Search Results for "Robert" |

Robert Lawson Gave Me Animals

May 19, 2023 No Comments

Is there anything finer than a middle grade book with interior art? Yes, a middle grade book about woodland animals with excellent interior art.

Robert Topp

May 11, 2021 1 Comment

We welcome Robert Topp, owner of The Hermitage Bookshop in Denver, Colorado, and reader-aloud extraordinaire, volunteering in the public schools for more than 28 years.

Sean Sherman, “In an epiphany, I tasted how food weaves people together, connects families through generations, is a life force of identity and social structure.” These formidable themes are central to recent Caldecott Award books.

Marveling about Migration

July 15, 2023 6 Comments

Flyways? Up until this moment, I confess I had a relatively elementary-school-like understanding of how and why birds migrate. Join me in learning more.

Connecting with Nature

April 26, 2023 No Comments

While experiences in the natural world are beneficial to both children and adults, they are especially crucial for young people. This selection of Caldecott Honor books invites readers to explore and appreciate the natural world.

The Secret Garden

April 26, 2023 6 Comments

Now that books are being banned and “revised” for language used before we “knew better,” I find myself thinking about this a lot.

Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr

March 22, 2023 1 Comment

Ramadan begins this year on March 22nd, and culminates with Eid al-Fitr on either April 20th or 21st. Here are books you can read with your children if you are observing Ramadan or if you are honoring Ramadan with your friends and family.

Fabulous Food

January 10, 2023 2 Comments

There are so many terrific books about food! I could go on and on with selections and recommendations but these are a few of my favorites.

Banned Books as Speaking Truth to Power

January 9, 2023 No Comments

There is a difference between keeping peace and making peace. It is not about avoiding discomfort and trying to keep everybody happy, but bravely joining in the work of justice.

Death and Grief

December 1, 2022 12 Comments

For those who are mourning the loss of a relative, a pet, a friend, a teacher, these books for young and old are recommended by our subscribers.

Winter!

November 25, 2022 4 Comments

Now that snow has fallen in many places throughout the land, it's time to celebrate the frozen crystals in picture books, nonfiction, and early chapter books.

Dance Party

October 1, 2022 1 Comment

Dance has many personalities and appeals to a myriad of people. Here are some exceptional books for very young readers through teens (and adults, too).

Reading the Art in Caldecott Award Books

Picture Book Illustration

May 26, 2021 No Comments

In picture books, the illustrations often carry half, or more than half, of the narrative. Increased understanding of illustration techniques can enhance your appreciation and pleasure when reading and sharing picture books.

Picture Book Parade

May 19, 2021 2 Comments

This season, if you visit Minneapolis’ Midtown Farmers Market, you’ll stroll by a harvest of picture books by Minnesota authors: Picture Book Parade—a new initiative by children’s authors Sarah Warren and Catherine Urdahl.

Children’s Literacy Foundation

April 8, 2021 4 Comments

Imagine the joy of a child who never had the privilege of owning a book being able to choose new hardcover or paperback editions for free out of hundreds displayed in front of him. The Children’s Literacy Foundation doesn’t have to imagine. Staff have seen the excited smiles on these young faces for the past 23 years, and they hear the same question wherever they go.

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The Cottage of Lost Play

April 8, 2021 2 Comments

Working on my magical realism middle-grade novel, I realized I couldn’t visualize where my story is located. I could describe immediate buildings, but the landscape was blank. If I couldn’t see it, neither could a reader.

Bess Press

March 24, 2021 No Comments

Think tropical … island nations, high and low islands. Feel the sun’s warmth, the stir of a gentle breeze clattering palm fronds high overhead. Escape winter, cold, snow, white, ice. How? In a book. Open one of the many books published by Bess Press, one of the first independent publishers located in Honolulu. Their books cover history and culture, war and peace in the Pacific, the many cultures of Polynesia, Micronesia (meaning small islands, there are over 10,000 islands in Micronesia) and Melanesia (the dark islands).

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Geography, Part 1

March 24, 2021 1 Comment

Many picture books have anonymous settings, but some include authentic landmarks identifying locations that can be pinpointed on a map. Traveling from west coast to east coast, several Caldecott Award books feature settings in the United States, and we can become armchair travelers through the illustrations.

