Anna Olswanger: Literary Agent/Author

Congratulations to Nathalie Belhassen! Her picture book CAT'S NEW BOOK is a Kids’ Indie Next Pick for March/April 2026 — a bookseller-chosen favorite celebrating stories, connection, and the power of a real hug: www.bookweb.org/news/marchap...

#KidsIndieNext #PictureBooks #Libraries

Black History Month read: BEFORE 13TH exposes the roots of mass incarceration — showing that convict leasing began before the 13th Amendment, not after. A powerful graphic debut by Michael Ralph: www.harpercollins.com/products/bef...

#BlackHistoryMonth #GraphicNovels #Libraries

From an unfinished Holocaust novel came the seed of a new graphic novel. Rabbi Rafael Grossman once described a moment that became the heart of A VISIT TO MOSCOW, illustrated by Yevgenia Nayberg. Here’s a look at the art by Joshua Edelglass for that original unfinished manuscript.
#HistoricalFiction

Four determined kids build a homemade spaceship to rescue Laika, the first dog in space. That’s the heart of THE SECRET SPUTNIK RESCUE SOCIETY by author-illustrator Andrew Finnie — now on submission.

#GraphicNovel #KidLit #SpaceAdventure

A girl. An old book of names. A sky full of stars. 
MY FATHER’S DREAM by Melita Kraus is a deeply personal picture book about memory, Jewish family, and the ancestors whose light still shines across generations. Now on submission with Melita's luminous art.

#KidLit #PictureBook #JewishStories

“Jews have been hated by reactionaries, defenders of the past, its prejudice and privileges…” — Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

For a powerful narrative exploration of that idea, look for A VISIT TO MOSCOW at your local library: search.worldcat.org/title/128537...


#JewishBooks #JewishHistory #Skybrarian

Vintage Memphis music history: A. Schwab on Beale Street shared copies of Berl Olswanger’s 1958 POPULAR PIANO COURSE during the Blues Challenge. A. Schwab manager Teri Cox commented, "The crowd thought it was cool." Berl’s Brass Note is in the sidewalk outside.



#MusicHistory #CreativeLegacy

Joshua Edelglass, illustrator, and Brittany Moore, colorist

Sharing a preview of the Aaron pages from DIGNITY — an upper MG graphic novel set in 1948 NYC, told through the alternating voices of a Jewish boy shaped by the Holocaust’s shadow and a Black girl rooted in the Great Migration. Now on submission.


#kidlit #JewishBooks #EduSky

Books travel in unexpected ways. Somehow A VISIT TO MOSCOW, illustrated by Yevgenia Nayberg, found its way to Forest Creek Middle School in Fort Mill, SC—quietly waiting for its next reader. A reminder of the joy of discovering books far from where they began.

#SchoolLibrarian
#EduSky
#JewishBooks

Wonderful news for author-illustrator Rich Lo! AFTER THE SNOWFALL and AFTER THE MOONRISE have been licensed by Danish publisher Arkimedes Forlag and will now reach readers in Korea, Turkey, and Denmark.

#BookSky 
#KidLit 
#InternationalPublishing 
#PictureBooks

A sneak peek at SOME DAYS, a new picture book by Miri Leshem-Pelly that supports young children as they learn to recognize big emotions and find gentle ways through them. Expressive animal characters and spare text offer comfort. Now out on sub.

#KidLit
 #EarlyChildhood
 #PictureBooks 
#EduSky

A VISIT TO MOSCOW, illustrated by Yevgenia Nayberg, appears in Jonathan Sandler’s 2025: Graphic Memoir Year in Review—a rigorously curated roundup of graphic work engaging with history, testimony, and cultural memory: jsandlergraphicmemoir.substack.com/p/2025-graph...

#GraphicMemoir
#Libraries

Storyboard artist Nia Palmer, illustrator Laura Molnar

Out on sub this week: FISHING, a middle grade wordless graphic novel by Michael Ralph. Drawing on the real practice of “fishing” in prison, it reveals how incarcerated people communicate, share, organize, express care, and stand up for one another.

