For more than 40 years, book supplier Children’s Plus, Inc. has been helping librarians do their jobs more effectively. Now, Children’s Plus has rebranded as Libraria and launched a new website that will make getting the right books into the hands of readers even easier.
What precisely is a "Caldenott"? Any book where the illustrator is inconveniently from a country other than America. Today, we look beyond rigid classifications to celebrate artists deserving in every possible way save location.
Here's a look at the graphic novels that publishers have been acquiring, and when we can expect to see them.
Are you a serious children's book reader who loves to discuss the best of the best? Now's your chance to volunteer for the Heavy Medal Award Committee. Participants will take part in in-depth book discussion and a live webcast leading to the selection of our Mock Newbery winner. Apply online by December 12th.
As always, the one thing that makes life tolerable is escaping into fiction. And for all my hatred of actual winter, I love books set in winter. Here are a few you might like, too!
Can you guess the children’s book by its scathing one-star review on Goodreads?
Funny books? They're difficult to create. Today we look at a slew of books that are doing it right. From parrotfish and hilarious Iranians to science fiction, nonfiction, and more, there's something here for every humor lover on your list!
The friendship of two stray cats is explored in this adorable, yet realistic, manga.
If you need a holiday gift for that childhood friend you always traded books with, look no further.
Here are twelve books I read, loved, and didn’t review in 2024.
A class-action lawsuit alleges Lucy Calkins, Heinemann Publishing, and Fountas & Pinnell, among others, engaged in "deceptive and fraudulent marketing" that resulted in harm to students exposed to the whole language reading method and curricular products; registration is open for LibLearnx in January; auction offers rare items and experiences to benefit We Need Diverse Books; and more in News Bites.
Books in translation are a great resource to enrich young minds and library shelves. Here, SLJ rounds up 7 recent titles for the middle grade set.
Today we celebrate the successful rhymers! These are the books that scan beautifully and give us good reasons for loving that particular type of tricky verse.
Save the date for our 2025 Mock Newbery webcast Friday Jan 24th at 1 pm EST.
TLT Contributor Riley Jensen shares some December YA releases on her TBR, and one from January because it's her post and she can do what she wants
From board books that invite the littlest readers to hippity-hop to anthologies that encourage older readers to explore deep themes in narratives, these 11 titles celebrate the Festival of Lights in a variety of ways.
From historical works to books influenced by personal history to those with characters who must examine the past to move forward, these five titles are strong Printz contenders.
In the face of rising censorship in schools and libraries, Lerner Publishing Group is hosting a Thursday, December 5 concert in Minneapolis. Proceeds from ticket sales will go to organizations engaged in fighting book bans and challenges, including EveryLibrary’s Fight for the First campaign, We Are Stronger Than Censorship, and the American Librarian Association’s Unite Against Book Bans initiative.
Today on this list you're going to see titles about Eid, Mexican Independence Day, Día de Muertos, Passover, and more.
These three teens know each other so well! In Constellation they are each facing situations and decisions that are difficult for them individually and impossible collectively.
Here's a look at the graphic novels that publishers have been acquiring, and when we can expect to see them.
This Thanksgiving season, I’ve been thinking about all the ways libraries have influenced my life.
It's Giving Tuesday! Here are some bookish nonprofits to support.
Thirty-six schools will receive grants to purchase Mathical Book Prize titles.
It can be difficult to understand how truly praiseworthy simple picture books and their basic texts are, and how much good they do for the youngest of readers. Today, we celebrate those rarities.
It was a huge week in the movie world this Thanksgiving, as Wicked and Gladiator II continued their streaks and Moana 2 premiered to huge numbers. So I thought, while listening once again to the Wicked soundtrack, why not recommend books that I think fit some of the characters from these huge films? After all, […]
Check out this week's list of new comics, manga, and graphic novels for readers 12 and under, featuring Powerpuff Girls Winter Snowdown Showdown from Dynamite Entertainment and Flavor Girls #1 Return to the Mothership from Boom! Studios Archaia imprint.
The December Nomination period is now open. It's the last chance for Heavy Medal readers to identify two more titles that could be contenders for the 2025 Newbery Medal. Nominate your two books by December 7th.
Both November episodes featured Mac Barnett.
With these titles, young readers can see some of the many different ways people celebrate Christmas around the world.
Today, we celebrate the books that can enrapture in mere moments thanks to the power of words and images (and your own vocal chords) alone.
Board books for the youngest of young. We've the greatest 2024 titles for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers on display. Be the star of the next baby shower you attend and give some of THESE!
M’DEAR is Midwinter Drop Everything and Read. I hope you'll join us!
Mac and Sydney take us behind the scenes of SANTA'S FIRST CHRISTMAS.
A national network of organizations revitalizing communities through public spaces, Reimagining the Civic Commons offers helpful information for libraries to connect their efforts to larger goals, as well as to the work of their neighbors.
Each year I dedicate the 31 days of December to a different list of children’s books released in America in the current publishing year. Find new favorites!
With only one nomination period left, now is the time to convince readers to give specific titles a second (or first) look.
Book mail continues to trickle in as we get ready to wrap up 2024!
Three of my favorite posts from the past month!
