Today’s post comes to you from Song Yee Paik Since being published a year ago, "Song of a Blackbird" by Maria van Lieshout has been featured twice on GLLI (reviewed by Lynn Miller-Lachmann in March 2025, and explored in an author interview by Kim Tyo-Dickerson in May 2025) and has received significant critical acclaim. Last … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Song of a Blackbird
High schooler Jip has a big problem—an art class assignment to draw a self-portrait. That shouldn’t be a problem, as Jip is a talented artist who can draw bugs, shells, and other items in exquisite detail. Jip is also obsessed with biology in general and insects in particular, spending days (and nights) in an overgrown … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Self-Portrait
By Allan Pinto & Kim Tyo-Dickerson Introduction to a Queer, Black Brazilian Reading Life by Allan Pinto During my time in middle and high school, I can barely remember Black authors being mentioned in the annual book lists given out by the school. Many Black and queer authors used to be called “autores malditos” or … Continue reading #INTYALITMONTH: Brazilian YA: An Exploration of a Postcolonial Literary Tradition by and for the Diaspora
By Kim Tyo-Dickerson 70th Anniversary Graphic Novel Adaptation of Lord of the Flies by Aimée de Jongh: A Masterpiece Reimagined in English and Dutch What happens when a fictional group of British schoolboys crash-land on a deserted island with no adults, no rules, and no way out? Lord of the Flies is a gripping survival … Continue reading #INTYALITMONTH: The Graphic Lord of the Flies
By Kim Tyo-Dickerson and Maria van Lieshout Introduction It was a privilege to speak with author and illustrator Maria van Lieshout about her powerful Young Adult graphic novel debut, Song of a Blackbird / Het lied van de merel, a story that has already earned five starred reviews in the United States for its “exploration … Continue reading #INTYALITMONTH: “Fight HATE. Make ART.” —Interview with Maria van Lieshout, Dutch American author.
When Annick, an older teenager living in Amsterdam, learns that the grandmother who has raised her ever since her parents’ death in an accident, needs a bone marrow transplant, it leads her on a journey that will take her across oceans and continents, and almost 70 years into the past. Searching for a perfect match, … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Song of a Blackbird
Up, down, over, under, open, close: learning opposites is an important piece of early childhood development. Learning opposites helps children learn not only vocabulary, but also develop observational skills, critical thinking, and a more concrete understanding of the world around them. Forthcoming this September from Eerdman's Books for Young Readers, Fast Cheetah, Slow Tortoise: Poems … Continue reading #WorldKidLitWednesday: Fast, Cheetah, Slow Tortoise: Poems of Animal Opposites
Today's post is a virtual field trip to the Children's Book Museum in The Hague, just a short bicycle ride from my house. This is my second trip to the museum to research #DutchKidLit for this month of posts, with the goal of learning more about the connections between early childhood Dutch books and the … Continue reading #DutchKidLit – Virtual Field Trip to the “I Am Frog” and “ABC with the Animals and Me” Exhibits at the Children’s Book Museum
Post by guest author Lyn Miller-Lachmann. September is #WorldKidLitMonth, the time to raise awareness of translated children’s books. These books are excellent ways of introducing young readers to the history and present-day lives of children and teens around the world. For parents, teachers, and librarians, it’s the time to highlight the publishers of these books, … Continue reading #DutchKidLit – I’ll Keep You Close by Jeska Verstegen and the Story of a Dutch Publisher: Querido
The beauty of the close, mutually supportive relationship between brothers Vincent and Theo van Gogh at the end of Vincent's turbulent life is the heart and soul of this graphic biography, written by cartoonist Barbara Stok for the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Stok "based scenes and storylines in Vincent on Van Gogh’s letters to his brother … Continue reading #DutchKidLit Young Adult Biography – Vincent by Barbara Stok
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 