News & Features

In Growing Up in Coal Country, Susan Campbell Bartoletti recounts life in Northeastern Pennsylvania coal country around the turn of the 19th century utilizing oral history and archival documents and focusing primarily on the lives of children. Don’t miss the starred review of this audiobook narrated by Suzanne Toren.

Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick. Roaring Brook Press. 2013. Review copy from publisher. The Plot: Always, there is an Eric and a Merle; a hare and a loss; and the island of Blessed. These are the constants. What changes in the seven stories of Midwinterblood is the time, starting in the future, 2073, and going back [...]

Giant Dance Party By Betsy Bird Illustrated By Brandon Dorman Greenwillow (an imprint of Harper Collins) $17.99 ISBN: 978-0061960833 Ages 3-7 On shelves now. Gotcha! I’m just messing with you.  No, I’m not going to actually review my book here.  I’m not going to wax rhapsodic over the hidden meanings lurking behind the mysterious cupcake [...]

Newbery Medalist Elaine Lobl Konigsburg, author of From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and 18 other books for children, died Friday in Falls Church, VA. She was 83. The author, better known as E.L. Konigsburg, will be remembered fondly for her creativity, her humor, and her intricate storytelling that celebrated each kid’s uniqueness, her friends, colleagues, and fans say.

April is National Poetry Month, and SLJ has compiled a list of tools and creative ideas for celebrating. From poetry slam best practices to Common Core curriculum connections, this roundup is chock-full of ways to approach the poetic form with kids all year long.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013, 2:00 - 3:00 PM ET Common Core State Standards require that we build strong research habits from the earliest grades. Calls for: · Increased exposure to informational text · Preparation for the rigors of text-based discussion and evaluation · Emphasis on writing, comprehension and collaboration All point toward the need to begin the habits of good research with our youngest students. Join a lively presentation and discussion with Cobb County, GA elementary media specialists Ellen Adams and Tina Launey to learn how they are using Capstone’s PebbleGo database to motivate students, master curriculum objectives and prepare their students for a lifetime of learning! This archive is no longer available

From space to seabed and vice versa

April is National Poetry Month, and unlike short stories, poetry is one form of literature that I, at least, have never had trouble getting teens interested in.  Every April (except this one–my library is doing some construction) I try to hold at least one poetry event–an open mic, or a poetry slam–and they tend to [...]

Primary resources can help bring history to life for students. Make the most of first-hand accounts and other primary source content with tools such as the National Archives' Digital Vaults, video tour included.