Book-A-Day Almanac
Discover the stories behind the children’s book classics and the new books on their way to becoming classics.
The Odyssey
Elementary School, Graphic Novel, Middle SchoolAccording to Eratosthenes, a Greek mathematician and poet, on June 11, 1184 BC the city of Troy was sacked and burned by the Achaeans, ending the Trojan War. Although throughout the years, the very existence of Troy itself has been debated by scholars, one truth remains: Whether real or fabled, these events form the backdrop [...]
Adventure, Ancient, History, QuestFeatured on June 11, 2012
The White Mountains
Elementary School, Middle School, Science FictionOn April 16, 1922, John Christopher was born as Samuel Youd in Lancashire, England. Leaving school at sixteen, Christopher began writing adult science fiction novels, but then a British publisher asked Christopher if he would try his hand at a science fiction novel for young readers. Quite naively Christopher believed that writing a book for [...]
Adventure, Dystopia, QuestFeatured on April 16, 2012
The Hobbit
Elementary School, Fantasy, Middle SchoolOn September 21, 1937, a children’s book appeared in England that, like other English classics such as Stevenson’s Treasure Island, Potter’s Peter Rabbit, or Grahame’s Wind and the Willows, began as a story told to a specific child. Actually, the idea of the book came when the author, correcting 286 school exams, found a blank [...]
Adventure, QuestFeatured on September 21, 2011
Ella Enchanted
Elementary School, Fantasy, Middle SchoolToward the end of March, World Folk Tales and Fables Week has been set up to encourage children and adults to explore the lessons learned from folk tales and fables. I’d like to finish our celebration with one of the most popular retellings of a folk tale published in the last fifteen years. Gail Carson [...]
Adventure, Award Winning, Fairy Tale, Magic, Newbery, QuestFeatured on March 27, 2011
A Wizard of Earthsea
Elementary School, Fantasy, High School, Middle SchoolMarch has been set aside to recognize the contribution of small presses to our literary heritage. After I had finished selecting books for 100 Best Books for Children, I went back to calculate the percentage that had originally been published by small or independent publishing houses. 10 percent! An amazing figure when you realize that [...]
Adventure, Award Winning, Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, QuestFeatured on March 16, 2011
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
Elementary School, Fantasy, Middle SchoolThe sixteen-day celebration of Chinese New Year, marking the year of the Snake, will begin on February 10. If you want to prepare for this event there is a perfect book to read, published only two years ago. What does it mean to be a Chinese-American, particularly if most traces of your native culture have [...]
Adventure, Asian American, Folktale, Multicultural, QuestFeatured on February 3, 2011
Ranger’s Apprentice
All Ages, Fantasy, Middle School, SeriesToday we celebrate Australia Day, when in 1788 the first settlement was established at Port Jackson, now part of Sydney. The Australian writing and illustrating community seems to me to be the most vibrant and original group of children’s book creators working any place in the world. In a few short years Australian writer Marcus [...]
Adventure, Magic, QuestFeatured on January 26, 2011
Daily children’s book recommendations and events from Anita Silvey.
Discover the stories behind the children’s book classics . . .
The new books on their way to becoming classics . . .
And events from the world of children’s books—and the world at large.
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