Julie Danielson calls it her Ghost File, and that’s as good a name as any for the books a blogger fails to talk up sufficiently in the previous year. 2017 was a pretty nice year for me personally, all things considered, so I’d like to pay it forward a bit and offer an homage to […]
And just like that . . . *poof!* It’s gone! Not gone, exactly. The 31 Days, 31 Lists series may indeed continue next year. Just so long as the books or my eyesight holds out. In the meantime, it’s been a blast, guys. I appreciate that not a single one of you pointed out to […]
Not a particularly complete list, or a very long one. Yet for 2017 these were the books that left a lasting impression on my little noggin. I read ’em. I liked ’em, every last one. I think they’re the bee’s knees. And I hope you like them too. Fiction for the masses! 2017 Middle Grade […]
I think it takes a special kind of bravery on the part of the publisher to reprint a chapter book for children. Beloved works of fiction are funny beasts. You’ll have a distinct segment of the population that fondly remembers the title, but because are dealing with books they read in their youth, that memory […]
Okay, folks. The rules are the same as yesterday. Books that have already appeared on previous lists won’t get a write-up. Newer inclusions that didn’t slot neatly onto another list will. And in some cases you’ll be wondering why a book that has a limited number of pages is on the “Chapter Books” list. If […]
Well folks, we’re reaching the end of this month-long party. There are only a few lists to go, and it looks like I’ve been saving some of the biggies to the end. And because there are only so many hours in a day, and because I’ve mentioned a lot of these titles before, I’m just […]
In January of 2018 the cover story of SLJ will be one I penned summarizing the current crop of biographies for kids and teens of famous women and how this listing has changed over decades. In the past it was all Helen Keller, Amelia Earhart, and Rosa Parks as far as the eye could see. […]
The holiday picture book is a fascinating object in terms of artistic quality. Most public libraries, due to space issues, will create separate “Holiday” book sections where these books are sequestered away for all time. They are pigeonholed to a particular time of the year, sometimes to the good and sometimes to their detriment. And […]
Someday I long to see a breakdown of what kinds of nonfiction children’s books win the ALA Youth Media Awards. How many books that win are biographies? How many cover STEM topics? How many are about math? (I kid – those never win) But science and nature are awfully popular topics and with good reason. […]
Of all the lists on this blog this one may seem an odd little inclusion, but I have my reasons. A couple years ago I helped serve on the first committee selecting The New-York Historical Society Children’s History Book Prize. The requirements of the prize are simple: You and a group of schoolchildren must find […]
Considering the degree to which I beat the drum in honor of funny books for kids, you’re going to find today’s list a bit on the paltry side. As such, I’d like to assure you that it should not be considered complete in any way for the year of 2017. I liked a whole slew […]
I’d be lying to you if I said that I wasn’t desperately reading graphic novels until lunchtime yesterday, in an effort to make darn certain that no comic went unconsidered for today’s list. Comics are my love and delight. Did you know that there’s a new comic award out there, by the way? The Excellence in […]
I almost feel as though early chapter books are the Part Two to yesterday’s easy books. If one gently guides kids on the path towards self-sufficient reading, the other certainly drills home how capable child readers have become. And, like easy books, there’s a wide range of reading levels at play here. Some of these […]
It’s haiku. It’s poetry. It’s harder than original Twitter. Creating a quality easy book, whatever the reading level, is an art. Today, I’m throwing them all into a pile. The easy books that use only the simplest of words. The ones ones that veer closer to early chapter books (a category we’ll explore further tomorrow). […]
Keep Children’s Literature Weird. There. There’s your rallying cry for the day. Now Travis Jonker has been nice and consistent on this front, producing his lists of The Most Astonishingly Unconventional Children’s Books every year since 2012. You’re bound to see some overlap with this list, but I’ve a couple of my own particular favorites […]
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