message books

Tag: message books

May 13, 2022 by Betsy Bird

Review of the Day: You Ruined It by Anastasia Higginbotham

A book about sexual abuse by trusted family members. Or, put another way, a messy, complicated, unique, necessary creation for those who will need it most.

December 10, 2021 by Betsy Bird

31 Days, 31 Lists: 2021 Books With a Message

I think we all feel a little browbeaten by the books that prefer to thwack young readers bluntly over the head with their messages. These books, picture books and board books one and all, are more adept.

December 11, 2020 by Betsy Bird

31 Days, 31 Lists: 2020 Books With a Message

I like to celebrate those books, with some kind of "message" to impart, that do so with minimal didacticism. These books do a great job of teaching without forcing. I salute their worthy efforts and the folks who brought them to life.

31 Days, 31 Lists: 2019 Books With a Message

December 11, 2019 by Betsy Bird

here are, as it happens, a couple really good books with strong messages out each and every year. The trick is finding the best books with the right message. Consider the following books then.

Review of the Day: Maybe Tomorrow? by Charlotte Agell, ill. Ana Ramírez González

May 17, 2019 by Betsy Bird

Today I look at an infinitely gentle take on the feelings we lug around inside of ourselves and why we don’t have to always lug them on our own. Maybe Tomorrow? is, at its heart, about how to be a good friend. A seemingly simple lesson for a deeply complex world.

31 Days, 31 Lists: 2018 Books with a Message

December 13, 2018 by Betsy Bird

The earliest American picture books had only one goal: To provide some form of moral instruction. These days books with clear messages are exceedingly common. The ones that do it well? Much rarer. Here are the 2018 titles that knew what they were doing this year.

Review of the Day: The Rabbit Listened by Cori Doerrfeld

May 29, 2018 by Betsy Bird

The Rabbit Listened By Cori Doerrfeld Dial (an imprint of Penguin Random House) $17.99 ISBN: 978-0-7352-2935-8 Ages 4 and up On shelves now Lest we forget, the only reason that children’s books were invented in the first place was to teach small human lessons. That is, in fact, the very backbone of the book business […]

31 Days, 31 Lists: Day 13 – 2016 Books with a Message

December 13, 2016 by Betsy Bird

Hm. Awkward title on today’s post. “Books With a Message”. Be a lot cleaner if I just said “Didactic Books” or “Books That Try to Teach You Something.” No . . . no . . . that’s worse. I think you get the general gist of what I’m going for, though. Today we’re highlighting books […]