Before we jump into the Book bag to talk about some of our favorite Tween and YA books, I want to let you know about a new blog we've found. [read more...]
I was walking down the hall at a local elementary school where I tutor, and happened to catch the morning announcement. "Today is the 145th day of school." That means, there are only 35 days left... [read more...]
One summer afternoon I visited with professional storyteller, Alice McGill in her home in Maryland. We sat down and ate a hearty dinner with her husband, and she talked about many things including [read more...]
Q: What do you think of celebrity books? A: I think celebrities in general should do their homework before diving into an artistic area that they don't know much about. I respect the... [read more...]
The over day I searched online for Lucille Clifton's poem "Blessing the Boats." The sparse words and vivid imagery it evokes somehow lifts me when I'm a little bit blue. While online I discovered [read more...]
Watch out, Dad! Older brother has big plans: he’s going to trade you for goldfish. His little sister isn’t so sure about this. And then Mom finds out, but the deal has already been struck. Now what? [read more...]
“Today, our baby is not laughing. Not a hint of a dimple or a glimmer of a smile, but a face like thunder!” Though everyone in the family tries to get the baby to smile with tickling and peek-a-boo... [read more...]
While browsing my local bookstore one day, a bookseller called my attention to a book published by some fifth graders in Virginia called The Adventures of Danny and Spike Underground... [read more...]
I’m more than ready for springtime. Like, now. Warm weather, gentle breezes, and long days recharge my batteries. It’s been a mild winter here, so I have no right to complain, oh but complain I will. [read more...]
Incredible illustrations, not much story. The whole book is Monkey and Me went to see some [insert animal here]. It is very cute that the sock monkey and the girl are acting like the animal right before... [read more...]
Loved this book. My sixth-grade daughter loved this book. I’m sure my cats would have loved the book if I had taken the time to read it to them. When San Lee moves to a new school, he always adjusts his... [read more...]
I’m bringing back a book from one whole year ago, Rickshaw Girl, by Mitali Perkins. Naima is a girl on the verge of heading out of the salwar kameez (long-sleeved tunics over cotton pants) and into a... [read more...]
Three recent — and good — picture book additions in my fair library. I’m thinking of making these Three Picture Books posts a new thing for this blog, since I have a steady... [read more...]
My eight-year-old really wants a hamster. She asks every once in a while, and we go to the pet store to see them every chance we get. She doesn’t whine about it, but she brings home a school [read more...]
Q&A—After the Sale
Q: After you sell a picture
book, how much work are you asked to do before the book is published?
[read more...]
By MOTHERREADER
April, 2008
Today I’m giving you a poem that made me laugh out loud from an excellent, funny book, Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf, by Jennifer Holm. [read more...]
By RICK WALTON
April, 2008
When I'm driving with the family, we sometimes sing. When I sing, I like to drift into parody. This idea came up on a trip to San Diego in 1999. [read more...]
By MOTHERREADER
April, 2008
Recently a good friend of mine had a favor to ask of me. She has a young baby and requested some board book suggestions. As it so happens, I had just seen some interesting almost-board books that came into my library. [read more...]
By MOTHERREADER
March, 2008
Earlier this year, there was some nice blog buzz about a book by Rose Kent, Kimchi & Calamari. It looked interesting, but it took my library months to order it and then another ... [read more...]
By MOTHERREADER
March, 2008
It really takes looking at Orange Pear Apple Bear, by Emily Gravett, to get why everyone is talking about this book. It is so simple, but so perfect. Using just four words — okay, one extra word at the end ... [read more...]
By SHUTTA CRUM
March, 2008
I awoke this morning with that famous opening line from Daphne Du Maurier’s REBECCA in my drowsy head. I’m not sure why. I haven’t reread it for some time, nor have I seen the movie lately. [read more...]
By ADJOA BURROWES
March, 2008
I remember taking my daughter and niece to Chinatown in New York one spring. We drove to New Jersey from Northern Virginia and then took a train to Chinatown. We spent hours walking city block after... [read more...]
