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How can you not love a graphic novel titled, Cleopatra in Space? Just when I was quietly mourning the end of Ben Hatke's Zita the Spacegirl trilogy, Mike Maihack gives us a new spacegirl to root for. As is the way with many great graphic novels, Cleopatra in Space began life as a webcomic in 2009 and ran until 2012 when Maihack began working on the graphic novel format of the story.

ODDFELLOW'S ORPHANAGE  is now in paperback! With her first book for children, Oddfellow's Orphanage, Emily Winfield Martin combines her many talents and uncommon vision to create a book that I would have adored as a child. Martin's first book, The Black Apple's Paper Doll Primer, caught my eye one day last year while I was shelving in the craft section and I was entranced. Martin doesn't

<!-- START INTERCHANGE - MISS EMILY -->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 --> Burleigh Mutén, children's book author, member of the Emily Dickinson International Society and volunteer at the Dickinson Homestead, seems perfectly poised to bring

<!-- START INTERCHANGE - HIDDEN -->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 --> Holocaust Remembrance Week began yesterday, and I am grateful to have a graphic novel like Hidden: A Child's Story of the Holocaust, written by Loïc Dauvillier,

  <!-- START INTERCHANGE - LIKE CARROT JUICE ON A CUPCAKE -->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 Like Carrot Juice on a Cupcake, Julie Sternberg once again demonstrates her gifts in capturing (expertly and succinctly) the emotional lives

Chickenhare by Chris Grine was published by Scholastic's Graphix imprint in 2013. It was originally published, in black and white, by Dark Horse Comics in 2006, with Book 2, Fire in the Hole, which you can preview here, coming out in 2008. A third book, Fish & Grymps, was planned but never published.  I'm pretty sure I would have instantly loved Chickenhare in its original form, but the

<!-- START INTERCHANGE - THE YEAR OF BILLY MILLER -->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 --> Before I officially review The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes, an author who writes and illustrates for all levels short of YA, I'd like to take a

<!-- START INTERCHANGE - INVISIBLE INKLING WHOOPIE PIE WAR -->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 --> Last year I reviewed Dangerous Pumpkins, the second book in Emily Jenkins' Invisible Inkling series, illustrated by the marvelous Harry Bliss.

First published 2/19/2010, SHEEP is a MUST read, even for those of you who, like me, are squeamish when it comes to animal stories. The hardships faced by most literary animals, the ones who haven't been anthropomorphized, are usually more than I can bear. But, in SHEEP, Valerie Hobbs balances the realities of the life of a homeless dog with a memorable journey and kind humans along the way.

<!-- START INTERCHANGE - DONNER DINNER PARTY -->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'll be honest, for as much as a don't like history and I do LOVE Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales, the first two books in what I hope is a very long running

First reviewed in 2009, RL La Fevers's Nathaniel Fludd: Beastologist series is the PERFECT next step for readers ready to move on from Magic Tree House! Rich with mythological creatures, adventure and airplanes, this series is wonderfully written and illustrated. And, all 4 books are in paperback! Before I start slinging superlatives, I need to thank RL La Fevers, author of the equally

<!-- START INTERCHANGE - CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG -->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);} Ian Fleming published Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in 1964, the last two of his fourteen James Bond books in 1966. Fleming wrote it for his son, who was ten at the time, while he was

My Extra Best Friend is now in paperback! 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

My Forever Friends is now in paperback! With My Forever Friends, the fourth book in her Forver Friends series, Julie Bowe brings (almost) to a close the eventful fourth grade year of Ida May. When we first met Ida May at the start of the school year in My Last Best Friend, she was mourning the loss of her best friend, Elizabeth, who moved away. Ida resolves not to make any friends at all in

The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry is in paperback! For me and other adult readers of children's books, The Willoughbys is a tasty little treat. For young readers, I am not sure what they will make of it. And it matters to me what they will make of it. The Willoughbys is, from start to finish, a playful joke, a parody that pokes fun at "old fashioned" children's stories while at the same

The Dream Stealer is now in paperback! The Dream Stealer by Sid Fleischman teams up again with Peter Sís, his illustrator for the Newbery award winner, The Whipping Boy. As with The Whipping Boy, Fleischman takes on a story with a fairy tale feel, this time setting it in Mexico instead of a kingdom in "long ago and far away." The Dream Stealer begins with the line, "Muchachos and

THE YEAR OF THE BOOK is now in paperback! AND the sequel, THE YEAR OF THE BABY is out! (scroll down for more info!)  <!-- 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

<!-- START INTERCHANGE - A VOICE OF HER OWN THE STORY OF PHILLIS WHEATLEY SLAVE POET -->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 --> There are a handful of decent series of biographies for kids second through fourth grade reading level and they

<!-- START INTERCHANGE - VISION OF BEAUTY THE STORY OF SARAH BREEDLOVE WALKER -->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 --> Vision of Beauty : The Story of Sarah Breedlove Walker by Kathryn Lasky, illustrated by Nneka Bennet is another fantastic

SEND ME PICTURES OF YOUR CHILD'S LEGO CREATIONS AT [email protected] TO SHARE IN THIS REVIEW! FIRST PHOTO RECEIVED WINS A SIGNED COPY OF:  Otis Dooda : Strange But True! <!-- START INTERCHANGE - OTIS DOODA STRANGE BUT TRUE -->if(!window.igic__){window.igic__={};var d=document;var s=d.createElement("script");s.src="http://iangilman.com/interchange/js/widget.js";

<!-- START INTERCHANGE - THE SLEEPWALKERS -->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);} The Sleepwalkers is a graphic novel from Viviane Schwarz, the brilliant picture book illustrator and author, and, in her own words, maker of "other useful things." Schwarz's book from

<!-- START INTERCHANGE - A VOICE OF HER OWN THE STORY OF PHILLIS WHEATLEY SLAVE POET -->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 --> There are a handful of decent series of biographies for kids second through fourth grade reading level and they

This year in celebration of National Poetry Month, I want to celebrate by featuring books written in verse instead of books of poetry. I can't think of a better way to start this off than with Robert Paul Weston's marvel, Zorgamazoo. Written entirely in quatrains and couplets, Zorgamazoo screams to be read out loud, although is just as entertaining read on one's own. But, before I share the

<!-- 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

I first ran this review in 2008! It's been getting a lot of hits lately and, over the last few years I have become a huge fan of Julia Donaldson's brilliant picture books, so I thought I'd post this again for those of you who haven't heard of this book or her other works.   Julia Donaldson may be known to you as the writer of the wonderful rhyming picture books, The Gruffalo, The Gruffalo's