Have you ever wondered who’s the real boss of a story? The writer or the characters who live to tell the tale? Or both together? 

Follow the three little pigs as they argue with the writer over what kind of story to tell. Will the hero become the villain? Find out in this fun introduction to the essential components all great stories need.

PUBLISHER AND ACCOLADES

Creston Books, May 2024

• CBC’s Hot Off the Press
• 2024 IPPY Silver Medalist for Children’s Picture Books (All Ages)
• Shelf Awareness Book Trailer of the Day
• First Book Org’s Best New Books of 2024
• Inaugural Nantucket Book Festival Children’s Book Day Feature
• Featured in Yesterday’s Island/Today’s Nantucket

“This charming title is a subtle primer on storytelling, introducing children to the essential building blocks of the craft.”
-Foreword Reviews

“Boy, what is it about The Three Little Pigs and meta picture books, right? From The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka to The Three Pigs by David Wiesner, there’s just something about the story that lends itself to breaking down the fourth wall (no pun intended). In this version the three pigs and their ally the wolf battle against the would-be cliches and tropes that their author would foist upon them. It’s sort of perfect that author Robin Newman was once practicing attorney and legal editor. You can see a lot of that in her narrator.”
-Betsy Bird

In DON’T CALL ME FUZZYBUTT!, Bear isn’t the only one who turns grizzly and says some not-so-nice words that shouldn’t be repeated when Woodpecker’s carpentry work keeps him from getting his much needed 243 1/2 days of beauty sleep. Will Bear and Woodpecker be able to patch things up before Bear loses too much sleep?

PUBLISHER AND ACCOLADES

Sleeping Bear Press, March 2021

• 2022 IPPY Bronze Medalist for picture books (ages 7 & under)
• Cybils Nominee

“Batori’s slightly anthropomorphized illustrations of chunky forest creatures suit Newman’s tale of name-calling and reconciliation. Listeners likely won’t settle their own arguments so quickly, but they can try to follow Bear and Woodpecker’s example. And they will love the many iterations of butt.”
-Kirkus Reviews 

“The collaborative work of author/storyteller Robin Newman and artist/illustrator Susan Batori, “Don’t Call Me Fuzzybutt!” is a delightfully entertaining and laugh-out-loud picture book that is particularly and especially recommended for family, daycare center, preschool, elementary school, and community library collections for children ages 5-8.”
-Midwest Book Review

“This is a real winner. Don’t miss it.”
-The San Francisco Book Review, a 5-Star review! 🌟

“Don’t Call Me Fuzzybutt! is a wonderfully enjoyable, fun, and funny picture book that readers will come back to again and again.”
-The Children’s Book Review 

When food goes missing on Ed’s farm, Detectives Wilcox and Griswold do what it takes to track down the thieves. In this case, Miss Rabbit’s carrot cake has disappeared. Has it been stolen? Or eaten? Or both? Who dunnit?

PUBLISHER AND ACCOLADES

Creston Books, May 2015

• Kirkus Reviews Starred Review
• Kirkus 2015 Best Middle Grade Book
• Wanda Sykes recorded a reading of THE CASE OF THE MISSING CARROT CAKE for the SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s Storyline Online
• Cybils nominee
• Children’s Book Council “Hot Off the Press” pick
• Minnesota Public Radio “Best Book to Give”
• A Mr. Schu New Hampshire Library Conference Best Book Selection
• Amazon Teachers’ Pick
• Inaugural Nantucket Book Festival Children’s Book Day Feature
• Featured in Yesterday’s Island/Today’s Nantucket

“Readers ready for chapter books will solve the crime and then be surprised by the twist at the end. Here’s hoping for more hard-boiled detecting from Wilcox and Griswold!”
—Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

“Reminiscent of Marjorie Weinman Sharmat’s “Nate the Great” series (Random), this well-illustrated work will find plenty of readers and should find a home in most school and public libraries.”
—School Library Journal

“Giving a playful nod to the hard-boiled detective, Newman has written a highly entertaining mystery for young gumshoes. Presented as a case file, short chapters will be easily digestible to newly independent readers.”
—Booklist

“Move over Spade, Friday, and Clouseau. There’s a new badge in town. Meet Detective Wilcox, Missing Food Investigator. This inquisitive mouse will lead independent readers on a punny romp across the farm for his latest case to catch a cake thief. Kids are sure to be back for seconds.”
—Books Inc.

