One rabbit wakes up.
Then another.In the magic light of the full moon
they see stories reflected from another world.
A world tied to their own, but far in the distance.Join the rabbits as they discover a bridge powerful enough
to bring different worlds closer together.And the courage to cross it themselves.
Be illuminated By the Light of the Rabbit Moon where stories can change who we are, open us up to our own stories and ultimately build bridges between worlds.
Continuing to stretch the concept of anthology, award-winning children’s book artist and author Maya Christina Gonzalez takes us on another playful journey through story in this second book for the Heart of It Collection. A fresh and wordless tale spotlights the work of 29 new and emerging diverse children’s book ArtistAuthors. Stories about nature, magic, identity and love abound. All provide seeds and possibilities to inspire kids to tell their story, share their art and know that in both the telling and the listening, our stories have the power to bring worlds closer together.
Featured ArtistAuthors: (in alphabetical order by last name)
Ale Barahona, Michelle Biyal, Victoria Bruno, Debbie Burran, Cecille Cervancia, Samantha Matalone Cook, Adrianne Beth Galvez, Silvia Garcia, Carol Green, Virginia Grise, TeMika Grooms, Teresa Lakier, Robert Liu-Trujillo, Nguyen Louie, Danielle Lucas, Ann Magee, Melina Mangal, Shanimarie Ogilvie, Gayle E. Pitman, Bernice Avella Popp, Nashanta C. Robinson, Karen Simpson, Roxana A. Soto, Carole Stedronsky, Yoly Petra Stroeve, Chantra Tham, Sonal Vyas, Cynthia A. Weber, Laurie L. Young – view more about ALL of these amazing ArtistAuthors on the “Featured ArtistAuthors Bios” tab above.↑
Rabbit Moon Info Flyer
Rabbit Moon Spec Sheet
About Maya Christina Gonzalez: Maya is an acclaimed fine artist, educator, and the illustrator of more than twenty award-winning picture books, several of which she also wrote. Her book My Colors, My World won the prestigious Pura Belpré Award Honor from the American Library Association. Her picture book, Call Me Tree was listed in Kirkus’ Best Picture Books of 2014 that Celebrate Diversity. She is passionate about inspiring others to create books, because she believes that creating children’s books has the potential to be one of the most radical things you can do! Wanting to do more than just pass on her knowledge, Maya decided to use her online children’s book course as a springboard to begin mentoring and publishing ArtistAuthors right away through the anthologies. (more about Maya on her website: mayagonzalez.com)
About The Heart of It Collection:
This book is the second in The Heart of It Collection: annual anthologies in direct and immediate response to a lack of equitable and relevant representation of the people in traditional children’s books.
After taking Maya’s course, The Heart of It: Creating Children’s Books that Matter, aspiring and emerging ArtistAuthors are invited to put the teaching into real life practice through the process of creating one full spread for The Heart of It Anthology for that year. Over the course of 4-5 months students are guided through developing their story and art to be published. Step-by-step submission packet and videos, scheduled reviews by Maya as well as encouragement to review course materials support students to more deeply integrate the process of creating art and story for children’s books. The whole experience offers the opportunity to learn the balance between creative expression, honing one’s craft, and the ability to follow through and how important that balance is to making truly powerful books for our children.
Emerging and established authors and artists who shared their wisdom through the course’s Community Spotlights are also invited to submit work.
The final book is then used as a tool to support ArtistAuthors in getting their work out into the world and transform who creates children’s books and how.
Sales of the book also support future ArtistAuthors as proceeds are put towards offering more scholarships for The Heart of It course providing a cyclical environment of mutual support.
Intention
The Heart of It Collection is intended to:
- create a space for ‘first voice’ expression
- provide real life experience in a supportive environment to create one full spread for a published children’s book
- support participating ArtistAuthors in getting their work out into the world, and into the hands of children
- model a viable alternative to traditional publishing routes
- encourage the development of VOICE for those traditionally silenced in our society
- reclaim and free the power of personal and communal storytelling
- explore that all stories are important because all stories are connected and so connect us
- share that coming into our own creative power strengthens us and by extension strengthens our community when shared
- highlight that EVERYONE is a storyteller and EVERYONE is an artist
So let this book remind you to
begin listening to your own story and feel the power of your own voice
and your innate ability to create your own image!
THE REVOLUTION IS ALWAYS NOW!
Pass it on!
For Kids! Want to get started on your own book?
Visit Write Now! Make Books to download your field guide and get started sharing your story and art!
Bara likes to listen and watch the world around her, especially nature. An Illustrator with a quirky sense of humor, she has exhibited all around the world and also been part of a couple of coloring books though this is the first story she has written and illustrated. 
Michelle loves meeting others who enjoy celebrating the miracle of life with art, music and dance. She is especially inspired by Tibetan Thankas, and Islamic and Celtic art. She has made beeswax candles for the Oakland Museum Store in California. She looks forward to painting pictures on bee hives. 
Victoria was born in Chile. Mother of two beautiful daughters, educator and self-taught artist, Victoria loves working with children and seeing how creativity takes place. Victoria dreams of a world full of colors where everyone can shine at the same time!
Debbie was born with the gift of art and explosive imagination, making paintings and creating objects has always been fun for her. She dreams about her art being in the hands of children everywhere as she continues to pursue the revolution of books with a purpose. 
