Writing

I’m currently at work/play on a new middle grade novel which was short-listed for CANSCAIP's 2025 Best Middle Grade novel by an unpublished author.

My picture book Japan: Better with Cats won CANSCAIP’s 2022 Best Picture Book award (and my picture book Baby Lemur Life made the short list). My middle grade novel Oy Vey, Lily J. won CANSCAIP’s 2021 Best Middle Grade novel by an unpublished author. It’s a verse novel about friendship plus boba tea, Yiddish, soup dumplings and beatboxing.

I love writing about great global children's books in my newsletter, On Beyond. I'm especially grateful for the insightful community comments!

I write for KidLitCraft and WorldKidLit.

• Pushing it One Step Further - Humor Techniques in Simon Sort of Says
• Humor Techniques Inspired by Kate diCamillo
• Getting My Hands on LOTS of Books in Translation
• Letter to Myself After Going Down the Twitter Hole

I review children’s books in translation and interview book creators.

• Words Without Borders - Best of 2022
• Picture Books on War
• Interview with Translator Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp

I’ve also written some articles for ParentMap about raising kids with an appreciation for the world.

• Cross-Cultural TV: 8 Kids’ Educational Series from Around the World
• How Do You Raise a Global Citizen? Four Steps to Start
• Great Kids’ Reads: 5 Cross-Cultural Children's Books
• Six International Bakeries to Try in Greater Seattle

Through SCBWI San Francisco/South, I host two book clubs focused on craft. One for middle grade writers and one for picture book writers.

Translation

I love languages. I translate from Japanese to English, primarily picture books and middle grade. I also edit translations from other languages. I'm happy to help if you need an extra set of eyes or ears.

And as the co-editor of World Kid Lit, I hope to expand the reach of children's books from around the world. It's also a goal of my newsletter—On Beyond!

A Few Books I Love