What a week: road trip notes & glowing reviews!

What a whirlwind week road tripping with our indefatigable author, Quraysh Ali Lansana and his book, A Gift from Greensboro. Long drives, teaching sessions, presentations, unscheduled appearances, small crowds, big crowds—the man doesn't stop! It was so fun to watch Quraysh in his element, talking to young people—from kindergartners to high school students—about the impacts of the Civil Rights Movement as well as the journey still ahead of us.

We did a lot of driving through the South: Richmond to Farmville, VA to Greensboro, NC to Raleigh. In each city, we learned another unique piece of Civil Rights history, from Farmville's 5-year shut down of public schools to avoid integration and the Black students who initiated boycotts of substandard replacement schools (we met one of them!) to a day-by-day timeline of the sit-ins in Greensboro led by 4 college students who'd had enough. The Greensboro sit-ins weren't the first of their kind, but they were the catalyst for the Movement that swept the South and resulted in lunch counter integration. 

Speaking of lunch counters, we saw the original counter in the International Civil Rights Museum, which used to be the Woolworth store featured so amazingly by Skip Hill in A Gift from Greensboro. The energy of disruption and victory hovers in that room. 

This trip, more than a publicity or book sale opportunity, was simply an honor to be a part of. We're not just making books. We might just be creating community too. 

Quraysh at the Greensboro International Civil Rights Museum discussing the book with students and parents. 

Quraysh at the Virginia Children's Book Festival with a group of high school creative writers (and Chad taking a photo from the other direction).

http://whoorl.com/2016/10/penny-candy-books/

Finally, we woke up this morning after lots of driving and flying, and we discovered this unbelievable post about Penny Candy Books on Sarah James's Whoorl. If you get a chance, give it a read! So great to see that readers—kids and grown ups alike—are digging our mission and our books!!

Tour Dates & Thanks

Wednesday marks the first day of our first book tour at Penny Candy Books. We have an exciting week planned to promote A Gift from Greensboro with author Quraysh Ali Lansana. 

Wednesday, Oct 12, 10:30 a.m. -- Reading at the Black Male Emergent Readers program at the Hull Street branch of the Richmond Public Library

Thursday, Oct 13, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. -- PCB has a booth at the Virginia Children's Book Festival at Longwood University in Farmville, VA

Friday, Oct 14, 9:00 a.m. to 1 p.m. -- Booth at the Virginia Children's Book Festival 

Friday, Oct 14, 3:30 p.m. -- "Civil Rights in Children's Literature" panel (Mr. Lansana is a panelist), Moton Museum, Farmville, VA

Saturday, Oct 15, 11:00 a.m. -- Reading at the International Civil Rights Center & Museum, Greensboro, NC

Saturday, Oct 15, 5:00 p.m. -- Reading at So & So Books, downtown Raleigh, NC

It's going to be a whirlwind of a trip, with the emotional high point being the reading at the International Civil Rights Center & Museum in Greensboro. This is the actual Woolworth's Department store where the "Greensboro Four"--David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair, Jr., and Joseph McNeil--held their sit-ins in 1960. This is the setting for A Gift from Greensboro, and so it's a real thrill and honor to be able to stage a reading there, in the same room where the sit-ins took place. 

It's been a long road to get Penny Candy Books to this point, and yet it feels like the real journey is just beginning. We'd like to thank, in no particular order: Shanna Compton of Bloof Books, our brilliant book designer; Britt and Jeff at Print Ninja, for all things printing; Doug Sorocco and Emily Campbell, our attorneys at Dunlap Codding; Emily Pomeroy, for her invaluable legal assistance in the early days of PCB; Mark Jung and Judy Ogren, our distributors at Itasca Books; Sache Primeaux-Shaw and Allison Adelle Hedge Coke, our first two members of our Advisory Council, for agreeing to give us their wisdom; Melodie Garneau, our landlord at Paramount OKC; Clay Collum, our accountant at Robison Gary Johnson; Amanda O'Connor, for the book industry tutorials; Zach Powers, for a fabulous video; Emily and Aaron for their patience and understanding; Gus and Emmett for their excellent focus group work; Pikey and Calvin for the snuggles; Lee and Jana Reynolds and Rita Orgera for their support and help; Timothy Bradford at Short Order Poems for the encouragement; Amy Young at SixTwelve for the encouragement; and We Need Diverse Books and Lee & Low for the inspiration to found a press focused on diversity. 

