2024 Round Up

Here we are at the end of 2024! I've noticed the past few years that my kidlit and illustrator friends do an end of year round up of their work. This year I'm joining the party. Here it goes:

Two picture books published.

Two picture books that I illustrated were released this year! The first was A Song for August: The Inspiring Life of Playwright August Wilson by Sally Denmead and published by Levine Querido, which was released on August 6, 2024. The second one was All the Greatness in You, written by Tameka Fryer-Brown and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux/Macmillan Kids, which was released on November 5, 2024.

Finished work on four picture books.

This year, I finished up four picture books that will be releasing in 2025 and 2026. Oshún and Me: A Story of Love and Braids by Adiba Nelson and published by Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan Kids (January 14, 2025), Down on the Bayou by Glenda Armand and published by Crown/Penguin Random House (May 20, 2025), Cooking Up Change by Michael Platt and published by Magic Cat/Abrams (May 27, 2025), and Prayer Is by Tameka Fryer-Brown and published by Farrar, Straus, Giroux/Macmillan Kids (Winter 2026).

Oshún and Me is going international.

Nigeria's #1 publishing house, Masobe Books, ordered 1,000 copies of Oshún and Me. We're going to West Africa!

Received my first Kirkus starred review.

Oshún and Me earned a Kirkus Star and a glowing review! The byline for the review was "Pure, unadulterated joy." What an honor.

Opening the Road was chosen to be on the 2025 Choose to Read Ohio Booklist.

The CTRO booklist features 20 books by creators born in, residing in, or associated with Ohio. The author of Opening the Road, Keila V. Dawson, lives in Ohio.

Started work on my first author-illustrator picture book.

This year, I started work on my very first author-illustrated picture book, O Holy Night: A Modern Christmas Carol, published by Bloomsbury Kids. The text is finished and I'm currently in the sketch phase! One day, I'll talk about how it started with a single Christmas illustration.

What I learned...

All in all, it's been a very busy year and I'm grateful for all the projects that I've worked on. I'm grateful for the editors and the art directors I've worked with this year. I'm grateful for my agent and the agency that represents me.

I'm also grateful to have learned the importance of structure.

To put it into context, my older cousin passed away suddenly at the end of 2023, and it hit me harder than I thought it would. Grief is rough because you don't only mourn who you recently lost, you end up re-mourning other people who you've lost before. So, going into 2024, I was extremely sad, and having to get up every day and chip away at my illustrations was very difficult.

Interestingly, having to get up and work helped me stay distracted enough to keep my mind off things, but it also gave me the time to sort through my feelings. That structure helped keep me going, both work-wise and mentally. That structure along with heart to heart conversations with my mom, FaceTimes full of laughter with my best friend and my niece, a good night's sleep, delicious meals, and immaculately curated playlists helped me along.

One more thing: I read the posts of my fellow illustrators and artists and I see that we're all in the same boat. We're all seeking some type of work-life balance. Seeing that it's something we're all working towards gives me comfort too.

Here's to improving our balance on the tightrope of work and life,

-Alleanna