Betsy Bird's Blog, page 269
February 19, 2015
Fuse #8 TV: Chris Grabenstein and Reading (Too Much Into) Picture Books
Hi all!
Okay. For this month’s Fuse #8 TV I decided to premiere a new series.
*ahem*
Introducing:
Reading (Too Much Into) Picture Books
Ladies and gentlemen, I like a good conspiracy theory. Nothing makes my heart go pitter pat faster than an opinion about a picture book that takes a right hand turn into Crazyville. Trouble is, there just aren’t enough out there. Sure, you can tell me that Horton Hears a Who is anti-abortion and Rainbow Fish is pro-Communist but sometimes it feels like I’ve heard...
February 18, 2015
The Unlikable Female Character: Thoughts on Middle Grade Literature
While making the rounds through the old internets I came across a recent New Statesman piece entitled Why I want more unlikeable female characters. The premise pretty much boils down to a desire to see “women who are every type of humanity – assholes and all” in our literature and popular culture. And while the piece was not specifically about children’s literature (though Katniss was referenced on the YA side of things) it got me to thinking about what our expectations are when we read child...
February 17, 2015
African-American Experience Children’s Literary Reference Guide (2010-2015)
We’re in the thick of the month of February now and recently I ran into an interesting problem. It being Black History Month and all I was looking to create a list of Black Experience children’s books for my librarians to pull from for displays and purchasing and such. So I trolled about online looking for a recent list of titles. Don’t get me wrong – I love books like Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, but in spite of the relatively small publishing numbers we really have had some wonderful books...
February 16, 2015
2015: The Year of the Spiders and the Flies
Let’s face facts. When doing a trendwatch piece, it’s almost impossible to top Travis Jonker’s 2014 bit of brilliance 2014: The Year of the Whale. Prior to that piece I had done The Year of the Chloe, The Year of the Jackalope, and The Year of the Raven. And now, in 2015, I’m calling it early. And rather than limit it to a single creepy crawly, I am opening my heart to those eternal enemies, the spiders and the flies. They seem unexpectedly prevalent and it’s only February! How can I be so su...
February 12, 2015
A 2015 Summer Reading List for Visually Impaired Young Patrons
It’s not what I would call an overly well known fact but here at New York Public Library we are proud to include the Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library amongst our branches. The site “provides talking books and magazines and braille for people who are blind, visually impaired, or are otherwise physically unable to read standard print.” And each year when the five boroughs of NYC create a summer reading list we try to note when books are available in braille or talking book forma...
February 11, 2015
Review of the Day – Winnie: The True Story of the Bear Who Inspired Winnie-the-Pooh by Sally M. Walker
Winnie: The True Story of the Bear That Inspired Winnie-the-Pooh
By Sally M. Walker
Illustrated by Jonathan D. Voss
Henry Holt (an imprint of Macmillan)
$17.99
ISBN: 978-0805097153
Ages 4-7
On shelves now
I worked in close proximity to the real Winnie-the-Pooh for five years. From 2006 to 2011 he was a daily delight. To clarify, I was working alongside the original Winnie-the-Pooh toys owned by the real Christopher Robin, son of A.A. Milne in New York Public Library’s Central Children’s Room....
February 10, 2015
Walking and Talking with . . . Laura Vaccaro Seeger!
Behold the latest entry in Steve Sheinkin’s “Walking and Talking” series. When he’s not winning a YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction honor for Port Chicago 50 Steve can be found interviewing his fellow authors and illustrators and bringing their talks to comic life. In his latest episode we see not just a drawn version of Caldecott Honor winner Laura Vaccaro Seeger but of her editor Neal Porter as well. Enjoy!
Previous editions of this series include:
Walking and Talking With John Corey...
February 9, 2015
Cover Reveal: The Latest From Frank Cottrell Boyce
I am lucky in my profession. Lucky not simply because I have a blog where I am offered the chance to reveal the American cover of Frank Cottrell Boyce’s latest book The Astounding Broccoli Boy. No, I’m lucky because I work in a profession where I even know who Boyce is and how fantastic his books can be. And if you’ve read Millions or Cosmic or The Unforgotten Coat then you know what I’m talking about. His latest is an exercise is absurdity that maybe owes more to Cervantes or maybe Ionesco t...
February 8, 2015
Video Sunday: “White inside the hambone always”
When actress Lena Dunham started talking in the news about how she wanted to turn Catherine Called Birdy into a film, I was intrigued. And apparently she’s not a fly-by-night children’s book lover either. All her tattoos are children’s literature inspired. Hearing this I figured she’d have the usual suspects. Eloise, sure. And she does have some normal ones like Ferdinand the bull and Olivia. But then she starts talking about her Little Golden Book tat (for Pals). The kicker, however, is the...
February 5, 2015
Review of the Day: The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
The War That Saved My Life
By Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Dial Books for Young Readers (an imprint of Penguin)
$16.99
ISBN: 9780803740815
Ages 9-12
On shelves now.
As a child I was what one might call a selective reader. Selective in that I studiously avoided any and all works of fiction that might conceivably be considered “depressing”. Bridge to Terabithia? I’ll have none please. Island of the Blue Dolphins? Pass. Jacob Have I Loved? Not in this lifetime. Lord only knows what caused a book to...
