MORE 'REVIEWS-2015' POSTS
Robo-Sauce By Adam Rubin Illustrated by Daniel Salmieri Dial (an imprint of Penguin Books) $18.99 ISBN: 978-0525428879 Ages 4-6 On shelves October 20th. When I whip out the old we’re-living-in-a-golden-age-of-picture-book-creation argument with colleagues and friends, they humor what I’m sure they consider to be my hyperbole. Suuuuuure we are, Betsy. Not prone to exaggeration or […]
The Amazing Age of John Roy Lynch By Chris Barton Illustrated by Don Tate Eerdmans Books for Young Readers $17.00 ISBN: 978-0-8028-5379-0 Ages 4-8 On shelves now “It’s the story of a guy who in ten years went from teenage field slave to U.S. Congressman.” Come again? That’s the pitch author Chris Barton pulled out […]
The Nest By Kenneth Oppel Illustrated by Jon Klassen Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers $16.99 ISBN: 978-1-4814-3232-0 On shelves October 6th Oh, how I love middle grade horror. It’s a very specific breed of book, you know. Most people on the street might think of the Goosebumps books or similar ilk when they […]
Moletown By Torben Kuhlmann North/South Books, Inc. $17.95 ISBN: 978-0-7358-4208-3 Ages 4-6 On shelves October 1st Cautionary tales for kids who can’t do a darn thing about the original problem. It’s sort of a subgenre of its very own. As I hold this lovely little book, Moletown, in my hands I am transported back in […]
Hypnotize a Tiger: Poems About Just About Everything By Calef Brown Christy Ottaviano Books, Henry Holt (an imprint of Macmillan) $17.99 ISBN: 978-0-8050-9928-7 For ages 9-12 Why do I do this to myself? Let me tell you something about how I review. Board books? Pshaw. I can take one and write a nine-paragraph review parsing […]
Mars Evacuees By Sophia McDougall Harper Collins $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-06-229399-2 Ages 9-12 I’ve a nasty habit of finishing every children’s book I start, no matter how dull or dire it might be. I am sort of alone in this habit, which you could rightly call unhealthy. After all, most librarians understand that their time on […]
Boats for Papa By Jessixa Bagley Neal Porter Books, Roaring Brook Press (an imprint of Macmillan) $17.99 ISBN: 978-1626720398 Ages 4-7 On shelves now So I’m a snob. A children’s literature snob. I accept this about myself. I do not embrace it, but I can at least acknowledge it and, at times, fight against it […]
The Case for Loving: The Fight for Interracial Marriage By Selina Alko Illustrated by Sean Qualls Arthur A. Levine Books (an imprint of Scholastic) $18.99 ISBN: 978-0545478533 Ages 4-7 On shelves now. When the Supreme Court ruled on June 26, 2015 that same-sex couples could marry in all fifty states, I found myself, like many […]
Return to Augie Hobble By Lane Smith Roaring Brook (an imprint of Macmillan) $16.99 ISBN: 978-1-62672-54-1 Ages 9-12 On shelves now Here is what we can say about Lane Smith – he does not go for the easy emotional pass. There are countless author/illustrators out there for whom risk is an unknown concept. The idea […]
Hilo: The Boy Who Crashed to Earth By Judd Winick Random House Children’s Books $13.99 ISBN: 978-0-385-38617-3 Ages 9-12 On shelves September 1st Relentless cheer. You can use it for good. You can use it for evil. You can use it in the name of humor too, but that’s a trickier game to play. I’m […]