Publications about books for children and young adults
We are saddened to learn of the death of author-illustrator Bernard Waber last week. Waber, the author of more than thirty children’s books, is best known for his books featuring urban crocodile Lyle (The House on East 88th Street; Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile; Lovable Lyle; and more) and those about every-child Ira (Ira Sleeps Over, Ira [...]
Accessible text matched with dynamic illustrations in engaging cartoon-panel layouts help make graphic novels inviting packages for younger readers, struggling or reluctant readers, and comics-loving kids. The following sampling of recommended titles from the spring 2013 issue of The Horn Book Guide includes perennial-favorite characters, debut series, graphic-novel adaptations, and more. —Katrina Hedeen Assistant Editor, [...]
In her adult graphic-novel memoir Relish: My Life in the Kitchen (First Second, April 2013), Lucy Knisley portrays specific periods of her life and their associated “taste-memories” in a series of witty, touching vignettes. Relish begins with Lucy’s early childhood in New York City, growing up in a family of foodies with great faith in [...]
Need suggestions for beach reading or books to bring to summer camp? We’ve hand-picked some new favorites, all published 2012–2013, that are ideal for the season. Download a free PDF perfect for sharing with teachers, parents, and of course, kids. Grade levels are only suggestions; the individual child is the real criterion. Picture Books (Fiction [...]
I had a great time at the Children’s Literature Council of Southern California Spring Workshop last Saturday in South Pasadena. Kristin Fontichiaro and I each spoke about the Common Core State Standards, she offering a great perspective on the ways school and public librarians can support CCSS curriculums while I pondered what effects and implications [...]
In the May/June 2013 Horn Book Magazine, reviewer Robin Smith asked Kathleen Krull and Paul Brewer, authors of The Beatles Were Fab (and They Were Funny), about the Beatles’ music in their own lives. Read Robin’s review here. Robin L. Smith: What was the first Beatles song you memorized? Kathleen Krull and Paul Brewer: The [...]
Last summer, website mom.me asked us to contribute to their feature “Books to Read With Your Teen Daughter.” Here are our recommendations from that article — plus a few new ones! — to get you ready for Mother’s Day. What YA book would you recommend for a mother-daughter read? Cindy: Cinder (Feiwel, 2012), the first [...]
Originality is everything in literature, as in art. “Originals never lose their value,” Ralph Waldo Emerson said. He may have been referring to Shakespeare and Wordsworth, but the statement is just as true of children’s literature. Of course, even originals owe something to the past — “we all quote,” Emerson acknowledged — but he did [...]
Author Emily Jenkins seems equally at home in picture books and intermediate fiction (and even — shh! — in YA, under nom de plume E. Lockhart). Like several of Emily’s previous books, her latest, Water in the Park: A Book About Water & the Times of the Day (illus. by Stephanie Graegin; Schwartz & Wade/Random; [...]
Bad things were done to me when I was small. Lacking adequate physical defenses, I escaped into my imagination, where I could be all-powerful and the scariest monster was the witch in my closet. Imagination expands when exercised; mine grew strong and wily, and a pleasure to me, too, when the bad things were in [...]