Of course we'd like to thank our incredible authors and illustrators--Quraysh Ali Lansana, Skip Hill, Tracey Zeeck, David Bizzaro, Tiffany McKnight, and Margaux Othats--for entrusting us with their work and for the inspiration. We'd like to thank the authors and illustrators we'll be working with in 2017--we have lots of big announcements coming soon! And we'd like to thank people like you who want to buy our books!

Skip Hill discusses his favorite passage!

You've seen a snippet from A GIFT FROM GREENSBORO author, Quraysh Ali Lansana. Now take a look at some video from illustrator, Skip Hill as he discusses his favorite passage.

If you're in Oklahoma City check this out from Sept 29 - Oct 22:

This Thursday! Skip Hill, illustrator of the forthcoming kids' book A Gift from Greensboro, which has been praised by Newbery Medal and National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson as "an elegant, important story—lovingly and beautifully told," will be opening an exhibit of his illustrations for AGFG at Artspace at Untitled in downtown OKC. The exhibit will run through October 22. The book's release date is Oct. 8, and on Oct 20 there will be a panel discussion at the gallery with the illustrator Skip Hill, the author Quraysh Ali Lansana, and the publisher Penny Candy Books (represented by Chad Reynolds). Stop by Thursday for a sneak peek at Skip's art for the book, as well as the finished book itself.

Books Before Bandaids Reviews A Gift from Greensboro

Take a look at this great review we just got from blogger Sarah at Books Before Bandaids! Click here for full review.

Here's an excerpt:

 

"These layered images, allow for many conversations about Civil Rights and current events. Throughout the passionate book doves fly from page to page, bringing the idea of peace and hope full circle. This is a moving book that I would recommend to anyone, a must read in light of current events. Lansana and Hill bring history alive and make it modern and real for readers struggling to understand the what and the why of current events."

Quraysh Ali Lansana Reads A Gift from Greensboro

Natural Grain: Penny Candy's New HQ & Better Parenting

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Penny Candy HQ

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Penny Candy HQ furniture rehab

Chad here. It seems that every week we reach a new milestone at PCB, and this week marks the first that our new physical office (our "headquarters") seems put together enough to actually work in. Located in the historic Paramount Building in Oklahoma City's Film Row District just west of downtown, the office is 175 square feet of bliss with high ceilings, a whole wall of built-in cabinets, and a great view of downtown. But when I first saw it, the walls had a hideous green paint on them, and there was a drop ceiling with two rows of old fluorescent lights. It was clear that hiding behind those regrettable modifications was a gem of an office space, its original beauty obscured by whim and fashion.

I've been working on rehabilitating some old furniture to use in the space. One is this credenza with a chrome lip and marble top. Notice the wood grain. When my wife purchased this a couple years ago, it had been smothered in a maroon polyurethane finish that obscured the natural beauty of the wood. I've been slowly sanding it down, and this past weekend I applied a nice ebony stain. 

I think there's a metaphor here for parents. Too often, without thinking, we try to form our kids into what we want them to be. We try to “finish” them, to paint over their natural beauty. We expect them to perform the roles we prescribe them. We do it without thinking because, after all, our kids seem to be miniature reflections of ourselves in many ways. Painting over walls or furniture isn’t the end of the world, but maybe not such a great idea with humans. How many of us would have benefitted from a parent telling us that our natural instincts were good enough?

How much better if, instead of shellacking them in what we envision they should be, we would instead help them to discover their own natural grains? Not turn them loose exactly; rather help them help themselves? Maybe they’d get a stain (that could be called culture), but only if it lets their own inner beauty shine. 

This got me thinking about a book my wife and I loved reading to our kids when they were smaller: Gregory, the Terrible Eater by Mitchell Sharmatt, illustrated by Jose Aruego and Ariane Dewey. It’s the story of a kid (as in a young goat) who, to his parents’ horror, would rather eat fruits and vegetables than cardboard boxes, old tires, pieces of rugs, and the other things that good goats eat.

Flummoxed that Gregory refuses to eat what they offer him (shoes, magazines, coats), his parents take their fussy eater to the doctor, the wise old Dr. Ram, who says that “it makes sense” that Gregory would want to eat what he likes. He advises that Gregory be allowed to eat what he wants but that the parents introduce one new item into his diet a day. This approach helps the parents to accept Gregory for who he is and helps Gregory come to see that what his parents want isn’t all bad. By the end of the story, a normal meal for Gregory might consist of juice, scrambled eggs, and wax paper. Compromise!

