News & Features

It's coming up aces for Jeff Kinney this year, and the future is looking brighter—and busier—than ever. SLJ caught up with the author ahead of the November release of Hard Luck, the eighth novel in his bestselling and award-winning “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series, to chat about the book, his creative process, and his latest projects.

The Book App Alliance aims to help locate quality book apps amid the tides of Disney, Dora, and Dr. Seuss products. Alliance founders also want to foster best practices.

The Kindle MatchBook, first announced on September 3, is now live online with more than 70,000 titles available. The program gives Kindle users the option to buy—for $2.99, $1.99, $0.99, or free—the Kindle edition of print books they have purchased new from Amazon.

Random House Children’s Books has acquired Figment, an online teen community for readers and writers that features more than 300,000 registered users, announced President and Publisher Barbara Marcus.

This holiday sampler features some familiar characters and an opportunity for kids use their math skills.

Make It @ Your Library, in collaboration with Instructables.com and the American Library Association, has finally launched its searchable website, makeitatyourlibrary.org, for librarians seeking maker space ideas and projects. Make It @ Your Library—an initiative developed through the ILEAD USA program over the past year—aims to help librarians realize maker projects in their own communities at low cost.

New York City helped celebrate the 50th anniversary of Leroy Brown, boy detective, by proclaiming October 26 “Encyclopedia Brown Day” and hosting a reception at the New York Public Library. The character was the creation of the late Donald Sobol, who wrote the first book in 1963. The series went on to become a staple in classrooms and children’s libraries.

If you’re free and in Boston Wednesday night, I’ll be participating in a panel discussion of the Common Core State Standards for Bookbuilders of Boston. Other panelists include Simmons GSLIS prof Amy Pattee and educational publishing consultant Steve Pekich; the program runs from 6:00-8:00PM at 501 Boylston Street in Copley Square. Bring ID to get […]

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The Society of Illustrators gathered last week in New York to showcase the work of 125 artists at “The Original Art,” its annual juried exhibition of original children’s book illustrations. Artists, designers, authors, and publishers alike were in attendance to toast the top award-winners—Jennifer Yerkes, Jon Klassen, and Simona Mulazzani—and to honor the careers of David Macaulay and the late Barbara Cooney.