Any children's librarian will tell you that as children are read picturebooks they are not usually silent participants. So this category of the picturebook is a little puzzling until you realise that the books are silent because there are no words on the page. The story is carried by the illustrations and the reader who … Continue reading Silent books
#WorldKidLit Wednesday: Stars and Poppy Seeds
When I was a kid, I loved to count all sorts of things, as so many children do. Because numbers are fascinating! Even the names are cool: long before there was Google, there were googols and googolplexes. In Stars and Poppy Seeds, a picture book for ages 3-7, Flora is the child of mathematicians. And … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Stars and Poppy Seeds
#WorldKidLit Wednesday: Every Color of Light
A joyous, gentle picture book for readers 4-8, Every Color of Light paints a paean to the colors of nature and the natural world. While it’s a quiet book in the traditional sense, its pages are filled with noise and motion, from whipping wind and thundering rain to flickering stars. Nature’s poetry springs alive on … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Every Color of Light
#WorldKidLit Wednesday: Ida and the Whale
“Would you like to come with me on a journey beyond the stars?” So asks a friendly flying whale that young Ida meets when she’s half asleep. Who could resist such an enticing invitation? Not I. Nor Ida. And so we enter a dreamy fantasy world as we join Ida and the whale on their … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Ida and the Whale
#WorldKidLit Wednesday: The Lizard
The month of December is often a month of gift-giving, what with the various holidays that take place during that time. Later this month I will be giving my nieces and nephews books for Christmas, as is my custom. I have been considering prospective books all year long and recently made my purchases from a … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: The Lizard
Interview with Rachel Yung-Hsin Wang
This post is published simultaneously on Chinese Books for Young Readers Kirkus reviewer Rachel Yung-Hsin Wang has lived and worked in many parts of the world, and is something of a polyglot. Earlier this year she completed an MFA in Writing for Children at Simmons University, having won a Lee & Low and Simmons Friends … Continue reading Interview with Rachel Yung-Hsin Wang
Hope and Hardship: The Picture Book As Exile Narrative
Today I am ceding editing rights to my friend and colleague Betsy Bird, an award winning children's author and librarian... Children’s books are written years in advance of their publication dates. A book being written at this very moment may take anywhere between two to five years to reach library and bookstore shelves. As such, … Continue reading Hope and Hardship: The Picture Book As Exile Narrative
#WorldKidLitWednesday: Little Fox
Little Fox catches air during his pursuit of two purple butterflies, and then the earth rushes up to meet him with a THUMP! As he lies, dazed, he starts to dream as he has never dreamt before. He dreams of good things like his mommy’s milk, the sights and smells of little animals and flowers, … Continue reading #WorldKidLitWednesday: Little Fox
#ExileLit Welcome to the Literature of Exile
My name is Lesley Williams, and I am guest editing the Global Literature in Libraries Initiative blog for November. What a tremendous honor! As a librarian, I enjoy combining my love of beautiful writing with advancing social justice. So what better theme to choose that the literature of exile? Ovid, Dante, Victor Hugo, Wole Soynika, … Continue reading #ExileLit Welcome to the Literature of Exile
#WorldKidLitWednesday: The Sages of Chelm and the Moon
There was once a town filled with people so wise that a body of Jewish folklore developed around their wisdom. Except, of course, they weren’t wise at all. Indeed, they were absolutely, thigh-slappingly, heart-stoppingly foolish—which is where much of the fun lies in the Chelm stories.* In The Sages of Chelm and the Moon**, Shlomo … Continue reading #WorldKidLitWednesday: The Sages of Chelm and the Moon
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 