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I think I’m missed the fact that wanting to feel confident, seen and heard is not the same as being politically engaged. Sometimes, self-care needs to simply be self-care.
Kami Garcia and Brittney Williams team up to tell the story of Stella, a fifth grader with dyslexia, the challenges it presents her with, and how she and her teachers address it.
Author Niña Mata discusses her newest book, GIRLS TO THE FRONT
Here are some middle grade books that feature angry characters or made me angry for various reasons.
Blink and you'll miss this first look at THE TWITS animated film.
Today we release the winners of the Blueberry Awards and show off a list of the winners acceptance videos. Do you want baby coyotes? We HAVE baby coyotes!
A terrior pilots a mech suit to save the world in this new Papercutz graphic novel by David Pepose.
My grandparents may be long gone, but with Isle of Ever, I can’t help but feel this new story is as much theirs as it is mine.
A discussion with a scholar, translators, an artist, and and editor about the illustrious Gianni Rodari, his life, his legacy, and his works.
A fun-loving outcast finds himself unexpectedly receiving the powers of the Orisha in this action-packed manga.
Teen Librarian Alison Pfaff shares two recent crafts that were popular with teens: a tin wallet and pressed flower bookmarks
These books touch on book banning, romance, mental health, trans history, friendship breakups, folk-horror, time travel, historical fantasy, dance, climate change, and more.
Today we have a guest post from author Dev Petty, explaining the unique dedication in her latest book . . .
You know what's even more fun than celebrating your own book's release? Celebrating of all the fellow books coming out today too! I do a recap of some of the titles coming out today that are stellar.
In the News: New Executive Order proposed to end IMLS funding and a call to support your local public library
Author Barb Rosenstock talks about ghosts and hauntings and all things American Spirits
COLBY: I had a whole lot of fun talking to Arree Chung about his new (and first ) graphic novel, Don’t Cause Trouble. I hope you enjoy our conversation! Subscribe below to catch every episode of The Yarn: iTunes Spotify Stitcher
It’s that time my friends, Sunrise on the Reaping releases tomorrow. This Hunger Games title is highly anticipated, as many fans have hoped for a prequel with a young Haymitch Abernathy for a long time. While we wait to see exactly how that book unfurls, here are some great recommendations for your library teens who […]
Check out this week's list of new comics, manga, and graphic novels for readers 12 and under, featuring Story Spinner A Sisterly Tale of Danger, A Princess, and Her Crew of Lady Pirates from Aladdin Books and The Littlest Fighter from Oni Press.
Vampires face an interesting dilemma in immortality. Their bodies, generally, remain the same while their minds change and while the world changes. Context matters. What does it mean to be queer in 1960 vs. 2010 vs. 2025?
Rounding up all the 2025 books by past Geisel Award and Honor winners.
Happy St. Patrick's Day! Today I decided to turn once more again to the classic fable of Finn McCool or Fin M'Coul or however you like to spell it.
Today we have a preview of Joey Weiser's The Littlest Fighter, along with some commentary from the author.
Teen librarian Karen Jensen shares how you can find a lot of Canva inspiration and Tips and Tricks on Pinterest to help you create RA tools
Right to Read Day offers fun and engaging ways to connect with freedom fighters in our libraries who have had to endure all the stress brought on by challenges in their workplace.
Here's a look at the graphic novels that publishers have been acquiring, and when we can expect to see them.
Today I'm focusing on five collections of books about women's history for middle grade readers.
Can you guess the children’s book by its scathing one-star review on Goodreads?
I get the chance to premiere the Pumphrey brothers' latest picture book? AND it's a follow up to The Old Truck and The Old Boat? AND it's got this crazy beautiful gold foil on the cover?
This light in the darkness is an inspiring call to action and an essential addition to all collections.
A guide for making book spine poems!
I am lucky enough to be the host site for the NEXT book by X. Fang! We discuss Broken, a tale of guilt, sorrow, and, ultimately, redemption.
Teen Librarian Cindy Shutts shares some recent programming mistakes and what we can learn from them
Cover Reveal and Conversation: Caroline Perry Discusses I Am Not Happy in All Its Hilarious Cuteness
A mercurial marsupial insists it's more than just a happy face. Today we're talking with author Caroline Perry about her work helping wildfire relief in L.A., as well as her latest (adorable) picture book release.
