Out of the Box

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Your words, Nate’s mouth

big nate menu

Big Nate: Comix by U! (based on the books by Lincoln Peirce; HarperCollins and Night & Day Studios, December) is a kind of Colorforms set for new media starring Nate Wright, a sixth-grade antihero who makes Greg Heffley look like a wimpy kid. In this app, Nate’s fans and budding playwrights press-and-place a variety of [...]

Celebrating a Wrinkle

A Wrinkle in Time original cover

A couple of weeks ago Roger let me out of the office to attend the big 50th anniversary event for A Wrinkle in Time in NYC. I was going to post about this along with a piece on the new book design, but time’s moving on, so watch for a separate interview with Molly Leach [...]

Ripperology: Saucy Jack is back

ripper petrucha

Jack the Ripper has been creeping into children’s literature recently: Gordon Korman included him in his 2011 Titanic trilogy (Scholastic). (Incorporating a Ripper mystery aboard the famed ship now marking the 100th anniversary of its sinking? That should sell a few books.) Last September saw the release of the first book in Maureen Johnson’s exciting [...]

Dorothy, how does that make you feel?

freud in oz

The formidable Kenneth Kidd explores the entwined history of children’s literature and psychoanalysis in Freud in Oz: At the Intersection of Psychoanalysis and Children’s Literature (Univ. of Minnesota, November). Essays include “Three Case Histories: Alice, Peter Pan, and The Wizard of Oz,” “’Maurice Sendak and Picturebook Psychology,” and “T Is for Trauma: The Children’s Literature [...]

New LGBTQ reads

Brooklyn, Burning

We’ve updated our recommended LGBTQ-themed reading list. These novels were selected from recent Horn Book Magazine reviews, but we’d love to hear your suggestions! Any favorites to share?

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Sunday Love

All you need is love—but it’s also nice to have a good book to share with your loved one! Snuggle up with your little Valentine(s) and these lovable picture books recommended by The Horn Book Magazine. In Sunday Love, written and illustrated by Alison Paul, sound effects and red, black, and white illustrations chronicle Bruno [...]

Miss Teen Dreamers! “I’ve got a little bit of bad news…”

bray_beauty queens

“Everyone else is dead.” May I proselytize for a moment? If you’re reading this post, you absolutely must listen to the audiobook version of Beauty Queens (Scholastic Audio, 2011) written and read brilliantly by Libba Bray. Believe me, it will make your life worth living, your hair luxurious, and your skin blemish-free. It will also [...]

February’s Notes from the Horn Book out now!

feb 2012 newsletter

February’s Notes from The Horn Book is zooming toward subscribers’ inboxes faster than a speeding bullet. In this month’s newsletter you’ll find recommended reading for Black History Month, Valentine’s Day, and more, with – five questions for Rick Bowers, author of Superman Versus the Ku Klux Klan: The True Story of How the Iconic Superhero [...]

The Pocket Bible Doodle Book

pocket bible doodle book

A blurb on the back of The Pocket Bible Doodle Book (Zonderkidz/Zondervan, January) states, “The story of creation, Noah’s ark, the plagues, and more make this Bible-based collection of doodles fun for everyone.” I can’t decide if I should laugh or be offended—the plagues can be fun? Okay… As the daughter of a Lutheran pastor, [...]

Chic lit

hunger games handbag

I have a serious Etsy addiction, and an incredible shop I just discovered is not helping. Spoonful of Chocolate sells recycled book purses and e-reader covers; now I am lusting over a Hunger Games handbag made from an actual copy of The Hunger Games. (They have other chapter book and YA selections, too.) My favorite, [...]