Featured Posts
Week in Review, June 10th – 14th
This week on hbook.com... Welcome to the newly revamped Horn Book Guide Online! June 2019 Notes from the Horn Book: 5Q for Mariko Tamaki, middle grade and YA for Pride Month, picture books for Father's Day, and easy-reader BFFs June 2019 Horn … [Read More...]
Happy Father’s Day 2019 from Family Reading
Happy Father's Day (on Sunday) to those who celebrate! Here are some articles, books, and links to make Dad (and Pop and Papi and Granddad and all others of any gender who hold that place in a child's life) feel loved and appreciated. "Picture … [Read More...]
Aristotle and Dante Discover an Alternate Universe
I'm quite taken with Michelle Ann Abate's essay about Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secret of the Universe in the hot-off-the-pixels new issue of Research on Diversity in Youth Literature, whose theme this time around is "Queer Futurities." Much … [Read More...]
Five questions for 2019 Boston Globe–Horn Book Picture Book Award winners Maxine Beneba Clarke and Van Thanh Rudd
A talented pair from Down Under, author Maxine Beneba Clarke and illustrator Van Thanh Rudd are the co-creators of this year’s Boston Globe–Horn Book Picture Book Award winner The Patchwork Bike (Candlewick, 5–8 years). Rudd’s playful, tactile … [Read More...]
Lift Every Voice: Dreams Never Realized
My mom and dad truly laid the foundation for my writing life by reading to me and my siblings every night — giving me a heart for stories. And there were many moments that followed that inspired my literary journey. Here is one. In February of … [Read More...]
Blogs
Aristotle and Dante Discover an Alternate Universe
I'm quite taken with Michelle Ann Abate's essay about Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secret of the Universe in the hot-off-the-pixels new issue of Research on Diversity in Youth Literature, whose theme this time around is "Queer Futurities." Much … [Read More...]
Week in Review, June 10th – 14th
This week on hbook.com... Welcome to the newly revamped Horn Book Guide Online! June 2019 Notes from the Horn Book: 5Q for Mariko Tamaki, middle grade and YA for Pride Month, picture books for Father's Day, and easy-reader BFFs June 2019 Horn … [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...]
Spring Picture Books on the Radar
Why, hello there! We are running our fingers through a few months’ worth of cyber-dust here at the Calling Caldecott blog, given that our last post was in January. Have you been reading picture books in 2019? You can trust that we have, and we … [Read More...]
Review of the Week
Review of Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me
Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me by Mariko Tamaki; illus. by Rosemary Valero-O’Connell High School First Second/Roaring Brook 298 pp. 5/19 978-1-250-31284-6 $24.99 Paper ed. 978-1-62672-259-0 $17.99 This relatable, heart-wrenching, and often funny graphic novel opens with seventeen-year-old Frederica (“Freddy”) Riley’s email to advice columnist Anna Vice. “For almost the past year I’ve been in love with a girl named Laura Dean. Which is the hardest thing I’ve ever … [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 Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me
Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me by Mariko Tamaki; illus. by Rosemary Valero-O’Connell High School First Second/Roaring Brook 298 pp. 5/19 978-1-250-31284-6 $24.99 Paper ed. … [Read More...]
Review of Moth: An Evolution Story
Moth: An Evolution Story by Isabel Thomas; illus. by Daniel Egnéus Primary Bloomsbury 48 pp. g 6/19 978-1-5476-0020-5 $18.99 e-book ed. 978-1-5476-0024-3 $13.29 “This is a … [Read More...]
BFFs back for more
Like Frog & Toad, Elephant & Piggie, and Ling & Ting, best friendship stories & easy readers are a perfect pair. These latest entries in noteworthy easy-reader series offer readers a … [Read More...]
Picture Books for Father’s Day 2019
Father's Day is this Sunday, and if you are celebrating, here are some picture books to make Dad's or Granddad's day. Also be sure not to miss one of our faves of the year, My Papi Has a Motorcycle by … [Read More...]
Middle grade and YA for Pride Month 2019
These novels — some upper-middle grade and some young adult — reflect a range of experiences among LGBTQIA+ young people. Happy Pride! Find more recommendations for Pride Month reading in these … [Read More...]
Interviews
Five questions for 2019 Boston Globe–Horn Book Picture Book Award winners Maxine Beneba Clarke and Van Thanh Rudd
A talented pair from Down Under, author Maxine Beneba Clarke and illustrator Van Thanh Rudd are the co-creators of this year’s Boston Globe–Horn Book Picture Book Award winner The Patchwork Bike … [Read More...]
Five questions for Mariko Tamaki
Charismatic, too-cool Laura Dean is many things — but a good girlfriend is not one of them. Mariko Tamaki (author of Skim and This One Summer, both illustrated by Jillian Tamaki) and Rosemary … [Read More...]
An Interview with George and Bernette Ford
George and Bernette Ford are two icons of African American children’s literature. George is the winner of the first Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award, in 1974, for Ray Charles (written by Sharon … [Read More...]
Summer Reading 2019: Five Questions for Isabel Quintero and Zeke Peña
Author Isabel Quintero and illustrator Zeke Peña previously collaborated on 2018 Boston Globe–Horn Book Nonfiction Award–winning graphic novel Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide (Getty, 12 … [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 … [Read More...]
