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Reviews 2023

November 25, 2023 by Betsy Bird

Review of the Day: Maggie Lou, Firefox by Arnolda Dufour Bowes, ill. Karlene Harvey

With more oomph and spit than a little book of this sort could possibly contain, Maggie represents the kind of slambang, fantastic personality you find only once in a blue moon. You’re not going to want to miss this one.

October 6, 2023 by Betsy Bird

Review of the Day: Oh, Olive! by Lian Cho

Amusing, sweet, and strange. A wondrous mix of the familiar with the utterly original. Meet Olive for yourself.

September 27, 2023 by Betsy Bird

Review of the Day: Bea Wolf by Zach Weinersmith, ill. Boulet

“Make no more clouds. I have drawn the rainbow here.” Attend the tale of Bea Wolf, and a better comic for kids you're unlikely to find anywhere.

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Review of the Day: The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers, ill. Shawn Harris

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Review of the Day: The Muéganos by Jaque Jours

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More Recent Posts

Review of the Day: The Lost Year by Katherine Marsh

September 22, 2023 by Betsy Bird

If you think the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown, the famine in Ukraine in the 1930s, and Brooklyn at that same time makes for an awkward tri-narrative, you are wrong. And if you also think that it would be highly difficult to weave three such perspectives together, there you are correct, but it can be done. The Lost Year proves as much.

Review of the Day: Big by Vashti Harrison

September 15, 2023 by Betsy Bird

Today we look at one of the latest National Book Award nominees, and the only picture book in the batch.

Review of the Day – Alone: The Journeys of Three Young Refugees by Paul Tom, ill. Mélanie Baillairgé, translated by Arielle Aaronson

September 8, 2023 by Betsy Bird

“You have a family, friends, a home. You go to school, and like all children, you like to play. One day, a threat appears and changes everything.”

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Review of the Day: The Puppets of Spelhorst by Kate DiCamillo, ill. Julie Morstad

September 1, 2023 by Betsy Bird

This is the kind of book that’s going to appeal to kids young and old. A contemporary classic with ingrained appeal and the occasional jolt of weirdness to keep things interesting.

Review of the Day: Evergreen by Matthew Cordell

August 24, 2023 by Betsy Bird

A squirrel heroine. An epic adventure. Delicious hints of familiar fairy tales (Little Red Riding Hood, naturally), and tasty treats. For the anxious child, Evergreen may well be the hero they’ve always needed.

Review of the Day: My Head Has a Bellyache by Chris Harris, ill. Andrea Tsurumi

August 15, 2023 by Betsy Bird

Folks, I see the challenge before me and I raise you one Chris Harris and one Andrea Tsurumi. A literary power duo the like of which the world of literature for kids has never seen.

Review of the Day: Eb & Flow by Kelly J. Baptist

August 11, 2023 by Betsy Bird

A book that had me laughing and biting my nails in turn. Hard to think of any other title to compare to this.

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