Jane Langton Gave Me Geese

November 4, 2020 13 Comments

In Wildness is the preservation of the World. ~ Henry David Thoreau It’s rare a children’s book changes you when you’re an adult. I don’t mean fleeting Harry Potter/Team Edward crossover fandom, but genuine change (as with Watership Down). I was nearly 30 when Jane Langton’s book The Fledgling was published in 1980. At that stage of my not-yet-fledged career, I read children’s books by the boxload and was thrilled to discover a new one by my favorite writer.… more

Caren Stelson

October 27, 2020 1 Comment

Caren Stelson The book I wish everyone would read: I love Make Way for Ducklings written and illustrated by Robert McCloskey, and I wish every parent and child would read this ageless picture book together. Why do I love Make Way for Ducklings? Let me start with the fact that my family is from Boston and Make Way for Ducklings takes place in the city of Boston. In

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Brenda Sederberg and Her Reading Team
October 2020

October 13, 2020 No Comments

Raising Star Readers is delighted to hear that Brenda Sederberg’s Reading Team has added to its membership: welcome, Baby Phoebe! Brenda is also focusing on adding something else—she is expanding on the list of her Team’s old favorites by intentionally looking for books that are diverse and inclusive

John Steptoe’s Beautiful Books

September 24, 2020 No Comments

This month we want to celebrate the work of John Steptoe, brilliant artist and writer, who was born on September 14, 1950. His work is a year-round birthday present to all of us.

Books Set in Bookstores

May 26, 2020 1 Comment

For many of us, wandering around inside a bookstore is our Happy Place. It can also be a place of mystery, surprise, romance, adventure, how-tos, and an opportunity to tap into the knowledge of the universe. Here then are fifteen books for children that are set in bookstores. Archie Greene and the Magician’s Secret
written by D.D.

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Ferris Wheels

April 22, 2020 No Comments

These are books about Mr. Ferris or his Ferris wheel, which debuted at the 1893 World Colombian Exposition. Grand in scale, rising up into the sky, the Ferris wheel is a focal point wherever it appears.

Compassion and Empathy in Peace-making

April 14, 2020 2 Comments

One of the activities I do with young people is called speed dating. It’s an empathy building exercise because, I have found, we actually have to practice talking to each other and really listening.

Cynthia Grady

April 7, 2020 4 Comments

In the beginning, before I found myself within the pages of a book identifying with this character or that one, I listened to my grandmother read aloud from My Book House while surrounded by my eight siblings. The giant, multi-volume anthology contains poetry from Mother Goose to Shakespeare, selections from the Song of Solomon to Christina Rossetti to Robert Louis Stevenson, folk and fairy tales from around the world, Aesop’s fables, as well as some not-as-old previously published stories like The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter.… more

Avi

March 4, 2020 1 Comment

Such is the narcissism of youth that, sadly, one often learns about some important things about a parent only when they have passed on. Such was the case of my mother. Even as I began to publish, she never told me that she had wanted to be a picture book writer. I only learned of that when, after she died, I came upon some manuscripts she had written.… more

Vera’s Story Garden

May 23, 2019 2 Comments

Vera’s Story Garden Established
as a Literary Landmark by United for Libraries May 4, 2019 by Mary Paige Lang-Clouse, Director
Ethelbert B. Crawford Public Library
Monticello NY I met Vera B. Williams in the early 2000s while working at the public library in Narrowsburg, N.Y. It should come as no surprise to anyone that knew her that Vera didn’t waste any time identifying and using her local public library.… more

Vera’s Story Garden

May 23, 2019 2 Comments

Bookstorm™: Just Like Rube Goldberg

March 13, 2019 No Comments

Educators across the country have been inspired by Rube Goldberg’s intricate, clever, engineering-based, but unlikely-to-be-made-in-real-life cartoons. Students are gathering to create their own Rube Goldberg machines, using everyday objects in fun and innovative ways to accomplish simple tasks with fun results. Just Like Rube Goldberg inspires all its readers with the details about Rube’s childhood and his trip into adulthood.… more

