Manju Beth Howard
Indian American Writer of PB, CB, MG & Poetry
SCBWI Indiana Co-RA
Inked Voices PB & MG Critique Groups
Experience in DEI, Theater, Marketing & Graphic Design
Yoga, Improv & World Traveler
- "Make believe. What a wonderful phrase for the active commitment we make to fiction. It’s most commonly used to describe the way kids play." lookingatpicturebooks.substack.com/p/an-excerpt...
- Happy World Read Aloud Day! #kidlit
- Agents & Editors requested humor & horror at the 2026 #SCBWI NYC Conference. All attendees for this Indiana SCBWI Spooky Webinar will have an agent submission opportunity. #kidlit #kidlitart Register now: www.scbwi.org/events/stay-...
- Nosy Crow Publisher Preview (Summer 2026) Creepy, Spooky, Fun List! #kidlit afuse8production.slj.com/2026/02/03/n...
- Reposted by Manju Beth HowardThe official press release for the #Comics4Liam project! comixaction.com/2026/02/02/c...
- Reposted by Manju Beth HowardThe Department of Justice has demanded voter files from nearly every state and is suing those that refuse — despite states’ authority over voter rolls and elections. Here's what you need to know:
- Reposted by Manju Beth HowardWith federal agents storming the streets of American communities, we decided to write a guide on what to do if ICE invades your neighborhood. There’s no single right way to approach a dangerous moment, but there are steps you can take to stay safe. www.wired.com/story/what-t...
- Daring to Make a Difference: Five Characters Fighting For Justice The activist titles in this list are glimmers of light in the darkness, illuminating ways young characters can make a difference in their worlds. fromthemixedupfiles.com/daring-to-ma...
- Writing #kidlit
- Agents & Editors requested horror & humor at the 2026 #SCBWI NYC Conference. All attendees for this Spooky Webinar will have a submission opportunity. #kidlit #kidlitart Register now: www.scbwi.org/events/stay-...
- Tips for capturing sensory details and emotional impressions while in the field #kidlit www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCbS...
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- Care for your neighbors. The man who sells you fruit. #iceOUT www.npr.org/2026/01/29/n...
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- I'm attending No Kings's event, “Eyes on ICE: Document and Record” - sign up now to join me! www.mobilize.us/indivisible/...
- Reposted by Manju Beth HowardNEW: The story of America’s largest national strike for 100 years. Here are the biggest protests from Jan 30, 2026. And national news still did their best to ignore the scale of what happened yesterday. Soundtrack courtesy of The Boss 💪
- Reposted by Manju Beth HowardAt least 3,800 kids, including 20 infants, have been detained since Donald Trump returned to office.
- I hear your voice #IceOut www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDaP...
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- A Rare Bird can do anything! Fly fast through the forest, or splash in the bird baths, or meet animals from faraway lands….. afuse8production.slj.com/2026/01/28/a...
- Reposted by Manju Beth HowardA lot of people gathered tonight outside the Department of Veterans Affairs in D.C. for a vigil memorializing Alex Pretti, who worked as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital.
- Renée Watson won the John Newbery Medal for her novel All the Blues in the Sky (Bloomsbury). Cátia Chien won the Randolph Caldecott Medal for Fireworks (Clarion). Legendary Frybread Drive-In: Intertribal Stories won the Michael L. Printz Award. www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...
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- Reposted by Manju Beth HowardDon’t obey in advance. Pulling books “just in case” teaches power what it can take. Libraries should stand firm, not shrink. Don’t pre-ban. #FreedomToRead #StopBookBans
- Agents & Editors requested horror at the SCBWI NYC Conference. All attendees for this spooky Webinar will have a submission opportunity. #kidlit Register now: www.scbwi.org/events/stay-...
- Reposted by Manju Beth HowardSnow much fun! 🐼❄️ Giant Pandas Bao Li and Qing Bao played in the snow at Smithsonian’s National Zoo yesterday🥺 🎥: Smithsonian National Zoo
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- Reposted by Manju Beth HowardHistory teachers across the country and at every grade level should organize a teach-in this week by having students explore the Boston Massacre as part of the #America250 commemoration.
- Reposted by Manju Beth HowardTONIGHT: Join the mass call on documenting and recording law enforcement encounters. We’ll discuss how you can keep taking action as federal agents terrorize our communities. Using our constitutional right to document and record ICE & CBP is more important than ever: www.mobilize.us/nokings/even...
- #Storystorm 2026: Snow Day!
- Reposted by Manju Beth HowardBefore speaking with two armed men at the Pretti vigil last night, a man approached & asked if I was going to tell the truth. I said yes. He told me how frustrated he was at the media & the harm it’s causing to his community. I asked if he wanted to share words for the media on camera, & he did:
- Reposted by Manju Beth HowardThis is Alex Pretti.
- Reposted by Manju Beth HowardAccording to its new privacy policy, TikTok now collects more data on its users, including their precise location, after majority ownership officially switched to a group based in the US. www.wired.com/story/tiktok...
- We need to move away from every publisher releasing another version of a competitor’s bestseller, and instead invest in originality, responsiveness and relevance. #kidlit www.thebookseller.com/comment/what...
- We Need Diverse Books Announces ‘Unbanned’ Initiative This will provide 20 under-resourced schools, including in the book banning hotspots of Texas and Florida, with diverse titles by censored authors. #kidlit www.diversebooks.org/programs/unb...
