Sumo Joe is the debut picture book by Mia Wenjen and illustrator Nat Iwata.
The Tokyo Olympics are postponed for one year but we can still learn about Japanese culture. Did you know that sumo was being considered as an exhibition sport for the Tokyo Olympics? Sumo wasn’t chosen because only a few countries with a sizeable Japanese ex-pat population had sumo. Karate was chosen instead. But I think…
Thank you to Alexis and Tiffany for hosting me and Nat Iwata on their YouTube Channel, Legit Kid Lit! Legit Kid Lit a video series highlighting kidlit creators sharing stories and being silly. We had so much fun talking about Sumo Joe that it ended up as a two-part series: It was fun to learn…
Diversify your reading routine to learn a little more about – and introduce your kids to – the AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islanders) mores, traditions and cultures. From biographies to cultural traditions to eliminating stereotypes, you can stock your shelves or check with your local library for these great books for kids of all ages….
Thank you to Ariel Gordon Bernstein for the heads up that Sumo Joe was included in Bank Street College’s The Best Children’s Books of the Year! I never would have thought to check. I have recently been submitting manuscripts to literary agents and am in recovery from rejection. Ditto for editors whom I have submitted…
Thank you to everyone who requested me for a Skype author visit on World Read Aloud Day. One of the teachers also needed activities to go with Sumo Joe so I found some activities and wanted to post them for next year. Pink Stripey Socks, a fabulous kids’ craft blogger, has two great sumo activities…
I was thrilled to do a Skype author visit with 120 kindergartners! They were well prepared having read the story ahead of time. They also came up with questions that the Media Specialist had collected ahead of time. For such a young group, the teachers asked for a 20-minute visit. The kids were great and…
I’m grateful that my mother was able to read my debut picture book. My mother was always supportive of everything we did and when my sister and I started writing and publishing books, she would make a point of purchasing five copies. At the time, she was living in an Independent Living facility so she…