Betsy Bird's Blog, page 157

It’s Almost Here . . . 31 Days, 31 Lists!

A couple folks have asked me if 2019 will see a return of my 31 Days, 31 Lists series. If you’re unfamiliar with it, every year I try to combat the age old problem of figuring out how to properly celebrate all the great books I’ve seen in a given year. It isn’t easy, and I miss a lot, but even so it turns out to be shockingly easy to come up with this many lists. I’ve been keeping meticulous track of everything I’ve seen, and the results are in.

What’s on the list? Here’s a sample of what...

101 Great Books for Kids (2019 Edition)

Don’t be surprised when you see libraries releasing their best of the year lists at the same time. Historically, libraries were the first entities producing these year-end encapsulations of the annual publishing cycle. Their lists were meant to be gift guides, so they would typically come out a month or so before Christmas. These days, I suspect that most libraries attempt to get their lists out before Black Friday and Small Business Saturday.

You might have noticed that Chicago Public...

Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss

Sometimes my sister scares me.

When Kate challenged me to find a classic Thanksgiving book, she made the mistake of saying off-handedly, “Oh, it could just be about food too.” Ah HAH! Food, eh? Well, we’d already done Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, so that could leave only one other famous food-related piece of children’s literary history. That’s right. Time to down some Green Eggs and Ham.

I anticipated our discussion of whether or not this book is more of a St. Patrick’s Day title....

THE BLUE HOUSE cover reveal and Interview with Phoebe Wahl

Two cover reveals in one week? What am I, crazy? Don’t worry about it, because today’s reveal is quite different from the one you saw on this blog earlier this week. Today I have the infinite pleasure of revealing a cover of a book that I actually have read AND have enjoyed.

Now you may or may not be familiar with the name Phoebe Wahl. Perhaps you’ve enjoyed her picture books Sonya’s Chickens and Backyard Fairies, or her artwork for Paper Mice by Megan Wagner Lloyd. Today, I am happy to...

Cover Reveal: You Matter by Christian Robinson

Now THIS sound interesting. On the heels of Christian Robinson’s Another, (which received five starred reviews and a New York Times Best Illustrated Award) his next solo project is waiting in the wings. Called YOU MATTER, it goes on sale on May 5, 2020. What’s it about? Well, turns out I have this handy dandy press release to answer that very question:

They All Saw a Cat meets The Important Book in this sensitive and impactful picture book about seeing the world from different points of view by Caldecott and Coretta Scott King...Cat

The Unexpected Ending: Picture Books That Stick the Landing in Weird, Wild Ways

So, uh . . . so I’ve got this picture book out right now. Yup. Really like it too. And since I’m fairly crrrrrrap when it comes to self-promotion, I’ll note that the only reason I’m bringing it up is because when you read children’s books for a living, you respect them. But when you write picture books? You don’t just respect the form. You obsess over it. Particularly when it comes to the way in which it concludes.

Ending anything in art is difficult. Whether we’re talking about movies or novels or televis...

Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Guess the Book!

This week Kate caught a case of, what we call in our family, the galloping crud. And since the galloping crud does not jive with podcast recording, we’d figured we’d let her rest and recuperate. That means it’s time for my favorite (new) game . . . .

What the Heck Were We Talking About?

The rules are simple. I’m going to produce for you nine different quotes that Kate and I have produced since the beginning of the podcast. Next, I’ll show you the chart of all the picture books we’ve talked about. Le...

Now Playing at Toronto Public Library: The IBBY Collection for Young People with Disabilities Exhibit

Children’s librarian and curator Debora Pearson, Children’s Librarian North York Central Library alerted me to this brand spanking new exhibit occurring at the Toronto Public Library. Opening tomorrow, it features the “best of the best” from the IBBY Collection for Young People with Disabilities, a multilingual reference collection located at North York Central Library, part of the Toronto Public Library system. But don’t take my word for it. If you’re lucky enough to be in the area between n...

What Would Be Your Perfect Comic Collection for Kids?

Not actual library I’m working on

Imagine that someone hands you a library. You are in charge of stocking this library. You can purchase every book, every DVD, every audiobook. From the adult novels to the board books, it’s all in your capable hands. Every. Single. Part.

So that’s actually my job at the moment. When I’m not merrily blogging here, I’m buying all the materials for the new Robert Crown Center library in Evanston, Illinois. It has its moments. As it turns out (and I don’t mean to alarm...

Review of the Day: My Footprints by Bao Phi, ill. Basia Tran

My Footprints
By Bao Phi
Illustrated by Basia Tran
Capstone Editions (a Capstone imprint)
ISBN: 978-1-68446-000-7
$19.99
Ages 4-8