Betsy Bird's Blog, page 288

Video Sunday: “One floating duck does not a children’s book make”

I’ll confess to you that I think I just discovered the secret to Video Sunday. If I “Favorite” videos I see in Twitter throughout the week I end up having a MUCH stronger series than if I’d just scouted them out on my own. Phew! Happy to know there’s a secret there.

Now in the event that someone should ask you “Who is the children’s book equivalent of John Green?” in terms of on-air personality and verve and downright caring, the answer is clear. YA, you can keep you Green. Jonathan Auxier is...

Review of the Day: The Simples Love a Picnic by J.C. Phillipps

The Simples Love a Picnic

By J.C. Phillipps

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

$16.99

ISBN: 978-0-544-16667-7

Ages 3-7

On shelves now

I am on a mission. A quest. A journey to find the funniest picture books published for children in a given year. It isn’t an easy thing to do. First, you have to deal with the sheer awe-inspiring number of picture books published these days. Then there’s the fact that funny is as funny does. What strikes me as friggin’ hilarious may not cause so much as a flick of the li...

Why We Need More Spacegirls. Preferably By the Name of Zita

On February 15, 2011 I wrote up a little post about a girl by the name of Zita. It’s not a particularly common name. Look through the stats of girl names in a given year and I’d wager “Zita” doesn’t even make it into the top 1000. Yet when you talk to kids and mention Zita their eyes just light up. In an age when superhero comics are more appropriate for 35-year-old men than the small children that were their original fans, it can be heartening to see a new hero emerge.

So when I was asked whe...

Fusenews: Coldplay, Sendak, and Golden Book Bodices

The biggest news of the day came in the form of a single headline in The New York Times yesterday: New York Library Drops Plan to Renovate Flagship. Whoa! So. That happened. Wowzah.


This news comes to us less than a week after Coldplay (yes, that Coldplay) hid something in one of the books in my Children’s Center at 42nd Street. Apparently the doors opened that day and people tore into the room demanding, ultimately, Jeff Belanger’s Who’s Haunting the White House? One wonders what Jeff Belang...

Press Release Fun: Kids Author Carnival in NYC – Read. Connect. Party.

Here in New York City the Teen Author Carnival gets a lot of attention. Now there’s going to be a Kids Author Carnival chock FULL of middle grade authors. Check out this jaw-dropping line-up and mark your calendars:

Librarian Preview: Little Brown & Company (Fall 2014 – Spring 2015)

*sniff sniff*

Smell that? That’s the smell of Fall 2014, my friends. Yes yes, I know you thought we’ve only just turned the corner into spring, but we’ve no time for that now. The future is where it’s at, babies! And right now the future is all about the fall/winter/spring books. Such was my thinking when sitting down at the latest Little, Brown & Co. librarian preview. After informing my unfortunate table that my pregnant self was going to drink ALL the water placed there so they should be wa...

Review of the Day: My Country, ‘Tis of Thee by Claire Rudolf Murphy

My Country, ‘Tis of Thee: How One Song Reveals the History of Civil Rights

By Claire Rudolf Murphy

Illustrated by Bryan Collier

Henry Holt and Company (an imprint of Macmillan)

$17.99

ISBN: 978-0-8050-8226-5

Ages 7 and up

On shelves June 3rd

It doesn’t matter how long you’ve worked as a children’s librarian. It doesn’t matter how many books for kids you’ve read or how much of your life is dedicated to bringing them to the reading public. What I love so much about my profession is the fact that...

Review of the Day: The Great Greene Heist by Varian Johnson

The Great Greene Heist

By Varian Johnson

Arthur A. Levine Books (an imprint of Scholastic)

$16.99

ISBN: 978-0-545-52552-7

Ages 10 and up

On shelves May 27th

What is the ultimate child fantasy? I’m not talking bubble gum sheets or wizards that tell you you’re “the chosen one”. Let’s think a little more realistically here. When a kid looks at the world, what is almost attainable but just out of their grasp for the moment? Autonomy, my friends. Independence. The ability to make your own rules and...

Announcing a New Challenge: Re-Potterfy Harry Potter!

I’m just including the German Harry Potter cover here to show that he’s an easy guy to change, depending on your mood.

Well folks, we do this about once a year and so far it’s been nothing but delightful. Now we ratchet it up a notch. It’s a fan art challenge and one I hope you’ll enjoy.

As you may recall, in the past I’ve offered two odd little projects. First there was the Re-Seussify Seuss Challenge. The rules were simple. Take a scene from a Dr. Seuss book and re-illustrate it in the style...

Press Release Fun – Peter Sis: Cartography of the Mind

IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Mary Van Akin

(646) 307-5210 | Mary.VanAkin@macmillan.com

Czech Center New York Presents Exhibition of the Work of Acclaimed Artist, Illustrator, Author, and Filmmaker Peter Sís

Peter Sís: Cartography of the Mind

Peter Sís: Cartography of the Mind on View May 8 through September 2, 2014

Media Preview and Opening Reception

Wednesday, May 7, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Czech Center New York at the Bohemian National Hall

321 E 73rd Street, New York, NY 10021

Some fifty works by the inter...