Betsy Bird's Blog, page 124

The Deft Board Book Talents At Work In PET: A Matthew Van Fleet Interview

A long time ago, back in the days when I lived in New York City without small children, I had not yet acquired a full appreciation for the books of Matthew Van Fleet. It took parenthood to open my eyes to the sheer amount of work that goes into his works. After all, it is hard to describe the relief one feels when handing a very small child a book that they will (A) not be able to completely destroy in 10 minutes or less and (B) retains their interest. Touch and feel elements? Noises? Tabs? ...

The 2021 Sydney Taylor Blog Tour: A Talk with Lesléa Newman and Susan Gal about Welcoming Elijah

There was so much to process when the ALA Youth Media Awards were announced last month that one could be forgiven for needing a fuller consideration of all the winners. For my part, one of my favorite awards to track is the Sydney Taylor Award which is, “presented annually to outstanding books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience.” It is with great delight that I tell you too that I was asked to host the winners of the Sydney Taylor Award for Picture Books ...

Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Anno’s Journey by Mitsumasa Anno

In lieu of anything romantic, what with Valentine’s Day on the horizon, I thought I’d treat Kate to a wordless picture book chock full of more details than she could ever shake a stick at. Mitsumasa Anno died on December 24, 2020 and I realized we’d never done one of his books on the show. The sheer amount of intricate dots in this title would make Peter Sis blush. Will Kate like it? Let’s just put it this way: When she comes back from reading it she says it’s full of, “Duels, clowns and bu...

We Wait for the Sun: A Dual Interview with Katie McCabe and Raissa Figueroa

It’s Black History Month and this year it feels like everyone is redoubling their efforts to do it justice. But “history” is the story we tell ourselves about the past, yes? It does not require big famous names. It can mean something as simple as remembering the ones who came before.

This year an interesting book has come out that straddles the informational/fictional line. Dovey Johnson Roundtree was responsible for the 2019 posthumous memoir for adults Mighty Justice: My Life in Civil R...

The Hamster Gets Me: A Cover Reveal for Stanley’s Library by William Bee

As far as I can ascertain, there are two types of cover reveals in this world. There are cover reveals for books where the author and the title itself are complete unknowns. In such cases, this reveal is one of the very few ways a debut creator can get their book out there, above and beyond the usual methods. Then there are the reveals of well-established authors, illustrators, and series. In these cases, publicity is nice, but the real hope is to build excitement about what is coming.

Today’...

Review of the Day: Milo Imagines the World by Matt de la Peña, ill. Christian Robinson

Milo Imagines the World
By Matt de la Peña
Illustrated by Christian Robinson
G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers (an imprint of Penguin Random House)
$18.99
ISBN: 9780399549083
Ages 4-7
On shelves now.

The human brain love to form assumptions because long ago that adaptive quality could potentially lead to enduring survival. When Homo sapiens were tromping about 250,000 years ago, the ability to size up a potential friend or foe instantaneously could mean the difference between life or deat...

Humanizing Nonfiction Writers: An Interview with Melissa Stewart

When the ALA Youth Media Awards were announced on Monday, January the 25th it was notable that Nonfiction had quietly inserted itself into a great many categories. Really, only the John Steptoe Award, Batchelder (sorta), Stonewall, and Geisel failed to have any nonfiction representation. But before you all start jumping on the nonfiction bus and acting like you were there the whole time, let’s pay a bit of tribute to a woman that’s been beating the drum for informational fiction for a great numb...

Fuse 8 n’ Kate: When Sophie Gets Angry – Really, Really Angry by Molly Bang

Are you ready for a thoughtful consideration of some very angry feelings? YES YOU ARE! Or, at the very least, I was. This week I show Kate a book that, in many ways, really inspired the plethora of books about strong emotions (and how to deal with them) that so many books replicate today. I think a lot of us are feeling like Sophie these days. It’s funny how you can not think directly about a book for a long time and then see it and suddenly have wild opinions about it. But are my opinions ...

LATINITAS by Juliet Menéndez: A Deep Dive Into Heroes Past and Present

We all have blogs that we like to follow. Me? I’m a big-time fan of Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast. It’s just about one of the finest illustration blogs out there, and no post proves that better than a recent piece Jules presented on Juliet Menéndez and her book LATINITAS: CELEBRATING 40 BIG DREAMERS. I don’t usually say this, but the art of today’s featured book is precisely my jam. I love the precision and the symmetry of the women on these pages. Basically, I am incredibly into ...

Review of the Day: Amber and Clay by Laura Amy Schlitz, ill. Julia Iredale

Amber and Clay
By Laura Amy Schlitz
Candlewick Press
$22.99
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0122-2
Ages 10-14
On shelves March 9th

“Hermes here. The Greek god – / Don’t put down the book – / I’m talking to you. If the lines looks like poetry, / relax. This book is shorter than it looks.” He may be the god of liars and thieves, but here’s one moment when Hermes is telling the truth. Funny story. I remember working as a children’s librarian in New York City when, one day, I got “that kid”. Librarians, you may hav...