Betsy Bird's Blog, page 96
February 24, 2022
Review of the Day: It’s the End of the World and I’m In My Bathing Suit by Justin A. Reynolds
It’s the End of the World and I’m In My Bathing Suit
By Justin A. Reynolds
Scholastic
$17.99
ISBN: 9781338704226
Ages 9-12
On shelves April 5th
Okay, so about nine years ago I wrote a blog post called, “2013 Middle Grade Black Boys: Seriously, People?” And I don’t think it’s going to surprise anybody that I found a whopping five middle grade novels where the main character was a boy who was Black. Three of them were written by sports stars. One was historical fiction about slavery. And one, just ...
February 23, 2022
Oh, What a Knight Owl Interview: Talking With Christopher Denise About Tiny Armored Birds
The other day at my library’s 101 Great Books for Kids Meeting (we start ’em in January, baby) one of my co-workers declared that he’d found the Mel Fell of 2022. He said, and I quote, “It is absolutely beautiful and funny. With a satisfying ending … We do have a lot of books about animals so far (and it’s only February), but this one should definitely be considered one of the very best.”
And he’s not wrong. Though I try to resist the charms of all-animal books, some clearly stand apart ...
February 22, 2022
Zara’s Rules: An Interview with Hena Khan
Hena Khan! Hena Khan! I’m talking and chatting with Hena Khan!
Okay, if I can confess something here, I kind of like talking to Hena Khan. I did it in 2021 on the topic of her novel, AMINA’S SONG. And I did a cover reveal for her in 2019 when she was publishing MORE TO THE STORY. All told, I sort of always say yes when someone asks me if I’d like to do something with Hena Khan. Can you blame me?
In any case, today we’re talking ZARA’S RULES FOR RECORD-BREAKING FUN. It’s the latest rele...
February 21, 2022
On This Airplane: A Cover Reveal and Interview with Lourdes Heuer
This past weekend I had the distinct delight in getting to travel somewhere for a bit of writing getaway. Now I’ve come back home, and it seems rather appropriate that today’s interview and cover reveal should involve the very notion of travel itself. But going from, say, one country to another is an act fraught with implications. Not merely the act of travel, but who gets to travel and for what reasons.
That’s a heady bit of thinking to accompany today’s picture book, ON THIS AIRPLANE by Lou...
February 17, 2022
Review of the Day: Kick Push by Frank Morrison
Kick Push: Be Your Epic Self
By Frank Morrison
Bloomsbury Publishing
$18.99
ISBN: 9781547605927
Ages 4-7
On shelves April 19th
What’s that old saying again? The one about how there are no new stories? Maybe I’m thinking of the one from Mark Twain, where he said, “There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations. We keep on turning and making new ...
February 16, 2022
Diwali in February? It’s a Diwali in My New Home Cover Reveal
This week I’m all about celebrating fall holiday titles outside of their seasons. It makes perfect sense that Diwali, the festival of lights, would be celebrated in the autumnal season when the days grow shorter and the nights longer. Yet now is the time in the publishing season when we like to look forward two seasons or so. And what better holiday to consider than Diwali itself?
The other day debut author Shachi Kaushik reached out to let me know that her first picture book, Diwali in M...
February 15, 2022
Halloween in February! It’s a Cover Reveal and Interview on The Most Haunted House in America with Jarrett Dapier
Seems to me that if folks can make such a big deal about “Christmas in July” then we should be allowed to extrapolate other holidays onto equally inappropriate months. St. Patrick’s Day in August. Diwali in April. You get the idea. And as far as I’m concerned Halloween in February fits right in to this structure. Good thing too since today it is my extreme pleasure to introduce to you the latest Jarrett Dapier book of 2022.
Jarret Dapier? Do I happen to mean the fellow behind that incredibly ...
February 14, 2022
MINA Live: An Interview With Matthew Forsythe
There. Isn’t that lovely? If you’re anything like me, you may have seen Matthew Forsythe’s picture book Pokko and the Drum and become, instantaneously, a Forsythian (not a word but, still, copyright me). His style is entirely unique. It incorporates the subtle humor of, say, a Jon Klassen but with a distinct increase in luminous landscapes and, quite frankly, more expressive facial expressions. When you pick up a Forsythe, you’re instantly engaged in a picture book that taps into classic pic...
Check It Out: A Petition to Add Children’s Nonfiction Lists to the NYT Bestseller Lists!
Folks, there are times when you hog the spotlight and there are times when you step out of the way. Today, we are hoping to do the latter. Melissa Stewart (whose book Summertime Sleepers recently won itself a fancy dancy Sibert Honor) alerted me to a coalition of more than 250 influential educators and librarians. What are they doing? They’re asking the New York Times to add three children’s nonfiction bestseller lists to complement the existing lists that focus on juvenile fiction.
Now, toda...
February 13, 2022
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: So You Want to be President? by Judith St. George, ill. David Small
Happy (checks watch) almost President’s Day!
We just had a blast last week with our Valentine’s Day picture book Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch, so where next to go? Clearly, this would be the best time to turn our sights upon the upcoming President’s Day. So what better book, I ask of you, could we do than Caldecott Award winner So You Want to Be President? Penned by Judith St. George (who was doing non-fiction for kids in the 70s when it was a particularly uncommon job) and illustrated b...
