Best Of
Here we are, here we are – it’s the end of the year and time to start making some predictions. Last year I hit on two of my four Geisel picks – allowing me to puff out my chest out with just enough foolish confidence to give it another go. And if you’re into the […]
P-p-p-poetry! Motto: It’s not just for April anymore. In a given year I tend to run out of poetry books for kids to review. I’ll find five or six spectacular ones, and then a handful of hundrum okay-but-not-great titles to fill in the gaps. 2017 changed the rules on me. Suddenly I found myself with […]
Keep Children’s Literature Weird. There. There’s your rallying cry for the day. Now Travis Jonker has been nice and consistent on this front, producing his lists of The Most Astonishingly Unconventional Children’s Books every year since 2012. You’re bound to see some overlap with this list, but I’ve a couple of my own particular favorites […]
#20-16 | #15-11 | #10-6 | #5-1 5. Clayton Byrd Goes Underground by Rita Williams-Garcia, illustrated by Frank Morrison [Amistad | Grades 3-7] Because it contains 176 perfect pages. -John Click here for additional resources from Watch. Connect. Read. 4. All’s Faire in Middle School by Victoria Jamieson [Dial | Grades 4-7] Because even if your family re-enacts […]
Ah! One of my favorite lists. Not a long one, to be sure, but beloved. As I’m sure you’ve heard me say far too many times, in the history of children’s librarianship there was once a plethora of folktales and fairytales published every single year. Some of them were great, some them were hugely problematic, […]
#20-16 | #15-11 | #10-6 | #5-1 10. Why Am I Me? by Paige Britt, illustrated by Selina Alko and Sean Qualls [Scholastic Press | Grades Pre-K-3] Because it celebrates curiosity, a hard-to-answer question, diversity, you, and me in a beautiful and genuine way. -John Click here for additional resources from Watch. Connect. Read. 9. The Good for […]
Well, folks, I’m sick. Sick as a dog. Sick as a dog on a log in a bog (I think I’ve been writing up picture books too long). Fortunately, and by complete coincidence, today’s post is going to be an easy one. Folks that know me well are aware that there was a time when, […]
#20-16 | #15-11 | #10-6 | #5-1 15. You Don’t Want a Unicorn! by Ame Dyckman, illustrated by Liz Climo [Little, Brown | Grades K-2] Because you will never look at a pink cupcake the same way again. -John Click here for additional resources from Watch. Connect. Read. 14. One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance by […]
Let’s have some fun defining our terms. What exactly do I mean when I say “books with a message”? Basically, I’m talking about books that wear their hearts on their sleeves. We all know that in their earliest form, when people were initially coming up with the idea of making literature for children, the primary […]
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