Betsy Bird's Blog, page 149
March 9, 2020
In Which the Proprietor of This Blog Allows One Christian McKay Heidicker to Speak His Piece
Age does not humble. I thought that it might. In fact, I was sort of counting on it to wear down the sharper edges of my tendency to burst forth with any number of proclamations about my great deeds, insightful insights, and ability to coral Shrinky Dinks into Newbery/Caldecott Banquet jewelry. Sadly, all age has done has honed my desire to crow to a sharper point. Take, as today’s example, one Mr. Christian McKay Heidicker. A good man. A good author. And one that you may have heard of since...
March 8, 2020
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. & John Archambault, ill. Lois Ehlert
Having survived a bout of pestilence and plague (read: lice and flu), I’m in an oddly upbeat mood in this week’s episode. And why not? Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is, by its very definition, an upbeat book itself! As I point out, this is one of those rare “classic” picture books where the author(s) and illustrator are separate. Kate, as is expected, finds a 100% legitimate mistake in the art that nobody in the history of the world has ever noticed before. This book is Go, Dog. Go! in one...
March 3, 2020
Review of the Day: Snail Crossing by Corey R. Tabor
Snail Crossing
By Corey R. Tabor
Balzer & Bray (an imprint of Harper Collins)
$17.99
ISBN: 978-0-06-287800-7
Ages 3-6
On shelves now
The snail, as I see it, is not a natural child substitute in a picture book setting. While kids are prone to short attention spans, rambunctiousness, and general speed, snails are squat, slow, and uniquely focused. They do, however, share one quality that children can relate to: a relentless desire for tasty food. Particularly my tasty food. My tomatoes. My poor poor...
March 2, 2020
Guest Post: Tom Lichtenheld Gives Us a Peek Into “When My Brother Gets Home”
From idea to execution. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Folks love process. They really do. And once in a while you get a bit of a peek behind the curtain on how one book or another came to be. When My Brother Gets Home has already bagged a couple starred reviews and it’s coming out today. To celebrate, creator Tom Lichtenheld gives us a bit on the backstory of how it all went down.
Take it away, Tom!
“When My Brother Gets Home” was inspired by a simple scene that told an entire...
March 1, 2020
Giving Busytown a Run for Its Money: Ethan Long Gives Us a Heckuva Happy County
I own a lot of books. Probably more than I should, if I’m being perfectly honest. And now that I’ve a Free Little Library in my front yard, I finally have a place to put all the spares. The other day I was going through my son’s picture book collection, trying to find anything he didn’t read anymore, when my eyes alighted on Richard Scarry’s Busytown series. I looked. I considered. And then I put the book in the box of books I keep for the day when my children’s children are book and I end up...
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: The Snowman by Raymond Briggs
Were you British, you might find it downright odd that we have chosen to do Raymond Brigg’s wordless picture book in March. That is because in Britain this title is generally considered a Christmas classic. Here in the States not so much. Now I did not expect my conversation with Kate about this book to devolve into a very long and intense argument over whether or not Frosty the Snowman dies at the end of his song. I say he doesn’t, she say he does. It was like we were discussing the end of...
February 28, 2020
Review of the Day: A Little Called Pauline by Gertrude Stein with Bianca Stone
A Little Called Pauline
By Gertrude Stein with Bianca Stone
Penny Candy Books
$16.95
ISBN: 978-0-9996584-9-9
Ages 7 and up
On shelves April 14th
I’ve done it. I’ve finally done it. After all these years, I think I’ve figured out the most common sin amongst children’s books. Were I to come down a mountainside with two stone tablets filled with rules, the very first one would have to be “Thou Shalt Not Bore the Reader”. Because at the heart of everything, innocuous children’s books are boring...
February 25, 2020
Trendwatch 2020: Death Death Death Death Death
Sorry to be such a blogging bummer today as you will soon come to realize, this is not my fault. You see, here in bucolic Evanston, Illinois I run a committee that attempts to winnow down all the children’s books published in America in the current calendar year to a mere 101 titles. It is difficult work, but my committee (which consists of pretty much any library staff member who wants to take part, as well as some local booksellers) is up to the task! And as we read the galleys and...
February 24, 2020
Dragon Hoops: Gene Luen Yang Gives a Slam Dunk of an Interview
In December of 2019 I received a tiny basketball in the mail. It didn’t travel alone. In its box was an equally adorable little hoop and, most exciting of all, a copy of former National Ambassador of Children’s Literature Gene Luen Yang’s latest YA comic, Dragon Hoops. The little hoop attached to the box, allowing for easy play. I am not the most athletically inclined person, though, and I had to wonder how it happened that Mr. Yang had turned his sights to a sport, of all incredible things,...
February 23, 2020
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Jingle Dancer by Cynthia Leitich Smith
I was wracking my brain to figure out what the best possible candidate might be as a contender for classic picture book status with an #ownvoices Indigenous creator. Generally speaking, when fishing for classics, Kate and I like to look at books that have been out for 20 years. And so, the minute that it became 2020, I ran over to my library’s children’s room and checked out today’s title. Now the question of the day with this podcast is whether, in light of the truly magnificent children’s...
