Featured Posts
Zena is watching, are you?
I hope you have as good a time watching this interview with Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden as I did conducting it. Our conversation will also appear, edited, in the May/June special issue of the Horn Book Magazine, Making a Difference. Carla is … [Read More...]
Making a Difference in Our Nation’s Library: An Interview with Dr. Carla Hayden
Carla Hayden, the first female and first African American Librarian of Congress, talks with Horn Book editor in chief Roger Sutton — her library school classmate! — about Bright April, mirror books, and nonpartisanship in the library. From the … [Read More...]
Looking Inward and Out: Michelle Obama at the Simmons Leadership Conference
On April 5, Simmons College hosted its 39th annual Simmons Leadership Conference on the theme “Disrupt the Ordinary.” The culmination of a very impressive lineup of speakers was a concluding discussion between Simmons College President Helen G. … [Read More...]
Haiku: A Small Poem with Great Potential
snow melting the village brimming over… with children! --Issa (1763-1828) (translated by David Lanoue) Yes, I was taught that a haiku, a short poem that originated in Japan centuries ago, was supposed to consist of three lines of five, seven, … [Read More...]
April 2018 Horn Book Herald: Spring News: Five questions for Margarita Engle
Poet Margarita Engle is the author of poetry collections (Bravo!: Poems About Amazing Hispanics), picture-book biographies (Drum Dream Girl: How One Girl's Courage Changed Music; The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano), memoir … [Read More...]
Blogs
Zena is watching, are you?
I hope you have as good a time watching this interview with Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden as I did conducting it. Our conversation will also appear, edited, in the May/June special issue of the Horn Book Magazine, Making a Difference. Carla is … [Read More...]
Looking Inward and Out: Michelle Obama at the Simmons Leadership Conference
On April 5, Simmons College hosted its 39th annual Simmons Leadership Conference on the theme “Disrupt the Ordinary.” The culmination of a very impressive lineup of speakers was a concluding discussion between Simmons College President Helen G. … [Read More...]
Haiku: A Small Poem with Great Potential
snow melting the village brimming over… with children! --Issa (1763-1828) (translated by David Lanoue) Yes, I was taught that a haiku, a short poem that originated in Japan centuries ago, was supposed to consist of three lines of five, seven, … [Read More...]
April Picture Books on the Radar
Happy April, everyone! Spring has officially sprung, even if you happen to live in a part of the country still seeing snow. (If that describes where you live but you're ready for spring, I won't mention the temperatures in Nashville right about … [Read More...]
Review of the Week
Review of Girl Running: Bobbi Gibb and the Boston Marathon
Girl Running: Bobbi Gibb and the Boston Marathon by Annette Bay Pimentel; illus. by Micha Archer Primary Paulsen/Penguin 32 pp. g 2/18 978-1-101-99668-3 $17.99 "Bobbi Gibb must wear a skirt to school because she is a girl. She is not allowed to run on the school's track team. Because those are the rules — and rules are rules." This picture-book biography of the first woman to run the Boston Marathon — in defiance of the rules, since she was denied an application due to … [Read More...]
App Review of the Week
Sesame Street app review
Can you tell me how to get to…tons of wonderful educational videos and games for preschoolers? Just like the neighborhood itself, the Sesame Street companion app (Sesame Workshop, 2014; iOS and Android) is the place to be: a free account gives a child access to a large selection of games as well as new and classic (ad-free) video clips from the television show. The home screen offers a handful of featured videos and games. Below that, large icons link to additional videos organized by topic … [Read More...]
Recommended Books
Review of Girl Running: Bobbi Gibb and the Boston Marathon
Girl Running: Bobbi Gibb and the Boston Marathon by Annette Bay Pimentel; illus. by Micha Archer Primary Paulsen/Penguin 32 pp. g 2/18 978-1-101-99668-3 $17.99 "Bobbi Gibb must … [Read More...]
Review of Between the Lines
Between the Lines by Nikki Grimes Middle School, High School Paulsen/Penguin 213 pp. g 2/18 978-0-399-24688-3 $17.99 “Just step up, step up to the mike / and let your truth fly, … [Read More...]
Earth Day 2018
This year's observation of the annual Earth Day takes place on April 22. The campaign focus for Earth Day 2018 is "End Plastic Pollution." The books below celebrate our precious planet, educate … [Read More...]
Autism Acceptance/Awareness Month
April is Autism Acceptance Month (also known as Autism Awareness Month). Below, we've compiled some resources for education and advocacy. Resources from The Horn Book "Reading on the Spectrum" … [Read More...]
Review of Warbler Wave
Warbler Wave by April Pulley Sayre with Jeff Sayre; photos by April Pulley Sayre Preschool, Primary Beach Lane/Simon 32 pp. g 2/18 978-1-4814-4829-1 $17.99 e-book ed. … [Read More...]
Interviews
Making a Difference in Our Nation’s Library: An Interview with Dr. Carla Hayden
Carla Hayden, the first female and first African American Librarian of Congress, talks with Horn Book editor in chief Roger Sutton — her library school classmate! — about Bright April, mirror books, … [Read More...]
April 2018 Horn Book Herald: Spring News: Five questions for Margarita Engle
Poet Margarita Engle is the author of poetry collections (Bravo!: Poems About Amazing Hispanics), picture-book biographies (Drum Dream Girl: How One Girl's Courage Changed Music; The Poet Slave of … [Read More...]
Jillian Tamaki Talks with Roger
Talks with Roger is a sponsored supplement to our free monthly e-newsletter, Notes from the Horn Book. To receive Notes, sign up here. Sponsored by While Jillian Tamaki won a Caldecott Honor … [Read More...]
Five questions for Tomi Adeyemi
Tomi Adeyemi's high-octane fantasy Children of Blood and Bone (Holt, 14 years and up) begins with a bang (and, like much classic fantasy, with a map) and ends with a cliffhanger. In between, readers … [Read More...]
An Interview with Regina Hayes
A lifelong bookworm and unapologetic generalist, Regina Hayes, who led Viking Children’s Books from 1982 to 2012, has worked widely across genres in a career marked by intense curiosity; quiet, … [Read More...]
