Sorry to kick things off on a depressing note, but this story really bothered me. The UK Children’s Laureate Malorie Blackman called for more diversity in children’s literature. Completely reasonable, right? The response was not. Click here for the whole story.

Is it an official B.A.C.A. alert when a musician puts out a picture book based on a previously released song? I’ll go half B.A.C.A. Click here to read.

If this post by school librarian Benji Martin doesn’t make you want to buy a ukulele for story time, well, you must not like fun. Click here to read.

One of my favorite blogs, Pink Me, has a roundup of some less-talked about picture books that are worth your time. Click here to read. The to-read list expands.

A Poem in Your Pocket by Margaret McNamara; illustrated by G. Brian Karas. Out January 27, 2015.

We’ve done Poem in Your Pocket Day the last few years at my school and it’s a good time. This coming school year it’s on April 16, 2015. I was excited to see this book that will be a perfect introduction for students.

My favorite children’s literature interview series continues this week over Number Five Bus Presents… . This week, Philip and Erin Stead interview Matthew Cordell. It starts off with a fascinating back and forth about “crappy coincidences in picture books”. Click here to read.

In case you missed this excellent post over at Pen & Oink about the making of Dan Santat’s Beekle – get on over there. The thing is littered with interesting tidbits.

Mr. Schu has the scoop on the best video of the week – a conversation between Kate DiCamillo and Lisa Von Drasek.