Patience is a virtue. Riiiiiight. Actually it is, but tell that to anyone under the age of fifteen (to pick an arbitrary age). Though it varies from child to child, immediate satisfaction is something our day and age strives to give us in everything from grocery shopping to movie selection. When kids can just hop… Read More
Oh, you think the award season is done, old bean? Why we have only but BEGUN to hand out the 2011 awards! The Newberys, Caldecotts, and other ALA Media Awards are just the tip of the old iceberg. There are so many others to explore. For example, did you get a chance to really examine the 2012 Notable Children’s Books list from ALSC that was recently released? Absolutely fascinating stuff. Some books delight, some baffle, and some I’ve not even heard of. To the library! Don’t forget that… Read More
I tend to run my bookgroup for kids between the ages of 9-12 like a gentle dictatorship. I choose the books, the kids vote on them, and so it goes. Now if the kids had their way we’d be reading fantasy novels day in and day out every single week. With that in mind… Read More
Since it’s apparently football season (or at least that’s what the trending topics on Twitter seem to imply) think of this as a kind of post-game recap of what went on yesterday in the land of ALA Media Awards. Each year I like to look at what I got right, what I got wrong, what I got horrendously wrong, and what I got so wrong that it’s a miracle I’m even allowed to blog anymore. And because I believe in eating my cake before my dinner, we’ll… Read More
There was once a time, best beloved, when the early chapter book section of your local lending library was a veritable wasteland of white characters. Oh, every once in a while you might be able to get your hands on Stories Julian Tells or
When a video has reached over two million views, it’s usually safe to assume that everyone has seen it. However, there’s always the possibility that you have not, so with that in mind what better way to start off today’s Video Sunday then by looking at books with a sense of rhythm? This is the kind of thing that clearly puts the “labor” in the term “labor of love”.
Now as a great number of you know, Monday morning we’ll see the announcement of the Newberys… Read More
I know a fair number of you could use this. To wit:
Dear friends,
PEN American Center is accepting submissions until February 1, 2012 for the $5,000 PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship, given annually to an author of children’s or young-adult fiction. The Fellowship is designed to assist a writer at a crucial moment in his or her career to complete a book-length work-in-progress. Past recipients include Lucy Frank, Pat Schmatz, Carol Lynch Williams, Theresa Nelson, Diane Les Becquets, Graham McNamee, Lori Aurelia Williams, Franny Billingsley, Amanda Jenkins, and Barbara Shoup… Read More
Yeah, remember when I had that baby and everything looked like things were going to stay exactly the same, like nothing had changed a jot? Well, I’ve found at least one aspect of the blog that’s taken a serious hit since the arrive of the small Bird. Librarian previews. For some reason I just don’t seem to have the copious hours and hours of freedom to type them up that once I had. Mysterious. Now with five (I kid you not) staring me in the face I’m going to strive… Read More
Fifty years ago Madeline L’Engle published her best known creation A Wrinkle in Time. Since its release the book has gone on to be one of those rare titles that can get away with being part fantasy, part science fiction, and part religious allegory. All that and it’s interesting to boot. Not surprisingly Macmillan (the current Wrinkling publisher) is poised to produce a new glossy hardcover edition with the original cover (albeit shinier) as well as a graphic novel version penned by Hope Larson.
Pity the picture book author. Their lot is rife with strife. With a couple exceptions here and there it is mighty hard to make picture book authorship your one and only occupation. Many times the writer in question has to supplement their income with class visits to schools and libraries around the country. That in and of itself isn’t exactly a… Read More
Elizabeth Bird is currently New York Public Library's Youth Materials Collections Specialist. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of NYPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. You can follow Elizabeth on Twitter @FuseEight or email her at fusenumber8.
