bfyr picture book author to be announced

In her debut picture book, acclaimed actress, screenwriter, and director Lake Bell weaves a joyfully whimsical story that celebrates the beauty of neurodiversity.

For share day at school, Nova has to bring in something that makes her unique and she knows just the thing: her breakfast pickles!

But when the fridge opens to an empty pickle jar, Nova has to find a new share and her morning medicine leads to the perfect idea: her brain sparkles!

When Nova tells the class about her epilepsy, at first they’re confused, and she starts to worry, are her brain sparkles too unique? But Nova isn’t the only one in her class with a unique brain, and when her classmates start sharing too, what follows is a fun exploration of all the wonderful ways people and their brains are different.

Lake Bell is an award-winning filmmaker and actress. In 2013, she received acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival for her debut feature, In a World..., which she wrote, directed, and acted in. Bell has won a myriad of awards including the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award, and in 2017, she directed her second feature, I Do... Until I Don’t, which she also wrote and starred in. In addition to her expansive film and TV credits, Bell authored her critically acclaimed audiobook entitled Inside Voice: My Obsession with How We Sound with Pushkin Industries. For nearly ten years, she has served as a board member of Women in Film, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to support the success of female peers in the entertainment industry. Born in Manhattan, Bell now lives in Los Angeles with her two children and rescue animals.

Rachel Katstaller is originally from tiny tropical El Salvador, where she studied strategic design. After a period in New York, where she attended the Summer Illustration Residency at the School of Visual Arts, Rachel relocated to Innsbruck, Austria, with her cat, Hemingway. She now works for several international publishing houses concentrating on children’s books, editorial illustration, and creating insightful and honest illustrations for brands. She also leads a weekly architecture and storytelling workshop for children at the Bilding Art and Architecture school in Austria.