Boo to you!

The Haunted Hamburger and Other Ghostly Stories

Halloween’s not just for little boys and ghouls. Here are some funny, eerie, and downright creepy titles to scare up readers of all ages. The goofiest of the group is David LaRochelle’s picture book The Haunted Hamburger and Other Ghostly Stories. Ghost siblings Franny and Frankie demand a story before bed. Of course, one is [...]

Finding home

If You Lived Here: Houses of the World

Three new picture books consider the meaning of home: an around-the-world house tour, a fantastic underwater exploration of coral reefs, and an intergalactic search for a safe haven. Kids will love choosing a favorite new home from Giles Laroche’s If You Lived Here: Houses of the World. Do you want to live in a log [...]

Five questions for Claire A. Nivola

Claire Nivola

An earlier picture book by Claire A. Nivola, Elisabeth, told about the true experience of her mother, Ruth, a Jewish child whose family fled Nazi Germany. In Orani: My Father’s Village, author-illustrator Nivola takes readers along on a remembrance of her childhood visits to the small Sardinian town where her father was born. 1. Tomie [...]

Mildred Batchelder: The Power of Thinking Big

batchelder

In brief, the children’s library movement was touched off by Caroline Hewins, at the Hartford Public Library, who passed the torch to Anne Carroll Moore, at the New York Public, and Alice Jordan, at the Boston Public. Bertha Mahony Miller, founding editor of The Horn Book, sought guidance from both of them. Principal allies were [...]

Notes From the Horn Book – August 2011

V O L U M E  4 ,   N U M B E R  8   •   A U G U S T   2 0 1 1 In this issue Five questions for Marc Aronson • More new nonfiction • Dot-dot-dash — concept books with a twist • YA novels you’ve been waiting for • Of interest to adults • From the Editor For a list of books mentioned in this issue, see link below. Masthead art © by William Steig, used [...]

What Makes a Good Newbery Novel?

by Patricia Lee Gauch My quest to track down the Newbery began a long way from this country. I had been asked to speak at the Mubarak Library in Cairo to a group of Egyptian writers on “The Heartbeat of Children’s Literature.” A gentleman named Yacoub el-Sharoni, one of Egypt’s most famous writers of children’s [...]

Notes from the Horn Book – December 2011

What Makes a Good Board Book?

Before launching into any venture, whether it be conducting a meeting, planning a toddler story time, or simply making a trip to the grocery store, I take a cue from my inner two-year-old and ask why. Why am I doing this? What do I hope will happen? Thus, when faced with the task of assessing [...]

A Printz Retrospective, by Jonathan Hunt

I was honored to be a member of the 2008 Michael L. Printz Award committee, but it can be a difficult thing to be charged with selecting the (mythical) best young adult book of the year, as any former committee member can attest. You read three hundred books, in full or in part; you dearly [...]

What Makes a Good Science Book?

Coral Reefs

By Janet Hamilton Google “best books for children,” and you’ll get lists of (mostly) fiction books characterized by imaginative writing and excellent pictures — great stories with captivating illustrations. Why should the elements of a good science book be any different? As far as engaging stories go, science writers have it made. Who could invent [...]