By: Powell's Staff,
on 11/25/2014
Every week, we gather together a small pile of newly released titles that we agree should be on everyone's radar. We deem these titles our New Favorites (check out our recent picks here). Now that the year is winding down, we thought we'd take a look back at some of the standouts, in case you [...]
By: Betsy Bird,
on 10/28/2014
“… seeking info on a children’s book that was [a] favorite at least 30 years ago about a baby bird (with goggles) who is having trouble learning to fly.”
Here’s a new one. Apparently the 2014 Nobel Prize winner for literature is a French author with a children’s book to his name. And the book? According to Karen MacPherson it’s Catherine Certitude. Now THAT is a title, people!Young readers and their families enjoyed an afternoon celebrating the 25th anniversary of Lois Lowry’s Number the Stars at Symphony Space in New York on October 19th. Actor Sean Astin (Lord of the Rings) was on hand to read from Lowry’s work,. He and his wife Christine have secured the rights to adapt the book for film.
The event was one of the Thalia Kids’ Book Club series at Symphony Space. The next event is a celebrity-studded tribute to the work of E. B. White on Wednesday, November 19th, with proceeds benefiting First Book Manhattan. (Link: http://www.
symphonyspace.org/event/8497/ Family-Literature/thalia-kids- book-club-terrific-tails-a- celebration-of-eb-white Lowry event PHOTOS just posted via Getty Images: http://www.
gettyimages.com/detail/news- photo/lois-lowry-and-sean- astin-attends-number-the- stars-25th-news-photo/ 457520190
ASK ME ANOTHER WITH MO WILLEMS
- Date: Wednesday, November 5
- Time: 6:30 doors, 7:
30 show - Price: $20 advance, $25 door
- Location: The Bell House, 149 7th Street (between 2nd and 3rd Aves), Brooklyn, NY 11215
- Ticket Link: http://www.
thebellhouseny.com/event/ 699477-ask-me-another- brooklyn/ - Blurb: Join NPR’s Ask Me Another, along with host Ophira Eisenberg and house musician Jonathan Coulton, for a rousing night of brainteasers, comedy, and music. This week’s V.I.P. (that’s puzzle speak for Very Important Puzzler), is acclaimed children’s book author Mo Willems. Willems is known for titles like Knuffle Bunny, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, and the Elephant and Piggie series. See how he fares in a trivia game written just for him. For more information and tickets visit www.amatickets.org.
As a children’s materials specialist I have a little file where I keep track of my 80+ library branches and the types of books they want. One of the topics you’ll find on my list? Death. We’re always asked to provide books about the bereavement process. Now The Guardian has done a nice little round-up of some of the more recent ones. Note, though, that death books all have on thing in common: They’re all about white families. Finding a multicultural book about death isn’t impossible but it is harder than it should be, particularly when we’re discussing picture books. Thanks to Kate for the link.
They’ve finally announced the winner of the whopping great huge Kirkus Prize. And the final finalist on the children’s side turns out to be . . . Aviary Wonders, Inc. And here’s an image of the committee that selected the prize with the winner herself.
Left to right: E.K. Johnston (author finalist), Vicky Smith (Kirkus Children’s Editor), Claudette McLinn, Kate Samworth, John Peters, and Linda Sue Park.
They mentioned the prize money but they never mentioned that the winner also gets a TROPHY!! That’s big. We don’t get many trophies in our business. Well played. And thanks to Claudette McLinn for the photo.
In Eric Carle’s What’s Your Favorite Animal, he collaborates with fourteen renowned children’s book artists to create mini storybooks about a favorite animal.
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Our best selling picture book for the past month is Herve Tullet's completely awesome Press Here (Chronicle Books, 2011). As per usual, we've shared our hand selected list of the most popular picture books from the nationwide best selling picture books, as listed by The New York Times
Add a CommentEvery single book on this list is purely entertaining, each in their own special way. Like all good picture books, the illustrations are winning. As per usual, we've shared our hand selected list of the most popular picture books from the nationwide best selling picture books, as listed by The New York Times.
Add a CommentThree of the books in The Children's Book Review's best selling picture books list for July fall under the category of American history. Each of the books are deliciously rich in visual cues.
