Betsy Bird's Blog, page 227

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...

31 Days, 31 Lists: Day 28 – 2016 Great Nonfiction Chapter Books for Kids

I peer into the darkness and at long last I see the light at the end of the tunnel. We’re almost there! Almost at the end of this month’s 31 Days, 31 Lists challenge. I’m certainly delighted, not least because I’ve managed to keep it up so far (knocking on wood now as hard as my brittle knuckles can knock).

As with some of the lists, today’s is not by any means complete. I fell down on the job of reading as many chapter nonfiction books as I should have. And since I refuse to place any books...

31 Days, 31 Lists: Day 27 – 2016 Nonfiction Picture Books

It’s finally come! The list is nearing its end. So it is with great delight that I present to you some of the last of the lists. Today’s is particularly long, celebrating what I consider to be some of the best books of 2016. Since so many of them have shown up on my other lists I’ll leave off the comments this time around except for those that haven’t appeared here before.

These are the nonfiction titles I was most impressed by in 2016:

2016 Nonfiction Picture Books

Ada Lovelace, Poet of Sc...

31 Days, 31 Lists: Day 26 – 2016 Unique Biographies for Kids

During the 2016 Boston Globe-Horn Book Colloquium Carol Boston Weatherford and Ekua Holmes spoke together about the art of writing about other people. During the speech they mentioned how part of their job is to break down “the canonical boundaries of biography.” Too often kids read the same biographies about the same people over and over again. The canon, such as it is. There were a bunch of perfectly good biographies out about those folks this year. I prefer the more obscure figures and the...

31 Days, 31 Lists: Day 25 – 2016 Transcendent Holiday Titles

Note that I didn’t specify which holidays, of course. These are just the books I think did a slam bang job of lauding their respective days of celebration. Enjoy one and all!

2016 Transcendent Holiday Titles

Babushka: A Christmas Tale by Dawn Casey, ill. Amanda Hall

Oh, certainly this isn’t the first Babushka title you’ve ever encountered in your life . . . or is it? It’s certainly the cheeriest I’ve seen. And lovely too.

Christmas in the Barn by Margaret Wise Brown, ill. Anna Dewdney

Anna...

31 Days, 31 Lists: Day 24 – 2016 Science and Nature Books for Kids

There were no science books on the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for 2016. Nor in 2015. Nor 2014. Bomb in 2013 was sort of a science book, so we’ll count that. And Moonbird that year certainly was. Yet it’s often surprising how consistently science and nature get overlooked when they’re handing out awards for nonfiction. According to my sources, science writers are complaining about this fact, and with good reason. When you create an award for nonfiction and then hand it consistent...

31 Days, 31 Lists: Day 23 – 2016 American History for Kids

For a year or two I helped sit on the committee for the New York Historical Society’s book prize. Each year it goes to books that, “… honor the best children’s historical literature and encourage authors to continue to create engaging and challenging narratives that provide a window into the past for middle readers and their families.” And, oh ye poor starving middle grade historical fiction writers, it gives you a whopping $10,000, so get your publishers to submit your name next year.

I’m in...

31 Days, 31 Lists: Day 22 – 2016 Fictionalized Non-Fiction for Kids

Earlier this year I had a lovely lunch with an author of nonfiction titles for kids. As we discussed the wide range of nonfiction available to children these days she lamented the fact that we’ve become so narrow in what we deem worthy of our children’s attention. Sticking strictly to what we consider to be the “facts” can be unnecessarily fraught. Then again, things like fake dialogue and just generally making up stuff can be more than problematic. But how can any nonfiction picture book be...

31 Days, 31 Lists: Day 21 – 2016 Poetry Books for Kids

Fun Fact: The American Library Association does not currently give an award specifically to great works of children’s book poetry. Is not that strange? When I first discovered this to be true, I was perplexed. I’ve always been a bit of a rube when it comes to the poetic form. Placing stresses on syllables and knowing what constitutes a sestina and all that. Of course even without its own award specifically, poetry can win the Newbery or the Caldecott. Yet too often when it happens it’s in the...

31 Days, 31 Lists: Day 21: 2016 Poetry Books for Kids

Fun Fact: The American Library Association does not currently give an award specifically to great works of children’s book poetry. Is not that strange? When I first discovered this to be true, I was perplexed. I’ve always been a bit of a rube when it comes to the poetic form. Placing stresses on syllables and knowing what constitutes a sestina and all that. Of course even without its own award specifically, poetry can win the Newbery or the Caldecott. Yet too often when it happens it’s in the...