Who are very smart and mouthy if this were a John Scalzi novel

Ceci n’est pas une anguille

It was only a matter of time until the Eel Report was a full-on correction update. The “eels” on the Customs House in Sydney from last month’s Eel Report are not “eels” at all— it’s fine, I feel like this frequently happens to eels who are mysterious and refuse to be known.

Heraldic dolphins and tridents on either side of a large ornamental clock on the facade of the Customs House in Sydney, Australia

In July, I emailed the Customs House Visitor Center in Sydney about the ornamental eels, and the visitor services team emailed me back mid-August. This is my favorite email I have ever received:

An email from the Customs House in Sydney Australia informing Eija that the eel decoration on the exterior of the building are in fact dolphins and tridents in their heraldic form in traditional maritime associations.

Sometimes tone is hard in emails, but this makes me laugh so much, like they are being so kind and patient and generous with their email and information, but also, I am a silly little American peasant who can’t read signs and wouldn’t recognize family crests and maritime symbols if I saw them carved in stone. Which, honestly, they are correct. I am so sorry.

Examples of dolphins as represented in heraldry and family crests.

These are dolphins in their heraldic form. Y’all. Heraldry is wild. My personal favorite is the dolphin with an elephant trunk. To be fair, if you asked 14th century me to draw a dolphin, I would be like, what? you want me to draw what?

Eels are unfortunately not as popular as dolphins in heraldry and family crest representation. The linked heraldry sources in the caption were provided by the Sydney Customs House Visitor Center services team— above and beyond customer service. Still need to get back to Australia ASAP.

Bigfoot Kids’ Book Festival is this Saturday!

Bigfoot Kids’ Book Festival poster for September 7th from 10am- 4pm at the Redmond Town Center

I can’t wait for the Bigfoot Kids Book Festival in Redmond, Washington. I’ll be sharing a spot with author-illustrator, Ellie Peterson, signing books from 11:30am - 12:30pm! I’ll have mermaid coloring sheets! And The Good Little Mermaid’s Guide to Bedtime door hanger swag. I’m excited to meet readers and spend time with so many amazing northwest authors and illustrators.

Books can be pre-ordered for the event from Brick and Mortar Books. I’m starting my own booklist for Saturday, and trying to decide if I should bring all my copies of The Princess in Black and my worn out copy of The Goose Girl to have Shannon Hale sign them.

Books Books Books

A collection of novels for adults and picture books.

Hannah Nicole Maehrer’s books are fun, cute, violent, and a little bit ridiculous. And Colton Gentry’s Third Act is made for life-rebuilding rom-com Hallmark movie magic. And Some Desperate Glory is intense in its anti-fascist, deprogramming explorations, (it is an adult novel). Actually, all of these novels are for adults.

But I really want to tell you about Big Bear and Little Bear Go Fishing which feels like a classic picture book. I love this book with my whole heart in its everyday tenderness. It’s perfect. I would 100 hundred percent recommend it as a perfect gift to everyone with a small child or new baby.

If you’re looking for a teacher gift, I would recommend We Are Definitely Human by X. Fang as the book to add to every teacher’s classroom picture book collection that they didn’t know they needed about helping strangers and showing kindness.

And Emergency Quarters by Carlos Matias and Gracey Zhang for all the parents and kids navigating new moments of independence as kids head back to school. We are all so lucky that so many amazing picture books are being made and created. And that’s only a few very small examples! What a treat.

Labor Day Newsletter

I’m writing this newsletter on Labor Day, and I think this Labor Day, it’d be great to get out your stationery stash or open up a fresh email and let the librarians in your life know that you appreciate all the work that they are doing to bring wonderful books and programs to their communities.

Last week, I had a conversation with a library director who was navigating book ban requests, and someone in their district had submitted five requests to have materials removed or relocated at their library. The library staff, director, and board, dutifully worked through the process, following their own procedures, doing the necessary reading and analysis, and when it came time to discuss the materials and decide their fate at their board meeting, the person who filed the complaints couldn’t even bother to show up.

The time and resources wasted. The disrespect. And this doesn’t even include the whole book banning nonsense and emotional stress of mentally preparing for a potentially hostile interaction at board meetings that are usually about budgets and library maintenance.

Anyway, Banned Books Week is just around the corner, September 22nd - September 28th, and if you use your public library, I’d encourage you to let the librarians, board, and staff know how much you appreciate the work that they do in your community. And if you’re not a regular library patron, get on that! Libraries are amazing.

I’ve got books with library holds on them that need to be read, a manuscript that needs some serious, serious revision, and some letters to my local librarians to write and events to plan. Until next month!

Thanks for reading this newsletter. If you’re in the Seattle area, I hope to see you at the Redmond Town Center this Saturday! And if you’ve got friends in the Seattle area, send them to the Bigfoot Kids’ Book Festival, the lineup is jam-packed with amazing children’s book makers!