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This summer I was walking about the Printer’s Row Book Festival in lovely Chicago, IL, passing a group of about twelve 16-year-old girls.  All of whom were singing “Satisfied” from the musical Hamilton.  It reminded me of similar past experiences walking by large groups of 8-year-olds singing Frozen two years ago.  Now Hamilton is slated to open in Chicago in November and I’ve been putting together various booklists for my adult library patrons.  And that’s when it hit me.  I know 6-year-olds who have Hamilton memorized.  I know 10-year-olds who can explain what the Federalist Papers are in minute detail.  So why not make a booklist for the #Hamilkids as well?

But surely it had been done before and done well.  To the internets!  I did a quick search of anyone who might have put together a Hamilton booklist for kids before and lo and behold the site The Card Catalog did exactly that back in October of 2015.  Their post Books for Kids Who Love Hamilton is good, but it occurred to me that since there are only four books there, it could be expanded a tad.

Today then, let’s look at some great books.  How many books, you ask?  A Hamil-TON!

I’m sorry  . . . I don’t know what came over me.

To the list!

Alexander Hamilton (Picture Books)

Aaron and Alexander: The Most Famous Duel in American History by Don Brown

I wonder at the timing of this one.  This book published in October of 2015, just as Hamilton: The Musical started to peak in popularity.  Did Brown get the idea for the book prior to the musical’s creation?  Was he already working on it and, when it became clear that this was A Very Big Deal did his publisher (Roaring Brook) encourage him to put all other projects on the backburner and get this one done faster?  No idea.  What I do know is that it’s one of the finer depictions of the duel and the events leading up to it in picture book form.

Colonial Voices: Hear Them Speak by Kay Winters, ill. Larry Day

While this book doesn’t speak about Hamilton directly to the best of my knowledge, if you’re looking for rhyming Colonial fare, you’ve come to the right place.  It takes place on the day of the Boston Tea Party and is told through a variety of voices and professions in the city.  It’s also one of those rare books to acknowledge and give voice to slaves in Boston at that time.

Duel! Burr and Hamilton’s Deadly War of Words by Dennis Brindell Fradin, illustrated by Larry Day

Out-of-print (Walker Books, you’ve got a gold mine here!) so better mosey on over to your nearest public library if you want to read it.  A lot of hometown pride with this title, since both Fradin and Day were in the Evanston, IL area when this was written.  Larry Day, by the way, is also the fellow who illustrated that Kay Winters book I mentioned earlier, so clearly he taps into Colonial America books better than most.

The Founding Fathers!: Those Horse-Ridin’, Fiddle-Playin’, Book-Readin’, Gun-Totin’ Gentlemen Who Started America by Jonah Winter, ill. Barry Blitt

Truthfully I couldn’t remember whether or not Hamilton was in this book, so I had to look it up.  Turns out, he is!  Like all the other guys here, he gets his own page with his “statistics” and notable qualities, baseball card style.  My favorite quote?  Alexander Hamilton’s “Stance on France: Not a fan.”

Alexander Hamilton (Older Readers)

Answering the Cry for Freedom: Stories of African Americans and the American Revolution by Gretchen Woelfle, ill. R. Gregory Christie

So long, Johnny Tremain.  You had a good run, but the days of depicting Colonial America and the American Revolution as affecting only white colonists are long gone.  Hamilton mentions slavery repeatedly and this book (which is out in October) goes further to follow thirteen black men and women alive during the war.

Alexander Hamilton: The Outsider by Jean Fritz

Back in the day (by which I mean the 80s and early 90s) if you wanted a picture book about a Founding Father, Fritz was your best bet.  She was one-stop shopping in that respect.  Still, she never did a book on Hamilton during that time.  Then, in 2011 (which makes one suspect that she might be a bit on the clairvoyant side of things) she wrote this book for kids 10 and up.  As extensive biographies for kids go, it’s almost the only game in town.

The Duel: The Parallel Lives of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr by Judith St. George

This one came out in 2009 and was written with a YA audience in mind.  In this book you’ll see the similarities between Burr and Hamilton, over and over again.  I was particularly interested in the part of the Kirkus review that said, “The author’s ability to lucidly explain the political intricacies of the time is impressive, revealing to readers that politics were as ugly, if not uglier, in the nation’s earliest days as they are now.”  Oh, sweet Kirkus.  Clearly you failed to fortell 2016.

Which is not to say there aren’t lots more books out there that would fit this topic.  Be sure to also check out the similar young Hamil-fan blog posts Hamilton and the Children’s Library from ALSC (which contains more books about Hamilton’s close contemporaries like Washington) and Six Picture Books for #Hamilkids from NYPL (which has the additional bonus of books about hip-hop for young people).  Also take a gander at the SLJ article Teaching with “Hamilton”, with a particular eye to the resources at the end.

