A Keynote at SXSW!

Plus, Exciting News About the New Picture Book!

It’s a thrill to be invited back to SXSW. I’ll be offering a keynote on the main stage of SXSW EDU, alongside Jasmin Rubero, Senior Art Director for Kokila at Penguin Random House. Jasmin’s worked on both of my books for Kokila so far—Fauja Singh Keeps Going, and the brand new one, A Vaisakhi to Remember. She’s also worked on a bunch of other bestsellers and award-winners, and it’ll be fun to be with her for our session called: "What We Make Visible to Children: Art, Storytelling, & Picturebooks.”

I’ll paste the description for our keynote session below—but I want share some other exciting news first. Because we’re on the main stage, Penguin Random House decided to release the new picture book a week early so that it can be available at the festival. So the official book launch for A Vaisakhi to Remember will be at SXSW EDU. How cool is that?

I’m honored to be invited and excited to share a stage with Jasmin. I love being a part of this world, especially because I truly believe that picture books have the power to shape the worldviews and imaginations of our children. Here’s the description for our session on Wednesday.

So many choices go into making a children's book, and all of these choices help shape the way our kids understand and engage with the world around them. The points of view of storytellers themselves are also integral to understanding the world around them. How do we decide what to make visible? And what are the consequences of our decisions? In this session, join leaders in children's publishing as they discuss how broadening the range of stories in children's books, like picture books Fauja Singh Keeps Going and A Vaisakhi to Remember, nurtures empathy and encourages new ways of seeing the world.

On Saturday, I’ll also be offering a session on something I’ve been thinking about a lot the past few years and writing about for a new book I’m working on. In short, it’s become obvious that our efforts to build connections with one another isn’t quite working, especially given the social fracturing we’ve witnessed the past couple of years. I think it’s time for us to change our approach, especially as I’ve been learning and drawing from different wisdom traditions.

The session on Saturday is titled “Reframing Allyship and Solidarity: How We Shift To Deepen Our Connections.” The description is below:

We know that healthy culture and workplaces have strong social cohesion. We've spent the past few years understanding the importance of showing up as our full selves and encouraging others to do the same. And yet, as the world has become increasingly divided, and as so many of our relationships have disintegrated, it's become more and more difficult to figure out how to show up as with allyship and solidarity.

I’m excited for both sessions and will follow each up book signings. I’m also thrilled to be invited back to SXSW. It’s an awesome space for creators and an honor to be included. And I’m so excited that the new book is coming out sooner than anticipated :)