Betsy Bird's Blog, page 45
January 20, 2024
Review of the Day: Max in the House of Spies by Adam Gidwitz
A lot of children���s librarians started out as English majors. I���m not surprising anyone with this information, of course. And I���m no different than anyone else. When I was in college I dutifully went through my paces, learning such extraordinary new English terms as phallocentric patriarchy, post-colonial literature, magical realism, and more. T...
January 19, 2024
The Belle of the Bologna Book Festival A Conversation With Beatrice Alemagna
Hooray!
Folks, when you have a chance to interview an absolute legend in the field, you take that chance and you run with it. Today’s legend in question: none other than the illustrious Beatrice Alemagna. And look! I’ll make it easy for you. Here are some of her past books, which you may have seen:
And here’s her latest, and it’s a doozy:
Haven’t heard of it? That’s because it literally just came out this past week. But, of course, if you read the reviews then you’ll see...
January 17, 2024
Newbery/Caldecott 2024: Final Prediction Edition
It seems so surreal. In less than a week we’ll know the winners of the American Library Associations Youth Media Awards (which you can watch here at 8 a.m. ET on Monday, January 22nd). Unlike other years, I won’t be watching them with you live online. Not because I’m worried about my own reactions (though I bet some of you remember my guppy-out-of-water expression with some of the winners last year) and more because with the time change I’m gonna be all kinds of sleepy.
Today I’m offerin...
January 16, 2024
It’s Cold Outside, So Please Allow Me to Tell You a Summer Story Involving Beach Rocks and Aaron Zenz
I do not lack for content on this site. Please believe me when I tell you that I’ve loads of the stuff. Content coming out my ears, I do. But today’s story was so fun, so weird, and so doggone summery (it was 2 degrees this morning on my way to work, people, so I need this) that I felt compelling to share it with you. It involves beach rocks. It involves Aaron Zenz (picture book creator, extraordinaire). It makes me incredibly happy.
From Aaron’s Facebook page:
So here���s something cr...
January 15, 2024
Publisher Preview: Transit Children’s Editions (Spring 2024)
As you read this I am going to work in -7 degree temperatures, so you want to know what gets me up in the morning? Publisher previews of small presses, baby! By jove, if I can get at least one done a week, it gives me a warm glowy feeling in my lower intestine.
Today we return to Transit Children’s Editions. I actually featured their debut list last April (seen here) so it was nice that they were down for a second go round. And in the name of brevity we’re just looking at two books today...
January 14, 2024
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Our 300th Episode with Special Guest Star Jon Scieszka
We are so friggin’ psyched!! It’s not every day that we (A) Celebrate our 300th episode and (B) Have the very first National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature JON SCIESZKA as our special guest! We asked Jon what classic picture book he wanted to celebrate, and do you know what he selected? Not one but THREE Grimm Brothers fairy tales. Not the well known ones either. Three short ones. Weird ones. Peculiar ones. Today, we read through the following:
The Straw, the Coal and the Bean...January 11, 2024
Publisher Preview: Levine Querido (Spring 2024)
In these cold depths of winter, when the days are so short and the season just seems to stretch before us, there’s nothing quite like the warming promise of future books (future books!) to tide us over. The good folks at Levine Querido have been cranking out more beauties for us, and recently Associate Editor and Publicist Irene V��zquez was kind enough to walk me through their line-up. So sit back and enjoy the show!
The First Day of May by Henrique Coser Moreira
ISBN: 9781646143825
...January 9, 2024
Self-Control Through Trial and Error: An Abby Hanlon Q&A and Deep Dive Into Dory Fantasmagory
Ten years. Wow. Can you believe that it was a decade ago that I first laid eyes on my very first Dory Fantasmagory book? I know this for a fact because I just dug up my old review of it, and here’s what I had to say at the time:
“Pick up my jaw from the floor and lob it my way because this book is AMAZING! Perfection of tone, plot, pacing, art, you name it.”“If it encourages only one big brother or sister to play with their younger sibs then it will have justified its existence in th...January 8, 2024
Review of the Day: Pretty Ugly by David Sedaris, ill. Ian Falconer
If we are to embark on this review together, I think it only right and proper that I be clear with you from the start. And if that means revealing to your my own personal flaws and foibles, well then so be it. The fact of the matter is that sometimes a reviewer can only be candid in a professional review if they are candid ...
January 7, 2024
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: 2024 Caldecott Contenders
“Ah, Kwame. He’s going to get tired of winning Caldecotts one of these days.”
As track records go, I don’t want to brag but the Fuse 8 n’ Kate podcast does a particularly good job each and every year of selecting potential winners. Just look at last year’s picks. Of the three books we discussed one (Hot Dog) became an Award winner and one (Knight Owl) became an Honor. This year, once more, I’ve selected three books for discussion. Kate requested that one of them be “controversial” but I s...
