100 Scope Notes
August 26, 2019 by Betsy Bird
We speak to renowned children's literature scholar Phil Nel for our first minisode and, naturally, it blossomed into a full-blown episode length. But when you hear all the things Phil has to say, you'll agree that it was worth it.
August 21, 2019 by Betsy Bird
It's the 100th episode! The challenge of this episode of the podcast was to come up with a book for #100 that is widely known but that we hadn't done already. And this book was waiting in the wings all along. Why? Because thanks to a great deal of scholarship out there on the topic, the "Cat" is no longer the simple beloved character he once was considered to be. This isn't an easy book to do, but we managed it somehow.
October 1, 2017 by Betsy Bird
Are you ready to be scared? Because I don’t know about you but I find this new adaptation of Peter Rabbit for the screen to be absolutely terrifying. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6c_uFAvouQ What’s rather remarkable is how they managed to avoid poop jokes. Normally awfully trailers are just rife with them. Now there is a distinct possibility that […]
April 12, 2016 by Betsy Bird
A lot to say and so little time to say it. Let’s get started! Today, if you are at all feeling blue, I suggest you read The Toast piece Jaya Catches Up: A Little Princess which is a killer breakdown of what is inarguably a problematic book. The Marie Antoinette portions are particularly choice. […]
February 23, 2015 by Betsy Bird
Here in New York we’re getting very excited. The 90-Second Film Festival is coming!! And soon too! Here’s a PW interview with James Kennedy about the festival and for those of you in the NYC area you can see it at NYPL on Saturday, March 7th at 3:00 p.m. In fact, now that I think […]
June 27, 2014 by Betsy Bird
As I write this there are countless souls right now in Las Vegas attending the American Library Association Annual Conference. I watch your tweets with envy, my friends. Would that I were there. Some of the first timers have asked me what they shouldn’t miss, but since I haven’t seen the official schedule of events […]
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June 1, 2012 by Betsy Bird
#36 The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss (1957) 50 points Adore the story and it brought reading to an access level for beginning readers. – Mary Friedrichs The poor cat didn’t make it onto the list last time because I wasn’t including easy readers. Now he bursts onto the scene, hat askew, intentions […]
Politics in Practice
by John Chrastka
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