Mr. Roger Sutton and the Horn Book, I can’t imagine this world of children’s books without you and your team in it.

HUGE thanks to the incredible Suzy Lee!!! I cannot even imagine this book without her as a partner.

And the tireless Boston Globe–Horn Book Award judges: Sarah Ellis, Pamela Yosca, and Karen Kosko.

To the winners and my fellow honorees, I am humbled and honored to be included in this group. Thank you for creating such beautiful books.

My mom is here tonight. Thank you, Mom, for always supporting me and my dreams. If my dad were still alive, I’m sure he’d be standing right up front with a video camera, regardless of any posted recording rules. Grandpa Herb and Grandma Iyla, who constructed book dummies for me out of typewriter paper and file folders, including, when I was five, my first version of Open This Little Book. My brother Travis, whose unwavering belief in me pulls me out of the funk of doubt.

Thank you to the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. It was at their Working Writers Retreat in Los Angeles that I met Victoria Rock, and she took my “book within a book” manuscript back with her to Chronicle.

So, let’s talk about the amazing team at Chronicle. Thank you to, my amazing editor, Victoria Rock, who took a chance on my book; Sara Gillingham, our award winning designer; Steve Kim, the brave production manager for this project; Lara Starr, our rock-star publicist; Kim Lauber and Amber Morely in marketing; Taylor Norman, assistant editor; Johan Almqvist, subrights God; Ginee Seo; Christine Carswell; Jack Jensen; the sales team; and the many other people that support these folks at Chronicle.

Finally, I’d like to thank LeVar Burton whose passion and commitment to reading and literacy inspired me to pursue being an author. When I was a kid I would take a stack of books and present them in front of the mirror for my own segment of, “But you don’t have to take my word for it…”

I believe LeVar said it best:

Take a look, it’s in a book,
A reading rainbow.
A reading rainbow.
A reading rainbow.