Cecille is a mother, artist, teacher, writer, and musician. She was inspired by her own experiences to write and illustrate stories that reverberate in the hearts of those who can relate. Cecille is passionate about life, and shares that zeal where a rainbow of colors and descriptive storytelling meet.
Sam is a maker, hacker, artist, teacher, writer, seeker, and mother of three kids. She loves to explore history through culture and learn about all the ways humans express themselves. Sam lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she runs a hackerspace designed for and by kids and families. 
Adrianne is a bilingual teacher and social justice activist. She loves children and animals. She asks questions to learn new things. She enjoys traveling, dancing, music, photography, yoga, reading, writing, and listening to other people’s stories. Adrianne lives in Hillsboro, Oregon with her dog, Kona, and her cat, Frida.
Silvia is from Guadalajara. She is an entrepreneur and storyteller. She enjoys having time for family and art.
Carol fell in love with children’s books while reading to her now grown son. A cartoonist, television producer, writer and production publicist on movie sets throughout the U.S. and Canada, she now takes her own baby steps through the labyrinth of children’s books to impart love, hope and self-esteem.
Virginia likes to wear chanclas, likes to make up stories, likes to dream in the middle of the day. She currently lives in the Bronx with a butcha from Texas who likes to wear cowboy boots. This is an excerpt from her first children’s book. 
TeMika, a star gazer, loves to create art that makes the sky dance. She has illustrated nine books and this is her first publication as an author. TeMika uses art to remind us that we are powerful and she is excited about the stories she will release into the world. 
Teresa finds inspiration in the beauty of children. Her whimsical style and her look at the intricacy of our environment blend together in a way that may help children find a road to learning about what is out there in the great wide world that awaits them. 
Robert is a father, husband, and lifelong artist. He has illustrated three picture books, one of which he is self publishing called Furqan’s First Flat Top. Robert is honored to be a part of “The Heart of It” anthology. He loves and supports the movement of independent storytellers. 
Nguyen is Chinese Korean American. She was born and raised in Oakland, California. She spent most of her life coping with dyslexia and overcoming the stigma of being called a dumb, slow “Sailboat Reader”. Her brain is hardwired differently. Nguyen celebrates multifaceted narratives and likes to tell stories with pictures.
An Advertising Art Director born in Florida but grew up in Spain. Danielle has since followed the moon to far away lands, living and traveling around Europe, the Middle East and South East Asia. Her playful and inquisitive four year old has inspired her to venture into children’s books.
Ann loves how the caterpillar’s transformation into a butterfly is a metaphor for life. Because she’s an identical twin, she values individuality and understands the struggles of trying to be yourself. She loves being a mom, educator, poet, photographer, children’s author, and life-long learner.
When she isn’t working in a school library, Mélina enjoys biking, hiking, reading, writing, and watching karate movies. This is her first illustration. Ever.
Shanimarie grew up in Jamaica and has a passion for teaching. She is also an elementary educator and instructional coach who enjoys learning and laughing with her students. She remembers playing under mango trees in Jamaica. This is her first literary contribution and has other writing in the works.
Gayle is constantly trying to find outlets for her subversive creativity. She gets “into the zone” when she’s writing, knitting, sewing, drawing, or all-around crafting. Her first children’s book, This Day in June, won the 2015 ALA Stonewall Award. Her favorite color of the rainbow is “all of them!” 
Bernice loves children, gardens and books. A retired first and second grade teacher, she believes children need to plant gardens where they can read books and feel close to nature. Bernice is happy to be part of this anthology.
Nashanta loves to write stories and read books.
Karen’s favorite books as a child were always about horses. Writing, fabric art and working with animals are her passions. She is an acclaimed quilter and has taught quilting to both children and adults for over twenty years. Karen is also the author of an award-winning novel.
Words are Roxana’s favorite thing in the whole wide world. She’s written so many of them that she’s lost count! Recently, she discovered that art is pretty cool too and now she’s working on her own children’s book, which she can’t wait to share with the world!
Carole loves to imagine sailing into the night sky on adventures with magical animal friends, so when her son was little she wrote Moon Rabbit for him. Carole now has a service dog, Hazel, and they are working on a series of picture books about their adventures together.
Yoly is an artist, mother and teacher who enjoys getting messy and creative. She has several published works but this is the first published piece she has created specifically for children. She is waiting for her wings to dry off before she heads off on her next adventure.
Chantra loves hamsters and jasmine green tea. Her favorite stories to write are ones that celebrate culture and language. She also loves to doodle in her spare time. Her dream is to create many more characters like Birmaid that help others in their journey of self-discovery. 
Sonal is an adventurer who loves to explore near and far. As a school social worker, she nurtures children’s development as they explore and discover who they want to be in the world. Sonal aspires to set free her first children’s book.
When Cynthia isn’t strolling the seaside or wandering the woods, she’s in the garden. Nature holds magic, but in the garden, she creates magic and inspiration for Emma Jean And The Magic Bean. Working with bilingual kids, Cynthia created the Emma Jean Series. She has taught Art, Art History, and English.
Laurie is still growing up and still writing stories and drawing pictures. She has written six preschool books, including her favorite, I See A Monster, and has several new projects in the works, including a middle grade novel.
