FUNNY WOMEN: Amelia Bedelia Takes a COVID Test
Mrs. Rogers was angry. She was very angry.
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Posts Tagged: children’s literature
The Rumpus Mini-Interview Project #147: Saadia Faruqi
“If you can’t really tell the whole story in five thousand words, are you really a writer?”
...moreThis Week in Indie Bookstores
Indie bookstore news from across the country and around the world!
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What to Read When You Want Your Kids to Grow Up to Be Good
A list of picture books to create meaningful conversations with kids about the way America is now and the ways we hope to make it better.
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The Rumpus Mini-Interview Project #66: Reimagining Children’s Literature as Mixtape
In the best collaborations, creative individuals push themselves to work with new media and singular, wild things issue forth. Jeff Antebi of Waxploitation Records has managed to create just this kind of magic in his book, Stories for Ways and Means. A product of ten years’ worth of seeking and story pitching, Stories for Ways […]
...moreR.L. Stine Takes to Reddit and Tells All
90s kids probably remember Goosebumps, the popular series of children’s horror novellas that put kid protagonists in all manner of spooky situations. Author R.L. Stine took to Reddit for an AMA last week, holding forth on questions like “Do you write out fully sketched profiles of characters before you start the plot?” and “Why the war […]
...more“A Star That Peers Through Your Window”
German children’s book author Thomas Mac Pfeifer spent over a year interviewing children who had migrated to Germany from war-stricken countries such as Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan with the purpose of hearing and collecting their favorite bedtime stories into one book, Ein Stern, der in dein Fenster schaut (“A star that peers through your window”). […]
...moreMalala Yousafzai Lands Children’s Book Deal
Nobel Peace Prize winner and teenage activist Malala Yousafzai is still fighting nonstop for empowerment and education with her forthcoming project, a picture book meant to encourage children to create change in the world around them. Malala’s Magic Pencil—”[i]nspired by her own childhood wish… to help make the world a better place”—is to be released […]
...moreKids Read to Their Barbers for More Than a $2 Discount
The Fuller Cut in Ypsilanti, Michigan is offering $2 discounts to kids who read a book to their barber during their haircuts. For NPR, Jennifer Guerra speaks with customers/readers and their parents, who not only are shaving a bit off their haircut budgets, but also have the extra opportunity to encourage reading and comprehension for […]
...moreThe Book Lady Is Back
Dolly Parton, pop culture’s resident “Book Lady,” has written a children’s book based off of one of her hits, “Coat of Many Colors.” The book is to be released on October 18, Robyn Collins for Radio.com reports. Coat of Many Colors will describe the story of a young Dolly who struggles with classism and bullying; […]
...moreReading YA Lit as an Act of Resistance
These and many other stories hope to remind us that the freedom to choose our own reading is a form of resistance against the looming threat of a totalitarian state… YA literature has situated itself as one of the most influential genres in publishing, with more adults reading YA than ever, and young adults being the most “literate” […]
...moreOur New Librarian-in-Chief’s Favorite Children’s Book
Last week, Carla Hayden was sworn in as the 14th Librarian of Congress, making her the first woman and the first African-American in the position. Hayden talked with Jeffrey Brown of PBS Newshour about the challenges of her new position, and her favorite children’s book, Bright April by Marguerite de Angeli, a story about a […]
...moreRoald Dahl’s Hidden Village Home
Take a stroll through the storybook town of Great Missenden, a tiny village in the county of Buckinghamshire in Britain, and the home of children’s literature’s grand-wizard, Roald Dahl, in the latter half of his life. For Hazlitt, Michael Hingston tours Great Missenden and reflects on the similarities between the little town and the settings […]
...moreThe Queer History of Children Books
Over at the Los Angeles Review of Books, Kelly Blewett retraces a fragment of the long-needed queer history of children books: Nordstrom was also queer. Although it seems she rarely mixed her private life with her professional one, a number of the most famous writers whom she published were queer, too, including Brown, Fitzhugh, and […]
...moreChild’s Play
Not a day goes by that there isn’t some new study on how children’s brains work and what kind of media they should be consuming, With all the scientifically backed books out there now, it’s good to also have some children’s literature that’s still about introducing them to what stories can do. For Slate, Adrienne […]
...moreYour Favorite Pokémon’s Book of Life Advice
Never fear Pokémon GO-ers (and those of you who have managed to avoid the Poké-wave); the pocket monsters aren’t quite done yet—they’re writing a book. More specifically, it’s an “inspirational guide to life,” as described by Emma Oulton for Bustle. The Pokémon Book of Joy, besides having the most uplifting title ever, will feature adorable illustrations […]
...moreKid’s Lit: Team Order or Team Nonsense?