When a Map Is a Journey

February 7, 2019 No Comments

The first map I remember was flashed briefly on TV, part of a commercial for Story Book Land. It aired on “Captain Tugg,” a local kiddie program. I adored Captain Tugg, so anything he endorsed must be gold. Like the home-movie type kid shows of the 50s and 60s, Story Book Land was a family-owned amusement park. And for my ninth birthday, I was going to Story Book Land!… more

Teaching Passion

January 3, 2019 1 Comment

When the director of Hollins University’s graduate program in children’s literature asked me to teach a critical class on the history of children’s book illustrators, I said no. Even with an MFA in writing for children from Vermont College, an MA in children’s literature from Hollins, scores of published books, and years of teaching graduate-level creative classes, I still felt like a fraud.… more

The Poetry of US

December 18, 2018 2 Comments

If you’re still looking for holiday gifts or start-the-year-with-a-treat gifts for your home, classroom, a host present, something lasting … consider this book. The Poetry of US
edited by J. Patrick Lewis
National Geographic Partners, 2018, 192 pages Not everyone can travel to all the dots on our country’s map, but this book transports us throughout America with the power of poetry, engaging all our senses.… more

The Christmas Alphabet

December 6, 2018 1 Comment

When our kids were small and we were building our Christmas book collection, the night on which we brought out the holiday books that had been in storage since the previous year was always a very special night. With #1 Son, this was but a handful of books at first; but once we added Darling Daughter to the family, and St.… more

Books about Somali Immigrants/Refugees

November 15, 2018 1 Comment

In an effort to help my children understand more about their own heritage, I have searched far and wide for books by or about Somali immigrants or refugees. Here are some of the best ones we have found. Though a number of these titles have not been written by Somalis, they have at least been informed by input from members of this community.

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Summoning Spring

April 26, 2018 No Comments

Jackie: Spring is a little late coming to the Midwest this year. But we can remember sunny days with violets and trillium blooming and rainy days that turn the grass green (instead of the snow we continue to get in mid-April). Rainy days make us think of ducks and we are going to beckon reluctant spring with stories of ducks.… more

In Memoriam: Wendy Watson

February 25, 2018 2 Comments

Wendy Watson was a third generation author and artist. Her grandparents, Ernest W. Watson and Eva Auld Watson, were painters and pioneer color block printers. Ernest was also founder and editor of the magazine American Artist, co-founder of Watson-Guptill Publications, and co-founder of one of the first summer art schools, the Berkshire Summer School of Art. Wendy’s father, Aldren A.

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Poetry from Stones

January 5, 2018 5 Comments

Outside my window right now: bare trees, gray sky, a brown bird. No, let’s try again. Outside my window, the leafless sweetgum shows a condo of squirrels’ nests, a dark blue rim on the horizon indicates wind moving in, and a white-crowned sparrow scritches under the feeders. Better. Even in winter, especially in winter, we need to wake up our lazy brains, reach for names that might be hibernating. … more

Skinny Dip with Sarah Aronson

December 6, 2017 3 Comments

Sarah Aronson’s most recent books, The Worst Fairy Godmother Ever (The Wish List #1, Beach Lane Books) and Keep Calm and Sparkle On! (The Wish List #2) are at once lighthearted and serious — stories that are fun to read and encourage working for causes that matter to the world. Sarah is widely known in the children’s book writing community as an enthusiastic and effective writing instructor.… more

Food for Thought

September 28, 2017 2 Comments

As the first month of a new school year comes to a close, I offer some food for thought about nourishing our teachers. Literally and figuratively. Years ago when I was working on my administrator’s license I discovered a gem of a book called If You Don’t Feed the Teachers, They Eat the Students! Guide to Success for Administrators and Teachers by Neila Connors.… more

Following The Ducklings

June 29, 2017 4 Comments

We have just returned from a trip to the Boston/Concord area and Maine. It was a bit of a literary trip. Three days in Concord, Massachusetts set the stage as we toured Louisa May Alcott’s house and Ralph Waldo Emerson’s, too. We followed The Amble, which became more of A Ramble, between Emerson’s home and Thoreau’s cottage at Walden Pond.… more

Skinny Dip with Susan Latta

May 23, 2017 No Comments

This week we’re all set to Skinny Dip with Susan Latta, who is celebrating the publication of her first trade book on September 1st, Bold Women of Medicine: 21 Stories of Astounding Discoveries, Daring Surgeries, and Healing Breakthroughs (Chicago Review Press). With historical to contemporary biographies of women who have found cures, advanced medicine, and tended to the sick with compassion, Susan has written an inspiring book that teen readers will find fascinating.… more

Theater Geeks!

