Appealing to older and younger readers alike, Portis has outdone herself with the book’s design and art. A book for everybody. After all, who doesn’t like water? Hey, Portis! You made a really good book.
Scary Stories for Young Foxes by Christian McKay Heidicker
June 14, 2019 by Leave a Comment
oxes? How scary can that get? Answer: Hoo-boy. Hold onto your hats folks. Turns out, what terrifies a fox can terrify a child just as easily. For some readers the fact that everyone here sports red fur will make the horrors a little better. For others, much much worse.
Do We Expect Nonfiction to Be Serious?
June 12, 2019 by 5 Comments
Funny Nonfiction isn’t particularly common, but it most certainly exists. But how do you go about it? Let’s look at some of the funnier books of 2019 and see how they tackled the challenge.
Review of the Day: Going Down Home with Daddy by Kelly Starling Lyons and Daniel Minter
June 6, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Maybe I’m a little envious of Kelly Starling Lyons. She knows how to write a killer book. Plus she got paired with the incomparable Daniel Minter, so right there. Right there. But really, I have no time to be envious of anyone. I’m using that time instead to be just so darn grateful this book exists at all. Family rendered in its most beautiful light. A treasure in hand indeed.
2019 Comics for Kids You Should Keep an Eye On
June 4, 2019 by Leave a Comment
We’re almost halfway through the year, so why not take a gander at seventeen of the great graphic novels/comics for kids out so far (or about to come out)? I have read a LOT of 2019 comics so far. These are the ones that I’ve enjoyed the most. Let’s see if you agree (and if you can name any I haven’t seen yet that you absolutely adore).
Review of the Day: Climbing Shadows by Shannon Bramer, ill. Cindy Derby
May 31, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Do you remember that scene in Orlando by Virginia Woolf where a bunch of witty people are in a room saying witty things and then Alexander Pope walks in and says three things so devastatingly witty that he just destroys everything? That’s what happens when Climbing Shadows gets paired alongside other collections of poetry. Smart. Honestly heartfelt. Utterly beautiful to look at. See the bar? Yeah. It just got raised.
Review of the Day: Maximillian Fly by Angie Sage
May 24, 2019 by
“I am Fly. Maximillian Fly. I am a good creature. I am not bad, as some will tell you.” Considering that Maximillian is a human/cockroach hybrid of sorts, this is not particularly surprising news. Meet the dystopian/Steampunk/action adventure novel that’s like nothing you’ve ever read before.
Review of the Day: Maybe Tomorrow? by Charlotte Agell, ill. Ana Ramírez González
May 17, 2019 by
Today I look at an infinitely gentle take on the feelings we lug around inside of ourselves and why we don’t have to always lug them on our own. Maybe Tomorrow? is, at its heart, about how to be a good friend. A seemingly simple lesson for a deeply complex world.
Review of the Day: The Crayon Man by Natascha Biebow and Steven Salerno
May 10, 2019 by
The ideal use of great writing without cheating. Filled with facts and backmatter, it also makes the subject interesting to kids. It’s beautiful to look at and while I would have made some changes, it stands as a pretty darn good look at a man, a plan, a crayon. Crayola.
Poetry Month Ain’t Over Till I Sez It’s Over: The Shockingly Good Verse of 2019
May 7, 2019 by
Gather round me, ye children. I know we’re in May, but poetry can shine every day of the year if it wants to. This is all the new good stuff. You know you wanna know what’s worthy.
Booklist’s 50 Best Middle-Grade Novels of the 21st Century (Now With Ample Edits!)
April 26, 2019 by
If you received your latest issue of Booklist in the mail then you might have noticed that its editors got together and created nothing less than the 50 Best Middle-Grade Novels of the 21st Century. I substitute some of their choices for my own for fun.
Review of the Day: Crab Cake by Andrea Tsurumi
April 24, 2019 by
A book that effectively establishes normality, disrupts it with horror, and then assures the reader that normality can return. If Tsurumi’s previous picture book, Accident, was about taking responsibility for your mistakes, Crab Cake is about taking care of yourself when the mistake is not your own.
Review of the Day: New Kid by Jerry Craft
April 17, 2019 by
Blisteringly honest with a respect for young readers that is sadly uncommon, Jerry Craft has created something revolutionary: An everyday black boy in a comic for kids.
Review of the Day: The Line Tender by Kate Allen
April 10, 2019 by
There are books for kids that dare to be more thoughtful than pulse pounding. If chosen freely by a child, they can unlock something inside. Something that means more to the person reading than anyone else. The Line Tender carries this promise in its pages. It’s the right book for the right reader.
Review of the Day: The Girl and the Wolf by Katherena Vermette, ill. Julie Flett
April 4, 2019 by
The Girl and the Wolf by Métis author Katherena Vermette and Cree- Métis artist Julie Flett, is an original fairytale in the purest sense of the term. Essentially, it takes a European idea and flips it on its head. A book that cracks the limitations of the fairy tale form wide open.
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