#GraphicNovel
#MiddleGrade
#KidLit
#EduSky

In Memphis for the International Blues Challenge (Jan 13–17)? Stop by A. Schwab on Beale Street! Show your IBC badge to get a FREE collector’s copy of Popular Piano Course by Berl Olswanger. See his Brass Note on the Beale Street Walk of Fame: bealestreet.com/events/inter...

#MemphisMusic

Illustrated by Nia Palmer and colorized by Brittany Moore

Going out to publishers in the new year: DIGNITY, an upper MG graphic novel set in NYC, 1948. Told through alternating POVs, it follows a Jewish boy shaped by the Holocaust and a Black girl rooted in the Great Migration—inviting empathy, dialogue, and moral courage.

#GraphicNovel
#MiddleGrade

A PARTY FOR FLORINE: FLORINE STETTHEIMER AND ME by Yevgenia Nayberg featured in Naomi Danis’s “Feminist Books for Young Readers,” celebrating a bold, independent artist whose creative freedom and Jazz Age style still inspire: lilith.org/articles/fem...

#FeministBooks
#WomenInArt
#Libraries
#EduSky

What happens when the world is told one story—and the truth is hidden underground? Visit the "Let My People Go" website for a compelling digital lesson created by Anat Zalmanson-Kuznetsov. Based on A VISIT TO MOSCOW, illustrated by Yevgenia Nayberg: bit.ly/4jn2Cpa


#JewishHistory #GraphicNovels

Big news for A WONDERFUL THING by Jeffrey Turner! Two new Olswanger Literary deals just landed: Arkimedes Forlag (Copenhagen) for the Danish edition, and the online platform Joomsy, for digital rights. This beautiful story is officially going global: app.joomsy.com

#PictureBooks #FamilyReading

Painting of Burke's Bookstore by Martha Kelly

Burke’s Book Store celebrates 150 years in Memphis and manager Corey Mesler just added BERL'S BLUES, a signed, numbered miniature book inspired by 1929 newspaper stories about musician Berl Olswanger, recently honored with a Brass Note on Beale Street. www.burkesbooks.com/pages/books/...

#Memphis

Sometimes a book appears exactly where it’s needed. The Eisner-nominated A VISIT TO MOSCOW, illustrated by Yevgenia Nayberg, is a story of courage and hope. Seeing it in this waiting room is a quiet reminder that stories comfort, steady, and connect us across generations.

#Books

Author-illustrator Ian David Marsden adapted Marvin Hamlisch’s memoir into the graphic novel MARVIN and sent it to Robert Crumb—“hubris bordered by insanity.” Crumb’s critique? Brutally honest, then: “THAT SAID, IT’S STILL A GOOD BOOK” jsandlergraphicmemoir.substack.com/p/sending-yo...

#Books

With a few days of Hanukkah left, there's still time to introduce a young friend to HELLO HANUKKAH by Susan Novich, her board book featuring Badger and Hoopoe that introduces the rituals and traditions of the holiday, along with numbers and colors: www.karben.com/hellohanukkah

#Skybrarian

Celebrate Chanukah and its theme of standing up to oppression by discovering the story of a hidden child in the USSR. Background in this New York Weekly article featuring A VISIT TO MOSCOW, illustrated by Yevgenia Nayberg: nyweekly.com/book/a-story...

#Skybrarian #SchoolLibrarian #HighSchoolEnglish

Discover "Jewish Joy with Miri Leshem-Pelly," an interview with A FEATHER, A PEBBLE, A SHELL author-illustrator Miri Leshem-Pelly by Heidi Rabinowitz in her series about the lives, books, and reading suggestions of diverse Jewish authors: multiculturalkidblogs.com/2025/12/08/j...

#SchoolLibrarian

Hanukkah is coming! Celebrate by introducing a young friend to HANUKKAH HAMSTER, a picture book by Michelle Markel with art by André Ceolin, featuring an immigrant cab driver and the hamster that turns up in his cab: sleepingbearpress.com/shop/show/52...

#TeacherSky #Skybrarian #SchoolLibrarian

Thanks to Josef Woods for sending along this image of A VISIT TO MOSCOW, illustrated by Yevgenia Nayberg, on the shelf of The Comic Den, the comics store he owns in Watts where he combines his passion for comics with his drive to mentor young readers: thecomicdenllc.com/pages/about

#SchoolLibrarian