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<!-- 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

The Five Lives of Our Cat Zook  is NOW IN PAPERBACK!!!   Joanne Rocklin surprised and wowed me with her last book, One Day and One Amazing Morning on Orange Street and goes above and beyond with her new book, The Five Lives of Our Cat Zook. Both books are illustrated by the marvelous Chris Buzelli, and I wish there was more of his art inside the books as well. I'll be

** January 23, 2013: A report from a National Institute of Health council unanimously recommended that almost ALL of the 451 chimpanzees currently housed at their facilities for the purposes of research and testing be retired, as reported by James Gorman in the New York Times yesterday. Sadly, the N.I.H does not have the funds to retire some 400 of the chimps OR enact the changes to the

THE POPULARITY PAPERS BOOK 3 is now in paperback!! <!-- START INTERCHANGE - QUESTIONABLE WORDS OF WISDOM -->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 --> One of the few downsides to this blog is that I have such a full shelf of books I want to read

<!-- START INTERCHANGE - THE RAILWAY CHILDREN -->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 --> E Nesbit's contribution to and influence on the world of children's literature is so great that, as with my review of Magic City, I feel compelled to

<!-- 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

Before I begin my review, I need to thank long-time reader of my blog, Heather aka Proud Mama for mentioning Gone Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright in a comment on my article How to Choose Age Appropriate Books for Advanced Readers. I had heard of Enright and her award winning books before, but Heather's mention of them (and the great new covers by Mary Grand Pré) inspired me to buy them and

On the off chance that there are still a few readers out there who have not heard of this fantastic book, the first in a wonderful series, I am reposting my review from a few years ago with an updated list of similar titles kids will love. When I started this blog in 2008 the first books I reviewed were favorites of mine and books that I recommend over and over while at work at the

A year ago I had the pleasure of reviewing the fantastic nonfiction picture book Nurse, Soldier, Spy written by Marissa Moss and illustrated by  John Hendrix. Although a mere 32 page picture book, both Moss and Hendrix did extensive research and the book included an author's bibliography, artist's bibliography, glossary and index. No doubt this wealth of knowledge, as well as the compelling

Written in 1958 and winner of the Newbery Honor, The Family Under the Bridge is the story of how an old hobo named Armand, who wants nothing of homes, responsibility and regular work, ends up with all of these as well as a family of children. Set in Paris, France in a time when hobos were more like wandering gypsies than the people living on the streets these days, the story follows Armand

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

Kate Feiffer's Signed by: Zelda (with wonderful cover art by Kelly Murphy) is her second novel for young readers and comes on the heels of nine pictures books, four of which are illustrated by her father, the great Jules Feiffer. Besides her own great track record as a children's book author and her wonderful lineage, I was intrigued by Signed by: Zelda because one of the main characters is

A brief article in the New York Times today announced that HarperCollins has published a brand-new edition of Maude Hart Lovelace's Betsy-Tacy Series that includes the first four books in one paperback volume with the original illustrations by the wonderful Lois Lenski, Newbery winner for Strawberry Girl in 1946. The new edition also includes a forward by a stellar trio of young adult writers:

After watching the movie Millions , based on the book by Frank Cottrell Boyce, with my family four or five years ago, I knew that I wanted to read his books for kids. Americans may not know this, but Boyce is a well respected screenwriter in the UK and has written four other kid's books (see below) including the soon to be published Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang Flies Again. The movie was thoughtful,

Sara Crewe, the heroine of Frances Hodgson Burnett's A Little Princess comes by her compassion, tolerance, friendliness and imagination no doubt through her own charming nature but also as a result of the nurturing of her father for the fist several years of her life. Mary Lennox and her cousin, Colin Craven, the main characters in The Secret Garden, undoubtedly Burnett's best known work, stand

Many years ago I discovered Lauren Child's wonderful picture book I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato, a very funny and clever book about a picky eater and her older sibling charged with feeding her dinner. Charlie and Lola, stars of this book and many others, went on to become television stars as well. Lauren Child has quite a way with kid-speak and presenting the world from a kid's perspective

The Same Sun Here by Silas House and Neela Vaswani was impossible to put down and frequently had me in tears. I can't imagine what it must be like to be one of the librarians who sit on the Newbery panel each year, but as I read The Same Sun Here I kept thinking, "This book deserves a medal. This is exactly the kind of book those librarians seem to love." Besides being worthy of awards and

Joanne Rocklin surprised and wowed me with her last book, One Day and One Amazing Morning on Orange Street and goes above and beyond with her new book, The Five Lives of Our Cat Zook. Both books are illustrated by the marvelous Chris Buzelli, and I wish there was more of his art inside the books as well. I'll be honest. I usually do not enjoy reading real-life-family-trouble type stories. You

Jake and Lily is the newest book from Newbery Winner (Maniac McGee) and Newbery Honor Winner (Wringer) Jerry Spinelli, author of one of my favorite books for teens, Stargirl, which I really need to review here. With Jake and Lily, Spinelli brings us the story of the titular twins and the summer of their twelfth birthday when they go through changes deeper and more meaningful than puberty.

Tua and the Elephant is a beautiful, delightful little book set in Thailand about a girl and an elephant by RP Harris with marvelous illustrations by Taeeun Yoo. Aptly, Sara Gruen, author of the adult novel Like Water for Elephants, wrote a great review of Tua and the Elephant that ran in the New York Times Book Review in May. The prologue of Tua and the Elephant tells us that "when Tua was

With My Extra Best Friend, Julie Bowe wraps up her Friends For Keeps Series that began in 2007 with My Last Best Friend. As always, the wonderful Jana Christy provides the colorful cover art and the fantastic illustration of the whole gang at camp on the inside. With this, the fifth book in the series, Bowe brings the eventful fourth grade year of Ida May to a close and brings her series

The Cobble Street Cousins is another fantastic emerging reader series by the prolific and amazing Cynthia Rylant. The length and reading level are slightly higher than her Lighthouse Family Series, as is the subject and tone, but if the interest level is high enough readers will make the reach. Rylant's series are the antithesis of the reigning queen of chapter books, Junie B Jones and,

Jaqueline Kelly should feel very accomplished in this life. Besides being a doctor and a lawyer, her debut novel won the Newbery Honor Medal in 2010, and I suspect The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate would have won the gold had the equally amazing and wonderful book When You Reach Me by Rebbeca Stead not come out in the same year. Either way, I am so glad I did not have to choose a gold medal