All The Wonders: Our First Birthday!

In Books by Matthew Winner135 Comments

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A Message from our co-founders

Passion. Determination. And friends.

You can do a lot with these three things. Mountains can be moved. Minds can be changed. Worlds can be created.

When we set out to create All The Wonders, we hoped to build a platform where readers and everyone in their lives could see books the way we see them: as portals. More than mere words on a page. More than stories contained in ink. There are worlds in these books begging to be explored, and wonder waiting on every page. Our hope was to create opportunities for readers to experience that wonder firsthand, and to find it in stories they might not have discovered on their own.

Throughout this first year we featured twelve different books: nine picture books, one chapter book, and two novels. Our features have included videos, podcasts, crafts, narrative tours, and more, all designed to help provide as many different points of entry and interaction with the story as possible.

We believe all readers are special, and the qualities that make them so incredible are reflected in the books they read. This is why our team of writers, illustrators, podcasters, and filmmakers have worked so hard to offer up a diverse collection of resources to support growing readers of all ages.

As we celebrate the end of our first year, we want to thank you for joining us on this journey. We look forward to growing with you.

– Blake & Matthew –

Blake Hamilton

Matthew Winner

A look back at our first year!

Special thanks to Lori Richmond for creating this beautiful image for us! Lori is the illustrator of A Hop is Up, written by Kristy Dempsey.

Books We loved

What makes a book stand out above the rest? Is it a character you adore from page one? Is it art so beautiful, you wish you could hang every page on your wall? Is it plot? Is it theme? In the case of the twelve books we featured this past year, there is no single answer. They tell tales of imagination, bravery, acceptance, loss, and of course, wonder. Each book is unique in its own way, just like we readers are. And we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Click through the photos below to see how we celebrated all the wonders of children’s books in our first year.

Design credit on All The Wonders of images: Brian Won

Thank you!

We wanted to find a special way to say thanks to everyone who supported us this first year, so we partnered with the publishers of our twelve feature books for one massive giveaway! Enter below for your chance to win a set of ALL THE BOOKS we have featured since last October, from MAX THE BRAVE to MS. BIXBY’S LAST DAY, and everything in between!

Thank you to Sourcebooks (Max the Brave), Chronicle Books (Leo: A Ghost Story), Candlewick Press (Home, Swap!, Return, Raymie Nightingale), Tundra Books (This is Sadie), Balzer & Bray (Worm Loves Worm, Swatch: The Girl Who Loved Color), Dial Books (Dory Fantasmagory), and Walden pond Press (Ms. Bixby’s Last Day) for providing copies of the books for giveaway.

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with love,
all the wonders

Comments

  5. Happy Blog Birthday! I would like to see more books from diverse authors and illustrators! I don’t have a specific one in mind. Keep up the great work here!

  15. I’d love to see you feature “Some Pets” by Angela DiTerlizzi and Brendan Wenzel or “Little Big Girl” by Claire Keane!

  18. Happy one year! I found you last January and have been hooked ever since. I know it takes a stellar team to make things like this happen. Keep up the phenomenal work!

  24. Happy 1st birthday!! Since your super fun webinar on Julie Hedlund’s 12×12 writing group, I’ve been binge podcasting (bingecasting?) All The Wonders. Congrats on your success

  30. Wishing a truly happy birthday to everyone at All the Wonders! If you had any idea how much joy you bring to others, I promise you would NEVER stop smiling! Thanks for giving me the gift of you.

  31. Happy birthday! I would love to see anything illustrated by Christian Robinson featured. I am in love with Little Penguins! Thank you for everything you’re putting into this world! Know that it is so appreciated!

  32. First of all – love you guys and everything you are doing! This is the best resource for all things PB. Thank you!!!
    Second of all – congratulations on such a great milestone. Looking forward to many more years.
    Third – I don’t have a book recommendation. I love everything you’ve delivered.

  41. What about “Are You an Echo? The Lost Poetry of Misuzu Kaneko”, illustrated by Toshikado Hajiri and translated by Jacobson, Sally Ito, and Michiko Tsuboi

  59. Happy birthday! Congratulations on a great year of books! I would love to see Finding Perfect and Radiant Child.

  61. Happy Birthday, All the Wonders! I adore your podcasts! I constantly use all my data listening on my way to work in the Children’s dept of Vancouver Community Library! I have gotten so many great suggestions for books to use in my storytimes! ❤️

  71. Happy birthday, and thanks for a great first year! I’m so pleased that you highlighted Dory Fantasmagory and Maybe Something Beautiful, two of my faves this year.

  72. Happy Anniversary! I think the next book you should feature next is The girl who drank the moon by Kelly Barnhill.

  76. Happy birthday, All the Wonders! The podcast is always at the top of my workday queue. I’d love to see you talk to Melissa Sweet about her new book, “Some Writer! The Story of EB White”.

  82. I believe in childrens books, congrats. The next book might be The Broken Christmas Tree (by D.W. Rigsby) or Way Up In The Air Hair.

  96. Congratulations on your first year! I’d love to see Secret Tree Fort by Brianne Farley or Hector and Hummingbird by Nicholas John Frith.

  97. Happy Birthday!!!!! I’d love to see you guys feature “The Last Kids on Earth” series. We have lots of requests for them at our library!

  106. Happy Birthday!! Thanks for sharing all of these books with us!! My favorites were Maybe Something Beautiful, Worm Loves Worm & Ms. Bixby’s Last Day. 🙂

  113. I have really enjoyed the literary and illustrative enlightenment provided by your site throughout the past 365 days!!

  114. Happy Birthday and thank you for your efforts in bringing these books to all of us in such a thorough way! What about doing a feature on Ben Hatke? I really like his work and he has an awesome website. I look forward to your next post!

  115. Happy Birthday, guys! I’d love Melanie Watt or (if she speaks English) Isabelle Arsenault. Jackie Azúa Kramer’s “The Green Umbrella” is coming out soon.

  124. As you know, I love All the Wonders and the whole team <3 You guys and gals are amazing and SO appreciated, certainly by me 😀

    I recently red TEK by Patrick McDonnell and I just love it. That might be a good one. There really are so many!

    Happy Birthday, All the Wonders! oxox

  127. I think you’ve done a great job of picking books. I’d like to see a poetry book accessible for young children. Thanks.

  130. Happy Birthday to you!! I look forward to all of your posts and can’t wait to see what the next year has in store for All the Wonders!!

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