So far, I've showcased books by authors I love, or illustrators I love, or debut books that I'm totally judging by the cover (or description) and which look amazing and/or intriguing. After all, that's usually how our audience picks their books, right?

A few of the books have been by people I sort-of "know", whether I've met them at a conference, or online, or whatever- hey, children's publishing is a small world :) This may or may not have influenced how much I'm looking forward to their books. But I do have to confess that the first book below is by someone I actually know. And I've even already read it (if only in manuscript form) (and I *loved* it!), so I'm even more sure that you should check it out :)

(And the second book, you may notice, is illustrated by the illustrator of one of MY 2011 releases! How did she know Audrey Hepburn is one of my all-time favorite actresses??)