2014 Horn Book at Simmons Colloquium
Join us on October 10–11, 2014, for the 2014 Horn Book at Simmons Colloquium,
MIND THE GAPS, a memorable two-day event celebrating the best in
children’s and young adult literature.
Featured Posts
Board Book Roundup: Summer 2014 Edition
This column is part of a series of recommended board book roundups, formerly published twice a year, now published every season. You can find the previous installments here. Don’t miss Viki Ash’s primer “What Makes a Good Board Book?” from the … [Read More...]
Yaqui’s text set
Since I wrote recently about using a text set built around the idea of respect and the title Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina, a few people have asked what other texts we used alongside it. Our* essential question was "What makes … [Read More...]
A winter’s tale
If you aren't completely burned out on dystopian fiction, do go see* Snowpiercer, a big, violent, gorgeous, baroque movie about the end of civilization, its last remnant perpetually traveling the ice-covered globe in a nonstop great big train. There … [Read More...]
Blogs & Opinions
A winter’s tale
If you aren't completely burned out on dystopian fiction, do go see* Snowpiercer, a big, violent, gorgeous, baroque movie about the end of civilization, its last remnant perpetually traveling the ice-covered globe in a nonstop great big train. There … [Read More...]
And straight on ’til morning
The other day my friend's four-year-old daughter asked me, "Guess what I wished for?" I was a little nervous about this — after all, isn't it bad luck to tell others your wish? — but she insisted. "A puppy? A pony? A baby elephant?" "No, it … [Read More...]
Yaqui’s text set
Since I wrote recently about using a text set built around the idea of respect and the title Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina, a few people have asked what other texts we used alongside it. Our* essential question was "What makes … [Read More...]
From the Editor — July 2014
We lost two significant pioneers of YA literature this past month. When Nancy Garden’s Annie on My Mind was published in 1982, the possibilities for GLBTQ characters in teen fiction changed forever. The book said to gay kids: you are not going … [Read More...]
Review of the Week
Review of Little Roja Riding Hood
Little Roja Riding Hood by Susan Middleton Elya; illus. by Susan Guevara Primary Putnam 32 pp. 4/14 978-0-399-24767-5 $16.99 g Little Red rides an ATV to deliver la canasta (basket) to her ailing abuela in this hip updated version of the traditional tale. Liberally sprinkled with Spanish words and phrases, the rhyming text is fresh and funny (“‘Abue,’ he said in a high squeaky voz, / ‘I’m sorry to hear of your terrible tos’”) and often unexpected. (For example, “basket” is … [Read More...]
App Review of the Week
The Power of Poison app review
Apps make great companions to museum exhibitions, serving both as supplements to enhance visitors' experiences and as substitutes for those who can't see exhibits in person. (We've reviewed several of this type of app: Color Uncovered and Sound Uncovered by the Exploratorium; Dinosaurs and Creatures of Light by the American Museum of Natural History. The AMNH has another excellent nonfiction app in The Power of Poison (2013), a companion to its current exhibit of the same name. This short but … [Read More...]
Summer Reading
The editors of The Horn Book spotlight the books kids — and you, too — will enjoy as part of the season’s leisure, every bit as delicious as ice cream.
Recommended Books
Review of Little Roja Riding Hood
Little Roja Riding Hood by Susan Middleton Elya; illus. by Susan Guevara Primary Putnam 32 pp. 4/14 978-0-399-24767-5 $16.99 g Little Red rides an ATV to deliver la canasta … [Read More...]
Board Book Roundup: Summer 2014 Edition
This column is part of a series of recommended board book roundups, formerly published twice a year, now published every season. You can find the previous installments here. Don’t miss Viki Ash’s … [Read More...]
Review of Like No Other
Like No Other by Una LaMarche Middle School, High School Razorbill/Penguin 347 pp. 7/14 978-1-59514-674-8 $17.99 g How’s this for a meet cute? New York teens Devorah and Jaxon get … [Read More...]
Review of Pom and Pim
Pom and Pim by Lena Landström; illus. by Olof Landström; trans. from the Swedish by Julia Marshall Preschool Gecko 32 pp. 3/14 978-1-877579-66-0 $16.95 Pom is a small child with … [Read More...]
Review of The Family Romanov
The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia by Candace Fleming Middle School, High School Schwartz & Wade/Random 287 pp. 7/14 978-0-375-86782-8 … [Read More...]
Interviews
Five questions for Varian Johnson
Varian Johnson (who was co-valedictorian, with his twin brother, of his high school class, thank you very much) enjoys two careers: as an author and an engineer. It's not surprising, then, that his … [Read More...]
Cathleen Daly on Emily’s Blue Period
In the July/August 2014 Horn Book Magazine, reviewer Martha Parravano asked Emily's Blue Period author Cathleen Daly about the dual focus of this innovative picture book. Read the starred review of … [Read More...]
Five questions for K. T. Horning on The Jackson 5
In her profile of Rita Williams-Garcia, K. T. Horning discusses the mutual love she and Rita have for The Jackson 5 — a love Rita infuses into her 2014 CSK Author Award–winning novel P.S. Be Eleven. … [Read More...]
Angela Johnson on All Different Now
On this day in 1865 — more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued — abolition was finally announced in Texas, the last stronghold of slavery. In the May/June 2014 Horn Book … [Read More...]
An Interview with Frances Foster
In the September/October 2003 Horn Book Magazine, Leonard S. Marcus interviewed longtime editor Frances Foster, head of Frances Foster Books, an imprint of Farrar, Straus & Giroux. Leonard S. … [Read More...]
