The world's largest reviewer of books, multimedia, and technology for children and teens
Katherine Applegate’s The One and Only Ivan and Jon Klassen’s This Is Not My Hat may have won the Newbery and Caldecott on Monday, January 28, but they were already stellar titles for School Library Journal’s Book Review editors. Both books made SLJ’s Best Books of 2012 list, as well as many of the other ALA’s Youth Media Award-winners. Check out SLJ’s reviews for the top prizes.
The audience erupted in cheers Monday after Katherine Applegate was named the winner of the Newbery Medal for The One and Only Ivan (HarperCollins), and Jon Klassen was awarded the Caldecott Medal for This Is Not My Hat (Candlewick) at the American Library Association’s Youth Media Awards for 2012, which were announced during its annual Midwinter Meeting in Seattle, WA.
FRADIN, Judith Bloom & Dennis Brindell Fradin. The Price of Freedom: How One Town Stood Up to Slavery. illus. by Eric Velasquez. 48p. bibliog. further reading. photos. websites. Walker. Jan. 2013. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-8027-2166-2; PLB $17.89. ISBN 978-0-8027-2167-9. LC 2012015781.
Gr 3-6–In 1856, John Price escaped from slavery in Kentucky by crossing the frozen Ohio River. Two years later, slave hunters arrived in Oberlin, Ohio, and attempted to take him back at gunpoint. Shopkeepers, farmers, teachers, and college students formed [...]
Zero the Hero. By Joan Holub. CD. 12:45 min. with hardcover book. Spoken Arts. 2012. ISBN 0-8045-4242-2. $29.95.
Gr 1-3–Zero dons superhero garb and tries to change his reputation because he’s tired of feeling like nothing. It’s clear that he makes no impact in addition, subtraction, or division. And in multiplication he sends the other numbers fleeing in fear of extinction. Finally, in despair, Zero rolls away. However, once he’s gone the other numbers miss him. They can’t make 10. They [...]
Jan Ormerod, author and illustrator of many books for young children, died Wednesday in England. Ormerod began her kid-lit career more than 30 years ago after the birth of her first child; previously she taught art and design. Her first book, Sunshine, won the 1982 Mother Goose Award for British kid lit and was named the Australian Picture Book of the Year and an ALA Notable Book.
School Library Journal’s fifth annual Battle of the Kids’ Books tournament, affectionately known as “BOB,” is about to begin! Modeled after college basketball’s March Madness, the tournament pits 16 of 2012’s best books for young people—everything from fantasy to nonfiction to wicked good romance—against one another in a winner-take-all online elimination contest kicking off on Monday, March 12.
The Fire Chronicle: The Books of Beginning, Book 2. By John Stephens. 10 CDs. 12:22 hrs. Prod. by Listening Library. Dist. by Listening Library/Books on Tape. 2012. ISBN 978-0-307-87982-0. $37.
Gr 4-7–In The Emerald Atlas (2011), the first book in John Stephens’s series, we met Kate, Michael, and Emma who were searching for their missing parents and got caught up in a magical adventure that nearly turned deadly, tested their family bonds, and gained them the first Book. In this second [...]
Grumbling about the relevance of CES notwithstanding, several standout products are set to impact K–12 education. SLJ columnist Jeff Hastings taps the highlights, including one overarching trend that’s bound to affect a wide range of devices for all users.
BOLDEN, Tonya. Emancipation Proclamation: Lincoln and the Dawn of Liberty. 120p. bibliog. chron. glossary. illus. index. notes. photos. reprods. Abrams. Jan. 2013. RTE $24.95. ISBN 978-1-4197-0390-4. LC 2012000845.
Gr 5-9–After a dramatic opening description of abolitionists waiting for word that the Emancipation Proclamation had been signed, this title reviews the events that led up to the Civil War, examines Lincoln’s reasons for writing it, and details the role of abolitionists. Bolden makes excellent use of primary sources; the pages are filled [...]