- Pick up the nearest book. Turn to page 42 and post the second sentence. The far end of the foyer opened into the bar, and there two dozen of the Ilium Works' bright young men, identical in their crew cuts and the tailoring of their tuxedos, surrounded two men in their middle fifties.
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- As the young protagonist visits Grandad’s art studio, first-person text sets the scene: “the trill, cheep, chirp of birdsong drifts through the open window, mixing with the bop, tap, clap of Grandad’s jazz.” #kidlit www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-593-57...
- We live in a storytelling moment deeply fascinated by darkness—and for good reason. Stories have always descended into shadow to help us metabolize our fear, trauma, and moral failure. - K.M. Weiland #kidlit www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/sense-of-won...
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- Reposted by Manju Beth HowardSpringsteen at an unbilled performance at a Parkinson’s benefit Sat. in NJ— “…send a message to this President. And as the Mayor of that city has said, ‘ICE should get the fuck out of Minneapolis.’ So this one is for you, and the memory of the mother of three and American citizen Renee Good.”
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- Reposted by Manju Beth HowardPeople not in Minnesota: please read this excellent summary of what life is like in Minneapolis since the murderous scum ICE swarmed here. And more are on their way. By local reporter / writer / bike dude / legend @dbrauer.net .
- Want to join Erin Entrada Kelly's #mglit Book Club? www.erinentradakelly.com
- Ahead of the #SCBWI NYC conference, I just got my yearly Covid, Pneumonia and Flu shots. Safe travels, everyone!
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- Reposted by Manju Beth Howard1. Yes, this is real footage from Poland's Wrocław Zoo 2. The deer, a male muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi, aka "barking deer"), is hopped up on testosterone because its mate is in heat 3. Muntjac males weigh up to ~40 lbs (18 kg). Maruśka, the rhino, weighs 1.7 tons www.thesun.co.uk/news/3786348...
- Reposted by Manju Beth HowardHow do YOU discover books to read? Have your reading habits changed in past year? Pls take a few minutes to answer this anon, multiple-choice informal survey: reading-2026.paperform.co I'll post results on my blog. One goal: to help book creators. Thank you! 🩷📚 #BookSky #EduSky #KidLit
- Looking at Picture Books Mac to Jon: I’ve heard you many times get excited about how a series works as designed objects — the physical book. You talk about how “your little guys” will look next to each other on a shelf. #kidlit lookingatpicturebooks.substack.com/p/working-on...
- The text is straightforward. “There is nobody in this house. There used to be somebody. But there is nobody now. Let’s go look inside.” afuse8production.slj.com/2026/01/09/r...
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- On behalf of the Kurt Vonnegut Estate, authors Elana K. Arnold, Ellen Hopkins, and Amy Reed, and two anonymous high school student plaintiffs with the ACLU of Utah filed a complaint on January 6 to challenge provisions of Utah House Bill 29, known as the “sensitive material review” law.
- Hope to see you at the #SCBWI NYC Conference. If you're attending, remember to download your schedule and handouts.
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[Not loaded yet] - Reposted by Manju Beth HowardMost Anticipated Books of 2026! @nmillerillo.bsky.social @noranickumbooks.bsky.social IG @kagbiddle1 @carriefinison.bsky.social IG @fatima_ordinola @chloeitoward.bsky.social @brennajeanneret.bsky.social @jilanne.bsky.social #NationalYearOfReading2026
- Reposted by Manju Beth HowardDuring Fiona Hill's testimony to Congress on Oct 14, 2019, she described how Trump and Putin discussed exchanging Ukraine for Venezuela. The quid pro quo was if Trump refuses to help Ukraine fight off a Russian invasion, Putin would not help Venezuela (a Russian ally) resist a US takeover.
- Might doesn't make right. And there's no plan on Day 2. Just more threats of illegal actions by this administration. www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...
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- Secrets of Great First Chapters with #1 NYT Bestseller Dan Gemeinhart #mglit #kidlit www.eventbrite.com/e/secrets-of...
- Mixed-Up Files interviews Megan E. Bryant, author of Abby in Between: Face Forward, the second installment in the Abby in Between series. #kidlit fromthemixedupfiles.com/author-spotl...
- Reposted by Manju Beth HowardIt’s not about drugs. If it was, Trump wouldn’t have pardoned one of the largest narco traffickers in the world last month. It’s about oil and regime change. And they need a trial now to pretend that it isn’t. Especially to distract from his sinking under Epstein and skyrocketing healthcare costs.
- Reposted by Manju Beth HowardYou should be embarrassed to be a member of congress and issuing anything other than impeachment resolutions. You're in the model UN. They should give you legos and a propeller hat
- Reposted by Manju Beth HowardA Tufted Titmouse watches from an Eastern Red Cedar tree to make sure as to not miss out on any peanuts.
- Add to your TBR list with 2025 Middle Grade Fiction #kidlit afuse8production.slj.com/2025/12/30/3...
- Reposted by Manju Beth HowardLet’s talk about something not many people are chatting about and what’s actually happening right now. You might wonder why Imran Ahmed and the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) suddenly became targets of the U.S. government. The honest answer is that their research hit where it hurt.
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- "A true fantasy picture book is, to me, a book that goes big." Betsy Bird afuse8production.slj.com/2025/12/22/3...