Children’s literature as a genre has grown exponentially from early morality-racked lesson books to modern goofy masterpieces such as Captain Underpants—how did we switch from Order to Nonsense, and have we completely switched over? At Slate, Katy Waldman sits down with literary critic and professor Seth Lerer to discuss the evolution of children’s literature and the […]
...moreDolly Parton, Book Lady
Forbes walks through the colorful and boundless career of Dolly Parton, pop icon, writer, actress, entrepreneur, and “Book Lady.” Following a childhood dream, Parton created The Imagination Library, which is about to reach the landmark of distributing over 100 million books to children worldwide since 1995.
...moreBook Deserts Leave Low-Income Children without Books
A recent study has revealed that low-income neighborhoods in Detroit, Washington, DC, and Los Angeles, are lacking in children’s books in their schools, stores, and libraries, creating “book deserts” for children living in poverty. Limited access to opportunities for reading has serious repercussions for these children in both their personal and educational development, Phys Org […]
...moreSome Books Stay with You
If I can’t remember the words themselves, I can easily remember how I felt as I read them. And that’s always been my goal as a writer: to make readers feel as if they are in the world I’ve created, and that they want to stay there. At the Guardian, Lauren Wolk, author of Wolf Hollow, […]
...more20 Years of Latino Children’s Literature
The American Library Association’s Pura Belpré Awards just had its 20th anniversary this past weekend, celebrating two decades of outstanding Latino writers and illustrators who create books for Latino children and teens. The Monitor reported on the event, which featured dozens of prominent Latino authors and illustrators whose work has showcased and celebrated Latino culture, heritage, […]
...moreGeorge Gets Curious about Ramadan
Children’s literature’s most beloved rambunctious primate, Curious George, has a new installment in his adventures, and this time he’s curious about a holiday most Americans remain clueless about: the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. The Huffington Post reflects on the timeliness of It’s Ramadan, Curious George in light of increasing Islamophobia in American culture. Author Hena Khan […]
...moreReading against Time
As a child, I loved it when a book took me somewhere else. I still do, but I’m more surprised and grateful now to be transported by words on a page from one world to another. Perhaps because, as grown-ups, we value what is harder won. At the New York Times Book Review, Francine Prose […]
...moreThe Important Queerness of Frog and Toad
At the New Yorker, Colin Stokes lauds the classic Frog and Toad’s “amphibious celebration of same-sex love” and discusses the ways in which it may have been inspired by Arnold Lobel’s life experiences: Lobel never publicly discussed a connection between the series and his sexuality, but he did comment on the ways in which personal material […]
...moreLessons from Frog and Toad
At the Atlantic, Bert Clere reflects on Arnold Lobel’s children’s books, Frog and Toad and Owl at Home, the lessons these stories try to teach, and the representation of the self in each of them: Although Frog and Toad’s world is perhaps more pastoral than that of their average reader, most can recognize and relate to the situations […]
...moreSave the Children
Graeme Whiting, headmaster of the Acorn School (motto: “Have courage for the truth”) of Nailsworth, Great Britain, recently published a blog post condemning “sensational” fantasy novels such as the Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Hunger Games series that feature “dark,” “insensitive,” and “addictive” subjects. At the LA Times, Michael Schaub wrote about the […]
...moreLiterature as Expression, Exchange, and Peace
Everything make sense if you’re an artist. At the Dallas Observer, Caroline North exchanged a few words with current US Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera, who is kicking off his second term with a book tour and several forthcoming projects, including The Technicolor Adventures of Catalina Neon, a series of coloring books written by and for […]
...moreRamona Quimby All Grown Up
Beverly Cleary guided generations of girls and boys alike through the rocky, messy, color- and dream-filled days of childhood with her long-running Ramona series, which manages to stay at the forefront of the children’s literary scene even fifty years after the release of its first installment in 1955. Ruth Graham at Slate wants us to remember that […]
...moreGet ‘Em While They’re Young
This year’s children’s literature has some exceptional bonafides. Over the next few months, a number of acclaimed novelists, including Jane Smiley and Elena Ferrante, will be publishing children’s books. Whether a five-year-old can distinguish between literary and genre fiction, only time will tell.
...moreThat’s Racist
As much as we cherish the books from our childhood, there is no denying that some of the stories are just a little (or a lot) racist. But how do we reconcile this truth? They were the feckless prisoners of their times, and much as we’d like for people in the past to share our enlightenment, […]
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