It Sprang From Smith

The Paper Bird, Brooklyn-based writer and illustrator Lisa Anchin ’04’s new children’s picture book, is a celebration of making art for art’s sake: Crayon-wielding protagonist Annie learns not to let anyone or anything snuff out her creativity.

But it’s also a celebration of Smith. The dedication page features a thank-you to the Smithie Parents 2.0 Facebook group for sharing their children’s “beautiful and inspiring” artwork, which served as the basis for Annie’s drawings in the book. And, like Anchin’s previous title, The Little Green Girl, The Paper Bird was edited by Ellen Cormier ’11 of Penguin Random House; the two met via another Smithie Facebook group, Friday Teas in the Cloud. “Hopefully,” Anchin says, “it’s just the beginning of a long editor-author relationship.” 

THE PAPER BIRD
Lisa Anchin ’04
Dial Books for Young Readers, October 2021

This story appears as part of the Smithies Create column in the Fall 2021 issue of the Smith Alumnae Quarterly.