Excluding the very rare exceptions here and there, it’s fairly safe to say that when picture books are adapted into big screen movie sensations they are inevitably packed to the gills full of unnecessary awfulness. Consider the fate of The Cat in the Hat if you doubt me at all. Now there are exceptions to [...]
There are certain words and phrases that are instantly hilarious. Kalamazoo is one of them. Platypus is another. All the more reason to combine the two. That’s my logic. When I heard that Jarrett Krosoczka (he of the Lunch Lady GN series as well as a stunner of a TED talk, amongst other accomplishments), had [...]
Brick by Brick By Charles R. Smith Jr. Illustrated by Floyd Cooper $17.99 ISBN: 978-0-06-192082-0 Ages 4-8 On shelves now Sometimes I feel like the older I get the more interesting history becomes. Not that history, real history, wasn’t always fascinating. It’s just that when I was a kid you couldn’t have named a subject [...]
If you’ve received your latest edition of Horn Book Magazine then you may see that Roger and Co. had the clever notion to ask a bunch of folks what their favorite weirdo children’s books were. And as luck would have it, I was asked too. You can see my choice here if you like. If [...]
THE CHILDREN’S BOOK COUNCIL AND EVERY CHILD A READER OPEN VOTING FOR THE CHILDREN’S AND TEEN CHOICE BOOK AWARDS AT BOOKWEEKONLINE.COM THE ONLY NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS PROGRAM WHERE THE WINNERS ARE SELECTED BY YOUNG READERS OF ALL AGES FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE New York, NY — March 19, 2013 – The Children’s Book Council and [...]
The Water Castle By Megan Frazer Blakemore Illustrated by Jim Kay Walker Books for Young Readers (an imprint of Bloomsbury) $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-8027-2839-5 Ages 9-12 On shelves now Where does fantasy stop and science fiction begin? Is it possible to ever draw a distinct line in the sand between the two? A book with a [...]
Man, isn’t it nice when the award season has died down and we don’t have to deal with any more crazed speculations about who’s “Newbery worthy” or “Caldecott worthy” or any of that nuttiness? We can just sit back and enjoy some books and not . . . not worry about . . . *gulp* [...]
I See What You Say: Visual Stories and Narrative Art Cartoon Art Museum Exhibition: March 16 – July 7, 2013 Reception Sunday, April 28, 2013; details TBA San Francisco, CA: There are many ways to tell a story. It doesn’t need “Once upon a time” or “happily ever after.” It doesn’t need any words at [...]
Morning, folks. Bird here. Seems this book I’ve written with fellow bloggers Peter Sieruta of Collecting Children’s Books and Jules Danielson of Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast is in the last stages of completion. Fun With Copyedits is the name of the game this week, which means that my blogging may suffer a tad here [...]
New York Public Library’s Children’s Literary Salon is pleased to announce our next event on Saturday, March 23rd at 12:00 p.m. in the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building’s South Court Auditorium: The Alternative Children’s Library Join a panel discussion highlighting librarians who work in alternative children’s library spaces. Features Public Services Librarian Leah High of The [...]
The Dark By Lemony Snicket Illustrated by Jon Klassen Little Brown & Co. $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-316-18748-0 Ages 4-8 On shelves April 2nd You do not know the temptation I am fighting right now to begin this review with some grandiose statement equating a fear of the dark with a fear of death itself. You have [...]
I do more than books from time to time. On Tuesday night I had a bit of a treat. Something I’d been looking forward to for years and years was finally within my grasp. You see, a couple years ago my opera singer friend Meredith went to a performance of a musical in Stratford-on-Avon and [...]
Tra la! It’s May! The lusty month of May! The time that . . . . what? It’s March? Seriously? Forget it then. I’m going back in my hidey-hole. Call me when it’s May. But before I go, here’s a swath of delicious Fusenews. Good for what ails ye. First off, a gem. I got [...]
Our good buddy James Kennedy alerted me to the fact that after his magnificent 90-Second Newbery show left New York City for other library systems in other states he received additional, incredibly funny and insane submissions that are worth seeing. What we have here is a Tacoma-based Frog and Toad Together take on the story [...]
Ariol: Just a Donkey Like You and Me By Emmanuel Guibert Illustrated by Marc Boutavant Translated by Joe Johnson Papercutz $12.99 ISBN: 978-1-59707-399-8 Ages 9-12 On shelves now. The French are different from you and me. They have better comics for their kids. Sure, America’s been doing passably well in the last few years, but [...]
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