There’s nothing quite like the run-up to the announcement of the Youth Media Awards at the American Library Association’s (ALA) Midwinter Meeting.
The Art of the Caldecott: At 75, the powerful award keeps proving the value of librarians’ expertise | Editorial
By on February 5, 2013 Leave a Comment
Pick of the Day: We Are America: A Tribute from the Heart (Audiobook)
By on February 5, 2013 Leave a Comment
We Are America: A Tribute from the Heart. By Walter Dean Myers. CD. 33:51 min. with hardcover book. Live Oak Media. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4301-1112-2. $29.95.
Gr 3 Up–The sweeping scope of Myers’s free verse poems (HarperCollins, 2011) is captured beautifully and interpreted dramatically on this CD by a diverse cast of narrators. This eminently patriotic book celebrates free expression and attempts to paint with word pictures the depth and breadth of the varied American experience. Rarely are all ethnicities given voice [...]
The Literary Equation: USBBY’s Outstanding International Books connect kids worldwide
By on February 5, 2013 Leave a Comment
Stories connect people who live in different places, during different times, or who have different interests. Books tell stories in words, pictures, or both all the world over.
Storyteller and author Diane Wolkstein dies at 70
By on February 4, 2013 Leave a Comment
Acclaimed storyteller, folklorist, and author Diane Wolkstein died on January 31 following emergency heart surgery while traveling in Taiwan. She was 70. Wolkstein’s talent as a storyteller and teacher of storytelling won her international fame; she also wrote more than 20 books, taught mythology at NYU, and hosted a storytelling show on NYC public radio.
Pick of the Day: A Trip to the Bottom of the World
By on February 4, 2013 Leave a Comment
VIVA, Frank. A Trip to the Bottom of the World with Mouse. illus. by author. 40p. Toon Bks. 2012. RTE $12.95. ISBN 978-1-935179-19-1. LC 2011049499.
PreS-Gr 2–From the endpapers, Mouse asks the timeless question of many young travelers, “Are we there yet?” Inspired by Viva’s experiences traveling to Antarctica aboard a Russian research ship, the oblong picture book offers basic facts about the region (it is cold and penguins live there, for instance), while Mouse tries to figure out when it [...]
Fusenews: Aw, pfui
By on February 4, 2013
It is WAY too late in the day for me to be only starting a Fusenews post now. All right, guys. Looks like we’re gonna have to do today double quick time. Sorry, but I’ve a ticking time bomb in the other room (sometimes also known as “my daughter”) and I gotsta gets to bed [...]
The First Peanut Gallery for the 2013 Battle
By on February 2, 2013
These Peanut Gallery posts are where we highlight responses to the latest BoB activity. And so here are some celebrating the announcement of the 2013 Contenders and the Brackets. If we missed yours, let us know in the comments and we’ll add them in here.
First of all, if you didn’t see it, be sure to check out SLJ’s “Our Battle of the Kids’ Books Back!.” On the day ALA’s Youth Media Award’s were announced The LibrarYAn, in a post, had this to say:
This morning the brackets for the SLJ Battle of the Kids’ Books were revealed. And something tells me that yesterday’s Youth Media Awards announcements figured into these match-ups.
(A brief interjection from the Battle Commander: Ha and no! We did this way back in early December when the contenders list went to SLJ. And none of us, not even Newbery Committee Member Roxanne, is prescient enough to have known how the awards would play out.)
In “So Much for a Career in Divinations” Jen reflects on previous battles and gears up for this year’s. CBC pinned us on Pinterest. Random Musings of a Bibliophile has a few thoughts about this year’s list of contenders. And there were loads of tweets. (FYI: the hashtag is #sljbob.) Here are a few of them: NewsCLN SLJ Battle of the Books brackets are UP! I’m reading, I’m reading … rebeccazdunn SLJ‘s Battle of the Kids’ Books 2013 Brackets Revealed! The match-ups this …
» Continue Reading: The First Peanut Gallery for the 2013 Battle
Why hair salons need to curate
By on February 1, 2013
Please forgive this little journey about curation and life outside of school. I’ve been doing some thinking about curation and hair. Here’s my sad story and my proposed solution. I hadn’t had a hot shower for a week after Hurricane Sandy. I was beat. And my hair was full of knots. When I got to [...]
Best of Apps & Enhanced Books | February 2013
By on February 1, 2013 Leave a Comment
BiblioBoard and Pyramids 3D, check out these App reviews.
