August 10, 2026 — Thank you all for joining InkandescentKids.com to celebrate our birthday bash and first annual Children’s Book Fair!

Monday Morning Magic from Inkandescent® PR + Publishing Co. •  A Note from Hope Katz Gibbs, publisher, InkandescentKids.com magazine — Hello, friends! The InkandescentKids.com team is overwhelmed with gratitude at the amazing turnout for our birthday bash and first annual children’s book fair!

We filled the upstairs with more than 30 children’s book authors and sponsors and families of all ages. Student art was on display, including the work of Leanna Grimes and Jovanny Felix Luna. Plus, students from Rock of Ages Music (ROAM), the amazing music school in Del Ray, VA, brought us two student musicians who performed for the crowd, Elizabeth Lane and Gia Attiken. I think my favorite moment of the afternoon was when Elizabeth and Gia led us all in the happy birthday song; I definitely cried tears of joy!

Thank you for the gifts: Tissue Paper Flowers by guests at our August 8 Children’s Book Fair and 1st birthday bash at Elaine’s Literary Salon

Make a flower, take a flower, leave a flower for us to travel with: Another one of our favorite parts of the event was that during the performances, presentations, and book readings, guests were invited to make tissue paper/pipe cleaner flowers. The bouquets that were left behind will be cherished for years to come.

Read all about it: Three local reporters wrote about the event, including Lisa-Helene Lawson in The Zebra • Greet Del Ray magazine • Shirley Ruhe in the Alexandria Gazette 

This is just the beginning! 

Family First: The magazine is dedicated to my family! From left to right — Anna, Michael, me, Dylan, and Nancy. Thank you all!

Subscribe to our printable bimonthly magazine: As we embark on our second year, in addition to adding daily articles by kids, for kids, about kids to the homepage and 25 columns on InkandescentKids.com, our editor Ellen Smith is crafting themed bimonthly issues for our new printable magazine. Subscribe for just $30 and get all 6 issues delivered to your inbox. If you want to print them, you can order 1 or more so you can share hard copies with all of your family and friends, so they can see the published work by your kids.

Submit your work to be published: We invite students from Kindergarten to College to submit work for inclusion in our themed bimonthly magazines. We welcome articles, photos, illustrations, videos, podcasts, games, recipes, and more! It’s just $3/submission. Questions? Contact Ellen: Editor@InkandescentKids.com.

  • The InkandescentKids team: Hope, Alexandra Kuehn and Ellen — Thank you for covering our event Lisa-Helene and The Zebra!

    July-August: Happy 1st Birthday InkandescentKids — available now! Our birthday gift to you: Click here to order your free copy.

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Take a class: Journalism, Photography, Illustration, Podcasting, Videography, Newsroom team! The heart of our project includes offering classes to students around the country, and eventually around the world. Ranging from 2 to 6 sessions at $75/session, students have 1-on-1 sessions with our team of award-winning professionals. We start by giving students an overview of the profession and then develop a story to work on. Subsequent sessions include reviewing the work, making edits, and finalizing the project before it moves on to our student editorial team for final review and publishing—just like a professional newsroom works! Find details about the classes here. Questions? Send me an email!

Click here to meet all of the truly amazing children’s book authors who participated in the August 8 event. We can’t thank you all enough for your support!

Until next Monday: No matter your age, may you always be an InkandescentKid. — Hope Katz Gibbs, founder and president, Inkandescent® Inc. Inkandescent.us

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