Happy Halloween, all you clever critters! This past Saturday New York’s resident weather gods decided we had it too easy this autumnal season. Fall leaves? Cooling breezes off the ocean? Cider!?! Hogwash! So they doused us in a snowfall the likes of which you might be more accustomed to in, oh I dunno, WINTER OR [...]
Yep. A good old-fashioned bit of library/musical theater parody. Joyce Valenza got some students to explain curation things Broadway style. They do a good job. I was trying to think up other Fiddler-inspired MLIS songs but it’s tough. 20 points if you can come up with another. I like to say that writing a really [...]
Dragon Castle By Joseph Bruchac Dial Books (an imprint of Penguin) $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-8037-33767-3 Ages 10-14 On shelves now. “When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the [...]
Because if ever a guy deserved his own press release, this guy does. Angus Killick will be joining Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group as Vice President and Associate Publisher. He will report directly to Jon Yaged, President of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group (MCPG). In this newly-created position, Angus will coordinate publishing programs across MCPG’s portfolio of [...]
Because when it comes to downright silly blog titles, I am one with the universe. In a recent interview with The Guardian, Maurice Sendak was heard to say that of all his books over the years his favorite, without a doubt, is Outside Over There. Funny. I would have pegged him as a Higglety Pigglety [...]
What Animals Really Like By Fiona Robinson Abrams Books for Young Readers $15.95 ISBN: 978-0-8109-8976-4 Ages 4-8 On shelves now. I’m sitting in a room with other children’s librarians. Together, we are attempting to determine what the best children’s books of a given year are. It’s late in the publishing season and we haven’t a [...]
Sharp-eyed spotters in the children’s book realm caught site of an interesting little something in the Kidlitosphere this week: An honest-to-gosh manifesto. Not a manifesto of a nefarious nature, mind, but one that begins with the conversation starter, “We are tired of hearing the picture book is in trouble, and tired of pretending it is [...]
Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans By Kadir Nelson Balzer and Bray (an imprint of Harper Collins) $19.99 ISBN: 978-0-06-173074-0 Ages 9-12 On shelves now Humans tend to be a highly visual species. When folks tell you not to judge a book by its cover, that’s an optimistic sentiment rather than [...]
Halloween is on the horizon so Monica Edinger (of Educating Alice n’ such) whipped together a handy dandy little list of recommended spooky 2011 books for the season. These videos take a bloody long time to make but dude, they are so worth it in the end. Now I should remind you that soon soon [...]
The Children’s Center at 42nd Street is pleased to announce our next literary salon on Saturday, November 12th at 2:00 p.m. Military Offspring: A Whole New Genre Join authors Rosanne Parry (Heart of a Shepherd, Second Fiddle), Sara Lewis Holmes (Operation Yes), and Susan Morgan Williams (Bull Rider) talk about children in military families and [...]
Sitting down with an agent from CAA yesterday the conversation turned, as all conversations must, to Olivia. The Falconer pig, that is. There was some speculation as to why Olivia is as popular as she is. Her personality is certainly in the vein of Eloise, of course, albeit with better influences in her life. But [...]
If I’m not too incorrect I believe that today is the last day for SLJ editor Brian Kenney before he steps off and joins the White Plains Public Library as their Director. It was Brian who first tapped me to become an SLJ blogger, and who, in effect, “discovered” me. He’s been a wonderful editor [...]
We’re all friends here, right? I can confess things to you, yes? Okay. Here goes. *deep breath* I’ve been a children’s librarian for going on seven years here and I had no idea that there was an ALSC committee out there charged with the single, solitary duty of making lists. I endeavor to explain. When [...]
A Monster Calls By Patrick Ness Inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd Illustrated by Jim Kay Candlewick Press $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-7636-5559-4 Ages 11 and up On shelves now I don’t mind metaphors as much as I might. I think that generally I’m supposed to hate them when they show up in children’s literature. I [...]
Little Chicken’s Big Day By Katie Davis and Jerry Davis Margaret K. McElderry Books (an imprint of Simon & Schuster) $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-4424-1401-3 Ages 4-8 On shelves now. Are there any picture book catchphrases that have entered the cultural lexicon? I’m serious in asking this, but I’m a poor judge of what everyone knows. When [...]
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