Betsy Bird's Blog, page 235

Review of the Day: They All Saw a Cat by Brendan Wenzel

They All Saw a Cat
By Brendan Wenzel
Chronicle Books
$16.99
ISBN: 978-1-4521-5013-0
Ages 4-7
On shelves now

It’s funny. Unless you’re a teacher or librarian, a grown adult that does not work or live with children will come into very little contact with picture books. Then, one day, they produce a few kids and BLAMMO! They are shot into a world they haven’t visited since they were young themselves. They grab frantically at the classics, discover that a lot of them don’t work with very ve...

Newbery / Caldecott 2017: Fall Prediction Edition

Mmmm. It’s that time again. The summer is beginning to cool its jets and with fall on the horizon I need to present the third in my yearly four-part prediction series. What was that fantastic quote Travis Jonker came up with the other day? Ah, yes.

“Those who have knowledge, don’t predict. Those who predict, don’t have knowledge.” – Lao Tzu

And like Travis, we’re just going to run roughshod over that one. As ever, I will remind you that my ability to predict these things is a bit on the shodd...

Fusenews: “You have no power over me”

Fast fast, like lightning, fast! It’s a Fusenews round-up of epic quickie proportions!

First up, my buddy Warren Truitt used to work with me in the Central Children’s Room of New York Public Library. Then he moved to Alabama. He’s kept busy, since that time with a long-term personal project. This one man machine is intent on setting up every single child in every single preschool in Lee Col, AL with three books that they can take home as their own. To do that, he has set up a very specific...

Children’s Literary Salon: 90-Second Newbery Film Festival!

In just 9 days the Children’s Literary Salon at EPL will be up and running again. And, as ever, you can watch the proceedings live from your very own home computer right here.

This month, we’re celebrating the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival in all its shameless glory. Explained thusly:

Even better news, the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival now has a full-featured website of its own. Itindexes and makes searchable all the great movies received over the years, complete with judges’ commentary...

Unexpected Jolts of Children’s Literature: Ramona invented the original Portlandia

Ooo. Lots of adult books with smatterings of children’s literature littered about the pages today. Don’t even know where to start with this one. Let’s see, eeny meeny miney . . . MO!

Libertarians on the Prairie: Laura Ingalls Wilder, Rose Wilder Lane, and the Making of the Little House Books by Christine Woodside

This is the most interesting of the batch in many ways. This year saw the publication of the book The Selected Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder, published by editor William Anderson....

Review of the Day: Presenting Buffalo Bill by Candace Fleming

Presenting Buffalo Bill: The Man Who Invented the Wild West
By Candace Fleming
A Neal Porter Book, Roaring Book Press (a division of Macmillan)
$19.99
ISBN: 9781596437630
Ages 9-12
On shelves September 20th

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how we present history to our kids. Specifically I was thinking about picture book biographies and whether or not they’re capable of offering a nuanced perspective on a person’s complicated life. Will we ever see an honest picture book biography...

Video Sunday: Have a think in your head

I do not know where Monica Edinger found our first video today. All I know is that she discovered a video that is absolutely the most interesting thing you’ll see all week. It’s a young Maurice Sendak. He’d recently won the Caldecott for Where the Wild Things Are. I’ve never seen anything like this before. And who knew you could kinda sorta flip Pierre?

Thanks to educating alice for the link. If you have a Margaret Wise Brown interview hidden away somewhere I’d be happy to take it off your h...

Press Release Fun: Mathical Book Prize Now Accepting Submissions for 2016

Oh, my stars and garters. You lucky authors out there that have written books with math in them in some way are in for a treat. The Mathical Book Prize is now accepting submissions from all comers, be they picture books, middle grade, or YA. What is this prize of which I speak? In its own words:

The 2017 Mathical Book Prize seeks both new and previously published titles that connect literacy to encouraging children in grades PreK-12 to engage in mathematical thinking!

Mathical Winners and Ho...

Fusenews: Born and raised in South Detroit . . .

This blog has spoiled me beyond all hope or recognition. Over the years I’ve used it to find nannies, to get books re-published, and now it has solved a mystery that lay dormant for years. Back in November of 2009 I decided I wanted to track down a book from my childhood. Writing stumpers into the internet ether is usually rather pointless and the post Thanksgiving: The Ernestine Mystery was no exception. So imagine my surprise when reader Desiree Preston wrote me the following note this week...

The Nuanced Picture Book Biography

Last week I was sick. Sick as a dog sick. Sick in that way where you feel the cool breezes coming through your window and have a fleeting glimpse of how lucky you are to be sick at the end of the summer rather than even a week earlier when your misery could have only have been compounded by hot winds and bright, horrible, happy sunlight.

In the midst of all this lovely blah-ness I was given the chance to speak with a German reporter about political picture book biographies. Thanks to the feve...