We have 15 early Mock Newbery 2026 contender. A mix of fantasy, realistic fiction, a graphic novel, historical fiction.
The Agents of S.U.I.T. have a ghostly case on their hands in this latest volume of the InvestiGators series.
Today's summer list from Penguin Young Readers centers LGBTQIA+ stories/characters and race/racism
It's heeeeere! Everyone's favorite oh-dear-god-why-are-you-talking-about-2026-when-we're-barely-surviving-2025 post!
Check out this week's list of new comics, manga, and graphic novels for readers 12 and under, featuring Botticelli's Apprentice from Quill Tree Books and Max Meow 6 When Pancakes Go Bad (Really Bad) from Random House Graphic.
If you work with young people and books, you already know that graphic novels are insanely popular. In response, there has been a huge publishing boom resulting in graphic novels that are not just entertaining, but that also address serious social issues in a way that make readers sit up and take notice. Last summer, […]
Rounding up 2025 books from past Caldecott Medal and Honor winners!
"To sail for a day / Alone and free, / With someone nice / For company." It's been a while since Kate and I disagreed this much about a title. Hear us have it out!
In this week's Sunday Reflections, teen librarian Karen Jensen reflects on how the concept of DEI relates to her personal and professional life and the concept of the Imago Dei
Smart as a whip, funny, and clever, this little visual metaphor of a picture book is the best possible way to make it crystal clear the responsibilities some kids shoulder.
The Adventures of Baby Zicky is a new series with art that mixes manga, classic comics, and a touch of Winsor McCay.
The Riverdale gang cuts loose in a Minecraft-like game and Jughead hits the jackpot in our preview of Archie & Friends: Level Up.
Books featuring grief, a magic school, a treasure hunt, a robot, and a young adventurer!
Author Trang Thanh Tran joins us to talk about their new book THEY BLOOM AT NIGHT.
An amazing amalgamation of thoughts, themes, and ideas that could have ended up an unholy mess and, instead, work. Today, I talk with Kyle Lukoff about his Jewish/trans/epic fantasy latest.
In this much acclaimed manga, a fighter must battle fierce opponents and a life-threatening illness in his quest for revenge.
In The Peach Thief, my 13-year-old protagonist—a starving workhouse girl—poses as a boy in order to get a tenuous job scrubbing pots in the all-male world of an earl’s walled kitchen garden.
Protecting younger siblings everywhere? This super spy graphic novel aims to do just that. A talk with the creators of this newest comic creation.
In cartoonist Cindy Chang's fictionalized childhood memoir, the young Cindy learns a secret that will transform her conception of her own family on a trip to Taiwan.
Even as we need to keep telling the painful truth of book bans, we also need to take extra care to celebrate and elevate the unique gifts that each book offers.
"I hope this book will illuminate the tragic consequences of xenophobia and racism. I’m really hoping that the massacre is a piece of history we learn from, and not one that we relive."
Science fiction is fun, curious, and adventurous. It bends the reality of our world and stretches our imaginations to explore all the “what ifs” floating within our universe.
This nuanced look at life with a mentally ill parent shows that change and hope are possible, but that one kid can't achieve those things on his own, nor should he have to.
"...size is one of the first mysteries to confront us when we’re children. It’s still a mystery." Laura Amy Schlitz joins us in conversation as we reveal the cover of her latest book, The Winter of the Dollhouse.
The new Caldecott Medalist on The Yarn podcast!
There are problems with the world in which we live. How do we teach children about these problems without, at the same time, giving them anxiety? A conversation between two powerhouses.
Black history centers the Black experience, highlighting the contributions of Black Americans which are either provoked by, aligned with or supported by members of other racial and ethnic groups.
Check out this week's list of new comics, manga, and graphic novels for readers 12 and under featuring Hikaru In the Light Volume 1 from Graphix and Speak Up Santiago from Random House Graphic.
Author Jenna Voris joins us to talk about her new book, Say a Little Prayer.
How is it we've never done an Oliver Jeffers book on this podcast? Well, that stops today, folks. Kate wanted something light and goofy, and by gum I'd say this book fills the bill.
We're 10 months away from the 2026 Newbery Medal announcement, but it's never too early to start reading. If you've read any early 2025 publications that might have a chance at the Medal, add your suggestions to our monthly list between now and March 8.
