Betsy Bird's Blog, page 193
June 10, 2018
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Frog and Toad Are Friends by Arnold Lobel
The name of the game here is A Break From Brats. I wanted to get Kate out of the realm of bratty children’s book protagonists, so I thought the world’s greatest friendship pair was the way to go. But before we get to that, we do a rundown of the best and worst picture books we’ve ever looked at. Sorry that I didn’t include the color coded list we’re using for reference in this post. As for the rest of the show, Kate writes down morals for every story in this book, and her interpretations aren...
June 7, 2018
Fusenews: Giant Dance Party Changes Nothing
Shhh! I’m busy prepping for my daughter’s birthday so I really shouldn’t be blogging. My hands, however, are firmly tied. How can I help but blog when there’s so much interesting information out there these days? Check out some of these crazy cool links I found recently.
If you know me then you know I like comics. I also used to live in New York City. Combine those two things and you get that stellar graphic novel (or is it a really really long picture book?) Bolivar by Sean Rubin. I always w...
June 5, 2018
Walking and Talking with . . . Katherine Applegate!
When last we saw our hero he was walking and talking with Joseph Bruchac in an epic three paneled addition to this series. Now Steve Sheinkin is back and he’s talking with that Newbery winning, Animorph creatin’, remarkably prolific Katherine Applegate. Today, Katherine and Steve discuss characters, plot, outlining, and how close she came to throwing out The One and Only Ivan. Enjoy!
Don’t forget to catch up with the whole series!
Walking and Talking with John Corey Whaley Walking and Talki...June 4, 2018
Review of the Day: The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge by M.T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin
The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge
By M.T. Anderson
Illustrated by Eugene Yelchin
Candlewick Press
$24.99
ISBN: 978-0-7636-9822-5
Ages 10 and up
On shelves September 25th
In my job I read a lot of books written for kids and middle schoolers. To guide this reading I take into account a lot of professional reviews from sources like Kirkus and Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal and the like. If a book gets multiple stars, I flag it for my To Be Read pile. This is a good, effe...
June 3, 2018
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Kay Thompson’s Eloise by Kay Thompson
It’s very special episode time! Very special for a number of reasons, not least of which is the fact that Kate took five hours to edit this episode down from two and a half hours to a svelte, sleek 47:41. It was also special because we had two guests from fellow podcast Go Your Own YA. So a big time thank you to Carey and Marie for taking time out of their schedules to let us talk all over them. Finally, it was special because we finally got to tackle one of the big books we’ve been skirting...
May 31, 2018
The Castle Where Children’s Literature Lives
In case you missed it, our National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature was hanging out with actual royalty the other day:
That would be Jacqueline Woodson, receiving the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, in Sweden. Americans win the award every so once in a while, and for a brief shining moment some of us in the U.S. are reminded that ours are not the only children reading in the world. Children’s books are a worldwide phenomenon and we would do well to look to what other folks in other c...
May 29, 2018
Libraries of the Little, Free, and New Orleans Variety
Now I don’t usually do this, but seeing as how it’s Christmas . . .
What’s that? It’s not Christmas? It’s almost half a year away from Christmas? Well, shoot. Guess we’ll have to hope that folks are in a giving mood above and beyond the winter holiday season.
So the other day I got an email from a Junior in high school. Turns out, she’s in New Orleans and is a big time reader. She told me, “In the past three and a half years, I have read 119 full-length novels in addition to shorts stories, c...
May 28, 2018
Review of the Day: The Rabbit Listened by Cori Doerrfeld
The Rabbit Listened
By Cori Doerrfeld
Dial (an imprint of Penguin Random House)
$17.99
ISBN: 978-0-7352-2935-8
Ages 4 and up
On shelves now
Lest we forget, the only reason that children’s books were invented in the first place was to teach small human lessons. That is, in fact, the very backbone of the book business for youth today. Instruction. Guidance. Morally uplifting texts that will mold the little readers into fine, upstanding citizens. And because books like Little Goody Two-Sho...
May 27, 2018
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Miss Nelson Is Missing! by Harry Allard and James Marshall
I don’t think I expected to get into an in-depth conversation about Miss Nelson’s cosplay as Viola Swamp, and why precisely she chooses to do so, but that’s the kind of podcast this is. Along the way Kate and I get into what the Wicked Witch of the West might have been wearing under that dress, the fact that butterflies were angry about the gas crisis in the 70s, and whether or not Viola Swamp talks like Katharine Hepburn (special bonus: Kate and I do the worst celebrity imitations of all tim...
May 24, 2018
I Love You, a Bushel and a Peck: Remembering Richard
In case you’re curious, this is his 1980 author photo from his adult novel Amanda/Miranda.
As you may have heard, yesterday the great Newbery Award winning author Richard Peck died. Many of us were shocked and saddened by the news. When one hears of the death of a great writer, you begin to cast your mind back. What was the first Richard Peck book you ever read? When did you really begin to know his name? Did you meet him? When? After that?
All great artists live in danger of pulling an Orson...
