August 6, 2026

Happy Publication Day to Nice to Eat You

On July 7, 2026, my fourth picture book (and fifth book) was born! Nice to Eat You, originally called Witcheroo, is about a witch who lures a group of children to her cottage deep in the forest by continually saying something mildly horrifying and then correcting herself to calm the children down.

I’ve always been obsessed with miscommunication and the many ways words can fail us. Nice to Eat You began as a silly idea, that a coven of witches was really a coven of sandwiches. Whenever I thought of another silly comparison that was remotely witchy, I wrote it down. Like, I think it’s funny that whenever we read about finding a body, the assumption is that the body is dead. We typically don’t call living people “bodies” unless we’re counting them, maybe. We have bodies but we are not bodies. Yet we say “somebody” and “everybody” when talking about people. So “body” went on the list. 

In a few months, the list grew to over a dozen potentially witchy miscommunications. One night, during a bout of insomnia, I pulled out my list and wrote the whole story in 2 hours. It went on submission shortly after. Within 6 weeks, three editors expressed interest. One said she was “totally charmed by this dark, delicious story” and made an official offer two months later when her editorial, sales, and marketing teams agreed. Two more months later, after the contractual details were worked out, I accepted the offer. It was November 2021.

You may have noticed that we are in the year 2026. From the day the book was acquired to the day of publication, it’s been almost 5 years. So when people say that publishing is slow, they’re not kidding. In my case, there were a lot of factors involved. My editor left the industry, so we never got to work together, except briefly on alternatives for the title. It was a year before the new editor, who inherited a ton of projects, could send editorial notes. Then it took a while to get an illustrator on board, and when they found the amazing Carolina Coroa, she had a newborn.

So the publication date was pushed twice, from 2024 to 2025 to 2026. Which I’m not mad about! Because in 2024, my life’s work—a reference book for writers and editors called The Conscious Style Guide: A Flexible Approach to Language That Includes, Respects, and Empowers—was published in multiple territories. And my debut picture book, Whole Whale, was released in another format, a lap board book (“lap” means lap-size). So my promo plate was full. In 2025, after the pub date was pushed again, I revised the text, even though it had already been finalized. I thought, why not. Why not turn the delay into something that benefits me, right? I had just lost my house and neighborhood in an unprecedented fire (google “Eaton Fire”), and if tragedy doesn’t fuel dark humor, I don’t know what does. The delays were a gift, because I was able to tighten the jokes and make the ending more mwahaha. (Nice to Eat You may or may not end in murder.)

Thanks to my beta readers, critique partners, agents, editors, Carolina, the designer, and everyone who worked on this project, Nice to Eat You is a picture book I am immensely proud of and cannot wait to read aloud to children in my bestest witchy voice.

~ Karen Yin

Nice to Eat You was written by Karen Yin, illustrated by Carolina Coroa, and published by Orchard Books / Scholastic. Available now wherever books are sold.

Whole Whale: Over 10K Total Copies Sold!

Look, I know that 10K copies is not a super high number, but it’s a lot to me! And I’m not even counting copies of the award-winning Dutch version sold overseas (the stats for which are a mystery anyway). It makes me giddy to know that my blue whale continues to make a splash—as a hardcover, board book, and ebook—in homes, classrooms, and libraries everywhere. Last month, I read her tale of inclusion (and creative problem-solving) aloud to a lawn full of children and their grownups at the South Pasadena Public Library.

Download Nice to Eat You Coloring Pages

Look how cute! Visit my website to download a PDF of these N2EU coloring pages. Created by illustrator Carolina Coroa.

~ SUPPORT ~

Want to Read Nice to Eat You for Free?

Then please ask your library to purchase a copy! Making purchase requests is an awesome way to support book artists (authors and illustrators) and let others know about their creations. For your copying-and-pasting convenience, here are the ISBNs.

• Hardcover ISBN: 978-1338851922

• Ebook ISBN: 978-1338851939

Also, on the Libby app, you can use a Notify Me smart tag to request my books!

Protect the Freedom to Read: Postcard Party (Monrovia, CA)

If you’re in SoCal and anywhere near Monrovia, join me and a bunch of authors at a postcard-writing party at Underdog Bookstore on Friday, August 14, 2026, to fight back against book bans. Snacks, beverages, and postcards will be provided—plus free books! (Until we run out, I guess.) Organized by NYT-bestselling author C.B. Lee on behalf of Authors Against Book Bans. Event >

~ GET ~

~ FOLLOW ~