Let's Rumble!

Rachel G. Payne is coordinator of early childhood services at Brooklyn Public Library. She pens the “First Steps” column for School Library Journal and the “Board Book Roundups” for The Horn Book Magazine. She chaired the 2016 Caldecott Award Committee and she was a founding member of the Margaret Wise Brown Board Book Award Jury. She has a master’s degrees from Bank Street College of Education and Long Island University in early childhood/elementary education and library science respectively. Her debut picture book Let’s Rumble: A Rough-and-Tumble Book of Play illustrated by Jose Pimienta will be published in summer 2025 by Rise x Penguin Workshop. Visit Rachel online at RachelGPayne.com.

Jose Pimienta was raised in Mexicali, Baja California and now resides in Los Angeles, CA where they work on comics and storyboards for animation and film. Suncatcher was their debut YA graphic novel and ended on many ‘Best of’ lists. Their second graphic novel, Twin Cities received four starred reviews and Jose’s work with students, in both English and Spanish, has made they a great guest at many school across the US. In their stories, they focus on the importance of Latinx culture and the experience of growing up on the border.