When I originally read The Riverman by Aaron Starmer this year it blew me away. I couldn’t think of anything to really compare it to. Entirely original, wonderful and strange, it has remained quite clear in my memory ever since. Yet I was shocked when I learned that it was just the first in a [...]
Princess Sparkle-Heart Gets a Makeover By Josh Schneider Clarion (an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-544-14228-2 Ages 3-7 On shelves now Sometimes I’ll just sit back and think about how the advent of the internet has affected literary culture. I don’t mean book promotion or reviews or any of that. I’m talking about [...]
I had the pleasure of seeing just the most delightful show the other day. The Snow Queen’s run is ending, but you can at least enjoy this little number from it. It’s been caught in my head all week. I bestow that honor now upon you. New York News And the award for best set [...]
Howdy do. As per usual I’m going to direct you this morning to that lovely little Wild Things website where Jules Danielson and I have been posting the stories that got cut from our upcoming book Wild Things: Acts of Mischief in Children’s Literature. If you haven’t already seen them you might like to read [...]
When you grow up with a mother who is a knitter, there are certain facts in life that you simply have to accept. Knitting all the time, everywhere, is the norm. A bookshelf full of different kinds of yarn is not weird. Fiber Fests are de rigeur and knowing the difference between a gossip wheel [...]
Separate is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family’s Fight for Desegretation By Duncan Tonatiuh Harry N. Abrams $18.95 ISBN: 978-1419710544 Ages 7-12 On shelves now If I blame my childhood education for anything I suppose it would be for instilling in me the belief that the history worth learning consisted of a set of [...]
First and foremost, hello. How are you? Are you having a nice day? So nice to see you here, but before we go any further I must tell you that you very much need to leave me. Just for a little while. As you may have heard, my book with Jules Danielson and Peter Sieruta, [...]
Folks, I talk a fair amount about my upcoming book with Candlewick but I’d be lying to you if I said it was the only book I worked on that’s out this year. For lo, I helped write the introduction for another book that will be coming out this month on the 15th and it [...]
Absolutely Almost By Lisa Graff Philomel (an imprint of Penguin) $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-399-16405-7 Ages 9-12 On shelves now. In the stage musical of Matilda, lyricist Tim Minchin begins the show with the following lines about the state of children today: “Specialness is de rigueur. / Above average is average. Go fig-ueur! / Is it some [...]
We’re getting into the thick of summer now. Both the BEA and ALA conferences have come and gone. Folks are beginning to get a grip on the fall season. So before we go any further I’m going to provide you with a bit of a sneaky peek at Harper Collins and what all they have [...]
So as I may have mentioned there’s a l’il ole book of mine coming out on August 5th by the name of Wild Things: Acts of Mischief in Children’s Literature. Co-written with Jules Danielson (of Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast) and the late great Peter Sieruta (Collecting Children’s Books) it’s a peek into the stories [...]
Like everyone I was shocked and saddened by the announcement that author Walter Dean Myers had recently passed away. The first National Ambassador of Children’s Literature to leave us, there is little to say about his life that hasn’t been said by others far more eloquently than I in the last 24 hours. However, I [...]
From Harper Collins: WALTER DEAN MYERS, PROLIFIC AND BELOVED AUTHOR OF AWARD-WINNING CHILDREN’S BOOKS, DIES AT AGE 76 Myers Touched So Many With His Eloquent and Unflinching Portrayal of Young African-American Lives Walter Dean Myers, beloved and deeply respected children’s book author, died on July 1, 2014, following a brief illness. He [...]
I was perusing the old Top 100 Picture Books and Top 100 Chapter Books polls of yore (still my most popular posts, even after all these years) when a thought occurred. Looking at the list you can see a lot of folks who are still working to this day. Your Mo Willemses. Your Eric Carles. [...]
Recent Comments