This is the first in a series of posts about makerspaces and activities children can do from home during the current coronavirus outbreak. Please stay tuned for more—and follow us @ALA_Booklist for the latest updates. Wishing you safety, health, and books galore during these exceedingly difficult times. On an ordinary day, children’s book authors and […]
Last fall, to commemorate Roald Dahl’s hundredth birthday, the late author’s estate and publisher launched a year-long celebration of all things Dahl. (We celebrated by eating crow—to read all about how Booklist has slagged off Dahl’s writing over the years, click here.) In March, the Roald Dahl Literary Estate and others kicked off Roald Dahl’s Imaginormous Challenge—a contest that closes […]
In 1980, there were few books about African Americans—and even fewer written by African Americans themselves. Into the void stepped Patricia McKissack, who died yesterday at age 72, four years after her husband and co-author, Frederick. In her St. Louis Post-Dispatch obituary, McKissack’s son noted that his parents had “a missionary zeal to write about African-American […]
“Ghoulish, sordid, and the product of a depraved mind!” writes one reviewer. “I haven’t finished but I don’t like the effect,” opines another. Doesn’t sound very much like a recipe for success, does it? But those hot takes were among Booklist’s responses to Roald Dahl’s first two full-length works for children, James and the Giant […]
Shortly after the annual Youth Media Awards, novelist Ashley Hope Pérez (herself a fresh awardee: a Printz Honor for Out of Darkness) contacted me about helping facilitate a conversation she wished to have about diversity in kidlit—a hot topic these days, though Pérez specifically wanted to talk about it in terms of awards and best-of lists. As […]
Lynn: My sons are better parents than I was, there is no doubt. When I wanted my four-year-old to stop doing something, I often resorted to shrieking. When my little grandson is up to something, my son and daughter-in-law calmly, say, “No thank you, Henry.” Masterful! So there is small wonder that both Henry and I […]
I’ll admit it, this week’s Webcomics Wednesday pick, Drew Weing’s delightfully eerie The Creepy Casefiles of Margo Maloo, is about a week late. Lurking monsters in haunted, abandoned buildings is perfect Halloween fare, after all, but in my book, as long as there’s trick-or-treat candy in my desk drawer (there is, and there’s a lot of it), spooky stories are […]
Teachers and librarians, rejoice! Here’s the best Freebie Friday EVER. Thousands of ebooks for your unlimited use, for free, with NO END DATE OR LIMIT! Currently available for the iPad, Epic! is a fast-growing service developed by industry leaders to provide engaging, quality literature on tablets and digital devices. Even though I’m an Android user, […]
Booklist‘s Top 10 Sports Books for Youth from our September 1 issue has raised some ire in the blogosphere—and for good reason. Though the list features women authors, the eight fiction titles on the list feature male protagonists, and that’s neither reflective of reality nor particularly inspiring to young readers. As good librarians and readers should, they noticed and […]