Featured Posts
Judith Kerr (1923-2019)
Author/illustrator Judith Kerr has passed away at the age of ninety-five. Kerr's first book was the picture-book classic The Tiger Who Came to Tea. She is also the creator of a long-running series about Mog, the Forgetful Cat; and more recently … [Read More...]
Jewish American Heritage Month 2019
May is Jewish American Heritage Month! The Boston Public Library has a good list of books to get you started exploring the (varied) Jewish experience in the U.S. Check out The Knish War on Rivington Street for a glimpse into the … [Read More...]
Presenting the 2019 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winners
Watch this space! On Wednesday, May 29, 2019, at 8:30 am EDT, The Horn Book, Inc., Editor in Chief Roger Sutton will be announcing the winners of the 2019 Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards, during School Library Journal's Day of Dialog in New York City. … [Read More...]
One of the choices
A couple of years ago, I had an idea for a blog post: a collection pictures I’d taken of my kids over time, having fallen asleep on books or with books next to them, asleep, in their beds. Gripping, right? Well, that post hasn’t come to pass...you’re … [Read More...]
Lift Every Voice: My Own Origin Story
Growing up, I always loved magic. It was exciting, because I was a curious kid who devoted a good deal of brainpower to figuring out the whys of the world. This love of magic eventually manifested in a love of science — and with it science fiction — … [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...]
Jewish American Heritage Month 2019
May is Jewish American Heritage Month! The Boston Public Library has a good list of books to get you started exploring the (varied) Jewish experience in the U.S. Check out The Knish War on Rivington Street for a glimpse into the … [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...]
Spring Picture Books on the Radar
Why, hello there! We are running our fingers through a few months’ worth of cyber-dust here at the Calling Caldecott blog, given that our last post was in January. Have you been reading picture books in 2019? You can trust that we have, and we … [Read More...]
Review of the Week
Review of I Am Hermes!: Mischief-Making Messenger of the Gods
I Am Hermes!: Mischief-Making Messenger of the Gods by Mordicai Gerstein; illus. by the author Primary, Intermediate Holiday 72 pp. g 4/19 978-0-8234-3942-3 $18.99 e-book ed. 978-0-8234-4203-4 $11.99 Following I Am Pan! (rev. 5/16), here comes Pan’s father, Hermes, the messenger god, eager to tell his own story. This Hermes is handsome, insouciant, impulsive, and bursting with self-esteem (his first word: “Gimme!”). His adventures and exploits are decorated with … [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
Presenting the 2019 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winners
Watch this space! On Wednesday, May 29, 2019, at 8:30 am EDT, The Horn Book, Inc., Editor in Chief Roger Sutton will be announcing the winners of the 2019 Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards, during School … [Read More...]
Books mentioned in the May 2019 issue of Nonfiction Notes from the Horn Book
Life skills Alexander, Kwame The Playbook: 52 Rules to Aim, Shoot, and Score in This Game Called Life Photographs by Thai Neave Gr. 4–6, middle school 172 pp. Houghton 2017 Trade ISBN … [Read More...]
Sustainable eating
Archer, Joe and Craig, Caroline Plant, Cook, Eat!: A Children's Cookbook Gr. 4–6 112 pp. Charlesbridge Archer and Craig provide an overview of different plant food sources (including … [Read More...]
Evolution
Bonner, Hannah When Fish Got Feet, When Bugs Were Big, & When Dinos Dawned: A Cartoon Prehistory of Life on Earth Gr. 4–6 128 pp. National Geographic New ed. Bonner's excellent … [Read More...]
Review of I Am Hermes!: Mischief-Making Messenger of the Gods
I Am Hermes!: Mischief-Making Messenger of the Gods by Mordicai Gerstein; illus. by the author Primary, Intermediate Holiday 72 pp. g 4/19 978-0-8234-3942-3 $18.99 e-book ed. … [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...]
