Publications about books for children and young adults
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Robin and I have been figuring out how to finish things up here with some last-minute posts before the vote. Weirdly, we find that the three books we MOST want to discuss in the next two days are all about real people and have the word “Dream” in the title. I know this sounds like [...]
Robin and I have just worked out the blog logistics for next week. It’s time to mark your calendars, set your watch alarms, make creative alert tones for your smart phones, tie a string around your finger — whatever works for you. Just remember to come vote. It’s especially exciting for us to see the [...]
Well, it’s getting down to the wire here. It won’t be long before Lolly and I put together the ballot for you to vote on. In the meantime, I am going to briefly talk about a few books that are still on my personal stack. I need to make up time if I am going [...]
Darn you, Charlotte Zolotow committee! You beat me to the punch, awarding this fine book your award last week! The CCBC website explains, “The Charlotte Zolotow Award is given annually to the author of the best picture book text published in the United States in the preceding year….The award is administered by the Cooperative Children’s Book [...]
So, enough people have mentioned Island: A Story of the Galápagos that I thought I would do a little exercise with you. Many people wonder how the real committee members look at all the books they have to consider. I have no idea how others deal with this, but I have a little procedure. First, I just [...]
Wordless picture books have a special place in Caldecott history. None of those pesky words get in the way and there is no worry about designing the page for text boxes, either. One vision is on the page–the vision of the illustrator. The only words in this book are a question on the back cover [...]
Once in a while, I see a book that makes me think, “I sure would like to hear the committee discuss this one!” This is one of those books. I think the committee will appreciate the sly meta-picture book details–the direct address of the narrator, the comic schtick when author Mac fires illustrator Adam, the [...]
Here’s a book that was a big favorite around the Horn Book early in the year. I still love it and will add it to my personal collection, but I have to admit that its chances for a Caldecott seem a lot slimmer now that the year is drawing to a close. The central character [...]
I do love me the cute little bunnies. Peter McCarty has a knack for drawing them and drawing the reader into their lives. Maybe because I am a middle child (though not in a family of 21 children!), I identify with Chloe. I also really like bubble wrap and spending time with my own family. [...]
As far as I’m concerned, there can never be too many twisted folktale retellings. Since this one is by Mo Willems, it had me at “Once upon a time.” Like lots of fractured folktales, this is full of winks. I’m okay with winks up to a point, but I don’t like it when too many [...]