And there are more books on the horizon!  In a recent press release from Random House we learned the following:

“Schwartz & Wade Books, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, has announced plans to publish a picture book biography on the wife of Founding Father, Alexander Hamilton. Margaret McNamara will serve as the writer for Eliza: The Story of Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton.

Phillipa Soo, the actress who played Eliza Hamilton in the Broadway production of Hamilton: An American Musical, has agreed to write a foreword for this project. The release date has been set for Fall 2017. (Playbill)”

If you happen to be in NYC between now and December 31st, please be sure to stop by the main location of New York Public Library.  They’ve an exhibit up right now called Alexander Hamilton: Striver, Statesman, Scoundrel.  Lots of goodies are on display, including Alexander Hamilton’s Draft of President George Washington’s Farewell Address, August 10, 1796.  Sounds fun!

By the way, those of you curious about the little felted Lin-Manuel Miranda at the beginning of this post, it’s by Jack and Holman Wang.  You can get more info about it at the Chronicle Books post here.

And in conclusion, be so good as to check out Minh Lê’s tribute to Hamilton in Elephant & Piggie style.

Here’s the thing about Minh Lê. He doesn’t blog terribly often, but when it does it just sort of explodes like an atom bomb on the scene.  His Hamilton starring Elephant and Piggie . . . sheer brilliance.  I’m just mad I didn’t think of it myself (not that I could ever have paired the text and art as well as he has).  The best thing you’ll read today.

Translation?  An art.  I once heard that the reason the French are as crazy as they are about Edgar Allan Poe is that his translator (Stéphane Mallarmé?) improved upon the original English.  Monica Edinger thinks about translation in the context of Struwwelpeter (love that stuff) and links to a Guardian article you’d do well to notice.

Yesterday my family and I returned from our annual trip to the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, ON.  While there, my five-year-old saw her very first play; a killer production of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe done with puppetry akin to War Horse.  I guess I’ve had C.S. Lewis on the brain anyway, though, since I saw these adorable dioramas of famous scenes in books.  Here’s the Wardrobe one:

When phys.org wrote a piece about book deserts (places where children lack access to books) there was a lot to pick apart.  Looking through it, I found fascinating the part that said, “While online book sales have grown in recent years, three out of four children’s books are still bought in brick and mortar stores,” as well as, “dollar stores were the most common place to buy children’s books.”  Dollar stores.  I know that bookstores, aside from being difficult to find in low-income areas, contain books too pricey for most people to afford (see a recent comparison between British and American chain bookstores here), but it never occurred to me that dollar stores would be the obvious next step.  If I were a forward thinking self-published author, that’s where I’d concentrate on getting my books.  If the money evened out, of course.  And speaking of books that are affordable for all people . . .

Good morning, class!  I trust you are well rested this morning. Now, when we last met we were reading Leonard Marcus’s Golden Legacy: The Story of Golden Books.  Your homework today is to consider the newest Little Golden Book on the market The Little Grumpy Cat That Wouldn’t.  Place within the context of the Golden Books’ past how converting a YouTube sensation into a Golden Book both supports and/or undermines their historical legacy.  Extra credit if you’ve worked into your report the work of illustrator Steph Laberis and the history of animators contributing to the Golden Books of previous decades.  Papers are due in one week.  No extensions.

We can’t seem to get her to interview the Newbery and Caldecott winners, but I think Ellen is getting some definite points for personally moving forward with a screen adaptation of Ursula Vernon’s truly delightful Castle Hangnail.  Those of you looking for charming younger middle grade fantasy, this book is a delight.  You have been warned.  Thanks to PW Children’s Bookshelf.

Best title and photo ever:

Riverdale Turns Archie Comics Into a Teenage Noir Soap Opera, and It’s Way Too Much Fun

I don’t care if it isn’t any good.  This alone gives balm to my soul.

Travis over at 100 Scope Notes has continued his thought process on the role of critical reviews on blogs.  He asks if it is the nature of reviewing to want to think a book is better or worse than it actually is because both of these reactions fall within the “zone of enthusiasm” (be it positive or critical enthusiasm).  I’m chewing on this one for a while.  You can too.

I lived in Morningside Heights in NYC for about five years and Harlem for six.  While there, I was always a bit shocked that there wasn’t a major museum there dedicated to the art and history of Harlem (the Schomburg Library and The Studio Museum in Harlem do what they can but we need something much bigger).  This isn’t that, but it’s on the right track.  Ms. Renée Watson (not to be confused with Rachel Renee Watson) has started an Indiegogo campaign to lease and renovate the brownstone where Langston Hughes lived and create an arts community there.  It’s not specifically about children’s literature, but this is a worthy cause.

