We’re starting a new decade in just a few days, filled with wonder, thrills and new books! The new year even starts with a brand new picture book from The Booking Biz founder Carmen Oliver, BEARS MAKE THE BEST WRITING BUDDIES, releasing on Jan. 1!
To bring in the new year, our staff and clients are sharing their best wishes for YOU, and we’ve got a present from PADDINGTON BEAR illustrator R.W. “Bob” Alley—this wonderful illustration:
Here are our clients’ seasons greetings…
Sarah Aronson: “It’s the season of kindness, determination, and gusto (the three things you need to grant wishes)!!!!! So my wish is for EVERY school in Illinois to meet an author or illustrator on Skype or in person. This is the goal of Read Local Illinois and we are thinking big!”
Carole Boston Weatherford and Jeffery Boston Weatherford: “May the holidays bring you closer to your loved ones, and the new year move you closer to your dreams.”
Janet Fox: “I’m hoping that all of you have a happy and healthy holiday season and wishing that 2020 is the year when your dreams—big and small—come true.”
Laura Gehl: “Wishing you cozy socks, a crackling fire, a mug of hot chocolate…and the chance to curl up with a book so good that you never want it to end.”
Donna Gephart: “Happiest of holidays! Here’s to a hope-filled, joy-filled, peace-filled and book-filled 2020!”
Bethany Hegedus: “Happy holiday wishes to the incredibly hard working educators and librarians who inspire young readers and writers daily. We writers may write the stories, but all of YOU are responsible for finding just the right book for just the right student at just the right time—what a gift!”
April Henry: “I wish for a New Year filled with reluctant readers realizing that reading is actually fun.”
P.J. Hoover: “For the year ahead, I hope that every single person out there inspires someone else in some amazing way. Maybe you inspire them by finding the perfect book for them. Maybe you offer up the right piece of advice to help them get through a hard time. Maybe you role model positive behavior and thus inspire them to push more in their life. To accomplish something that otherwise they never would have. To push for a goal. To reach a dream. To move forward in their lives rather than staying stagnant. Inspiring people is something I love, not just in author presentations but in life, and I want everyone to experience how great it feels to be the source of that inspiration.”
Uma Krishnaswami: “I wish you the best words at this turning of the year: words of peace, words of comfort, words to heal grief and distress, words to give hope and create community. In gratitude for all of you who work to put books into the hands of young readers. Happy holidays and a very Happy New Year!”
Lindsey Lane: “May you find a book that makes you laugh out loud and feel less alone.”
Carmen Oliver: “Beary Christmas and a Happy New Year. Wishing you a season of the sky’s the limit, the possibilities are endless!”
Penny Parker Klostermann: “My wish for all is a holiday filled with family, friends and fun as you create memories to carry with you always.”
Mitali Perkins: “Peace and joy be with you and yours, and may 2020 bring renewed energy and wonderful opportunities to widen the hearts and minds of young readers with good stories. ”
Erica S. Perl: “Arnold and Lousie [of ARNOLD AND LOUSE: ALL THE WINTER THINGS] and I wish that everyone enjoys all the fun winter things (which include skating, sledding, and—of course—reading!).”
Caroline Starr Rose: “My holiday wish is the children you love will find books that become the truest of friends.”
Brian Weisfeld: “A year filled with inspiration and empowerment.”
Dianne White: “Happy holidays and warm wishes for a new year full of good books, blue-on-blue skies, and green-on-green days!”
Happy Holidays and bookish dreams from The Booking Biz.