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By: Roger Sutton,
on 6/13/2014
…and the great Mo Willems, on Fathers’ Day, for creating dad characters who take care of their kids in a non-bumbling, matter-of-fact (if realistically exhausted and strung-out) sort of way.
But, hey, also? As Megan Dowd Lambert points out: Cut it out with the nighttime bunny exchanges. You’re making the rest of us look bad.
Here are some more recommended father-son books from The Horn Book staff.
The post Thanks a lot, Trixie’s Dad appeared first on The Horn Book.
By: Maryann Yin,
on 6/11/2014
We’ve collected the books debuting on Indiebound’s Indie Bestseller List for the week ending June 08, 2014–a sneak peek at the books everybody will be talking about next month. (Debuted at #2 in Hardcover Fiction) Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King: "In the frigid pre-dawn hours, in a distressed Midwestern city, hundreds of desperate unemployed folks are lined up for a spot at a job fair. Without warning, a lone driver plows through the crowd in a stolen Mercedes, running over the innocent, backing up, and charging again. Eight people are killed; fifteen are wounded. The killer escapes." (June 2014) continued...
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Add a CommentThe Children's Book Review's best selling picture book for this month is the gorgeously illustrated picture book from Jon J. Muth, The Three Questions. As per usual, we've also shared our hand selected list of the most popular picture books from the nationwide best selling picture books, as listed by The New York Times.
Add a CommentFor graphic novel fans there's a new Zita the Spacegirl book from Ben Hatke, and, for younger readers, Mo Willems has the bestselling duo Elephant & Piggie meeting a new friend. Fans of Dork Diaries, Magic Tree House and Spirit Animals will be super excited to see new books, too.
Add a CommentThe Children's Book Review's best selling picture book for this month is a lovely illustrated story for little ballerinas, Too Too Many Tutus by Suzanne Davis Marion. As per usual, we've also shared our hand selected list of the most popular picture books from the nationwide best selling picture books, as listed by The New York Times.
Add a CommentMy list of family favorites is skewed toward books or series my wife and I have been able to share and enjoy with our two daughters (ages 9 and 6). We have many other favorites, but unlike the characters in my own books, I’m a notorious rule follower. So here are just five that have had the biggest impact so far.
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By: Jen Robinson,
on 4/8/2014
My Baby Bookworm is not such a baby anymore. She turned four this weekend (with much celebration, and many cupcakes). So far, our efforts to ensure that she loves books seem to be paying off. Here are a few recent tidbits.
She has started using words like "mischievous" when describing the behavior of her dolls . She doesn't always use big words correctly, but she is clearly trying.
As for me, I find it rewarding (if occasionally inconvenient) that she requests to have books read aloud at all hours of the day. We've also learned that when she becomes particularly insistent about us reading to her around dinnertime, it means that she is extra-tired. She wants to get her books in before she falls asleep. Because that's what bookworms, whether babies or not, do.
© 2014 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved. You can also follow me @JensBookPage or at my Growing Bookworms page on Facebook. This site is an Amazon affiliate.
By: Maryann Yin,
on 4/8/2014
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We’ve collected the books debuting on Indiebound’s Indie Bestseller List for the week ending April 06, 2014–a sneak peek at the books everybody will be talking about next month.
(Debuted at #1 in Hardcover Nonfiction) Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt by Michael Lewis: “Flash Boys is about a small group of Wall Street guys who figure out that the U.S. stock market has been rigged for the benefit of insiders and that, post–financial crisis, the markets have become not more free but less, and more controlled by the big Wall Street banks. Working at different firms, they come to this realization separately; but after they discover one another, the flash boys band together and set out to reform the financial markets.” (March 2014)
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Add a CommentHot New Releases & Popular Kids Stories Check out some of the best new kids books that release this month. April will be exciting for many children's book lovers with the release of another Mo Willems "Pigeon" book, The Pigeon Needs a Bath, and the latest from Lemont Snicket, File Under: 13 Suspicious Incidents. There's also new books for "Big Nate" and "The Never Girls" fans—and a beautiful new novel by debut author Ava Dellaira, Love Letters to the Dead.
Add a CommentEnter to win a copy of The Pigeon Needs a Bath and “It’s a Busload of Pigeon Books!” collection. Giveaway begins April 1, 2014, at 12:01 A.M. PST and ends April 30, 2014, at 11:59 P.M. PST.
