Authors & Illustrators

Floral Park Memorial High School's Reads program continues to bring readers of all ages together. Earlier this month, the school library was packed with students and their parents, all who came to meet Luis Carlos Montalvan, author of Until Tuesday: a Wounded Warrior and the Golden Retriever Who Saved Him, and his service dog Tuesday.

Little, Brown celebrated the art of Caldecott Medalist Jerry Pinkney at a special event on October 29. The Powerhouse Arena, home to art book publisher powerHouse Books, recently launched its brand-new children's imprint, POW! on October 25.

Teens interested in Ender's Game—both the acclaimed science fiction novel and its big budget film adaptation opening this weekend—may be curious about the recent controversy surrounding author Orson Scott Card’s outspoken views. Fortunately, the library offers an ideal safe intellectual harbor for teaching the media literacy skills that allow them to explore critical thinking questions about the role of social politics and media, and to examine ways in which we might begin to separate art from the artist.

Should babies be exposed to apps? Rachel Payne responds to a comment on her "Are Learning Apps Good for Babies?" piece. Is removing a book from a required reading list a form of censorship? One reader questions the inclusion of Sherman Alexie'sThe Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian on a sixth-grade reading list.

P.S. Be Eleven, Rita Williams-Garcia’s sequel to her Coretta Scott King award-winning One Crazy Summer, offers offering insight into the African-American experience of the 1960s as seen through a young girl’s eyes. Sisi Aisha Johnson’s narration of the audiobook is spot-on. Check out the starred review.

Librarians and book lovers of all ages this week are celebrating the Halloween season by recommending and giving away scary books as part of the All Hallows Read campaign. The brainchild of author Neil Gaiman, the annual campaign is marking its fourth year.

The New York Times Book Review announced its annual 10 Best Illustrated Children’s Books today, October 30. The selections include Maurice Sendak’s last children’s work and stellar offerings from Brian Floca, Kadir Nelson, and Fanny Brit.

This fall, HarperCollins will mark the 50th anniversary of the death of C. S. Lewis with a worldwide campaign that celebrates his legacy. Kicking off the commemoration is the redesign of both www.cslewis.com and www.narnia.com, and their expansion to offer C.S. Lewis ebooks.

It's coming up aces for Jeff Kinney this year, and the future is looking brighter—and busier—than ever. SLJ caught up with the author ahead of the November release of Hard Luck, the eighth novel in his bestselling and award-winning “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series, to chat about the book, his creative process, and his latest projects.