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If you like your children’s lit history lessons in four minute installments, this video’s for you. Michael Slicker of Lighthouse Books provides a quickie history of the origins of children’s lit, in the process shouting out Randolp...

Among the many sticky conversations I had at ISTE was one I had with Cameron Evans, Microsoft’s Chief Technology Officer, who generously took the time to introduce this confirmed Apple girl to Windows 8–the biggest change in windows since 1983.   We also discussed two big Microsoft projects aimed at education. 1. First a disclaimer/confession: I am [...]

The reason such overt silliness is nonetheless so effective is that we all connect with the fantasy of controlling a creature much, much larger than we could ever hope to be.

I regret that I had but one set of eyes and ears at Nerdcamp. - Nathan Hale¹ ¹Loosely paraphrasing here. Nerdcamp is one of those things that, when taken out of context, can make for an entertaining interaction. I know this because about a month ago my wife Allison noticed it on my calendar and [...]

StarWalk Kids Media has announced that it has made all 160-plus ebooks in its collection available free of charge to children, families, and educators during the entire month of July. In just the first three days after the initiative was launched via Twitter (#PopUpLibrary), nearly 3,000 ebooks have been read, the company says.

In a powerful, proactive reminder of the principles for which our profession stands, yesterday ALA announced the launch of ALA Liberty, a new website that contains tools libraries can use to host educational sessions and public forums that help Americans understand their First and Fourth Amendment rights. ALA Liberty offers guides and tip sheets for libraries as [...]

SLJ’s art director, Mark Tuchman, shares the story and process behind the creation of our July cover art—which featured the iconic Big Bird character from Sesame Workshop illustrator Louis Henry Mitchell—from conception to final design.

During his “busman’s holiday” in France, SLJ’s contributing editor Rocco Staino was invited to Paris to tour the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the National Center for Children’s Literature. In this dispatch, he shares what he learned about the business of kids’ books in France—notably, American authors are very popular—plus highlights of his visits to other library branches and bookstores.

Barbara Robinson, author of the now-classic children's novel The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (Harper, 1972), died on July 9, 2013. She was 85. The book was named an ALA Notable Children's book and received the Georgia Children’s Book Award, the Indiana's Young Hoosier Book Award, and Minnesota's Maud Hart Lovelace Book Award.