Sunday Reflections: I’m Just a Mother Wanting Her Daughters to Have More Rights Than I Did, Not Less
A reflection on Women's History Month, being a mother of daughters, and the looming specter of Project 2025
What do you get when you mix Chinese fables and the Cooper's Hill cheese race? You get a cover reveal and conversation you'll never forget, that's what!
The Brown Bookshelf is designed to push awareness of the myriad Black voices writing for young readers. Their flagship initiative is 28 Days Later, a month-long showcase of the best in Picture Books, Middle Grade, and Young Adult novels written and illustrated by Black creators. In 2021, the Highlights Foundation, in partnership with The Brown […]
Today’s guest post is by an Illinois youth services librarian known online as RAE, sharing her knowledge of queer YA coming out stories. Juliet Takes a Breath Latina Queer Lesbian Experience “Juliet Takes a Breath” is a coming-of-age teen book that digs into the curtails of a Puerto Rican college student from the Bronx, as […]
Today I'm sharing a few titles from the beginning of this year that I hope to read, even though the one that is partially set in 1987, when I was 10, pains me to think of as "historical fiction."
Mr. Wolf's Class cartoonist Aron Nels Steinke presents a new original graphic novel about a middle-schooler who can't talk at school and her efforts to overcome this challenge.
16 quick reviews of new and forthcoming books.
I love a good grumpy kid in a book. And in this sodden and fun outing, rain plays an important role. I talk it all out with the creators of SOGGY LIKE CUSH CUSH.
Learning to navigate these corners of the world are an important part of personal liberation.
Quelle fromage! There's a cheese shortage in New Mouse City, but Geronimo Stilton is determined to get to the bottom of the cheese case in the latest pun-filled graphic novel from Papercutz.
Teen librarian Karen Jensen reviews the table top game Abducktion (that's not a typo)
Things are so grim these days. But we still have books. We still have wonderful people writing diverse and inclusive stories and all kinds of people working to connect readers with those books.
Now there are debuts and there are debuts. And when I tell you that Stefanie Foster Brown lucked out in the debut department? You'll see what I mean. Today, we're revealing the cover of her first picture book and talking with her and illustrator Keisha Morris.
COLBY: When Chooch Helped was awarded the Caldecott Medal I was in shock. Not because I didn’t love the book, but because I hadn’t heard of it! The first thing I did was find a copy to read (I loved it!). The second thing I did was reach out to Rebecca to see if I […]
COLBY: When Chooch Helped was awarded the Caldecott Medal I was in shock. Not because I didn’t love the book, but because I hadn’t heard of it! The first thing I did was find a copy to read (I loved it!). The second thing I did was reach out to Rebecca to see if I […]
Blog: http://tanitasdavis.com/tanita.shtmlIG: https://www.instagram.com/tanita_writes/Blog: http://tanitasdavis.com/wp/BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/tanitawrites.bsky.social Watch for: Berry Parker Doesn’t Catch Crushes (HarperCollins Sept 2025)Tanita S. Davis is the award-winning author of six novels for middle grade and young adult readers, including Serena Says, Peas and Carrots, Happy Families, and Mare’s War, which was a Coretta Scott King Honor Book and earned her a nomination […]
Tear This Down is a book that I hope will spark lively discussions about topics that are front-and-center in today’s news: women’s rights, voting rights, and social justice.
"His writing stood alone, brilliant and wise, kind and so immediate." Barbara McClintock tells us today how she came to illustrate Tomie dePaola's paean to his beloved dog.
Check out this week's list of new comics, manga, and graphic novels for readers 12 and under, featuring Almost Sunset from Harper Alley and Darkwing Duck Volume 2 #1 from Dynamite Entertainment.
If someone wants to ask if I planned the significance of these objects, you can tell them yes: with plane flights and research and a lifetime of reading about boats and sand and magical balloons that make large distances small, I planned it all.
Here are five beloved books that will see graphic novel adaptations in 2025.
On this, the anniversary of the beginning of the War in Ukraine, we turn today to children's author, Oksana Lushchevska, and the impetus behind her picture book.
What would you do to get a baby of your own? A book with folktale underpinnings appears on the podcast this week.
We need more books for that center Black teens and Black girls that mare readers chuckle, laugh out loud, or even groan at the corniness.
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