Betsy Bird's Blog, page 279

Review of the Day: At Home in Her Tomb by Christine Liu-Perkins

At Home in Her Tomb: Lady Dai and the Ancient Chinese Trasures of Mawangdui

By Christine Liu-Perkins

Charlesbridge

$19.95

978-1-58089-370-1

Ages 9-12

On shelves now

When I say the word “mummy” what springs into your mind? Movies starring Brendan Fraser? Egypt and scarabs and rolls of crumbling papyrus? Absolutely. But what if I told you that recently the best-preserved mummy in the world was found? And what if I told you that not only was she a woman, not only was she surrounded by treasure, b...

Newbery / Caldecott 2015: Fall Prediction Edition

Now we’re in the thick of it. Do you hear that? That is the clicking ticking sound of the reanimation of the Heavy Medal and Calling Caldecott blogs. They’re a little groggy right now, trying to get their bearings, figuring out which foot to try first. But don’t be fooled by their initial speed. Very soon they’ll be acting like well-oiled machines, debating and comparing and contrasting like it’s nobody’s business. But why let them have all the fun? Time for a little predicting on my end as w...

Press Release Fun: A $5,000 Award for School Libraries

A message for school librarians: ALA is now accepting applications for the 2015 Sara Jaffarian Award. The award recognizesK-8 schools for exceptional programming in social studies, poetry, drama, art, language arts, culture, or other humanities subjects.

Apply byDec. 15atwww.ala.org/jaffarianaward. More information below.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Sarah Ostman

Communications Manager

ALA Public Programs Office

****************

http://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2014/09/school-...

The Hachette/Amazon War: One Writer’s Perspective

Not too long ago I linked to a letter Amazon had released regarding their spot o’ trouble (to put it mildly) with the publisher Hachette. In my post I encouraged authors to tell me what they thought about it and they did, but not on my blog itself. And why should they? With all the power Amazon wields it would be foolish to draw their ire so directly. As such, I received one email that particularly caught my attention. Together we decided that it was worth publishing, though it would have to...

New Series: Walking and Talking with . . . John Corey Whaley

Introducing the all new “Walking and Talking” series by Steve Sheinkin!

I’m always on the lookout for folks I consider double threats. In the children’s and YA book biz that translates to mean people who can both write and draw. Take someone like Kadir Nelson, for example. One day he’s doing his spectacular art, merry as you please, and the next he turns around and shows that he can write books like We Are the Ship. Is that fair? It is not! And now we have a similar situation in the case of Na...

Press Release Fun: The Second Annual Columbus Children’s Book Festival

COLUMBUS CHILDREN’S BOOK FESTIVAL RETURNSSEPTEMBER 20

Authors, Illustrators and More to be Featured at Free Outdoor Event at the Columbus Public Library

(Columbus, GA) – The long-awaited Second Annual Columbus Children’s Book Festival returns to the grounds of the Columbus Public Library on Macon Road on Saturday, September 20th.

The event is free and open to the public.

The first event, held in 2013, brought thousands to the Library on a rain-soaked day to see authors such asR. L. StineandJane O...

Invented Dialogue and the Conundrum of the Picture Book Biography

You know, it’s not that I’m a big nonfiction reader or advocate in particular. It’s just the nature of children’s librarianship in this day and age. You simply cannot work in the field without encountering nonfiction and, as a result, sometimes you end up with granite hard opinions about the form. Take me, for example. My trajectory in matters of nonfictiony nonfictioness (why yes, I was an English major, why do you ask?) proceeded accordingly:

Fear nonfiction based on the books I recall from...

Video Sunday: Need I say more?

Today I’m feeling a bit brief. Fortunately the videos in general don’t need much explanation.

Three words: Edward. Gorey. Documentary. Need I say more?

Here’s the Indiegogo info, should you wish it.

Now care for a little overseas surrealism to add flavor to your day?

And if you wish to switch gears so violently your head spins:

Meanwhile the award for best music in a book trailer goes to . . .

Oops! New series on the TNT horizon. Here we go:

Thanks to AL Direct for the link.

And finally, this one’s f...

Fusenews: Hat tips and doffed caps

I don’t normally do this, but it is books like this one that make it clear that rules are meant to be broken. We children’s librarians are familiar with books we consider “for professional use”. These are titles that are of use primarily to library students, librarians, and teachers. They tend to have ugly covers. They tend to have dull, dry (if ultimately useful) language. They tend to be unmemorable. Well stop the presses and reign in the horses because I have seen what may be the MOST usef...

Ben Hatke Blog Tour: Come buy, come buy!

I’m pleased as punch to be today’s stop on the Ben Hatke Beastiary of Lost Creatures blog tour (and you know I almost never do blog tours so this book has gotta be good. Today Ben’s gonna highlight a creature for us himself and I’m gonna sit back and take it easy.

Enjoy!

Ben Hatke’s Houseguest Beast of the Day: Goblins

No two goblins are alike. These wild gregarious beings appear most often as a collection of miscellaneous unwanted parts from other creatures and, indeed, perhaps that’s where gob...