Featured Posts
Game of Thrones read-alikes
Welp, I dunno about you, but I was Not Happy with the most recent episode of Game of Thrones. And given that it was the penultimate episode — ever — I'm getting pretty nervous about the finale on Sunday. Whether you're sticking out the season and … [Read More...]
R.I.P., Grumpy Cat
We are sad to hear of the passing of kitty superstar Tardar Sauce, better known as Grumpy Cat. Her perpetually "grumpy" expression (the result of her unique genetics) has brought smiles to so many and reportedly belied a sweet personality. We'll miss … [Read More...]
Lift Every Voice: Words and Music
Because I was running away from anything that required being in the public eye, I am sure that any early motivation to be a writer was deeply buried in my subconscious and lay there, unrecognized, for many years. Writing this article has sent me back … [Read More...]
Week in Review, May 13th – May 17th
This week on hbook.com Summer Reading 2019 featuring 5Q for Isabel Quintero and Zeke Peña From May/June 2019 Horn Book Magazine: Special Issue: The CSK Book Awards at 50: "Walking My Own Path" by Renée Watson "The Greatest Review I’ll … [Read More...]
Horn Book Summer Reading
We've pulled together our annual recommendations for summer reading. As ever, we present books we hope will spur purely recreational reading, which to my mind is the kind of reading most worth doing. I hope you find something your charges will … [Read More...]
Blogs
Horn Book Summer Reading
We've pulled together our annual recommendations for summer reading. As ever, we present books we hope will spur purely recreational reading, which to my mind is the kind of reading most worth doing. I hope you find something your charges will … [Read More...]
Game of Thrones read-alikes
Welp, I dunno about you, but I was Not Happy with the most recent episode of Game of Thrones. And given that it was the penultimate episode — ever — I'm getting pretty nervous about the finale on Sunday. Whether you're sticking out the season and … [Read More...]
Haiku: A Small Poem with Great Potential
snow melting the village brimming over… with children! --Issa (1763-1828) (translated by David Lanoue) Yes, I was taught that a haiku, a short poem that originated in Japan centuries ago, was supposed to consist of three lines of five, seven, … [Read More...]
The 2019 Robin Smith Picture Book Prize
Perched on her rocking chair (brightly painted by her students with Alabama outsider artist Chris Clark), teacher Robin Smith would launch with glee and gusto into a beloved picture book, her second graders in a semicircle at her feet. Every day for … [Read More...]
Review of the Week
Review of Enemy Child: The Story of Norman Mineta, a Boy Imprisoned in a Japanese American Internment Camp During World War II
Enemy Child: The Story of Norman Mineta, a Boy Imprisoned in a Japanese American Internment Camp During World War II by Andrea Warren Intermediate, Middle School Ferguson/Holiday 214 pp. 3/19 978-0-8234-4151-8 $22.99 Continuing her theme of children in peril because of governmental policies outside of their control, Warren (Surviving Hitler, rev. 3/01; Escape from Saigon, rev. 9/04) gives readers both a micro and a macro view of Japanese American internment during the Second … [Read More...]
App Review of the Week
Sesame Street app review
Can you tell me how to get to…tons of wonderful educational videos and games for preschoolers? Just like the neighborhood itself, the Sesame Street companion app (Sesame Workshop, 2014; iOS and Android) is the place to be: a free account gives a child access to a large selection of games as well as new and classic (ad-free) video clips from the television show. The home screen offers a handful of featured videos and games. Below that, large icons link to additional videos organized by topic … [Read More...]
Recommended Books
Review of Enemy Child: The Story of Norman Mineta, a Boy Imprisoned in a Japanese American Internment Camp During World War II
Enemy Child: The Story of Norman Mineta, a Boy Imprisoned in a Japanese American Internment Camp During World War II by Andrea Warren Intermediate, Middle School Ferguson/Holiday 214 … [Read More...]
Review of My Papi Has a Motorcycle
My Papi Has a Motorcycle by Isabel Quintero; illus. by Zeke Peña Primary Kokila/Penguin 40 pp. g 5/19 978-0-525-55341-0 $17.99 Spanish ed. 978-0-525-55494-3 $17.99 Quintero’s … [Read More...]
Review of Harold & Hog Pretend for Real!
Harold & Hog Pretend for Real! [Elephant & Piggie Like Reading!] by Dan Santat; illus. by the author; with additional illustrations by Mo Willems Primary Hyperion 64 pp. g 5/19 … [Read More...]
Review of B Is for Baby
B Is for Baby by Atinuke; illus. by Angela Brooksbank Preschool Candlewick 40 pp. 3/19 978-1-5362-0166-6 $16.99 Atinuke and Brooksbank (Baby Goes to Market) reunite for another … [Read More...]
Review of Nine Months: Before a Baby Is Born
Nine Months: Before a Baby Is Born by Miranda Paul; illus. by Jason Chin Primary Porter/Holiday 32 pp. 4/19 978-0-8234-4161-7 $18.99 e-book ed. 978-0-8234-4213-3 $18.99 A pithy … [Read More...]
Interviews
Summer Reading 2019: Five Questions for Isabel Quintero and Zeke Peña
Author Isabel Quintero and illustrator Zeke Peña previously collaborated on 2018 Boston Globe–Horn Book Nonfiction Award–winning graphic novel Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide (Getty, 12 … [Read More...]
David Elliott Talks with Roger
Talks with Roger is a sponsored supplement to our free monthly e-newsletter, Notes from the Horn Book. To receive Notes, sign up here. Sponsored by In 2017's Bull, poet David Elliott … [Read More...]
Five questions for Raúl the Third
There's so much to see in Raúl the Third's comics-influenced picture book ¡Vamos!: Let's Go to the Market! (Versify/Houghton, 5–8 years). The story takes place in and around the bustling Mercado … [Read More...]
Five questions for Christian Robinson
Another (Atheneum, 3–7 years) is the debut of acclaimed illustrator Christian Robinson working as both author and illustrator…in a wordless, sci-fi picture book about cats, wormholes (or maybe … [Read More...]
Five questions for Laurie Halse Anderson
This year marks the twentieth anniversary of Laurie Halse Anderson’s landmark novel Speak (Farrar, 12–16 years), about Melinda, a teenage rape victim who reclaims her voice. Now in SHOUT (Viking, 14 … [Read More...]