Resources for Finding Latino Kid Lit
By on January 31, 2013 5 Comments
SLJ has compiled a list of tools for locating books and program ideas for not only Spanish-speaking patrons, but for all of those interested in reading more diverse titles.
Making the Principal Connection
By on January 31, 2013 Leave a Comment
Mark Ray asserts that principals and librarians have a lot more in common than you might think—and he should know. After 20 years as a teacher librarian, the 2012 Washington Teacher of the Year has become a district IT administrator. From his new perch, he shares insights into the the pivotal alliance possible between two key solo players in the school: librarian and principal.
Between Violence and Tenderness: Aristotle and Dante Author Sáenz Talks to SLJ
By on January 31, 2013 1 Comment
Monday was a very good day for Benjamin Alire Sáenz. His sensitive young adult novel, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, was named for three Youth Media Awards, distinctions that left him both stunned and grateful. SLJ caught up with Sáenz for a revealing chat about his reaction to the YMA wins, his personal inspirations for the book, his writing process, and his next YA project.
On Stage with London’s Philharmonia Orchestra | Touch and Go
By on January 31, 2013 Leave a Comment
Touch Press’s extraordinary new app, ‘The Orchestra” brings readers and listeners on stage with London’s Philharmonia Orchestra.
Planning Common Core Lessons?: Free, Web-based applications can help align your plans with the new standards
By on January 31, 2013
Ready or not, here they come. At almost every school I visited this year, teachers asked me to address the Common Core (CC) standard in my workshops. Planning lessons with CC in mind presents a challenge, but it doesn’t have to be difficult. These sites are designed with the express purpose of helping plan lessons around Common Core.
ALA Midwinter 2013: In Pictures
By on January 30, 2013 1 Comment
Scenes from this year’s Midwinter meeting, from the Youth Media Awards to the National Forum on Libraries & Teens.
Pick of the Day: Peanut
By on January 30, 2013 Leave a Comment
HALLIDAY, Ayun. Peanut. illus. by Paul Hoppe. 216p. Random/Schwartz and Wade. Jan. 2013. Tr $15.99. ISBN 978-0-375-86590-9; PLB $18.99. ISBN 978-0-375-96590-6.
Gr 7 Up–Worried about transferring to a new school, Sadie comes up with the idea of faking a peanut allergy. She thinks that pretending to have a life-threatening condition will draw attention to her and generate sympathy. Her predictions come true, and she makes several new friends and even attracts a boyfriend. But as time passes, Sadie finds it harder [...]
Weekly Reviews: Nonfiction for Browsing
By on January 30, 2013
Teen behavior in libraries includes a lot of browsing. I have two different display spaces in my small high school library. Fortunately, one of them is right in front of my desk, so I often get the chance to watch students check out the latest books (surreptitiously, lest I scare them away!). Some will just [...]
ALA Midwinter: SLJ Resources on the Youth Media Award Winners
By on January 29, 2013 Leave a Comment
With the Youth Media Awards having been announced Monday January 28, buzz around the Caldecott-winning This Is Not My Hat (Candlewick), the Newbery-winning The One and Only Ivan (HarperCollins), and the Printz-winning In Darkness (Bloomsbury), is higher than ever. School Library Journal has compiled a list of relevant blog posts, reviews, interviews, and articles related to the winners and honor books.
Hot Topic at Midwinter: Library Maker Spaces, Ideas for Cheap, Hands-On Fun
By on January 29, 2013
From ebooks to digital literacy, there was plenty to debate at the Midwinter meeting of the American Library Association. But the unconference on January 25 revealed clear consensus on one topic: maker spaces. They’re red hot.
Pick of the Day: Balloons Over Broadway: The Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade (Audiobook)
By on January 29, 2013 Leave a Comment
Balloons Over Broadway: The Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade. By Melissa Sweet. cassette or CD. 15 min. Recorded Books. 2012. cassette: ISBN 978-4703-2922-8, CD: ISBN 978-1-4703-2921-1. $15.75; hardcover book, ISBN 978-0-5471-9945-9: $16.99.
K-Gr 3–The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade is a holiday tradition. But where did those big balloons begin? With puppeteer Tony Sarg, of course! The informative, enthusiastic text of Sweet’s Robert F. Siebert Medal picture-book biography (Houghton Mifflin, 2011) tells a little about Sarg’s life and his career [...]