Librarians who serve children in predominantly Latino communities were shocked this past December to read a New York Times article claiming that there is a dearth of Latino characters in books written for young readers—a notion that is at odds with their own experiences. In fact, they tell School Library Journal, there is actually a wealth of resources currently available to these kids, and librarians have the power (and the responsibility) to make those meaningful connections.
Patricia Polacco’s In Our Mothers’ House, an acclaimed picture book about a family with two mothers, is finally back on K–6 school library shelves in Utah’s Davis School District, more than eight months after a committee pulled the book and restricted its access.
BROWN, Don. Henry and the Cannons: An Extraordinary True Story of the American Revolution. illus. by author. 32p. bibliog. Roaring Brook. Jan. 2013. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-1-59643-266-6. LC 2012013450.
Gr 1-4–As the American Revolution was getting underway, George Washington knew he needed cannons to defeat the British. Unfortunately, he was camped outside British-held Boston, and the nearest big guns were 300 miles away at Fort Ticonderoga, New York. They were thought to be impossible to retrieve, until Henry Knox agreed to [...]
The Freedom Maze. By Delia Sherman. 8 CDs. 8:19 hrs. Prod. by Listening Library. Dist. by Listening Library/Books on Tape. 2012. ISBN 978-0-499-01463-9. $55.
Gr 5-8–Sophie’s mother drops her off to spend the summer at her grandmother’s house in the Louisiana Bayou. Once a prolific sugar plantation, the property is derelict and overgrown. In the garden, Sophie discovers a maze, now in ruins, much like Sophie’s life since her parents’ divorce. It’s 1960, and the stigma of the divorce, combined with [...]
Sixty percent of publishing executives believe that tablets have become “the ideal reading platform,” and 45 percent believe that dedicated e-readers will soon be irrelevant, according to a recent online, by-invitation survey conducted by global research and advisory firm Forrester.
Gerald McDermott, award-winning author, illustrator, and filmmaker who died on December 26 at age 71, will be fondly remembered for his unique style of vibrant, visual storytelling, which has inspired and engaged generations of kids. Highlights of McDermott’s career, which spanned a 49-year period, include a Caldecott Medal, two Caldecott Honor books, and a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Award.
Author John Green, brother Hank Green, and special guests the Mountain Goats celebrated the anniversary of The Fault in Our Stars (Dutton, 2012) with an evening at Carnegie Hall.
That’s the first thing you do when you finish reading a book? Pass it along to a friend? Return it to the library? Place it on the unruly pile of titles that you charitably call your “office”? Scores of dedicated readers log on to Goodreads and share their opinions with the world. Imagine Facebook and your [...]
The Mystery Writers of America has announced the nominees for its 2013 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction, and television from the previous year, in celebration of the 204th anniversary of Poe’s birth.
HOLZER, Harold. Lincoln: How Abraham Lincoln Ended Slavery in America. 240p. appendix. bibliog. chron. notes. photos. Newmarket. 2012. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-06-226509-8.
Gr 5 Up–In 14 well-crafted, concise, fact-filled chapters, Holzer offers a biography of the 16th president and narrates the story of passage of the 13th amendment in January 1865, which brought an end to slavery in the United States. Illustrated with historical photographs, the text is filled with quotes from Lincoln’s speeches, letters, and other documents, making it a [...]
The Mighty Sky. CD. 31:31 min. with lyrics. NewSound Kids. 2012. ISBN unavail. $14.98.
K-Gr 4–This production is the brain child of Grammy nominee and NAMMY’s Songwriter of the Year (given by the Native American Music Association), Beth Nielsen Chapman. She was joined in the effort by songwriter Annie Roboff and lyricist Rocky Alvey, director of the Vanderbilt Dyer Observatory. The trio has put together a fantastic album of 11 songs in various musical styles including rock, doo wop, zydeco, English [...]
