Today in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Sean Clancy writes:

"I think cypress knees are magical," says Cathy Melvin as she points out a smattering of the distinctive, knobby extensions of a cypress tree's root system poking up from the dark, shallow waters of Lorance Creek.

It's a cloudy, chilly, Thursday morning earlier this month and Melvin is strolling along the trail that winds through the Lorance Creek Natural Area near Hensley. This is the place that helped inspire "Cypress Knees and Tupelo Trees: Discovering Plants and Animals of the Swamp," Melvin's charming and fun debut children's book that will be published Saturday by Little Rock's Et Alia Press.

The book is filled with Melvin's colorful, creative collages that are reminiscent of Eric Carle, the author and illustrator of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar” . . .

CLICK HERE for the full article.

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Has this ever been done before? If so, we haven’t seen it! Every page of From Cotton to Silk: The Magic of Black Hair shares a bold, beautiful, masterful hand-stitched textile rendering that reflects dozens of hours of skill and love from the hands of Crystal C. Mercer.

The numbers speak: of the 3,716 books surveyed by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) in 2019, Black/African main characters made up only 12%. Don’t you agree that this just won’t do?

With your help, we can position this book as a beacon of self-worth for young Black girls!

Your Kickstarter support will:

Cover Crystal’s cost of textiles and sewing materials
Pay for textile photography by Arshia Khan
Cover book layout design by Dave McClinton at African American Design Group
Bring the retail price point from $21.95 to $19.95 to align it more closely with consumer expectations and make it more accessible to the girls who need its message most
Ensure that publishing costs are covered prior to publication so that we begin public sales with profitability

We are overjoyed to share this book and related rewards at all price points with you, including custom jackets and custom fabric portraits, as well as kente cloth bookmarks and kente totes—
all handmade by Crystal!

If we surpass our goal of $7,350, we’ve got some big surprises up our sleeves.

Join Us Now on kickstarter!