They say if you want to win an Oscar you need to play somebody with an extreme personal difficulty (terminal illness, disease, etc.). They do not, for the record, say that about award winning children’s books. There isn’t this general understanding that if you want a shiny Newbery Medal on your cover then you need to give your main character autism or a cleft palate or any of that. People write such… Read More
Boy, I tell you. You get a kid and suddenly you find yourself scheming all these crazy schemes. “I’m going to get my kid to like vegetables!” “I’m going to get my kid to appreciate classical music!” “I’m going to get my kid to like math!” Crazy, right? I mean the first two seem doable, but the third? I’m… Read More
My temptation whenever I review a children’s book that involves a dog in some way is to begin with a caveat that I am not a dog person. I’ve drawn from that well one too many times, though. At this point I think my I-am-not-a-dog-person credentials are well and truly established. However, it wasn’t until I read the utterly charming Lucy Rescued that I realized something. I… Read More
When we try to name the biggest and best picture book biography authors out there, two names spring immediately to mind. The first is David Adler. Mr. Adler specializes in picture books that go by the straightforward titles of “A Picture Book of [Enter Name Here]“. It makes him easy to spot on a shelf. All his books look pretty… Read More
I said it about Laini Taylor. I said it about Jeff Kinney. Heck, I even said it about J.K. Rowling and now, my friends, I’m saying it about Tom Angleberger: I was into him before it was cool. Seriously, a… Read More
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
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
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
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.
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