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By: Gigi Little,
on 3/28/2014
"I feel clean," the pigeon says. "Maybe YOU need a bath!" Kids and grown-ups alike will laugh out loud at this hilarious tale about a dirty, stinky, stubborn, argumentative, and completely lovable pigeon who will do anything to avoid taking a bath. Books mentioned in this post Portland Noir (Akashic Noir) Kevin Sampsell Used Trade [...]
Dana Skwirut is a Youth Services librarian at the Fanwood Memorial Library in Fanwood, NJ, and the Summit Free Public Library in Summit, NJ. She is active in the Tumblarian community and on Twitter, where her sass got her featured in School Library Journal. When she isn’t in Ice Cream story time, she is seeing the world, one tiny road trip at a time.
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By: Jen Robinson,
on 3/12/2014
Today I will be sending out a new issue of the Growing Bookworms email newsletter. (If you would like to subscribe, you can find a sign-up form here.) The Growing Bookworms newsletter contains content from my blog focused on children's and young adult books and raising readers. I currently send out the newsletter once every two weeks.
Reading Update: In the last two weeks I read one middle grade book, three young adult books, and one adult title:
We're also still reading to Baby Bookworm these days, of course. You can check out the complete list of books we've read to her this year if you are interested. We also read the first two chapters of Winnie-the-Pooh last night.
She turns four in a few weeks, and I can tell you that we're really seeing the impact of all the books that we've read. She can spell a few words now (her name, Mom, Dad, no, moo, Mo, so), and she'll notice those words if she sees them ("Why does that sign say 'No'?). She's asking how to spell things like "I love you" when she makes us cards. She enjoys the Reading Raven app. I can't remember who recommended that one, but thank you! We are careful not to push her, but she's like a little sponge these days, soaking up new words all around her. My goal is just to keep it fun!
What are you and your family reading these days? Thanks for reading the newsletter, and for growing bookworms.
© 2014 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved. You can also follow me @JensBookPage or at my Growing Bookworms page on Facebook.
By: Jen Robinson,
on 3/11/2014
My daughter decided last night that before falling asleep, she wanted to read "all the Mo Willems books." She headed over to the bookshelf (well, one of many bookshelves, but this is the one where most of Mo's books live in our house), and started pulling them down. It took her a couple of trips, fully laden, to get them over to the bed. And then she commanded: "Read!"
I guess all of this is a long-winded way for me to say that if you have a preschooler or early elementary schooler in your house, and you have somehow not discovered the works of Mo Willems, you simply MUST remedy this. Your local library should have plenty of Mo's books, and that's a great place to start. Scholastic also has packages sometimes in the Reading Club, giving you access to less expensive paperback versions. But whatever you do, get your hands on some of these fabulous books.
Of course it helps that the books are fun, too! What say you, readers? Do your kids ask for "all of the Mo Willems books", too?
____
This site is an Amazon affiliate, and purchases made through Amazon links (including linked book covers) may result in my receiving a small commission (at no additional cost to you).
© 2014 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved. You can also follow me @JensBookPage or at my Growing Bookworms page on Facebook.
By: Roger Sutton,
on 2/28/2014
Mo Willems has become THE master of easy readers. With pre-book work includes Sesame Street and animation, he had the perfect training to create child- and teacher-friendly easy readers. I think he deserves every one of his many awards. What do notice in this deceptively simple book? What does he do with simple shapes and lines in the art and very few words to create distinct characters? Would you share this book with children who are learning to read?
(Note to the Mo fans out there: I recommended a road trip to Amherst MA to visit the Eric Carle Museum. While you are out there, save some time to visit the R. Michelson Gallery in Northhampton where you can see — and buy — original Mo Willems sketches of Elephant and Piggie.)
The post There Is a Bird On Your Head! appeared first on The Horn Book.
By: Jen Robinson,
on 2/13/2014
I'm back with a few more recent moments in my daughter's journey towards literacy (and hopefully towards the love of books). She'll be four in about 2 months, and she is developing a few early literacy skills. These days she is:
Learning New Vocabulary (Painlessly): I mentioned that it was drizzling as we drove to school the other day, and asked her if she knew what the word "drizzle" meant. She said, "Of course. Brother and Sister were at school one day and they couldn't play outside because it was drizzling." She was clearly referring to some Berenstain Bears story, though I don't know which one. She talks about Brother and Sister Bear as though they are people she knows.
