Betsy Bird's Blog, page 212

A Rumpus of Wild Things: Interviewing Bruce Handy About His Latest

A couple months ago I made mention of the fact that Bruce Handy, a contributing editor at Vanity Fair, had written a book called Wild Things: The Joy of Reading Children’s Literature as an Adult. Naturally I was curious, and not just because his book shared a title with my own. I approached it with some trepidation but a recent review in The New York Times and my own perusal of its pages was enough to convince me that the man wasn’t some fly-by-night appreciator of the form. Clearly he had gi...

Walking and Talking with . . . Deborah Heiligman!

It’s back! It’s back! Steve Sheinkin’s regular series of conversations with great writers of books for youth has returned from its summertime hiatus. Steve has such a fantastic ear for the best parts of any dialogue, and considering the sheer amount of buzz that Ms. Heiligman’s novel Vincent and Theo has been garnering in 2017 (it already won The 2017 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Nonfiction), this particular talk strikes me as quite timely.

Don’t forget to catch up with the whole series!...

New Fuse 8 n’ Kate Episode: Lon Po Po by Ed Young

Am I surprising anyone when I tell you that our podcast episodes with the greatest number of listeners are the ones where we review bad or contentious books? Well if that’s your aim then time to bail out now. This week Kate has to grapple with the awesomeness that is Lon Po Po. Will she truly appreciate it or will she disregard it entirely? You could cut the tension with a knife. You can also download the entire episode on Soundcloud here and, of course, you can subscribe to the podcast on iT...

Cover Reveal: The Story Pirates Present – Stuck in the Stone Age by Geoff Rodkey, ill. Hatem Aly

When I lived in New York City I cultivated the usual roster of brigands, ne’er do wells, shifty eyed squatters, and general layabouts. In other words, actor friends! One of them, a good one, joined at one point with an organization called The Story Pirates. And though I never saw them perform in my particular library system, I heard that when they did they were quite popular with the kids and parents. Founded originally in 2004, these days they visit schools and go all around the country perf...

Gunning for Your Children: When Picture Book Classics Pack Heat

 

This is my son:

He’s an appealing little squirt, and three years of age. That means that he has a particular adoration of construction equipment, sticks, hoses, and general mayhem. This, we anticipated. Encouraged even. But like a lot of parents out there I was not entirely ready for his #1 enthusiasm of all time. Better than bulldozers and excavators. More enticing than the longest hose.

My son is a gun nut.

You have a stick? It’s a gun. You have an oddly shaped piece of uncooked spaghe...

Book Chat Premiere: The Bad Mood and the Stick by Lemony Snicket, ill. Matthew Forsythe

On occasion I will do a presentation that encapsulates the history of children’s literature on social media. It’s fairly simple. You start with listservs, move on to blogs, work in the rise of Twitter, and then close with a variety of examples of children’s books (or YA, though that’s a different animal for the most part) that have come under fire. To the last point, my go-to titles are probably all familiar to you. A Birthday Cake for George Washington. A Fine Dessert. There Is a Tribe of Ki...

New Fuse 8 n’ Kate Episode: The Berenstain Bears and the Bully by Stan and Jan Berenstain

Happy tenth episode! We can’t choose favorite episodes, still being a relatively new podcast, but after recording this latest I can confirm that it is without a doubt the one closest to my heart so far. It is our first series book and our first listener suggestion. It is also the weirdest dang book. I was a little hesitant to give it a try since I remembered reading it years ago and thinking it was advanced in its attitude towards bullying. A bit worried about old me now. But don’t take my wo...

Review of the Day: After the Fall by Dan Santat

After the Fall: How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again
By Dan Santat
Roaring Brook (an imprint of Macmillan)
$17.99
ISBN: 978-1-62672-682-6
Ages 4 and up
On shelves October 3rd

Sometimes its easy to forget in the midst of all those picture books about farting dogs, night kitchens, and giant dance parties that initially literature for children had a primary purpose: To instruct. Specifically, to instill in young people a clear-cut sense of right and wrong. Learning to read was all well and...

One and Done: Serving on ALSC Committees and Never Coming Back

Eleven years ago I served on the Newbery committee that would award Susan Patron’s The Higher Power of Lucky one of the loftiest children’s literary awards in the land. Ten years later I was tapped to serve as the chair of the Arbuthnot Lecture committee.  Why the gap in time?  In my particular case it had a fair amount to do with the fact that I’ve been publishing books for kids. Not always knowing when one book or another would hit the American marketplace I eschewed committee work. Then in...

Fusenews: Sit On a Tea Party a Spell

Haven’t done one of these in a while. To be fair, there’s been so much crazy news out there that it’s almost too intimidating to do something as light and fluffy as this. Best if I stick with the news that matters. And, occasionally, the stuff I don’t remember seeing already on PW Children’s Bookshelf.

 

First up, this probably was on PW Children’s Bookshelf and I was just sleeping that day. As you might recall, my recent anthology FUNNY GIRL kicks off with some advice on how to be funny wri...