Children’s Book and Learning Festival

Anna E. Jordan’s (she/her) debut middle-grade novel, Shira and Esther’s Double Dream Debut (Chronicle Books, 2023) centers Jewish joy and was named a Best Book of 2023 by Bank Street, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and Tablet Magazine. She has an MFA from the Writing for Children and Young Adults program at Vermont College of Fine Arts and was the recipient of the 2013 PEN New England Susan P. Bloom Children’s Book Discovery award. She is a member of SCBWI and the DC Children’s Book Guild. She teaches fifth grade, lives in the DC area with her cat Rothko, and is in search of the tastiest Knish. Connect with her on social media @annawritedraw.

Activity: Using paper bags, scissors, and ribbon, attendees will create mini file folders to hold their story ideas and dreams. Attendees will decorate their work with water-washable paint and stamps.

Danielle Joseph is the author of the picture biography book, Ruth First Never Backed Down and I Want to Ride the Tap Tap, a Bank Street Best Children’s Book and CBC Notable Social Studies Book. She is also the author of the middle-grade novel, PJ Library Selection, Sydney A. Frankel’s Summer Mix-up and three young adult novels Shrinking Violet, Indigo Blues, and Pure Red. Shrinking Violet was adapted into the Disney Channel movie, “Radio Rebel.” Danielle has a BFA in Creative Writing and an MA in Marketing Communications and Advertising, both from Emerson College. She’s a former middle school creative writing teacher and has been teaching writing workshops for over fifteen years. Danielle was born in Cape Town, South Africa and currently lives in Maryland with her family. Her next book, The Mitzvah Fairy debuts January 1, 2025.

Activity: Decorate a Tap Tap bus with items that represent you and your culture!

Deborah Kalb is the author of the middle grade time travel series The President and Me. She also has written fiction and nonfiction for adults. She’s the co-host of the Rereading Our Childhood podcast, and the host of the longtime book blog Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb. A former journalist, she lives in the D.C. area.

Activity: Attendees will make tri cornered hats and decorate them, to go along with the theme of George Washington and the Magic Hat, the first in Kalb’s series.

Debra Kempf Shumaker loves weird and fascinating facts. When she isn’t reading or writing, she enjoys hiking, gardening, and watching Jeopardy. She lives in Northern Virginia with her husband, three sons, and two cats. She is the author of Freaky, Funky Fish (2021), Tell Someone (2021), Peculiar Primates (2022) and the upcoming Wind is a Dance (2024). Visit her online at www.debrashumaker.com.

Activity: Have fun making primate faces and funky fish using paper plates, construction paper, and glue.

Desaray Mnyandu has a passion for world cultures has led her to visit various countries around the world. Her goal is to write books that introduce children to the African continent and help them explore the beauty of African cultures, wisdom and languages in a simple way. She hopes her writing will help children discover common affirmations that exist among all people in order to grow their own confidence as global citizens. Desaray serves as a recording secretary in the Children’s Book Guild of Washington DC and is a member of SWBI. She’s married to her college sweetheart and they live outside Washington DC, where she homeschools their four children.

Activity: The activity is based on the book Sindi: A Zulu Cinderella. After attending the Reed Dance Ceremony, Sindi loses her ucu necklace. An ucu is a beaded piece of jewelry used by the Zulu people of South Africa to send a special message (using shapes and colors) to someone they care about. At the festival, children will use yarn, index cards, and colored pencils/crayons to design their own ucu.

Ginger Park is an award-winning author of many books for children that reflect her Korean heritage. She is the recipient of the International Reading Association’s Children’s Book Award, IRA-CBC Teachers’ Choice Award, Bank Street College Award, Paterson Prize for Young Readers, Junior Library Guild Selection, among others. Her books have been published in five languages. To honor & celebrate AAPI Heritage Month, the Administrative Offices of the U.S. Courts & federal judiciary selected Ginger Park as their feature author. The hour-long presentation featured her historical novel The Hundred Choices Department Store. When Ginger isn’t writing, you can find her at her sweet shop, Chocolate Chocolate, in downtown Washington, DC, ‘breaking chocolate & books’ with her beloved customers.

Activity: Children will learn the Korean alphabet with ancient Korean calligraphy/painting on scrolls as explored in Ginger’s latest picture book Grandpa’s Scroll.

Joan Waites is an award-winning author-illustrator of numerous titles illustrated for the children’s trade and educational markets. She is the author-illustrator of five picture and board books, with three forthcoming titles releasing in 2025 and 2026. A former adjunct faculty member of the Corcoran Museum School of Art and Design’s aspiring artists programs, Joan continues to teach art enrichment for children and adults. She served for many years as the Mid-Atlantic SCBWI Illustrator Coordinator, and is a member of the Children’s Book Guild of Washington D.C., and The National Art Educators Association.

Activity: Attendess will paint/decorate wooden dog or cat ornaments to match characters from Joan’s books.

