I met Kamalani Hurley online years ago when I sold my first picture book and she was just beginning to submit hers. Fast forward a handful of years and Hurley who is a kanaka maoli (native Hawaiian) writer and professor emeritus, is publishing inspiring children’s literature that we all need to read. Her debut picture book Kaho’olawe: The True Story of an Island and Her People illustrated by Harinani Orme, was a Junior Library Guild Selection before it officially came out. It also won a starred review from the School Library Journal. I knew early on that it would be…
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I’m working on a picture book about one of my grandmothers. She’s been gone for about 8 years now and I’m starting to forget. Having stories like, Kelly Starling Lyons’ My Hands Tell a Story, however has been helping me pull pieces of my culture and personal history into an actual story. The picture book published by Reycraft and illustrated by Tonya Engel is about a little girl’s relationship with her grandmother told through the story of her hands and every thing it’s been through. It’s such a beautiful story and there are so many layers about generation, hard work, passing…