Featured Posts
Boy, you turn me
Talking about his new book A Ray of Light for this week's Talks With Roger, author-photographer (and BGHB winner) Walter Wick reminded me of something that I knew but had gratefully managed to forget: we see everything upside-down, and our brains … [Read More...]
2019 Calling Caldecott ballot #1 and voting instructions
It's time for the 2019 mock vote here at Calling Caldecott! We have been discussing books here at the blog as far back as early March, and we hope you all have been reading and thinking and poring over books. The actual ALA Youth Media Awards will be … [Read More...]
Winter break: The Aftermath
We are going through a Diary of a Wimpy Kid phase at my house, big-time (and thank you to the Cambridge Public Library for carrying a bajillion copies of many of the titles). Reading and re-reading those books was one of the things that kept us … [Read More...]
Our Picture Book Year
Jules: So, we here at Calling Caldecott have wrapped up our book coverage, and it's almost time for the mock vote. (More on that tomorrow!) But before that happens we thought we'd have a brief discussion about the year. No predictions here, because … [Read More...]
Week in Review, January 7th – 11th
This week on hbook.com… 2018 Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards acceptance speeches January 2019 Notes from the Horn Book: five questions for Caroline Cala, recommended read-alouds, early-chapter-book mysteries and madcap plans, and eye-opening YA … [Read More...]
Blogs
Boy, you turn me
Talking about his new book A Ray of Light for this week's Talks With Roger, author-photographer (and BGHB winner) Walter Wick reminded me of something that I knew but had gratefully managed to forget: we see everything upside-down, and our brains … [Read More...]
Week in Review, January 7th – 11th
This week on hbook.com… 2018 Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards acceptance speeches January 2019 Notes from the Horn Book: five questions for Caroline Cala, recommended read-alouds, early-chapter-book mysteries and madcap plans, and eye-opening YA … [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...]
2019 Calling Caldecott ballot #1 and voting instructions
It's time for the 2019 mock vote here at Calling Caldecott! We have been discussing books here at the blog as far back as early March, and we hope you all have been reading and thinking and poring over books. The actual ALA Youth Media Awards will be … [Read More...]
Review of the Week
Review of Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré
Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré by Anika Aldamuy Denise; illus. by Paola Escobar Primary Harper/HarperCollins 40 pp. 1/19 978-0-06-274868-3 $17.99 In her native Puerto Rico, a young Pura Belpré retells folk stories to children under a tamarind tree; when she visits Nueva York in 1921 and decides to stay, obtaining work at the public library as a bilingual assistant, she carries her homeland’s tales with her. When she can’t find on … [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 Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré
Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré by Anika Aldamuy Denise; illus. by Paola Escobar Primary Harper/HarperCollins 40 pp. 1/19 978-0-06-274868-3 … [Read More...]
Review of The Wicked King
The Wicked King [Folk of the Air] by Holly Black High School Little, Brown 325 pp. g 1/19 978-0-316-31035-2 $18.99 e-book ed. 978-0-316-31033-8 $9.99 A mortal raised in … [Read More...]
Review of Chicken Talk
Chicken Talk by Patricia MacLachlan; illus. by Jarrett J. Krosoczka Preschool, Primary Tegen/HarperCollins 32 pp. 1/19 978-0-06-239864-2 $17.99 In this slight but charming tale, a … [Read More...]
Review of The Night Diary audiobook
The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani; read by Priya Ayyar Intermediate, Middle School Listening Library Rev. 7/18 5 CDs 5.92 hrs. 978-0-525-53044-2 $45.00 Twelve-year-old Nisha, … [Read More...]
Review of Sea Bear: A Journey for Survival
Sea Bear: A Journey for Survival by Lindsay Moore; illus. by the author Primary Greenwillow 48 pp. g 1/19 978-0-06-279128-3 $17.99 A polar bear wanders alone through icy … [Read More...]
Interviews
Five questions for Caroline Cala
If you were a young reader in the nineties (or even if you weren’t), there’s a good chance you remember Ann M. Martin’s Baby-Sitters Club books. Author Caroline Cala definitely does, and her hilarious … [Read More...]
2018 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award Winner Interviews
On October 6th, the morning following the 2018 Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards ceremony, Roger Sutton sat down to chat with several of the winners and judges. Watch their conversations below; click on … [Read More...]
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...]
