Celebrate Children’s Book Week 2022 (first week of May) by attending our Saturday, May 7 family-friendly virtual event @ 4pm ET/ 1pm PT! We will be celebrating food, culture, and communities as represented in children’s books!

Hosted by Kevin Maillard, author of the Sibert Medal and the American Indian Youth Literature Honor-winning book Fry Bread, and featuring brilliant authors and illustrators, including:

- Raúl the Third (¡Vamos! Let’s Go Eat & ¡Vamos! Let’s Go to the Market)

- Caldecott Award-winning Andrea Wang (Watercress)

- Cheryl Chepulsova (Noodles, Please! A to Z Foods of the World); and

- Michael Genhart (May Your Life Be Deliciosa).

This free event will take place on Zoom, offering author and illustrator spotlights, a group conversation about food and culture in children’s books, and an illustration demonstration. All are welcome to attend.

To purchase these authors' works, you can find participating bookstores on www.virtualbookevents.com/indiesunite! Books can also be found on Bookshop.org

This event is held in partnership with Bookshop.org and the Children’s Book Council. Please register to confirm attendance and receive event email reminders!

We look forward to seeing you Saturday, May 7 at 4pm ET (1pm PT).

About the authors/illustrators:

Kevin Maillard is Professor of Law at Syracuse University, a contributor to the New York Times and a co-founder of Black Stream Partners LLC. He has written for The Atlantic and has provided on-air commentary to ABC News and MSNBC. He is the debut author of Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story, a picture book illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal, which won the Sibert Medal and the American Indian Youth Literature Honor. An enrolled member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, he is based in Manhattan, NY.

Raúl the Third is the New York Times bestselling, three-time Pura Belpré Award-winning author-illustrator of the World of ¡Vamos! series and the illustrator of Schneider Family Award Honoree Stuntboy, in the Meantime, written by Jason Reynolds. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts, with his New York Times bestselling collaborator, Elaine Bay.

Michael Genhart, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist in private practice in San Francisco and Mill Valley, California. He lives with his family in Marin County. He received his BA in psychology from the University of California, San Diego and his PhD in clinical and community psychology from the University of Maryland, College Park. He is the author of several picture books including: Ouch! Moments: When Words Are Used in Hurtful Ways (2016), Peanut Butter & Jellyous (2017), Mac & Geeeez! (2017), Cake & I Scream! (2017), So Many Smarts! (2017), I See You (2017), Rainbow: A First Book of Pride (2019), Accordionly: Abuelo and Opa Make Music (2020) all from Magination Press, as well as Love Is Love (Little Pickle Press/Sourcebooks, 2018), May Your Life Be Deliciosa (Cameron Kids/Abrams Books, Fall 2021), and They’re So Flamboyant! (Magination Press, Fall 2021).

Andrea Wang is an acclaimed author of children’s books. Her book Watercress was awarded the Caldecott Medal, a Newbery Honor, the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, a New England Book Award, and a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor. Her other books, The Many Meanings of Meilan, Magic Ramen, and The Nian Monster, have also received awards and starred reviews. Her work explores culture, creative thinking, and identity. She is also the author of seven nonfiction titles for the library and school market. Andrea holds an M.S. in Environmental Science and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing for Young People. She lives in Colorado with her family, and can be found online at @andreawhywang on Instagram and @andreaywang on Twitter.

Cheryl Yau Chepusova is a designer, writer, and author of the Big Cities Little Foodies travel series. As a Hong Kong native and city-dweller, she has traveled around Asia and also lived and worked in Toronto, New York, and most recently San Francisco. Her writing has appeared in Design Observer, Metropolis, Print, and others. She spends her days designing apps and software for companies like Slack, Pinterest, The New York Times, and Squarespace. She enjoys picnics with her two children, teaching them multiple languages, and learning about the world together through picture books.

About Indies UNITE!:

Seven independent bookstores across the country have joined forces to become IndiesUNITE!, a collaborative project offering a series of hard-hitting virtual events that challenge the status quo, question our current standards, and leave no curiosity left unexplored. Launched in 2020, IndiesUNITE! hosts several virtual events throughout the year, engaging educators, parents, and readers of all ages. Attendees and participants are encouraged to share their experience on social media using the hashtag #IndiesUnite2022.

Participating independent bookstores:

Boogie Down Books, NY, boogiedownbooks.com

Blue Manatee Literacy Project, OH, bluemanatee.org

Little Shop of Stories, GA, littleshopofstories.com

Monkey See, Monkey Do…Children’s Bookstore, NY, monkeysread.com

Politics and Prose Bookstore, DC, politics-prose.com

River Dog Book Co., WI, riverdogbookco.com

Second Star to the Right, CO, secondstartotherightbooks.com

About these virtual events:

For the safety of the authors and the participants, we will be using a webinar virtual event platform format and the event will be monitored to immediately shut down any negative interaction. IndiesUNITE! events seek to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), class, or technology choices. Harassment in any form is not tolerated. Sexual/racist language and imagery is not appropriated and not tolerated. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events.