Wildspeak
Text by Sangma Francis
Illustrations by Lexi Vangsnes

In the wide, wide world with its wide, wide skies, there are wild, wild words waiting to be spoken.

Where the stream twists and sparkles? That’s “sunglitter.” Where the sunset touches the sky? That’s “cloudbloom.”
Come take a walk full of the delight of real nature words—mayflies, sea snails, blackbirds, rockweed—and full of the joy of new words just waiting to be discovered. Perfect as an inspiration before, during, or after a walk, Wildspeak invites readers into the wide possibilities of the natural world, and the wild landscapes of their own imaginations.

“Lovers of nature and language will be inspired by this inventive foray into word creation that allows children to play with language in new ways.”
School Library Journal, STARRED review

“An exquisite and wondrous celebration of nature’s vocabulary. […] The narrative pulses with quiet wonder, […] The art has an organic energy; words dance across pages in varied fonts and orientations, visual onomatopoeia for wildspeak itself.”
Kirkus, STARRED review

“The spirited story will have readers roaring along with the sisters and longing to explore the outdoors, and the wonderful wildspeak is an inspired element. The animated illustrations are a wonder of their own, teeming with life and lush detail. A rousing romp through the natural world, sure to spark creativity and curiosity.”
Booklist

Rights sold:

English North America, Germany, Italy, France

For foreign rights inquiries, please contact us.

The Long Night of the Toads
By Noemi Vola

Noemi Vola makes her children’s graphic novel debut with a bold and original tale about those who refuse to be pushed to the sidelines.

In a small forest community, a group of creatures awakens to a world plunged into darkness. The birds no longer sing, the flower petals remain closed, and the animals linger in their dens. The sun has vanished, and the truth soon emerges: the toads, who are creatures of the night, have kidnapped the sun to prolong the darkness they love. As uncertainty spreads through the forest, harmony begins to unravel. But one small creature refuses to accept life in the shadows. Determined to restore the light, she sets out to persuade the others to challenge the toads and bring back the sun. By turns funny, tender, and quietly subversive, The Long Night of the Toads is a contemporary tale about courage, community, and the power of action even in the darkest of times.

Rights sold:

Italian

For foreign rights inquiries, please contact us.

At First Sight
By Arturo Ichiro Bozzi
Illustrations by Ilaria Demonti

At first sight, all trees look the same. People, too. When sitting under a seemingly ordinary tree day after day, the narrator begins to observe her surroundings more closely. What she discovers is a varied and vibrant world filled with texture, color, and wonder. By being engaged, she learns that even the most familiar things can hide secrets, and that everything—trees, people, even herself—holds more than meets the eye.

Rights sold:

French, Italian, Korean

For foreign rights inquiries, please contact us.

Deli Days
Illustrations by Marta Pantaleo

At Zeyde's Deli, Sundays mean helping Grandpa serve the neighborhood's best pastrami on rye.

One moment you're carrying a tray of the deli's famous sandwiches. The next, you’re standing in a sea of broken cookies and scattered sprinkles while the lunch rush stares. But right there in the chaos, a grandchild learns what family tradition really means―and that sometimes the best memories come from our biggest messes. A warm, funny story about growing up one matzo ball at a time.

“A child looks forward to visiting their grandfather’s deli each Sunday in this upbeat picture book that highlights the various delights found in cultural hotspots…The electric colors in the pop art illustrations make the bright deli scenes engaging, and the depictions of steaming borscht and stuffed sandwiches are sure to make young audiences salivate.”
Foreword

“Original, fun and funny, Deli Days [is] a unique, memorable, and deftly crafted story of food, family and tradition. It is also an especially and unreservedly recommended pick for family, daycare center, preschool, elementary school, and community library picture book collections for children ages 3-7.”
Midwest Book Review

"Bright colors and bold, simple brush strokes bring the deli to cheerful life. The pages are full of loving depictions of traditional Ashkenazi foods like borscht, knishes, pastrami, and rugelach… A delicious slice of Jewish life, passed down from one generation to the next.”
Kirkus

Rights:

For foreign rights inquiries, please contact Scribble Books.

Silence Sounds Simple: A Day in the Life of John Cage
Illustrations by Andrea D’Aquino

John Cage is a man who makes music with screws and bolts or with rubber bands. He’ll play a toy piano onstage in his suit. Why? To make people listen. To make them think. As John goes through an ordinary day, he finds that it’s full of wonder and full of music. John hears the seeds of music in everything from slippers scuffing on an old wooden floor and water whooshing from a faucet to beeping horns and screeching brakes outside. He even hears music in the silence of the forest as he harvests mushrooms.

“D’Aquino’s mixed media prints visually echo that experimentation. Layers of acrylic, oil pastel, collage, and found textures create bold graphic forms that feel spontaneous yet intentional. The layering of media and the variety in the density of white space and images, convey rhythm within the illustrations. The art projects visually sound while encouraging readers to focus a little longer on the illustrations, paralleling the meaning of silence benefitting from attention.”
School Library Journal Starred Review ★

Rights:

For foreign rights inquiries, please contact Calkins Creek.