Category Newbery Medal

Jul 8 2025

Book signing today

Hi everyone,

Today from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. I’ll sit on the porch at Sundog Books in Seaside, Florida and sign books for those who stop by. Two titles in particular will be Wild Brunch, Poems About How Creatures Eat and A Tree is A Community. They are both illustrated by master artists, the former by GILES LAROCHE and the latter by KATE COSGROVE. I love working with both of them. It’s my third partnership with each. Here are the books and samples.

Hippopotamus

He eats at night
along the bank—
filling his giant needs
with lips that pull up
reeds and grass.
Enormous mouth
stretches wide,
shows teeth like spikes.

No one ever called
a hippo sweet.
Truth is
	he’s ill-tempered.
And consider this:
unless you run faster
than nineteen miles per hour,
don’t provoke him.
He’ll cross a river
side to side
before you have a chance
to say “I’m sorry.”

(c) 2024 David L. Harrison, published by Charlesbridge Publishing, all rights reserved
In spring,
the rain, she
ROARS!
GUSHES!
POURS
down through that
rich, 
dark
dirt.

The rain, she
SHOUTS,
“Wake up you lazy roots!”
And the roots,
they wake up
and say, “Oh yes!
Give us a nice long drink
of your good water!”

(c) 2024 David L. Harrison, published by Holiday House, all rights reserved

Both titles have been well received by reviewers and readers. Wild Brunch was selected by School Library Journal for its list of Best Books of Poetry for Young People, 2024 and it’s on the North Carolina Children’s Book Award program, 1 of 12 contenders for the 2026 NC Junior Book Award.

A Tree is a Community received a Kirkus star review and was on a Betsy Bird list of Newbery-worthy titles for 2025. It’s currently being translated into Portuguese for an edition in Brazil.

Oct 31 2024

A nice thing for A Tree is a Community

Hi everyone,

I’m delighted to say that A Tree is a Community, my new book illustrated by KATE COSGROVE and published by Holiday House, was included this week in a review in School Library Journal by BETSY BIRD. The list is ten titles that she considers to be Newbery worthy.

This isn’t the same thing as being nominated of course. And the eventual recipient won’t be known for months. Still, it’s nice to be in the buzz and Betsy is a well-known figure in the world of children’s literature. She has served on the Newbery committee, been a Materials Specialist for New York Public Library system, and is currently Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system. I’ll gladly be on her list any day.

I’m also delighted to see Lesléa Newman’s new book, Joyful Song, A Naming Story, on the list. Two of ten on Bird’s list are contributors to my weekly column, Poetry from Daily Life. Not bad!