It’s been 4 years (and a week or so) since The Elephants’ Guide to Hide-And-Seek became a book! Happy (belated) Book Birthday to to this cheerful book that’s been a joy to share with so many kids over the last few years. And Happy Spring too!
WWA SCBWI art show!
For those in the Seattle area, I have three pieces included at the Western Washington SCBWI art show at the Seattle Convention Center through mid-July. Check it out!
Posted this for Kidlit postcard day on Instagram this past month
Gratitude for fellow kid lit creators
Sometimes I participate in Kidlit postcard day on Instagram. This past month I shared this piece I made inspired by happy memories on the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec with my husband’s family. I also wrote the following message and I thought it might be a nice thing to cross-post here in case any fellow kid lit creators stumble across my corner of the internet and could use a lift:
Books have offered me refuge so many times in life, but especially as a kid. I think this is a big reason why I keep writing and making art for kids—making stories that offer a different way, a different space, new perspective—it’s work I want to be a part of and support.
And to that purpose today I’m also sending good wishes to all my fellow kidlit artists out there. I hope you are doing whatever you need to do to sustain your work. The refuge and perspective your work offers kids is so important. I’m grateful you keep at it. Especially when the world feels the most rocky or uncertain, please keep keeping at it. The world needs what you do.
Cheers all! Happy creating.
Kjersten with a Redwood Tree
Creative Practices that keep on giving
At the beginning of November I drove to California for a beloved cousin’s wedding—he got married surrounded by friends, family, and beautiful big redwood trees—and I took the wedding as an excuse to fill up with awe in the wilds of Northern CA and Southern OR.
We got to be hobbits one night
Besides seeing redwood trees and the ocean, I stayed in a Hobbit House Air B&B, A treehouse, A caboose, a log cabin, and an airstream trailer. What a fun adventure!
This treehouse is called the “Majestree”
My younger son (who was with me for the whole trip) and I made a journal as we went, we painted and drew everyday, and we even printed out pics for our book using a Selphy portable printer every night.
Pages from our journal
Journaling is my longest standing and most consistently active creative practice—I love how playful I can be in my journals, how they help me remember things, how the very act of journaling makes me somehow seek out doing things that are interesting and worth writing down, and how they often make me feel like I experience the joy of adventure twice (once while living it, and once while recording it). I realized lately the obvious—that journals are kind of the glue that holds all my other creative work together. And my travel journals are about my favorite.
While we made the pages as we went, I finished the cover of this book over Thanksgiving weekend. In my family, we call the day after Thanksgiving Craft Friday—we spend the day (and then the entire weekend) making crafts and laughing and eating lots of good food.
Our finished travel journal
So this past weekend I not only finished the travel journal I’d started earlier in the month, I actually made several handmade books including a happy fat new regular journal with colorful pages.
My new journal, ready to start filling!
And so here I am. With one journal just finished (actually several because this was just a travel journal, my regular journal is just about finished too), and a new one sitting, with lots of big empty pages waiting to be filled.
And I suppose here is where I hopefully can be helpful to anyone else who journals who stumbles across this. When I’ve talked journaling with people, I notice a lot of people are intimidated—what if they mess up a nice journal, what if they don’t have anything interesting to say, what if they draw something and it’s ugly.
And I guess my response is who cares? I mean, yes, what if? What if I do any or all of those things? Who cares? What if I do any or all of those things but in the meanwhile I have jumped in and started playing with my creativity. What a delight!
A journal is one of the easiest places to lower the stakes with my creative work. Because it’s just for me. A journal is a place where I can set aside any worries that anything is perfect and instead just play. Like a kid just having fun and not worrying about the outcome. It’s a yes space. Where anything goes. And because anything goes, in my journal I learn to open up and unlock blank pages. Through practice. Because when you practice something you get better at it. So by practicing my creative work with low stakes, I get better at my creative work. And Ironically then it becomes more interesting to actually share.
Anyway, those are my random thoughts that I thought I’d share in my public journal as I dive into my new private journal. If you stumble upon this and have a journaling practice or regularly keep travel journals, drop me a line or leave a comment. I’d love to hear about your time with journaling too.
Noticing leads to more noticing
I bet I’m not the only one with a camera roll full of lovely things I’ve noticed and decided to photograph even though I may never look at those photos again. Perhaps all of us with this tendency can make an unofficial society of those who like to notice lovely things and photograph them just because.
And maybe “just because” is actually a practice in abundance because noticing beauty leads to noticing more beauty. And maybe this makes us better able to show up with some grace for whatever is more difficult or painful in the world or in life too.