My conclusion from tracking these little book-filled moments is this: the path to literacy can be an awfully fun place. Thanks for sharing it with us!
© 2014 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved. You can also follow me @JensBookPage or at my Growing Bookworms page on Facebook. This site is an Amazon affiliate.
By: Betsy Bird,
on 12/8/2013
This is probably going to be of the most interest to those of you who have an interest in comic book inking in general. Paul Karasik, who is the head of programming for Comic Arts Brooklyn, interviewed Jeff Smith while he (the creator of the Bone graphic novel series) inked a Bone illustration for the audience. I admit it. I’m a sucker for this kind of stuff.
Thanks to Phil Nel for the link.
Someday I hope I’m a big enough picture book author that I’m able to encourage grown people to put tacos down their pants. It’s a dream, but I think it’s one worth pursuing. Note: Ignore the contest mention at the end. The date is long past, children. Long past.
Thanks to Lori for the link (and for starring in it!).
We had the pleasure of hosting French illustrator Marc Boutavant at a recent Children’s Literary Salon at NYPL last month. He is, as you may know, the man behind the art of Mouk, his best known picture book creation. There is, in fact, a Mouk television show debuting here. I, for my part, much prefer the French. The intro is just doggone charming. Can’t vouch for the show itself, but dig that catchy rhythm:
Speaking of television shows based on works of children’s literature, I was inordinately pleased to hear that they were turning Michael Rex’s Fangbone into a show of its own. Makes perfect sense. They’ve a fun little video element up right now where kids can vote on the animated voices and background sounds. Enjoy!
Oh yeah. This next guy’s embraced his time in France.
Probably fits in like a native.
I was pleased to see this Steve Jenkins video for his latest collage masterpiece The Animal Book making the rounds. If only because it gives you insight into how he creates his art.
Finally, for our off-topic video, a commercial. A blatant, sentimental commercial. And danged if it didn’t make me well-up. I must be getting soft in my old age.
By: Jen Robinson,
on 11/21/2013
I have read many picture books aloud to my daughter over the past 3 1/2 years. Prior to that I read books to my nieces and friends' children here and there. But until last weekend, I'd never done a read-aloud for a larger group. But when the organizers for my church's Mommy and Me group asked me if I would do a little storytime for the kids as part of one of our regular monthly playdates, I said "Of course!" How could a determined bookworm-grower refuse such an invitation?
Bottom line: I do believe we'll try this again! Fun was had by all, especially me. My thanks to the Social Club of the St. Andrew Armenian Church for inviting me to read, and to Ani Yeni-Komshian for the above photo.
I have no answers but I have another stumper. I remember a children’s book I read as a kid (in the late 70s or early 80s, although of course it could have been published well before then) about a boy who was followed everywhere by a rain cloud. It could be sunny everywhere else but it would rain just on him. I have not been able to figure it out despite posting on “what’s that book” and like sites. Any ideas?!? Thanks!
is the title Calvin Can’t Fly by Jennifer Berne
Thanks for posting about Kyle Lukoff. His blog is a great find!
My go-to grief book for any age, any culture is Lucille Clifton’s Everett Anderson’s Goodbye. Elegant, timeless, and hopeful.
Betsy, I got the ISBN from Debbie Reese for “We All Count”–it’s 978155476398 . I’m going to try to get it for OPL. Won’t be easy–it’s not even on Amazon as of now.
Oog. That sounds familiar. There’s always Loganberry Books for true stumpers, of course.
Perhaps you are thinking of WET ALBERT by Michael and Joanne Cole. Albert ends up using his cloud to fix droughts. It was published in the 60′s so the timing sounds right. I hope that helps!
I think you are looking for WET ALBERT by Michael and Joanne Cole. I commented below about the book.
My book about the death of Katie Woo’s dog in GOODBYE TO GOLDIE features an Asian-American girl and her friends Pedro and Jojo, who are latino and African-American. I don’t know Goldie’s heritage.
Ah ha! That’s one! Good call, Fran.