Featured Posts
A Home in the Barn
Could Jerry Pinkney bring home Caldecott gold once again with his illustrations for A Home in the Barn? I don’t have a crystal ball, and even Santa (who knows everything) won’t tell me. But I do love this book. As we’ve seen, there are many stellar … [Read More...]
Holiday High Notes 2018
Deck the halls! It's time for our annual selection of fa-la-la-lots of new (and one reissued) holiday books, with reviews written by the Horn Book staff. Carols and Chaos by Cindy Anstey High School Swoon/Feiwel 284 pp. g 10/18 … [Read More...]
CaldeGeisel 2019
We here at Calling Caldecott are happy to welcome back the three librarians who run the show over at Guessing Geisel, the blog that celebrates beginning readers and annually runs a mock vote for the Geisel Award. Amy Seto Forrester, Amanda Foulk, and … [Read More...]
Horn Book Fanfare 2018
Here is Fanfare, the Horn Book’s annual list of the books we really loved the most. I wish I could tell you there was some more objective criteria, but there isn’t: these are the books the Horn Book editors, in consultation with our reviewers, are … [Read More...]
CaldeComics, Part Two
Today on Calling Caldecott, Alec Chunn writes about three 2018 graphic novels. This follows his October post, in which he wrote about three others. If you missed part one, it's here. — J.D. Though Elisa Gall and Jonathan Hunt made a pretty solid … [Read More...]
Blogs
Counting on You
Jason Low has announced that the Diversity Baseline survey is back. Publishers, book reviewers, agents (now with agents!) please join in. If the numbers are better than they were five years ago (and I suspect they are), the first iteration of this … [Read More...]
Week in Review, December 3rd – 7th
This week on hbook.com… Preview the January/February 2019 issue of The Horn Book Magazine: original cover by Jillian Tamaki; Fanfare; 2018 BGHB Awards speeches and pics; Uma Krishnaswami on books as “prisms”; Grace Lin asks white authors to “Speak … [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...]
A Home in the Barn
Could Jerry Pinkney bring home Caldecott gold once again with his illustrations for A Home in the Barn? I don’t have a crystal ball, and even Santa (who knows everything) won’t tell me. But I do love this book. As we’ve seen, there are many stellar … [Read More...]
Review of the Week
Review of I Lost My Tooth!
I Lost My Tooth! [Unlimited Squirrels] by Mo Willems; illus. by the author Primary Hyperion 86 pp. 10/18 978-1-368-02457-0 $12.99 Willems hands the reins of this new early reader series to fifteen cartoony squirrels, a yellow bird (a.k.a. Flappy Squirrel), and a couple of joke-telling acorns. The series is a step up in complexity from the Elephant & Piggie books and geared toward more independent readers. The nutty characters are introduced on the front endpapers, though … [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 I Lost My Tooth!
I Lost My Tooth! [Unlimited Squirrels] by Mo Willems; illus. by the author Primary Hyperion 86 pp. 10/18 978-1-368-02457-0 $12.99 Willems hands the reins of this new early reader … [Read More...]
Review of Kitten and the Night Watchman
Kitten and the Night Watchman by John Sullivan; illus. by Taeeun Yoo Preschool Wiseman/Simon 32 pp. 9/18 978-1-4814-6191-7 $17.99 e-book ed. 978-1-4814-6192-4 $10.99 A night … [Read More...]
Holiday High Notes 2018
Deck the halls! It's time for our annual selection of fa-la-la-lots of new (and one reissued) holiday books, with reviews written by the Horn Book staff. Carols and Chaos by Cindy Anstey High … [Read More...]
Review of The Penderwicks at Last audiobook
The Penderwicks at Last by Jeanne Birdsall; read by Susan Denaker Intermediate Listening Library Rev. 7/18 7 CDs 8.37 hrs. 978-0-525-59559-5 $55.00 This closing volume in the … [Read More...]
Review of Path to the Stars: My Journey from Girl Scout to Rocket Scientist
Path to the Stars: My Journey from Girl Scout to Rocket Scientist by Sylvia Acevedo Intermediate, Middle School Clarion 311 pp. 9/18 978-1-328-80956-8 $17.99 e-book ed. … [Read More...]
Interviews
Publishers’ Preview: Picture Books: Five Questions for Laura Vaccaro Seeger
This interview originally appeared in the November/December 2018 Horn Book Magazine as part of the Publishers’ Previews: Picture Books, an advertising supplement that allows participating publishers a … [Read More...]
Publishers’ Preview: Picture Books: Five Questions for Maira Kalman
This interview originally appeared in the November/December 2018 Horn Book Magazine as part of the Publishers’ Previews: Picture Books, an advertising supplement that allows participating publishers a … [Read More...]
Publishers’ Preview: Picture Books: Five Questions for Anika Aldamuy Denise and Paola Escobar
This interview originally appeared in the November/December 2018 Horn Book Magazine as part of the Publishers’ Previews: Picture Books, an advertising supplement that allows participating publishers a … [Read More...]
Five questions for Traci Sorell and Frané Lessac
We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga by Traci Sorell, illustrated by Frané Lessac (Charlesbridge, 5–8 years), is a lushly illustrated, through-the-seasons look at a contemporary Cherokee community's daily … [Read More...]
Erin Entrada Kelly 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 You Go First, 2018 Newbery medalist … [Read More...]
