
The Yarn
January 17, 2023 by Betsy Bird
In his latest book Kwame Alexander tackles the subject of slavery head on, providing a template not just for teachers, but for any adult wishing to give the kids of today a better grasp on material that so many have worked so hard to avoid for all these years.
July 12, 2022 by Betsy Bird
Toni Morrison wrote a fair share of picture books, none quite as shocking and original as The Book of Mean People. With a reprint in November, I speak to Jewell Parker Rhodes, who wrote the Afterward.
June 3, 2022 by Betsy Bird
The heart of this book isn’t walls or floors or windows but the people that lived alongside them. Speculation yields a carefully, even meticulously rendered story of an average white farm family, living life in a home, until time takes its toll and we all have to wrestle with what that means.
October 17, 2021 by Betsy Bird
Today we look at a book about choice. Children’s choices and the choices adults make when faced with their own kids’ curiosity about their bodies and the clothing that goes onto it. I review Fred Gets Dressed by Peter Brown.
July 7, 2021 by Betsy Bird
This is a story that stands out and apart from all those other comics being published right now. It assumes a certain level of intelligence on the part of the child reader. It’ll frustrate some, baffle others, and completely fascinate the lot of them.
June 10, 2021 by Betsy Bird
In an era of information overload, Mary Winn Heider is the author who will lead us through the pandemonium into the light. Hand this to the kid that wants something smart and funny with a side order of turmoil for spice.
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February 26, 2019 by Betsy Bird
Victoria Stapleton (of Little, Brown & Co.) interviews the illustrious artist Eliza Wheeler in a casual "Book Chat" about her upcoming book, WHEN YOU ARE BRAVE.
November 2, 2018 by Betsy Bird
Look, I don’t want you to think I’m easy or anything. “Old Betsy Bird,” you’d say. “She’ll post pretty much any kind of video on her site”. Not true, sez I! I just like what I like. And what I like is process. Getting into the heads of the creators of some of my favorite […]
October 1, 2018 by Betsy Bird
A new Molly Idle book is naturally a cause for some celebration. All the better if it happens to involve something awesome. Something like . . . mermaids. When Ms. Idle gets her hands on a mythical creature, however, you simply want to see more of them. Unicorns! Griffins (with her love of birds she’d […]
June 12, 2018 by Betsy Bird
I have this terrible habit of too-early enthusiasm. I frequently tell myself that reviewing a book too early is a bad thing. It invites the reading public to forget about the book before its publication date, after all. But there are times when a book is so good that I just can’t contain myself. Such […]
Heavy Medal
by Emily Mroczek-Bayci
The Classroom Bookshelf
by Denise Davila
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