Publications about books for children and young adults
My First Day by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page; illus. by Steve Jenkins Preschool, Primary Houghton 32 pp. 1/13 978-0-547-73851-2 $16.99 “What did you do on your first day — the day you were born? Probably not much” begins this book about baby animals’ first hours of life. Jenkins and Page’s simple text effectively highlights [...]
I’d like to have been at this NYPL panel on nonfiction put together by Betsy Bird. The four panelists are among the best of our nonfiction writers, and I would have loved to ask them how their job prospects were looking under the Common Core State Standards. With the CCSS (have we agreed this is [...]
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 [...]
One Times Square: A Century of Change at the Crossroads of the World by Joe McKendry; illus. by the author Intermediate Godine 64 pp. 9/12 978-1-56792-364-3 $19.95 You are there at the birth, the decay, and the revival of Times Square, the “crossroads of the world” for a century. McKendry (Beneath the Streets of Boston, [...]
Spirit Seeker: John Coltrane’s Musical Journey by Gary Golio; illus. by Rudy Gutierrez Intermediate, Middle School Clarion 48 pp. 10/12 978-0-547-23994-1 $17.99 There have been other picture books about gifted jazz musician and composer John Coltrane that have focused on his music or his childhood, but this one dares to take on the complexity of [...]
Electric Ben: The Amazing Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin by Robert Byrd; illus. by the author Intermediate Dial 40 pp. 9/12 978-0-8037-3749-5 $17.99 With a jacket showing Benjamin Franklin as a cross between a mad scientist and a superhero standing amid wild lightning bolts and surrounded by all manner of electrical devices, this book [...]
Unspoken: A Story from the Underground Railroad by Henry Cole; illus. by the author Primary Scholastic 40 pp. 11/12 978-0-545-39997-5 $16.99 This wordless picture book opens with a calm scene: a quilt hangs over a rural split-rail fence. A young girl enters the scene on the next double-page spread, leading a cow and watching a [...]
Some of you who were here last year already know my deep love of Claire Nivola’s work. This year, instead of personal memoir, Nivola returns to nonfiction, a biography of oceanographer Silvia Earle. I heard an NPR interview with Earle the very day I received a copy of this fascinating book. Let’s take a swim [...]
Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95 by Phillip Hoose Intermediate, Middle School, High School Farrar 148 pp. 7/12 978-0-374-30468-3 $21.99 He’s called “Moonbird” because, over a lifespan of twenty years, he’s flown some 325,000 miles, the distance to the moon and almost halfway back. This robin-sized red knot (subspecies rufa), [...]
You, Notes readers, have told us that you want more reviews of informational books. While—of course—I will tell you again to look to our Magazine and Guide for excellent and broad coverage of nonfiction titles, I’m pleased to inform you about a new publication that will debut in October. Nonfiction Notes from the Horn Book [...]
