Featured Posts
Week in Review, March 18th – 22nd
This week on hbook.com… Reviews of the Week: Picture Book: Lubna and Pebble by Wendy Meddour; illus. by Daniel Egnéus Fiction: Internment by Samira Ahmed Nonfiction: Unpresidented: A Biography of Donald Trump by Martha Brockenbrough … [Read More...]
Apply for a summer Horn Book internship!
Interested in learning more about the children’s book industry, book reviewing, or how magazines and review journals operate? A Horn Book internship is a great place to start. Our editorial interns are an invaluable help in managing the gazillion … [Read More...]
“Something’s happening at the library!” in Portland, Maine
I was lucky enough to go on a moms'-overnight to Portland, Maine (with one of the travelers being this wonderful Horn Book contributor). Our hotel, which once housed the Portland Press Herald newspaper office and printing press (so cool!), featured … [Read More...]
Pi Day 2019
Today is Pi Day (get it? March 14? 3/14? 3.14...?). To celebrate, here are two recent picture books about pie (and sharing and social justice and community and...). March being Women's History Month, check out these two recommended booklists about … [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 years and up), the author presents a “poetry … [Read More...]
Blogs
For Paul Janeczko
Naomi Shihab Nye, helped out by Lynne Rae Perkins, remembers the recently departed Paul B. Janeczko. He will be missed. For Paul Janeczko, who Changed the World We were set up to do a reading together in … [Read More...]
Week in Review, March 18th – 22nd
This week on hbook.com… Reviews of the Week: Picture Book: Lubna and Pebble by Wendy Meddour; illus. by Daniel Egnéus Fiction: Internment by Samira Ahmed Nonfiction: Unpresidented: A Biography of Donald Trump by Martha Brockenbrough … [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...]
The 2019 Robin Smith Picture Book Prize
Perched on her rocking chair (brightly painted by her students with Alabama outsider artist Chris Clark), teacher Robin Smith would launch with glee and gusto into a beloved picture book, her second graders in a semicircle at her feet. Every day for … [Read More...]
Review of the Week
Review of Hey, Water!
Hey, Water! by Antoinette Portis; illus. by the author Preschool, Primary Porter/Holiday 48 pp. g 3/19 978-0-8234-4155-6 $17.99 e-book ed. 978-0-8234-4201-0 $17.99 A girl named Zoe explores water in this playful and informative book. Speaking directly to water (“Hey, water! I know you! You’re all around”), Zoe considers the role of water inside a home (shower, faucet) and outside of it (sprinkler, hose). Spread by spread, the book’s scope widens as the girl points out … [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 Hey, Water!
Hey, Water! by Antoinette Portis; illus. by the author Preschool, Primary Porter/Holiday 48 pp. g 3/19 978-0-8234-4155-6 $17.99 e-book ed. 978-0-8234-4201-0 $17.99 A girl … [Read More...]
Review of The Proper Way to Meet a Hedgehog: And Other How-To Poems
The Proper Way to Meet a Hedgehog: And Other How-To Poems selected by Paul B. Janeczko; illus. by Richard Jones Primary Candlewick 48 pp. g 3/19 978-0-7636-8168-5 $17.99 The … [Read More...]
Review of Unpresidented: A Biography of Donald Trump
Unpresidented: A Biography of Donald Trump by Martha Brockenbrough Middle School, High School Feiwel 416 pp. 11/18 978-1-250-30803-0 $19.99 e-book ed. 978-1-250-30804-7 … [Read More...]
Review of Internment
Internment by Samira Ahmed High School Little, Brown 304 pp. g 3/19 978-0-316-52269-4 $17.99 e-book ed. 978-0-316-52266-3 $9.99 Xenophobic fear-mongering, book burnings, … [Read More...]
Review of Lubna and Pebble
Lubna and Pebble by Wendy Meddour; illus. by Daniel Egnéus Primary Dial 32 pp. g 3/19 978-0-525-55416-5 $17.99 Wide-eyed Lubna befriends a pebble when she and her father arrive by … [Read More...]
Interviews
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...]
Five questions for Claire Hartfield
With painstaking historical detail, Claire Hartfield’s nonfiction book A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919 (Clarion, 12–16 years) recounts the week of violence in 1919 Chicago that left … [Read More...]
All-of-a-Kind Family Hanukkah: Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour
Welcome to the first stop on the 2019 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour! Author Emily Jenkins and illustrator Paul O. Zelinsky were kind enough to answer my questions about All-of-a-Kind Family … [Read More...]
Five questions for Newbery Medalist Meg Medina
Meg Medina is the winner of the 2019 Newbery Medal for Merci Suárez Changes Gears (read The Horn Book Magazine's starred review here). For our February issue of The Horn Book Herald: ALA Youth Media … [Read More...]
Walter Wick 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 Twenty years after winning the Boston … [Read More...]
