8.31.2017: Extra, Extra! Read All About It

August 31, 2017 Anica Rissi

It was an author dream come true to see The Teacher's Pet recommended in the New York Times last weekend, along with four other fun back-to-school picture books. If you missed the review, here it is:

Meanwhile, my dog, Arugula, was delighted to find herself on the cover of the the Princeton Echo. Dan Bauer wrote a lovely profile on us (and my books) for the September issue, which you can read online here.

If you'd like to see me in person, rather than in print, please come to one of my many September events. I will be doing a The Teacher's Pet story time and launch party (with prosecco, homemade cookies, and cheese!) at Community Bookstore in Park Slope, Brooklyn on Sunday, September 10th, at 11am. On Saturday, September 16th, you'll find me on the Picture Book Stage at the Brooklyn Book Festival Children's Day at 11:30am, and at the Back to School Picture Book Bonanza (together with many other picture-book creators!) at Books of Wonder from 1-3pm. I'll be at the Princeton Children's Book Festival in Princeton, NJ, on Saturday, September 23rd, and the Decatur Book Festival in Decatur, GA, this coming weekend (see my schedule, below). For more details on any of these events (and more coming up!), please visit the public events page of my website.

Happy back to school, happy start of fall, and happy reading!

7.20.2017: The Recipe for Disaster Cover Reveal

July 20, 2017 Anica Rissi

Get ready to make some messes....

Anna and her friends stir up some sweet treats—and a scoop of trouble—in the kitchen in Anna, Banana, and the Recipe for Disaster. This sixth book in the Anna, Banana series isn't out until March 2018, but I'm delighted to share Meg Park's adorable cover art and a peek inside today.

First, here's the cover!

And here's what it's about:

Anna, Sadie, and Isabel love sharing sweet treats, and they're ready to put their baking skills to the test. The plan? To make the best-ever cookies for the library bake sale! Even Anna's dog, Banana, feels certain the girls can win.

There's only one problem: Monica, Sadie and Isabel's new friend who keeps stirring up trouble. Monica, who might be trying to steal Anna's best friends away from her. Can Anna's special new recipe help win them back, or will an unexpected ingredient turn things from sweet to sour?

Would you like a peek inside? Here's a brief excerpt from Chapter Nine: Take a Bite.

Sadie perked right up. “Do you want to bake with us on Saturday morning?” she asked Monica.

Say no, say no, say no, say no, I thought. I didn’t want to be mean, but I also didn’t want to bake cookies with her. I barely knew this girl, yet somehow she and my best friends had a secret handshake and inside jokes. I didn’t want to include someone who made me feel so left out.

I knew that friendship, like the bake sale, wasn’t really a competition. But I couldn’t help it: I wanted to win.

—From Anna, Banana, and the Recipe for Disaster

Hooray for cookies and messes! And, as always, for friendship and dogs. If you'd like to pre-order a copy (thank you) or add the book on Goodreads, here are the links: Indiebound | Amazon | B&N | BAM | Goodreads. The hardcover, paperback, and ebook editions will all be released on March 20th.

Also: When I wrote that first story about a girl and her dog and a fight with a best friend, I never imagined that a few years later, I'd have written six books about that girl, her dog, and her friends, and be about to start writing the seventh. THANK YOU to all the friends and strangers who have read one of my books; bought one of my books; shared it with a kid; spread the word amongst readers, teachers, booksellers, parents, or librarians; come to one of my book events; invited me to visit your library or school; or even just clicked a supportive "like" on a writing-related Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram post. Your support has meant the world.

6.20.2017: GULP! The Teacher's Pet is here!

June 20, 2017 Anica Rissi

*On the day the science project hatched, our whole class was amazed. We'd never seen Mr. Stricter so excited. "I always wanted a pet," he said.*

My first picture book, The Teacher's Pet, goes out into the world today! It's about a teacher who is so enamored of the new class pet, he can't see all the trouble it's causing. I had a lot of fun writing this silly, semi-autobiographical tale...and even more fun seeing how illustrator Zachariah OHora brought the story to life, telling a visual story that surprised (and delighted) even me.

(For those who don't know: Picture book writers and illustrators work separately for most of the process, and writers don't prescribe what should happen in the art. Instead, we try to leave lots of room in the text for illustrators to play, invent, and imagine new facets to the story--and that's where the magic happens.)