By MOTHERREADER
March, 2008
I am surrounded by junk. I can’t clear it out. A lack of time and energy does play a huge part in the steady accumulation of stuff. But the process of cleaning up takes [read more...]
By MOTHERREADER
March, 2008
When I was about ten years old, I stole a roll of ribbon from a fabric store. The roll had maybe two feet left on it and for some reason I can’t explain now, I had to have it. That night I felt [read more...]
By MOTHERREADER
February, 2008
No big introduction, just a sentence to say that here are three picture books that have caught my eye lately. [read more...]
By ADJOA BURROWES
February, 2008
I joined over a million readers on Sunday February 3, at the Sherwood Regional Library in Alexandria, Virginia as part of the Nineteenth National African American Read-In sponsored by the Black Caucus [read more...]
By ADJOA BURROWES
February, 2008
I remember Lorenzo Pace when I was a high school student in Chicago. Lorenzo was teaching at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago. I would sometimes see him at the Southside Community Art Center... [read more...]
By SHUTTA CRUM
February, 2008
Right now, I find myself reading in the round. That is, reading a variety of translations of one title—in this case, Beowulf. (I’m not sure if this is the correct term for this type of reading . . . [read more...]
By ADJOA BURROWES
February, 2008
In early January about a dozen middle school girls from the Community Bridges-Dream Catchers mentoring program converged on Pyramid Atlantic -- a respected print and paper arts institution... [read more...]
By MOTHERREADER
February, 2008
The third graders at my daughters’ school celebrated Chinese New Year recently bringing in with style the Year of the Rat. [read more...]
By SHUTTA CRUM
December, 2007
A favorite quote of mine from G. K. Chesterton is, “Children are innocent and love justice, while we [adults] are wicked and prefer mercy."
I came across this quote while I was writing my firs [read more...]
By ROZ BEITLER
December, 2007
International children's literature is alive and well in the U.S. thanks to USBBY (www.usbby.org.) and, particularly, its IBBY Regional Conferences. The 7th IBBY Regional Conference was held last N [read more...]
By MOTHERREADER
December, 2007
The Cicely Mary Barker books have been repackaged as “Flower Fairies Friends Chapter Books” in a series that includes the one my family readButtercup and the Fairy Gold. [read more...]
By ADJOA BURROWES
December, 2007
I've been revising my picture book about children and divorce for some time now. The book centers around a child trying to cope with the practical and emotional logistics of living in two households... [read more...]
By SHUTTA CRUM
November, 2007
Recently an interesting question popped up on the Ask A Scientist Physics Archive. (I know. I must have been sleep-surfing!) Anyway, the question was “Is it possible to artificially distort [read more...]
By ADJOA BURROWES
November, 2007
Few knew that the late, renown American painter, Lois Mailou Jones (1905-1995) illustrated several children's books during her prolific career as an artist — not even me. I was a student of hers at Howard University where she taught for 47 years. [read more...]
By ROZ BEITLER
November, 2007
Even if you're not traveling abroad, you can experience the global world of children's books. This adventure happened to me as a member of the '06 Batchelder Award Committee of the American Library A [read more...]
By MOTHERREADER
October, 2007
One of the bestselling preschool books of recent times was Walter the Farting Dog. At the same time the American Library Association named as one of its best books Michael Rosen’s Sad [read more...]
By MARTY RHODES FIGLEY
September, 2007
Adults who write for children have vivid memories of their own childhoods. One of mine is of PANCAKES. The making of pancakes. The consuming of pancakes. The utter stickiness of pancakes. [read more...]
By MOTHERREADER
September, 2007
As I was on the computer rather late, these thoughts popped into my head in sequence and in almost perfect haiku form. With a bit of tweaking I had the following MotherReader original... [read more...]
By MOTHERREADER
August, 2007
Before summer totally ends, let me share my four favorite of last year. If you want to relive those pleasant days when the tide ruled your day, pick up one of these wonderful books.
[read more...]
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