Betsy Bird's Blog, page 166
July 14, 2019
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Stevie by John Steptoe
Lists of “classic” picture books are often white white white, with the occasional racist inclusion. That’s why I’m always on the lookout for picture books from the past that could be deemed “classic” and come from a variety of different perspectives and voices. When it occurred to me the other day that we hadn’t done Stevie yet on this show, I was a little mad at myself. It wasn’t that we hadn’t done a Steptoe before (see: Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters) but this was the book that put the man...
July 11, 2019
Review of the Day: Queen of the Sea by Dylan Meconis
Queen of the SeaBy Dylan MeconisWalker Books (a division of Candlewick)$24.99ISBN: 978-1-5362-0498-8Ages 9-12On shelves now With graphic novels and comics for kids being produced at a rate far more prodigious than ever before, you can get a little inured to the sameness of some of the titles. There are the personal memoirs, mostly about white girls. There are the out-of-this-world space and robot adventures. There are the magic and witch inspired fantasies. And then there are the books that...
July 9, 2019
Press Release Fun: Announcing the Winners of the Excellence in Graphic Literature Awards!
Comics are a form of literature both near and dear to my heart. This past year I had the pleasure of heading up the children’s committee of the Excellence in Graphic Literature Awards. Here are the winners in the children, middle grade, and YA categories:
Children’s Award Winners Fiction
Nonfiction 
Middle Grade Award Winners Fiction 
Nonfiction 
Mosaic Award Winner 
Great choices. Congrats to all the winners. Well deserved, folks. Well deserved.
2019 Winners
July 8, 2019
The Complete Listing of All Public Children’s Literature Statues in the United States (2019 Edition)
Having started this list in 2013, and subsequently updated it in 2017, today I give you the full monty. Readers have been very good about suggesting titles and I haven’t added every last one of them yet, but don’t stop! If you don’t see one of of your favorites here, please let me know in the comments and I’ll update continuously. Remember, the statue must be of a character from a book. Real life figures that just happened to be connected to books in some way don’t quite count. Extra points i...
July 7, 2019
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Shrek! by William Steig with Special Guest Lucy Knisley
I will not say that when I moved to the Chicago area, the fact that graphic novelist Lucy Knisley lived in the area was a deciding factor. I will say, however, that I was perfectly aware of that fact and that probably, at some mid-move I probably indulged in that fantasy where you meet someone you really and truly respect and then you get to hang out with them a little. Well, just in time for my upcoming 4th anniversary, marking the years since I lived in Manhattan, I have finally accomplish...
July 4, 2019
Review of the Day: A Good Kind of Trouble by Lisa Moore Ramée
A Good Kind of TroubleBy Lisa Moore RaméeBalzer & Bray (an imprint of Harper Collins)$16.99ISBN: 978-0-06-283668-7Ages 9-12On shelves now The good thing about serving on a book committee is that it helps you to read outside of your comfort zone. The bad thing about serving on a book committee is that it makes you read outside of your comfort zone. It’s funny, but as someone who reads a lot of children’s novels, my instinct is to revert back to my 12-year-old self. A steady diet of fantasy, p...
July 2, 2019
Children’s Literature Statues of the U.S.: A Call for Entries
At the recent ALA Conference I happened to run into good old Mac Barnett. We were chatting when it suddenly occurred to me that I’d never before mentioned to him a funny little fact I’d discovered a year or two ago. You see, every couple of years I like to update my Complete Listing of All Public Children’s Literature Statues in the United States. The rules of inclusion are simple. The statues must be located somewhere that is open to the public. The statues must be in the United States. The...
July 1, 2019
Easy Readers and Early Chapter Books: Some of the Best of 2019
Meet the most necessary and least loved age range of children’s books. You haven’t truly lived until you’ve stared deep down into the eyes of a parent that is truly desperate for something for their 6-year-old to read. That kind of desperation is probably why we have the leveling systems we have in place today. Where there is fear, there is profit. No matter. I have been carefully combing through every last easy book and early chapter book I could get my grubby little hands on and, with the h...
June 30, 2019
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
At last. After 93 episodes, Kate and I have finally come face-to-face with the great Sendak masterpiece. Why did I decide to do the book today, rather than wait until we hit the 100th episode mark? Because, my friends, today is an auspicious day in and of itself. Today Fuse 8 n’ Kate the podcast officially becomes a School Library Journal property. You won’t see any changes on your end, but believe me, we’ve been cleaning up our act a bit. Our episodes, you may have noticed, are now a tight...
June 28, 2019
Review of the Day: My Papi Has a Motorcycle by Isabel Quintero, ill. Zeke Peña
My Papi Has a MotorcycleBy Isabel QuinteroIllustrated by Zeke PeñaKokila (an imprint of Penguin Random House)$17.99ISBN: 978-0-525-55341-0For ages 4-7On shelves now In American culture the motorcycle has long stood as a symbol of freedom and escape. Easy Rider, The Wild One, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (sorta), these are all books and films that equate motorcycles with independence. So what is the role of the motorcycle in children’s books? To answer that, I had to come to the...