May 19, 2017 No Comments

If your children (or you) are captivated by talent shows on TV, or dreams of acting on the stage, or the next theater production at school, there are a chorus line of books just waiting to audition for your next favorite. Here’s a mixture of classic and new stories, ranging in interest from grades 3 through 7. All the World’s a Stage
written by Gretchen Woelfle, illus by Thomas Cox
Holiday House, 2011 Twelve-year-old Kit Buckles has come to London to make his fortune.

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Richard Jackson

April 27, 2017 2 Comments

We are honored to interview the highly respected Richard Jackson, who is on to his next career as a writer. His most recently published book is all ears, all eyes, a lush and irresistible read-aloud book, illustrated by Katherine Tillitson (Simon & Schuster). We thought we’d take the opportunity to talk with him about the progression from his editorial career to his writing career and the four books he has written.… more

This Is Just To Say

April 6, 2017 No Comments

April is National Poetry Month, which is as good an excuse as any to take some poetry books off the shelf and have a read. I’m quite methodical in April — it’s the hint of spring in the air, I suppose. I clean my office and then I build a stack of wonderful poetry books — some Billy Collins, a little Emily Dickinson, a tome of Robert Frost, Shakespeare’s sonnets, Mary Oliver, naturally…..… more

Pop-up Books

March 23, 2017 3 Comments

Our household’s fascination with pop-up books came as a surprise to me. As a child I didn’t like them much. We had a few — one was Sleeping Beauty, I think. But they popped with boring modesty and they always had these tabs that you pulled to make things move, only my brother pulled them too hard and so they didn’t do anything besides pull in and out.… more

Our Hearts Will Hold Us Up

February 28, 2017 1 Comment

Jackie: It seems perfectly appropriate that the Manager of Holiday Placement has placed Valentine’s Day, a day to celebrate love and affection, right in the middle of cold, dark February. I want that celebration to spread out for the whole month (why not the whole year?) the way the smell of baking bread fills an entire house, not just the kitchen.… more

Charles Ghigna, Champion of Poetry

November 24, 2016 1 Comment

Our thanks to author and poet Charles Ghigna (GEEN-yuh) for taking time out from his writing, school visits, and conference tours to answer these questions which have been knock-knock-knockin’ on my brain since I first began reading his many books of poetry and, now, a nonfiction book about fascinating animals! Do you remember when you first read a poem and it caught your attention?… more

Trailblazing Illustrator, Elizabeth Shippen Green

November 16, 2016 2 Comments

Younger readers may not fully appreciate how difficult it was for women to break into the highly competitive field of illustration. For many years, men were routinely hired for advertising art, newspaper and magazine illustration, and children’s book illustration. Elizabeth Shippen Green, born in 1871 and dying in 1954, was one of the earliest female illustrators to win high regard, helping to open the door a little wider for the women who followed her, Her father was an artist-correspondent during the Civil War.… more

Third Grader Reading at a Sixth Grade Level

November 1, 2016 5 Comments

Responding to a parent request for books that would interest her third-grader-reading-at-a-sixth-grade-level, we crowd-sourced a list. Big thanks to Sara Alcott, Linda Baie, Lesley Mandros Bell, Karen Cramer, Caren Creech, Melinda Fant, Ellen Klarreich, Vickie LoPiccolo, Ellen McEvoy, Laura Moe, Tunie Munson-Benson, Vicki Palmquist, Carrie Shay, Faythe Dyrud Thureen, Cindy Walker, and Sharon J. Wilson. Unlike our usual annotated booklists, we are presenting this one in alphabetical order by book title due to the length of the list.

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