Betsy Bird's Blog, page 41

Myrick Publisher Preview: Spring 2024 – Udon and What On Earth Books

Small publishers abound and that’s why it’s always fun to see who’s out there with interesting original books in 2024. We’re continuing our series thanks, in large part, to Myrick Marketing. Be sure to read previous installments of this series. Part One here, Part Two here, Part Three here, Part Four here, Part Five here, and Part Six here.

Giga Town: A Guide to Manga Iconography by Fumiyo Kouno

ISBN: 9781772943085

On shelves September 3, 2024

You ever get the sense that there...

Newbery/Caldecott 2025: Spring Prediction Edition

Now now. Don’t give me that look. You knew this day was coming, and if you’ve seen these before then you know that I like to split them into quarters. Plus with all the early Spring weather I’ve been seeing this year, I was just itching to start the ball rolling into the 2025 award season. Yeehaw!!

So! If you’re new here, here are the rules. I come up with a list of titles that I think will win various ALA youth media awards. Then you tell me what I’m missing or why I’m wrong and we all get a...

Love of the Half-Eaten Peach: A Lee Wind Q&A and Cover Reveal

The folktale is not dead. It’s just resting.

Folks, I’ve know Lee Wind for years and years, but if I were to try to pinpoint the exact moment we became acquainted, I would fail utterly. You may know him because his blog I’m Here. I’m Queer. What the Hell Do I Read? was one of the forbears of the industry. These days it goes by the name Cool Stuff for Queer Kids and is just on fire with its content. But of course Lee’s an author himself, with everything from picture books (Red and Green and B...

Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Finn MacCoul and His Fearless Wife by Robert Byrd

With St. Patrick’s Day on the horizon it’s time to dive into the stack of Irish-flavored picture books next to my bed and find a brand new one. And lord, if you want something Irish, this book fulfills that desire tenfold. Now, for those of you who listen to the Fuse 8 n’ Kate podcast regularly, you’ll know that Kate likes three particular things in her picture books: 1. Ireland. 2. Strong women. 3. Lotsa details in the art. With that in mind, is it surprising that she adored this? In this e...

Review of the Day: Ferris by Kate DiCamillo

Ferris
By Kate DiCamillo
Candlewick Press
$18.99
ISBN: 9781536231052
Ages 7-10
On shelves now

I think I have issues with the way other people talk about Kate DiCamillo. You know when you���re into a band, and you feel like you know it particularly well, but then one day you read a review of it on some website and the interpretation someone else has of that band strikes you as so very very wrong? That���s pretty much my situation here. The fawning praises DiCamillo receives are nice, but they mak...

It’s-a Me! Luigi! Q&A with Michelle Knudsen & Kevin Hawkes About Luigi, the Spider Who Wanted to Be a Kitten

You know, if 2023 taught me anything, it’s that not enough people are sufficiently fond of spiders (read into that statement what you will). It would be nice if there some sort of Intro to Adorable Spiders picture books out there to pick up the slack but, as today’s double quick time interview proves, the gap in the market exists. Fortunately, my friends, fortunately we have two people out there willing and able to take the hit and give us the kind spider storytelling we all deserve. The fact th...

Celebrating the Disgusting Side of Nature with Poetry (Naturally). A Haiku, Ew! Interview with Lynn Brunelle

I don’t want to alarm you but 2024? A shockingly SHOCKINGLY strong year for poetry. I’ve read the entries and it’s just astounding. Folks are coming up with all kinds of innovative verse for young people in myriad ways. I mean, just take haiku alone! In 2024 we’re seeing books like Haiku, Ew! by Lynn Brunelle, illustrated by Julia Patton (and out April 2nd). Now I know it’s not April/Poetry Month yet, but there’s no law saying we can’t start early, eh? Today, we’re talking with Lynn about poetr...

From Smoke to a Force: An Interview with Henry L. Herz About I AM GRAVITY

The older I get, the more I begin to appreciate nonfiction/informational books for kids. And I’m not alone. For a lot of people of my generation, we grew up with really paltry nonfiction titles. Occasionally you’d get a good one, but the standards just weren’t up to what we insist on in our books today. Often they were nice but dry, and the art? Please. Unless you had the rare gorgeously illustrated nonfiction picture book, it tended to go unnoticed. Not like now. Today great swaths of books fil...

Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Zeralda’s Ogre by Tomi Ungerer

No stranger to controversy, we dive deep into one of Tomi Ungerer’s more peculiar picture books. It’s all about the consumption of children, but that’s not why we get icked out by this particular title. Turns out, it has an ending grosser than anything involving the consumption of kids. Sadly, I was not able to give Kate the blood and guts in a picture book that she so desperately required. In my defense, I remembered a lot more bloody knives than we see on these pages. Certainly Ungerer was...

Myrick Publisher Preview: Spring 2024 – Red Comet Press, Scallywag Press, Soaring Kite Books, and Tapioca Stories (Part Six)

No time to linger! The spring is upon us and we’ve so many more books coming out to cover! This season you���ve already seen Part One here, Part Two here, Part Three here, Part Four here, and Part Five here. Onward to Part Six!

My Book and Me by Linda Sue Park, ill. Chris Raschka

Publication Date: June 4, 2024

ISBN: 9781636550947

It seems to me that if a Newbery Award winner pairs with multi-Caldecott Award winner, the end result warrants a gander. Gander away then! This is a b...