News & Features

Following Stiff, Spook, Bonk and Packing for Mars, Mary Roach is back with Gulp, in which she maintains her punning, entertaining writing style, as well as her willingness to go to the gross-out extreme. There were actually moments in this book that made me nauseous, and there is one chapter in particular that I believe [...]

In Growing Up in Coal Country, Susan Campbell Bartoletti recounts life in Northeastern Pennsylvania coal country around the turn of the 19th century utilizing oral history and archival documents and focusing primarily on the lives of children. Don’t miss the starred review of this audiobook narrated by Suzanne Toren.

April is National Poetry Month, and SLJ has compiled a list of tools and creative ideas for celebrating. From poetry slam best practices to Common Core curriculum connections, this roundup is chock-full of ways to approach the poetic form with kids all year long.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013, 2:00 - 3:00 PM ET Common Core State Standards require that we build strong research habits from the earliest grades. Calls for: · Increased exposure to informational text · Preparation for the rigors of text-based discussion and evaluation · Emphasis on writing, comprehension and collaboration All point toward the need to begin the habits of good research with our youngest students. Join a lively presentation and discussion with Cobb County, GA elementary media specialists Ellen Adams and Tina Launey to learn how they are using Capstone’s PebbleGo database to motivate students, master curriculum objectives and prepare their students for a lifetime of learning! This archive is no longer available

From space to seabed and vice versa

This slick biography of President Barack Obama is more inspirational than informational, presenting a smoothed-out view of his rise to the Oval Office. Obama: The Historic Election of America’s 44th President By Agnieszka Biskup Illustrated by Seitu Hayden Capstone Press Let me start by saying that this is a biographical graphic novel that is clearly [...]

In honor of National Poetry Month, acclaimed poet and artist Douglas Florian shares his favorite poetry books for children.

The Hans Christian Andersen Award shortlist has been revealed; the Christopher Awards names six winners in the Books for Young People category; and Shmoop, a publisher of digital curriculum and test prep, is offering a new SAT math practice tool—Math Shack. All of this and more in this week's News Bites column.