Anyway, cheers to Octobers. Aren’t they pretty?
Seagulls
Seagulls live on my roof. I think of them as frenemies.
One minute I am enchanted by their sound and tenacity. The next I am annoyed with their excrement.
Either way I find that I often draw them or put them in my work.
See the seagull on my chimney?
Happy spring and happy 3rd book birthday to THE ELEPHANTS' GUIDE TO HIDE-AND-SEEK!
Yay spring!
And happy 3rd book birthday to THE ELEPHANTS’ GUIDE TO HIDE-AND-SEEK!
Kjersten signing books at a school visit
The last year has been a joyous time of sharing my book (finally) in person with kids, writing new books (fingers crossed that some of them find happy homes!), and making lots of new art.
I realized I hadn’t posted here in awhile so why not do so by celebrating all of these things.
Happy reading!
Happy 2nd book birthday To THE ELEPHANTS' GUIDE TO HIDE-AND-SEEK!
My first picture book, The Elephants’ Guide To Hide-And-Seek is two years old this month! To celebrate here’s a pic of me when I was 8 years old with another bright yellow book that I made then for my school’s young author contest. I won an award for my grade and decided someday I wanted to be a published author. Yay for dreams that come true!
May you always choose to get in the game
Those are the words I used in the dedication for my first picture book, THE ELEPHANTS’ GUIDE TO HIDE-AND-SEEK. I’ve been thinking of those words because sometimes I write things I really need to hear myself. How about I even say it now…may I “always choose to get in the game.”
A photo of the dedication I wrote to my sons for my first picture book, THE ELEPHANTS’ GUIDE TO HIDE-AND-SEEK
A few weeks ago a hummingbird visited me in the forest on my walk. That’s also the day I got up the gumption to finally prep and send queries again after a bit of a hiatus from sharing my writing with anyone outside of my critique partners. Why wasn’t I sharing my work? Well, for one, my previous agent left the business last year. But I wish I understood better why I wasn’t just jumping back in. I guess, to put it plainly, sharing my work is something I struggle with. It’s something I’m working at! And it’s one of the reasons I wrote the dedication in my first book the way I did. Writers all have their own hang-ups and this is one I’m working to let go of.
But anyway, back to the hummingbird. I’m not sure how to describe how that hummingbird helped me—I mean, why is it that nature sometimes just nudges people to be their best?
But that’s what felt like happened. That little bird nudged me to a spot of calm where I could share my work kinda like I was doing nothing more than giving away dahlias from my garden in the summer. So I sent it off. And soon after, I found myself having a great conversation with my now agent, Mary Cummings of Great River Literary.
So This week I made this hummingbird collage (with cake!) to celebrate! I’m thrilled to now be collaborating with Mary. And also to have gotten over some of my own blocks so that I can be back in the game of sharing my children’s book work.
Cheers! To getting over blocks. And to exciting new creative chapters of all kinds.
Spine Poems
A few poems I posted on Twitter lately that I made using the spines of picture books. Enjoy!
Dear diary,
I want to be the night gardener,
outside,
finding wild sidewalk flowers
stuck over and under the snow,
just because.
Wherever you go
Please bring balloons
Just in case you want to fly
Up, down, and around—In the sky
At nighttime
Like a dandelion Under the lemon moon
Imagine if you had a jetpack—
Whoosh!
Higher! Higher!
Faster! Faster!
Yes, let’s run wild reaching for the
moon,
stars,
life on mars—
The most magnificent thing.
A collage of my house and garden
Like Miss Rumphius
Last spring when I was giving away extra dahlia tubers a friend told me I reminded her of Miss Rumphius.
Best compliment ever! And coincidentally, or maybe not, that book is one of my favorite books of all time. “You must do something to make the world more beautiful,” reads a line in the book. And Miss Rumphius does.
I set aside my Very Important Work this past week to play. To work through some anxious feelings of uncertainty. I made this art piece. And it helped. But still, this is just how life is with the pandemic: lots of uncomfortable uncertainty.
My dahlia garden
Yet, I realized, here’ a certain thing: I am someone who does what I can to make the world more beautiful. I always have been. I’m certain I always will be. Maybe you are too? If so, Hi! During this very uncertain time, I’m leaning on this small certain beautiful practice of mine. And it’s helping. Maybe you can too.
Home sweet home
Also, flowers make everything better.
Happy World Elephant Day!