The book has been named one of The Best Children's and YA Books of June 2017 by Brightly, and one of the Best New Picture Books of June 2017 by The Children's Book Review.

In a starred review, Publishers Weekly wrote, "Rissi's very funny text is a model of understatement and restraint...allowing OHora to make the most of the story's physical comedy in thickly painted scenes spiked with neon orange. Mr. Stricter is a classic bumbler cut from Amelia Bedelia's cloth, and readers will hope that his class has more oddball tales in store."

Bookseller Todd Wellman selected The Teacher's Pet as a staff pick at Boswell Book Company, saying, "It's lovely to recommend a truly laugh-out-loud picture book in which the illustrations and text flatter each other so well. Rissi and OHora have devised a story that the reader will gleefully suspend disbelief for. Mr. Stricter has introduced a class pet, but it grows and grows into something unexpected that he loves but the students realize requires a different sort of compassion. All members of a classroom are shown to be contributors to the educational experience as the kids problem-solve and help their educational environment be successful."

I will be doing several book festival, library, and bookstore events in the next few months, including in Michigan, Maine, Georgia, New York, and New Jersey. If you're interested in coming to a The Teacher's Pet story time, I would love to see you there! Please visit my events page for more details.

The Teacher's Pet bookmarks and stickers for event attendees — *The Teacher's Pet* bookmarks and stickers for event attendees

6.6.2017: Watch Out for Wolf!

June 6, 2017 Anica Rissi

Picture-book news:

I'm the luckiest duck to get to work with editrix Rotem Moscovich and illustrator Charles Santoso (if you don't already know his work, check out the wonderful Ida, Always by Caron Levis and I Don't Like Koala by Sean Ferrell) on a new picture book featuring five little piggies and one very big surprise. Hey, piggies: Watch Out for Wolf!

Here's the announcement from Publishers Weekly:

Pre-order links won't be up for a while, but if you'd like to add the book on Goodreads, please click here.

Meanwhile, my first picture book, The Teacher's Pet, illustrated by Zachariah OHora, comes out in two weeks. It recently received a starred review from Publishers Weekly and was named one of the Best Children's and YA Books of June 2017 by the editors at Brightly. There's still time to pre-order a copy by following one of these links: B&N | Amazon | Indiebound | BAM | Target | iTunes | Indigo. I can't wait for you to meet Mr. Stricter, Bruno, and the clever kids who must save the day!

5.12.2017: Always Forever Maybe

May 12, 2017 Anica Rissi

If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram, you may have caught a glimpse of the secret project I've been writing and revising for the past few years, in between drafts of the Anna, Banana books.

I'm thrilled to share that the project is no longer a secret: My book will be a book! Always Forever Maybe sold to Rosemary Brosnan at HarperTeen last fall, and yesterday the announcement went live on Publishers Weekly Here it is:

I've had this story in my head and heart (and computer) for a long, long time, and I can't wait to share it with you.

Pre-order links won't be available for a few more months*, but if you would like to add the book on Goodreads, please do: you'll find it here.

5.2.2017: Have you seen this Kitten?

May 2, 2017 Anica Rissi

Anna, Banana, and the Little Lost Kitten comes meowing into bookstores today! This fifth (and most purrific) book in the Anna, Banana series has been, in many ways, a long time in the making. Here I am in 1986 (age 7), conducting early research:

And here I am a few days ago, practicing my Very Professional Author Face with the first finished copies of the book.

As you can already tell from the cover, Meg Park's illustrations for this book are ridiculously adorable. Here's a little peek inside....

If you'd like to snag your own copy of the book to read or take selfies with, it's available now in hardcover, paperback, and ebook. You can order it online at Indiebound, B&N, Amazon, BAM, Target, or iTunes, ask for it at your favorite local bookstore, or request it at your library. Thanks for your support!

I'll be visiting eight terrific elementary schools in the next few weeks to talk with the kids about creativity, books, and writing. If you'd like to see photos, please follow my adventures on Instagram. You'll find me there and on Twitter at @anicarissi.

