The premise is simple: one season, ten books.
About Travis Jonker
Travis Jonker is an elementary school librarian in Michigan. He writes reviews (and the occasional article or two) for School Library Journal and is a member of the 2014 Caldecott committee. You can email Travis at scopenotes@gmail.com, or follow him on Twitter: @100scopenotes.
Review: Who Wet My Pants? by Bob Shea and Zachariah O’Hora
September 16, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Who Wet My Pants?By Bob SheaIllustrated by Zachariah O’Hora Little, Brown ISBN: 9780316525213$17.99Grades K-2Out September 17, 2019 *Best New Book* Find it at:Schuler Books | Your Library When I was in first grade I peed my pants at school. It happened near the end of the day, and I managed to sneak out of school […]
Ho, Ho, Holy Cow! Enter the GREAT SANTA STAKEOUT Giveaway!
September 12, 2019 by Leave a Comment
When I learned that the great librarian, blogger, podcaster, and writer Betsy Bird had written another picture book that would be illustrated by Caldecott Medalist Dan Santat, I got all excited to read it. Then I read it, and I got excited to share it with my students, because I think they’re going to love […]
Predictions! NYT Best Illustrated Children’s Books 2019
September 10, 2019 by 5 Comments
Here’s how it usually goes when I try to predict the 10 titles that will be named New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s books. I begin with maybe one or two books that seem likely. Then I survey the landscape and realize there are a ton of books that could end up on the list. […]
Review: Guts by Raina Telgemeier
September 9, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Guts doesn’t need a review to let people know they should read it – fans of her past work are chomping at the bit. But when it’s this good, I can’t help myself.
On the 100th Episode of The Yarn, We Reveal All the Secrets
September 8, 2019 by 1 Comment
I usually keep news about the The Yarn over on The Yarn blog, but when you hit the 100 episode mark, it must be shared everywhere. So how do Colby and I make the 100th episode special? How about a podcast all about what goes on behind the scenes of the podcast? We spill the […]
One Star Review, Guess Who? (#98)
September 7, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Can you guess the classic children’s book by its scathing one-star review on Goodreads or Amazon? I was very disappointed in the language of this book: “Cats go meow,” and “George went meow.” I am fighting against this ungrammatical usage of the words, “go” and “went” constantly. I can’t believe the editor let this slip, […]
A Heads Up: March Book Madness is Coming . . .
September 6, 2019 by 1 Comment
Every year I gather a group of teachers together to decide how we will celebrate March is Reading Month. You know, extra-celebrate reading (since celebrating reading is sort of the all-year gig as a librarian). We usually have an author visit, a family reading night at the school, and other activities. But sometimes those activities […]
Review: Stargazing by Jen Wang
September 3, 2019 by Leave a Comment
StargazingBy Jen WangColor by Lark Pien FirstSecond (Macmillan) ISBN: 9781250183880$12.99 (PBK)Out September 10, 2019 *Best New Book* Find it at:Schuler Books | Your Library Sometimes friendships don’t make sense from the outside. Think about your friends from when you were a kid. Sure there are the pals who were a lot like you, but I’m […]
Your 2019 Labor Day ‘Do Not Read’ List
September 2, 2019 by Leave a Comment
It’s Labor day. So whatever you do, DO NOT read these books.
Notes on August 2019
August 30, 2019 by Leave a Comment
In August . . . . . . we looked at the most unconventional books of the year. It’s always one of my favorite posts to put together. . . . I found paint colors based on famous picture books. And I challenged you to name the book by color palette alone. . . . […]
My Quest for the Best Read Aloud Chair
August 29, 2019 by Leave a Comment
I don’t ask for much. A library with some good books. A Rav4 with a working engine. A bowl of oatmeal every morning. I don’t think I’m a picky person. But then I went shopping for a new read aloud chair. I wanted something comfortable and quiet. No problem. That’s what I thought. I live […]
‘Will you be my best friend?’ LeUyen Pham and Shannon Hale Interview Each Other
August 27, 2019 by 1 Comment
Today the graphic novel memoir Best Friends is out in the world. It’s wonderful. To celebrate, I thought it would be fun for author Shannon Hale and illustrator LeUyen Pham to interview each other about the book. I figured they’d ask way better questions than I ever could. And it turns out that’s the case: Questions […]
Review: Another by Christian Robinson
August 26, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Another By Christian Robinson Atheneum (Simon & Schuster) ISBN: 9781534421677 $17.99 Grades PreK-2 Out Now *Best New Book* Find it at: Schuler Books | Your Library You know, it’s funny. After seeing an artist’s work over the course of a few years, you think you have a pretty good sense of that artist, right? But […]
How Do I Listen to The Yarn Podcast on Spotify?
August 24, 2019 by 1 Comment
First of all, glad you asked. The children’s literature podcast I co-host with Colby Sharp was just added to Spotify and we’re pretty excited about it. If you’re a Spotify subscriber, you can click here to find the show. Or, you can visit Spotify and search for us. Here’s how. Now new episodes of The […]
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