Like so many great kids’ books, it seems Gregory, the Terrible Eater is not only intended to help kids grow and learn but also to help parents be better parents. Adults have a lot to teach kids, but kids can teach us adults a lot, too, if we’re willing to listen to them.

The Catalog of Catalogs

If you were to take a catalog of our catalogs, the first entry you'd see is this catalog, our first one ever. We hope when the catalogers of catalogs come cataloging, they will find many PCB catalogs in our catalog. But until then, let the record show that this was the catalogus primus and therefore the catalogus supremus. Enjoy! 

Click image for pdf.

Life Lessons: Books for the Kid in ALL of Us

We've been thinking a lot over here at Penny Candy Books about just how important the books we read as kids have been in our lives—and the responsibility we have as publishers to engender dialogue rather than present the world in black and white. We want our books to raise questions, not to create unwavering answers (except, actually, when it comes to hate. We don't have time for hate). We get excited about multiple interpretations—books that can be walked around like holograms, seen from multiple perspectives. 

A lot of the books we read as kids are interpreted by our parents, or through our parents' lenses. Take The Giving Tree, one of my all-time favorites, for example. My mom's interpretation of this story: be selfless, give of yourself to make others happy. My interpretation: don't take advantage of another's kindness; don't give so much of yourself that you're left a stump for sitting on.

Images from The Giving Tree, Shel Silverstein

These are wildly different interpretations of Silverstein's story (and there are plenty more)—I never thought it was fair that the tree kept giving of herself just to win the boy's approval, not even when my mom told me the tree was doing the right thing. Silverstein was a complex man, and so are his stories. All of these ideas are in conversation with each other. The story is simply told, but it is not simple. The Giving Tree gave me the opportunity to develop my own theories about self, selfhood, selfishness, and selflessness. 

Here are two books that make use of kids' books lessons:

We'd love to hear about the lessons you've carried with you from your childhood reading. Please post a comment! We'll continue to add to our list of influences in our Life Lessons category. 

Here's to the kid in all of us, 

Alexis

Where We Are, Where We're Going

It's been almost a month since we announced that Penny Candy Books is up and running. We have two books in the hands of our talented designer Shanna Compton, who also owns and runs the independent poetry press Bloof Books. We've been posting sneak peeks of The Not in Here Story by Tracey Zeeck, illus. by David Bizzaro, and A Gift from Greensboro by Quraysh Ali Lansana, illus. by Skip Hill, but we can't resist two more, so here they are:

The Not In Here Story by Tracey Zeeck. Illustrations by David Bizzaro.

A Gift from Greensboro by Quraysh Ali Lansana. Illustrations by Skip Hill.

The Hunt is ready to go to the printer! Unbelievable. So what are we doing with our days? Well, for starters, we are reading amazing submissions and proposals for our next round of books, slated for spring 2017. Send us something via our Submittable page! We're getting Advance Readers ready to send out to reviewers. We're writing press releases and sell sheets and devising PR campaigns. And, we're doing our taxes...apparently, that's part of being in business too.

Second, we are, as always, thinking a great deal about our mission, and the assumptions of privilege that might hinder our mission if we're not careful. I'd like to share a personal story with you. Several months ago, a student in the after school writing program in which I teach wrote this:

"I refuse to be a caged bird tricked into thinking I'm flying free because you took me out of a cage and put me into a habitat of your creation."

My creation. Chad and I have talked a great deal about these words from this young, black man and how, as two white people creating a publishing house whose mission it is to celebrate diversity and disrupt dominant narratives, we need help. Sometimes we simply won't see past our perspectives without consulting people who have different perspectives. We need to make certain that our choices are not being guided solely by the narrow assumptions of privilege, that we never try to create habitats for anyone, rather that we give space and voice to already existing worlds. To that end, Penny Candy Books is developing an advisory council--a diverse group of people to whom we can turn for wise council, who have agreed to help us check our assumptions. We'll be announcing the members of our council in the coming months. 

We hope that our Advisory Council will help us shape our growing catalog into something wide-ranging and lasting--a catalog that sees the world from many different perspectives. That student and I made an agreement too. He explains to me where he wants to take a piece of a writing, and rather than imagining for him where it might go, I help him get to his chosen destination. 

Finally, please remember that you can pre-order The Hunt now, and if you do, you get free shipping! This is such a powerful book about how art and creation can overcome the impulse to destruction so prevalent in our culture. It's also a badass feminist manifesto, as The Hunt's heroine, a young girl, beats some serious odds. We like people who beat long odds.