News & Media
To the Front!, by Claudia Friddell, illustrated by Christopher Cyr

Time-Traveling with Clara Barton and Illustrator Christopher Cyr

A guest post peeking into illustrator Christopher Cyr‘s process of creating the stunning art in To the Front!, a new historical nonfiction picture book featuring the biography of nurse Clara... Read More

Loujain Alhathloul, Loujain Dreams of Sunflowers

Sunflowers for Loujain: Using Picture Books to Tell the Stories of Human Rights Defenders

A guest post by Lina AlHathloul and Uma Mishra-Newbery As human rights activists and co-authors of Loujain Dreams of Sunflowers: A Story Inspired by Loujain AlHathloul, we have been asked... Read More

Why Garfield? by Gail Jarrow

“Why Garfield?” by Author Gail Jarrow

Why did I choose to write about James Garfield’s assassination?  Many people have asked me this question since the October 2021 publication... Read More

Censored Posts - Nikki Grimes

An Open Letter to School and Library Districts – Please Stop Censoring Books

It has been brought to my attention that some people have asked you to remove books from your classrooms and libraries... Read More

16 Poetry Books for Children! National Poetry Month

19 Poetry Books for Children! National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month, and we’re so proud to share these 19 poetry books for children. There’s a poem in each collection for every... Read More

Women's History Month Titles

24 Picture Books that Celebrate Women’s History

March is Women’s History Month and we are so excited to share the little-known stories of American women all month long. Each book on this list tells... Read More

Read a chapter of The Town of Babylon

Read an Excerpt of The Town of Babylon

Chapter 3: Italian Restaurants I am unsettled by the past. Not a generalized, conceptual, or theoretical past, but three very real and specific events. All of them, deaths. All murders,... Read More

TOON Books Press Release

TOON Books joins Astra Publishing House

Before Dolly Parton became the famous singer we know today, she was simply a little girl with a big voice. We're celebrating Dolly with... Read More

Five Dolly Parton Facts You May Not Know

Before Dolly Parton became the famous singer we know today, she was simply a little girl with a big voice. We're celebrating Dolly with... Read More

Astra House 2021 Book Recommendations

What We’re Reading: Astra House 2021 Book Recommendations

Book recommendations from book lovers, for book lovers. See what the Astra House team loved reading this year... Read More

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