News & Features

I agreed to be the Big Kahuna because I believe in saying yes to any invitation that doesn’t involve crime, betrayal or heights. I thought it would be good to be forced to read books I wouldn’t normally read. I completely forgot – as I worked my way through the entire list – that it would involve me JUDGING one of those books.  My children could have told you that when it comes to judgement I don’t have any.  Or mine is wired up differently from everyone else’s. You can guarantee that if I think a book or film is the worst thing ever,  history will reveal that it to be s a timeless classic. If I love something to distraction,  you will shortly find it in the remaindered section.  I hope this fact is of some comfort to the losers here today and to the winner, all I can say is,  I love you – which is probably not a good thing.

G K Chesteron said of St. Francis “his life was a riot of rash promises which somehow turned out alright.”  Here’s hoping that my rash promise to judge this competition turns out alright.

Other Big Kahunas have complained that it’s near impossible to judge between finalists because they’re so diverse it’s “like judging between apples and whipped …

» Continue Reading: The Big Kahuna Match: Between The Fault in Our Stars, No Crystal Stair, and Code Name Verity

At our upcoming Fostering Lifelong Learners: Prescribing Books for Early Childhood Education conference, Horn Book Guide Executive Editor Kitty Flynn will be leading a presentation about how the Horn Book evaluates and reviews preschool books. This is one aspect of her work that also engages her off the clock: Kitty and her husband are parents [...]

The post Five Questions for Kitty Flynn appeared first on The Horn Book.