Hello Readers! * I’m glad you stopped by the blog today. For our first blog post with the brand new shiny name, Kid Lit Village, I’m featuring the fiction picture book, I MISS YOUR SUNNY SMILE by Deb Adamson and Anne Zimanski which is coming out in February, 2021. And here’s the preorder link for a personalized signed copy shipped free anywhere in U.S. https://www.banksquarebooks.com/i-miss-your-sunny-smile
*Reposted from 2021
Synopsis-
“I miss your sunny smile. How’d you lose it? Where’d it go? Let’s go searching for a while.” Having a bad day is never fun, but it can be especially difficult for young children to understand that sad feelings are temporary. Through gentle rhymes and warm illustrations, we see a mother helping her son find his smile again.
The book is also available for pre-order from Amazon
And now I’d like to welcome Deb Adamson to the blog. Congratulations on the upcoming publication of your book, Deb! And thanks for taking the time to do a blog interview and share your creative energy with the Kid Lit Village.
Can you start by sharing some advice for children’s book writers?
My advice for children’s book writers is to read as many recently published children’s books as possible. It is impossible to write without reviewing current mentor texts that inspire. Write routinely, but not necessarily every day. Some ideas need to percolate before sitting down to write. And revise all work until you cannot imagine it getting any better. Between revisions, be sure you let the piece sit for longer than you think, then look at it with fresh eyes and revise again. Be prepared. If it gets accepted for publication it will no doubt be revised even more! Be sure to have a critique partner or critique group to offer feedback. And don’t give up. Finding an agent or editor who connects with your work is so subjective. If you have put in the hard work, and know you are submitting your best manuscripts then persistence will eventually pay off.
Thanks for the reminder of the subjective nature of children’s publishing. This is so important to remember when submitting your work.
Can you tell us about your path to publication?
My path to publication has been a long and winding road. My first picture book was published by Millbrook Press 20 years ago. And my second by an independent publisher one year later. Shortly after that, I put a long pause on my quest to see my books in print. The decision was spurred by, at the time, scary health-news for me, and also for my mom. But the interlude also involved something more joyful— me finally being able to have the child I longed for and wanting to just enjoy my days with him, not putting my heart and soul into trying to get published, and all the angst that goes with that. I wrote picture book manuscripts during his younger years and of course read so much to him. (We also homeschooled.) I just didn’t query. No regrets. And now that he’s grown, being back in the pursuit to publication feels like just the right time.
It is true that there’s so much angst that goes along with publishing. It must have been a challenging time for you dealing with your own health issues as well as your mother’s and what a wise choice to focus on your child! That is a good way to maintain positivity in your life.
Please tell us about some of your other books.
I was published again last year (2019) by independent press, Little Red Tree Publishing. My nonfiction picture book biography, Florence Griswold The Keeper of The Artists was my love song to my favorite museum- The Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, CT. It tells the story of Miss Florence, who made art history by establishing the most famous Impressionist Art Colony in the U.S. I donate proceeds from sales of that book to the museum. I Miss Your Sunny Smile is being published at time when small children are struggling with the isolation caused by the pandemic. It is my hope that this story will help really young children ages (0-3) in some small way understand that bad days come and bad days go and that frowns eventually turn upside down!
As you may know, I am a preschool teacher and I Miss Your Sunny Smile reminded me right away of our difficult decision this year, deciding to wear masks at preschool. We struggled with this because we didn’t want to hide our faces as we believe young children benefit from seeing our facial expressions at a time when they are learning to understand emotions. We also know they are learning speech and articulation of sounds and how much being able to observe others speaking can be aid in learning to communicate. Our early childhood educators do wear masks but we find opportunities to show children our smiles underneath when we are at a safe six foot distance. What a timely book to be coming out this year and as you say, it will be timeless in the understanding that bad days do come and go.
Thanks for the interview, Deb! You can learn more about Deb and her books by visiting her website or on Twitter!
Website link- debadamson.com
Twitter @DebAdamsonBooks
Feel free to leave your comments below. And for U.S. residents, take the opportunity to pre-order Deb’s book and get a signed copy! https://www.banksquarebooks.com/i-miss-your-sunny-smile
Thank you for stopping by Kid Lit Village this week! I hope you’ll find ways to support these authors any way you can: request their books at the library, share on your social media, add their book to your Goodreads to-read list, or leave them a review.
I hope you’ll come back on Mondays and discover new children’s books being released this year. Sign up for email notifications on the right side of the page. Or sign up for my newsletter.
Books by Cynthia 
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