If holiday gift-shopping is still on your to-do list, may we suggest...books! Browse Fanfare 2022, our annual annotated "best books" list for kids and young adults. Favorites in my house include picture books A Spoonful of Frogs ("a chef’s-kiss of comic timing") and, for World Cup come-down, Madani’s Best Game ("a beautiful book about family, love, friendship, immigrant...
Last month I had the pleasure to attend a special family-friendly press event at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston for its exhibit "To Begin Again: Artists and Childhood" (October 6, 2022–February 26, 2023; see also upcoming exhibition tour dates). Curator Ruth Erickson led an exhibition tour that I could have listened to for...
Cameron Dunn, a high school junior in Massachusetts, started the Laundromat Libraries project to share his love of reading with kids who might not have ready access to books. I asked him about how he turned a great idea into reality and what he’s learned since launching his project. (Thanks...
I’m thrilled to share cover art by Mia Saine for my forthcoming essay collection Book Bonding: Building Connections Through Family Reading, debuting April 18, 2023 with Imagine Publishing, an imprint of Charlesbridge. Here and throughout the book, Mia’s warm, bighearted illustrations perfectly capture the cozy feeling I hope readers will experience...
My nine-year-old grandson recently made a list of his favorite things. Number one was math. (He’s kind of a phenom.) Number two was reading. First, I’m glad this boy loves math. I’m glad his parents toss him math questions at every whipstitch, and I’m glad he considers answering them fun....
If you watched the Liza Baker Talks with Roger video interviews earlier this month (go ahead — we'll wait!), you'll see in the second video — "How a Book Is Made: The Three Billy Goats Gruff" — at about the 24-minute mark, this fantabulous surprise gift handed to me by...
Yes, it's a bit on-the-nose. But for Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement in Judaism (this year starting October 4 at sundown), read Sorry, Sorry, Sorry: The Case for Good Apologies by Marjorie Ingall and Susan McCarthy. (Though, sorry, it doesn't come out until January; but you can pre-order it.) Marjorie...
"Tanglewood is back! This summer, for the first time since 2019, Tanglewood will offer a full season of concerts and events." My husband sings with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and this year's Beethoven's Ninth performance, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas, was an especially memorable and moving one. But enough about music! While...