Sometimes it’s hard to tell fact from fiction. Time and again, I unearthed a telling incident or a charming anecdote only to learn that it wasn’t true. Frustrating? You bet. But it was also enlightening, a reminder that it is often difficult to find the history in the hype, to separate truth from myth. I [...]

If you haven’t yet checked out some of the entries for James Kennedy’s 90 Second Newbery film festival, then head on over.  Monica Edinger and Besty Bird also offer reviews of the event held this weekend in NYC. I find these clips great examples of why it’s so important to have different kinds of literature represented in [...]

So we’ve already covered Team Mice, now we’re on to Team Men which includes the likes of Charles Dickens, Leonard Bernstein, Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Max Schmeling, and Dinga the blacksmith Charles Dickens makes a cameo appearance in THE CHESHIRE CHEESE CAT, but he gets his own excellent biography this year–CHARLES [...]

If you haven’t yet perused the Nov/Dec issue of the Horn Book Magazine, there are some treasures in there, including: An editorial about an advertisement, whose authors have also posted it here: http://thepicturebook.co/.  In his editorial , Roger challenges his readers “to find anything there that is not equally pertinent to fiction and nonfiction published [...]

Hildegard sighed a loud, squeaking, outraged sort of sigh, when she was informed that a new litter of mouselets had been born in the sexton’s closet.  Such bad timing!  Such bad placement! Such the disappointment! Oops.  Wrong book.  That was THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX, of course, and this is BLESS THIS MOUSE by Lois Lowry, [...]