My Book News!
We Sing From the Heart wins Julia Ward Howe prize for children’s literature!
WE SING FROM THE HEART is Carter G. Woodson Book Award Honoree!
We Sing From the Heart is a Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People Winner!
Cover Reveal: Barbed Wire Between Us by Mia Wenjen, illustrated by Violeta Encarnación
New Title … for my picture book A PLACE TO CALL HOME
WE SING FROM THE HEART wins California Eureka! Nonfiction Children’s Book Award
The Traveling Taco gets a SONG!
We Sing From the Heart makes Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the Year 2025!
The Traveling Taco makes Reading Rockets’ Summer Reading Guide 2025!
WE SING FROM THE HEART is an Orbis Pictus Recommended Book
The Traveling Taco featured in Booklist
We Sing From the Heart is a Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People Winner!
FOOD FOR THE FUTURE makes Sunshine State Young Readers Award Orange Blossom List for Nonfiction!
Cover Reveal of my latest picture book … FORTUNE COOKIES FOR EVERYONE!
Cover reveal for The Traveling Taco by
An exploration of the history of kids’ favorite foods from around the world
From pizza to pasta and ice cream to French fries, some of our favorite foods have a surprising history, and many of them have traveled far from where they originated! Did you know many well-known dishes are food immigrants? The Al Pastor Taco traveled from Lebanon to Puebla, Mexico! French fries originated in Belgium! And pasta arrived in Italy long before Marco Polo visited China. This fascinating nonfiction book featuring rhyming text takes the reader on travels around the world to celebrate foods, their history, and surprising origins. Join Mia Wenjen for a fact-packed journey of discovery that will make your mouth water as you travel the unexpected road of some of our favorite foods. [picture book, ages 5 and up]
Picture Book Announcement: Fortune Cookies for Everyone by Mia Wenjen, illustrated by Colleen Kong-Savage, and published by Red Comet Press. It releases on October 21, 2025.
Barbed Wire Between Us by Mia Wenjen, illustrated by Violeta Encarnación
It will release in 2026 through Red Comet Press.
A Place to Call Home by Mia Wenjen, illustrated by Mary Atwood, and published by Sleeping Bear Press will release in Fall 2026.
Postcards from Malcolm X: How Yuri Kochiyama Became a Civil Rights Activist by Mia Wenjen, illustrated by Keith Henry Brown
I am so happy to be making a picture book biography with Red Comet Press! Keith Henry Brown will illustrate! Publication is slated for release in January of 2027 through Red Comet Press.
I am thrilled to announce that We Sing from the Heart: How the Slants® Took Their Fight for Free Speech to the Supreme Court, illustrated by Victor Bizar Gomez, is a Junior Library Guild Gold selection. We Sing from the Heart is published by Red Comet Press.
- ALSC Notable Children’s Book
- 2025 Carter G. Woodson Book Award Middle Level Honoree
- Orbis Pictus Recommended Book for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children
- 2024 Julia Ward Howe Prize for Children’s Literature Winner
- California Eureka Non-Fiction Award Honor Book
- Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People Winner (from National Council for the Social Studies and Children’s Book Council)
- Bank Street Best Children’s Books of the Year 2025
- Junior Library Guild Gold Selection
Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World wins Nautilus Silver Book Award!
Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World has won the Silver Nautilus Book for Children’s Picture Books / Non-Fiction Ages 2- 6 Years (Preschool-Grade 2).
Food for the Future is published by Barefoot Books.
Starred review from School Library Journal!- Junior Library Guild Gold selection
- Massachusetts Book Award Long List
- dPICTUS 100 Outstanding Picture Books of 2023
- Chicago Library’s Best of the Best
- 2023 INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist
- Green Earth Book Award Long List
- Nautilus Silver Winner, Nonfiction Children’s Picture Book
- Imagination Soup’s 35 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023 for Kids
School Library Journal reviews We Sing From the Heart!
Kirkus reviews We Sing From the Heart!
I am thrilled that Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World made the Massachusetts Book Award Long List!
