The new catalog for 2019 is ready to view! See what we have coming out this winter and spring…and a couple sneak peeks for later! Click here for a PDF.
New: Winter/Spring 2019 Catalog!
New Fall Catalog is Out!
It may still be hot out but we're dreaming of fall! Click on the image above to see what to expect from Ripple Grove Press!
Cover Reveal: A Girl Named October
We are excited to share with you the cover of this beautiful book coming in the spring of 2019.
About the Book
Can empathy be taught? The importance of empathy and its impact are explored in A Girl Named October. The title character, October, is ever present as the narrator navigates a life without realizing how even the smallest memories, interactions, and expressions can impact a very large, and often imposing, world. Touching the world is no longer an abstract idea, but a concrete action that reveals how everything we do affects everyone around us.
Lighthearted in its approach, but powerful in its message, A Girl Named October tells a story that will spur conversations with children and adults alike.
About the Author/Illustrator
Zakieh A. Mohammed has always felt fortunate to be surrounded by inspirational stories found along the boulevards of Chicago, the hills of Pennsylvania, and the villages of the Middle East. An educator for over twenty years, she is an award-winning teacher and Chicago public school administrator. Zakieh resides with her family in Chicago.
Andrea Tripke is a German-born illustrator. In 2003, she moved to the United States to pursue her dream in the arts. Andrea received her formal education as an artist at the Columbus College of Art and Design in Ohio. She lives in Florida with her husband, Dirk; her daughter, Lily Blu; and her incredibly stubborn Lhasa apso, Frankie. Visit her website at andreatripke.com.
Anna Dewdney Read Together 2018 Award Honor
We are thrilled to share with you that our book GRANDMOTEHR THORN received a 2018 Anna Dewdney Read Together Award Honor. We are honored to be listed with the other finalists. Thank you, CBC!
New Review for SEB AND THE SUN
Many thanks to Julie Danielson at BookPage for the sweet review of SEB AND THE SUN!
In this warm story about a cold place (a “sleepy coastal town far in the north”), a boy named Seb misses the sun, which is altogether absent during the winter. Seb loves to find treasures on the shore, like washed-up bottles, and he wants to bring the sun to his town, if only briefly.
Seb formulates a plan and gathers supplies from his neighbors, and he and his pet walrus row out to sea. After attaching some rope, yarn and fishing line to a bucket, Seb hurls it across the water, well past the edges of the page and into the next spread. Not seeing any immediate results, Seb falls asleep in the boat and wakes to his bucket filled with sunlight. He carefully pours it into the empty bottles he’s collected at the beach and returns home to distribute his little vessels of sunshine to all of his neighbors.
It would be hard to keep such a dark, shadowy palette interesting, but author-illustrator Jami Gigot uses a light touch (so to speak)—Northern lights, white snows and the lights of the town illuminate the pages. Gigot’s detailed drawings of Seb’s neighbors at work are the heart of the tale. Readers grow to care for them as Seb does. His impressive bucket toss on the water provides a funny, hyperbolic moment of charm in an otherwise dark story. How this considerate boy catches the sunlight is a mystery to readers, Gigot leaves to our imagination the moment in which the bucket lands. But what matters is that Seb cared enough about his community to do so.
New Book Trailer for SEB AND THE SUN
Check out a sneak peek of this beautiful book coming to stores March 20, 2018.
Read more about the author, Jami Gigot, and see all the rave reviews: http://www.ripplegrovepress.com/#/seb-and-the-sun/
Willamette Writers on the River Event
Do you have an idea for a picture book? Maybe even more than an idea and you’re wondering what to do with it? In this interactive workshop with RGP President Rob Broder you will learn about the booming children’s book publishing industry, how to work your idea into a submission-ready story, and how to go about submitting your story to publishers. Wherever you are in your journey of writing or illustrating for children, come learn the process with someone who learned from the ground up.
Monday, February 26, 2018 from 6:30–8:30 PM
First Presbyterian Church, Allison Room, Corvallis, Oregon
(Use 9th St. parking lot entrance.)
Visit the Willamette Writers website for details.