The Yarn
September 30, 2011 by Travis Jonker
When a good book is wrapped in a less-than-good jacket, we like to call that an Unfortunate Cover. I was walking by the fiction section in my 3rd and 4th grade school today when I saw this: The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynn Reid Banks *Shoe heels screeching to a halt* *Double take* This […]
September 29, 2011 by Travis Jonker
Bone Dog By Eric Rohmann Roaring Brook Press (Macmillan) ISBN: 9781596431508 $16.99 Grades K-2 In Stores *Best New Book* Holiday books hold a unique place in the world of children’s literature. They are likely to get a bump in popularity due to the holiday tie-in (at least for a certain part of the year), but […]
September 28, 2011 by Travis Jonker
Can you tell fiction from nonfiction? A quick test. Which of the following statements is true? A) I once dressed up for Halloween as Chris “Mac Daddy” Kelly one half of the early 90s rap group Kris Kross. B) I once dressed up for Halloween as Chris “Daddy Mac” Smith the other half of the early 90s rap […]
September 28, 2011 by Travis Jonker
MAURICE SENDAK BENEATH THE SURFACE NPR recently interviewed the children’s lit legend, and found him in a reflective mood. An excellent interview that goes more in-depth than the typical Q&A. Click here to listen. BOARD BOOK PRESENTED WITHOUT COMMENT (Thanks to NOTCOT.ORG for the link) BUILD THE BOOK, THEY WILL COME (HOPEFULLY) Author Marc Tyler […]
September 27, 2011 by Travis Jonker
Squish Rabbit By Katherine Battersby Viking (Penguin) ISBN: 9780670012671 $12.99 Grades PreK-1 In Stores Themes don’t get much more universal than friendship. The sheer amount of children’s books based on the topic is staggering. Seriously, you can’t swing a puppet in the children’s section without knocking over a couple stacks of them. It’s a testament […]
September 23, 2011 by Travis Jonker
I’m amazed how some folks can find covers that use the same stock photography (the blog Pop Culture Junkie does an exceedingly excellent job of this). Most of the covers I pair up tend to be more like how Top Chef‘s Tom Colicchio looks like Jon Scieszka – eerily close, but not the same (or […]
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September 20, 2011 by Travis Jonker
Grandpa Green By Lane Smith Roaring Brook Press ISBN: 9781596436077 $16.99 Grades K-4 In Stores I realized after reading, rereading, and reflecting on Lane Smith’s latest book, Grandpa Green, that I’ve spent more time considering (and, at times, being confounded by) Smith’s last two releases than the last two books from pretty much any author. […]
September 14, 2011 by Travis Jonker
BOOKSHELVES An unexpected side effect of the great digital migration: bookshelves that are made to hold… not books. Click here to read. *UPDATE* Not so says IKEA WRITER’S HUT NEEDS MOVING: $760,000 PLEASE Efforts are underway to move Roal Dahl’s famous writer’s hut (I posted about said hut a couple years back) to a nearby […]
September 8, 2011 by Travis Jonker
In the world of similar-looking book covers, we have the separated at birth clones, and we have the “hey, you look like your sister” resemblances. Today, I bring forth an example of the latter. First cover… Eragon by Christopher Paolini And the second… Ancient, Strange, and Lovely by Susan Fletcher Side by side: While there […]
September 7, 2011 by Travis Jonker
Q: Should Books Have Michael Jackson Soundtracks? A: Probably Not Man, there are so many things to take in when considering Booktrack, a company that creates musical scores for ebooks. Most of this is due to the video, which features the MJ classic Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’. Would you like a soundtrack for your reading? […]
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by Betsy Bird
Politics in Practice
by John Chrastka
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