Teen Librarian Toolbox
April 30, 2012 by Betsy Bird
Just a quick apology first. My laptop got a tune-up last month because it was running slowly, but that preventative care apparently meant bupkiss to it since it died three days ago. It’s in the shop right now, dying just in time to muck me up in terms of an SLJ article and the Top […]
April 26, 2012 by Betsy Bird
Ain’t he just the sweetest thing? Author/illustrator Aaron Zenz recently wrote just the loveliest ode to his four top favorite children’s literary blogs, and then went and created original art for each. In my case he created this little Fuse guy (or possibly Fuse gal) based on the bright yellow Fuse you see at the […]
April 25, 2012 by Betsy Bird
You’ve got your big-time fancy pants New York publishers on the one hand, and then you have your big-time fancy pants Boston publishers on the other. A perusal of Minders of Make-Believe by Leonard Marcus provides a pretty good explanation for why Boston is, in its way, a small children’s book enclave of its own. […]
April 24, 2012 by Betsy Bird
Jimmy the Greatest! By Jairo Buitrago Illustrated by Rafael Yockteng Translated by Elisa Amado Groundwood Books (House of Anansi Press) $18.95 ISBN: 978-1-55498-178-6 Ages 4-8 On shelves now Once in a while I’ll be impressed by a book for kids, pick it up to review it, and in the course of writing the review become […]
April 23, 2012 by Betsy Bird
I’ve become a bit of a board book connoisseur in my old age. While my cohorts are reading speculative YA fiction and high end narrative nonfiction I’ve been getting up close and personal with books that have pages that can double as coasters. Aside from realizing just how difficult the darn things are to write […]
April 22, 2012 by Betsy Bird
Okay, so I have to ask. What is up with various members of The Decemberists and children’s literature these days? First lead singer Colin Meloy writes a fantasy novel. Now Jenny Conlee helps compose a score for a stage adaptation of Matt Phelan’s The Storm in the Barn playing at The Oregon Children’s Theater. You’ve […]
ADVERTISEMENT
April 20, 2012 by Betsy Bird
Susan Miles of Traverse City, MI recently sent me a copy of a wonderful book. Called Revolting Librarians it’s edited by Celeste West and Elizabeth Katz and my edition is the second printing from 1972. I was flipping through it this morning and a poem caught my eye. Now it’s caught in my head. So […]
April 19, 2012 by Betsy Bird
Chuck Close: Face Book By Chuck Close & Glue and Paper Workshop Abrams Books for Young Readers $18.95 ISBN: 978-1-4197-0163-4 Ages 9-12 On shelves now The autobiography assignment. Oh, it exists. It exists and children’s librarians know to fear it. At a certain time of year a child will approach the reference desk and utter […]
April 17, 2012 by Betsy Bird
Durn. This is what I get for not doing a Fusenews in a while. A whole plethora of good stuff! Let’s see what we can use up in a single day, eh? For the record, if you haven’t read these Hunger Games comics (in the style of Kate Beaton, no?) then now’s the time. They’re […]
April 16, 2012 by Betsy Bird
Generally speaking I don’t do much in the way of blog tours. They’re a-okay for other folks but a heckuva lot of work when all is said and done. Really, it takes someone particularly spectacular to get me to participate in one. Someone divine. Someone extraordinary. Someone, let’s face it, who’s dead. Diana Wynne Jones […]
Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.