Betsy Bird's Blog, page 95

Review of the Day: Blue by Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond, ill. Daniel Minter

Blue: A History of the Color As Deep As the Sea and As Wide As the Sky
Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond
Illustrated by Daniel Minter
Alfred A. Knopf (an imprint of Penguin Random House)
$18.99
ISBN: 9781984894366
Ages 6-10
On shelves April 12th

Yeah. I’m just going to jump right into it.

Folks, let’s talk about decentering whiteness (bet you didn’t see that one coming). What does that look like? Okay, let’s just take a random example. Um… got it. So let’s say I had a nonfiction picture book in my hands a...

Cover Reveal and Interview: The Lodge That Beaver Built by Randi Sonenshine, ill. Anne Hunter

Things I love to see in children’s books from least to greatest interest:

3. Knitting (and where the hands are positioned on the needles)

2. Ostriches (for obvious reasons)

1. Beavers.

My love of beavers actually began when I first read the Superpower Field Guide on them, care of Rachel Poliquin and Nicholas John Frith. This interest was further reinforced thanks to COVID. Since I was stuck in my home for long periods of time, I got into the habit of going for long walks in the morni...

Graphic Novel Alert! Catch the Wingbearer in This Marjorie Liu Interview

This year I’ve decided not to fight it anymore. I know I only have so many hours in a day to read, but I’m going to stop resisting my instincts. For 2022 I intend to read more graphic novels for kids, by gum. A good place to start? Well, there’s that WINGBEARER comic by Marjorie Liu. It just came out this month and has already started pulling in some stars.

Here’s the publisher’s description for you:

“A young girl must stop a threat to her magical world in this epic graphic novel from New...

It’s Over, Isn’t It? George O’Connor Interview and the Final Olympians Release

I was into the Greek gods before you were.

I can’t actually back that statement up. Can’t really account for who, amongst you, might count themselves as a true scholar of Greek mythology. But what I can state with pride is that I was into the George O’Connor Olympians series from day one, and I think that counts for something. When Zeus: King of the Gods was released on January 5, 2010, I was there, man. I loved that book. And as each subsequent chapter in O’Connor’s Olympians series was rele...

Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Else-Marie and Her Seven Little Daddies by Pija Lindenbaum

It’s insane but as I was purchasing a copy of today’s book (because my ding dang library system inexplicably didn’t have it) I was messaged on Twitter by author Chris Barton asking if I’d ever be interested in doing this on my podcast. That’s what I consider a sign. Particularly when you consider that the book Else-Marie and Her Seven Little Daddies was originally released here in America in 1991 and has rented room in my brain all this time.

That’s right. It’s time for a CULT CLASSIC!!!...

Review of the Day: Telling Stories Wrong by Gianni Rodari, ill. Beatrice Alemagna, trans. Antony Shugaar

Telling Stories Wrong
By Gianni Rodari
Illustrated by Beatrice Alemagna
Translated from the Italian by Antony Shugaar
Enchanted Lion Books
$17.95
ISBN: 9781592703609
Ages 4-7
On shelves June 21st

There is a strange comfort in knowing that grandfathers, worldwide, are complete and utter goofballs. I know that people are different everywhere. I know too that we share many similar characteristics. Still, there are few things quite as darned pleasing as a grandfather that knows precisely how to purpose...

Zia Erases the World: A Talk with Bree Barton

Be honest. How do you feel about book blurbs? Do they make any difference to you at all? I’m in a funny position where there are just SO MANY novels out there begging to be read that I have to set up a kind of triage system. And when considering all the factors that help you to understand what makes a book worth reading, blurbs can play an important role.

The same can be said for the people I interview on this blog. Testimonials from authors I trust often prove invaluable. So when I saw that...

Take a Trip with CAMERON BATTLE: A Talk with Jamar J. Perry

Lent!

Lent begins today! Glorious, riotous . . . uh . . . freewheeling . . . Lent?

Okay, that’s a pretty random way to open any blog post, let alone one that is ostensibly an interview with author Jamar J. Perry about his new book CAMERON BATTLE AND THE HIDDEN KINGDOMS. But, y’know, the bar got raised pretty high with that PILAR RAMIREZ interview yesterday with all those dancing girls. How the heck is today’s post supposed to compete with friggin’ Mardi Gras, I ask you?

And yet, compe...

Bring On the Dancing Girls! It’s Pilar Ramirez and the Escape from Zafa and an Interview with Julian Randall

I had the pleasure of attending my first author dinner here in the Chicago area in years. Macmillan, you see, is releasing a little book by the name of Pilar Ramirez and the Escape From Zafa by local Chicago fellow Julian Randall. As you can see we all had a lovely time:

Aaaaaand, that photo was taken after I left.

Hm. Okay, no biggie. I’m sure I have a picture or two that I took myself that night. Ah yes! Here they are:

Yes, that’s a bit blurry. Okay, here’s a better one:

...

Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann

“He is a grown man jealous of a D-O-G.”

While we’ve been doing some superb picture books as of late, but it’s been a while since we’ve done a particularly famous one. So for a small change of pace we’re doing a Big Name today. The kind where my library has nine copies in its main location. And, bonus, it’s not one by Seuss. Peggy Rathmann giveth again to us today with the irrepressible Officer Buckle and the adorable Gloria. I expected many things to occur during our talk but I did not ex...