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Black Beach *WINS* the 2024 GEBA

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April 2024 // It happened. It really happened! Black Beach is the Winner of the 2024 Green Earth Book Award and we couldn’t be happier!!! Thank you to the committee for selecting Sam’s story from an outstanding group of picture book nominees. Check out the announcement video here!

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Green Earth Book Award Short List

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April 2024 // What a wonderful feeling! Black Beach has officially been short-listed for the 2024 Green Earth Book Award. We so appreciate the honor of having Sam’s story included alongside these other inspiring environmental titles for primary, intermediate, and young adult readers. Fingers crossed we’ll hear good news next week on Earth Day when the winners are announced!

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Green Earth Book Award Long List

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March 2024 // We're excited to share that Black Beach has been long-listed for the Green Earth Book Award! This is the 20th Anniversary of the GEBA, which is the nation's first environmental stewardship award for children's and young adult books. We are incredibly honored to be included alongside so many beautiful & inspiring titles!

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Maine Children's Choice Award

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MARCH 2024 // From hundreds of submission across the country, Black Beach was selected by an expert committee of librarians, teachers, and early literary professionals to be one of 10 nominees for the 2024-2025 Chickadee Book Award List. We're thrilled! The Chickadee is the Children's Choice Award for Picture Books for the state of Maine—which means 20,000+ elementary students across the state will read Black Beach next year and vote for a winner in March 2025.

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Der Schwarze Strand

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MARCH 2024 // Hooray! Black Beach has been officially translated into German and published in Germany by Kindermann Verlag. We are stoked that the book is now more accessible for curious kids and future eco-activists in the European Union’s largest country. Sam's story is now available in North America, Asia, and Europe!

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NPR Morning Edition

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APRIL 2023 // For Earth Day this year we were fortunate to be interviewed by KCRW’s Chery Glaser on NPR’s Morning Edition. We loved getting the opportunity to chat about the many different ways Black Beach is connecting with readers of all ages!

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Pictures from the LA Times Festival of Books

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APRIL 2023 // We had an absolute blast on Earth Day 2023 reading Black Beach on the Children’s Stage at the LA Times Festival of Books! Sharing the mic with an all-star lineup of Caldecott & Newbery Award winners, NYT Bestsellers, and incredible actors is an experience we never want to forget – so luckily we made the cut for the “Best photos” alongside Meghan Trainor, Kate DiCamillo, Jennifer Garner, and more!

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TARGET Book Club Picture Book Pick

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APRIL 2023 // We’re over the moon excited to share that Target has selected Black Beach to be the Target Book Club picture book pick for April 2023! That means all month long you can swing by one of Target’s 1,948 stores in the U.S. and pick up a copy (or snag one online here). Target describes their Kids’ Picks as “Recommended by teachers, lovable by all” – and we couldn’t agree more!

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Book Festival Bonanza

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MARCH 2023 // Given how much we love books, we’re stoked to announce that we've been invited to participate in two of the country's preeminent book festivals this spring! In April, we’ll be appearing on the Children’s Stage at the LA Times Festival of Books (the largest literary event in the United States), and in May we’ll be on a panel at the Bay Area Book Festival (entitled “Big Inspiration for Little Activists”). Check out more details on our Events page!

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Germany Here We Come

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JANUARY 2023 // Germany is one of the world’s leading countries on sustainability and environmental issues – so we were delighted to learn that Black Beach will be published there in 2024! This marks the first European country in which Sam’s story will appear. Fingers crossed that there are many more on the way!

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We're Seeing Stars

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DECEMBER 2022 // It’s always been a goal of ours to see Black Beach in as many libraries and schools as possible, so it was a thrill to learn that Booklist – the book review journal of the American Library Association – recently gave the book a **starred** review. That means they think Sam’s story is "exceptional" in its genre. Wow!

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Pack Your Bags for Japan & South Korea

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NOVEMBER 2022 // Earth Day has been an international event ever since its 20th birthday in 1990 when an astonishing 200 million people in 141 countries came out to celebrate! Given the increasing role of youth activists in shaping a greener future, we dreamed Black Beach might find an audience beyond the United States, too. Turns out, dreams DO come true! We’re over the moon to share that the book’s foreign rights have started to sell, and Sam’s story will be published in the coming years in both Japan and South Korea.