Tuesday, October 3rd, 2006
… and he’s as awesome as ever, supplying his visual magic to Carole Boston Weatherford’s poignant text in the new picture book biography, Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom.
Friday, September 29th, 2006
Woo-hoo! I am one of three winners in author Robin Brande’s monthly Free Chocolate givaway! How awesome is that? When you enter, she asks for an essay explaining exactly why you should win. I gave her 3 compelling reasons, which I think gave me an edge:
1. I like her blog. Really, I’m not just brown-nosing – she’s quite funny and smart, and apparently has a lot of willpower, since she keeps giving up things like chocolate and tortilla chips. I even put a handy link to it over in the “Seven Impossible Children’s Book Blogs and Sites” list, so you guys could check it out too.
2. I really need a bigger ass. I mean, doesn’t everybody?
3. She and I have a weird connection: on her “about” page, she describes her Broadway debut in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. See, my husband is a set designer who frequently works with Barrington Stage Company, where that show premiered before it moved to NY. Small world! See? Tenuous obscure connection = give me chocolate!
I wonder what reasons Brooke and Marci gave…
Go forth, chocolate lovers! Enter! Next month it could be you!
Thursday, September 28th, 2006
. . . oh, and some chickens, too.
Devoted blog reader, if you will allow us to wander from a book review one more time this week, we just must announce that The Poetry Foundation made their decision yesterday and chose Jack Prelutsky as the country’s first ever Children’s Poet Laureate. Yes, first ever. This is right up there with the day that The New York Times finally created the bestseller list in children’s books. (Arguably, this is much bigger news; but it’s pretty rad that children’s lit is gettin’ the attention it deserves).
Wednesday, September 27th, 2006
Yay rah for intellectual freedom! We are smack dab (to be precise) in the middle of the 25th anniversary of Banned Books Week. What has been the most challenged book of the 21st century thus far? What was the most frequently challenged book from last year? The answers can be found at ALA’s site if you click on the Banned Books image on the left. And celebrate your freedom to choose what you read and what you think by reading a banned book this week. Some are pictured below, or click here. I, personally, suggest The Stupids Die (1981) by Harry Allard and James Marshall — if not as your banned book choice of the week, then for the mirthful moment in which Grandfather Stupid crashes through the living room wall on his motorcycle and informs the family that they’re in Cleveland, not heaven.
Monday, September 18th, 2006
Hi there, devoted blog reader. Eisha and I try to stick to book reviews for this, our beloved blog, but we did initially agree to occasionally post about the relevant and/or momentous library and/or children’s literature-related news. And, well, this is exciting news. I’d put it in the form of a haiku in honor of the news and its literary form, but we’ll leave that to Little Willow, since she’s so good at writing hoe-downs, too (tee hee — no pressure, Little Willow).
Anyway, the news that will get you children’s lit geeks (and we say that lovingly) as excited as we are is that on September 27th, The Poetry Foundation will inaugurate the nation’s first Children’s Poet Laureate. This is big and wondermous news, folks.
Thursday, August 17th, 2006
“There are three hundred and sixty-four days when you might get un-birthday presents … and only one for birthday presents, you know.” — Lewis Carroll
My apologies that this is not book-related, but it’s a quick birthday greeting to Eisha, my blog partner-in-crime and true friend, who turns 22 today (tee hee). Eisha, this is a Miri Pi drawing for you; it’s a three-eyed dude (hey, she’s two) and a birthday balloon for you. I know it’s small, but when I try to make it bigger, it’s even more difficult to see. Anyway, happy birthday and may you celebrate with lots of wine and sweet words (to paraphrase Plautus — not that I’ve been reading Roman playwrights of late, but I saw that quote somewhere before). — Jules
