Betsy Bird's Blog, page 60

Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Weslandia by Paul Fleischman, ill. Kevin Hawkes, with Guest Host Jerrold Connors!

While some of you may be aware that Kate and I recorded an episode of Fuse 8 n’ Kate at the recent Annual ALA Conference, due to the fact that she is on a plane to the Philippines as I type this hampers her podcast editing abilities oh so slightly. Fortunately we had the honor of recording a guest post earlier in the week with none than the irascible, charming Jerrold Connors! Jerrold is the creator of the massively creative Donut Project which contains hilarity and collage-created donuts (y...

Review of the Day: The Carrefour Curse by Dianne K. Salerni

The Carrefour Curse
By Dianne K. Salerni
Holiday House
ISBN: 9780823452675
$18.99
Ages 9-12
On shelves now

Poor kids. You have to pity them. So many choices. So many books. How the heck are they going to decide what to read these days? Not to pull out the old “Back In My Day” card, but back in my day we didn’t have quite as many choices! If we wanted something to read we had a bunch of “classics” gathering dust in the library, and a bunch of contemporary titles that we found through the Scholasti...

Publisher Preview: Levine Querido, Fall 2023

It escapes me not that with the upcoming American Library Conference this weekend, now is an ideal time to be sharing publisher previews for anyone who might be in attendance. Too often we wander the conference floor in search of a certain je ne sais quoi, if you will. At least with the fantastic list coming from Levine Querido you won’t have to worry about juggling too many titles. Their list is quick, handsome, and sleek. Just the right size for a post, wouldn’t you say?

Ways to Pla...

Hope In the Valley Twofer: An Interview with Mitali Perkins AND an Exclusive Excerpt!

I’m getting greedy in my old age, folks. Time was when I’d be content to do an interview here and an exclusive excerpt reveal of a novel for kids there. Now? I want it all, baby! Both an interview AND an excerpt! This bad behavior may never be corrected either, because today I’m getting precisely what I want. Not only are we going to talk to the one, the only, the great Mitali Perkins about her July 11th release of her latest book Hope In the Valley but we’re going to read some of Chapter 5 as w...

Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Just for You & I Was So Mad by Mercer Mayer

NOT our first Mercer Mayer! Previously we did his book There’s a Nightmare in My Closet but it’s hardly the man’s most famous book/series. Meet Little Critter! At last, he makes his debut on our podcast! The two books we’re discussing today originally came out in 1975 and 1983 and then went on to spawn the series we know so well. So once again we have to ask: How come they’re moderately well known but not household name known?

Interested in how we made these podcasts, by the way? Well, I ...

Fathers and Sons Making Books Together: An Interview with Joshua and Michael Sampson

Father’s Day! It’s a day! Father’s are involved in some manner. Yes!

Admittedly, I’m posting this a little early, but what better way could there be to celebrate than to speak with a father/son picture book team? Michael Sampson is no doubt familiar to some of you thanks to his work with Bill Martin Jr. on such titles as Chicka Chicka 1,2,3 and Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? amongst others. Now, for the first time, he’s doing a very different collaboration. One with his own son, Jo...

Fathers and Sons Making Books Together: An Interview with Joshua and Matthew Sampson

Father’s Day! It’s a day! Father’s are involved in some manner. Yes!

Admittedly, I’m posting this a little early, but what better way could there be to celebrate than to speak with a father/son picture book team? Michael Sampson is no doubt familiar to some of you thanks to his work with Bill Martin Jr. on such titles as Chicka Chicka 1,2,3 and Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? amongst others. Now, for the first time, he’s doing a very different collaboration. One with his own son, Jo...

Newbery/Caldecott 2024: Summer Prediction Edition

Okay!

Those early spring prediction posts for Caldecotts and Newberys are always fun to create because everything is so fresh and new. But by this point in the summer, some of the fall releases have made themselves known. Publishers that believe that they may have award winners on their hands tend to release them around either April or October. Personally, from a prediction standpoint, April is always the preferable month. That said, we’ve seen some truly beautiful fall books already. And...

Ride the Wave! A Code Red Interview with Joy McCullough

Could the timing have been better? If so, it’s hard to figure out how. A month and a half ago Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret premiered for the first time as a cinematic masterpiece (and I mean that sincerely) and suddenly we had menstruation being openly discussed in a nationwide film in a serious way. Simultaneously, my library, like many around the country, was suddenly inundated with holds on the Judy Blume classic.

Enter, Code Red.

Published TODAY (timely, yes?) the book is not...

Fuse 8 n’ Kate: So Much! by Trish Cooke, ill. Helen Oxenbury

Here on the podcast we are constantly in search of those children’s books that represent a variety of backgrounds and identities that have not been sufficiently praised in the past. Today we’re dipping into the BBC’s list of 100 Greatest Children’s Books of All Time and as a result we’re doing our first Helen Oxenbury title. Bonus: It’s also our first Trish Cooke! This book works as a magnificent readloud as well as a lapsit book. And, as Kate so often requires, the art is packed full with tiny...