Why on earth would the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art do an exhibit on a musical revue? I talk with its guest curator and discover the kidlit connection.
What I enjoy about Miss Edmonia's Class of Wildfires is how it encourages children to see the museum experience as something they can ACTIVELY be a part of.
Giving thanks in book form.
Of the many Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossovers, this is the most unexpected one yet, as they meet Naruto and Team 7 from Masashi Kishimoto's manga series.
Teen Librarian Karen Jensen reviews the January YA release THE LAST BOOKSTORE ON EARTH by Lily Braun-Arnold
2021 School Librarian of the Year Amanda Jones has filed two new federal lawsuits for defamation and false light against a man who has posted accusations of her being a groomer, distributing obscene material to children, and more.
Is Go Tell It our first picture book bio of James Baldwin? Not at this point (though it was when it was written). But trust me when I say that this is one of those books you'll be thinking about long after you put it down.
Check out this week's list of new comics, manga, and graphic novels for readers 12 and under, featuring Flash Gordon Adventures Volume 1 Flash of Greatness from Papercutz and Sesame Street #4 from Oni Press.
I am very grateful for the books here that managed to hold my wandering attention and pull me into their fictional worlds.
Give art this holiday season.
I just can't keep myself from making more predictions on what might win the upcoming ALA Youth Media Awards. I already did my Fall Prediction list of Newbery and Caldecott titles. But lest we forget, those are hardly all the awards out there.
COLBY: ‘The First Cat in Space’ series by Mac and Shawn is easily one of the most read graphic novels series in my classroom. Chatting with Mac and Shawn about the book was SO MUCH fun. I hope you enjoy the interview! Subscribe below to catch every episode of The Yarn: iTunes Spotify Stitcher
Jackson and his thylacine friend Irwin are back for more whirlwind trips around the world to learn about the habits and peculiarities of animals.
I am essentially making comfy nests where other tired hearts can rest, books with arguably naive but stubborn resilience against tough odds, and books with kind power in them.
Our list of nominations for the Heavy Medal Mock Newbery includes 19 books (out of 45) that have received just one vote so far. Which ones (if any) have a real chance to earn Newbery recognition?
10 books I'm looking forward to this winter.
From moving tales in verse to romantic romps to stories of monsters both real and fantastical, these 25 YA novels represent the best of teens living, loving, surviving, and thriving in worlds and times that do not always accept them.
All of SLJ's 193 Best Books of 2024 have been revealed, and we are blessed with a gorgeous cover for the December Best Books issue by Ekua Holmes, the illustrator of Black Girl You Are Atlas. See the stellar cover here.
Whether portraying a humble farming community, a home in the south of Korea, a synagogue filled with love and hope, or a neighborhood where more than small things are mended, the best picture books of 2024 celebrate how those working together are the models for humanity we want our children to witness.
"Put a box over them! This is not rocket science!" For Thanksgiving we enjoy the bad choices made by the characters in today's book. Will this make the book a classic? Find out!
We're talking haunted synthesizers and Tiffany/Robin Sparkles in today cover reveal and interview!
What’s captured reader attention the last seven days? Top picks in middle grade and graphic format books, along with the political climate and the potential impact on schools and libraries.
The shining light of the drive-in evokes the warmth, healing, and joy found in the collected writings. Details in the artwork will feel familiar to Native readers and offer a rare invitation to non-Natives.
Left-handed writer and artist Kevin McCloskey reviews Lefty and offers some commentary of his own on the prejudice against left-handed people and the hazards of living in a world geared for righties.
If I pick TEN books surely I must get one or two right when the awards are announced, right?
Can you guess the children’s book by its scathing one-star review on Goodreads?
Herewith, authors who have not won a Newbery Medal, including those who have won at least one Honor and some of the many excellent writers who haven’t yet been awarded any Newbery recognition. Emily and Steven kick off the conversation on "Heavy Medal."
Utah has added Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott to its list of books banned at all public schools; the Texas state board of education wants legislation giving it control of school library collections; and Crank by Ellen Hopkins remains on South Carolina high school shelves, but students will need parental permission.
The blossoming ranks of stellar biographies for young readers continue to crowd the shelves. Japanese athletes hit their summits in two vastly different ways, an author attempts to right the record on Rosalind Franklin, and a forgotten sports hero at last gets his due. And that's just the start of the Best Books in the category of nonfiction for the elementary grades. Come have a look.
SLJ's 2024 best middle and high school nonfiction selections run the gamut from insightful memoir; thoughtful explorations of cultural, biological, and environmental phenomena; to unrelenting exposures of dark times in our world's sociopolitical history—and the crucial lessons we must learn from the past.
Recommended for sparking deep conversations with older teens.
An interesting take on the planets and exoplanets with great illustrations but an uneven text structure.
Friendship and misunderstanding go hand in hand in this layered character study of a teen who longs to be accepted.
A unique mix of haunting and humor that captures the volatility of youth and the belief that one’s future is worth the fight, even against the supernatural.
Well-crafted and inspiring, this is an excellent choice for readers interested in sports and issues of gender and social justice.
A serviceable addition to St. Patrick’s Day books that will please readers familiar with Chloe Zoe and her friends.
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