
May 20, 2022 by Betsy Bird
The Last Mapmaker offers readers proof positive that you can write succinctly, sacrificing nothing, while showing your readers absolutely everything.
May 18, 2022 by Betsy Bird
A list of SOME of my favorite comics of the year. Whether your looking for Anne of Green Gables updates, Ted Lasso-esque robots, or space cats, there's something for everyone here.
May 6, 2022 by Betsy Bird
With care, grace, and not a little cleverness, Zoboi doesn’t just introduce Butler to kids in the book Star Child. She makes it very clear from the get go that young Octavia was one of us. A supremely relatable person with a drive and output that far outstripped her times.
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April 26, 2022 by Betsy Bird
An accounting of a family and a tight knit community dealing with the repercussions of a hate crime, this book expertly navigates between taking into account the seriousness of the content while also punctuating it periodically with joy, laughter, and light.
April 19, 2022 by Betsy Bird
The picture book Endlessly Ever After by Laurel Snyder (out everywhere today!!) not only combines the Choose Your Own Adventure format and applies it to fairy tales, but it is also sumptuously illustrated by Caldecott Award winner and general nice fellow Dan Santat. Come listen to the creators discuss it!
April 15, 2022 by Betsy Bird
I don’t do it very often, but sometimes, when the right one comes along, I’ll even review board books. Today I have discovered the wonder and beauty of Laura Gehl and Gareth Lucas’s Odd Birds.
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April 8, 2022 by Betsy Bird
Beware the mobs. Beware joining them. Beware and aware of what they’re capable of, and don’t disregard them either. But beware your worst instincts most of all.
April 1, 2022 by Betsy Bird
What happens when a book takes tall tales and liar’s tales and then ties all of that into some of the finer examples of trash talk and blacktop exaggeration? The Legend of Gravity by Charly Palmer is that link.
March 29, 2022 by Betsy Bird
Sometimes it feels like I've seen so many picture books on immigration, and yet I've never seen anything like Zahra Marwan's WHERE BUTTERFLIES FILL THE SKY. There's a lightness to it, even in the midst of a deadly serious topic, that isn't like anything else out there.
March 21, 2022 by Betsy Bird
The Lock-Eater is a marvelous example of how you may render old ideas new, if only you’ve the ability to combine smart, timely writing with the current zeitgeist. Our kids are lucky they get to tap into books like this. Let’s hope for more of the same.
The Classroom Bookshelf
by Erika Thulin Dawes
Teen Librarian Toolbox
by Amanda MacGregor
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