MORE POSTS FROM THIS AUTHOR
We have settled on the shortlist for our mock Newberys (and we will release specific details and dates and times once we have arranged them). We typically chose 8 titles, but have occasionally stretched to 9 titles (as we have done this year). When we do 9 titles then length is always a consideration, and it makes it […]
“In the midst of the human ugliness of racism, there is the human beauty in the resistance to racism.” Ibram X. Kendi The National Book Awards had a bit of a 2015 ALA Midwinter moment with African Americans winning three of the four categories, and for decidedly political works, no less. Joining John Lewis and […]
We used to check in with our readership several times a year about their top choices, mimicking the nomination process that the real committee experiences wherein they nominate three books in October, two in November, and a final two in December. Since we don’t post quite as frequently now as we used to, we are […]
Now it’s time to discuss an underappreciated body of literature for children, what are often called chapter books. Since I think that term is still fairly vague, I’d call them transitional chapter books. That is, books that bridge the gap from the more challenging easy readers to the easiest novels. On the younger side, these […]
I like this book very much, and I can easily see the committee discussing it very seriously. It’s strong in virtually every single element that pertains to it–plot, character, setting, style, theme, and accuracy–and yet I’m feeling slightly underwhelmed on a personal level when it comes to plot and theme. The characters in this book are […]
Yes. There is a witch in the woods. There has always been a witch. Will you stop fidgeting for once? My stars! I have never seen such a fidgety child. No, sweetheart. I have not seen her. No one has. Not for ages. We’ve taken steps so that we will never see her. Terrible steps. […]
We’ve already said it’s been an exceptionally strong year for poetry, and if you include novels in verse (not to mention FREE VERSE, a novel that celebrates and incorporates poetry, but is not a verse novel), then it is a phenomenally strong year. We’ve already discussed BOOKED, a fairly strong contender on its own merits, but […]
Tim Wadham has served on numerous award committees, including The Boston Globe Horn Book award, the Pura Belpré award committee twice, and the 1998 Newbery committee. He is a contributor to School Library Journal and the Horn Book Guide. His picture book, The Queen of France was published by Candlewick Press. He lives in Puyallup, […]
ANNA AND THE SWALLOW MAN by Gavriel Savit . . . When I first read descriptions of this book with comparisons to THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS and LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL, I didn’t think I would like it very much. THE BOOK THIEF is another apt, if imperfect, comparison. The language here is beautiful, […]
BEFORE MORNING by Joyce Sidman . . . This picture book contains a single poem, but what a lovely, haunting poem it is! The form of this poem is an invocation, and as such it seems like it could have been an outtake from her previous collection, WHAT THE HEART KNOWS. Can a single poem […]
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