The Weekly 411 (3/27/26)
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| © Karen Ritz |
March 27, 2026 vol. 13
The Weekly 411 gathers all the links added to Kidlit411 each week. To receive this post by email, sign up for our email updates. Are you on Facebook? Join our Kidlit411 group for conversations and camaraderie. We can also be found on Bluesky. This week's illustration is by Karen Ritz.
Picture Book Giveaway
We are pleased to host a giveaway of the picture book, Catch by D.C. Swanson, illustrated by Clint Hansen (Black Rose Writing) out on April 2. Enter to win a copy via the widget below.
About the Book: Baseball has brought families together for generations, but what happens when a son no longer has time for a catch with his dad? Catch, a children's book written by D.C. Swanson and featuring the scratchboard illustrations of Clint Hansen, follows the story of a family as they learn about love, patience, regret, and renewal through the baseball catches they have with one another and the catches they never got to have. Catch will remind families who watch a young little leaguer grow up and leave the park behind that some memorable family moments are worth waiting for. Written in rhyming verse for children aged 5-10 and their families, Catch is Swanson and Hansen's second children's book.
About the Author: Born in Vermont and raised in Virginia, Dan (D.C.) Swanson grew up in a baseball family but realized early on that he was better with books than with bats. He worked for nearly two decades as a government attorney before publishing his first children’s book, which he had written with the help of his two daughters. He currently lives in Maryland with his wife, his daughters, his puppy, and a couple of crowded bookshelves.
About the Illustrator: Clint Hansen of Iowa is a fifth-generation artist and likes to say his native language is drawing, as he was communicating with crayons before he could speak. His award-winning art is represented in private, public, and corporate collections.
We are pleased to host a giveaway of the young adult book, What We Have Tamed by G.S. Harrington (Slow Horse Press), out now. Enter to win a copy via the widget below.
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| cover design by David Leahey |
About the Book: Pitched as Noah’s Ark in space, this genre-bending YA sci-fi follows a team’s troubled attempt to relocate animals to Martian settlements in 2107, blending climate fiction with suspense, a slow-burn romance, animal conservation, and a deeply emotional core. Optional nonfiction between chapters highlights the science and the real animal test subjects behind the story, exploring our complicated relationship with animals—past, present, and one possible future.
About the Author: Author and freelance editor G.S. Harrington is incapable of choosing a favorite genre, and is a firm believer in learning the rules so you can break them. Her two oversized lapdogs and her background in working with horses flavor her writing with a love for animals and the outdoors. Raised in Germany, she now lives in New Mexico, USA, where much of the historical space-related animal research referenced in What We Have Tamed took place. Find her at gsharrington.com, on Instagram, or subscribe to her newsletter for craft resources and book updates.
Marketing & Creating a Platform
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Writing Courses
Mar. 30 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM EDT Building Picture Books from the Middle, with Rob Sanders with Inked Voices. Lewis Carroll wrote: “Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.” Katherine Anne Porter said, “If I didn’t know the ending of a story, I wouldn’t begin.” Two wildly different views of how to get a story on paper. But could there be a third way? Rob Sanders thinks that knowing the midpoint of your story and building back to the beginning and out to the end could be a fresh way to begin a project or to evaluate and revise a WIP. Using examples from his own fiction and nonfiction picture books (as well as the work of others), Rob will introduce the importance of the midpoint and how to identify it, how a story can be evenly distributed in both directions from the midpoint, and how writing from the midpoint might actually help build the emotional intensity of a story. Rob will offer a limited number of 30-minute critique consultations in conjunction with class for an extra fee. You will receive signup information with your Zoom invite.
April 15 - May 15, 2026 MG Opening Pages with Monica Rodriguez at Context Literary In this intimate workshop, you'll receive a written critique of your opening pages (3750 words) from agent Monica Rodriguez with context Literary Agency, plus get the opportunity to speak to Monica individually in the live group call that follows critiques. You'll also exchange peer critiques within your group of up to 7 writers. This format accelerates learning because you are able to read a professional's feedback on each story you have read and critiqued, and listen to each one-on-one on the debrief call. Great for writers in the query trenches and those looking for market and editorial feedback on their premise and opening chapters. For this workshop, Monica is open to middle grade across genres, and to chapter books. She's happy to read prose, verse, and GN scripts.
They all love the work they do helping authors deepen their craft to create their strongest manuscripts possible. Join them in consultation, in a workshop, or joining hangouts talking about revision.
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