Betsy Bird's Blog, page 274

Fusenews: I’m Cuckoo for Cuckoo Song

There was a time, oh children of mine, when the ALA Media Awards would be announced and the morning after the announcement the winners of the Caldecott and Newbery Awards would be whisked away to New York City to speak on NBC. Then Snooki came and ruined everything (this is the abbreviated version, but it’s not too far off). So we’re none too pleased with NBC these days. Al Roker’s Book Club aside (and it looks like it hasn’t updated since Halloween) there’s not a lot going on at that channel...

Blog Tour Stop: Children’s Literary Podcasting Loves a Winner

On April 19th of this past year I hosted a Children’s Literary Salon at NYPL called Podcasting Children’s Books: Ins and Outs, Ups and Downs. Unlike a lot of my Salons, this one was actually recorded and turned into a podcast here. Why am I telling you all this? Because that podcaster, one Matthew Winner, has just hit a very important milestone. As of November 21st the Let’s Get Busy podcast celebrated its 100th episode. To celebrate this momentous event, Matthew organized a Blog+Pod tour. An...

Review of the Day: Lulu and Pip by Nina Gruener

Lulu & Pip

By Nina Gurener

Photography by Stephanie Rausser

Cameron & Company

$18.95

ISBN: 978-1-937359-60-7

Ages 3-7

On shelves now

To what do we credit the distinct increase in children’s books containing photography this year? I posed that very question to a group of children’s book photographers not that long ago and the answers were telling. In the past, creating a book of high quality color photographs cost beaucoup de bucks. Plus children’s books illustrated with photos were in black an...

Happy Thanksgiving! Now Go Listen to a Podcast

Joyeux Turkey Day, my fellows! Between bites of sweet potato and rolls, perhaps it might do the soul good to listen to a l’il ole podcast that’s actually a bit perfect for the day. The “original” Thanksgiving was between Pilgrims and Native Americans, or so we were taught in grade school, yes? Well perhaps we should do away with the myths and listen to some American Indians today in one of my Children’s Literary Salons. Normally they’re not recorded but Cheryl Klein and her husband James Mono...

Librarian Preview: Sourcebooks, National Geographic Kids, Quirk Books, Sterling, NorthSouth, and Running Press Kids (Spring 2015)

Recently I had the pleasure of attending the AAP Tri-State Book Buzz for Children’s and Teen Librarians here in NYC. This is an event where a whole heaping helpful of publishers gather together to do a kind of massive librarian preview for folks like myself. It’s a mix of big folks (Macmillan, Random House, etc.) and smaller houses you might not hear from otherwise. With that in mind, I’ve either already attended or am about to attend some of the big guys, so I’ll leave them off of this parti...

Thoughts on the Debut Author/Illustrator

Last week Jackie Woodson won The National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. It was a win so deserved that I had difficulty processing it. Under normal circumstances National Book Awards for children’s books come out of left field and are so blooming unpredictable that they almost always serve my perpetual amusement. The fact that a deserving book (one might call it “the” deserving book of the year) won was enormously satisfying. Of course, Ms. Woodson’s not exactly the new kid on the...

Review of the Day: Neighborhood Sharks by Katherine Roy

Neighborhood Sharks: Hunting with the Great Whites of California’s Farallon Islands

By Katherine Roy

David Macaulay Studio – Roaring Brook (Macmillan)

$17.99

ISBN: 9781596438743

Ages 7-12

On shelves now.

When you’re a librarian buying for your system, you come to understand that certain nonfiction topics are perennial favorites. You accept that no matter how many copies you buy, you will never have enough train or joke or magic books. And the king daddy topic to beat them all, the one that lea...

Fuse #8 TV: Eric Carle Museum Tours and Absolutely Lisa Graff

Top of the morning to you, folks! I’m happy to release my second Fuse #8 TV episode. This time around I thought it would be a bit of fun to take a trip to the Eric Carle Museum. Not everyone has ever had a chance to visit and it’s just the loveliest place. After that, I sit down with the truly delightful Lisa Graff to talk a bit about the slow burn of her career and her latest book Absolutely Almost. Enjoy!

Press Release Fun: Spend an Evening with Brian Floca (for free!)

Free Lecture

An Evening with Brian Floca

Saturday, December 6, 6:00–7:30 p.m.

Bonnie J. Sacerdote Lecture Hall, Uris Center for Education, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Join award-winning author and illustratorBrian Floca, this year’s recipient of the prestigious Randolph Caldecott Medal forLocomotive, for a presentation about his creative journey, his work in various formats, and exciting upcoming projects. Meet the artist and explore the Museum until it closes at9:00 p.m.

Brian Floca is the...

Fusenews: “If ‘1984’ or ‘The Trial’ had been a children’s book, Mr Messy would be it”

Recently I’ve grown rather fascinated with the academic children’s collections of the world. The rare book collections in particular. With that in mind, what do you do if you’re an institution that specializes in archived materials, and yet you still want to engage young readers in some capacity? Enter Teaching the untouchable, a great article by Dana Sheridan at the Cotsen Collection of Princeton University. Written for College and Research Libraries News the piece really delves deep into ho...