Featured Posts
Peeps and People
Debbie Reese's Arbuthnot Lecture is up if you want to give a look and listen; I haven't listened yet but will; the lecture will also be published in a forthcoming issue of ALSC's Children and … [Read More...]
Order your copy NOW.
We are just dotting the is of the May/June issue celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Coretta Scott King Awards. Phew! I don't think we've published an issue with quite so many moving parts. I speak literally, figuratively, and emotively. I … [Read More...]
Peep show…or how, nevertheless, the Little Red Hen persisted
Spring has sprung around Boston! Daffodils are blooming, birds are singing, and our library is hosting a “Peep Literary Diorama Exhibition.” This year, my family got in on the fun with our own entry. I’m using family and our loosely. I thought … [Read More...]
David Elliott 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 In 2017's Bull, poet David Elliott reimagined the ancient Greek story of the Minotaur. For … [Read More...]
“Informational children’s books” FTW
Jeopardy! fans know that record-smashing contestant James Holzhauer's secret is reading "informational children's books." Perhaps James — or wannabe Jameses — might benefit from a subscription to The Horn Book Guide. Or maybe he should sign up for … [Read More...]
Blogs
Peeps and People
Debbie Reese's Arbuthnot Lecture is up if you want to give a look and listen; I haven't listened yet but will; the lecture will also be published in a forthcoming issue of ALSC's Children and … [Read More...]
“Informational children’s books” FTW
Jeopardy! fans know that record-smashing contestant James Holzhauer's secret is reading "informational children's books." Perhaps James — or wannabe Jameses — might benefit from a subscription to The Horn Book Guide. Or maybe he should sign up for … [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...]
The 2019 Robin Smith Picture Book Prize
Perched on her rocking chair (brightly painted by her students with Alabama outsider artist Chris Clark), teacher Robin Smith would launch with glee and gusto into a beloved picture book, her second graders in a semicircle at her feet. Every day for … [Read More...]
Review of the Week
Review of The Undefeated
The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander; illus. by Kadir Nelson Primary, Intermediate, Middle School Versify/Houghton 40 pp. g 4/19 978-1-328-78096-6 $17.99 e-book ed. 978-0-358-05761-1 $12.99 Alexander and Nelson honor the achievements, courage, and perseverance of ordinary black people as well as prominent black artists, athletes, and activists. The free-verse poem begins: “This is for the unforgettable. / The swift and sweet ones / who hurdled history / and opened a … [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 The Undefeated
The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander; illus. by Kadir Nelson Primary, Intermediate, Middle School Versify/Houghton 40 pp. g 4/19 978-1-328-78096-6 $17.99 e-book ed. … [Read More...]
Review of Two Brothers, Four Hands: The Artists Alberto and Diego Giacometti
Two Brothers, Four Hands: The Artists Alberto and Diego Giacometti by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan; illus. by Hadley Hooper Primary, Intermediate Porter/Holiday 64 pp. g 4/19 … [Read More...]
Review of The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James
The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James by Ashley Herring Blake Intermediate, Middle School Little, Brown 373 pp. g 3/19 978-0-316-51553-5 $16.99 e-book ed. 978-0-316-51550-4 … [Read More...]
Review of Carl and the Meaning of Life
Carl and the Meaning of Life by Deborah Freedman; illus. by the author Preschool, Primary Viking 48 pp. g 4/19 978-0-451-47498-8 $17.99 Carl is an earthworm, always moving under … [Read More...]
Review of Voices: The Final Hours of Joan of Arc
Voices: The Final Hours of Joan of Arc by David Elliott High School Houghton 191 pp. g 3/19 978-1-328-98759-4 $17.99 e-book ed. 978-0-358-04915-9 $9.99 In this verse novel, … [Read More...]
Interviews
David Elliott 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 In 2017's Bull, poet David Elliott … [Read More...]
Five questions for Raúl the Third
There's so much to see in Raúl the Third's comics-influenced picture book ¡Vamos!: Let's Go to the Market! (Versify/Houghton, 5–8 years). The story takes place in and around the bustling Mercado … [Read More...]
Five questions for Christian Robinson
Another (Atheneum, 3–7 years) is the debut of acclaimed illustrator Christian Robinson working as both author and illustrator…in a wordless, sci-fi picture book about cats, wormholes (or maybe … [Read More...]
Five questions for Laurie Halse Anderson
This year marks the twentieth anniversary of Laurie Halse Anderson’s landmark novel Speak (Farrar, 12–16 years), about Melinda, a teenage rape victim who reclaims her voice. Now in SHOUT (Viking, 14 … [Read More...]
Five questions for Claire Hartfield
With painstaking historical detail, Claire Hartfield’s nonfiction book A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919 (Clarion, 12–16 years) recounts the week of violence in 1919 Chicago that left … [Read More...]
