Lucille Clifton was one of the most prolific Black picture book authors in the 70s. Spring has officially sprung and I realized that today’s book (which New York schoolchildren are read and given to read every single year around this time) would be the perfect way to celebrate not just the season but Clifton herself.
Ms. Cassandra Federman is on hand to answer a question or ten about the creature in question and her own book. Along the way she clarifies for me the difference between a manatee and a beluga whale, the trend of 4th wall busting characters, and her own history of rescuing manatees.
Here’s an idea: Why not take the idea of a world gone mad and give it a jolt of lightning to the veins? Set your book in another era when America went a little crazy, then liven things up with spies, car chases, murder attempts, gunshots, traitors, double agents, and that’s just the first few chapters! A book for the kids that want to read a response to our age that will thrill them to the core, and maybe plant a couple of seeds of rebellion in their craniums at the same time.
I get a query the other day from Abrams. Would I have any interest in revealing the back cover of the new upcoming Wimpy Kid spin-off Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid: Rowley Jefferson’s Journal (out April 9th)? Here’s the reveal, done live with real kids, flying jelly beans, and (naturally) a fancy scroll.
If you had to rank your Top Five illustrated versions of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, what would you choose? My choices are fairly standard, all things considered.
This is roundabout the time of year when I start stretching the old award-season muscles. I’m going to pull out the books for you that I think have a darn good chance. At the very least, they’re contenders, if not outright winners. Something to guide your reading then.
Tooling about the internet yesterday, I ran across Travis Jonker’s recent blog post 10 to Note: Spring Preview 2019. Here then is my own list of upcoming 2019 titles that I simply adore. All of these are Picture Books. Thank you for the idea, Travis!
You have other books about emotions that you love, I have no doubt, but seriously consider supplementing them with Rash’s latest. A loving little book unafraid to be happy, sad, angry, scared, and supremely good.
As Steve wrote me, “Jerry Craft came to our local bookstore last week to talk about New Kid, and I nabbed a quick interview for the comic.” Perfect! I don’t know about you but we’re all big time New Kid fans at my library. Haven’t seen it yet? I recommend you remedy this situation, pronto. In the meantime, here’s Jerry.
You see, there’s a bit of a problem with old Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile. Most people remember the title of the second book in the series, but are we to ignore Book #1? I gave Kate the chance to decide which one to do, so what did she decide? To do both, of course!
From the inspiring true stories of the Apollo 8 astronauts and a pioneering woman mathematician to tales of a middle school girl struck by lightning and a young elephant who loves to build towers of wooden bricks, this year’s Mathical Book Prize winners offer young readers a glimpse of the exciting—and sometimes unexpected—ways that mathematical ideas fit into the world around them.
Simler has previously wowed American audience with such books as Plume and the magnificent The Blue Hour. Now, thanks in part to the elegant translation by Sarah Ardizzone, she has crafted a new kind of bedtime book. One rooted in poetry, dreams, seasons, fuzzy noses, lilting words, and a type of scratch art never before made possible.
Today I am pleased to be hosting Marc Aronson, the writer, editor, publisher, speaker, and historian. This post discusses his new work Rising Water: The Story of the Thai Cave Rescue which, in a starred review, Kirkus said his, “Solid writing preserves the natural rising suspense and astonishing details of this rescue.”
Folks, it’s time to have a reckoning when it comes to Anne Carroll Moore.
First off, there’s a book about Charles Blondin? Yes indeed. As of October 2019, you’ll be seeing Donna Bowman and Adam Gustavson’s King of the Tightrope: When the Great Blondin Ruled Niagara.
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