brookebaum.bsky.social
🌟 2025 #PBRisingStars Mentee
🎨 #kidlit author-illustrator
📚 Former children's bookseller and school librarian
😴 Current tired mom
🤓 Self-taught and still self-teaching
heybrookebaum.com
518 posts
1,001 followers
1,877 following
Regular Contributor
Active Commenter
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Hello! I'm a children's book author and illustrator from New England. And I'm the creator of the monthly #KidLitArtPostcard event (next one is July 3rd!)
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Oh, great idea!!! I'm Brooke Baum and I'm an author/illustrator for kids. heybrookebaum.com
I'm also a current 2025 #pbrisingstars mentee!
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Thank you!!!
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❤️❤️❤️
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Okay, I have a MS I just finished! Maybe I'll jump in and get a June badge. lol #kidlitchat
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Thank you, Larissa! :)
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Same. It's actually been very healing to realize I'm ND, not lazy or morally deficient. lol. Like, if I work in intense bursts, then maybe that's okay. #kidlitchat
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Yeah, I've got a 3 year old, so I'm so tired basically all the time. lol. But I'll get an idea and then just embrace the inspiration and do a TON of work from kiddo's bedtime until like 3AM. #kidlitchat
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I'm very similar. I'm an illustrator, too, so usually I'll do a super rough doodle to remember my idea. #kidlitchat
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I'm enrolled in 12x12, but I haven't done anything and at this point I'm afraid to jump in. #kidlitchat Literally this meme, lol:
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Totally. I just wish I could be one of those disciplined "I get up at 5AM to write for two hours every day" people. lol #kidlitchat
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Me too. I have OCD and a recent ADHD diagnosis. I really beat myself up for not being consistent. I do nothing for days/weeks and then I just create something in a blaze in a single day. It feels like that's "wrong" but...why? If it works, it works. 🤷♀️ #kidlitchat
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Honestly, I've found a lot of freedom in just embracing the fact that I have "low brow" humor. I love slapstick, in particular. I can't really do scatological humor though (unless it's super mild). #kidlitchat
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10 years ago, I was in college and thought I wanted to be an academic, so I was pretty much exclusively writing research papers. 😬 And when I wasn't, I was writing truly terrible "deep" poems for the English dept literary journal. Now, It feels good to finally just be "me" in my writing. #kidlitchat
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Thank you 😭
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My daughter is a huge extrovert, so I hope she'll be fine. But she's never even had a babysitter, so...😬
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I would totally come to this. Serve some cheese, crackers, and wine. Have some soft music in the background. A couple comfy places for people to sit and chat. That sounds fun!
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I don't even want to think about the amount per hour that I made. 😜
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I think that sounds super fun!
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I basically spent every spare second last week preparing for this yard sale and made about $250. 😂
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@phoebewahl.bsky.social is incredible! My favorite artist!!! ❤️❤️❤️
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Oh, wow. That's where I'm from originally. I'm from Huntington Beach! I lived there my whole life up until 2020!
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Lol, I feel like we need to design a t-shirt that just says "Please buy my book" and make it the unofficial #kidlitchat team shirt 😂
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This was my favorite #kidlitchat so far!!!
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Oooh, this might be interesting for you to hear, @shsinnett.bsky.social
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Well, I'm #5 on the waitlist for one of SEVERAL copies that are on order. So, basically, you're killin' it already. #kidlitchat
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If you really need to deliver a moral/lesson, I've noticed that the formula of totally clueless noodlehead MC with smart, level-headed, *smaller* side kick works well. Then the little sidekick functions as a stand-in for the child reader (who, like the sidekick, sees how silly the MC is) #kidlitchat
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😂😂😂 Well, they don't even have the book yet (it's on order) and I'm already fifth on the waitlist!
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OMG, putting your book on hold at the library RIGHT NOW. I MUST read this! #kidlitchat
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I did NOT make that connection! OMG! Was that intentionally referencing noodlehead characters?? #kidlitchat
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I also love a sneaky end page that undoes the whole story. #kidlitchat
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Noodlehead characters are some of my all-time favorites. I also love the very aptly named Noodleheads series by Tedd Arnold. #kidlitchat
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Yeah, I just feel like because I write humor, I need to have fun while I do it because that comes through for the reader (I hope). But, also, I think lessons can appear without my intention. Or people can project their own journeys onto it, which is cool, too. #kidlitchat
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Similarly, I love it when my characters ALMOST learn a lesson, but then they don't quite get there. I love a character who is just a bit of a noodle head. 😂 #kidlitchat
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Woohoo! Made it to #kidlitchat AND I have cake. So, when I'm writing and illustrating, I often just write something that's entertaining to me (I laugh at my own work a lot lol). But I do see a recurring theme of journeys of self-acceptance emerging in my work.
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I've always felt Bobby Hill was a lot like me, so probably Bobby Hill.
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The art looks ADORABLE too. 👀
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Can't wait to see this on the tv coverage. "And in the stands, Jim, we see a fan...READING?!?!"