In November and December, I’ll be…
- At the Newton Children’s Book Festival, Sunday, November 16th at the New Art Center, from 11 am to 3 pm
- I’ll be at hosting a Roundtable at NCTE 2025 in Denver. Here’s my schedule.
- I’ll be at NCSS DC 2025
In September, I’ll be …
Doing a Storytime and Craft at Parkside Bookshop with Kathy Choi in the South End, Boston, on Sunday, September 7th at 11 am. She will be reading GIVING THANKS WITH HALMON, and I will be reading THE TRAVELING TACO.Due to the low expected attendance expected from the inclement weather forecast, we have opted out.- Doing a Storytime Event for Boston Local Food Festival on Sunday, September 14th, on the Rose Kennedy Greenway. The Family Fun Zone is located around Rings Fountain (Milk St, Atlantic Ave on one side and Surface Rd on the other). It runs from 11 am to 5 pm, and I will be reading THE TRAVELING TACO and doing a craft from 3 to 4 pm.
- At the Boston Authors Club’s Julia Howe Awards presentation at the Metropolitan Waterworks Museum, starting at 6 pm. I will be giving a short speech about WE SING FROM THE HEART.
- At the Chappaqua Book Festival on September 27th from 10 am to 4 pm in Chappaqua, NY.
I’m signing books at ALA! Details here.
—-
I’m signing books at NCTE and NCSS.
NCTE’s Heart, Hope, and Humanity Conference will be held from November 21-24, 2024 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center (BCEC) on 415 Summer Street which is South Boston (a.k.a. “Southie”).
I will be giving away and signing WE SING FROM THE HEART at the Publisher Spotlight Booth, Number 504 on Friday, November 22, 2024.
- MIA WENJEN, We Sing from the Heart – 2:00-2:50 pm
I am also on a panel at NCTE!
I will also be giving away and signing FOOD FOR THE FUTURE at the Barefoot Books Booth on Sunday, November 25th at 11 am.
NCSS will be held from November 22 -24 at the Hynes Convention Center in Back Bay Boston at 900 Boylston Street.
I will also be giving away and signing WE SING FROM THE HEART at the Publisher Spotlight Booth, Number 500 on Saturday, November 23, 2024.
- MIA WENJEN, We Sing from the Heart – 10:00-10:50 am
I’m thrilled to announce that Read Your World and the New Art Center are co-creating the inaugural Newton Children’s Book Festival in Newtonville, MA. We hope that you can join us in December!
I’ll be participating in the Louisville Book Festival at the Kentucky International Convention Center on Friday, October 18, and Saturday, October 19!
I had so much fun at the Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival 2024! Thank you for inviting me!
This was so much fun! Thank you to illustrator and children’s singer Robert Zammarchi for organizing and inviting me!
I did two book signings at the upcoming American Library Association (ALA) Conference in San Diego.
On Saturday, June 29th, I’ll be signing Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World at 11:00 am.
On Sunday, June 20th, I’ll be signing We Sing From the Heart: How the Slants® Took Their Fight for Free Speech to the Supreme Court at 11:00 am.
Both book signings will be at Publisher Spotlight, Booth #1659
Please join Andrew Hacket and Me
Newtonville Books
10 Langley Rd
Newton, MA 02459
Storytime Book Launch
Sunday, May 19th
11:00 am
—-
I am thrilled to be part of The Writers Loft Annual Literary Extravaganza! We are hosting a book sale and signing, including the release of the latest poetry anthology, Gnomes and Ungnomes: Poems of Hidden Creatures!
Please join us on Saturday, December 2nd from 10 am to 3 pm at The Writers Loft in Hudson, MA!
The Writers Loft
43 Broad St
Hudson, MA 01749
I’m on a Panel at NCTE!
Food: The Universal Language that Connects Us All
11/17/2023
11:00 AM – 12:15 PM EST
Room: D-281/282
Our panel:
Josh Funk is a software engineer and the author of books like the Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast series, the It’s Not a Fairy Tale series, the How to Code with Pearl and Pascal series, Dear Dragon, Dear Unicorn, and more. Since the fall of 2015, he has visited (or virtually visited) over 700 schools and libraries around the world.
Jenny Seiler is an educator, secondary ELA content coordinator, and library coordinator in Colorado. She has participated in children’s literature committees and has presented at local, state, and national conferences.
Mia Wenjen is the author of Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World, Sumo Joe, and more. She blogs on parenting, children’s books, and education at PragmaticMom.com and is the co-creator of Multicultural Children’s Book Day.
Lisa Wyzlic is the debut picture book author of Harold the Iceberg Melts Down about the importance of friendship and self-care, perfect for any young reader worried about their planet’s future.
M.O. Yuksel is the award-winning author of picture books In My Mosque (ALA Notable Book), and One Wish: Fatima al-Fihri and the World’s Oldest University (NCTE Orbis Pictus Recommended 2022). Her forthcoming books include Ramadan Kareem, and Sami’s Special Gift: An Eid Al-Adha Story.
