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I'm so grateful that THE NIGHT MARKET was selected as the @scbwiCrystal Kite Honor Winner for the California & Hawaii division.
This award recognizes books created by SCBWI members across fifteen international regions. The Crystal Kite Awards are peer-voted which makes this particularly special to me.

Thank you @random house studio team for bringing this book to life, @mukodiri for your wonderful illustrations, @alicefugatebrown for championing this book, and @sallymkim@andreabrownlit for your unwavering support and representation. It truly takes a village.

I am so thrilled that THE NIGHT MARKET won the Northern California Book Award in the young readers category!

It felt amazing to receive my award in person with my family in the audience.

Thank you NCBA for this honor.

#northerncaliforniabookawards #kidlit #youngreaders #NCBA #poetryflash

First and foremost, I’d like to give a huge thank you to @scbwi @linoliver22 @sarahlynnbaker and @scbwisf for fostering this wonderful community of KidLit creatives. This nomination is particularly special because to be recognized by peers in this space means everything.

Over the years, I’ve watched in excitement as the @scbwi Golden Kite Award picks were announced. This year, I’m so honored to share that The Night Market has been selected as a finalist for the Golden Kite Award for Picture Book Texts. This is a dream come true for me. It’s been such a surreal experience to see The Night Market find its way into the hands of readers everywhere and I’m grateful for the amazing team of people who helped bring this book to life especially my wonderful illustrator @mukodiri whose art captured the mesmerizing magic of The Night Market.

This book wouldn’t be possible without the ever-amazing @alicefugatebrown , my wonderful @randomhousestudio editor (Ann Kelley), Art Director (Rachael Cole) @randomhousekids amazing marketing and publicity team (Cynthia Lliguichuzhca and Erica Trotta) to name a few. Thank you all for believing in this story.

I’m thankful for the support team I continue to have around me including my wonderful agent @sallymkim and my author community including @anaotbooks @evelyn_skye @tameka_shelford Ana Pedros and too many others to list (you all know who you are). Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Congratulations to my fellow finalists! This is an incredible honor and I’m so happy to share this ‘stage’ with you all. The winner will be announced on February 21st! Check out the SCBWI page to register.

@charlottemakesbooks and I are so excited for this event and we hope to see a few familiar faces there!

It is such an honor to see THE NIGHT MARKET included in Bank Street College of Education's list of The Best Children's Books of the Year [2025 edition]. As stated on their site this includes more than 600 titles chosen by the Children’s Book Committee which considers literary quality, excellence of presentation and the potential emotional impact of the books on young readers. Thank you so much @bankstreetschoolforchildren and @randomhousestudio

It is such an honor to see THE NIGHT MARKET included in Bank Street College of Education's list of The Best Children's Books of the Year [2025 edition]. As stated on their site this includes more than 600 titles chosen by the Children’s Book Committee which considers literary quality, excellence of presentation and the potential emotional impact of the books on young readers. Thank you so much @bankstreetschoolforchildren and @randomhousestudio

Another one for the books! This was so much fun! Thank you @baybookfest @randomhousekids

I had such a lovely time at the Bay Area Book Festival on the "Moving House, Moving Place, and Opening Our Minds" panel with @j.p.takahashi and @stephanie_wildmansf. Thanks for having me @baybookfest

You know when you read a book and the sense of place is so strong you feel like you’re there? That’s EXACTLY what’s going on in this week’s #booksiwontshutupabout and I’m THRILLED to tell you about!

THE NIGHT MARKET is an absolute STUNNER of a picture book by @seinawedlick and @mukodiri that takes us on a journey through a night market in Nigeria. And guys.

GUUUUUUUYS!

You already know what I’m gonna say! Look at the freaking ART!!! 😍😍😍

Seina wrote an incredibly immersive story that puts you right in the night market alongside the main character, experiencing the sights, smells tastes and joys with her. The lemonade! The spices! The toys! The games! The drums! And Briana’s art pairs perfectly with Seina’s beautiful writing, bringing the story to life in the most magical way.

I love when a book teaches me something new AND makes me want to go somewhere I’ve never been. I didn’t know about night market culture in Nigeria before reading, and THE NIGHT MARKET had me ready to book a flight!

If you also love a sensory book that makes you feel like you’re a part of the story, if you’re looking for book to explore a new culture with your little one, or if you or someone you love is Nigerian/Nigerian American and you want books with your culture on the page, this is the one!

