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<!-- START INTERCHANGE - P S BE ELEVEN -->if(!window.igic__){window.igic__={};var d=document;var s=d.createElement("script");s.src="http://iangilman.com/interchange/js/widget.js";d.body.appendChild(s);} <!-- END INTERCHANGE --> With her new book, P.S. Be Eleven, Rita Williams-Garcia picks up where  her multiple-award winning One Crazy Summer, began and ended - with the Gaither sisters,

<!-- START INTERCHANGE - PRIMATES -->if(!window.igic__){window.igic__={};var d=document;var s=d.createElement("script");s.src="http://iangilman.com/interchange/js/widget.js";d.body.appendChild(s);} <!-- END INTERCHANGE --> Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey and Biruté Galdikas is written by Jim Ottaviano, who's very cool website, G.T. Labs, has the tagline, "

<!-- START INTERCHANGE - JEMMY BUTTON -->if(!window.igic__){window.igic__={};var d=document;var s=d.createElement("script");s.src="http://iangilman.com/interchange/js/widget.js";d.body.appendChild(s);} <!-- END INTERCHANGE --> The cover art alone for Jemmy Button by Jennifer Uman and Valerio Vidali made me want to read this book, regardless of what it is about. Everything about it made

<!-- START INTERCHANGE - THE SHORT SELLER -->if(!window.igic__){window.igic__={};var d=document;var s=d.createElement("script");s.src="http://iangilman.com/interchange/js/widget.js";d.body.appendChild(s);} <!-- END INTERCHANGE --> The Short Seller is the newest book from Elissa Brent Weissman, author of Nerd Camp, Standing for Socks and The Trouble with Mark Hopper. What I love about

<!-- START INTERCHANGE - WILL WHIT -->if(!window.igic__){window.igic__={};var d=document;var s=d.createElement("script");s.src="http://iangilman.com/interchange/js/widget.js";d.body.appendChild(s);} Will & Whit is the newest graphic novels from the stunningly creative Laura Lee Gulledge. Her last book, Page by Paige, the story of an artistic girl who has to move from her childhood home

<!-- START INTERCHANGE - ODD DUCK -->if(!window.igic__){window.igic__={};var d=document;var s=d.createElement("script");s.src="http://iangilman.com/interchange/js/widget.js";d.body.appendChild(s);} <!-- END INTERCHANGE --> Odd Duck is the newest book from my favorite of favorites,  Sara Varon. Varon has teamed up with YA author Cecil Castelucci for yet another slightly off center,

<!-- START INTERCHANGE - BENJAMIN BEAR IN BRIGHT IDEAS -->if(!window.igic__){window.igic__={};var d=document;var s=d.createElement("script");s.src="http://iangilman.com/interchange/js/widget.js";d.body.appendChild(s);} <!-- END INTERCHANGE --> When Philippe Courdray's Benjamin Bear in Fuzzy Thinking was released in August of 2011, it was a big hit in my home, one of the first books my

<!-- START INTERCHANGE - LIKE BUG JUICE ON A BURGER -->if(!window.igic__){window.igic__={};var d=document;var s=d.createElement("script");s.src="http://iangilman.com/interchange/js/widget.js";d.body.appendChild(s);} <!-- END INTERCHANGE --> Julie Sternberg and Matthew Cordell, author and illustrator of Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie, respectively, have teamed up again as Eleanor finds

Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin by Liesl Shurtliff is a clever exploration and expansion of the classic fairy tale and, as with the original, there is everything in a name. Names and magic are at the heart of Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin, which is set in a bleak fairy tale landscape where a king who is hungry for gold satisfies his craving on the backs of is subjects. This

<!-- START INTERCHANGE - STARDINES -->if(!window.igic__){window.igic__={};var d=document;var s=d.createElement("script");s.src="http://iangilman.com/interchange/js/widget.js";d.body.appendChild(s);} <!-- END INTERCHANGE --> Stardines Swim High Across the Sky and Other Poems is the newest book of poetry from Jack Prelutsky pairs him again with the wonderful collages of Carin Berger.

<!-- START INTERCHANGE - THE 13 STORY TREEHOUSE -->if(!window.igic__){window.igic__={};var d=document;var s=d.createElement("script");s.src="http://iangilman.com/interchange/js/widget.js";d.body.appendChild(s);} <!-- END INTERCHANGE --> The 13-Story Treehouse is the latest Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton, the geniuses behind the beginning to read books that look like chapter books and are

<!-- START INTERCHANGE - GONE FISHING A NOVEL IN VERSE -->if(!window.igic__){window.igic__={};var d=document;var s=d.createElement("script");s.src="http://iangilman.com/interchange/js/widget.js";d.body.appendChild(s);} <!-- END INTERCHANGE --> So, besides the fact that Gone Fishing : A Novel in Verse by Tamera Will Wissinger, with illustrations by the fantastic Matthew Cordell, is a

