Betsy Bird's Blog, page 183
November 4, 2018
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Olivia by Ian Falconer
Since Kate had such strong feelings about Madeline and Eloise, I figured that we had to go with what I consider to be the third in the triumvirate of . . . let’s call ’em strong-minded ladies. If ever you’ve wanted to know the difference between miniature pigs, pot-bellied pigs, and razorback pigs, boy, have I got the podcast for you! We talk about who the most famous female pig in children’s literature is (honestly, I’ve nothing against Peppa, but wasn’t she a television star first?), which...
November 1, 2018
Book Trailer Premiere: My Heart Is a Compass by Deborah Marcero
Look, I don’t want you to think I’m easy or anything. “Old Betsy Bird,” you’d say. “She’ll post pretty much any kind of video on her site”. Not true, sez I! I just like what I like. And what I like is process. Getting into the heads of the creators of some of my favorite books. So it is that I get to debut today’s Book Chat with illustrator/author Deborah Marcero. Her latest title My Heart Is a Compass is coming out this Tuesday.
Enjoy!
Review of the Day: The Adventures of a Girl Called Bicycle by Christina Uss
The Adventures of a Girl Called Bicycle
By Christina Uss
Margaret Ferguson Books (an imprint of Holiday House)
$16.99
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4007-8
Ages 9-12
On shelves now.
The term “quirky” has gotten a bad rap recently. I blamed forced quirk. Have you ever read or watched something where the book or movie is just trying too darn hard to make you fall in love with the story? Happens all the time, my friend. You see, lots of folks mistake “goofy” or “incongruous” with true quirkiness. Then t...
October 31, 2018
#readblack: What Would You Include If Someone Asked for a Quick List of Recent Titles Starring Black Kids?
Last week I attended one of Library Journal / School Library Journal’s “Equity in Action” webinar courses. Lots of good information was included (and I’m not just saying that because their name’s above the banner here) with a variety of different speakers touching on everything from the state of the publishing industry to how you create an equity assessment on a collection to, amongst other things, booklists. A lot of time was taken to emphasize that not all booklists are created equal. If yo...
October 30, 2018
Hunger Games at Ten: How Has It Been a Decade Already?
I guess I vaguely noticed that Scholastic was releasing some kind of Hunger Games Special Edition yesterday. I dunno, do publishers even need an excuse to release special editions? I wasn’t paying too much attention. But that was before I was told that the book is now ten years old. Released originally in 2008, it’s been a decade since we first heard the name “Katniss Everdeen”.
It got me to thinking. You see, I’ve been blogging for SLJ just about that long (and before that I blogged on a lit...
October 29, 2018
Contemporary Issues and a New Role for Early Chapter Books
I’ve heard them called any number of things. Junior chapter books. Young readers. Early chapter books. Just plain old “chapter books”. They’re the transitional readers you hand a child when they’ve graduated from easy books but aren’t ready yet for, say, Harry Potter. And like any book, they have a wide range of reading levels. Generally speaking, they’re primarily associated with series. Your A to Z Mysteries, say. Or Magic Treehouse. Or Dyamonde Daniel. What one doesn’t immediately think of...
October 28, 2018
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: The Wolves in the Walls by Neil Gaiman, ill. Dave McKean
I suspected that Kate had never encountered the art of Dave McKean before. What better time to show it to her than when it’s almost Halloween, sez I! Heck, for that matter Kate’s only vaguely aware of Neil Gaiman himself (didn’t know he was British). I try to give her a good dose of nightmare fuel, but somehow we end up talking about what an old wolf melody would sound like and whether Dave McKean has ever drawn a bunny (he has… and it’s weird).
Listen to the whole show here on Soundcloud or...
October 25, 2018
90-Second Newbery: The Latest Submissions of Some Brilliant Cinema
It’s that time again. Time for kids everywhere to make their own short versions of classic Newbery winning books to the screen. Today, James Kennedy stops by to show us a slew of newest brilliant submissions and to beg you to find some kids who can submit their own.
Hear the man out, people!
Hi, this is James Kennedy of the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival! We’re an annual video contest in which kid filmmakers create short movies that tell the entire stories of Newbery-winning books in abo...
October 24, 2018
Review of the Day: The Patchwork Bike by Maxine Beneba Clarke, ill. Van Thanh Rudd
The Patchwork Bike
By Maxine Beneba Clarke
Illustrated by Van Thanh Rudd
$15.99
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0031-7
Ages 4-7
On shelves now.
It took a little while, but at some point creators of children’s books realized that cardboard holds an almost supernatural power over the imaginations of small children. It is the ultimate building material. Strong and sturdy, yet malleable. Bonus: You can draw on it. Interestingly, in terms of plotting I’ve seen it mentioned in graphic novels far more often...
October 22, 2018
Fusenews: We Would Have Also Accepted “Fast Food Fairies”
I know we Americans don’t talk a lot about the translation of children’s literature for a variety of reasons. Even so, I had hoped it would be bigger news when translator Anthea Bell died recently. Though she did not work exclusively with children’s books, she was probably personally responsible for one of the most successful translation blockbusters in recent memory. Do you recall the rise of Cornelia Funke? After Harry Potter started hitting it big, so too did Funke’s titles. And though the...