Even if you’re none of those things but you’re in the market for a new PB, scoop up a copy of THE NIGHT MARKET and thank me later. 😎😎😎

📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚

Have you already read THE NIGHT MARKET?
Let’s rave about it in the comments! 👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾

#booksiwontshutupabout #amreading #bookstagram #kidlit #books #booktalk #amwriting #bookish #blackgirlsread #blackgirlswrite #africanauthors #picturebooks

EIGHT Days to go until PB Rising Stars mentee applications open, and today we want you to get to know 2x mentor, @seinawedlick!

Seina is an award-winning, Nigerian American author who is passionate about bring stories rooted in her culture, tradition, and lived experiences to life. She believes that sharing traditions and cultural exchange is the truest way to foster empathy and community, and we couldn’t agree more!

Seina is a pitching pro, excellent at analyzing sentence structure, and revises ruthlessly to get to the heart of a story and leave enough room for the art to shine through.

She’s looking to work with a mentee who has written multiple manuscripts and needs a push to elevate their work for “good” to “ready for the next step.” She is especially looking to work on manuscripts that have a lot of heart and an emotional pull. If you’re committed to your craft and ready to spend the summer revising with intention, building relationships, and most importanly, having FUN, then Seina is a great fit for you!

UNAGENTED authors who writes multigenerational or community based stories, are bringing fresh and fun characters to the forefront (human or animal!), and want to write stories that feel timeless should put Seina at the top of their application lists! And if you love to play with structure and bend the “rules” of publishing, Seina especially wants to see your work.

So what are you waiting for? Seina’s mentor page has even more insights into what she’s looking for and what’s on her wish list. Visit our #linkinbio to learn more, and don’t forget — applications open in EIGHT days! #pbrisingstars #kidlitauthor

EIGHT Days to go until PB Rising Stars mentee applications open, and today we want you to get to know 2x mentor, @seinawedlick!

Seina is an award-winning, Nigerian American author who is passionate about bring stories rooted in her culture, tradition, and lived experiences to life. She believes that sharing traditions and cultural exchange is the truest way to foster empathy and community, and we couldn’t agree more!

Seina is a pitching pro, excellent at analyzing sentence structure, and revises ruthlessly to get to the heart of a story and leave enough room for the art to shine through.

She’s looking to work with a mentee who has written multiple manuscripts and needs a push to elevate their work for “good” to “ready for the next step.” She is especially looking to work on manuscripts that have a lot of heart and an emotional pull. If you’re committed to your craft and ready to spend the summer revising with intention, building relationships, and most importanly, having FUN, then Seina is a great fit for you!

UNAGENTED authors who writes multigenerational or community based stories, are bringing fresh and fun characters to the forefront (human or animal!), and want to write stories that feel timeless should put Seina at the top of their application lists! And if you love to play with structure and bend the “rules” of publishing, Seina especially wants to see your work.

So what are you waiting for? Seina’s mentor page has even more insights into what she’s looking for and what’s on her wish list. Visit our #linkinbio to learn more, and don’t forget — applications open in EIGHT days! #pbrisingstars #kidlitauthor

EIGHT Days to go until PB Rising Stars mentee applications open, and today we want you to get to know 2x mentor, @seinawedlick!

Seina is an award-winning, Nigerian American author who is passionate about bring stories rooted in her culture, tradition, and lived experiences to life. She believes that sharing traditions and cultural exchange is the truest way to foster empathy and community, and we couldn’t agree more!

Seina is a pitching pro, excellent at analyzing sentence structure, and revises ruthlessly to get to the heart of a story and leave enough room for the art to shine through.

She’s looking to work with a mentee who has written multiple manuscripts and needs a push to elevate their work for “good” to “ready for the next step.” She is especially looking to work on manuscripts that have a lot of heart and an emotional pull. If you’re committed to your craft and ready to spend the summer revising with intention, building relationships, and most importanly, having FUN, then Seina is a great fit for you!

UNAGENTED authors who writes multigenerational or community based stories, are bringing fresh and fun characters to the forefront (human or animal!), and want to write stories that feel timeless should put Seina at the top of their application lists! And if you love to play with structure and bend the “rules” of publishing, Seina especially wants to see your work.

So what are you waiting for? Seina’s mentor page has even more insights into what she’s looking for and what’s on her wish list. Visit our #linkinbio to learn more, and don’t forget — applications open in EIGHT days! #pbrisingstars #kidlitauthor

It's always fun to get together with other Picture Book creators!

Thank you for the interview, @kidlitcraft!

I'm so excited to share that SPACE FOR EVERYONE is available now! I had a lot of fun writing this book which embraces community and celebrates traditions shared around the family table. @succreart did an amazing job with the illustrations and I'm so happy it's finally out. There are so many people I'd like to thank for this book especially Alice who got this manuscript into the right hands, my wonderful editor, Annie, and Random House's amazing publicity and marketing team.