Teen Librarian Toolbox
Betsy Bird, May 30, 2012 | Best Books, Top 100 Children's Novels (2012)
#36 The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare (1958) 53 points Somehow I never read this one as a kid, and that fact hasn’t bothered me. But if you check out the 90-Second Newbery video of this title at the end of this post, you’ll be forced to agree with me when I […]
Betsy Bird, May 30, 2012 | Best Books, Top 100 Children's Novels (2012)
#39 The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (2007) 50 points Perfect and artful blending of prose and illustration. – Dee Sypherd No book like it. It reinvents storytelling. It plays with our notion of “the book.” It takes great advantage of the physical nature of “the book.” In the end, the story celebrates […]
Betsy Bird, May 23, 2012 | Best Books, Top 100 Picture Books Poll
#65 The Arrival by Shaun Tan 30 points This book is Epic. It doesn’t just “tell” an immigrant’s story, it magically (or I suppose, skillfully) brings us INTO the very experience. – Aaron Zenz Because it’s a richly imagined, beautifully rendered, wordless graphic narrative of immigration, dislocation, and hope. – Phillip Nel #68 then. #65 […]
Betsy Bird, May 19, 2012 | Best Books, Top 100 Children's Novels (2012)
#72 Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin (2009) 27 points The first book that I’ve read in ages that I know I’ll read again and again. Simply lovely. – Pam Coughlan The individual episodes are lovely in themselves, and it’s marvelous to watch them all come together. And I have to admit, […]
Betsy Bird, May 16, 2012 | Best Books, Top 100 Picture Books Poll
#94 The Mitten by Jan Brett (1989) 21 points A lovely retelling of this old folktale with Brett’s truly lovely illustrations. – Barbara Thompson As insane as it sounds, this is Ms. Brett’s first appearance on one of our polls. Prolific and still going strong she first came to my attention due to her knitting. […]
Betsy Bird, April 16, 2010 | Top 100 Children's Novels (2010)
And so we reach the end of everything. Due to the sheer size of this list, I haven’t been able to change the formatting sufficiently. However, it’s readable to a large extent. And if you pick through it there are still some surprises. Three number 6 votes for The Silver Curlew by Eleanor Farjeon. The […]
Betsy Bird, March 21, 2010 | Videos
It makes my life so much easier when there is zero question of what video to begin Video Sunday with. And author Sarah Miller is a door able, as they say. Good work, Sarah. Now convert The Pigeon Wants a Hot Dog into The Writer Wants a Cupcake (in which she competes with an equally […]
Betsy Bird, March 16, 2010 | Top 100 Children's Novels (2010)
And now that we’ve hit the Top 20 on the Children’s Novels list we’re dropping down to a mere one a day. Just to delay the suspense, you understand. #20 Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt (1975) (#1)(#1)(#1)(#2)(#2)(#2)(#3)(#4)(#5)(#5)(#5)(#5)(#6)(#6)(#6)(#6)(#7)(#7) (#8)(#8)(#8)(#8)(#9)(#9)(#9)(#10) – 143 points Never has mortality been articulated so beautifully. – Eliza Brown, Assistant Retail Manager, The […]
Betsy Bird, February 10, 2010 | Top 100 Children's Novels (2010)
Sometimes I’d feel like a matchmaker while making this list. Folks would include the same books on their Top 10 lists, but in a slightly different order from one another. They were children’s literary book soulmates, if you will. There was no predicting it either. I’ll have to check and see if anyone had a […]
Betsy Bird, April 21, 2009 | Uncategorized
This is it. The last of the countdown by fives. After this I’ll be creating individual posts for the remaining Top 20. I know that a fair amount of you have expressed your hopes of what will appear there. We’ll see how you feel when all is said and done . . . . #25: […]
Teen Librarian Toolbox
by Amanda MacGregor
Good Comics for Kids
by Brigid Alverson
Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.