Resources and Guidelines to Support At-Home and Remote Learning

To help support our children, parents and families, educators, librarians and greater community during this challenging time, Just Us Books has compiled below links to resources and guidelines that support at-home and remote learning.

Resources:
Free activity guides for our titles are available here. These guides contain discussion questions, writing activities, project ideas and other suggestions that can be used with our books. They might also inspire ideas that you can use for other books you're reading.

We are also making our Black History Handbook available again for free download. We know Black history is not just for Black History Month. This book provides activities and resources for stand-alone and supplemental activities that focus on Black history.

Read Alongs:
If you are an educator or librarian who would like to use our books as part of an online read along or other online instruction, we ask that you follow these guidelines:

• Please send a courtesy email to katura_hudson@justusbooks.com with your name, school/library, city, state, along with title and author/illustrator of the book(s) you plan to read online and the date of your reading. 
• Please mention at the beginning of the video that you are reading with permission from Just Us Books, and note the title, author, and illustrator of the book.
• Please only post the video through your school’s private platform or through another group or platform with limited access for your students only.
• Please delete your video or disable access by June 30, 2022.
• Please also send a follow-up email with a link to your video (even if it is private) 
• Readings on social media are allowed using the ‘live’ function only (ex: Facebook Live, Instagram Live, etc.) The video may not be archived or posted permanently on any social platform. Please also send us a courtesy email as noted above.
• By posting a reading, you are agreeing to abide by the above guidelines.

Please tag @JustUsBooks in social media posts of/about your readings. We’d love to see what you’re doing!

If you are a book retailer, literacy group, or other organization interested in doing online reading of our books, please contact us at katura_hudson@justusbooks.com for separate permission.

Book Packages
We have curated two book packages -- picture books and for middle reader - especially for at-home learning. The packages include discounted books, printed activity guides for each title and free shipping. Learn more

We are encouraged by all the ways our reading community is providing support, comfort and hope during this time. Thank you all!

Just Us Books Announces Call for Manuscript Queries

Just Us Books, leading independent publisher of children’s books that celebrate Black history, culture and experiences, is accepting queries for picture books, chapter books (target ages 7-9) and middle reader titles (target ages 9-12).

What we are looking for:

• Excellent writing  
• Unique story ideas
• Cultural authenticity 
• Interesting characters 
• Compelling, high-interest plot lines 
• Fiction and nonfiction

We welcome queries from both agented and unagented authors.

To submit a manuscript for consideration, please send only the following:

• A query letter pitching us your manuscript (please include your email address and list any previously published books)
• A synopsis of your manuscript
• 3-5 samples pages of your manuscript 

Submissions may be sent via mail or email:

Just Us Books
Submissions Dept.
P.O. Box 5306
East Orange, NJ 07019
email: Submissions (at) JustUsBooks.com

For e-mail submissions, please include pitch, synopsis and sample pages in the body of the e-mail. Do not include attachments. All emails containing attachments will be deleted without being read.

Complete submission guidelines are available here: https://justusbooks.com/pages/resource-center/submission-guidelines.html

To learn more about Just Us Books visit our website: justusbooks.com