News & Features

Jacob Grimm, the folklorist, is dead, and stuck as a ghost. He wants to be reunited with his younger brother Wilhelm, who predeceased him. In Tom McNeal's suspenseful and haunting new novel, 'Far Far Away,' fairy tale and ghost story collide and merge.

This month's publications include a range of titles about people, places, and things, in tantalizing formats and glorious color. In both text and images, they're eye-openers, each one likely to whet readers' appetites and send them to the bookshelves looking for more information on the topics they explore.

Want to keep kids occupied and reading all summer? Share these craft and activity books with them. In addition to offering an outlet for creativity, they'll have children working with numbers and decoding and interpreting diagrams and symbols. The books also make excellent resources for adults leading summer programs and year-round groups.

When it comes to school libraries, Richard L. Allington, co-author of 'Summer Reading: Closing the Rich/Poor Achievement Gap' has a few things to say, including a few that you may not want to hear.

The significant decline in reading skills many students experience over the summer is no secret, but it’s particularly damaging for children in low-income neighborhoods. 'Summer Reading: Closing the Rich/Poor Reading Achievement Gap,' edited by Richard L. Allington and Anne McGill-Franzen, offers an in-depth look at this disparity and offers solutions that go beyond recommended reading lists.

How can we use the summer to provide kids with more opportunities to grow confident as nonfiction readers? The authors offer suggestions and recommend a few reading lists to share with students.

Combining excellent texts and outstanding visuals, this month's group of new titles are must-have purchases for libraries and classrooms looking to expand their nonfiction collections.

Meg Medina knows firsthand about bullying—the topic of her young adult novel. In 'Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass,' the author explores its consequences when 15-year-old Piddy Sanchez becomes victimized at her new school.

Perfect for use in the classroom, these lively looks at school and community gardens deliver a bouquet of titles about growing things. They'll also be useful for public libraries and other organizations that support green-thumb projects for kids.