It was Bookshelves of Doom who alerted me to the just-released list of the most challenged books of 2013. Here are the top five: 1. Captain Underpants (series) by Dav Pilkey Reasons: Offensive language, unsuited for age group, violence 2. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, [...]
LIKE NAILS ON A BOOK COVER At my wizened age, I’m coming to realize I’m a process nerd. I love it when something goes from “cool” to “AMAZING!” when you find out how it was made. And that, my friends, is exactly what happened when I saw these new Puffin Chalks over at Caustic Cover [...]
WHAT SOLD IN 2013? Publisher’s Weekly puts numbers to names, listing the best selling children’s books of last year. You can guess #1? Can you guess the first picture book on the list? Click here to read. CHILDREN’S LIT ON THE AIRWAVES On a recent episode of On Point, Tom Ashbrook talks to LeVar Burton, [...]
THE STATE OF THE PICTURE BOOK Children’s publishing legend Neal Porter (he of Neal Porter Books at Roaring Brook Press) took part in a fascinating interview with children’s lit historian Leonard S. Marcus for Horn Book. Their back and forth about the state of the picture book was the best thing I read all week. [...]
SO NEW I love checking out the annual Publishers Weekly Fall Sneak Peeks, a lengthy list of children’s books on the horizon. All kinds of exciting stuff coming. Click here to take a look. YOU CAN’T DO THAT IN AMERICA Sometimes, it takes a French children’s literature controversy to remind us just how different our [...]
NOTABLES NOTED The 2014 ALSC Notable Children’s books list came out a couple weeks back, and I always check to make sure I have all these books on our shelves. Waking Brain Cells has a nice visual roundup of the list. Click here for Middle Reader Notables Click here for Younger Reader Notables NOT BOARD [...]
KUMBAYA, MY NERDS, KUMBAYA I attended NerdCampMI last year and left singing. It was my first “unconference” experience and it was spectacular. So many great people attended, all in the name of literacy and sharing ideas. Colby Sharp just announced that registration is open for the 2014 edition of NerdCampMI, and I wholeheartedly recommend you [...]
AMBASSADORIAL SUCCESSION Kate DiCamillo is the new National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature. She’s a perfect pick. SLJ gave me the honor of interviewing Ms. DiCamillo for the February issue and they included an excerpt in their Ambassador announcement. Click here to read. AND THE BEST-SELLING BOOK OF 2013 IS… … a book for kids. [...]
READ. SHARE. The New York Public Library recently released their annual 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing. A who’s who of books that should be on your shelf. Click here for the PDF. GOOD DETECTIVE WORK The Nonfiction Detectives have named their Best Nonfiction Books of 2013. How did I miss Bone by Bone? Click [...]
Kicking it old school this week by revisiting the old Morning Notes format… WALTER DEAN MYERS: MUFFIN FAN Yesterday our National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, Walter Dean Myers, took part in an Ask Me Anything (AMA) on Reddit. He fielded some excellent questions about his work. And divulged his feelings on muffins. Click here to read. [...]
CHARLOTTE ZOLOTOW 1915-2013 Sad news. Esteemed children’s author and editor Charlotte Zolotow has passed away. Click here for a piece remembering Zolotow in the New York Times. NBA NIGHT Don’t even tell me you’re thinking basketball. Tonight (Wednesday, November 20) is when the National Book Awards are doled out. This includes the winner for the [...]
HAVE A BOOKISH CHRISTMAS Well, this is a cool idea. In preparation for Christmas, Amy at Delightful Children’s Books is putting a bookish spin on the idea of the advent calendar – 25 days, 25 books. A fine, fine idea and an excellent batch of Christmas titles to boot. Click here to check it out. [...]
GET OUT THE GOODREADS VOTE The social network for book lovers, Goodreads, just unveiled their annual “people’s choice”-type awards. You can always count me in on checking out a best of the year list. As a whole, I’m liking their picture book picks more than middle grade group of nominees. Click here to vote in [...]
WHERE FOR ART THOU? I think any self-respecting children’s literature fan is going to be with me on this, but I believe the world may not need a board book version of Romeo & Juliet. Trimming the classics down to board book size is on the rise. Click here to read. A RARE PRIZE Do [...]
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