunch, each of the honorees gave a five-minute talk telling about themselves and their books. Then, all of the authors and illustrators signed books (available for purchase at the event from Once Upon a Time Books.) 

With past awardees and our plaques.

As a past winner (2020) during the pandemic, when the ceremony was held online, I and other past winners were invited as special guests to be available to sign our books in person and to have our photos taken with our winners plaques. Attendees at the event also had a chance to bid on baskets of books at a silent auction.

It was a pleasure to be back in person at this annual event and to reconnect with the librarians and teachers who are members of CLCSC. I was also glad to have the chance to chat with the other authors who were there. With many thanks to everyone on the CLCSC board and award committee for a very enjoyable morning and for continuing to be champions of books and reading for today’s children. 

SCBWI BOOKSTOP, FALL 2020: Trapped in Tar

Please check out my webpage featuring TRAPPED IN TAR: FOSSILS FROM THE ICE AGE at the SCBWI Bookstop, Fall 2020 page. The "Buy the Book" feature takes you directly to Amazon where you can order either a paperback copy or the digital edition.

BookStop, a super compendium of books published by SCBWI members 2018-2020, will be online from October 6 to November .

BANNED BOOKS WEEK: SEPT 27 - OCT 3

Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read, launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries. It highlights the value of free and open access to information. Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community — librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular. For more info on Banned Books Week...

And, for a sampling of both classic and contemporary books that have been banned, click HERE for a list put together by PEN AMERICA: The Freedom to Write.