Betsy Bird's Blog, page 174
March 3, 2019
The Quintessential Librarian Stereotype: Wrestling With the Legacy of Anne Carroll Moore
Man, I’ve been a real grump this year. Seriously, you need to steer clear of me. One minute I’m sulking over the improper placement on knitting needles in children’s picture books (I wish I could say that I’m kidding, but I’m starting to keep a tally sheet on them). The next minute I’m harrumphing about fake dialogue in works of picture book nonfiction. But where I am by far the worst, without a smidgen of a doubt, is with books that are set at New York Public Library. And this year I’ve seen...
February 27, 2019
Cover Reveal – King of the Tightrope
I know what you’re saying to yourself right now. You’re saying, “Me [
But before we go any further, let’s get some background information! First off, there’s a book about Charles Blondin? Yes indeed. As of October 2019, you’ll be seeing Donna Bowman and Adam Gustavson’s King of the Tightrope: When the Great Blondin Ruled Niagara. Tightrope stories adapt rather seamlessly into the picture book format. No less than two of them have won Caldecotts (Mirette on the High Wire and The Man Who Walked...
February 26, 2019
Review of the Day: Pie in the Sky by Remy Lai
Pie in the Sky
By Remy Lai
Henry Holt and Company (an imprint of Macmillan)
$21.99
ISBN: 978-1-250-31409-3
Ages 9-12
On shelves May 14th
This year, I stumbled into an unexpected pattern. Though I didn’t quite mean to, I ended up reading a whole slew of middle grade novels that were funny. I’m not avoiding the serious stuff, but through a series of unlikely events I found myself diving deep into funny book after funny book. Now a hilarious novel for children can go one of two ways. It ca...
February 25, 2019
Book Chat: Eliza Wheeler on When You Are Brave
All right, folks. You know the drill. First off, you know that I am not a person who goes all goopy and dewy-eyed at picture books I deem “meaningful”. Doesn’t mean some of them don’t appeal to me. I just have a low goop tolerance. You know who doesn’t let goop collect on her a jot, though? Victoria Stapleton over at Little, Brown. And when she’s in conversation with one of her authors or illustrators, it’s worth a listen.
Today we’re getting a conversation between Victoria and the illustriou...
February 24, 2019
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion, ill. Margaret Bloy Graham
Kate got a dog! A doggy dog of her very own. And you know what goes together well, like peaches and cream? Dogs and picture books. So I had to figure out a classic dog picture book. And lo and behold I realized that in spite of its relative fame we had never done a book about this particular dirty dirty dog. In the course of things we solve the mystery of why Harry never rolls in mud. It’s not just because tar, coal, and soot are fun to draw. They’re all black-colored ways of getting dirty! T...
February 20, 2019
The Birth of Les Maîtres de l’Imaginaire and the Vast Importance of International Children’s Book Art
In 2014 I wrote a piece on this blog containing thoughts about picture books created in other countries and how they are received when they are brought to American shores. The end result was that illustrator Étienne Delessert read the piece and on April 18, 2015 I was allowed to take part in the presentation Where the Wild Books Are alongside such luminaries as Leonard Marcus, Junko Yokota, David Macaulay, and more. This was the brainchild of Étienne himself, a man who has worked with Ionesc...
February 19, 2019
Review of the Day: Cinderella Liberator by Rebecca Solnit, ill. Arthur Rackham
Cinderella Liberator
By Rebecca Solnit
Illustrated by Arthur Rackham
Haymarket Books
$17.95
ISBN: 9781608465965
On shelves May 7th
I’ve been thinking about fairy tales a lot recently. Specifically feminist fairy tales. They aren’t a particularly new concept but in recent years there’s been a distinct increase in their numbers. At their best they can provide an innovative, sly commentary on everything that’s wrong with the Disney model. At their worst, they can be preachy, didactic, and...
February 18, 2019
Did You Like Wolf in the Snow? A Cover Reveal for Matthew Cordell’s Next Wordless Book: Explorers
A show of hands. How many people here enjoyed Matthew Cordell’s Wolf in the Snow? Mmm hmm. Mmm hmm. So that’s, uh, lemme count here . . . (one, two, three, four…) … that’s everybody. Everybody here liked Wolf in the Snow. Except maybe those of you over there in the corner that haven’t read it yet. Well, you’re in for a treat. See, it’s this nearly wordless book that won a Caldecott for Awesomeness (fairly certain that’s what’s written on the medal itself: “Caldecott for Awesomeness 2019″). A...
February 17, 2019
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Frederick by Leo Lionni
“If you’ve got a Leo Lionni book you’re not going anywhere very fast, but you’re gonna get there eventually.”
The old Ant and the Grasshopper fable got the Lionni touch back in 1967 when the four time Caldecott Honor winner chose to put a new spin on an old classic. So how successful was this book in the end? Is it a product of its age (the tune in and drop out 60s) or something that stands the test of time? At this point I’ve given up trying to predict how Kate is ever going to react to a gi...
February 14, 2019
Not Your Nest: The Andrea Tsurumi/Gideon Sterer Comic Interview
Interviews? They’re cool. But interviews between authors and illustrators in the form of a comic? Much much cooler. To that end, I bring you the marvelous Andrea Tsurumi (of my beloved Accident) and her partner-in-crime Gideon Sterer. They’ve a picture book out this year called Not Your Nest and they figured they’d talk to one another about it. Better still, we lucky readers get to see them in action.
Thank you, Andrea and Gideon, for letting me host you today!
