Betsy Bird's Blog, page 294
February 21, 2014
Readalouds and the Pregnant Children’s Librarian: A Study
Illustration by Ali Douglass
By the way, I’m having a baby in late May. Did I fail to mention that before? Having a blog is so awfully odd, because you’re never quite certain how much to tell (and the case of Melissa Anelli just drills that home). That said, I’ve been running into a lot of friends and folks who have been struck with honest astonishment when they see the sheer size of my current girth. I am much with girth. I am girthified. As they say in Comedy of Errors:
“ANTIPHOLUS: Then she...
February 19, 2014
Press Release Fun: A Picture Book Debut (WARNING: May Contain Spoilers)
I could not be more pleased with the news I am about to share. It is my great honor and privilege to introduce to you the next blogger-turned-children’s-author.
Minh Lê, the popular Kidlit blogger and opinionator (he has written for the Atlantic and Huffington Post, and is the voice behind such widely-shared features as “Put James Franco on All the Book Covers”) has sold his debut picture book. In collaboration with acclaimed illustrator Isabel Roxas, LET ME FINISH! is fittingly bookish in the...
February 18, 2014
Review of the Day: I Kill the Mockingbird by Paul Acampora
I Kill the Mockingbird
By Paul Acampora
Roaring Brook Press (an imprint of Macmillan)
$16.99
ISBN: 978-1-59643-742-5
Ages 10 and up
On shelves May 20th
It’s probably fair to say that there is no American classic written with an adult audience in mind that is quite as beloved of children’s book authors as To Kill a Mockingbird. Just off the top of my head I can think of a fair number of middle grade books that directly reference it. Books like, Mockingbird, Also Known As Harper, Sure Signs of C...
February 17, 2014
Fusenews: “. . . his hunger was a writhing and a hissing thing”
Happy President’s Day! We’ve a lot of worthy links today but I’m going to begin with one that was sent to me by Dan Berenberg and that I’ve been enjoying ever since. Beginning with a caveat, Dan wrote to me and said, “You’ve probably been sent this by a ton of people already, but this series of posts on The Toast seems like something worth sharing. A series of really well-done rewritings of classic picture books to turn them into horror stories. Today was the Runaway Bunny: http://the-toast.n...
February 13, 2014
Review of the Day: Three Bears in a Boat by David Soman
Three Bears in a Boat
By David Soman
Dial (a division of Penguin Young Readers Group)
$17.99
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3993-2
Ages 3-7
On shelves May 20th
I always suspected there was more to David Soman than met the eye. That’s the problem with success. Folks just dismiss you out of hand. If the man’s name is ringing a couple bells here and there that’s probably you have, at some point in your life, read a child one of the Ladybug Girl books that he created with his wife Jacky Davis. Ladybug Girl is a...
February 12, 2014
Press Release Fun: Groundwood Books launches new logo/brand identity
The thirty-five-year-old publisher of beautiful, thought-provoking, and necessary books for young people updates its logo and reinvigorates its brand.
To ring in 2014, Groundwood Books is proud to share a new logo. After more than three decades with the meadow mouse logo, Groundwood sought a fresh look for the press to serve as a more comprehensive representation of their list. Publisher Sheila Barry explains, “For many years, Groundwood has used the meadow mouse...
February 11, 2014
Can Re-Illustration Ever Be Justified?
I was sitting down with a colleague the other day and the conversation turned, as all conversations are wont to do, to the subject of William’s Doll by Charlotte Zolotow. I won’t bore you yet again with my theory that the book would sell like hotcakes if they just bothered to re-illustrate the darn thing (if curious, you can hear me rant here).
The conversation only started with William’s Doll. After a while it went in a different direction. The question is this:
Has a picture book ever been im...
February 9, 2014
Video Sunday: Mind you, it DOES make me want to read The Olde Tobacco Shoppe . . .
Gather round me, little children, and let me tell you of a magical time when the Newbery and Caldecott winners were interviewed on NBC the day after their win in a regular annual segment. Then twas the coming of Snookie and suddenly children’s book awards weren’t considered newsworthy any longer. I’ve searched the airwaves to find anyone who can get on a news program to talk about the 2014 winners and the sole, solitary thing I’ve found? Barb Langridge of A Book and a Hug. She appeared on a s...
February 7, 2014
Review of the Day: Hi, Koo!: A Year of Seasons by Jon J. Muth
Hi, Koo! A Year of Seasons
By Jon J. Muth
Scholastic
$17.99
ISBN: 978-0-545-16668-3
Ages 4-8
On shelves February 25th
I have a colleague who is mighty careful when regarding haiku. She’s Japanese-American herself, and one thing she simply cannot stand is when someone takes a set of words, slaps them into five/seven/five syllable lines, and then calls the result “a haiku”. Traditional haiku focuses on nature and how we, as humans, relate to it. So what happens when 5/7/5 gets taken out of the e...
February 6, 2014
Fusenews: Boom!
It’s always the filler. I have this little file where I jot down ideas for posts on days when my brain is mush, and most recently I jotted down the old “casual diversity” question a friend asked me once. Figured it would make for a good quickie blog post and then I’d be on my way. Did NOT expect it to catch on the way that it has. Heavens to me! It’s my own dang fault for not realizing it might be a good topic of discussion. Anytime you mention race, after all, you’re going to get feedback. I...