“I love this simple Dragnet-style early reader. With lots of inside jokes and spot art to heighten the mood, readers get to solve a mystery along with Detective Wilcox and Captain Griswold.”
—Ingram Content Group

“Perfect for junior detectives to sharpen their reading and reasoning skills. Plus, what kid doesn’t like cake?”
—Dianne Baasch, Librarian

SUBSIDIARY RIGHTS

Foreign

• Azerbaijani: TEAS Press

When Penny goes missing from the nest, Wilcox and Griswold are called in to track her down. Was the egg stolen by a rival for The Most Round in the Spring Egg-stravaganza? Was she used in a carrot cake or scrambled by a hungry porker? Or was she held for a hefty corn ransom? Who took Penny and can the detectives find her before trouble hatches?

PUBLISHER AND ACCOLADES

Creston Books, April 2017

• 2019 Silver IPPY Medalist for Juvenile Fiction
• Cybils nominee
• Lincoln Elementary School Third Graders presented the theatrical debut of The Case of the Poached Egg

“A hard-boiled text for determined new readers in pursuit of wordplay.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“The short chapters, good use of white space, and plentiful illustrations make this series a great choice for newly independent readers. The egg-based mystery is appropriately hard-boiled in its style and well-stocked with groan-worthy puns that will draw kids in.”
—Booklist

“Eggspect plenty of ‘fowl play’ and a healthy dose of puns as another Wilcox and Griswold Mystery unfolds in Robin Newman’s The Case of the Poached Egg, a Geronimo Stilton crime caper where two police mice follow the clues, interview suspects, and crack a few eggs and jokes along with the case, this time finding a ransomed egg named Penny.”
—Forward Reviews

“Children will delight in being able to find the clues before the MFI’s. The sentence structure, word choice, and illustrations make this a book that children and adults will want to read multiple times.”
—Janet Luch, Educational Reviewer, Adjunct Instructor SUNY New Paltz, Touro College, Visiting Professor, DeVry University

“With every reading the language written by Robin Newman gets richer and richer with one comedic comment, thought or sentence after another. Her command of word play will have you laughing out loud at the same time you wonder in amazement how she manages to create combination after combination of words with more than one meaning. Sleuths are going to get caught up in this farmyard whodunit trying to piece the clues together. I don’t think you will ever look at an egg the same way again. Early readers are going to savor every page.”
—Librarians Quest blog

“Spirited and comical, readers will dive into the police work and help find the Henrietta’s stolen egg. Newman is a master at writing highly entertaining food-based wordplay which will tickle every child’s gander.”
—Children’s Books Heal

“This early reader series is more challenging than a picture book and easier than a small novel, making it a great transition book. The Wilcox and Griswold characters are wonderful and will quickly become a reader’s favorite. This would be a fun read-aloud, with parents and kids trying to figure out who look Henrietta’s egg.” 
—This Kid Reviews Books

Wilcox and Griswold are on the case, trying to discover who poisoned the apples Porcini pigged out on. Was it Sweet Pea, the piglet next door; Herman the Rat; or Hot Dog the nosy pooch? Who had motive, means, and no alibi? Follow the clues and figure out who was behind Porcini’s terrible tummy ache.

PUBLISHER AND ACCOLADES

Creston Books, September 2020

“More hard-boiled hilarity, this time with a side of apples. Completely “pig-dic-u-lous”–and a whole lot of fun.”
-Kirkus Reviews

– “We love this punny tale with a twist — and not just the one in Porcini’s tail! Detectives Wilcox and Griswold discover that too much of a good thing might turn you green. Happily, the brilliant duo finds that there are no bad apples on this farm!”
-KidLit TV

– “Solving a crime with Detective Wilcox and Captain Griswold is like giggling your way through a funnier version of Law & Order! A bevy of possible suspects, hilarious one-liners, and some good old-fashioned mouse instinct — with the added bonus of great vocabulary and science! Only Wilcox and Griswold could get to the bottom of a case with more than a few bad apples. More than a few bad apples, indeed!”
-Doreen Cronin, author of the award-winning and #1 New York Times best-selling series, Click, Clack books

“More colorful fun and wordplay from the team of Newman and Zemke to delight the kids, and they’ll even grow their vocabulary (but don’t tell them that).
-Nick Bruel, author and illustrator of New York Times best-selling series, Bad Kitty

– “Better than an apple a day, sharing another case from Wilcox and Griswold Mystery will fulfill one’s daily dose of laughter, smiles and have readers going back for more. Kids will go hog wild over the gang on Ed’s farm. The Case of the Bad Apples is entertaining at the core!”
-JoEllen McCarthy, Literacy Coach and The Educator Collaborative Book Ambassador

Every day, Phil, Jim, and Harry are fed sunflower seeds by the staff who care for them at The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine. But one day, they decide they’re sick of them. They make a break for the New York City streets in search of pizza or Chinese takeout.

