Books & Media

For the sixth time, Scholastic is offering librarians—and the nation—a sneak peak of its upcoming titles via an online video. The publisher’s spring preview for 2014 presents “38 Books in 38 Minutes” with appearances by more than a dozen authors, illustrators, and editors.

Authors Rebecca Fjelland Davis, Jill Kalz, Nancy Loewen, and Trisha Speed Shaskan helped the Red Balloon Bookshop in St. Paul, Minnesota celebrate its 29th anniversary on November 23 and 24 with signings and storytimes.

Why should we study primary source documents? These are artifacts created by the people who lived through the events and time periods under study. Providing students the opportunity to study primary sources can give rise to student inquiry and encourage them to speculate about each source, its creator, and the context in which it was produced. The Library of Congress has millions of primary source documents and tools for teachers and students to dig into, 24/7.

Snow has already fallen across the country, and now that the calendar page has turned to December, kids have winter on their minds―no matter where they live. The following selections chosen by the editors at Junior Library Guild are just the ticket for cold wintry days.

Lita Judge poses 12 prehistoric creatures with modern people or animals in compelling support of the observation that dinos came in a great range of sizes.

Curriculet (formerly Gobstopper), a digital reading platform designed for teachers and stocked with interactive educational and social media features, has teamed up with HarperCollins to offer a flexible book buying program for schools.

Herman and Rosie By Gus Gordan Roaring Brook (an imprint of Macmillan) $17.99 ISBN: 978-1596438569 Ages 3-7 On shelves now New Yorkers are singularly single minded. It’s not enough that our city be rich, popular, and famous. We apparently are so neurotic that we need to see it EVERYWHERE. In movies, on television, and, of [...]

A few years back, I mourned the loss of Google’s New Timeline. I still miss that beautiful visual presentation, but you can still use Google News to search contemporaneous news. Contemporaneous news offers students unfiltered, personal connection to the past and forces them to wrestle with issues of bias and historical perspective. Contemporaneous news focuses a media literacy [...]

Obsidian Mirror by Catherine Fisher. Dial Books for Younger Readers, a member of Penguin Group. 2013. Library copy. The Plot: Time travel with a magical mirror. You want more? There are also the Shee. You know, the cold blooded not-human beings of legend who steal human children and never really age. You want more? A [...]