Betsy Bird's Blog, page 273

Librarian Preview: Harper Collins (Spring 2015)

Oh, it’s a big one. A big honking preview, this is. Yes indeed, folks, Harper Collins is in town and they’ve a mess of good looking books just aching to arrive on your shelves. Now the last time I attending a preview for HC I was massively pregnant with back pain to match. This time around, in comparison, I was positively lithe, leaping from table to table as the editors showed us their pretty baubles. Here then is an encapsulation of some of the goodies that will be hitting shelves nationwid...

Fuse #8 TV: The Grolier Exhibit and Author Jennifer Niven!

I think I’m beginning to get the hang of this!

Yes, we’ve yet another Fuse #8 TV episode today and this time we’ve worked out some of the kinks. No more with the herky jerky videos at the start! Instead, I take you on a lovely little tour of the current Grolier exhibit of children’s literature. Then it’s interview time with YA author Jennifer Niven of the much lauded All the Bright Places.

Enjoy previous episodes of Fuse #8 TV here thus far!

Announcing NYPL’s 2014 100 Books for Reading Sharing List!

You know, folks, there are lists and then there are LISTS. And I’m not saying one is any better than another. Of course not. But when we look at lists of children’s books there’s only one that truly has my heart. Coming in at 103 years old this year, NYPL’s 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing list is one of the oldest (if not THE oldest) continually published children’s book lists in the nation. It is also the most beautiful. Doubt me? Then check out our 2014 edition.

You can see our interactiv...

Newbery / Caldecott 2015: Final Prediction Edition

And thus, we end. Though, with such a late ALA Media Awards announcement this year (Monday, February 2nd!) my predictions are coming a bit early in the game. Still, it’s not as though I’ll be seeing much that’s new between now and 2/2. I have watched with great interest the discussions on Heavy Medal and Calling Caldecott. I’ve discussed and debated the contenders with folks of all sorts. I’m eyeing the Mock Caldecotts and Mock Newberys with great fervor as they post their results (and I’m ta...

American Cover Reveal: Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge

Consider, if you will, the strange relationship that exists between a book jacket created in America vs. a book jacket created in the United Kingdom. Both are appealing to an audience that speaks primarily English. But the perception of what will sell/appeal in one country can vary widely from that of another. Over the years I’ve seen a whole host of British covers translated (so to speak) for Americans, and American covers translated for the British. Today we’re going to look at a couple of...

Walking and Talking with . . . Gene Luen Yang!

Author and artist Steve Sheinkin continues his marvelous “Walking and Talking” series with us today. The subject? Gene Luen Yang, who draws connections between immigration and superheroes in ways I’ve never really ever considered before. Enjoy!

Previous editions of this series include:

Walking and Talking With John Corey Whaley
Walking and Talking with Jenni Holm

Could It Be Published Today?

This past Saturday I hosted a Children’s Literary Salon at the main branch of NYPL that discussed the past, present, and future of children’s book publishing. It was a stellar line-up, moderated by author Jane Zalben. To kick off the panel discussion, the panel was asked a question that has been posed many times before but not always in this context. Let us consider the case of Goodnight Moon. Here we have a book that is often considered right up there with Where the Wild Things Are in terms...

Video Sunday: Or Jon Klassen himself. He’d make a nice bear.

The holidays are nearly upon us! Time to buy things! To chop down trees. To find books for the small fry! I can’t help you with the first or second of these necessities but #3? Here’s a bit of an aid for you. As you may know, Rocco Staino and KidLit TV have together been interviewing all the heavyweights in the children’s literary field. Now he has a kind of holiday special (cool, right?) with three of my favorite folks: Jenny Brown (Children’s Editor for Shelf Awareness, director of the Cent...

Review of the Day: Halfway Home by Christine Mari Inzer

Halfway Home: Drawing My Way Through Japan

By Christine Mari Inzer

Naruhodo Press

$11.95

ISBN: 978-0-9907014-0-8

Ages 12 and up

On shelves now

There’s been a lot of talk about the role of the reviewer when it comes to self-published books. Horn Book Magazine makes a point of not reviewing self-published fare of any sort. Kirkus, in contrast, makes quite a penny off of doing precisely that. And bloggers? Bloggers make their own rules. Some eschew anything but the professionally published while...

Why Is Nothing Easy Anymore?

A patron walks up to your children’s reference desk. Asks for books for beginning readers. The patron has a small child who is just at the very very beginning of learning to read and needs books with simple words. No big long sentences. Nothing too intense. Just the basics. You walk over to your easy section and look at the titles. And that’s when it hits you . . . easy easy? Basic books? Is there anything harder in the world to find sometimes?

I mention this because there’s been a lot of disc...