This week, Jason Chin shares a new book that encourages big thinking; Macmillan expands its online lesson offerings; Tiffany Rose honors Blackness on Instagram Live; and HarperCollins hosts a seasonal showcase.

Nothing’s Gonna Change My World

On June 23, Caldecott and Sibert Honoree Jason Chin showed virtual visitors around his workspace for a studio tour via Zoom as part of Holiday House and Pixel+Ink’s “Field Trip” series. Chin discussed, and read passages from, Your Place in the Universe (Holiday House/Porter, Sept.), his nonfiction picture book that recontextualizes concepts such as size, scale, and distance for young readers. He also gave the guests—booksellers and members of the media—a sneak preview of his forthcoming spring book, Watercress, written by Andrea Wang.

Schoolhouse Rock!

Dashka Slater (A Book for Escargot) (top l.) and Mahogany L. Browne (Woke) (top r.) taught a writing class on June 23 as part of MacKids Streaming Schoolhouse: The Picture Book Edition, a continuation of Macmillan’s pandemic-response virtual learning series. The latest installment featured four days of author-led learning between June 1–25. Here, Katie Halata (bottom), associate director of school and library at Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, moderates the post-session q&a featuring Slater and Browne.

B Is for Black Excellence

Author-illustrator Tiffany Rose took to Instagram Live in June to share her debut, M is for Melanin (Little Bee), an abecedarian picture book that promotes and commemorates aspects of Black identity. Rose put on the noon read-aloud event on June 5 “to bring a little joy in dark times,” reminding readers that “there is magic in our melanin.”

A Glimpse of the Future

Last month, HarperCollins Children’s Books took to Crowdcast for the inaugural Harper Children’s Seasonal Showcase: Home Edition, which gave more than 150 indie booksellers a first look at select fall 2020 and winter 2021 books. Picture book, middle grade, and YA authors discussed their forthcoming titles and participated in q&a sessions. HarperAlley editorial director Andrew Arnold introduced the new graphic novel imprint, and Quill Tree v-p and editorial director Rosemary Brosnan introduced Heartdrum, an imprint devoted to publishing books by Native creators. Here (from l.), Ebony LaDelle, associate director of marketing at Epic Reads, moderates the closing keynote by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam, co-authors of the forthcoming YA novel-in-verse Punching the Air.