(Fun fact: In Anna, Banana, and the Little Lost Kitten, Anna and her friends belong to a club at school called String Club. I got the idea from the third graders in Mrs. Donnelly's class at Springfield Estates Elementary School, who introduced me to their version of String Club when I spoke at their school last year.)

Meow!

3.31.2017: Book news! More Bananas

March 31, 2017 Anica Rissi

March comes in like a lion, goes out like Bananas....

I'm pleased as punch to get to write two more books in the Anna, Banana series (books seven and eight!). Thank you to all the readers, teachers, librarians, booksellers, and parents whose support is making this possible. And thanks to illustrator Meg Park, editrix Alexa Pastor, agent Meredith Kaffel Simonoff, designer Laurent Linn, and the whole fabulous team at Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. I'm having a lot of fun creating these stories and can't wait to see where the adventures lead next!

Here's the official announcement from Publishers Marketplace:

The first four books in the series will soon be available in Danish as well. Here are the covers for the first two translations, coming from Carlsen publishers in May 2017. Google tells me the titles translate to "Enemies" and "One, Two, Many." Please tell all your friends in Denmark!

There's still time to preorder book five, Anna, Banana, and the Little Lost Kitten, which comes out in hardcover, paperback, and ebook on May 2nd. You can find it online at Amazon, B&N, Indiebound, Target, BAM, and iTunes, or ask for it at your local bookstore or library. Thanks for your support! Here's Rooga reviewing the first typeset pages:

1.1.2017: A Year of Reading

January 1, 2017 Anica Rissi

What did you read in 2016? Here are the books that shaped my year, not including picture books, books read in part, or books I wrote (more news on that topic coming soon!).

In the final weeks of 2016, I sent more than four-hundred Anna, Banana books to classrooms and libraries in high-poverty elementary schools in twenty-three states. Thanks to all who helped spread the word about that giveaway.

If you're looking for a pup-tastic, purple-covered paperback start to 2017, I've got good news: the paperback of Anna, Banana, and the Puppy Parade hits stores on January 3rd--and it contains a sneak peek at Anna, Banana book five, Anna, Banana, and the Little Lost Kitten, which comes out in hardcover, ebook, and paperback this May (for pre-order links, please click here). 2017 is also the year of The Teacher's Pet, my first picture book, illustrated by the wonderful Zachariah OHora (available in June, and pre-orderable now).

Whatever's on your TBR, I hope the story of your year will be a good one.

11.13.2016: Free Books for High-Poverty Schools

November 13, 2016 Anica Rissi

This fall, I'm hoping to donate Anna, Banana chapter books to high-poverty public elementary schools* (meaning either Title I or schools where more than 70% of the students qualify for free or reduced-price meals). If that's your school, please be in touch! My email is anicamroserissi at gmail dot com.

Last year, I sent 159 books to 53 schools in 21 states and the District of Columbia. I'd love to send out even more this year.

If you're inclined to share this post to help spread the word, please do. You'll also find it in shareable form on my Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts. Thank you!

*U.S. schools only, due to shipping costs.

The Anna, Banana chapter books are best for students in grades 1-4. For more information about the series, please click here.

10.11.2016: A Peek Inside The Teacher's Pet

October 11, 2016 Anica Rissi

How can one little pet cause such big trouble?

*Gulp*

I'm monstrously excited to share this early peek at my very first picture book, The Teacher's Pet, illustrated by Zachariah OHora and coming from Disney-Hyperion on June 20, 2017.

If you'd like to pre-order a copy (thank you!!), here are the links for B&N and Amazon. You can also request it at your local bookstore or library by telling them the ISBN: 978-1-4847-4364-5. To add the book on Goodreads, please click here.

Here's what the book is about:

On the day the tadpoles hatch, the whole class is amazed—they've never seen their teacher so excited. Mr. Stricter has always wanted a pet, so he tells the students they can keep just one. The class chooses Bruno, the smallest of the bunch. But Bruno doesn't stay small for long. Soon he's grown into a giant, classroom-wrecking creature: He eats desks, farts for show-and-tell, and sneezes slime all over everything! Everyone can see that Bruno is trouble. Everyone except Mr. Stricter.

With their teacher blinded by love for the pet, the students must step up and take matters into their own heroic hands.

I had a lot of fun writing this story, and even more fun seeing Zach's illustrations bring it to life. Here's one of my favorite interior spreads: