News & Features

From social media to publishing industry-led initiatives, the call for diversity in children’s and young adult literature has steadily grown into a loud roar in the past months. As part of School Library Journal’s SummerTeen virtual conference, the “Embracing Diversity” panel featuring Karen Arthurton, Jonathan Friesen, James Klise, and Amanda Sun, led to a lively and ongoing conversation about the importance of not only publishing books for kids by and about diverse people, but also getting them in the hands of readers. SLJ spoke to industry professionals who are raising awareness on the need for different perspectives in young adult books, and compiled a list of resources to find these titles.

First Book has made significant strides this summer toward its new goal of dramatically expanding the market for diversity in children’s literature, its president and CEO Kyle Zimmer tells School Library Journal. Through its unprecedented launch this spring of "The Stories for All Project" and the project’s successful, gradual implementation over the past few months, First Book is now poised to lobby publishers and influence the kid lit industry like never before, Zimmer says.

Amanda Ripley set off on a year-long “field trip to the smart-kid countries” to see if she could account for the success of the high achieving students around the world. What made these kids smarter than their American peers? The writer reports in 'The Smartest Kids in the World: And How They Got that Way' (S&S, 2013).

The fall publishing season is in full swing and with it comes a selection of stellar nonfiction to add to library and classroom collections.

Libraries are embracing technology programming for kids and teens. Just in School Library Journal alone, there are articles about programs like ‘Can*TEEN’ Encourages Girls With STEM and Powerful Partnerships, Pi, and Python Behind the Success of Teen Tech Camp and Life With Raspberry Pi. Technology, coding, all good things. And, with women underrepresented in fields like computer science [...]

From breaking gender barriers to being the forerunner in children's books illustrating, the subjects in the following titles selected by the editors at Junior Library Guild were ordinary people who did extraordinary things.

Boxers and Saints by Gene Luen Yang. First Second. 2013. Review copy from publisher. Boxers & Saints, Volumes 1 & 2. The Plot: The story of the Boxer Rebellion is told through the eyes of a Boxer and a Christian. Each volume is a standalone; but it’s best to first read Boxers, then Saints, and [...]

Along with the Common Core, many state standards ask that educators incorporate multimodal resources into their lesson plans. As time goes on, more and more quality apps are available to meet that requirement. Here are a few digital resources to consider for your nonfiction science collection.

Children’s book classics such as Green Eggs and Ham and The Cat and the Hat will be available in ebook format for the first time beginning on September 24. Fifteen of author/illustrator Dr. Seuss's (aka Theodor Geisel) beloved titles will make their digital debut on that date, keeping the original layouts and iconic illustrations from their print editions, says publisher Random House Children’s. By November 2013, a total of 41 ebooks will be available for children, parents, and educators.