Betsy Bird's Blog, page 199

Review of the Day: The Journey of Little Charlie by Christopher Paul Curtis

The Journey of Little Charlie
By Christopher Paul Curtis
Scholastic Press
$16.99
ISBN: 978-0-545-15666-0
For ages 9 and up
On shelves now

I don’t know Christopher Paul Curtis personally, but if I had to harbor a guess I’d say he’s the type of author that doesn’t like to make things too easy for himself. That’s one of my theories. Another is that he’s a writer that, as a rule, listens to his creations. Folks say that when you write, your characters have a tendency to take on a life of th...

The Honest Toddler Gets a Book of Her Own (sorta) – An Interview with Bunmi Laditan

I don’t actually do interviews.

I don’t! Honest! I tend to turn them down when asked, even when I adore the book.

Then I read this:

If the author’s name doesn’t sound familiar, how about “Honest Toddler“? Any of you out there follow that feed? If you have, are planning to have, or have already had a toddler, then that Twitter feed feels right and good and natural. And its creator is none other than Bunmi Laditan. Now she has a picture book coming out, and I can tell you right there that inte...

Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Pierre by Maurice Sendak

After delving so deeply into problematic picture books in February, Kate and I deserve a bit of a rest. And what, I ask, could be more restful than carnivorous animals devouring small boys? Particularly when said lions are the product of the inimitable and never imitated Maurice Sendak. This marks Sendak’s third appearance on the podcast, and the first time he’s shown up with a book that wasn’t associated with the Wild Things/In the Night Kitchen/Outside Over There triumvirate. In the course...

Fusenews: O my cabbage stalks, I must leave you behind!

It’s been a while! You can tell when I’ve been flush with content because my Fusenews posts become a bit less frequent. But here we go. I’m back, and I just have so MUCH to tell you! Where to start, where to start . . . . I know! Let’s begin with everyone’s favorite subject. Math! Oh, don’t play. You know you love it.

 

So the big news is that my favorite Math awards for kids (the only math awards for kids but shhhhh, don’t tell it that), the Mathical Awards, have been released. This is the...

Review of the Day: Grace for Gus by Harry Bliss

Grace for Gus
By Harry Bliss
Katherine Tegen Books (an imprint of Harper Collins)
$17.99
ISBN: 978-0-06-264410-7
Ages 4-7
On shelves now.

What are the long term benefits of reviewing children’s books on the internet over an extended amount of time? The detriments? Of the benefits I can give only the standard “Maybe I get better” response. The detriments are much more interesting. It is possible that reviewing only children’s literature in a kind of overwrought long-form, the reviewer an eleva...

Problems We’d Like to Have: Where Do I Fit All My Medals?

When I lived in New York City, publishers were a dime a dozen. Big publishers, little publishers, a whole slew of them are located in Manhattan (with a couple in Jersey and a few in Brooklyn). You get jaded when you live there. Then you move away and it’s a whole new ballgame. Oh, you can find other publishers around the country. There’s Lerner in Minneapolis and Chronicle in San Francisco, to name but a few. The Chicagoland area is a bit trickier. I’ve found a couple folks here (Albert Whitm...

Bookmark Reveal: The 2018 Children’s Book Week Bookmarks Are In With Big Old Names Attached

Every year I reveal the bookmarks released in conjunction with that most honorable and long lasting children’s literature tradition, Children’s Book Week. Originally established in 1919 (which, obviously, means that next year there’s going to be a great big party to celebrate the centennial), Children’s Book Week is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country. The program is administered by Every Child a Reader and the Children’s Book Council (CBC) is the anchor sponsor. T...

Bookmark Reveal: The 2018 Children’s Book Week Bookmarks Are in With Big Old Names Attached

Every year I reveal the bookmarks released in conjunction with that most honorable and long lasting children’s literature tradition, Children’s Book Week. Originally established in 1919 (which, obviously, means that next year there’s going to be a great big party to celebrate the centennial), Children’s Book Week is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country. The program is administered by Every Child a Reader and the Children’s Book Council (CBC) is the anchor sponsor. T...

Fuse 8 n’ Kate: The Story of Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman

Not content to examine just Curious George and The Story of Babar, Kate and I round out our look at colonial children’s literature with a rather more serious examination of Helen Bannerman’s Little Black Sambo. That said, we are not content to consider a single version. That’s why our primary focus will be the Christopher Bing edition, with the original Helen Bannerman text:

With extensive consideration given to the Julius Lester / Jerry Pinkney book Sam and the Tigers:

And additional thoug...

Cover Reveal: Thirty Minutes Over Oregon: A Japanese Pilot’s World War II Story by Marc Tyler Nobleman

I’m getting pickier. The more that I’m asked to do cover reveals for books, the more I want to make sure that the books in question are up to snuff. It’s a pity how rare it is that I’m asked to reveal a book that I’ve already read. But you know what? Sometimes it happens.

Two weeks ago I received in the mail the book Thirty Minutes Over Oregon: A Japanese Pilot’s World War II Story. I wasn’t familiar with the true tale, nor the film that this book takes its name from (Thirty Minutes Over To...