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My readalong of The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier continues. Chapters One to Ten. Chapter Eleven I have to say, the screw stunt is pretty funny. Even though part of me is saying, someone could have gotten hurt. And part of me is saying it was just a little too much, too extreme. And while [...]
Hidy-ho, faithful readers. A blogger might field any number of requests to host contests for new books on their blogs. And generally speaking, you could be forgiven for almost always politely declining. “No”, you might say, “I just don’t run that sort of blog”. It is the rare book that snaps me out of such [...]
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.
Some books receive more “buzz” than others in the lead-up to publication. Today we review three books that have received more than their fair share. First, our starred review of the day – The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer. Wolitzer’s fiction is always excellent and often provocative. Everyone, from the New York Times to EW and People, [...]
A Michigan parent’s complaint that Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition is too frank for middle schoolers and should be replaced with an older, expurgated edition has been rejected by the local school board.
This one is especially for Michigan folks. Teacher and Nerdy Book Club Blog co-mastermind Colby Sharp is up to more masterminding. He went and created nErDcamp, a daylong event with a literacy focus. The goal is to bring together a variety of educators to talk reading, writing, and thinking on July 11 in Battle Creek, MI. [...]
The Highlights Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to excellence in children’s literature, has announced its creation of James Cross Giblin Scholarship, which aims to honor the talents, contributions, and generosity of the acclaimed children’s author, editor, and publisher.
I hadn’t thought about it till today, but our summer reading list is a snooze. A dinosaur. A relic of a time when reading lists looked like, well, reading lists. Today, two things woke me up. 1. Finished with her AP exam, Sierra asked me for a book recommendation. I excitedly booktalked Libba Bray’s The [...]
So I’m in the office talking with my colleagues about A Girl Called Problem by Katie Quirk and how awesome it is. Then the topic shifts to books with African-American protagonists published in 2013 for kids between the ages of 9-12. You know. Middle grade fiction. And in the midst of my lamenting how few [...]
Zavala Elementary School librarian Lisa M. Lopez, the unofficial Little Free Library ambassador to El Paso, TX, and 2013 Mover & Shaker, talks to School Library Journal about her passion for storytelling, her tireless efforts to advocate for bilingual literacy through Día de los niños/Día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day) celebrations, and the ways she inspires her students.
Celebrate 10 years of Mo Willems’s Pigeon with a visit to the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA, which will be hosting an exhibit on the award-winning author/illustrator. Winners for the Jane Addams, Golden Kite, and IRA awards have been announced. Attend a one-day workshop focused on integrating games into the K–12 classroom. These stories and more, in this week’s News Bites.
So why am I so on the fence about recommending this well-produced and often engaging film?
As reviews for Baz Lurhmann’s whirlwind adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby come roaring in, take a look at the latest installment of SLJ’s Page to Screen, where you’ll find updates on already much-touted future movies, and news of recent options on film rights. This roundup of releases will have your students and patrons heading to the theater—and, hopefully, to bookshelves as well.
What is ResearchReady? The new information literacy courseware is “just about everything we try and teach condensed into a single convenient, Web-based and tablet-friendly can,” according to SLJ columnist Jeff Hastings.
Stunning ink, watercolor, and pencil artwork brings to life ancient China.
We write a lot about genre and the types of books that teens enjoy reading. But what about setting? Do teen readers care about sinking into the setting of a book? This is an element that teens rarely mention when they share what they enjoy reading, or how much they liked a particular book. But [...]
Superman, with a 75-year canon to draw upon, should be included in any curriculum that covers science fiction.
A recent national report from the Pew Research Center that stated that most parents consider libraries important for their children has attracted some criticism from the library community, which is concerned that the findings are based on a skewed sample and put too much emphasis on reading.
Author and Common Core expert Kathleen Odean reveals great titles to tap as you work with the new standards.
Meg Medina knows firsthand about bullying—the topic of her young adult novel. In ‘Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass,’ the author explores its consequences when 15-year-old Piddy Sanchez becomes victimized at her new school.
