Betsy Bird's Blog, page 295
February 5, 2014
Press Release Fun: New Children’s Book Group in NYC Alert
Keeping a bookgroup alive for kids can be difficult, but its not impossible! I like to keep my finger on the pulse of what’s out there, and now I’ve just heard of the latest bookgroup for the literary kiddos. Take note, parents of NYC! One of these days I’ll do a round-up of all the bookgroups open to the public that I know of. For now . . .
When we read together, we connect. Together, we see the world. Together, we see one another.” –Kate DiCamillo
Face-to-Face: A Middle Readers Book Group
Hous...
February 4, 2014
“Casual Diversity” and the children’s book
A friend of mine turned new mom had an interesting request the other day. She’d been talking with her friends and they decided that what they’d really like would be a list of children’s books in which diversity is just a part of everyday life. To illustrate her point she called this “casual diversity”, a term I’d hitherto been unfamiliar with. The phrase is typically used to describe pop culture but I think it applies well enough to children’s books. It’s something we strive to find in a lot...
February 3, 2014
Review of the Day: The Riverman by Aaron Starmer
The Riverman
By Aaron Starmer
Farrar Straus & Giroux (an imprint of Macmillan)
$15.99
ISBN: 978-0-374-36309-3
Ages 11 and up
On shelves March 18th
When a book has worked its way into your cranium and is making a home for itself within the darker recesses of your very soul, the natural inclination is to talk to somebody about it. And when that book was ostensibly written for kids, all the more reason. That’s the problem with my job as a children’s librarian. Sometimes I’m the only person I know...
January 31, 2014
Press Release Fun – This Censorious World: Books for Children and Their Challenges
My Children’s Literary Salons at NYPL continue unabated. This Saturday’s event? Well, we’ve some primo talent that I’m sure you would like to know better. So if you aren’t prepping for the Super Bowl, come on down! We’d love to have you.
New York Public Library’s Children’s Literary Salon is pleased to announce our upcoming program on Saturday, February 1st at 2:00 p.m. in the South Court Auditorium:
This Censorious World: Books for Children and Their Challenges
Join the National Coalition Again...
January 30, 2014
Fusenews: Let the wild (mind the gap) rumpus start!
Sometimes I do a little ALA Youth Media Awards wrap-up after all is said and done, but since Lori Ess and I were able to have our say immediately following the awards announcements, I feel like I’ve covered my bases. Moving on!
Lest one be so caught up in the thrilling hullabaloo of the ALA Youth Media Awards, it would do you well to remember that a slew of OTHER awards also came out recently. Well worth noting would be the Edgar Award nominees, for example, which are going to some darn good m...
January 28, 2014
Press Release Fun: 2014 NYLA YSS Spring Conference Early Bird Registration Open
Early birds can now register for the 2014 New York Library Association (NYLA) Youth Services Section (YSS) Spring Conference scheduled for Friday, April 4, 2014 at the Crowne Plaza White Plains – Downtown, 66 Hale Avenue, White Plains, NY 10601. Early bird registration must be postmarked by Friday, February 21, 2014. Standard registration then continues until Friday, March 21, 2014.
The theme for the conference is “Everything is New Every Minute: Full of Opportunities.” For detailed informatio...
January 27, 2014
The ALA Youth Media Awards are announced: Predictions and Reactions
Well THAT was exciting! Exciting and fun and not a single winner of today’s awards made me bang my head on a table at any point. Hooray! That’s what constitutes a good year, in my book. If you’re curious about what won, the press release listing the authors can be found here. We can now officially call this The Year of the Floras (with Flora and Ulysses winning the Newbery on the one hand and Flora and the Flamingo winning a Caldecott Honor on the other). Colleen AF Venable pointed out that i...
Review of the Day – Lindbergh: The Tale of a Flying Mouse by Torben Kuhlmann
Lindbergh: The Tale of a Flying Mouse
By Torben Kuhlmann
Translation by Suzanne Fitzgerald Levesque
NorthSouth
$19.95
ISBN: 978-0735841673
Ages 4-8
On shelves May 1st
The mouse, as hero, is an easy children’s book hero. With its diet so nearly identical to that of humans, its cute and cuddly face (sorry rats), and the sense that the great big wide world is dead set against them, we relate. We are, admittedly less than delighted when they run across our floors in front of us, but on the page we...
January 26, 2014
Video Sunday: “The chopper was a softie, though…”
No, as you can probably tell I am not in Philly this weekend for the American Library Association’s Midwinter Conference. I am okay with this. Yes, it would remarkably easy for me to attend. Heck, I could probably go and sleep at home every night, but all told I wasn’t quite up for a conference this time around. In lieu of that, let’s talk videos!
As I may have mentioned before, on Monday morning at 7:30 a.m. EST I will be co-hosting the SLJ Youth Media Awards Pre-Game and Post-Game Show. Shou...
January 24, 2014
Mock Lists – The Ultimate Round-Up
Phew!
Okay, I did it. I searched and strived and sought out every possible available Mock Newbery, Caldecott, Printz, you name it. And those that took the time to post their results online or on my blog or on a listserv, those are the folks I have to present to you today. The ALA Youth Media Awards are Monday so we haven’t a minute to spare. And yes, I know that a fair number of Mock committees are meeting this Saturday. Send me your results too, folks! The more the merrier. I just figured I’d...
