In terms of folks who share my birthday today, it’s a mixed bag. On the one hand I got Shakespeare. So . . . y’know. That’s nice. By the same token 4/23 was the reported date of the death of Cervantes. On the other hand, I share my birthday with President James Buchanan. Oog. But [...]
I don’t always blog the auctions I see online, but sometimes the cause is good and the timing is right. Recently the right good honorable LeUyen Pham emailed me about an auction of children’s book art that sounds, in a word, fan-freaking-tastic. Said she: Fellow illustrator and artist-who’s-work-i-totally-love CARSON ELLIS has put together an online [...]
The Glorkian Warrior Delivers a Pizza By James Kochalka First Second (an imprint of Roaring Brook) $17.99 ISBN: 978-1626721036 Ages 7-11 On shelves now James Kochalka has always had a penchant for the outright silly. If nothing else his Johnny Boo series of books have said as much. He’s not afraid to go for the [...]
You know when you make a friend who works in a different field than you and then, in time, your mutual interests come together? Years ago my friend Katie married a talented composer by the name of Haddon Kime. Haddon was kind enough to create the opening music of my short lived podcast and then [...]
So what’s the talk of the town these days? Well the relative brouhaha came about at the end of last week when ReedPOP announced a panel of “the world’s biggest children’s authors” in the field. That the luminaries in question were all white and male struck a raw nerve with a whole slew of folks. [...]
Boys of Blur By N.D. Wilson Random House Books for Young Readers $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-449-81673-8 Ages 9-12 On shelves April 8th. I like a kid’s book with ambition. It’s all well and good to write one about magic candy shops or goofy uncles or simpering unicorns or what have you. The world is big and [...]
So I was listening to an episode of Pop Culture Happy Hour the other day. If you happen to unfamiliar with the show it’s just your basic pop culture based podcast where they dissect the trends and news of the day so you don’t have to. In a recent episode called ‘Captain America’ And The [...]
Rules of Summer By Shaun Tan Arthur A. Levine Books (an imprint of Scholastic) $18.99 ISBN: 978-0-545-63912-5 Ages 4 and up On shelves April 29th When I was a young teen my favorite book was Ray Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine. Steeped in Bradbury’s nostalgia for his youth, I was in the throes of adolescence, probably on [...]
Zounds! No reason in particular I wrote that word. I just like to say “Zounds!” from time to time. Onward! I initially misread this post as “Summer Reading Takes a Hit From Online Scanning and Skimming Researchers Say” (which shows you where my mind is these days). It’s not “Summer” but Serious Reading Takes a [...]
Grandfather Gandhi Arun Gandhi and Bethany Hegedus Illustrated by Evan Turk Atheneum (an imprint of Simon and Schuster) $17.99 ISBN: 978-1-4424-2365-X Ages 4-8 On shelves now. Are you familiar with the concept of booktalking? It’s a technique librarians developed to get people interested in books they might otherwise not pick up. The whole concept is [...]
Well, I am pleased to announce today’s Book Trailer Premiere, particularly since it is unlike every other book trailer I’ve ever put up. Credit that to the subject matter, really. Chris Raschka is one of those rare author/illustrators that can get away with presenting the hard subjects, particularly when it comes to jazz legends. Didn’t [...]
A real post that has nothing to do with videos on a Sunday? Am I out of my friggin’ gourd? Maybe so, but today is a special occasion. You see, today, I am pleased to announce that I helped write something . . . on another person’s blog. Admittedly I don’t usually do that sort [...]
Yet another reason why we all should live in Minneapolis. I ain’t kidding, actually. Man, I wish I could go to this. Rejoice the Legacy! What: 2014 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture When: Saturday, May 3, Doors open at 6:30 p.m., lecture at 7:00 p.m. with reception and book signing following Where: Willey Hall, West Bank, [...]
This is it! We’ve officially begun! Here is, without a doubt, the very first Librarian Preview of the Fall 2014 season. I’m so thrilled to be presenting it in its full unaltered glory. Chronicle Books, that plucky little Californian publisher, has really made a name for itself in the past few years. And now, with [...]
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