Simultaneous Cover Reveal! Juana Martinez-Neal’s ALMA Gets a New Board Book Series

And the hits just keep on coming! This week alone I’ve had a Q&A about a comic adaptation, an exclusive excerpt of two chapters of an upcoming book, and now a cover reveal. And whatta cover reveal!

How did you first come to discover the art of Juana Martinez-Neal? For me, the first book of hers that I ever saw (though not the first one she ever made) was the 2016 La Madre Goose: Nursery Rhymes for los Niños and I included it on my 31 Days, 31 Lists Nursery Rhymes collection. But it was her book Alma and How She Got Her Name that caught the attention of not just the nation but the Caldecott committee as well.

But Alma’s not done with us quite yet. Oh no, my friends! Alma . . . returns!

This fall Candlewick will publish two original, bilingual board books by Juana Martinez-Neal featuring the very same Alma character that starred in the aforementioned Caldecott Honor book. These board books will be the first two in a new series of bilingual (English/Spanish) concept board books: “Alma’s Words/Las palabras de Alma”. Coming in September are: Alma and Her Family/Alma y su familia as well as Alma, Head to Toe/Alma de pies a cabeza. And that’s not all! Two more titles will follow in in fall 2024!

Why has Juana gone this route? Here’s what she had to say on the matter:

Making board books is so fun and reenergizing! It was a brand new way of putting my book puzzles together. And, I loved it! I can’t help but think, why haven’t I done board books before?! Alma is the perfect star for this bouncy, young format. I cannot wait for these books to be out in the world!

And now, to my very great pleasure, the dual board book cover reveal!

A big thank you to Juana for allowing me to premiere her covers. Thanks too to Laura Rivas and the folks at Candlewick for setting this all up. Look for the books September 5th!

Filed under: Cover Reveal