Seeing Into Tomorrow Haiku by Richard Wright Biography and illustrations by Nina Crews Millbrook Press (a division of Lerner) $19.99 ISBN: 978-1-5124-1865-1 Ages 6-10 On shelves now I hate that phrase, “A picture’s worth a thousand words”. It’s trite. Simplistic. And horrendously true. Pictures have power. Take the story that’s been handed to us about […]
Okay. So I kinda sorta intensely love this. First off, remember Cheryl Klein? A.k.a. the continuity editor of Harry Potter? A.k.a. one of the best editors of our age who not too long ago left Scholastic to work for Lee & Low Books? I’ve known Cheryl for years. We used to do Kidlit Drink Nights […]
I’d like to offer a word of warning to my mother with this one. Somehow, this ended up being our longest episode. Mom, if you listen to this on the treadmill, you might do yourself a serious injury. It’s a whopping 48:17 (and that’s edited down!). I guess it’s not surprising when you do a […]
The other night my husband and I plopped ourselves in front of the old Netflix delivery system (television) and decided amongst ourselves to watch the documentary I Am Not Your Negro featuring author James Baldwin. The book of the same name had been circulating beautifully in my library for quite some time, so I was […]
About three years ago I reviewed the book Tricky Vic: The Impossibly True Story of the Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower by Greg Pizzoli. If you missed it, it was a true crime picture book (a rare beastie) about a man born Robert Miller who turned to a life of conning. Ultimately it ends […]
When it comes to selecting books for the podcast, I tend towards those books that have lots of details. And this one, as Kate was quick to learn, could go head to head with Where’s Waldo in terms of hidden details. Alas, no clowns this week but we make up for it in other ways. […]
Last week Publishers Weekly produced the article Forever Young: Backlist Backbones 2018. In the piece, the magazine highlighted a sampling of some books getting cover redesigns, new printings, and other forms of reprinted attention this year. I too have been watching the reprints of older titles with a steady eye. And while I like a […]
The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl By Stacy McAnulty Random House Books for Young Readers $16.99 ISBN: 9781524767570 Ages 9-12 On shelves now The world would have us believe that the left brained and right brained amongst us can never see eye-to-eye. Think about it. How many times have you heard a perfectly intelligent person say […]
I’ve been thinking about people I’ve interviewed over the years, both in person and on this blog. Generally, the in-person interviews are where the big names come out to play. Your Neil Patrick Harrises. Your Art Spiegelman / Francoise Moulys. Your Katherine Paterson/Lois Lowry/ Rebecca Stead / R.L. Stine mash-ups (not the mix you were […]
What do making sushi and reading Margaret Wise Brown’s second most popular picture book have in common? We’re doing both in one night on the old podcast Fuse 8 n’ Kate! We’re trying to do a couple more ladies than we’ve done in the past. We talk about whether or not this book has Fellini […]
If you missed the recent 100 Scope Notes post I Will Not Retreat to a Book Cave to Eat Taco Bell then you are in for a treat. I agree with everything he has to say about this weirdly out-of-touch librarian, but one part of the Taco Bell commercial in which she appears struck me […]
As you may recall I put out the announcement in March that during April I’d be asking people to send in Top 10 Board Book lists, ranked in order of preference (#1 being your favorite and #10 being your least favorite). I was gratified to see a nice long list of submissions. The poll officially […]
I’ve never really commented on the recent news articles and discussions about sensitivity readers and their work with children’s books. I suppose that’s just because they make a fair amount of sense to me. If you’re writing about someone unlike yourself, you should be told up front what you are doing wrong with the portrayal. […]
My Hair Is a Garden By Cozbi A. Cabrera Albert Whitman & Co. $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-8075-0923-4 Ages 4-7 On shelves now It is very limiting to get your supplemental education solely through children’s books when you’re an adult. Continuing education, in whatever form it takes, should be pursued through a variety of sources. Yet for […]
Folks, I’ve been doing this whole blogging thing for a long time. And now that I’ve just turned 40, I give myself permission to start acting in a true “kids today” and “get off my lawn” manner. I also get to dip deep into nostalgia, given half a chance. Now almost ten years ago I […]
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