News & Features

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.

The National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL) and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Street Workshop have created the Aprendiendo Juntos (“Learning Together) Council (AJC) to identify models and practical strategies to improve digital literacy for Hispanic-Latino families. AJC plans to use the findings to influence public and private sector investments in effective programs for the community on a regional and national scale.

Emily Gover and Caity Selleck, information literacy librarians and content developers for EasyBib and its new platform, ResearchReady, posit that libraries should stay open later hours in order to serve students' research needs.

For the college bound, "Fiske Guides" have always been go-to resources. Two years ago they launched an interactive app with information on more than 300 colleges with options to add notes, email admissions offices, and more. The latest addition to their list is an ebook sampler to some of the "best buys" in higher education.

A few weeks ago, Massachusetts-based artist Maris Wicks was probably best known in comics circles for her short contributions to anthologies like SpongeBob Comics and AdHouse’s Project: Romantic and Superior Showcase (those, or perhaps her super-cute drawings of superheroes and Star Wars characters on her blog). Now, however, she’s got a big, brand-new graphic novel [...]

I don’t think I’ll shock anyone out there when I reveal that I adore webcomic artist Kate Beaton’s work more than life itself.  This past Christmas my husband and I exchanged identical gifts that both turned out to be Hark, A Vagrant! calendars for the coming year.  The fact that I ever got a chance [...]

Findaway World launches the Playaway Bookpack program, which features preloaded audiobooks and their print versions. There are currently more than 200 titles available for preschool through young adult readers. The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is now accepting nominations for the 2014 National Medal for Museum and Library Service. The National Book Foundation’s Up All Night online exhibit showcases National Book Award Winners and Finalists in Young People’s Literature. Educators interested in integrating educational games into the K-12 curriculum are invited to attend a one-day workshop on August 19 during the Serious Play Conference.

Both of our featured titles have ties to journalism. In Famous Last Words, Sam is the obituary writer for a local paper, while Holly is the copy editor for the high school newspaper in Since You Asked. Teens taking the summer off from writing may be inspired to return to the keyboard and see what kind of stories they can cook up themselves.