But everywhere they go, they’re told “No peacocks!” So they try to get an ooey, gooey, delicious meal closer to home. But how are they going to sneak into the school’s dining hall and get their wings on the school’s world-famous mac ‘n cheese? A little plotting, some stolen disguises, and help from the students, and mission mac ‘n cheese is a go! Will the peacocks finally get their mac ‘n cheese? Or will their cover be blown, forcing them to fly the coop?

Inspired by the real-life beloved, celebrity birds living on the grounds of The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, and brought to the page in bold, bright style, No Peacocks! is a hilarious romp and a perfect read-aloud.

PUBLISHER AND ACCOLADES

Sky Pony Press, September 2018

“A truly fun story. Includes a comprehensive curriculum guide.”
-Story Monsters Ink

“Together with Newman’s prose, Ewald’s art easily makes No Peacocks! a perfect story time pick. Also helpful is a page of Resources at the end for peacock enthusiasts and those interested in learning more about the uptown celebrity birds that inspired the book.”
-Good Reads With Ronna

“Robin Newman once again entertains readers with her masterful puns – this time bird puns – which will elicit some joyful giggles from children and encourage them to find more puns. The text is funny and the vocabulary rich.”
-Children’s Books Heal

Hildie Bitterpickles is a witch who needs her sleep. Her quiet neighborhood has been turned upside down with the sudden noisy arrival of the old woman in her shoe, Big Bad Wolf, and other fairy tale characters. What will Hildie have to do to get a good night’s sleep?

PUBLISHER AND ACCOLADES

Creston Books, February 2016

• American Booksellers Association’s 2016 ABC Best Books for Young Readers
• Children’s Book Council “Seasonal Showcase” pick

“A witch’s search for a good night’s sleep results in numerous run-ins with nursery rhyme and fairy tale characters in this entertaining story from Newman.”
-Publishers Weekly

“A young witch in need of some shut-eye learns that diplomacy and problem-solving work wonders in dealing with noisy neighbors.”
-Kirkus Reviews

“This magical story teaches us all that it is better to face your troubles, rather than run away from them. Young readers will delight as they recognize some noisy guest stars amoung the pages, visiting us from classic fairy tales.”
-April Howe, Villa Park Public Library

“Bewitchingly funny, Hildie Bitterpickles’s story leaves kids howling with laughter while sharing with them a lesson about how to solve our problems and get along with others.”
-Mr. Gilvarry’s Third Grade, Southold Elementary School

Kids will laugh and learn as they help Elmo calm down, be mindful, and face everyday challenges with Sesame Street’s simple approach to problem-solving.

An interactive picture book, Breathe, Think, Do with Elmo follows Elmo as he faces common problems that leave him feeling jealous, nervous, shy, and scared. Your young reader will be prompted to:

• Breathe with Elmo and Grover, taking three deep breaths to calm down
• Think through three possible solutions to Elmo’s problems, and
• Do! See how each solution plays out!

Based on Sesame Street’s popular Breathe, Think, Do app and introducing important emotional vocabulary, a calm breathing technique, and encouragements along the way, the book helps teach essential problem-solving skills that will serve little monsters well at daycare, school, and beyond!

PUBLISHER AND ACCOLADES

Running Press Kids, July 2021

A timeless holiday favorite for kids who love Elmo, Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch, and more! Find out how Santa first came to Sesame Street and why we leave cookies for St. Nick on Christmas Eve.

It’s the night before Christmas-time to put out some cookies for Santa! But how did this tradition start? Elmo’s dad spins him a bedtime story about his great-great-grandmonster, back when Sesame Street was a very different place. Why, everyone was so grouchy that Santa didn’t even visit! With help from his friends, Elmo will bring kindness, holiday cheer, and the spirit of Christmas to Sesame Street. But will it be enough for Santa?

This Sesame Street Christmas tale teaches kids the importance of kindness and spreading holiday cheer.

PUBLISHER AND ACCOLADES

Running Press Kids, October 2017