Betsy Bird's Blog, page 200
February 19, 2018
Like a Cover Reveal But Wordier: An Excerpt from Susan Cooper’s The Boggart Fights Back
Looking back at the recent slate of award winners, I view them through the lens of someone that has lived in Trump’s America for a little more than a year. As a result, I see things a bit differently. Taken a certain way, every book becomes a kind of protest. Consider the Caldecott. I’ve mentioned The Wolf in the Snow and its tendency to break us out of our bubbles and confront fear with love, but what about the other books? Grand Canyon by Jason Chin is a celebration of natural resources cur...
February 18, 2018
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: The Story of Babar, the Little Elephant by Jean de Brunhoff
Our theme of problematic picture books that deal indirectly with colonialism continue with this natural companion to Curious George. Today’s book is notable if only because it is the first “classic” we’ve discussed that I read as a child. Will that make me more inclined to like the book or not? You’ll just have to see.
We discuss Blast From the Past, the Babadook, the difference between bowler and derby hats, and the ultimate lesson in retail therapy. “You want to deal with your mom’s death?...
February 14, 2018
Guest Post: A New Consideration of Elena Ferrante’s The Beach at Night by Dr. Ellen Handler Spitz
You guys know my penchant for children’s books that fall outside the usual norms. And nothing strikes fear in the good American heart faster than picture books from other countries. I’ve seen even the most sophisticated of readers wrinkle their noses at translations they deemed “weird”. And nothing caused such wrinkling better than the 2016 publication of the American edition of Elena Ferrante’s picture book The Beach at Night. Kirkus argued that the book was not, “a true picture book: with m...
February 13, 2018
Press Release Fun: 90-Second Newbery Screenings Are Heading To Your Burg
It’s that time again! No sooner have the real Newberys been announced than the 90-second versions of them start cropping up. In Film Festival form! Yep, the utterly charming 90-Second Newbery is on the road, and I have your complete schedule here today. Find the big city nearest you and come on in. It’s a hoot. A true hoot. Plus the guest stars are fairly keen.
90-Second Newbery 2018 Schedule
All screenings are free.
Saturday, February 3, 2018
The SAN ANTONIO, TX screening of the seventh annu...
February 12, 2018
Sexual Harassment and Post-ALA YMA 2018 Thoughts (not necessarily at the same time)
Before we begin discussing yesterday’s Youth Media Award announcements, it would be positively ludicrous if I were to say anything on this blog without first directing your attention to an event that almost eclipsed the Award announcements altogether. If you have missed the current #metoo movement within the children’s and young adult literature industry, then I will break down the order in which you can catch up. While you could argue precisely where to start and where to end, the most neces...
February 11, 2018
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Curious George by Margret and H.A. Rey
Take two!
About two weeks ago Kate and I recorded this killer episode where we discussed the classic status (or lack thereof) of Curious George. Naturally, the computer ate the whole dang thing. So we’re doing something a little different this week. Kate’s already read the book so we’re changing things up a little. We get to use the phrase, “predicated on a lie”, discuss Zul’s hair (which I still think is fabulous), 1940s twerking, and the ultimate lesson that white men get to do anything the...
February 8, 2018
Cover Reveal: The Alcatraz Escape by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
Oh, the weather outside is frightful! Some of you are headed to Midwinter right now in the midst of horrible, terrible snows. I salute you, one and all.
To take your minds off your cancelled flights, let us pause a moment and consider Jennifer Chambliss Bertman’s clever and charming Book Scavenger series. When the folks at Henry Holt & Co. asked if I wanted to do a cover reveal I immediately said yes. They’re great books and these days it’s nice to celebrate something that’s a little great.
H...
February 7, 2018
Review of the Day: The Mad Wolf’s Daughter by Diane Magras
The Mad Wolf’s Daughter
By Diane Magras
Kathy Dawson Books (an imprint of Penguin)
$16.99
ISBN: 978-0-525-53134-0
Ages 9-12
On shelves March 6th
Sometimes you just want to read a book that knows how to run.
There are many way to define the term “great writing” as it applies to children’s literature. Eloquent. Ennobling. Distinguished. These terms all work. Here’s another one. Booooooooring! Tell me you didn’t read at least one book as a child deemed a “great work of literature” only to...
February 6, 2018
In Memoriam: Dr. William H. Teale
In August of 2015 I took two small children and got on a plane leaving LaGuardia Airport in NYC, now headed for the Midwest. After dropping my kids off with my parents, I took my mom and dad’s car and drove to Evanston, IL for my first day of work. My husband was following with the moving van and would arrive the next day, but for all intents and purposes I was going to Illinois by my lonesome. Moreover, I really didn’t know anyone in Evanston itself. No one, that is, except Junko Yokota and...
February 5, 2018
Cover Reveal and Interview: Pearl by Molly Idle
I’ve heard you. I’ve heard you when you slip into bed at night and stare with wide insomniac-laden eyes at the ceiling thinking, thinking, thinking to yourself, “Why hasn’t Molly Idle ever done a mermaid book?”
I hear you, man. I understand where you’re coming from. You figure that since she knocks it out of the park with her Flora books and her Tea Rex titles that it would only be right, real, and natural for her to go the mythical route. For years now you’ve waited patiently.
Well. All that...
