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kid lit Tag

$5k Match – Social Justice Children’s Book Fair

Hey fam, my organization the Social Justice Children’s Book Fair got a $5k grant and will be fundraising over the next 30 days to match it dollar for dollar. If you’re unfamiliar with the fair I invite you to check out….

Our Website: Site, 2025 fair, 2025 Award winners,

Social Media: Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube

Press: Oaklandside article, NBC News clip, Hard Knock (KPFA) Radio Interview 

Here are some photos taken by photographer Mark Rea from the 2025 fair. Wanna see more? Check out this Facebook page or our website.

Short Mission: Bruh, make a kids book fair that champions social justice kid lit. Also, champion Bipoc, Queer, Immigrant, and Social Justice creators and kid focused orgs.

Longer Mission & Vision: Our mission is to promote social justice through the power of children’s books. We support independent children’s book creators to conceive, develop, distribute, and champion social justice-themed children’s books. We do this through our signature event, the annual Social Justice Children’s Book Fair, and other ongoing projects and initiatives.

We envision a world where children’s book creators have the ability to conceive, develop, distribute, and champion a diversity of social justice-centered stories that need to be told as they look to reach all children, families, teachers, librarians, and book lovers.

My Why: I believe there are some amazing stories about culture, class, race, gender, identity, politics, history, etc that need to be shared with a wider audience and I get to help facilitate that as one of many organizers of this fair. I believe in representation, being able to see yourself in literature early, and I believe in literacy for liberation and fun.

Accomplishments:

  • 2 years of co-curating Youth Lit Day for Bay Area Book Festival
  • Over 2k attendees
  • Thousands of kids books donated to Bay Area students
  • 1700 Social Media followers
  • 400+ Stories
  • 100+ Creators, authors, illustrators, publishers, etc
  • 30+ Organizations
  • 10 years this year!
  • 8 Performers

7 years all volunteer, 2 years w/ small funding. Imagine what we could do with more. Wanna help us continue to grow this?

DONATE HERE

July 15, 2026
in Educational Resources, Events
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I’m on “Short Cuts” Podcast- Bay Area Book Festival

Watch: Hey fam, I’m on the Bay Area Book Festival podcast “Short Cuts” w/ Dora La Flora talking about this year’s festival happening in late May, tune in to learn more. And come to the Bay Area Book Festival happening May30-31st in Berkeley California. You can find out more about the Youth Lit Specific day here and get the broader schedule here.

Why go?

  • If you’re a book lover or someone who wants to get your kids reading or get something new to read, there is such a wide array of books there from kid lit to romance, poetry, non fiction, etc. Its there.
  • If you’re someone who works in this field or you’d like to work in it, this is s great opportunity to meet folks ion your field at your level and folks who’ve been doing this for a long time.
  • Lastly, support community led events as opposed to corporations.

Dig this? Check out the Bay Area Book Festival’s YouTube page

April 28, 2026
in Events, Press & Interviews
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Brown Bookshelf feature!

This is a full circle moment. I started trying to get into the children’s book world around 2007/2008. Back then there were very few resources about Black folks or people of color in the biz that I knew of. And The Brown Bookshelf is one of the earliest resources I found! It was raft in a sea of formalities, stereotypes, nepotism, and plain old racism. Thank god for The Brown Bookshelf! Fast forward 15 or 16 years later and I’m featured as one of this year’s 28 storytellers! I am so honored.!!! BIG shout out to Nikki Shannon Smith for the props!

Read what I wrote here and check out some of the other creators. You have no idea how hard it is for these folks to get to where they are.

Dig this? Check out this podcast I was a guest on – Early Risers (Minneapolis Public Radio)

February 8, 2026
in Press & Interviews
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Picture Book Recommendation- Jenny Mei is Sad

Heres a recent picture book review of a newish book called “Jenny Mei is Sad” which I LOVE by Tracy Subisak who is an author and illustrator. Its about friendship, big feelings, sadness, and its gorgeous. Never heard of it? Watch the video.

What is this? I have been working as a picture book illustrator/ writer since 2013 officially and I’ve been reading picture books since I became a young dad in 2004. In that time I’ve read nearly 700 picture books. Some trash, some ok, but with these videos I’m sharing my favorites! Watch all of them here. My last book is Fresh Juice.

Dig this? Check out the last review of “Perfect Harmony” by Charles R. Smith Jr.

December 8, 2025
in Creative Resources, Educational Resources
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Social Justice Children’s Book AWARD

So this is new for the Social Justice Children’s Book Fair, for the first time we’re giving away an award to 3 authors the night before the fair. Check out the awardees.

These are the three writers!

  • Raquel Donoso
  • Mona Damluji
  • Maya Gonzalez

RSVP for the event here whether you’ve been coming to the fair for years, you’re new, or you really support the kid lit world. Also, come check out the 9th annual Social Justice Children’s Book Fair.