Happy World Elephant Day! This is a picture from many years ago of of me and my son Oscar in Sri Lanka at an elephant orphanage. We lived in SE Asia for a few years when he was small, we traveled a lot, and to keep him engaged I sought out lots of experiences that would delight a kid. So we had a lot of elephant adventures. This is mostly how I fell in love with elephants and came to write my book, THE ELEPHANTS’ GUIDE TO HIDE-AND-SEEK.
During this particular adventure in Sri Lanka, we learned that elephant dung is great for paper-making! Seeing as I’ve made lots of paper in my lifetime and even often use my own handmade paper in my art, this was particularly interesting to me. The reason elephant dung is great for paper making is that it’s full of munched up fibers—kinda like the elephant’s digestive system acts as a pulp beater. Gross, but cool!
The photo album in these pictures is one of my handmade travel journals, I used a batik I bought in Sri Lanka for the cover, and a lot of the papers inside are elephant dung papers I bought there. Also that cute little elephant stuffie is one I bought at a fiber store in Columbo.
I also wrote a blog post about elephant dung paper-making way back when I went to Sri Lanka. Here’s the link.
Happy World Read Aloud Day! And where to order a signed copy of my book
Happy World Read Aloud Day! Welcome to any students, teachers, or families who are visiting my website after I visit your classrooms! I’m always grateful to chat about writing and to read with kids. If you have follow-up questions, please feel free to email me!
And for any families or teachers who want to order my book, THE ELEPHANTS’ GUIDE TO HIDE-AND-SEEK, I’ve made arrangements with my local bookstore, Village Books, to sign copies for anyone who orders through Feb 12th. You can order at this link—when you check out make a note in the comments about how you would like your book personalized or who you would like it signed to.
Thanks for visiting my website! Make sure you check out my section with fun stuff for kids. Happy reading!
Sign up for World Read-Aloud Day!
My name is Kjersten Hayes and I love talking books with kids. I look forward to sharing my picture book THE ELEPHANTS' GUIDE TO HIDE-AND-SEEK with classrooms during World Read-Aloud Day on Feb. 3, 2021. Hooray for read-alouds! Teachers or librarians interested in signing up for a free 20-minute virtual classroom visit can get more information and sign-up here. Thanks!
A Tribute to Ruth Bader Ginsburg
“Reading is the key that opens doors to many good things in life. Reading shaped my dreams, and more reading helped me make my dreams come true.” —Ruth Bader Ginsburg ⠀
My life is better because of the many rights Ruth Bader Ginsburg argued for, fought for, and helped realize—this is why, a few weeks ago while mourning her passing, I made a piece of cut paper art to honor her. I based it on the beautiful lace collars she wore as a Supreme Court Justice. After I shared it on social media, things took off in a way I didn’t anticipate or expect. A few friends asked if I might be willing to sell prints, and from there it snowballed and Etsy orders poured in from all over the country. As I’m finally catching up, I thought I’d remember to post it on my blog too. Along with some resources and links as food for thought.
And, a friend who wanted to see t-shirts, library totes, and sticker versions of my RBG art made them happen—the order form is here (orders due 10/23/20). A portion of the proceeds will go to Page Ahead, a literacy organization in Seattle that gets books in the hands of kids in lower-income areas.
Links:
To buy my art: prints, cards, and paper cutouts can be found in my Etsy shop, and also a one-time order a friend arranged for t-shirts and library totes here through 10/23/20 [edited to add that we are doing a second t-shirt/tote order, orders accepted through 11/12/20].
If you are unaware of the rights RBG helped realize, this article from Refinery29 is an easy-to-read article that highlights her contributions. We take these rights for granted now but they are important.
The NYT obit for RBG covers her accomplishments more throughly but still doesn’t take long to read.
A reading list from A Mighty Girl, mostly for kids.
A fantastic Radiolab episode dedicated to one of RBG’s cases.
The RBG movie, which I highly recommend.
And, I want to keep it real by highlighting a critique that a thoughtful friend brought up about a lack of diversity in RBG’s hiring and mentoring. It’s essential that as we celebrate RBG, we also acknowledge that we have a long way to go. RBG has become a mighty icon for good reason but she was not perfect. I’m grateful for invitations to do better, while still honoring her legacy. I hope others will also be open to that same invitation.
One more thing about reading:
As an author, when I write stories, I know that once I hand them off, half the job is then up to the reader. Kids get a similar story from the same book, but the experience differs somewhat depending on readers’ experiences and what they bring to the story themselves. Reading is a sacred exchange in that way. This is also how words evolve and grow over time. This is how the Constitution lives on. Because of us. And what we bring to it. This is how language works. RBG showed the sacred way words can stay alive. She showed the Constitution’s vitality. Let’s make sure we work, fight, and vote, to keep it alive.
