News & Features

Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy (CLEL), an advisory group to the Colorado State Library, is launching the Bell Picture Book Awards, with the first honorees set to be announced on February 5, 2014. The program is designed to celebrate books that foster adult-child engagement around the early literacy practices of read, write, sing, talk, and play.

Longtime School Library Journal blogger Elizabeth Bird, the New York Public Library’s youth materials collections specialist, can add published author to her name this year. Her festive debut picture book, Giant Dance Party, is about a girl who overcomes her stage fright by teaching blue fuzzy giants how to dance. SLJ caught up with Bird recently to discuss her unique path to publication, how her work as a children’s librarian informed her experience as a first-time author, and whether Lexy and the giants will be making a repeat performance.

More than just a craze, the interest in zombies points the way towards a new kind of literacy engagement.

I’m chatting today with Edith Donnell, the Youth/Teen Librarian for the Chelsea District Library. For the last five years she has been one of the driving forces behind the all-ages Kids Read Comics event, which is held at the Ann Arbor District Library – 343 S 5th Avenue in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This year the [...]

Libraries can win a Harry Potter party pack to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the U.S. publication of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, complete with new paperback editions of the beloved series, illustrated by Kazu Kabushi. Entries are due July 17. Latinas for Latino Literature has launched a Summer Reading Program for summer camps, youth groups, and cultural centers serving Latino students and families, running through August 12.

Attendees of SLJ’s annual Day of Dialog received an information boost from the pre-BEA event’s first panel of authors and illustrators. Moderated by Kathleen T. Isaacs, author of Picturing the World: Informational Picture Books for Children, the lively discussion offered Jim Arnosky, Jennifer Berne, Elisha Cooper, Thomas Gonzalez, and Jonah Winter the chance to share with librarians more about their creative processes, who they write for, and why they choose to create nonfiction for young readers.

In both of today’s nonfiction titles, the authors speak directly to their readers. Both have the potential to become favorites with the right teen reader.  First up, Edward O. Wilson’s passionate and inspiring Letters to a Young Scientist. Maybe it’s the time of year, but I can’t help thinking that this would make a terrific graduation [...]

Katherine Applegate’s Newbery winner, The One and Only Ivan,, is a heart-wrenching tale that reminds us that every animal has the right to a safe place called home. Be sure to read the starred review of the audiobook from Recorded Books.

From toads to bats and the Beatles to doctors, Junior Library Guild editors select new informational picture books for young readers that complement Common Core State Standards and do more than just fill a hole in the lesson plan.