Dig this? Check out this article from Oaklandside

November 27, 2025
in Creative Resources, Educational Resources, Events
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Inspiration Board 47

Errrray, this is my second inspiration board for the year. And what a tough fucking year it has been and its not even over yet. Top to bottom, left to right:

  1. Illustration: Eva Sanchez Gomez is a Spanish illustrator who’s work I dig!
  2. Book: The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson is a huge puzzle piece of Black, American, and world history. I highly recommend reading it.
  3. Art: Bobby Pontillas is a filmmaker, animator, educator, and concept artist who’s work is beautiful.
  4. Book: Drawing Walls by Matthew Burgess & Josh Cochran is a phenomenal picture book biography about artist Keith Haring.
  5. Music: One of my fav hip hop groups ever-The Coup blends funk, mob music, hip hop, and political education beautifully. Listen!
  6. City: Earlier this year I visited Seattle for the 4th time and I really love this city!
  7. Music: I started listening to Flwr Chyld last year and really love his music (Soul, R&B). Listen.
  8. Podcast: This is a native podcast about politics and culture. Listen.
  9. Graffiti: I always wish to see more radical Graf and this blog collects and curates them! Radical Graffiti.
  10. History: Ashley Barron is someone making great use of social media to educate. Watch.
  11. Event: Lightbox Expo is an annual animation industry event in Los Angeles. Learn more.
  12. Film: Fatherhood is a sweet film about being a parent starring Kevin Hart. Watch.
  13. Journalism: LA Taco is a food blog who’s reports on ICE activity in LA was heart breaking and inspiring to watch. Read.
  14. Politics: I like so many were inspired by the campaign of the Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani!
  15. Journalism: Erik Garcia takes incredible moments in Xican@ history and remixes them on social media.
  16. Animation: Had to post about this film in 2022 and K Pop Demon Hunters did not disappoint. Such an aspiring film. Watch!

Did you miss the previous inspiration board? Here it is, plus a few more

What’s this? This inspiration board is one of the ways I stay inspired and sane through all of life’s trials, and tribulations, work, etc. I’ve been making inspiration boards full of films, books, music, events, people, artists, movements, and more for over a decade. Do you have an inspiration board? Please share in the comments. Who am I? My name is Rob Liu-Trujillo and I’m an artist working in kid lit, public art, and other disciplines. Go to my website, or follow me on IG or YouTube. You can also cop my first art book here.

November 26, 2025
in Creative Resources
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School visit-CCA Picture Book Workshop 2

Alright so I must be lucky or highly favored or something because I’ve been invited to give a workshop to young artists at one of the most prestigious art schools in the Bay; California College of the Arts. And, they allowed me to come in and speak about a format of art that i LOVE. Picture books!!!!!

I’ve taken classes about making picture books. I have literally read hundreds of them. I’ve illustrated them, and written a few. I love making them, reading them, studying them, and I have enjoyed sharing what I know about the mechanics of picture books as I understand them.

OG artist, Papa, cartoonist, and professor Fred Noland invited me to speak and I began by talking about my non linear path to a career in the arts. I laid out a series of picture books for the students to check out. Some really old, some from the last twenty years, some new ones, and some of my own.

On the table is a series of picture books by creators that also worked in comics.

In this workshop I focused on:

  • Character
  • Story taglines
  • Synopsis
  • Thumbnails
  • Picture book spread

I asked the students to go through the process of coming up with a picture book story as an exercise and they DID! We used original and existing characters to achieve this. Then we shared them so they could see each others work.

I started doing a similar method of exercise that I began doing 20 years ago teaching while teaching graffiti lettering to young people all over the Bay Area and NYC. Its a way for me to teach but also for them to learn from their peers who inevitably have a different take on it.

All in all, one of my favorite things about being a visiting artist for high school or college undergrads is being able to give no bullshit answers about what its like to make your living doing this. Sometimes the answers are dreamy and sometimes they’re more blunt. Fred’s class had great energy and questions. I feel like I learned from them too.

Dig this? Check out these other visits to colleges.

October 12, 2025
in School or Library Visit
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Story Sunbirds Virtual Summit (Panel)

Hey fam, I have the pleausre of speaking on a panel for the Story Sunbirds, a new children’s book organization. This is their mission:

At Story Sunbirds, our mission is to cultivate a dynamic and inclusive children’s literature community rooted in justice and anti-racism and anti-colonialism. As a collective of writers, illustrators, and publishing professionals, we prioritize the holistic growth and needs of all children, ensuring their voices and experiences are at the forefront of our creative work.

I will be on a panel called “Finding a Unique Path That’s True to You” which will be about getting into making children’s books by any means necessary, with Intisar Khanani, Navjot Kaur, Zetta Elliott, and moderated by Danielle Davis.

REGISTER TO JOIN US

Here is a schedule for the other panels and discussions. Even if you dont ask questions or speak, you can still participate by attending.

Dig this? Check out their Instagram

September 5, 2025
in Creative Resources, Events
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Picture Book Recommendation- Gathering the Sun

Ey, heres an OG picture book I used to read to my son. Gathering the sun written by Alma Flor Ada and illustrated by Simón Silva. Check out the video and share with anyone who’d be interested. You can request this book at your local library or cop it from here.

What is this? I have been working as a picture book illustrator/ writer since 2013 officially and I’ve been reading picture books since I became a young dad in 2004. In that time I’ve read nearly 700 picture books. Some trash, some ok, but with these videos I’m sharing my favorites! Watch all of them here.

Dig this? Check out “A New Kind of Wild” by Zara Gonzalez Hoang

August 20, 2025
in Creative Resources, Educational Resources
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Picture Book Recommendation- A New Kind of Wild

I have been a fan of Zara Gonzalez Hoang’s work for awhile and I was delighted to read this one when it came out. It’s a hit in my house. Me and my wife had read it quite a few times and we love it.

Synopsis: This sweet author-illustrator debut celebrates imagination, the magic of friendship, and all the different ways we make a new place feel like home.

What’s this? Whew, I’ve read over 600 picture books y’all! An author who I admire and respect “Adrianna Cuevas” was sharing her favorite books and it inspired me to share some of mine with you. I’ve read ok books, garbage ones, and some that I think are incredible examples of the picture book format. Here and on the socials I’ll be recommending some of my favs. Please support your community and the creators by requesting them at your library or local independent bookstore. Peace. My name is Robert Liu-Trujillo. I am the author and illustrator of Fresh Juice.

Dig this? Check out my other picture book recommendations: 

July 18, 2025
in Educational Resources
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