Karen Leggett Abouraya grew up in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, surrounded by writing and books: her father was a journalist and her mother a retired school librarian. Karen was a broadcast journalist for many years on ABC Radio WMAL in Washington, D.C., where she began reviewing and discussing children’s books. Karen graduated from Brown University (international relations) and met her Egyptian husband in Washington. They have two children and have been lucky enough to visit Egypt many times – especially Alexandria, her husband’s hometown. Her first book is focused on Alexandria during the Arab Spring in 2011- Hands Around the Library: Protecting Egypt’s Treasured Books. She also wrote a picture book biography, Malala Yousafzai: Warrior with Words, both books illustrated by Susan L. Roth. Karen is a past president of the Children’s Book Guild of Washington, D.C.

Activity: Create a character in collage, just like these characters http://susanlroth.com/letsnotholdhands, using fabric, colored paper, buttons, sequins, felt, googly eyes and so much more.

Mayonn Paasewe-Valchev was born in Liberia, where she was exposed to a culture of oral storytelling at a young age. She lived in the Netherlands for several years, where she learned to stuff her klompen (wooden shoes) with carrots and developed a love for reading stories—especially tales written by Roald Dahl and Astrid Lindgren. She is the author of The Leopard Behind the Moon (2021), There Flies the Witch (2023), and a junior novel retelling of Marvel’s Black Panther and its sequel. She lives in Washington, DC, with her family.

Activity: Like the main character in the book, There Flies the Witch, children will write magical stories in the sand. Using trays of colored sand, twigs, and short story prompts, they will imagine and create their own magical tales.

Michelle Y. Green is an award-winning author of historical fiction and biography for children and young adults. A Past President of the Children’s Book Guild of Washington, DC, Michelle has a Master of Arts degree from The Johns Hopkins University and coursework in the JHU Advanced Degree Program in Teaching Writing. Her father was a Tuskegee Airman; and her mother, soon to be 100, was a “Rosie the Riveter” during WWII. Visit her at www.michelleygreen.com

Activity: Play a mini baseball pinball game to win a prize!

Nancy has been an educator for more than 17 years and is a proud member of her teacher’s union. Nancy has also provided professional development for teachers in the areas of arts integration and diversity, equity and inclusion. Prior to becoming a public school teacher, Nancy worked in the fields of community economic development, organizing and arts and social justice. Nancy has a BA in Liberal Arts from Sarah Lawrence College and an MFA from Saint Mary’s College of California as well as multiple teaching credentials and a certificate in nonprofit management. Nancy is also a student of the history and dance forms from Africa and the African Diaspora. Nancy Johnson James is a poet, educator, activist and children’s book author. Her poems and lesson plans have been published in several print and online publications. Her picture books Brown: The Many Shades of Love and Black: The Many Wonders of My World were released by Cameron and Company Press in 2020 and 2022. A third title, Blue: The Many Ways That I Feel was released in August 2023. Nancy’s fourth picture book, Dream A Dress will be released in August 2024.

Activity: Based on Blue: The Many Ways I Feel, children will use visual art to represent the role of breath in balancing big emotions with prompts from the text. 

Pamela Ehrenberg is the author of novels and picture books for young readers, including Queen of the Hanukkah Dosas and, with co-author Tracy López, Detour Ahead, which was a National Jewish Book Award finalist. Pamela works at the National Association for the Education of Young Children and lives with her two teenagers near the National Zoo.

Activity: Join in writing DC’s longest-that-we-know-of magnetic-poetry-style poem! Inspired by the two narrators of Detour Ahead, and the many poets and poems that tell our stories of what it’s like to live in, visit, and spend time in DC–author Pamela Ehrenberg invites visitors of all ages to contribute one or more lines to a collaborative poem in honor of our city!

Rashin Kheiriyeh, an Iranian-American artist, based in Washington D.C. is renowned for her illustrations featured in prestigious publications such as The New Yorker magazine and The New York Times. With a diverse portfolio spanning over ninety children’s books, Rashin’s work captivates audiences worldwide. Her acclaimed titles, including Rumi, poet of joy and love and The Shape of Home, have earned her praise and recognition, with Publishers Weekly hailing her as a “buoyant slice-of-life tale” and The New York Times applauding her for crafting “joyful, wildly imaginative” narratives. Rashin’s exceptional talent has garnered nominations for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in 2023 and 2024, underscoring her significant contributions to children’s literature. She studied painting at School of Visual Arts in New York, holding an MFA in graphic design and an honorary PhD in illustration from Alzahra University in Tehran, Rashin was honored as a Maurice Sendak Fellow in 2017.

Activity: Rashin will be reading from her books and drawing with festival attendees.

Susan Stockdale is the author and illustrator of many picture books that celebrate nature including Fabulous Fishes, Stripes of All Types and Line Up! Animals in Remarkable Rows. Her books have won a variety of awards such as the ALSC Notable Picture Book, NCTE Notable Children’s Book in the Language Arts, NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book for Students K-12, and the Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Books of the Year. Her vibrant illustrations and engaging text elicits praise. The Washington Post wrote, “If the paintings are the feast, Stockdale’s words are the dessert.” Her next book, Don’t Eat the Cleaners! Tiny Fish with a Big Job, will be published in February 2025. Learn more at www.susanstockdale.com.

Activity: Susan will read and briefly demonstrate how she painted the illustrations for her most recent book, Line Up! Animals in Remarkable Rows. Children will then create their own “lined up” animal images using vibrantly colored oil pastels on black paper.