I can sign a book for you too!
I’ve had a few happy firsts this past week or so. Here are a few of them
The Elephants’ Guide To Hide-And-Seek at a bookstore!
Look what I finally got to see for the first time in person at an OPEN bookstore! Two months after it came out, THE ELEPHANTS’ GUIDE TO HIDE-AND-SEEK, my first picture book, on an actual shelf, at my favorite local bookstore, Village Books—which is now open because YAY Whatcom County, WA, we made it to phase 2!
I signed and personalized a big stack—so it kind of was my first bookstore book-signing too. Any copies of my picture book THE ELEPHANTS’ GUIDE TO HIDE-AND-SEEK purchased now and through the month of June at my local bookstore Village Books can be signed and personalized by the author—me! Village Books offers all sorts of shipping options including media rate (99¢!) or curbside pickup.
A huge thanks to anyone who had planned on coming to my local book celebration that would have been at Village Books—it means the world to me. While it was a bummer to postpone in May and now cancel in June (while VB is open, it’s uncertain when events will happen again), I’m happy that Village Books and I can collaborate in this way for now. And anyone who was holding out for a signed copy—here’s your chance!
Here’s the link to order. During checkout, there should be a comment box where you can make a note that you’d like me to sign your book and who you’d like it signed to. Please know that I’ll be going in and signing them all at once, so any books ordered will arrive in early July.
Another happy first from the past few weeks—I finally got to read my book to a classroom (via zoom)! It was especially sweet for me after having my first in-person visits with classrooms all cancelled this year. The 2nd graders I chatted with all asked great questions and it was a pleasure to spend time with them.
My first author visit—on zoom!
My main goal for this year was to enjoy the moment as I became an author and got to share my first book with kids. While I haven’t been able to do that the same way I’d planned, I’m enormously grateful to anyone and everyone who has helped me make lemonade out of lemons the last few months. Enjoying the moment seems more important now than ever—so cheers, health, and happy reading! For all who have celebrated with me—thanks!
Me with my elephant pals. I like to bring them to zoom events.
Black Lives Matter
Black Lives Matter.
For anyone looking for resources, my Soaring 20s Picture Book Debut Group put together a thoughtful list at the end of our Statement of Solidarity (which I fully support).
Because I’m passionate about children’s books and read a lot, I especially want to highlight the booklists and places to find booklists (these are the same as provided in the Soaring 20s resource link above). Several of these were new to me and I’m excited to have found them.
Booklists and places to find booklists:
“Because Several Folks Keep Asking for a Reading List for Children (0-12)” by Sujei Lugo Vázquez and Alia Jones
Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness by Anastasia Higginbotham (picture book)
Black Children’s Books and Authors (BCBA), books by categories
Books to explaining racism and protest to your kids from The New York Times
*Editing to add an especially good handful of book stack pics from Here We Read—I think these are all own voices. Make sure you click through to see all the book stack pics.
Because I also want to speak for myself here’s a post I put up for friends and family on IG and Facebook, kind of a 101 for checking your book stack for Black and Diverse voices if you’ve never done so. I’d call myself a passionate reader of books but these thoughts are really not as finely written as others have written them elsewhere. I only post them here on the off-chance that someone I know is digging around on my blog and might not be compelled to click through to better resources. Sometimes it does help to hear from someone you know. In that way, I hope these thoughts below are useful but please if you are considering linking to this, I’d ask that you raise other voices instead or link to the Soaring 20s Statement of Solidarity as my group put a lot of thought into compiling those further resources. Thanks!
Black Lives Matter. ⠀⠀
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And it matters to have Black lives in books. Trying to think of a way I might be useful online (and not just despair or rant), I thought I’d throw out 1. some picture book titles for friends and family and teacher friends who ask me for book suggestions because I read a lot. And 2. A few other thoughts that aren’t exactly original but might be helpful on a 101 level if you aren’t already reading from book experts more knowledgeable than me. ⠀⠀
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Check your kids’ bookshelves for diversity. Do you need to add some? Here are a few book stacks of books I personally love with main characters who are Black (a couple have animals as MCs but the kid characters who love them in those books are Black). Not all of these are own voices—if you can, especially seek out own voices titles—support authors of Color. ⠀⠀
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I acknowledge that it is very basic to offer books with main characters who are Black. And also, basic is a decent place to start if you look at your shelves and realize you’d like to expand.⠀⠀
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Sharing history through books is incredibly important but so is sharing Black joy and present-day Black kids solving problems in the here-and-now. I also like to look for high-interest books—like one of my sons was really into inventors for a long time, so I sought diverse books about inventors for him. ⠀⠀
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Buy diverse books for babies. A board book with diverse characters is a great gift to a new parent—it’s a small thing that can help plant a seed for building more inclusive reading habits. ⠀⠀
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If you can afford to do so, actually buy some books with Black characters in them. The library is great but showing up with money—if you can—helps support a book market with greater diversity. ⠀⠀
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Hey and know that this is just back of the envelope thoughts from me sharing for my loved ones (not really meant for my author or librarian friends who likely have read similar things more expertly written). I’m constantly learning and listening and growing. If I’ve inadvertently fumbled or missed a big hole in these suggestions or in how I’ve presented them, I welcome feedback that I can sit with and from which I can try to learn.
