Betsy Bird's Blog, page 233

Press Release Fun: Institute of Children’s Literature Quarterly Contest

Generally speaking, I tend to go whole weeks without a press release to my name. Then I get a whole slew of them submitted in a single week. So far I’ve one on Tuesday, one today, and probably one tomorrow or Saturday. It’s a full life. If the one on Tuesday was for librarians, the one today is for the up-and-coming children’s authors out there. A little contest that’s part writing challenge, part money in your pocket.

Institute of Children’s Literature Announces Quarterly Contest

Awarding...

Review of the Day: Juana & Lucas by Juana Medina

Juana and Lucas
By Juana Medina
Candlewick Press
$14.99
ISBN: 978-1-7636-7208-9
Ages 6-9
On shelves now

Windows. Mirrors. Mirrors. Windows. Windowy mirrors. Mirrory windows. Windows. Mirrors. Sliding doors! Mirrors. Windows.

In the world of 21st century children’s literature, diversity should be the name of the game. We want books for our children that reflect the worlds they know and the worlds they have yet to greet. We want them to see themselves in their books (mirrors), see others...

Press Release Fun: The 2017 Maureen Hayes Author/Illustrator Award

This one’s for the school and public librarians. Don’t let the title of this post fool you. For all that this sounds like an award for authors and illustrators, it’s actually a grant so that you can get some into your library. On site. In person. Here’s the text, and it’s fantastic. Maybe one of the smartest memorial awards I’ve ever encountered.

Have you always wanted to have a nationally recognized author/illustrator visit your library?

Then, please, apply for the 2017 Maureen Hayes Autho...

Cover Reveal: Almost Paradise by Corabel Shofner

Folks ask me to reveal middle grade covers from time to time. Sometimes I say yes. Sometimes I say no. If you ever happen to be interested in my doing so then the following elements should ideally be combined:

A nun A smarmy man with a mustache (handlebar preferred but not required) An unnerved woman staring at the smarmy man with the aforementioned mustache A pig

Admittedly, it’s only once in a blue moon when I can find such a book jacket to premiere, but when I can . . . magic!!

Aww. Jus...

Video Sunday: One Earworm to Rule Them All

I usually begin with a video of myself whenever I’ve a chance, but this week I’m preempting my own face because this video is the coolest thing ever. By the time I left New York Public Library its Rose Reading Room had already been closed for half a year. Now you get to see the room in a time lapse video looking cooler than ever. 52,000 books are shelved here in two minutes. Trust me – you won’t be bored.

This month I hosted one of those fun little interviews I do from time to time on my sho...

Fusenews: All I remember is it had a blue cover

How does Horn Book not have a “weird stuff” room?

I can’t believe I forgot to tell you that I was a guest on the Horn Book Podcast recently. To be a guest has been a dream of mine ever since I listened to its first episode. Hearing the banter between Roger Sutton and Siân Gaetano fills my heart with gladness. Oddly, in my episode I was there sans Roger. I’m also only half joking when I say my ultimate goal is to supplant him in all things. Many thanks to the excellent Siân who not only is sma...

Press Release Fun: Bank Street BookFest

There was a time, oh best beloved, when BookFest (an annual book event with multiple panels, book discussions, speakers, and general camaraderie) was hosted by New York Public Library. Then came the great upheaval of 2008 and its fate was up in the air until Lisa Von Drasek saved it by pulling it uptown to the Bank Street College of Education. One cannot help but think of a ghostly Anne Carroll Moore glaring over at an equally ghostly but far more smug Lucy Sprague Mitchell when that occurred...

Review of the Day: What Color Is the Wind? by Anne Herbauts

What Color Is the Wind?
By Anne Herbauts
Translated by Claudia Zoe Bedrick
Enchanted Lion Books
$19.95
ISBN: 978-1-59270-221-3
Ages 5 and up
On shelves now

I’m going to have a hard time of it when my kids grow up. When I had them I swore up, down and sideways that I wouldn’t turn into the kind of blogger that declares that a book is good or bad, based solely on the whims of my impertinent offspring. For the most part, I’ve kept that promise. I review picture books outside of their influence,...

This Is What Happens When You Read Too Many Picture Books

It seemed such an attainable goal. All I wanted to do was read every single picture book published in America in 2016. Was that too much to ask? I even had a system. I’d create a Google spreadsheet and write down every single title and rate it. That way I’d have an easy way of remembering what I liked and didn’t like later.

But I didn’t count on the patterns. Oh no. No, I did not.

You see, I’ve read a lot picture books this year. Not all of them yet. I still have a long shelf at work that’s c...

Fusenews: Giant Brick Party

Sweet little Friday is upon us. Let us celebrate the rapid approach of the weekend with ridiculousness. And that particular item I have in spades.

First off, I’m so pleased and proud and delighted to inform you that my husband of the Cockeyed Caravan blog has written a book. And what a book! Published by Writer’s Digest, it’s called The Secrets of Story: Innovative Tools for Perfecting Your Fiction and Captivating Readers. I like to call it Save the Cat meets Joseph Campbell. Best of all, w...