Betsy Bird's Blog, page 48

31 Days, 31 Lists: 2023 Easy Books and Early Chapter books

I can’t decide, so I’ll put it to you. Is the most difficult kind of book to write for children a picture book, a poetry book for kids, an easy book, or an early chapter book? I’m going to rule out picture book, since we see a fair number of really excellent titles on a regular basis. And I’m taking out poetry, because while writing a good book of it is hard, yes indeed, there’s something about not having a plot that kind of frees you. Now we’re down to easy books and early chapter books, tw...

31 Days, 31 Lists: 2023 Unconventional Children’s Books

What do we mean when we call a book for kids “unconventional”? Well, to put this in a bit of context, in the old days I used to call this the “Oddest Children’s Books” list, until I figured that that moniker was a tad too judgey. Put simply, these are books that will NOT be shelved at a Barnes & Noble. They do not follow the trends. The fact that they were published at all should be something we give thanks to the great publishing gods for (which is to say, and for the most part, the small p...

31 Days, 31 Lists: 2023 Poetry Books for Kids

Sometimes you stop and look at the books that do and do not get awards from the American Library Association and you cannot help but scratch your head. We give awards for audiobooks and translations, for easy books and nonfiction. One might think that the logical next step would be an award for poetry, but this is not the case. Poetry is often lumped into one of the other existing awards and, as a result, is an under-published and under-utilized literary form. That’s reflected too in the num...

31 Days, 31 Books: 2023 Wordless Picture Books

Every wordless picture book you see is taking a risk. When you notice that one has been published, that means that its creator(s) argued successfully that they were capable of telling a comprehensible story without the aid of a single word. Getting a picture book published in the first place is a massive undertaking, and to add onto that the risk inherent in going totally wordless? Today I am saluting these little hero books. They not only took on the challenge of eschewing written communica...

31 Days, 31 Lists: 2023 Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, and Religious Tales

Ah! One of my favorite categories! It’s so interesting to note the years where we get a SLEW of great fairy tales, folk tales, and religious tales versus the years when we get hardly any at all. 2023? Now that has been a good year! Why, when we were trying to pare down this category for the EPL 101 Great Books for Kids List, we found it to be particularly painful. Who knew there would be so many great titles coming out? In the old days, this was a boffo category, dominating even the picture ...

31 Days, 31 Lists: 2023 Translated Picture Books

What can a translated picture book win in America? Well, if memory serves then the Batchelder Award can technically go to picture books. So that’s one! That said, the rules changed slightly recently and the only books available to the nominating committee are the ones where the translator’s name appears on the cover. That’s great for me! After all, part of my job on this site consists of tracking down these translators, wherever their names may hide in their books.

Today, you’re going to...

31 Days, 31 Books: 2023 Fabulous Photography in Kids Books

There was a moment in my life when I had the choice between becoming a photographer or a librarian. I chose the latter and have never regretted it, but the lure of photography has never left me. In the old days (as I’m sure I’ve mentioned before) it wasn’t uncommon to find fictional picture books illustrated with photography. These days finding such books is a huge challenge. You’ll see that the books included on today’s list range from fairy tales to nonfiction to poetry. Take a gander (som...

31 Days, 31 Lists: 2023 Books for Kids with a Message

One of my longer lists. I always feel I need to explain right off the bat what, precisely, I mean by “message”. As has been stated many times before, children’s books were conceived initially as ways of instructing the young. And while what we value most has changed over the years, picture books are often used as helpful conveyance systems of whatever it is we deem important. Now most picture books with a message are, and I mean this sincerely, complete crap. I’m not kidding. In the course o...

Fuse 8 n’ Kate: When Mindy Saved Hanukkah by Eric A. Kimmel, ill. Barbara McClintock

Kate challenged me to come up with a Hanukkah classic we hadn’t done before and I . . . turned right around and asked social media for their thoughts. And let me tell you, social media had some GOOD suggestions! So many that I’m saving a long list to consult next year. The ultimate winner for today was selected because (A) You can trust author Eric A. Kimmel to present an original Hanukkah story every single time and (B) I was already on a Barbara McClintock kick this year thanks to her work...

31 Day, 31 Lists: 2023 Gross Books

Of all the lists that I present on a day-to-day basis in December, the one most likely to get replaced in the future is probably the gross books list. Still, I have an affection for these books. Kids absolutely adore these titles, and once in a while it’s a good idea for me to actually consider what a kid would enjoy reading. Particularly a kid drawn to that which disgusts. So while it may not win me any awards for literary excellence, here are the books that make you say, “UGH!!!” It runs t...