Betsy Bird's Blog, page 135

Above the Rim: An Interview with Jen Bryant and Frank Morrison

Sports!

Sports sports sports sports sports.

Happens every year. You start looking at the best books published since January and inevitably you come to the realization (or maybe you don’t) that shockingly few of the books in front of you are sports related. 2020, though, it’s a little different. This year we’ve seen a remarkably superior number of sports books for kids. Whether it’s Swish! The Slam-Dunking, Alley-Ooping, High-Flying Harlem Globetrotters by Suzanne Slade, illustrated by Don...

Fuse 8 n’ Kate: It Could Always Be Worse by Margot Zemach (with Special Guest Erica S. Perl)

Happy Yom Kippur! We’ve never celebrated this holiday on the show before, but this week we decided to do something extra special. That something special comes in the form of special guest star, Erica Perl! And when it came to suggesting a book, we all hit upon this 1977 Caldecott Honor winner a.k.a. The Official Picture Book of 2020 (we hope). To me, this book feels like the chaos of home learning in the midst of a pandemic. Someone update this for our current era, stat! Imagine if the man w...

Trailer Premiere & Interview: Becoming a Good Creature by Sy Montgomery

Too many interests. That’s my problem, isn’t it? I just have too many interests. But of course that is also the advantage of running a blog about children’s literature. No matter what your interest (as long it’s appropriate) you can probably find a children’s book on the topic. And if you can’t? Write it, baby.

Now we find ourselves in 2020. Our sleepy complacency has been ripped off of us like bedsheets in the morning. We’re questioning things we’ve maybe never thought to question before. A...

Space Operas and Feline Martial Arts: An Interview with Yehudi Mercado

What I want, and what I have always wanted, even when I was a little kid, is more comics. More graphic novels. More floppy comics you get on Free Comic Book Day or at your local comic shop. More webcomics, more newspaper comics, and more comics via my Instagram feed. Wherever I go, I want more comics. And when I find someone that makes good ones, I want them to do nothing else. Just produce comics for me, 24/7.

I might feel that way about Yehudi Mercado. Remember Sci-Fu? Here, I’ll jog your m...

Author Fan Face-off: A Steve Sheinkin Video Production

It’s been a horrible week. I don’t say that lightly (and it’s only Tuesday) but I say it honestly. The news is awful. If you are like me, you occasionally need something to take your mind off of the awfulness, if only for a little while.

With that in mind, I am pleased to introduce to you today a new Steve Sheinkin series. From the award-winning author that brought you the Walking and Talking series it is . . .

Author Fan Face-off!!!!

The rules are simple. An author and a mega fan of t...

Fuse 8 n’ Kate: The Best Nest by P.D. Eastman

Another book by the man who spit in the face of the House of Un-American Activities Committee (not literally but pretty close). My love of P.D. Eastman knows no bounds. I pretty much intend to cover his entire oeuvre before this podcast ends someday. Kate delves real deep into the marital status of dear Mr. and Mrs. Bird here (including Mr. Bird’s “extracurricular activities”, if you get my gist). We discuss how this is like a “very small version of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds” (their reign...

Review of the Day: I Wish by Toon Tellegen, ill. Ingrid Godon, translated by David Colmer

I Wish
By Toon Tellegen
Illustrated by Ingrid Godon
Translated by David Colmer
Elsewhere Editions
$22.00
ISBN: 9781939810328
Ages 9 and up
On shelves now

The books for children I love best are the orphans. The books that have no equivalent, parallel, or comparative equal. They are the books deemed “special”. Often “too special”. Sometimes imports (often imports) they refuse to slot into those neat little boxes where the forgettable children’s books go to live and die. These books won’t be demanded ...

The Zhou Brothers: When You Have the Chance to Paint Your Own Story

Pop quiz, cuties. Let’s see what you can make of this one:

How many picture book biographies can you name that are about an artist and are illustrated (but not written) by that same artist?

If you’re anything like me then the answer is easy. One. And that one would be the new book by Amy Alznauer, illustrated by ShanZuo and DaHuang Zhou, Flying Paintings – The Zhou Brothers: A Story of Revolution and Art. Need a synopsis? Here’s what the publisher has to say about it:

First there w...

Cover Reveal & Interview Extravaganza: Stroller Coaster, illustrated by Raúl the Third & Elaine Bay

Friends, when I lived in New York City in 2011, right smack dab in the heart of Manhattan itself, I acquired two items in one year. The first was a baby. The second was a stroller. A stroller so marvelous that my husband, upon using it, was heard to say, “I never wanted a luxury car … until I started using this stroller.” It was just that choice a vehicle. And it’s remarkable that I still look back on it with fondness considering how I spent an inordinate amount of time lifting it onto my right...

Return of the Classics: An Interview with Don and Audrey Wood

A selection of test giclee prints produced by Robbyn and Don as they strived to restore the books to match Don’s original art, which was not available. Photo credit: Bob Weiss.

I often cover books by classic authors and illustrators on this blog. Sure. Happens all the time. And I cover new releases of old editions. But rarely have I had a chance to interview the author/illustrator of a classic book just as it finds new life in the marketplace with a whipped up, beautiful new edition.

As I...