Betsy Bird's Blog, page 133
October 28, 2020
Review of the Day: Sugar in Milk by Thrity Umrigar, ill. Khoa Le
Sugar in Milk
By Thrity Umrigar
Illustrated by Khoa Le
Running Press Kids (an imprint of Perseus Books)
$17.99
ISBN: 978-0-7624-9519-1
Ages 4-7
On shelves now
It’s an old saying that states that if you told a childless person everything parenthood entails they’d never sign up in the first place. I’m not talking about the big things like guiding them on a true moral and/or spiritual path. I’m not even talking about the little things like changing diapers. I’m talking about the esoteric, nebulous, g...
Review of the Day: Sugar in Mild by Thrity Umrigar, ill. Khoa Le
Sugar in Milk
By Thrity Umrigar
Illustrated by Khoa Le
Running Press Kids (an imprint of Perseus Books)
$17.99
ISBN: 978-0-7624-9519-1
Ages 4-7
On shelves now
It’s an old saying that states that if you told a childless person everything parenthood entails they’d never sign up in the first place. I’m not talking about the big things like guiding them on a true moral and/or spiritual path. I’m not even talking about the little things like changing diapers. I’m talking about the esoteric, nebulous, g...
October 27, 2020
Ramona and Her Art: An Interview with Anna Katz on A Compendium of Quimby Illustrations
This is new. This is interesting. This is unexpected.
It’s not as if collections of art centered on a single fictional book or series are an unheard of concept. There are books that collect different kinds of Wizard of Oz art, for example. What is rarer are books that collection art that isn’t based in a fantasy world. More contemporary art. And so when I heard about The Art of Ramona Quimby: Sixty-Five Years of Illustrations from Beverly Cleary’s Beloved Books by Anna Katz I was curious....
October 25, 2020
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: The Tailypo by Joanna Galdone, ill. Paul Galdone
I’ve saved the scariest book this month for last! “I’m not saying that Spooky Old Tree doesn’t give you the jim-jams (because it doesn’t), but …” It’s our very first Paul Galdone too! Took us long enough to get to him. As Kate says of today’s book, “Well, THAT didn’t end how I thought it would!” We discuss how this book relates to the film Best in Show, why my Tailypo imitation is a little too Gollum-esque, and why this may be the first book we’ve ever done on the show that ends with murder....
October 21, 2020
Newbery/Caldecott 2021: Fall Prediction Edition
Didn’t think I’d forget, did you?
This is such a weird year. Usually by the time a Fall Prediction Edition comes around I feel pretty confident about the year’s titles. This year, about half the titles were sent out as e-galleys and the other half just sort of melted into the mists of pandemic-tude. By the time my Summer Prediction Edition came out I wasn’t feeling at all certain that I had a good grasp on the material. But now, at this point in the year, I feel a little bit better. When Call...
October 20, 2020
Review of the Day: The Talk, edited by Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson
The Talk: Conversations About Race, Love & Truth
Edited by Wade Hudson & Cheryl Willis Hudson
Crown Books for Young Readers (an imprint of Random House)
$16.99
ISBN: 9780593121610
Ages 10 and up
On shelves now
What are we teaching our children? Or, put another way, what are we allowing other people to teach our children? If you live in the year 2020 then you are living through history. And history, like it or not, isn’t boring. But the business of publishing books for children is a slow process. ...
October 19, 2020
Unexpected Jolts of Children’s Literature
It has been too long! Too long indeed! Periodically I will notice, note, and eventually post about books for adults that have some tangential (or even overt) relationship to children’s literature. Sometimes I find these books all coming out on practically the same day. Other times, it takes longer to round them up. This latest crop is utterly fascinating, no matter how you slice it. And it starts with a very familiar name:
A show of hands. How many of you knew that Kwame was coming out wi...
October 18, 2020
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: The Stranger by Chris Van Allsburg
Spooky season continues here on the podcast. Interestingly I’ve never done a Chris Van Allsburg book with Kate for October before. Every year I have to come up with spooky classic picture books, and today’s was a recommendation from one of our fans (that would be our mom). It’s less spooky than it is autumnal, but that’s okay.
Listen to the whole show here on Soundcloud or download it through iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, PlayerFM, or your preferred method of podcast selection.
Show ...
October 14, 2020
In Which the Blogger Conducts an Interview with a MacArthur Fellow (Hint: It’s Jackie Woodson!)
To hear that the MacArthur Foundation announced just the other day the selection of writer Jacqueline Woodson as a 2020 MacArthur Fellow just felt right, y’know? Generally speaking, the MacArthur awards no-strings-attached grants to individuals who show “exceptional creativity in their artistic, intellectual and professional pursuits, which help resolve historical issues, refine knowledge and improve the world for everyone.”
Jackie checks each one of those boxes.
Now here’s the twis...
October 13, 2020
Andreao and Elliotto Presento Sharko and Hippo: A Comic Interview
I do interviews on this blog all the time. You may be aware of this fact. May I confess something to you then? I have my favorites. It’s true. Generally speaking, I might enjoy an interview that’s all text, text, nothing but texxt, but my true love, and my true passion? It’s illustrated interviews. And yet, cruelty above all cruelties, I cannot draw them myself. As a result, I just perch on my rock, watching the world go by, hoping against hope that someone will say to me, “Hey! Betsy! Do yo...
