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!
A Virtual Launch Party!
A party now? YES! A virtual party! All are welcome to come to a virtual book launch party on Monday April 13 at 11:00 am pacific time via zoom to celebrate THE ELEPHANTS’ GUIDE TO HIDE-AND-SEEK, a picture book written by me and illustrated by Gladys Jose. BOTH Gladys and I will be there! Hooray! We’ll share a bit about how our book came to be, answer questions about writing and illustrating, and hopefully have lots of fun. Register here! KIDS ARE WELCOME! So are grown-ups. 🙂
There will be elephants but you have to bring your own cake!
*And—yes, I hope I’ll still get to have my local book launch party during Children’s Book Week at Village Books here in Bellingham (May 9 at 10:30—but if not then, hopefully at some point). But we need happy things in life RIGHT NOW and here’s a great excuse to have a party where friends from all over the country who wouldn’t be able to make it locally can join too! Hope to see you there!
Art for Bellingham!
Inviting all Bellingham kids (and the grown-ups who love them) to make art and messages for our senior community members who are self-isolating during this time! The goal is to create a virtual public art space to help our community stay better connected while we all social distance during the covid-19 pandemic.
I threw this project together because it breaks my heart to think of our beloved Bellingham community as fractured right now. I thought it would be lovely to empower kids to help their community while helping us all connect with some of those most isolated and at risk.
The video below I made as a mini art lesson to rally participation, feel free to share it with your kids!
Please send PHOTOS of any art or messages to me (use the contact form on my website). I’ll add them to a shared dropbox folder, where participating adult care facilities can access them and print them out for their residents (or share the link for those who are tech-savvy, no actual paper mail involved for safety reasons!).
I hope you’ll consider joining or inviting your kids to participate (messages from grown-ups are welcome too).
And please invite others! Thanks!
PS I originally posted this on social media but I am adding it here as an easy place to link for those who want to share. Thanks to everyone who has already participated! I’ll be sending our first round of messages by the end of this week so please get messages in by Thrusday April 2.
Booklist review!
I got an email from my publisher today that said that Booklist has given THE ELEPHANTS’ GUIDE TO HIDE-AND-SEEK a great review! What a happy piece of news. The full review will be in the April 15th issue but my publisher said I could share this quote right now.
The world turns upside down right as I'm about to send my book out into it
A few weeks ago I was busy planning my first school visits as an author, coming up with creative silly things I could put on the internet to celebrate, and thinking of fun activities for my book launch party (still planned for May 9 at Village Books in Bellingham, but who knows what the world will look like by then…).
How many elephants do you see in the photo? Can you find the “king of hide & seek?” How many elephants are wearing glasses? How many elephants have rainbow ears? How many silly questions about this picture can a person ask?
But now the world has turned upside down. Pandemic is a big word. Somehow in the chaos of the last few weeks, I forgot to post things here I put elsewhere that would have been fun to post. My excuse: my mind is often in a fog, juggling a lot of emotional labor for my family, worries for my community, anxiety for all the small businesses and people at risk for covid-19, and then to top it off trying to reinvent the wheel with how to celebrate my own little dream come true. Even while I mourn not celebrating how I’d imagined.
I originally planned on wearing these yellow chucks that match THE ELEPHANTS’ GUIDE TO HIDE-AND-SEEK to a school visit on March 20. It was a bummer to be stuck at home instead but it occurred to me that it would be fun to wear them anyway on that day so I did. It was one little plan I could keep from before.
But here. Here are a few happy things that I managed to pause for in the midst of all of it. My ridiculous elephant collection. My colorful shoes that match my book. My cats playing hide-and-seek.
I made some art last Christmas that unknowingly set the tone for my year, “Even when the world feels sad I will make a joyful noise.”
Christmas art I made, but maybe I can try to do this now too? Not sure, but maybe I can try.
And I threw a bunch of wishing rocks in the water yesterday.
Mostly I wish you well.
Guess I’m hoping for a rainbow even in the rain.
Love to everyone out there. Hope you are healthy, safe, socially distanced but not isolated, and reading a lot. I wish for you all the rainbows I can wish.
Author copies!
Just a few short months until THE ELEPHANTS’ GUIDE TO HIDE AND SEEK comes out (April 7), and I got a surprise package on my porch!
My author copies! And a lovely letter from my publisher! Such an exciting moment.
I especially LOVE the funny peek-a-boo cover under the book jacket.
And these colorful end pages!
It’s a real book!
Ten years of StoryStorm!
Here I am wearing my Bureau Of Fearless Ideas shirt, with more picture book ideas than I’d ever know what to do with, having just completed another year of Tara Lazar’s StoryStorm challenge (back in 2010—the first year I partook, it was called PiBoIdMo). StoryStorm is a challenge where you agree to come up for a picture book idea every day of an entire month. But beyond ideas, StoryStorm has helped me cultivate larger work habits of play and flexibility in my work—I brainstorm for everything and it nearly always pays off. So grateful for this challenge every year and thought I’d celebrate here!
