
Teen Librarian Toolbox
January 14, 2022 by Betsy Bird
It is the easiest thing in the world to write a mediocre picture book biography. Writing one that’s as good as Out of the Shadows, that knows precisely where to cut the story, how to present the art, and then allows you to fall in love with the subject? Such books are uncommon little gems.
November 24, 2021 by Betsy Bird
The psychedelic 60s never looked so good. I talk with creators Charles R. Smith Jr. and Edel Rodriguez about their joint work on the latest Jimi Hendrix biography.
September 14, 2021 by Betsy Bird
Today I talk with author Traci N. Todd to discuss her new picture book biography of Nina Simone and the art of reducing a life to its essentials.
July 9, 2021 by Betsy Bird
Why children's writers are sometimes the first ones to sing for the unsung? I discuss Meghan P. Browne's upcoming picture book bio Dorothy the Brave with her and reveal its cover.
January 18, 2021 by Betsy Bird
"At the risk of sounding basic, I don’t think it’s possible to overrate the mango." I interview Mara Rockliff about her latest picture book biography and we end up talking fruit!
December 26, 2020 by Betsy Bird
Each crop of yearly biographies runs the gamut from the uber famous to people who may not have ever even received an adult biography. I loved the sheer variety on display in 2020. Behold a sampling of some favorites.
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December 10, 2020 by Betsy Bird
Nikola Tesla! Inventor. Genius. Pigeon Lover? I talk with Azadeh Westergaard about her upcoming biography of the man and his dual love of alternating currents and city birds.
September 16, 2020 by Betsy Bird
"People think that collaboration is about harmony, but that's wrong." A book release party like none other, I attend the celebration for Flying Paintings by Amy Alznauer and The Zhou Brothers.
August 20, 2020 by Betsy Bird
Drawing On Walls is the kind of book that you wish other writers of children’s nonfiction would read. A story that justifies its very existence by justifying the very existence of its subject.
July 30, 2020 by Betsy Bird
There have been Black picture book biographies coming out for years and years and years. Often their publishers either wouldn't or couldn't put the marketing dollars behind them that they so clearly deserved, and so these books would sink from view and be forgotten. Today, I want to revisit some of these books, just in case someone had a hankering to rediscover them.
Teen Librarian Toolbox
by Amanda MacGregor
The Classroom Bookshelf
by Mary Ann Cappiello
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