Betsy Bird's Blog, page 226
January 12, 2017
Review of the Day: Prince Ribbit by Jonathan Emmett, ill. Poly Bernatene
Prince Ribbit
By Jonathan Emmett
Illustrated by Poly Bernatene
Peachtree Press
$16.95
ISBN: 978-1-56145-761-8
Ages 4-7
On shelves March 1, 2017
There’s been a lot of talk in the news lately about . . . well, the news. Specifically fake news. Articles and stories that look real when you find them in your in-box or Facebook feed or Twitter account, but that ultimately don’t stand up to scrutiny. According to a December 2016 Pew Research Center Report, 23% of Americans say they’ve shared...
January 10, 2017
The Diversity List: Picture, Easy, and Early Chapter Books of 2016
Not too long ago I created the 31 Days, 31 Lists series where I counted down a list of top 2016 books every day. When I initially came up with the idea I briefly wondered if I should make lists celebrating specific kinds of diversity. Top African-American Picture Books of 2016 or Best Diverse Titles. Instead, I made certain that each list was wholly diverse in and of itself. After all, I knew that I had today’s list waiting in the wings.
Since January of 2016 I’ve kept track of all picture bo...
January 8, 2017
Warning: Construction (2017 Books) Ahead
A girl could go quite mad.
This is what happens when a blogger has a two-year-old with a penchant for vehicular momentum. I blame his obsession on the fact that the house next door was leveled and a new one put in its place. Suddenly my son had a front row seat for the excavator / cement mixer / dump truck / bulldozer show. Since that time his appreciation has only grown and darned if the publishing industry has done nothing but feed his need for all things construction related. When I come h...
January 7, 2017
Book Trailer Premier: Green Pants by Kenneth Kraegel
Video Sunday bounces back with a beautiful book trailer. But first, a little book trailer 101.
When making a book trailer for your third picture book (in this particular case Mr. Kenneth Kraegel was the understated soul behind King Arthur’s Very Great Grandson and The Song of Delphine) you have to consider what kind of trailer to make. They break down into all kinds of different categories. There are the ones that make great use of flash animation. The ones that are done on Garage Band and iM...
January 4, 2017
Cover Reveal: Beyond the Bright Sea by Lauren Wolk
When I look at the wide swath of books published each and every year it’s a marvel to me that any new children’s book authors are able to claw their way out of the pack to distinguish themselves at all. Consider adult author Lauren Wolk. In 2016 her debut children’s book Wolf Hollow became one of the most discussed titles of the year. Initially written for adults, it’s one of the most compelling middle grade stories I’ve ever read in my life. As I may have mentioned in my review, that villain...
January 3, 2017
Newbery / Caldecott 2017: Final Prediction Edition
Normally published in December, now pushed up to January for your reading pleasure. But I’m shaking things up this time around. Let’s do something a little different.
In all my past Final Prediction Editions of Newbery/Caldecott winners, I cling stubbornly to the same format: name the predicted winner and honors. This year I’m going a slightly different route. Something a little more thoughtful and introspective. Bear with me.
2016 was an odd year. I think we can all agree on that much. The f...
January 1, 2017
(like you really need another list from me) 100 Magnificent Children’s Books 2016!
It has been a crazy December. So just in brief then, here are 100 of the books that showed up on my 31 Days, 31 Lists series that I personally enjoyed the most. I do this list each year as a kind of personal bookkeeping. Go about your business. We’ll be back to our regularly scheduled programming after today.
100 Magnificent Children’s Books 2016
Board Books
Everyone Is Yawning by Anita Bijsterbosch
Love Is a Truck by Amy Novesky, ill. Sara Gillingham
Picture Books (For Children Ages 2-6)
...
December 30, 2016
31 Days, 31 Lists: Day 31 – The Best Picture Books of 2016
And that, as they say, is that. A noble experiment runs its natural course. For those of you who followed along every day, I thank you. It’s been a thrill, an exhausting exhausting thrill, to bring you a different list of great 2016 books every day in December. Now we find ourselves on the cusp of a new year with many more books bobbing on the horizon, hankering for our attention. Before we throw ourselves into their midst, we can at least celebrate some of the picture books in 2016 that got...
December 29, 2016
31 Days, 31 Lists: Day 30 – Wonderful 2016 Children’s Novels
No excuses! These are just the books that I read in 2016 that I thought knocked it out of the park. These aren’t the “best of the year”. These are just the books that were particularly good and that somehow crossed my radar. I read a lot more than what you’ll see here, but I loved these the best. For your consideration:
Cloud and Wallfish by Anne Nesbet
My dark horse Newbery front runner. I found it because Roger Sutton mentioned it off-handedly on his podca...
December 28, 2016
31 Days, 31 Lists: Day 29 – 2016 Reprinted Children’s Novels
Back on December 9th I wrote a piece on those reprinted picture books I was happiest to encounter in 2016. Now I’ll say a word or two about the reprinted novels of this year. Naturally, if you look at the output from the publisher New York Review Books you’ll find a lovely array of titles. For more than are listed here, that’s for sure and for certain. The books I’m including today are ones I’ve read, so it’s fairly short. Still, don’t miss the books listed here today. The book market is not...
