Heavy Medal
January 29, 2017 by Betsy Bird
The news, man. It’s overwhelming. I look on my Facebook and my Twitter and it’s all I can see. The days when I could stroll along in blissful ignorance are long gone. This past week was particularly bad so . . . let’s watch Chance the Rapper sing the Arthur theme song with Ziggy Marley, […]
January 26, 2017 by Betsy Bird
Today is a nicely visual little post! We’re going to take a gander at what I saw when I attended the ALA Midwinter Conference this past weekend. The large publishers can only highlight a small selection from their list. The little publishers can highlight everything coming out in a given season. Bearing that in mind, […]
January 24, 2017 by Betsy Bird
Now THAT is how you do an award season, my friends. Boy oh boy, I was mighty pleased MIGHTY PLEASED by a good 98% of the winners (and of that 2% that didn’t please me, I’ll never tell). I fully intend to do a post about all the neat stuff I saw on the conference […]
January 22, 2017 by Betsy Bird
Normally on a Sunday I like to do a light little Video Sunday piece, just highlighting the vids of the week. Not today. In light of yesterday’s record breaking marches worldwide, I’d like to pay homage to the children’s book illustrators that used their considerable talents to support the march, marchers, and more. In case […]
January 20, 2017 by Betsy Bird
Princess Cora and the Crocodile By Laura Amy Schlitz Illustrated by Brian Floca Candlewick Press $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-7636-4822-0 Early Chapter Book On shelves March 28th What if. What if Good Night Moon had been illustrated by someone other than Clement Hurd? What if. What if Charlotte’s Web had had an artist who wasn’t Garth Williams? […]
January 18, 2017 by Betsy Bird
Are you excited? I’m excited. Who wouldn’t be? Very soon, almost too soon, it will be Monday morning and all around the world we’ll be able to tune into the live feed of ALA’s Youth Media Awards to hear the winners of the Caldecott, Newbery, Printz, etc. Not like in the old days when you […]
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January 17, 2017 by Betsy Bird
This past Sunday you might have seen a review in the New York Times for Steve Sheinkin’s latest book Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team. In the event that it piqued your interest, you were familiar with the Radiolab episode on the same subject, or you simply like Steve Sheinkin (or […]
January 16, 2017 by Betsy Bird
It’s that time again! Because my day job actually consists of buying adult books, not children’s, I am privy to a whole different slant on how children’s literature is perceived by the wider publishing world. What assumptions do adult authors make of our profession? How do books for children affect the cultural conversation? I don’t […]
January 13, 2017 by Betsy Bird
Prince Ribbit By Jonathan Emmett Illustrated by Poly Bernatene Peachtree Press $16.95 ISBN: 978-1-56145-761-8 Ages 4-7 On shelves March 1, 2017 There’s been a lot of talk in the news lately about . . . well, the news. Specifically fake news. Articles and stories that look real when you find them in your in-box or […]
January 11, 2017 by Betsy Bird
Not too long ago I created the 31 Days, 31 Lists series where I counted down a list of top 2016 books every day. When I initially came up with the idea I briefly wondered if I should make lists celebrating specific kinds of diversity. Top African-American Picture Books of 2016 or Best Diverse Titles. […]
Teen Librarian Toolbox
by Karen Jensen, MLS
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