APALA Awards and Aloha Everything!

Congratulations to author Kaylin Melia George and illustrator Mae Waite of Aloha Everything for winning APALA’s Best Picture Book of 2025!

Leanna interviewed Kaylin during their Kickstarter for Aloha Everything:

The Ig Live is part of Read Your World’s weekly interview series by Leanna to showcase diverse children and YA book creators. I always feel like I “meet” the person after watching the interview. My role at Read Your World is to take Leanna’s interview and clip a highlight, which I post to TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram.

After their Kickstarter went viral, Kaylin got an overwhelming amount of solicitation emails to publish their book. Some of the emails are not really from legit publishers. I wanted them to meet Angus Yuen-Killick at Red Comet Press because I thought he would be the perfect publishing partner for them, so I sent her an email referencing the Ig Live with Leanna (so she would know who I was).

The long and short of it is that Red Comet Press became their publisher and promoted them in the marketplace, as well as for book awards. The APALA award was the cherry on top!

Winner of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature
Winner of the Hawaiʻi Keiki Book Award
An ALA Notable Children’s Book
★ “A stunning tribute to Hawaiian culture and identity.”–starred review, Kirkus
New York Public Library Top Ten Best Kid’s Book of 2024
A Center for the Study of Multicultural Literature Best Book of 2024
A 2025 Notable Book for a Global Society – International Literacy Association

It was so wonderful to watch them receive their APALA award. You can hear their speeches here:

Sometimes it’s the little things that add up to something bigger! We are thrilled to have played a small role in Aloha Everything‘s journey!

p.s. Related posts:

33 Children’s Books About Hawaii

Food for the Future: Salt Makers in Hawaii

We Learn About Native Hawaiian Culture

Hawaii Volcanos National Park

Place of Refuge in Hawaii: Learning about Native Hawaiian Culture

Queen’s Bath Hike in Kauai Hawaii

Mythology behind Rainbow Falls in Hilo, Hawaii

All About the Hawaiian Ukelele for Kids!

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My books:

Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me

The Traveling Taco: The Amazing and Surprising Journey of Many of Your Favorite Foods

Reading Rockets’ Summer Reading Guide 2025

Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me

Fortune Cookies for Everyone! (Smithsonian): The Surprising Story of the Tasty Treat We Love to Eat

Junior Library Guild Gold Selection

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