Ever have one of those "duh" moments when you wonder why it took you so long to think of that simple, yet brilliant, idea?Each month at the Odyssey Bookshop, I hand-select books for children signed up for our Gift of Reading Program. Usually a family member or close family friend signs up the child (age … Continue reading Gift of Reading Club Selections: April 2010
Category: Genre: children’s books
Fall 2010 Picturebook Highlights: Random House
Remember back in January when I posted about ordering books that would be published this Summer 2010? Well, it's the end of April and guess what I'm doing.If you guessed buying books for Fall/Winter 2010, you'd be correct!Introducing the Fall 2010 Picturebook Highlights, beginning with Random House!Camille Saint-Saens's The Carnival of the Animalsmusic by Camille … Continue reading Fall 2010 Picturebook Highlights: Random House
Author Visit: David Hyde Costello, Author of I Can Help and Here They Come!
You want to know why I love my job?Yes, I get to read children's books months before they get published and then recommend them to you and others to read. Yes, I get to hold weekly storytimes where adorable children sit at my feet and listen with rapt attention (usually) while I read them picturebooks. … Continue reading Author Visit: David Hyde Costello, Author of I Can Help and Here They Come!
Ode to Stephen Gammell
Author and illustrator Stephen Gammell's work is known in two very different veins: sassy, whimsical picturebook illustrator and nightmare-inducing, horror illustrator.My first introduction to his work was through his Caldecott Award winning book Song and Dance Man (9780679819950, Random House, $6.99). I loved having my parents read the story to me, but it was for … Continue reading Ode to Stephen Gammell
Book Review: Alchemy and Meggy Swann by Karen Cushman
Alchemy and Meggy Swann by Karen Cushman9780547231846, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $16Meggy Swann is crippled at a time when non-able-bodied people were thought to be cursed by the Devil. She must walk with two crutch-sticks to support her weak and twister legs. Her sour disposition doesn't help her make friends, but which came first – the … Continue reading Book Review: Alchemy and Meggy Swann by Karen Cushman
Book Review: The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller
The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller9781595143082, Penguin, $18.99, Pub. Date: August 2010I admit I don't tend to like lovey-dovey YA, but Haven's voice, and that of her gay best friend Beau, kept me hanging in there. As did the unique premise –love as the cause for reincarnation.Haven Moore lives in Tennessee but can describe New … Continue reading Book Review: The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller
Pioneer Valley Children’s Book Exhibit
For those folks living in, around, near, or feel like traveling to the Pioneer Valley in Western Mass (an area consisting of towns such as Amherst, Northampton, & South Hadley), a traveling area picturebook exhibit is making its final stop.The Making of a Picture Book: The Marriage of Text and Art is an exhibit curated … Continue reading Pioneer Valley Children’s Book Exhibit
Alice on the iPad
I admit I'm completely, 100% fascinated by this video. What I can't decide is whether I've just watched my future as a children's picture book author go up in smoke, or if I just need to learn to adapt to the changing times. Obviously I'm not a Luddite, but still, it's a little disconcerting to … Continue reading Alice on the iPad
Summer 2010 Picturebook Highlights – Candlewick
Presenting #8 in the Summer 2010 Picturebook Highlights series: Candlewick Press! Practically in the back yard (okay, it's an hour and a half away in Boston), this press is the home of Kate DiCamillo, Judy Moody, and Emily Windsnap. Here are some of my favorite picturebooks for the summer season. I already mentioned Cloud Tea … Continue reading Summer 2010 Picturebook Highlights – Candlewick
Recognize that voice? Part 2
For the second time in as many years, you are now able to access my voice over the airwaves!I had the pleasure of returning to the WAMC radio studio in Albany, NY last week, along with Joan Grenier, one of the Odyssey Bookshop's co-owners.To listen to us talk about books (Joan about adult fiction and … Continue reading Recognize that voice? Part 2
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