Katherine Choppy Harrison
@kidlitkat.bsky.social
executive editor of ya, mg and picture books at knopf bfyr, writer of songs and picture books (POWER TOOL ALPHABET & BUT I’M A PUMPKIN!), appreciator of odd curiosities
Kidlit community, nothing fills me with self-doubt and disappointment more than these annual best of the year lists.
If you’re feeling blue, remember it’s subjective, and this year I’m seeing very few of my faves (the ones I didn’t work on) recognized.
Let’s all raise a glass to the unlisted!
If you’re feeling blue, remember it’s subjective, and this year I’m seeing very few of my faves (the ones I didn’t work on) recognized.
Let’s all raise a glass to the unlisted!
November 25, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Kidlit community, nothing fills me with self-doubt and disappointment more than these annual best of the year lists.
If you’re feeling blue, remember it’s subjective, and this year I’m seeing very few of my faves (the ones I didn’t work on) recognized.
Let’s all raise a glass to the unlisted!
If you’re feeling blue, remember it’s subjective, and this year I’m seeing very few of my faves (the ones I didn’t work on) recognized.
Let’s all raise a glass to the unlisted!
Now and again, especially in Autumn, I think of Strega Nona—and how clutch it would be if someone made Tomi DiPaola branded pasta shapes
November 24, 2025 at 10:23 PM
Now and again, especially in Autumn, I think of Strega Nona—and how clutch it would be if someone made Tomi DiPaola branded pasta shapes
UGH why am I such a cringey Millennial and, more importantly, why is this latest Jeff Tweedy album so good 😭
November 21, 2025 at 10:00 PM
UGH why am I such a cringey Millennial and, more importantly, why is this latest Jeff Tweedy album so good 😭
Reposted by Katherine Choppy Harrison
theconversation.com/learning-wit...
I think the maddening thing here is many more critical folks who study info search, learning, etc could have (and have been) saying this. The process matters
I think the maddening thing here is many more critical folks who study info search, learning, etc could have (and have been) saying this. The process matters
Learning with AI falls short compared to old-fashioned web search
Doing the mental work of connecting the dots across multiple web queries appears to help people understand the material better compared to an AI summary.
theconversation.com
November 19, 2025 at 3:34 PM
theconversation.com/learning-wit...
I think the maddening thing here is many more critical folks who study info search, learning, etc could have (and have been) saying this. The process matters
I think the maddening thing here is many more critical folks who study info search, learning, etc could have (and have been) saying this. The process matters
Reposted by Katherine Choppy Harrison
Editors have a really hard job, and the good ones can make something unreadable readable, and the great ones can make something unreadable into something good. But they're basically invisible, until someone tries to write without one.
November 17, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Editors have a really hard job, and the good ones can make something unreadable readable, and the great ones can make something unreadable into something good. But they're basically invisible, until someone tries to write without one.
Prose like this is a good reminder that we editors are doing Important Work.
November 17, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Prose like this is a good reminder that we editors are doing Important Work.
I needed plenty of safety gear to film this unboxing video for my new picture book, THE POWER TOOL ALPHABET! Thanks to @sourcebooks.bsky.social for making this book a reality and my assistant Harper for advising on tool selection. Coming to stores December 2 🔨🪚📚
November 14, 2025 at 4:10 PM
I needed plenty of safety gear to film this unboxing video for my new picture book, THE POWER TOOL ALPHABET! Thanks to @sourcebooks.bsky.social for making this book a reality and my assistant Harper for advising on tool selection. Coming to stores December 2 🔨🪚📚
Was getting a cat the best choice ever? Or has the toxoplasmosis fully taken over my brain? Some mysteries will never be solved.
November 13, 2025 at 11:17 PM
Was getting a cat the best choice ever? Or has the toxoplasmosis fully taken over my brain? Some mysteries will never be solved.
Reposted by Katherine Choppy Harrison
Growing up in a time when “selling out” was the most shameful thing you could do and then being forced to live through the 2020s feels like being kicked in the head by a horse every day
November 13, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Growing up in a time when “selling out” was the most shameful thing you could do and then being forced to live through the 2020s feels like being kicked in the head by a horse every day
“Empathy is the oxygen of democracy.” -Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress
November 13, 2025 at 4:08 PM
“Empathy is the oxygen of democracy.” -Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress
National treasure Carla Hayden speaking at the RHCB town hall on a random Thursday, someone pinch me 🤩
November 13, 2025 at 4:02 PM
National treasure Carla Hayden speaking at the RHCB town hall on a random Thursday, someone pinch me 🤩
Reposted by Katherine Choppy Harrison
Happy book birthday to A Quick Trip to the Store by Sam Wedelich!
November 11, 2025 at 9:46 PM
Happy book birthday to A Quick Trip to the Store by Sam Wedelich!
Totally obsessed with all my Spring 2026 middle grade covers!!! Do you have a favorite?
MACAW: art by @georgeermos.bsky.social ; design by Jen Valero
MOON: art by Robbi Behr ; design by Jen Valero
WILDERNESS: art by David Dean ; design by Suzanne Lee
MACAW: art by @georgeermos.bsky.social ; design by Jen Valero
MOON: art by Robbi Behr ; design by Jen Valero
WILDERNESS: art by David Dean ; design by Suzanne Lee
November 12, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Totally obsessed with all my Spring 2026 middle grade covers!!! Do you have a favorite?
