Children’s Stories
Formula One, Taylor Swift, and “Will Eisner Week” Event
Today’s a busy day! Why? Well, for one thing, today two of my books came out from Penguin Random House. One of those books is 96 Facts About Formula One. The other one is 96 Datos Sobre Taylor Swift, which is the Spanish-language edition of my USA Today bestselling book 96 Facts About Taylor Swift. I wrote both books, they were both illustrated by Risa Rodil, and the Taylor Swift book was translated into Spanish by Ariela Rudy Zaltzman.
Here’s the official publisher description of 96 Facts About Formula One:
Packed with fun facts, quick quizzes, and bonus pages for journaling, this is a must-have for anyone wanting to know more about some of F1’s most famous drivers, including Charles Leclerc, Jamie Chadwick, Lella Lombardi, Lewis Hamilton, Marta García, and Max Verstappen.
96 Facts About Formula One is available HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.
Here’s the official publisher description of 96 Datos Sobre Taylor Swift:
¡El libro de datos y diario definitivo para fans de Taylor Swift! Lleno de datos curiosos, cuestionarios cortos y hojas en blanco para escribir, es un libro que todos y todas las Swifties deben tener.
And here it is in English:
The ultimate fact book and journal for fans of Taylor Swift! Packed with fun facts, quick quizzes, and bonus pages for journaling, this is a must-have for any Swiftie.
96 Datos Sobre Taylor Swift is available HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!! At 7pm EST today, Tuesday March 3rd, 2026, I’ll be appearing on an online panel discussion, as part of Will Eisner Week. The panel is called “The Comics vs the Fascists – A Will Eisner Week 2026 Event.” The event is FREE, but you have to register, which you can do by emailing comicssymposium@gmail.com
Here’s a description of the “Comics vs. the Fascists” panel:
When fascism threatened the world in the 1930s and ‘40s, comics creators rushed to counter its threat, including through their characters actions. Will Eisner (with The Spirit), Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (with Captain America), and Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster (with Superman) were among the prominent writers and artists who used their four-color platforms to combat fascists both at home and abroad. Today, shining a spotlight on the way these creators rose to the challenge, and what lessons may be learned for the present, is an expert panel including:
- Karen Green (Columbia University Curator for Comics and Cartoons)
- Dean Haspiel (The Red Hook)
- Arie Kaplan (From Krakow to Krypton: Jews and Comic Books)
- Charles Kochman (Abrams ComicArts)
- Danny Fingeroth (Will Eisner Studios) moderator
More info about the event can be found HERE.
Happy New Year from Li’l Nosferatu!
Happy New Year, everyone! Welcome to 2026! And welcome to my “year-end wrap-up” blog post for 2025. Look, before you say anything: yes, I’m writing a “year-end” post the day after the year ended. Which is probably against the rules, but as I’ve learned over the years, I don’t like rules. Rules are stupid. Also, I was busy yesterday.
So. Here are some of the best things that happened to me in 2025:
I wrote many, many books. Most of them were for kids. Some of them were for adults. Here are the titles of some (but not all) of those books:
The Encyclopedia of Curious Rituals and Superstitions.
The Fantastic Four Little Golden Book.
Stitch: Out-of-This-World Numbers.
Also, in January of 2025, I began working as a writer and narrative designer for an upcoming video game called Shadows of Dawn, which is being developed by Next Player Games. Currently, I’m still working on the game with the good folks at NPG.
And as you may recall, back in 2023, I wrote two episodes of the animated preschool series Hey! Fuzzy Yellow. In 2024, one of the episodes began airing and streaming. But starting in 2025, both episodes (“Boomerang Jelly Car” and “Sculpture Jam Abstract”) began airing and streaming. I wrote the scripts and the song lyrics for both episodes. As of this writing, Hey! Fuzzy Yellow still hasn’t begun airing or streaming in the US, but it’s available in various countries in Europe, Central America, and South America.
I also wrote the script for a Passover-themed children’s audio drama, titled “Mort the Misinformed Morsel of Matzah,” which was released in the spring of 2025 as part of Yoto’s 5-Minute Spring Holiday Stories collection. The title character, Mort, was even voiced by a friend of mine, Eli Schiff!
And there are several other projects I worked on throughout 2025, some of which will come out this year. I announced one of them, 96 Facts About Chappell Roan, in my previous blog post. (That book comes out on January 13th.) But I’ll announce some of my other upcoming projects ASAP. Please keep checking this site for more info!
BTW, I wouldn’t have worked on any of the aforementioned projects without the book editors, video game producers, and TV showrunners who gave me these writing gigs in the first place. I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who hired me in 2025 (or really, anyone who hired me at any time, ever). And I mean that.
You may also be wondering about the “Baby New Year” photo which adorns this blog post. See, to usher in the new year, I’ve put a “2026” sash around a puppet I built. I call him “Li’l Nosferatu.” If you’re obsessed with me (and why wouldn’t you be?), you’ll notice that I’ve occasionally posted pics of Li’l Nosferatu on social media during the past couple of years. For today’s purposes, Li’l Nosferatu is playing the part of Baby New Year.
Someday, I’ll explain the backstory behind this puppet, because there is indeed quite a bit of backstory there. Basically, I built the puppet for a project which never came to fruition. But more on that some other time.
And to anyone who’s reading this, I just wanted to wish you the best for a wonderful new year!
Happy Thanksgiving from “Pumpkin Spice”!
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! And to celebrate the holiday (while also shamelessly plugging a recent project), here’s a cropped image from the “Thanksgiving dinner” spread in Pumpkin Spice, a children’s book which was written by yours truly and illustrated by the super-talented Monique Dong. Pumpkin Spice is out now from Penguin Random House. (In other words: Plug-Pluggity-Plug!)
Pumpkin Spice is out now from Penguin Random House. It’s available at bookstores everywhere, as well as HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.
Here’s what critics are saying about Pumpkin Spice:
“Dong’s warm, cheerful illustrations enhance the cozy fall vibe…A lightly enjoyable seasonal pick that will find a place in fall displays.”—School Library Journal
“…a fun-filled sensory exploration of the sights, sounds, and especially smells that make fall great.” —LitPop
“This board book will be much-loved by everyone who enjoys pumpkin spiced… well, everything… each autumn.” —Kids R Us
“Rich with sensory detail, Pumpkin Spice makes a great introduction to fall for little bookworms.”—Bookstr
“Teachers who teach in early education classrooms will want to add this delightful board book to their collection of fall picture books.”—HubPages
“This sweet board book explores autumn through the senses…with lush illustrations sure to grab attention.” —Cracking the Cover
And here’s a look at the complete, un-cropped “Thanksgiving Dinner” spread from Pumpkin Spice:
Last but definitely not least, if you’d like to see all of the other books I’ve written for Penguin Random House (even the ones which don’t involve talking gourds), click HERE.