Betsy Bird's Blog, page 158
November 11, 2019
Guest Post – Beyond 3 Percent: Translated Children’s Literature in the U.S.
I am very delighted to announce that we will be hosting monthly pieces on this site from none other than David Jacobson. Starting today you will be privy to works on children’s literature translation that may shine a bit of a light on issues in the field that you may not discover elsewhere. David is the author of the magnificent picture book biography Are You an Echo? The Lost Poetry of Misuzu Kaneko, which I found to be one of the more remarkable books of 2016. You may find his other credentials at...
November 10, 2019
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: The Big Orange Splot by Daniel Pinkwater
Sometimes I honestly don’t know what my sister will think of any given book. It seemed like it would be a pretty safe bet that she wouldn’t have heard of this little 1977 beauty. We’d not done a Pinkwater book before, and this is a heckuva way to begin. It’s a glorious celebration of disappointing the homeowner’s associations of the world. It also apparently has to do with Nickelodeon, how to keep a pet alligator, and magical mystery lemonade.
Listen to the whole show here on Soundcloud or download it th...
November 7, 2019
Put a Little Swag In Your Step (2019 edition)
Swag: Promotional materials sent by a publisher or book creator, publicizing a book’s release. May involve both practical and impractical components.
Swag [Informal]: Weird stuff you get in the mail to varying degrees of disgust, amusement, and delight.
It’s swag time, people! Ever since I became a children’s librarian, I’ve been fascinated by this particular aspect of book marketing and publicity. Most books do not get any promotional swag. Those that do often seem like completely random titles. Why this title...
November 6, 2019
The Scourge of Skyward Knitting Needles: It Continues
Even Charles Addams had no difficulty figuring out how to depict knitting It’s baaaaack! That most wonderful time of the year where we determine once and for all whether or not skilled illustrators are capable of rendering knitting needles correctly on a picture book page. A weird obsession, I’ll grant, but an oddly rewarding one.
If you’ve seen my previous posts (here and here) then you’ll know that the rules are simple. If an artist features a knitting character, they gain points if the knitting needle...
November 5, 2019
November 3, 2019
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn, Ruth E. Harper & Nancy M. Leak
If there’s one thing I know, it’s that there are two kinds of picture books that are most often divisive: the message-y books and the sweet and fuzzies. Combine the two and you get The Kissing Hand. There is NO doubt that the book is loved deeply by Kindergarten teachers, but would you call it a picture book classic worthy of keeping on shelves for decades to come? I really didn’t know how Kate would react to this one when I handed it to her. Would she be charmed? Be appalled? As ever, Kate surpr...
November 2, 2019
Story & Pictures By: The Documentary You’ve Been Waiting For
You may have heard a bit about this documentary floating about on the winds. Today I’d like to highlight this film currently in production. It has a Kickstarter going and needs your help. With 18 days to go, it’s a little more than halfway to its goal. If you can, please check it out:
A new Golden Age of children’s literature is here. And it matters. Emmy®-nominated Director Joanna Rudnick follows three contemporary children’s book authors and sheds a light on the artistry and industry in Story & Pictur...
Press Release Fun: SCBWI’s 3rd Annual Literacy Initiative Gives Books to Readers in Need
Children’s Book Creators Join Forces to Provide High Quality Books Plus a Literary Celebration for REACH in Norfolk, Virginia!
Los Angeles, October 10, 2019
The members of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators join forces once again as part of the organization’s annual SCBWI Books For Readers literacy initiative to collect, curate, and donate new books created by its members to one of its two 2019 recipients: REACH in Norfolk, VA.
Their carefully curated library of books will be officially donated at the...
October 31, 2019
Review of the Day: The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart
The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise
By Dan Gemeinhart
Henry Holt (an imprint of Macmillan)
$16.99
ISBN: 978-1-250-19670-5
Ages 9-12
On shelves now
Knee-jerk reaction. Definition: A quick reaction that does not allow you time to consider something carefully. Alternate Definition: What happens to me, specifically, when more than three people tell me to read the same book. I wish I wasn’t such a little pouty child about this. I wish I could say that the more that people tell me to read a book, the more intrigued I become until I...
October 30, 2019
Vintage Reviews from 2006: Behind the Mask by Yangsook Choi
Folks, I’ve been in this game a while. You want to know how long? Well, today I decided that the best way to celebrate Halloween would be to find a blog post from the very first year that I started out. That year: 2006. Thirteen years ago I was a children’s librarian at the Jefferson Market Branch of New York Public Library. Blogging had been talked up in a recent School Library Journal article, and I wanted to try my hand at it. So, on October 31, 2006 I wrote five blog posts in a single day on m...
