Featured Posts
The star-making machinery
Grandpa got grumpy yesterday over one of his old nemeses: the Non-Disclosure Agreement. An NDA in this circumstance is when a publisher asks us to sign a contract putting certain restrictions on the Horn Book before forking over an advance review … [Read More...]
Egg
Every time I see a new book from Kevin Henkes, I think of that time that Bruce Handy wrote in the New York Times, “It should be said: Kevin Henkes is a genius.” Bona fide genius or not, I do think Henkes is a master of the picture book form. And he’s … [Read More...]
BGHB at 50: The Adventures of Sparrowboy
In celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards, established in 1967, we will be publishing a series of appreciations of BGHB winners and honorees from the past. This is the second in the series to be published in The … [Read More...]
Celebrating one year of Family Reading
Happy 1st Birthday to this blog! We debuted this blog on September 14, 2016 — which Katie noted last Thursday during the Horn Book staff's annual editorial planning meeting at Roger's house. For some reason, everyone was too focused on work flow … [Read More...]
Week in Review, September 11th – 15th
This week on hbook.com… September 2017 issue of Notes from the Horn Book: 5Q for Anne Quirk on The Good Fight, history nonfiction audiobooks, picture books full of back-to-school silliness, new chapter-book friends, YA about school as a … [Read More...]
Blogs
The star-making machinery
Grandpa got grumpy yesterday over one of his old nemeses: the Non-Disclosure Agreement. An NDA in this circumstance is when a publisher asks us to sign a contract putting certain restrictions on the Horn Book before forking over an advance review … [Read More...]
Explore Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood app review
When I was a Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood–watching kid, we almost never got to see the insides of the buildings in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. I burned with curiosity about this. What was inside the castle? Or X the Owl’s tree? I may never know … [Read More...]
Picture books & easy readers | class #2, fall 2017
During our first class, we started to look at picture books. For our second class on September 20, we are adding easy readers into the mix. Here's what we are reading and discussing: Three more picture books That New Animal by Emily … [Read More...]
Egg
Every time I see a new book from Kevin Henkes, I think of that time that Bruce Handy wrote in the New York Times, “It should be said: Kevin Henkes is a genius.” Bona fide genius or not, I do think Henkes is a master of the picture book form. And he’s … [Read More...]
Review of the Week
Review of Jane, Unlimited
Jane, Unlimited by Kristin Cashore Middle School, High School Dawson/Penguin 451 pp. g 9/17 978-0-8037-4149-2 $17.99 When her guardian, Aunt Magnolia, dies, Jane is left untethered and financially insecure. Then Kiran, an old acquaintance, invites Jane to Tu Reviens (“you return”), Kiran’s family’s island mansion. Aunt Magnolia had told Jane unequivocally that “if you’re invited to Tu Reviens, go.” So Jane ends up at the exotic mansion, a place where staffers are not what … [Read More...]
App Review of the Week
Explore Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood app review
When I was a Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood–watching kid, we almost never got to see the insides of the buildings in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. I burned with curiosity about this. What was inside the castle? Or X the Owl’s tree? I may never know the answers to these questions, but today’s preschoolers can wander around Daniel Tiger’s neighborhood to their hearts’ content. Based on PBS’s animated series Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood — starring the son of Neighborhood of Make-Believe resident … [Read More...]
Recommended Books
Review of Jane, Unlimited
Jane, Unlimited by Kristin Cashore Middle School, High School Dawson/Penguin 451 pp. g 9/17 978-0-8037-4149-2 $17.99 When her guardian, Aunt Magnolia, dies, Jane is left … [Read More...]
Review of A Different Pond
A Different Pond by Bao Phi; illus. by Thi Bui Primary, Intermediate Capstone 32 pp. g 8/17 978-1-62370-803-0 $15.95 e-book ed. 978-1-62370-804-7 $9.95 Hours before sunrise, … [Read More...]
Review of Flashlight Night
Flashlight Night by Matt Forrest Esenwine; illus. by Fred Koehler Primary Boyds Mills 32 pp. 9/17 978-1-62979-493-8 $16.95 On any dark night, a flashlight illuminating shadows can … [Read More...]
Review of Pocket Full of Colors: The Magical World of Mary Blair, Disney Artist Extraordinaire
Pocket Full of Colors: The Magical World of Mary Blair, Disney Artist Extraordinaire by Amy Guglielmo and Jacqueline Tourville; illus. by Brigette Barrager Primary Atheneum 48 pp. 8/17 … [Read More...]
How to deal
For the protagonists of these recent YA novels, school variously serves as a source of anxiety and a means to cope (healthily or otherwise) with turmoil in other parts of their lives. In Posted by … [Read More...]
Interviews
Five questions for Anne Quirk
Anne Quirk's The Good Fight: The Feuds of the Founding Fathers (And How They Shaped the Nation) (Knopf, 10–14 years) highlights four sets of venerable opponents whose disputes helped set America's … [Read More...]
Alan Gratz 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 Alan Gratz's Refugee parallels the … [Read More...]
Publisher Mara Anastas 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 As the vice president and publisher of … [Read More...]
Five questions for Andrew Clements
I can't think of anyone better than Andrew Clements to start off our back-to-school issue of The Horn Book Herald. Clements had been publishing picture books for ten years when his first novel, … [Read More...]
Five Questions for Mayim Bialik
You may know Mayim Bialik as one of the stars of The Big Bang Theory. Or as Blossom. Or as young Bette Midler in Beaches (*sob!*). Or as a real-life neuroscientist. Or a blogger. Or a mother. Or a … [Read More...]