Daily Image:

If I have learned anything in this life it is that every fake sounding profession out there is actually real.  Take opera singing.  When my friend since 7th grade, Meredith Arwady, decided to be an opera singer I had no idea that this was a legitimate profession.  Now she’s stabbing Placido Domingo in her spare time.  She’s also hugely generous.  Check out her most recent present to me, purchased in Stockholm.  It is a t-shirt, procured at a photography museum, of none other than Astrid Lindgren.

When I get my new author photo, I want it to look like THAT.  Thanks, Mimi!

All these years of the kids’ piano lessons have been leading to this.

It was only after I finished writing The Founding Fathers: A Very Short Introduction that I got to see the off-Broadway version of Lin-Manuel Miranda's "Hamilton: An American Musical" at New York City's Public Theater. I was lucky enough to see the Broadway version (revised and expanded) last month.

The post Hamilton the musical: America then told by America now appeared first on OUPblog.

The Pulitzer Prize, that is.

What does the list of shows below have in common?

2010: Next to Normal
1996: Rent
1985: Sunday in the Park with George
1976: A Chorus Line
1962: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
1960: Fiorello!
1950: South Pacific
1932: Of Thee I Sing

They represent the eight times the Pulitzer Prize in Drama has been awarded to a musical instead of to a play. It doesn't happen often, but it happens.... roughly about once a decade.

As the awards for Hamilton start to pile up, and with the 100th class of Pulitzer Prize winners being announced on April 18, I think it's time to start talking about the possibility of not just Tonys for Hamilton, but a Pulitzer.

The writing of Hamilton stands out from the writing so many plays and musicals. But unless you're in the room where it happens, and have done all the work the judges have, it's really hard to make predictions. So no hard feelings, Pulitzer folks, if it doesn't happen- but I won't be surprised if the list above becomes a list of nine.

Theatergoers have been dazzled by the new Broadway hit Hamilton, and not just by its titular lead: the Schuyler women often steal the show. While Alexander Hamilton’s wife Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton provides heart and pathos, her sister Angelica Schuyler Church is sassy, witty, and flirtatious.

The post The flirtatious friendship of Alexander Hamilton and Angelica Church hits Broadway appeared first on OUPblog.

I've read some terrific books lately....

LUCKY FOR GOOD, by Susan Patron. Middle-grade, library. The last of the trilogy about Lucky growing up in the tiny California desert town of Hard Pan, and to my mind the best. As much as I loved THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY, which won the Newbery Medal in 2007, I loved this one even more. Favorite moment (MINOR SPOILER ALERT): the miniature staircase made out of tiny bones extracted from owl pellets, an absolutely delightful image that encompasses Lucky, Miles, children needing their moms, Lucky's love of science, development of Justine's character, imagination, creativity, the desert . . . and how going round and round isn't necessarily staying in one place. One of those rare and perfect moments in literature.


YOUNG FREDLE, by Cynthia Voigt. Middle-grade, library. Animal fantasy, sort of like a cozy Watership Down for the chapter-book set, with mice instead of rabbits. (I do not make the comparison lightly.) Young Fredle, a house mouse, has to face the dreaded outdoors. Started slowly for me--I put it down not once, but twice; after about a quarter of the way through, things started to click and hum, and then I couldn't put it down. I loved Voigt's Tillerman cycle, for slightly older readers (one of which won the Newbery Medal) and am awed that she writes every bit as well for this age group.


THE SOUND OF A WILD SNAIL EATING, by Elizabeth Tova Bailey. Adult memoir, library ebook. Discovered while browsing my local library system's modest collection of ebooks. A small and shining gem of a book. Terrible illness befalls the author; she spends a whole year in bed watching a snail in a terrarium. Proof that a good writer can make even the slimy inching of a snail compelling.


CHIME, by Franny Billingsley. YA fantasy, library. Otherworldly romance and intrigue from a wonderful writer. Read this one by firelight, on a dark cold rainy night... a book to sink into.


More recent reads:

BLOOD, BONES AND BUTTER, by Gabrielle Hamilton. Chef memoir, library. Well-written and very enjoyable, although I would have liked a little more about food to supplement the copious restaurant info.


I've also been on a serious Peter May kick:

The China Thrillers, six books, adult mystery series, library. Chinese detective and American forensic scientist work cases and each other.

The Enzo Files, five books, adult mystery series, library. Forensic scientist Enzo Macleod lives and works in France, solving cold cases.

