
Tag Archives | Authors & Illustrators


All Different Now

Planet Kindergarten

The Scraps Book: Notes from a Colorful Life

The Return of Zita the Spacegirl

The Crossover
Kwame Alexander
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt From the moment I began reading this poetry collection, I knew it was a different type of book because the rhythms, the cadence, were infused with energy and awareness. The Crossover is primarily free verse, with a few hiphop, rhythmic poems that change up the action. The narrator, Josh, or Filthy McNasty as his basketball persona is proud to be called, is buoyant, observant, filled with sports metaphors, and adept at wordplay.… more

A Time to Dance
Padma Venkatraman
Nancy Paulsen Books / Penguin Putnam Disclaimer: I’m a fan of Padma Venkatraman’s books. Each one has charmed me. I know I can always expect a reading experience unlike any I’ve had before. Her new book does not disappoint. In A Time to Dance, teenaged Veda has already dedicated her life to dance, much to her mother’s frustration.… more

Gifted: Children’s Book-a-Day Almanac

Gifted: So, You Want to Be a Chef?
How to Get Started in the World of Culinary Arts
Be What You Want series
J.M. Bedell
Beyond Words/Aladdin, October 2013 Introduction
If your child or teen is often caught watching cooking shows, they’re not alone. In 2010, Melissa Kossler Dutton on ParentDish.com wrote, “Every month, 12 million children ages 2 to 17 watch the Food Network.”… more

Gifted: The Matchbox Diary

Gifted: Under the North Light
The Life and Times of Maud and Miska Petersham
written by Lawrence Webster
foreword by Philip C. Stead and Erin E. Stead
Woodstock Arts, 2012
info@woodstockarts.com
ISBN 978−0−9679268−6−5 My husband, Steve, and I have worked together for the last 25 years. We have been married for 32 years, so it took us seven years to discover that we would enjoy creating and maintaining a business, developing it as our interests and skills grew.… more

Gifted: Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table
written by Jacqueline Briggs Martin
illustrated by Eric-Shabazz Larkin
afterword by Will Allen
Readers to Eaters, 2013 Introduction
My second passion in life after books and reading is sustainable agriculture and organic farming. There are a few good books for children on this topic, but I’m always delighted when a new, inspiring true story finds its way to my library.… more

Gifted: Giving Thanks
Poems, Prayers, and Praise Songs for Thanksgiving
edited and with reflections by Katherine Paterson
illustrations by Pamela Dalton
Handprint Books / Chronicle Books, 2013
ISBN: 978−1−4521−1339−5 The season when we focus on giving thanks will quickly be here. If you are looking for a gift to take to your hosts, to give to your family, or to give to yourself, this book is ideal.… more

Gifted: Spike, Ugliest Dog in the Universe
Debra Frasier, author and illustrator
Beach Lane Books, October 2013 Ever since I saw my 10-year-old niece pose in front of the television, trying to imitate the supermodels at the end of the runway, my awareness of the beauty culture in this country has been acute. We took her to the Mall of America that weekend and all she wanted was glitter eye shadow.… more

Gifted: Arlo’s ARTrageous Adventure!
written and illustrated by David LaRochelle
Sterling Children’s Publishing, 2013 If you’re considering gifts for the holiday season … (book #1 in our series of Gifted recommendations) … No matter how uninteresting Arlo’s elderly relative insists on making their trip to the museum with her warnings to be serious and quiet and not to touch anything, Arlo can’t help but find the opposite to be true.… more

Discussing the Books We’ve Loved: Déjà Vu

Alongside the Books We’ve Loved: Venom and the River

A matter of character

Encourage them

A reading path from Japan to America

Writer’s honor

Fairy Tales Can Come True

Monday Morning Roundup

A Writing Tip

Everything We Know

Bank Street’s 2010 Choices

Monday Morning Round-Up

2010 Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards

Hitting a Home Run

Aliens and Nature

Monday Morning Roundup

Celebrating Earth Day

Baseball Crazy

Jordan Sonnenblick

Award winners, award criteria
Big Bob and The Magic Valentine’s Day Potato
Several years ago, a mysterious package arrived at our house on Valentine’s Day: a plain brown box addressed to our entire family with a return address “TMVDP.” The package weighed almost nothing.
It weighed almost nothing because the box contained four lunchbox serving-size bags of potato chips.

Rambling Around
