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A Fuse #8 Production
Inside A Fuse #8 Production

Review of the Day: Mostly Monsterly by Tammi Sauer

MostlyMonsterly

Mostly Monsterly By Tammi Sauer Illustrated by Scott Magoon Simon & Schuster (A Paula Wiseman book) $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-4169-6110-9 Ages 4-8 On shelves now. After a certain point the sheer number of princess and fairy books a children’s librarian has to handle begins to feel oppressive. The crushing weight of all that pink and all [...]

Review: Where Is Catkin? by Janet Lord

Catkin

Where Is Catkin? By Janet Lord Illustrated by Julie Paschkis Peachtree Press ISBN: 978-1-56145-523-2 $16.95 Ages 4-8 On shelves now. Julie Paschkis makes cats look fun to draw. There. Done. Shortest review I ever wrote. Where’s my hot toddy? Aw, heck. Look at me. Old softie that I am I can’t just stop with that. [...]

Fusenews: He’s the greatest secret agent in the world

Duck!Rabbit!

In this modern day and age a gal has to have a couple of jobs to keep her head above water.  With that in mind, I’ve found that two of my primary sources of income have in and of themselves, and of their own volition, hired new bosses.  At New York Public Library we welcome [...]

Review of the Day: Dotty by Erica S. Perl

Dotty

Dotty By Erica S. Perl Illustrated by Julia Denos Abrams Books for Young Readers ISBN: 978-0-8109-8962-7 $16.95 Ages 4-8 On shelves now. Seems to me that picture books get split into very particular genres pretty quickly. I actually keep lists of them on my computer at work, depending on how many requests I receive. There [...]

Review of the Day: Joha Makes a Wish by Eric A. Kimmel

Joha Makes a Wish

Joha Makes a Wish: A Middle Eastern Tale By Eric A. Kimmel Illustrated by Omar Rayyan Marshall Cavendish $17.99 ISBN: 978-0-7614-5599-8 Ages 4-8 On shelves now There was a time, best beloved, when folktales and fairytales were common. Every other season they filled the publishers’ lists and librarians bought such books in droves. My own [...]

Review of the Day: Big Red Lollipop by Rukhsana Khan

Big Red Lollipop By Rukhsana Khan Illustrated by Sophie Blackall Viking (a division of Penguin) $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-670-06287-4 Ages 4-8 On shelves now. Yeah, I have a little sister. Have since I was six. And like most older siblings I had the usual older sis/younger sis relationship with her you might imagine. We older siblings [...]

Review of the Day: Cats’ Night Out by Caroline Stutson

CatsNightOut

Cats’ Night Out By Caroline Stutson Illustrated by J. Klassen Simon & Schuster (A Paula Wiseman Book) $15.99 ISBN: 978-1-4169-4005-0 Ages 4-8 On shelves now Cats that go out to dance at night. I know I’ve seen this trope done before, but it’s hard to remember where. I suppose The Alley Cat’s Meow by Kathi [...]

Review of the Day: Layla’s Head Scarf by Miriam Cohen

Layla’s Head Scarf By Miriam Cohen Illustrated by Ronald Himler Star Bright Books $15.95 ISBN: 978-1059572-177-8 Ages 4-8 On shelves now. Picture books serve all kinds of purposes. Some are meant to entertain. Others to instruct. Some deal with concrete subjects, and others are more emotional. Today I was asked at my library to come [...]

Top 100 Picture Books Poll Results (#1-101)

And now, in order and with linkety goodness intact, I bring to you the results of the Top 100 Picture Book Poll of 2009.  Please note two changes.  First, the inclusion of Lost and Found at #60, where it belongs.  Second, the fact that King Bidgood was originally incorrectly tallied and has moved up a [...]

Review of the Day: Iggy Peck, Architect by Andrea Beaty

iggypeck

Iggy Peck, Architect By Andrea Beaty Illustrated by David Roberts Abrams Books for Young Readers $15.95 ISBN: 978-0810911062 Ages 4-8 On shelves now You are a children’s librarian. Your job is simple. People ask you for books. You find books. People ask you for movies. You find movies. It’s all pretty basic, really. You get [...]

Review of the Day: The Bearskinner – A Tale of the Brothers Grimm by Laura Amy Schlitz

bearskinner

The Bearskinner: A Tale of the Brothers Grimm By Laura Amy Schlitz Illustrated by Max Grafe Candlewick Press $16.99 ISBN: 9780763627300 Ages 7-12 One shelves now For the reviewer that reviews for pleasure, every book that sits on your lap has to prove itself to some extent. Even the world’s shortest picture book is an [...]

Review of the Day: Mrs. Marlowe’s Mice by Frank Asch

untitled

Mrs. Marlowe’s Mice By Frank Asch Illustrated by Devin Asch Kids Can Press $17.95 ISBN: 978-1-55453-022-9 Ages 4-8 On shelves now I used to think that employing a computer to handle all your illustrating needs in a picture book was a risky proposition. Then we entered into 2007 and suddenly there were books like Bow-Wow [...]