Reviews

The movement seems to be headquartered on author Kate Messner’s blog. I believe it was sparked by the powerful New York Times opinion pieces–Walter Dean Myers’ Where are the People of Color in Children’s Books and Christopher Myers’ The Apartheid of Children’s Literature. Both of the authors reference a study by the Cooperative Children’s Book [...]

Today we have two books that prompted our reviewer to invoke the name of Indiana Jones–and for good reason. Anne Fortier’s The Lost Sisterhood and James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell’s Innocent Blood are both rollicking adventure stories, starring University professors, and laden with religious and mythological overtones–precisely the elements that make Steven Spielberg’s archaeologist-adventurer so [...]

Pigsticks and Harold and the Incredible Journey By Alex Milway Candlewick Press ISBN: 9780763666156 $12.99 Grades K-4 In Stores May 27, 2014 *Best New Book* Find it at: Schuler Books | Your Library The word “charming” is used pretty often when talking about books, but what does it really mean? I suppose it’s a moving [...]

Nancy Larrick’s landmark 1965 study on race and children’s books was supposed to have been a wake-up call. Not much has changed.

While National Poetry Month may be officially over, interest in great poems well delivered, never wanes. In this column we look at three very different digital anthologies that include verse. To quote the editors of one collection, we have poets “ancient and modern, fusty and frisky, famous and forgotten,” and to that we might add, a few rising stars.

Cleopatra In Space: Target Practice By Mike Maihack Scholastic; It’s oft-fictionalized historical figure Cleopatra as you’ve never seen her! Not only does cartoonist Mike Maihack focus on the character when she’s a tomboy-ish 15-year-old girl more interested in slingshots that royal duties, and still a long way off from the seductive presence once portrayed by [...]

The Great Greene Heist By Varian Johnson Arthur A. Levine Books (an imprint of Scholastic) $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-545-52552-7 Ages 10 and up On shelves May 27th What is the ultimate child fantasy? I’m not talking bubble gum sheets or wizards that tell you you’re “the chosen one”. Let’s think a little more realistically here. When [...]

Gr 4–6—A final, posthumous nature story from the Newbery Award winner...

Gr 4–6—Albie, an only child living in New York City, has learning difficulties...