The Blackhouse, standalone title (sort of--main character Enzo Macleod again, but not one of the Enzo Files stories), library. In all of these books: a nice balance of action and pondering, vivid settings, interesting characters, and best of all, the fascinating examination of some esoteric field (winemaking, illegal immigration, a traditional gannet hunt in the Outer Hebrides!!). I found myself a little annoyed somewhere along the line, at how EVERY book ends with a scene of life-threatening danger absolutely crammed into the last two or three pages, with barely more than a couple of graphs for a denouement; I put it down to the author's many years as a writer for television. Otherwise highly recommended, especially THE BLACKHOUSE.

by Dean Brindell Fradin illustrated by Larry Day Walker Books 2008 It's a reflection of my quality education that I graduated without knowing the story of the duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton. Or it's proof of what a horrible student I used to be. But perhaps if I'd had this nifty little picture book when I was younger it would have stuck with me while I was attempting to handle

Richard Dawkins is the bestselling author of The Selfish Gene and The God Delusion. He’s also a pre-eminent scientist, the first holder of the Charles Simonyi Chair of the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford, and is a fellow of New College, Oxford. Called “Darwin’s Rottweiler” by the media, he is one of the most famous advocates of Darwinian evolution. His most recent book is The Oxford Guide to Modern Science Writing, a collection of the best science writing in the last century.

This is the third in a series of podcasts we’re running from an interview with Dawkins. You’ve heard him speak about Alan Turing, the father of the modern computer, and Watson & Crick, the men who discovered the shape of DNA. Now, Dawkins tells us a bit more about his new book and reflects on the men who influenced his own theories.

Transcript after the jump.

DORIAN DEVINS: Welcome Richard Dawkins. You have a book out, The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing, which you have edited. And you personally selected all the writings that are in this?

RICHARD DAWKINS: Yes, I selected them in collaboration with the OUP editor Latha Menon. We’ve worked together before; we worked together on my own collection of writings, which is called A Devil’s Chaplain. And so we worked well together, and we chose them together.

DEVINS: And how many different scientists are represented in this book?

DAWKINS: I haven’t counted.

DEVINS: It extends back to-the earliest writing is…

DAWKINS: Go back to the sort of Eddington-gene sort of time, I can’t remember what date they are, but sort of early part of the twentieth century. The decision was not to go back to the nineteenth century, that would have been a nice thing to do but it would have opened up a whole new vista which I didn’t feel like taking on.

DEVINS: And it would have necessitated your eliminating some of these people, I suspect. So, I see you have George Williams in here.

DAWKINS: George Williams was a very important influence in modern evolutionary theory. In 1966, he wrote a really seminal book called Adaptation and Natural Selection, which once and for all destroyed the theory of group selection, which was a very important thing to do at that time. And he substituted the view of evolution which I later christened the theory of the selfish gene. Williams didn’t use that phrase, but in effect the selfish gene was a new way of putting the theory that Williams had put forward in the 1960s. Oddly enough, I didn’t get it from Williams, I got it from Hamilton. Bill Hamilton, W. D. Hamilton, who’s also in the book and a very wonderful, eccentric character who I deeply loved and who died, tragically, not that long ago (about oh, well, actually maybe seven or eight years ago now). And Hamilton and Williams, I think, could be seen as the founding fathers of the selfish gene theory.

DEVINS: And what part did Hamilton bring in?

DAWKINS: Well Hamilton invented what Maynard Smith actually called kin selection; the idea that animals behave altruistically towards kin because they share genes. And in a way, you could say that everybody knew that about offspring, everybody knew about parental care, but what Hamilton showed was that the same principle as parental care works for brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews, etc.

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Denise Hamilton has some great ideas in this article in the LA Times, including recommending LJer David Lubar's books. [Full disclosure: Denise and I are somewhere between acquaintances and friends. What is the word for that? Fracquaitances?]





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Deborah Ellis' Looking for X has been chosen by the organizers of Hamilton's One Book, One City event, according to The Hamilton Spectator. Deborah Ellis is the Canadian author of a number of controversial books for young people. Most recently, Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli Children Speak has faced the most opposition in schools and was banned from or restricted in York and Toronto school libraries.

In choosing Looking for X, the project is highlighting the problems of poverty in Canada. The city of Hamilton will be asked to read the book and interpret the themes through a number of media.

Looking For X is Ellis' 2000 Governor General's Literary Award-winning novel about an 11-year-old girl living in Toronto public housing. Khyber lives in Regent Park with her single mother, a former stripper.

Ellis stated, "Literature is great on a personal level ... when it can be used in the community to move the community forward, I find that very exciting."