We Sing From the Heart: H! by Mia Wenjen, illustrated by Victor Bizar Gómez
A compelling account of Simon Tam’s fight for free speech that ended with a landmark Supreme Court decision
Music is a way to transcend cultures and divides. Simon Tam used his band’s name, The Slants®, to make a powerful statement that racist insults could no longer be hurtful to Asian Americans. But then the U.S. Trade and Patent Office tries to stop him. In his eight-year battle to win trademark protection, Simon would go all the way to the Supreme Court in a landmark case to rout out structural racism in our government systems. Mia Wenjen takes us back to Simon’s early days and the formation of the band, to the long battle to claim the name they chose to use. We learn of his motivations and the years-long struggle that leads ultimately to the Supreme Court of the United States. Told using lyrics from the band’s hit song about their trademark fight, this compelling story will keep readers riveted until the dramatic ending. We Sing from the Heart gives background and context to the significance of Simon’s quest, not just for him and his band, but for free speech rights for us all. Newcomer to children’s books, Victor Bizar Gómez, channels the indie music world with dynamic artwork that compliments the storytelling and is sure to draw in readers with his exciting graphic approach. [picture book biography, ages 8 and up]
It releases on November 12, 2024 but pre-order is available now! Published by Red Comet Press.
Get it here
or here
FoodfortheFuture_ActivityPack
Boxer Baby Battles Bedtime Kickstarter!
I’m running a Kickstarter campaign to presell my newest picture book, Boxer Baby Battles Bedtime.
Boxer Baby Battles Bedtime by Mia Wenjen, illustrated by Kai Gietzen
Dad needs to get Boxer Baby down for her nap but she is not going down without a fight! This funny picture book told in three rounds includes boxing idioms. This picture book also celebrates the unsung heroes — dads who stay home to care for their children. [picture book, ages 3 and up]
My Kickstarter ends on September 21, 2023. Go here to check it out.
Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World Earns Starred Review from School Library Journal!
I’m thrilled to announce my first starred review ever!
An exciting overview of traditional and innovative farming techniques
that will warrant repeated reading, for casual browsing or classroom use.
–Sally A. James
Announcing My Newest Picture Book with Red Comet Press!
I’m thrilled to announce a new picture book through Red Comet Press. We Sing from the Heart: How the Slants® Took Their Fight for Free Speech to the Supreme Court by Mia Wenjen, illustrated by Victor Bizar Gomez. This is the story of Simon Tam, the leader of the popular all-Asian-American dance-pop band, The Slants®, and his nine-year battle to trademark his band’s name.
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Food for the Future selected by dPICTUS as 100 Outstanding Picture Books of 2023
FOOD FOR THE FUTURE is a Junior Library Guild Gold Selection!
Scholastic Purchased CHANGING THE GAME!
Changing the Game: Asian Pacific American Female Athletes is my Kickstarter book, created in collaboration with 22MediaWorks. It’s available via my website and Amazon. Scholastic will include it in their flyers and book fairs starting June of 2023.
Picture Book Announcement: Boxer Baby, illustrated by Kai Gietzen
Book Announcement! Postcards from Malcolm X: How Yuri Kochiyama Became a Civil Rights Activist, illustrated by Keith Henry Brown
Picture Book Announcement! Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World
Sumo Joe makes Bank Street Best Children’s Books of the Year list!
Sumo Joe is in the TODAY category in such good company:
How To Coach Girls wins Silver Award!
How To Coach Girls won a Silver Award in the 31st Annual IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards™ !
Follow PragmaticMom’s board Multicultural Books for Kids on Pinterest.
Follow PragmaticMom’s board Children’s Book Activities on Pinterest.
My books:
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
The Traveling Taco:
- Reading Rockets’ Summer Reading Guide 2025
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
We Sing from the Heart: How the Slants® Took Their Fight for Free Speech to the Supreme Court
- ALSC Notable Children’s Book
- 2025 Carter G. Woodson Book Award Middle Level Honoree
- Orbis Pictus Recommended Book for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children
- 2024 Julia Ward Howe Prize for Children’s Literature Winner
- California Eureka Non-Fiction Award Honor Book
- Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People Winner (from National Council for the Social Studies and Children’s Book Council)
- Bank Street Best Children’s Books of the Year 2025
- Junior Library Guild Gold Selection
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Barefoot Books / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World
- ⭐ Starred review from School Library Journal!
- Junior Library Guild Gold selection
- Massachusetts Book Award Long List
- dPICTUS 100 Outstanding Picture Books of 2023
- Chicago Library’s Best of the Best
- 2023 INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist
- Green Earth Book Award Long List
- Nautilus Silver Winner, Nonfiction Children’s Picture Book
- Sunshine State Young Readers Award Orange Blossom List for Nonfiction
- Imagination Soup’s 35 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023 for Kids
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Bank Street College’s The Best Children’s Books of the Year
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Congrats on all of the great news, Mia!
That cover art is fantastic! I’m excited to read this one!
Congratulations on the success of your books! It’s amazing to see We Sing From the Heart winning multiple awards and being recognized across different platforms. The Cover Reveals for Barbed Wire Between Us and A Place to Call Home sound intriguing.