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Hokey Pokey By Jerry Spinelli Alfred A. Knopf (an imprint of Random House) $15.99 ISBN: 978-0-375-83198-0 Ages 9-12 On shelves now Not a Jerry Spinelli fan over here. Nope. Some authors you love, some authors you loathe, and some you feel zip, zero, zilch feelings towards whatsoever. That was me and the Spinelli man. Maniac [...]
Now this is really neat. There’s a series called BOOKD through THINKR (apparently E’s are considered gauche these days) that will take a topic and really go into it with a panel of experts. In this particular case the question is whether or not you should re-read Charlotte’s Web. Author Bruce Coville and teacher/blogger/author Monica [...]
The last few days have been a blur, helped not a bit by a toddler who suddenly took it into her head that 4:45 a.m. is a perfectly reasonable time to wake up and that perfectly reasonable people should be up and about and WHY ISN’T MOMMY BEING PERFECTLY REASONABLE ABOUT THIS???? … WAAAAAAUUUUGGGGHHHH! So [...]
WASHINGTON (January 2, 2013) – The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) seeks nominations for a new nonfiction booklist for elementary, middle, and high-school aged children. Aimed at young readers who want to delve more deeply into areas such as history, biography, archaeology, or philosophy, this new list will supplement NEH’s popular summer reading list, [...]
Unicorn Thinks He’s Pretty Great By Bob Shea Hyperion Books $15.99 ISBN: 978-1423159520 Ages 4-8 On shelves May 28th I feel like it’s only recently that pop culture has opened its eyes and realized that when it comes to mythical creatures, unicorns are the funniest animals. Sasquatches rank a close second and zombies have their [...]
Oh yeah, babies. I’m staring 2013 off with a bang! As you’ll recall, each month I host these free gatherings at the main branch of NYPL for anyone with an interest in children’s literature. In New York City this Saturday? Have some spare time around 2 p.m.? Come on by and watch! I guaran-dang-tee it’s [...]
From the pen of Jane Yolen, a 365 day a year project: SAVING AMERICA’S ECONOMY ONE POEM AT A TIME For the past three years I have joined with other local Western Massachusetts poets in writing a poem a day in November. We sign up readers who pledge a certain amount per poem to aid a [...]
Observe! Before your very eyes I will now beat my breast and rend my clothing (simultaneously… I’m talented like that) while wailing at a fever pitch about the books that I wish I had reviewed in 2012. You see, I give myself some pretty strict rules when it comes to reviewing. Once the second hand [...]
Happy 2013, everybody! *tweet!* And that officially marks the end of all my 2012 reviews. I’ll have an appropriate regret-filled post on the matter tomorrow, but for now let’s celebrate the year! Everyone has their own little lists, and I am no exception. In case you’re curious, I did similar ones for 2010 and 2011. [...]
Henry and the Incredibly Incorrigible, Inconveniently Intelligent Smart Human By Lynn Messina Tater Tot Books $7.99 ISBN: 978-0984901845 Ages 9-12 On shelves now. Every year I swear to myself that I’ll review at least one self-published book written for kids. And every year I manage to do it, but only after sifting through countless manuscripts. [...]
Pickle: The (Formerly) Anonymous Prank Club of Fountain Point Middle School By Kim Baker Illustrated by Tim Probert Roaring Brook Press (a division of Macmillan) $15.99 ISBN: 978-1-59643-765-4 Ages 9-12 On shelves now When I was in college I took a course in journalism to fulfill an English credit. I had no real desire to [...]
It’s a Tiger! By David LaRochelle Illustrated by Jeremy Tankard Chronicle Books $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-8118-6925-6 Ages 4-8 On shelves now There is an art to reading a picture book but I’ve not encountered many schools that actually teach that skill. Librarians will learn it in their graduate courses, of course, but what about parents and [...]
The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom By Christopher Healy Walden Pond Press (an imprint of Harper Collins) $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-06-211743-4 Ages 9-12 On shelves now. Since when did fairytales become the realm of the girly? I blame Disney. Back in the days of Grimm your average everyday fairytale might contain princesses and pretty gowns [...]
Spirit Seeker: John Coltrane’s Musical Journey By Gary Golio Illustrated by Rudy Gutierrez Clarion Books (an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) $17.99 ISBN: 978-0-547-23994-1 Ages 6 and up On shelves now Is there any complicated hero with a past so full of darkness that their life cannot be recounted to children? This is the conundrum [...]
The holidays put me out of commission for a little while but back we are and back we shall stay! As you can see, the new site is quite fancy dancy. Note the following cool features. First off, I have a logo. A fuse within a number sign logo at that. Somehow they managed to [...]