MACAW: art by @georgeermos.bsky.social ; design by Jen Valero
MOON: art by Robbi Behr ; design by Jen Valero
WILDERNESS: art by David Dean ; design by Suzanne Lee
MACAW: art by @georgeermos.bsky.social ; design by Jen Valero
MOON: art by Robbi Behr ; design by Jen Valero
WILDERNESS: art by David Dean ; design by Suzanne Lee
Dammit! Don’t make me regret leaving Twitter!
Found the tweet that Joyce Carol Oates bodied Elon Musk with and it's so beautiful in its eloquent, simple take down. So much so he's crashing out trying to prove he reads books now. Put this in the Louvre.
November 12, 2025 at 12:32 AM
Dammit! Don’t make me regret leaving Twitter!
If I could share but one pearl of publishing wisdom: there is ALWAYS a better way to query your novel than a LinkedIn message. Exercise self-care by avoiding this method at all costs.
November 11, 2025 at 5:56 AM
If I could share but one pearl of publishing wisdom: there is ALWAYS a better way to query your novel than a LinkedIn message. Exercise self-care by avoiding this method at all costs.
This weekend was the first time I’ve worked up the nerve to walk into a bookstore and tell them I wrote a book, and… it wasn’t a disaster! Thanks to Margaux Meganck and @earldizonwriter.bsky.social at Green Bean Books for making this as painless and fun as possible!
November 10, 2025 at 6:16 PM
This weekend was the first time I’ve worked up the nerve to walk into a bookstore and tell them I wrote a book, and… it wasn’t a disaster! Thanks to Margaux Meganck and @earldizonwriter.bsky.social at Green Bean Books for making this as painless and fun as possible!
Trying to promote the book I wrote is exactly as Maggie describes 🙃
if you ever see a video of me on the internet where I am talking directly to the camera I want you to know making it nearly killed me, I hate it, please don't ask me to do this
November 4, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Trying to promote the book I wrote is exactly as Maggie describes 🙃
Friends, as you come down from the high fructose fugue of Halloween, why not give a gift to your future self and support a local bookstore by preordering BUT I’M A PUMPKIN today?
With Halloween right around the corner, I’m thrilled to share the cover of my new Summerween picture book with all you bookish ghouls and ghosties out there! BUT I’M A PUMPKIN is now available for preorder too 🎃
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/802076...
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/802076...
November 1, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Friends, as you come down from the high fructose fugue of Halloween, why not give a gift to your future self and support a local bookstore by preordering BUT I’M A PUMPKIN today?
Reposted by Katherine Choppy Harrison
… have I got a book for you!!
October 29, 2025 at 10:31 PM
… have I got a book for you!!
With Halloween right around the corner, I’m thrilled to share the cover of my new Summerween picture book with all you bookish ghouls and ghosties out there! BUT I’M A PUMPKIN is now available for preorder too 🎃
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/802076...
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/802076...
October 30, 2025 at 5:40 PM
With Halloween right around the corner, I’m thrilled to share the cover of my new Summerween picture book with all you bookish ghouls and ghosties out there! BUT I’M A PUMPKIN is now available for preorder too 🎃
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/802076...
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/802076...
More of this energy please!!!
Three high schoolers founded a book club that reads some of the country's most frequently banned books after a state law removing books with sexual content was signed in 2023. Two years later, many of the books have been reshelved and parts of the law can't be enforced.
When books were being pulled from Iowa classrooms, these teens started an after-school club to read them
Three Iowa City West high schoolers founded a book club that reads some of the country's most frequently banned books after a state law removing books with sexual content was signed in 2023. Two years later, many of the books have been reshelved and parts of the law can't be enforced.
n.pr
October 20, 2025 at 4:18 PM
More of this energy please!!!
Definitely did NOT know what I was getting into with COLIN GETS PROMOTED AND DOOMS THE WORLD, but can't stop laughing. It's like the memoir of an employee of The Bad Place. If depraved mirth and demonic office politics tickle your fancy, this may be the book for you. @markwaddell.bsky.social
October 20, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Definitely did NOT know what I was getting into with COLIN GETS PROMOTED AND DOOMS THE WORLD, but can't stop laughing. It's like the memoir of an employee of The Bad Place. If depraved mirth and demonic office politics tickle your fancy, this may be the book for you. @markwaddell.bsky.social
Reposted by Katherine Choppy Harrison
Their project depends on making us all feel alone, isolated and powerless. Taking part in a protest destroys all of those feelings in an instant. Go.
Head to a protest today. I can almost promise you will feel less hopeless. That's exactly what they don't want. There are more of us than there are of them.
October 18, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Their project depends on making us all feel alone, isolated and powerless. Taking part in a protest destroys all of those feelings in an instant. Go.
Lauren Castillo isn’t on here, but I’m delighted to share the next book in her Our Friend Hedgehog series: SCHOOL FOR WOODLAND CREATURES! If you love little critters sporting backpacks and being kind to one another ala Winnie the Pooh, this one’s for you! 🦔❤️
October 14, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Lauren Castillo isn’t on here, but I’m delighted to share the next book in her Our Friend Hedgehog series: SCHOOL FOR WOODLAND CREATURES! If you love little critters sporting backpacks and being kind to one another ala Winnie the Pooh, this one’s for you! 🦔❤️
I say this as a jazz appreciator, but I believe that publishers and gatekeepers VASTLY overestimate children’s interest in picture book biographies of Jazz musicans.
Tell me your most unhinged literary opinion, as a little treat
October 14, 2025 at 5:36 AM
I say this as a jazz appreciator, but I believe that publishers and gatekeepers VASTLY overestimate children’s interest in picture book biographies of Jazz musicans.