  Everything about Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell feels real and immediate, painfully and achingly so. While I managed to spread the experience of reading this breathtaking book out over the course of three weeks (this IS the kind of book you don't want to end, both because it's so good you want it to last forever but also because you know that it will make you cry) I could have easily read

<!-- START INTERCHANGE - BINK GOLLIE BEST FRIENDS FOREVER -->if(!window.igic__){window.igic__={};var d=document;var s=d.createElement("script");s.src="http://iangilman.com/interchange/js/widget.js";d.body.appendChild(s);} <!-- END INTERCHANGE --> I think that Bink & Gollie : Best Friends Forever just might be the third and final title in  Bink & Gollie series. The first two books,

This is the first in what I hope will be a series of reviews of books with the label, "Books Your Kids Should Read But Probably Won't Unless You Read With Them." Every once in a while I come across a really spectacular book that I know a kid, even a kid who loves reading, will not be able to get the most out of on his or her own but will absolutely enjoy when shared with another.

<!-- START INTERCHANGE - SON -->if(!window.igic__){window.igic__={};var d=document;var s=d.createElement("script");s.src="http://iangilman.com/interchange/js/widget.js";d.body.appendChild(s);} <!-- END INTERCHANGE --> Son by Lois Lowry completes the quartet of books that began in 1993 with The Giver, followed by Gathering Blue in 2000 and Messenger in 2004.  Son begins at almost the

When you get right down to it, The Great Unexpected by Sharon Creech is a story that's been told many times before. What is wonderfully amazing about this book is the way that Creech tells this story, from the inside out, almost. In fact, as I listened/read this book I felt like the story was a 57 piece puzzle where you couldn't tell what the picture was until almost every piece was in place

I have to start by saying just how much I LOVE, love, love Amy Ignatow's Popularity Papers Series. I was drawn to her illustrations at first, but came away with a deep appreciation for her story telling abilities. Reading one of the books in her series is like having a great meal, an excellent talk with a very good friend, and a really nice walk on the beach all in one. Her wonderful

  <!-- START INTERCHANGE - THE YEAR OF THE BOOK -->if(!window.igic__){window.igic__={};var d=document;var s=d.createElement("script");s.src="http://iangilman.com/interchange/js/widget.js";d.body.appendChild(s);} <!-- END INTERCHANGE --> What better way to start the new year than with The Year of the Book byAndrea Cheng and illustrated by Abigail Halpin? If I ever wrote a book, The Year

<!-- START INTERCHANGE - ON THE DAY I DIED STORIES FROM THE GRAVE -->if(!window.igic__){window.igic__={};var d=document;var s=d.createElement("script");s.src="http://iangilman.com/interchange/js/widget.js";d.body.appendChild(s);} <!-- END INTERCHANGE --> On the Day I Died: Stories from the Grave is the newest book from the multitalented (and multi-awardwinning) Candace Fleming with

33 Minutes (subtitle: . . . Until Morgan Sturtz kicks my butt) by Todd Hasak-Lowy caught my eye with the title alone. The cover is quite striking as well. And the interior artwork by bethany bARTon that includes some very funny charts, lists and graphs, is great too. But what I really love about 33 Minutes is that Hasak-Lowy covers a province normally dominated by girls in middle

<!-- START INTERCHANGE - THE LAST DRAGONSLAYER -->if(!window.igic__){window.igic__={};var d=document;var s=d.createElement("script");s.src="http://iangilman.com/interchange/js/widget.js";d.body.appendChild(s);} <!-- END INTERCHANGE --> The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde is the first in the Chronicles of Kazam, his new series for young readers. Many years ago I gleefully gobbled up

<!-- START INTERCHANGE - TIMMY FAILURE MISTAKES WERE MADE -->if(!window.igic__){window.igic__={};var d=document;var s=d.createElement("script");s.src="http://iangilman.com/interchange/js/widget.js";d.body.appendChild(s);} <!-- END INTERCHANGE --> Let's just get this 1,500 lb polar bear in the room out of the way right now: Yes. Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made by Stephan Pastis does

<!-- START INTERCHANGE - PENNY AND HER MARBLE -->if(!window.igic__){window.igic__={};var d=document;var s=d.createElement("script");s.src="http://iangilman.com/interchange/js/widget.js";d.body.appendChild(s);} I reviewed Penny and Her Song, Kevin Henkes's first foray into beginning readers,  a year ago. Henkes's pictures books have been special to me because his career was really taking

<!-- START INTERCHANGE - THE POPULARITY PAPER 5 -->if(!window.igic__){window.igic__={};var d=document;var s=d.createElement("script");s.src="http://iangilman.com/interchange/js/widget.js";d.body.appendChild(s);} <!-- END INTERCHANGE --> The Popularity Papers: The Awesomely Awful Melodies of Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang by Amy Ignatow marks the fifth book in the series since it