MORE POSTS FROM AUGUST 2011
Children’s librarians have many weapons at their disposal that allow them to entice children young and old with delicious literature. The booktalk may be the best of the bunch. Before I joined the profession I was utterly unaware of what booktalking really was. It certainly didn’t exist when I was a child, at least not […]
It isn’t. I explain. A children’s librarian may sometimes spend a certain amount of time defending a child’s right to read fairy tales or books that reference those tales. So when a parent complains about the severed heads in A Tale Dark and Grimm or the girl dancing to her death in Breadcrumbs, the librarian […]
The Cheshire Cheese Cat: A Dickens of a Tale By Carmen Agra Deedy and Randall Wright Illustrated by Barry Moser Peachtree Press $16.95 ISBN: 978-1-56145-595-9 Ages 7-12 On shelves October 1, 2011 Animal stories. Done well and you get something like Charlotte’s Web or The Incredible Journey. Done poorly and you cannot name for me […]
As you may have heard, last week author William Sleator passed away. I met him once during the Midwinter ALA Conference in Philadelphia. He was part of an Abrams brunch in which librarians munched on food and spoke to various authors. I was pleased to get Mr. Sleator’s autograph on a book for a friend […]
First off, today I’d be amiss if I did not direct you to submit your favorite book trailers to the SLJ Trailee Awards.* If you’ve a favorite trailer that was posted between the dates of July 1, 2010 and June 30, 2011, SLJ wants to hear about it. Think back through all the book trailers […]
The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred By Samantha R. Vamos Illustrated by Rafael Lopez Charlesbridge $17.95 ISBN: 978-1-58089-242-1 Ages 4-8 On shelves now I am lucky to work in a children’s room with a significantly sized bilingual section. The books you’ll find there cover a wide range of languages. Chinese, Arabic, Urdu, you name […]
THE SNOWY DAY AND THE ART OF EZRA JACK KEATS Opens at The Jewish Museum September 9th First Major U.S. Exhibition Pays Tribute to Award-Winning Author and Illustrator Exhibition Marks 50th Anniversary of “The Snowy Day” Which Paved the Way for Multiracial Representation in American Children’s Literature New York, NY – The Snowy Day and […]
Let this reassure all the authors of children’s books out there. You can be the greatest writer in the world and still produce middling fare in your early years. Today’s example is How to Be Cool by Philip Pullman circa 1987. Perhaps a bit different from The Golden Compass: Step One: Find some hot pink […]
With the final Harry Potter movie in theaters making more money than the very nation has in its coffers (or so my lackadaisical understanding of politics leads me to believe) there have been a whole slew of articles about Harry. These include articles on the kids in the movie, on what Rowling’s up to now, […]
I was saddened to learn of the death of children’s author Georgess McHargue on Monday, July 18th. It seems that this was a death our community missed and I am sorry for it. Ms. McHargue penned many a fine children’s novel, but my favorite would have to be Stoneflight, a tale of New York City’s […]