I’ll add that I am listening, learning, and unlearning myself all the time—I don’t always get everything right. But I’m grateful to always do my best to do better.
My nephew sent me a pic of himself tuning in!
Yay for a successful virtual launch party!
A huge THANK YOU to everyone who attended our virtual launch party for THE ELEPHANTS’ GUIDE TO HIDE-AND-SEEK! So wonderful to see so many new and familiar faces there. If you missed out, I’ve posted the video below for your viewing pleasure.
The highlight for me was being inspired by all Gladys Jose had to say—I’m thrilled to have had the chance to make this happen with you Gladys! And we even had elephants attending!
My son Lars dressed up!
If you attended (or watched the video later) and would like a bookplate signed by both Gladys and me, send me a message by April 24, 2020 to let us know (US residents only). We’d be happy to send you one! (note they may take a while but we will send if you ask). Books can be ordered anywhere books are sold but here’s a link to my local indie, Village Books—they can ship at media rates (in some cases only 99 cents!).
Download our activity kit—Gladys says the Elephant game was an instant hit with her daughter!
The activities for kids we mentioned during the launch are all posted here on my website, including:
A fun activity kit made by our publisher
Our virtual hide-and-seek game, where you can share silly creative hide-and-seek pics
A link to a Pinterest page with elephant crafts of all kinds
A link to a curated playlist of silly and wonderful elephant videos
Follow us on social media:
Check out Gladys’s webpage to learn more about her other books
Kjersten Instagram: @kjerstenhayes Twitter: @kjerstenhayes
Gladys Instagram: @gladysjoseillustrates Twitter: @gladysjosedraws
A huge shout out to Joni Sensel for reaching out and offering to help us with tech support. Joni is an incredible writer for all ages. I’m especially a fan of her work related to creativity and grief. Check out her website here.
This image only captures one screen’s worth of attendees—loved seeing how many showed up!
If you want a signed bookplate, let me know by April 24. Happy to send one!
Thanks again to everyone for helping us celebrate our joyful book during a difficult time. Especially because the world is unsure and hard right now, I hope you find some time to play in the middle of it all.
Wishing you enormous fun!⠀
Pachyderm Egg Hunts—Elephant Hide-And-Seek taken to new levels!
Check out this Easter “egg” my cousin made (okay it’s a painted rock—but that works!) 💛🐘 After reading THE ELEPHANTS’ GUIDE TO HIDE-AND-SEEK, this guy is ready for a hide-and-seek egg hunt. LOVE IT.
⠀Thanks for sharing this happy egg-rock, Laura ! It brought a welcome smile to my face.⠀
Also, turns out there is an entire genre of youtube videos with Elephant Easter Egg hunts. Who knew? Think the Elephant Hobby And Sport League (in THE ELEPHANTS’ GUIDE TO HIDE-AND-SEEK) would approve. Pachyderm hide-and-seek at all-new levels! For your watching pleasure, here's one:
I also made a playlist in case you want more.
Happy Easter to all who celebrate and happy spring too. It may not feel like a time worthy of celebrating much, but I welcome the tiny flower buds popping up just now—reminders that life persists.
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Happy Book Birthday to THE ELEPHANTS' GUIDE TO HIDE-AND-SEEK!
Today is the book birthday for THE ELEPHANTS’ GUIDE TO HIDE-AND-SEEK, written by me, art by Gladys Jose, and published by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky. Hooray! It’s a funny tongue-incheek book about getting in the game despite feeling awkward or unsure.
I learned to write funny books in part because humor has always calmed my own nerves. Laughter helps. So especially during these times, I hope this happy funny book finds some kids and brightens their day.
Cheers!
Also check out my book birthday twitter thread about the making of The Elephant guide.
And maybe I’ll see you at my virtual launch party!