Betsy Bird's Blog, page 282
August 1, 2014
Wikipedia, Amelia Bedelia, and Our Responsibility Regarding Online Sources
When I was a children’s librarian with NYPL’s Children’s Center at 42nd Street I conducted a lot of class visits with older kids (ages 9-12, usually). Sometimes these would be groups of kids learning how to do research using the library’s resources. For them I covered the usual databases and image library stuff, but also a kind of Why Google Is Not God portion where I showed them very convincing fake websites like the good old Save the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus site and All About Explore...
July 31, 2014
Review of the Day: S is for Sea Glass by Richard Michelson
S is for Sea Glass
By Richard Michelson
Illustrated by Doris Ettlinger
Sleeping Bear Press
ISBN: 978-1585368624
$15.95
Ages 3-8
On shelves now
Every small publisher needs a staple. Something to keep them going through hard times. Years ago Sleeping Bear Press hit on the notion of writing books with the [letter] is for [word] format and they’ve kept up this abecedarian staple ever since. These are books that are fairly easy to dismiss, sight unseen. You assume you know what to expect. Never min...
July 29, 2014
Fusenews: Hear the beat, of literary feet.
Hi ho. Time to round-up what Jules and I have been up to over at our Wild Things blog (book promotion for bloggers means more blogging, you see). Here’s the long and short of what you may have missed:
Wacked out 1970s picture books.Maurice Sendak’s actual first book (and it’s not what you think).
Blueberry cheesecake and how it applies to Newbery and Caldecott acceptance speeches.
Thoughts inspired by what may well be the most misguided celebrity children’s book we’ve heard about in years.
Why di...
July 28, 2014
Press Release Fun: A Conference on Censorship and a Call for Proposals
Call for Proposals
Outlawed: The Naked Truth About Censored Literature for Young People
Arne Nixon Center for the Study of Children’s Literature
Henry Madden Library at California State University, Fresno
April 10-12, 2015
While most people are familiar with attempts to censor children’s and young adult literature, the problem of censorship continues to provoke many who believe that children and adolescents benefit from considering diverse viewpoints and cultural experiences. I...
July 27, 2014
Video Sunday: The Butterknife Thief
Okay . . . soooooooo this. Look at this, oh ye children’s librarians. Breathe this. LIVE this! Become this.
So naturally I had to find out who she is. Go to YouTube and she has numerous videos under the moniker OoeyGooeyLady. Almost all her videos date back two years. Real name? Lisa Murphy. And as you might expect, she has a whole web presence as well. Certainly those videos, the hand rhymes ones, are invaluable for children’s librarians. There are other good ones there too. Here’s a differen...
July 25, 2014
Review of the Day: The Madman of Piney Woods by Christopher Paul Curtis
The Madman of Piney Woods
By Christopher Paul Curtis
Scholastic
ISBN: 978-0-545-63376-5
$16.99
Ages 9-12
On shelves September 30th
No author hits it out of the park every time. No matter how talented or clever a writer might be, if their heart isn’t in a project it shows. In the case of Christopher Paul Curtis, when he loves what he’s writing the sheets of paper on which he types practically set on fire. When he doesn’t? It’s like reading mold. There’s life there, but no energy. Now in the cas...
July 24, 2014
Press Release Fun: Announcing the Ninth Annual Carle Honors
Media Alert
For Thursday, September 18th 2014
Contact: Alexandra Pearson
212.255.8455/ Alexandra@rosengrouppr.com
Ninth Annual Carle Honors
Celebrating Early Literacy and the Art of the Picture Book
2014 gala to fête author/illustrator Jerry Pinkney and other luminaries in the field
On Thursday, September 18, hundreds of children’s book artists, authors and advocates will come together to celebrate The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art’s ninth annual Carle Honors at Guastavino’s in New York City...
July 23, 2014
Theatrical Reviews: The Snow Queen
I was trying to remember the last theater review I wrote for this site. At first I thought it might be the review I did way way back in the day for the staged adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline where the main character was played by a heavyset middle aged woman (it worked quite well, thank you very much). Then I remembered that I did write up the Matilda musical when Penguin was kind enough to offer tickets to local librarians. Still, that was over a year ago and my theater going has shrive...
July 22, 2014
Cover Reveal: The Whisper by Aaron Starmer
When I originally read The Riverman by Aaron Starmer this year it blew me away. I couldn’t think of anything to really compare it to. Entirely original, wonderful and strange, it has remained quite clear in my memory ever since. Yet I was shocked when I learned that it was just the first in a trilogy. At first I couldn’t reconcile the first book with a second in my brain. Yet as time passed I found myself really and truly wanting to see where it would go. It’s as if my entire interpretation o...
July 21, 2014
Review of the Day: Princess Sparkle-Heart Gets a Makeover by Josh Schneider
Princess Sparkle-Heart Gets a Makeover
By Josh Schneider
Clarion (an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
$16.99
ISBN: 978-0-544-14228-2
Ages 3-7
On shelves now
Sometimes I’ll just sit back and think about how the advent of the internet has affected literary culture. I don’t mean book promotion or reviews or any of that. I’m talking about the very content of books themselves. On the one hand, it accounts for the rise in Steampunk (a desire for tactile, hands-on technology, gears and all). On...
