Betsy Bird's Blog, page 22

Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Carol of the Brown King by Langston Hughes, ill. Ashley Bryan

Just in time for Christmas! So I was on the lookout for Christmas books we hadn’t done before and you know who we’ve never presented on this podcast? Langston Hughes! Heck, we’ve done James Baldwin, but we’ve never done Langston Hughes. Oddly, we’ve done shockingly few picture books over the years around Christmastime that involve baby Jesus. Today we consider an author who was blacklisted in his day and turned to writing books for children to make ends meet. This particular book was also ne...

31 Days, 31 Lists: 2024 Fantasy Books for Kids

Here’s where we start to get into semantics. I mean, what really is a “fantasy” picture book anyway? Don’t a lot of books for kids upset reality to a certain extent? How does one go about saying one book with a unicorn is fantasy but another with, say, kids flying in their dreams, isn’t? I dunno. As far as I can tell, certain types of picture books adhere a little more closely to the fantasy aesthetic. I’ve included those, as well as middle grade fiction and graphic novels that stood out par...

31 Days, 31 Lists: 2024 Science Fiction Books for Kids

I don’t know about you folks but for me, this may be my most beloved category. Most ignored, certainly. There is a wisdom commonly held that science fiction for kids doesn’t sell. Sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy, if you ask me. If you assume something won’t sell, and you’re a publisher, it probably won’t. Today, I celebrate what little science fiction there is. And, interestingly enough, the bulk of it this year seemed to come in the form of picture books. What are we to make of that? Not...

31 Days, 31 Lists: 2024 Older Funny Books for Kids

Humor is subjective, so I have zero doubt that one of your favorite books for kids that had them rolling in the aisles will be missing from today’s list. For example, where’s the Dog Man? Where the Diary of a Wimpy Kid? While admittedly hilarious in their consistency, my goal here today is to highlight those funny books that aren’t already on everybody’s radars. It’s a wild mix of nonfiction, poetry, comics, novels, and more. And because I’ve such a penchant for humor, you’ll find that a lot...

31 Days, 31 Lists: 2024 Comics and Graphic Novels for Kids

Ah, this is a big one. There are only a couple topics including in the 31 Days, 31 Lists series that take significantly more time and energy than the others. With today’s list we start tackling books for older readers this month. Comics just make for a natural starting place. You’ll note that I use the terms “comics” and “graphic novels” interchangeably since much of the stigma surrounding the former term has dissipated (though certainly not disappeared entirely).

Make no mistake that th...

31 Days, 31 Lists: 2024 Easy and Early Chapter Books

There are a million different names for the books I’m discussing with you today. Beginning books. Easy readers. Transitional readers. Whatever you might call them, these are the books that transition children into first reading on their own, and then into reading on their own for fun! They are books for the first readers, and books for the kids not ready for full novels quite yet. Theis nebulous area of writing scholarship often flounders on our shelves, not quite here nor there. Yet without...

31 Days, 31 Lists: 2024 Unconventional Children’s Books

Before I begin, I should note that this list owes its existence to the annual Most Astonishingly Unconventional Children’s Books list put out by Travis Jonker at 100 Scope Notes. Though I’ve always done a version of this, I must credit him with coming up with the term “unconventional” which is a brilliant and non-judgey way of discussing these books. Of course, Travis and I differ on which books fit such lists. He has made his. Now see which ones made mine. There’s overlap but they are cert...

31 Days, 31 Lists: 2024 Poetry for Kids

Poetry. It ain’t just for April anymore.

In my experience poetry comes in waves. Some years the selections for kids are paltry. Other years, and I would count 2024 in this category, we are overwhelmed with a plethora of it. This year, I had my pick of the poetry and it allowed me to be a bit choosy. As a result, I’m delighted to show you some of the really top notch titles we got to see this year.

If you���d like today���s list in the form of a PDF, you may download it here.

Intere...

Fuse 8 n’ Kate – Moishe’s Miracle: A Hanukkah Story by Laura Krauss Melmed, ill. David Slonim

Since Christmas and Hanukkah fall on the same day this year, Kate and I had a difficult decision ahead of us: Do we do a Christmas first book or a Hanukkah book. And, if a Hanukkah book, which one? The answer came to us when I discovered the incredible and incredibly weird Moishe’s Miracle. Unfamiliar with it? Maybe it deserves classic status as an undiscovered gem. Today we discuss Gremlins, hidden gems, and so much more.

Listen to the whole show here on Soundcloud or download it through...

31 Days, 31 Lists: 2024 Wordless Books for Kids

I’ve mentioned this on this site before, but did you know that in Europe the common “wordless” children’s book is called a “silent” book? There’s something particularly lovely about that phrasing, I think. To my mind, wordless books are an interesting beastie. They have infinite uses, yet there is no quorum on what their best use might be.

Today, I’m giving you the books in 2024 that hadn’t a word of narration to spare. And they’re not all picture books either! See if you can spot the gr...