Maria van Lieshout

Inspiration comes to us in many forms. Injustice, war, propaganda, indifference, oppression.... all these can inspire too. They can inspire action, resistance, expression, compassion, love, ART!

#resist #songofablackbird

Quote by Iranian-French graphic novelist Marjane Satrapi. This is just about the best time I can think of to re-read her incredible graphic novel Persepolis.

#satrapi #persepolis #iran #war

ART is LOVE.
Art that serves humanity and truth endures, while art that serves expectations most often does not, and is propaganda if it serves ideology.

open.substack.com/pub/mariavan...

This past year has been truly unforgettable🐦‍⬛
🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍

This sounds wonderful, John and Jasmine. Congratulations!

Thank you @oklibs.bsky.social for including Blackbird on the intermediate Sequoyah reading list! I’m thrilled that teens all over Oklahoma will be reading this superb list of books and that they will learn about the artists in the Amsterdam Resistance through Blackbird🐦‍⬛!

#oklahoma #kidlit

Happy Lunar New Year!

In Song of a Blackbird, we see how Koenji has painted this street poem:

Grab our
UNBRIDLED FUTURE
TIGHTLY by the MANE
and RIDE IT
like a
WILD mustang
towards the WORLD
we DREAM about.

Koenji was channeling FIRE HORSE energy.
Let’s GOOOOOOOO!

#kidlit #lunarnewyear

The only thing more powerful than HATE is LOVE.”
- Bad Bunny

Happy Valentine’s Day 🧡

President Barrack Obama looking cheekily thoughtful

Your Black History Moment

Not in The Epstein Files.

I joined the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators 25 years ago. It has provided me with a roadmap and with community, which are the two most important things when navigating the world of kidlit. To be recognized by @scbwi.bsky.social means everything. Thank you, my friends!

#kidlit

YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio)

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.

Stay free

So proud and grateful to be honored along these astonishingly beautiful Macmillan books. @fineangeline.bsky.social, @adinaking.bsky.social, @vanlieshoutstudio.bsky.social, @juanamartinezn.bsky.social
@alyssacolman.bsky.social @amlibraryassoc.bsky.social

#ala #kidlit #graphicnovel #printzaward

Isn’t she lovely? Black, red and SILVER look SMOKIN’ HOT together, as it turns out.
@mackidssl.bsky.social
@amlibraryassoc.bsky.social

#americanlibraryassociation #youthmediaawards #printzaward #graphicnovel #kidlit

'All the Blues in the Sky' by Renée Watson Wins Newbery; 'Fireworks', illustrated by Cátia Chien, Earns Caldecott at 2026 Youth Media Awards | School Library Journal All the Blues in the Sky by Renée Watson wins the Newbery; Fireworks, illustrated by Cátia Chien, earns the Caldecott and Legendary Frybread Drive-In: Intertribal Stories, an anthology edited by Cynth...

"Fireworks is distinguished by the way it captures the rhythm of a summer day," Caldecott committee chair Jewel Davis said. "It is a rare book that trusts the quiet, lived-in moments of childhood to be just as spectacular as the main event."
www.slj.com/story/All-Bl...

The ALA Youth Media Awards Are Here: Meet the Latest Award-Winning Books for Young Readers Here are the 2026 Youth Media Award winners and honorees, highlighting the best of the best in youth literature.

Here are all of this year's Youth Media Award winners and honorees. What a great day to celebrate something, and how nice that it is youth literature.

bookriot.com/2026-youth-m...

brass solidarity band performing “stand by me” in the streets of whittier next to alex pretti’s memorial. the crowd started chanting “the people united will never be defeated” so they incorporated it into the song. i love minneapolis

Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day. Let us never forget what we as humans are capable of when we let our darkest impulses rule us.

#holocaustremembrance #neverforget

So proud and grateful to @amlibraryassoc.bsky.social, the Printz committee, @firstsecond.bsky.social and @mackidssl.bsky.social!

Read today’s post/newsletter to learn about that time when a David Lynch-loving ninth grader taught me the art of revealing a secret. A secret hiding in Song of a Blackbird...

#graphicnovel #davidlynch #kidlit #hiddensecrets #ww2 #dropcaps

mariavanlieshout.substack.com/p/the-art-of...

“In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.”
-Anne Frank

Mural by Eduardo Kobra in Amsterdam North.

Many of the historic photos in Song of a Blackbird are not just historical records. They were acts of resistance. A group of resistance photographers risked their lives to document the occupied city🐦‍⬛

substack.com/@blackbirdex...

#ww2 #resistance #photography #amsterdam #graphicnovel

❤️🧡🤍

Thank you, Amy, for reading the book and for sharing it with your students! And thank you for all the good work you do to promote stories and reading! 🧡

Let’s remember Martin Luther King’s words today and always.
#mlk #martinlutherkingday #ihaveadream

Oh thank you, John! @mrschureads.bsky.social

Blackbird’s 6 stages of Resistance. Where you at?
1. Margot’s seduce into submission
2. Gus’s mock them with swagger and flair
3. Henriette’s quietly plot to rescue our neighbors
4. Emma’s now you poked the bear
5. Erik’s let’s start the revolution
6. Margot’s scorched earth let’s burn it all down

Way to make an author feel like a superstar! The Albany Middle School librarian Linda Perez made this sign to mark my parking spot today. Librarians promote reading and learning and THEY are the superstars. And the eighth graders? They rocked! Keep reading and asking questions, guys!

She also had her dog in the car. And a glove compartment filled with stuffed animals for her young son.
Be on the side with the whistles, not on the side with the guns. Because the side of the guns will come for you next🐦‍⬛

Thank you for including Blackbird on this list! 🐦‍⬛

The Best Books for Teens and Young Adults of 2025 The best new books for teens and young adults of 2025, as recommended by Dr. Susannah Richards, specialist in literature for youth

NEW
The Best Books for Teens and Young Adults of 2025, recommended by Susannah Richards, specialist in literature for youth fivebooks.com/best-books/t...