Betsy Bird
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Tomfoolery!
Recently one of the readers of my blog was monumentally peeved at me, and not without just cause. I had written the third of my Newbery/Caldecott prediction posts for 2024 on my School Library Journal blog, and the reader pointed out that I was, shall we say, a little loosey-goosey...
Action!: How Movies Began
When the Caldecott was first created, lo these many years ago, there was a certain expectation that it separate itself from the Newbery with its special focus on images. In every other way, however, it mimicked the Newbery’s requirements: that the artists be American, that the book be distinguished, and so...
The Rock from the Sky
I’ve always harbored a pet Caldecott theory. You know how some artists will win Caldecott Awards and Honors over and over again, while others never seem to get a foot in the door? I have often wondered if there was a window of opportunity there. Get in while you’re new —...
A New Green Day
Before I had children, I had it all planned out. Thanks to my chosen occupation (children’s librarian), I already had a house filled with picture books of all kinds. I knew the literature. I knew which books would appeal to one age range or another. I was book-smart about children’s...
A Stone Sat Still
Recently at his blog 100 Scope Notes, Travis Jonker set about calculating the likelihood that a Caldecott winner may repeat his or her win in the future. He’d crunched similar numbers for the Newbery already, but even so, the results surprised him. He wrote: “I didn’t expect the number of repeat winners...
A House That Once Was
How do you feel when a multi–Caldecott Honor winner creates a Caldecott-worthy book? Personally, I go through a series of different stages. You know. Denial. Morbid curiosity. Conversion. Proselytizing. At least that’s what happened when I took a deep dive into A House That Once Was by Julie Fogliano, illustrated...
Grand Canyon
Pity the artistic endeavors of the too-effectively creative, for they are the ones most easily ignored.It isn’t much of a stretch to say that in the field of nonfiction, Jason Chin may be one of our most epic and inspiring grand masters. If he writes about trees, he doesn’t limit...
Great Crafts You Can Do at Home (As Inspired by Recent Picture Books)
I feel like I need to start off with a bit of a confession. I’m a children’s librarian by training. And part of that job requires a complete and thorough knowledge of crafts and crafting. Now here’s the problem: I hate crafts. Well, not completely; I’ll color in an adult...
2015 in Review: The Year in Words
The year was 2015. A year in which so many people from so many backgrounds said so much about books with so few words.It was a year in which people didn’t just discuss books. They cheered and argued, raged and kvetched, praised them and condemned them.Social media wasn’t new in...
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