The world's largest reviewer of books, multimedia, and technology for children and teens
Joy Fleishhacker is a librarian, former SLJ staffer, and freelance editor and writer who lives in southern Colorado. She spends most of her free time meeting the needs of the three voracious readers in her household.
May is National Bike Month. Inspire youngsters to get outside and ride with a selection of tantalizing titles about two-wheelers. Whether celebrating a child’s triumphant mastery of this important skill, reveling in the delights of going for a spin, or providing a look at bicycling and its history, these books will get readers geared up for freewheeling fun.
Perfect for use in the classroom, these lively looks at school and community gardens deliver a bouquet of titles about growing things. They’ll also be useful for public libraries and other organizations that support green-thumb projects for kids.
Robert Downey Jr. reprises his role as the arrogant, irreverent, and ever likable Tony Stark, ingenious industrialist and high-tech super hero in Iron Man 3 (PG-13), which arrives in theaters on May 3, 2013, in traditional, 3-D, and IMAX 3D formats .Beef up your selection of tales about the Golden Avenger with offerings sure to appeal to teen movie—and comics—fans.
Jackie Robinson’s story is a captivating, inspiring, and important one, and young moviegoers who have seen the new biopic 42 will want to know more about his groundbreaking accomplishments as well as his life and times. Here are some great books to recommend.
Celebrate Earth Day with a selection of fiction and nonfiction titles that highlight environmental issues, introduce conservationists and their important work, and demonstrate that children can take an active role in caring for our planet.
This sci-fi thriller from Universal Pictures opens in theaters on April 19, 2013. Based on a yet-to-be-published graphic novel (Radical Publishing) by movie director/writer Joseph Kosinki, Oblivion (PG-13) is set 60 years after Earth is attacked by alien invaders. The entire human population has been relocated, and Jack Harper (Tom Cruise), a drone repairmen and part of a large-scale venture to extract vital resources, is one of the few remaining individuals stationed on a planet left in ruins. Update your collections with a selection of novels that prophesize an often earth-shattering (sometimes literally), tantalizingly thought-provoking, and always page-turning future for our planet and humankind.
Introduce children to the day-to-day lives of kids around the globe with a group of handsome photo essays and picture books that celebrate our differences and commonalities. These titles will encourage students to explore a tapestry of world cultures as they foster understanding and steer children toward becoming responsible and informed citizens of a global community.
In honor of National Poetry Month, School Library Journal shares a variety of books on haiku, a distinctive form of poetry that originated in Japan centuries ago.
This grand-slam lineup of titles about baseball illustrate why the sport is still America’s pastime.
We have all fantasized about being transported to magical locations, and on March 8, Disney is giving everyone an excuse to revisit the 1900 novel and 1939 movie The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Oz the Great and Powerful (PG) tornadoes into theaters in traditional, 3D and IMAX 3D formats. Oscar Diggs (James Franco), an unscrupulous two-bit circus magician, is swept away via hot-air balloon to the Land of Oz. Teens can visit the movie website to browse videos and photos, play games, and access downloads. Then hook them in with a display of portal fiction that will not disappoint.
Vibrant illustrations, illuminating representations of basic math concepts, and dynamic storytelling add up to offerings that entertain as they educate.
Filled with unlikely but enduring attachments, ostensibly incompatible Romeos and Juliets, and unexpected instances of true animal camaraderie, these books prove that affection can allow individuals to look beyond their differences and forge long-lasting bonds. Use these books to expand Valentine’s Day and friendship storytimes; tease out overarching themes; and initiate discussions of tolerance, compassion, and community.
Told and retold through the centuries, ever-evolving and repeatedly re-envisioned, folk and fairy tales continue to captivate imaginations. In fact, unwavering interest in these stories have sparked an onslaught of media offerings. Take the opportunity to booktalk or display a selection of splendid retellings of folk and fairy tales written for teens. The genre’s integral themes of transformation, self-realization, burgeoning independence, and first love are ready-made for a young adult audience, and these titles utilize a variety of writing styles, settings, and storytelling tones to explore timeless motifs in imaginative and appealingly contemporary ways.
Great titles that address bullying in a variety of ways, providing information, offering the comfort of knowing that others are facing similar challenges, and presenting strategies for surviving. Booktalk them and recommend them to teachers to share with their students to increase awareness and empathy, initiate discussion, and begin to bring about change.
Filled with harrowing monsters and fate-dictating deities, and all-too-human hubris and heartache, Homer’s ‘Odyssey’ has thrilled and edified audiences for centuries. Today’s readers have a host of imaginative—and artful—adaptations of the epic poem to choose from.
Beautiful Creatures is a story of star-crossed lovers with a supernatural edge and atmospheric Southern setting. The film adaptation of the first novel in Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl’s fan-favorite series (2009, Little, Brown) is fittingly scheduled for release on Valentine’s Day, 2013. Tempt teens who just can’t get enough of these Beautiful Creatures to keep reading by booktalking or displaying a selection of page-turning tales forged with mystical wonder and touched by true love. Encompassing copious coming-of-age themes and a variety of writing styles, these titles also make excellent choices for book discussion groups.
Looking for a way to bring Martin Luther King Day to life? These resources are the perfect way to shed light on King, as well as the Civil Rights Movement as a whole.
Tempt teens away from the screen and into the pages of a book with an appetizing array of offerings based on popular video games. You may even get them interested in history—the latest Assassin’s Creed is based on the American Revolution, set in the colonies in the mid-1700s.
Attributed to a man who lived in fifth-century-B.C. Greece, Aesop’s Fables abound with simple wisdoms and useful truths.
The film “Rise of the Guardians,” based on William Joyce’s popular series “Guardians of Childhood” premieres on November 21. Fans of folk and fairy tales will delight in the characters found in both the original series, the film, and in new books inspired by the movie.
