In 2019 we will see the publication of three picture books that all shouldered a unique challenge: How do you turn a child’s propensity for asking “Why?” all the time into a story? It almost sounds like a writing exercise when I put it that way.
Children’s Literature Statues of the U.S.: A Call for Entries
July 3, 2019 by
The time has come, dear readers, to update the Complete Listing of All Public Children’s Literature Statues in the United States once again. If you happen to know of an obscure one that I could be missing, lay it on me and I’ll add it to the upcoming updated post.
The Quintessential Librarian Stereotype: Wrestling With the Legacy of Anne Carroll Moore
March 4, 2019 by
Folks, it’s time to have a reckoning when it comes to Anne Carroll Moore.
Fusenews: “You have no power over me”
September 16, 2016 by
Fast fast, like lightning, fast! It’s a Fusenews round-up of epic quickie proportions! First up, my buddy Warren Truitt used to work with me in the Central Children’s Room of New York Public Library. Then he moved to Alabama. He’s kept busy, since that time with a long-term personal project. This one man machine […]
Video Sunday: Hello, Darkness, My Old Friend
April 10, 2016 by
Today we begin with something depressing (happy Sunday, everybody!). On April 4th, all of five days ago, the lovely blog Geekmom (which appears to be an offshoot of Geekdad) premiered the new Adam Rex / Mac Barnett book trailer for their upcoming picture book How This Book Was Made. When you see this trailer you […]
Video Sunday: “A man sits . . . in a setting . . .”
March 20, 2016 by
You know that nightmare you have where you’re up on a stage and you suddenly realize you have to give a TED talk but you have absolutely no idea what the subject is and you’re pretty sure you don’t have the little remote that’ll allow you to flip between slides anyway? That one? You don’t […]
Video Sunday: So hang, boys, hang
September 29, 2013 by
The exciting news this week was that I got to host a couple panels regarding Banned Books (it being the week of ’em and all). The first was at the Brooklyn Book Festival with David Levithan, Francesca Lia Block, and Lauren Myracle. I then cannibalized my own questions and used them in this, a Google+ […]
Name This Boy Band
July 28, 2012 by
At approximately 9:22 EST on Friday, July 27th I sent the following Tweet to the interwebs: These are the kinds of serious thoughts that course through my brain on a given morning. I might hear a One Direction song (yes, I’m a 34-year-old mother, what of it?) and think “That song could be a lot […]
Video Sunday: April Fool’s Day Edition
April 1, 2012 by
And by “edition” I mean that my April Fool’s joke of the day is that I’m not doing anything that has even the slightest connection to April Fool’s Day. Surprise! Don’t worry. You’ll see plenty of stuff around the web to fool you ah-plenty. Remember the day. Now sit back for a treat. Bloody ‘ell. […]
Review of the Day: Chloe and the Lion by Mac Barnett
January 18, 2012 by
Chloe and the Lion By Mac Barnett Illustrated by Adam Rex Disney Hyperion Books $16.99 ISBN: 978-142311334-8 Ages 4 and up On shelves April 3, 2012 Pity the picture book author. Their lot is rife with strife. With a couple exceptions here and there it is mighty hard to make picture book authorship your one […]
Video Sunday: “Everyone agreed he was right to kill the publisher . . .”
December 18, 2011 by
Yep. Your eyes do no deceive you. You are looking at The World Premier of the book trailer for Mac Barnett and Adam Rex’s latest, greatest (yes, greatest) picture book collaboration. For one day and one day only I get to be the first person to show this little vid. Needless to say, I’m thrilled. […]
Fusenews: “Even books meant to put kids to sleep should give them strange dreams.”
October 25, 2011 by
Sharp-eyed spotters in the children’s book realm caught site of an interesting little something in the Kidlitosphere this week: An honest-to-gosh manifesto. Not a manifesto of a nefarious nature, mind, but one that begins with the conversation starter, “We are tired of hearing the picture book is in trouble, and tired of pretending it is […]
Video Sunday: More Glitter
October 2, 2011 by
Somewhere along the way I completely missed this Percy Jackson video in which everyone from Brian Selznick to a moustachioed Eoin Colfer (when did that happen?) chat it up. Video #2 contains a bit of advice that John Rocco actually had to contend with when he made the jacket for The Lightening Thief: “Green covers […]
Video Sunday: The Thrilla in Vermilion
June 5, 2011 by
I was pleased to see that CNN provided a quick look at 826Valencia (the first of the 826 tutoring centers around the country), quick though it might be. I do wish it offered some more practical advice on finding tutoring for kids, which is not an easy thing to do. Still, it’s a good start. […]
Fusenews: Give it what you’ve got
October 27, 2010 by
James Preller has an idea. An awesome idea. We’ve all heard that boys are reading far less than girls these days. To combat this lack of laddie reading, folks have come up with booklists or websites or what have you to inspire the male masses to pick up a book. Preller, however, has taken a […]
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