Anna Olswanger, author of Shlemiel Crooks, spoke as part of a panel discussion on February 21 with the Women’s National Book Association, New York Chapter.

In a discussion titled Into the Future: Trends in Children’s Publishing, the panelists–including librarians, editors, and others–considered not only the current trends in children’s books, but also how those trends can be good or bad for the industry. Anna, who also works as an agent for Liza Dawson Associates, noted that she often eschews trends in favor of good writing. She worried that a trend toward emphasizing a book’s visual impact over the words on the page may cause children to be less engaged overall with the books they read.

A full report of the panel was provided by Kate Lindsay in the WNBA newsletter. Learn more about the WNBA at their website, www.wnba-books.org.

Shlemiel Crooks is available directly from NewSouth Books, Amazon.com, or your favorite local or online book retailer. Shlemiel Crooks is a Koret International Jewish Book Award Finalist and a Sydney Taylor Honor Book.

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