Betsy Bird's Blog, page 79
October 16, 2022
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Matilda, Who Told Lies and Was Burned to Death by Hilaire Belloc
As Halloween draws closer and closer, we delve deeper and deeper into the macabre. We kicked off the month of October with Edward Gorey. Now we’re following him up with his spiritual cousin, none other than Hilaire Belloc himself. We’re looking at two different editions of the Struwwelpeter-inspired (surely) poem Matilda, Who Told Lies and Was Burned to Death. One edition, illustrated by Steven Kellogg, was produced in 1970. The other, created in 1991 (and originally published in Great Brita...
October 14, 2022
Press Release Fun: Enter the Stinetinglers Scary Story Writing Contest
R. L. Stine ushers us into spooky season with Stinetinglers, his gruesome new middle-grade novel that is full of scary stories sure to make your head spin. This Halloween season, parents and guardians of budding horror enthusiasts ages 8-12 are invited to enter the Stinetinglers Scary Story Writing Contest. Entries are open to all who dare from October 1 – 31, 2022.
Can you scare R. L. Stine, the master of scary tales?
The contest will be judged by the Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group...
October 13, 2022
Review of the Day: Choosing Brave by Angela Joy, ill. Janelle Washington
Choosing Brave: How Mamie Till-Mobley and Emmett Till Sparked the Civil Rights Movement by Angela Joy, ill. Janelle Washington
Roaring Brook (an imprint of Macmillan)
$19.99
ISBN: 978-1-250-22095-0
Ages 7-12
On shelves now
Recently I had the great pleasure of attending an exhibit at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. The museum, should you ever get a chance to visit, is a bit of a trip. It may conceivably be called the best children’s museum in America, and that’s due in large part to the wa...
October 11, 2022
Stinky Cheese Man Turns 30! Scieszka! Smith! Creators Tell All
Imagine a world without a Stinky Cheese Man in it.
No… no… I take it back. Don’t. The thought is too terrible for the mortal mind to contemplate. Fortunately, it’s just a thought experiment. After all, thirty years ago two goofballs (and I call them this with all the love in my heart) decided to upend the picture book world with a title of pure incandescent silliness. The result: The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, written by Jon Scieszka and illustrated by Lane Smith. Do...
October 10, 2022
Myths, Magic, and Podcasting: A T.A. Barron Interview
Folks, I’ve been around a while. Met a lot of folks. And about nine years ago I did something I’d never done before: I finally visited the Bemelmans Bar. Imagine, if you will, a beautiful little watering hole located in the Rosewood Hotel in Manhattan, and inside, more surfaces than you would ever think possible are painted by none other than Ludwig Bemelmans himself. The man behind Madeline! I’d always wanted to go, but it took an invitation to get me there. And that invitation came from none o...
October 9, 2022
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: The Little Scarecrow Boy by Margaret Wise Brown
Proof positive that not everything found in a trunk is gold. Kate’s on the hunt for books for Halloween so we took a suggestion and delved into this “lost treasure” from the trunk o’ manuscripts of the late Margaret Wise Brown. I’ll confess to you right here and now that I’m kinda out of good Halloween titles to do with her so if you have ANY suggestions of other picture book Halloween classics, please oh please suggest them now. We discuss a gender-bent version of Wizard of Oz, why Margaret...
October 6, 2022
Review of the Day: The Prince of Steel Pier by Stacy Nockowitz
The Prince of Steel Pier
By Stacy Nockowitz
Kar-Ben Publishing (an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group)
$17.99
ISBN: 9781728430331
Ages 9-12
On shelves now
Reviewers. They’re just like you and me. They just read more books. I’m a reviewer myself and I respect the form, but I’m also aware of its subjectivity. There have definitely been days when I’ve read a book for kids, said to myself, “Well, that was a waste of time”, only to discover later (usually thanks to the enthusiasm of other librarians) ...
October 5, 2022
Wombat Season Is Nigh: An Interview with Ratha Tep About WALLY, THE WORLD’S GREATEST PIANO-PLAYING WOMBAT
Wombats, man. They’re everywhere this year. Whether they’re opening their homes to their neighbors or getting munched by giant predators (check out Melissa Stewart’s Mega-Predators of the Past if you don’t believe me), they’re everywhere. What haven’t we seen them do yet? Play a concerto. Welp, knock that one off of your bingo card because thanks to the literary stylings of Ratha Tep we have, for your reading pleasure, WALLY, THE WORLD’S GREATEST PIANO-PLAYING WOMBAT. And, yes, I am going to lis...
October 4, 2022
Giving Me Gruff: A Jon Klassen/Mac Barnett Interview About Their Latest Goat-Related Venture
What introduction could I possibly give that would adequately introduce this legendary author/illustrator pairing? Oh you can keep your Juster/Feiffers and your Rubin/Salmieris. Give me a good old-fashioned Klassen/Barnett talk any day.
As you might have heard (or seen signing at the last ALA Conference in D.C.) John Klassen and Mac Barnett have put their own ineffable spin on the classic tale of THE THREE BILLY GOATS GRUFF. The kicker? The kicker is that there is no kicker. It’s the story, p...
October 3, 2022
Guest Post – Growing an Artist: The Story of a Landscaper and His Son by John Parra
With National Hispanic Heritage Month being celebrated between September 15th – October 15th the time is ripe for a celebration of books and personal stories you might not find floating about the internet elsewhere. Today I am delighted to share with you this guest piece from John Parra about his autobiographical new picture book GROWING AN ARTIST. The book is described in this way by its publisher:
Today is a big day—the first time Juanito gets to help his papi on the job as a landscape arch...
