Betsy Bird's Blog, page 128

31 Days, 31 Lists: 2020 Science Fiction for Kids

It’s my secret love. Science fiction, when written for children, can be utterly eye-opening. Countless interviews with groundbreaking scientists attest to the fact that in their early years they were entranced by media and literature that tapped into the unknown. Today, I’m breaking it down into different sections. Our categories today will be Picture Books, Early Chapter Books, Middle Grade Fiction, and Comics. You may see some familiar titles from previous lists this month. They are more t...

Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas by Russell and Lillian Hoban

“Christmas was coming, and money was more scarce than ever.” How I hadn’t thought to do this picture book for the Christmas holiday season yet is beyond me. I simply adore the Jim Henson adaptation of this book . . . and Kate loathes it. Knowing that, I still gave her the book and we discover that this is the ultimate 2020 COVID Christmas title. I mean, what other holiday book can you name where the characters actually say, “Maybe Christmas next year will be better.” In the course of things ...

31 Days, 31 Lists: 2020 Funny Fiction for Kids

Eh. I’m the gal that edited a book called Funny Girl. Of course I’m going to dedicate an entire days to the subject. And to make today’s list work, we’re going to have to cover ALL aspects of children’s literature that involves the funny. That means that today’s list isn’t just middle grade chapter books but early chapter books and poetry and comics. The bulk of what I read in 2020 wasn’t funny. The bulk of what I lived in 2020 wasn’t funny. Be that as it may be, there were hilarious books r...

31 Days, 31 Lists: 2020 Comics & Graphic Novels for Kids

Well, you’re in for it now. I do pretty well reading all the picture books in a given year, but I know I missed a good chunk of them in 2020. I did even worse with middle grade fiction. Did I even read half the books that got stars from profession review journals? Probably not. Nonfiction was okay, but not perfect. The ONLY category of children’s book where I feel relatively confident that I saw 90% of the good stuff is comics. I read whole swaths of the things. Imports and realistic fiction...

31 Days, 31 Lists: 2020 Easy Books and Early Chapter Books

Last year there were so many easy books to pick and choose between that they earned themselves their very own category. This year? Not much to see. Never despair. Where Easy Books seemed thin on the ground, Early Chapter Books bumped up in numbers. We always see an influx of cool ones from Europe, but in 2020 the Americans truly held their own. The results, as you can see, are bountiful:

2020 Easy Books

Egg or Eyeball? (Chick and Brain) by Cece Bell

This might be the first y...

Animals Go Vroom! Cover Reveal and Interview with Ms. Abi Cushman

ATTENTION FELLOW PROCESS NERDS: Have I gotta post for YOU today!

When I agreed to a cover reveal and interview with Abi Cushman about her upcoming book Animals Go Vroom!, I had no idea the sheer scope of the endeavor. But what is this book? Allow this handy dandy description to tell you more:

Hiss! Screech! Roar! It’s a noisy day in Bumperville! But are the sounds what you think they are? That Honk! must surely be a goose. But turn the page and it’s the taxi that a goose is driving! Using ...

31 Days, 31 Lists: 2020 Unconventional Children’s Books

Isn’t “unconventional” such a nice way of describing today’s list of books? Full credit for the phrase must be handed to Travis Jonker, who has created his own lists of unconventional children’s books in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. The nice thing is that he and I tend to look at entirely different titles. You’ll find a tiny bit of overlap in our lists, but for the most part we’re seeing different types of unconventionality (if that’s a word).

So for those of you keen on trying something ...

31 Days, 31 Lists: 2020 Children’s Poetry

There is no ALA award for comics. Though I might not agree with the idea, I can at least understand its origins. After all, librarians’ dislike of comics has been longstanding and well-documented. How then to explain the fact that ALA gives out no award for children’s poetry? Or for poetry of any sort? I can think of few better ways to appeal to our loftier instincts than with stanzas and villanelles. Certainly poetry is capable of winning major awards (and many times it has) but it is a tru...

Outside, Inside: The LeUyen Pham Interview and Trailer Reveal

Check this little cutie out:

Look familiar? He’s the mouse from A Piece of Cake by LeUyen Pham, of course! I’m no designer, and no one has ever mistaken me for one, but one thing I know is that when it comes to Christmas tree decorations, few things are better than ornaments inspired by children’s books. I’ve always had a soft spot for A Piece of Cake, not simply because I have an ornament for it but also because it was the rare picture book that the Caldecott Honor winning artist Ms. Ph...

31 Days, 31 Lists: 2020 Wordless Picture Books

Every year I contemplate the pros and cons of changing the categories of the 31 Days, 31 Lists sequence. Wouldn’t it be better to replace something with Alphabet Books, maybe? Or perhaps Sports. People would like to know about good books about sports that came out in 2020, right? There’s always a danger that if any category were to be cut, it would probably be Wordless Picture Books. I mean, think about it. How many good ones are released in the course of a year?

Well, I can’t speak for ...