2023 NCTE ANNUAL CONVENTION
NOVEMBER 16–19, 2023 • COLUMBUS, OH
Maria Gianferrari and I will be at Greentail Table
September 23, 2023
10:15 am
Greentail Table
343 Watertown St
Newton, MA 02458
We will be reading and chatting about our farm books, Thank A Farmer and Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World!
For parking—there is a public lot behind Moldova Restaurant (across the street, the lot is off of Chapel/Watertown St.), where you can park for free for 3 hours.
—-
I’ll be at the Chappaqua Book Festival
September 30, 2023
10 am to 4 pm
—-
I’m Co-Hosting a Boston Authors Club Meet and Greet
Boston Authors Club
Thursday, October 26, 2023
7 pm to 9 pm
Meet and Greet with Open Mike
Blue Bunny Bookstore
577 High Street
Dedham, MA
—
Maria Gianferrari and I will be at Newtonville Books
We will be reading and chatting about our farm books, Thank a Farmer and Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World.
November 4, 2023
11:00 am
Newtonville Books
10 Langley Rd
Newton, MA 02459
This might shift to Newton Community Farms. Stay Tuned!
—–
I’m at More Than Words bookstore in Boston
More Than Words
242 E. Berkeley Street | Boston, MA 02118
Saturday, November 25 at 2:00 pm
——-
I’m part of the New England Biography series
Telling the Untold Stories for Children: Biographies for Kids and Why They Matter
Thursday
May 2, 2024
Massachusetts Historical Society
1154 Boylston St
Boston, MA 02215
Julie Dobrow, Tufts University, Moderator
Ray Anthony Shepard
Heather Lang
Biography can be a powerful vehicle for telling some of the untold and under-told stories of people’s lives. This may be especially true for children, who are forming their ideas about what matters, and who matters, in part through the books they read.
The New England Biography series is proud to convene a conversation with two well-known children’s writers who focus on biographies of underrepresented groups. Ray Anthony Shepard, whose award-winning books for teens include biographies of well-known and relatively unknown Black Americans, and Heather Lang, whose biographies for young readers focus on amazing but mostly unfamiliar women, will discuss their work, what biographies for children can do, and why it’s important to be writing for children in these times when some communities struggle over control of school curricula, public library holdings, and controversies about whether there are books that should be banned.
I’ll be presenting at the ALA Conference!
Name of Session: Sustainable Values in Children’s Literature
Sunday, June 25, 2023
1:30 PM – 2:20 PM
Exhibit Hall – Diversity in Publishing Stage (Booth 5240)
If you are in Chicago for the ALA, Barefoot Books would like to invite you to an evening meet-up with me and Shirin Shamsi (Zahra’s Blessing) on Saturday, June 24th. Please email carolyn.wilkins@barefootbooks.
We would LOVE to include Barefoot Booksellers who can make it (including out-of-towners and anyone interested in the program)!
Josh Funk and I will be reading our books for
Storytime at Hummingbird Books
55 Boylston St Suite 5510
Chestnut Hill, MA
in The Street mall
Sunday, May 28th
11:00 am
I will be celebrating my book birthday for Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World. Josh will be reading his newest picture book, My Pet Feet.
We hope to see you there!
If you are going to the ALA conference in Chicago in June, please come see me! I’ll be speaking on Sunday.
My co-author, Alison Foley, will be featured on Throw Big Throw Far Podcast on Friday, May 29, 2020 at 10:00 AM with Joe Frontier to talk about The Elusive Full Ride Scholarship: An Insider’s Guide.
Throw Big Throw Far Podcast is for throwers and coaches who want to get better.
—-
This week on Over The Ball with Kevin Flynn, Grayle and Sam speak with my co-author Alison Foley, former Boston College women’s head coach and founder of Foley Athletic Advising, about her experience in the world of soccer and her new book The Elusive Full Ride Scholarship: An Insider’s Guide, co-authored by Mia Wenjen.
Listen to them on the Over the Ball Podcast here.
———
My co-author Alison Foley will be on Over the Ball podcast with Kevin Flynn on Friday, May 22 at 10 am EST.
———
My co-author, Alison Foley will be on Tackling College Sports podcast with Chris LeGates on Thursday, May 14th at 11 am EST.
———-
I will be at the Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival on October 5th from 10 a.m to 4 p.m. at
Robert E. Bell Middle School
50 Senter St
Chappaqua, NY 10514
with Sumo Joe and How To Coach Girls.
How To Coach Girls book events are listed here.
Our next event for How To Coach Girls is at Notre Dame Academy in Hingham, Massachusetts.
We will be presenting to the Notre Dame Academy to athletes, parents, and coaches. They have 300+ coaches and 1,900+ players in their club, ages pre-K through high school. They are a town-based organization.
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
5:30 pm (we will be speaking from 6:00 pm to 6:30 pm)
Notre Dame Academy
1073 Main Street
Hingham, MA 02043
——–
I presented at:
I presented a workshop on Thinking Like an Entrepreneur for Writers
2. The Writers’ Loft
Workshop on Thinking Like an Entrepreneur for Writers
3. Family Community Literacy Night Presentation at Plymouth Community Intermediate School
My presentation was on Multicultural Children’s Book Day and all the different ways readers can get free diversity books from our programs.
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
