Book-A-Day Almanac
Discover the stories behind the children’s book classics and the new books on their way to becoming classics.
Ghost Hawk
Elementary School, Fantasy, Historical FictionThis week we celebrate Children’s Book Authors and Illustrators week, and I’d like to use the day to talk about an author whom I have admired for more than forty years. As a young Horn Book assistant editor, I read the galleys of the second children’s book by Susan Cooper, The Dark Is Rising, and […]
Colonial America, History, Multicultural, Native AmericanFeatured on February 5
Curse of the Blue Tattoo
Elementary School, Historical Fiction, Middle SchoolJune has been designated Audio Appreciation Month. Today I am going to talk about an audio series that was recommended to me by my two favorite audio experts: Ellen Myrick, who created the audio section of 500 Great Books for Teens, and Alison Morris of Scholastic. If you are headed out for a road trip […]
Colonial America, History, WomenFeatured on June 10
The Sherwood Ring
Elementary School, Historical Fiction, Middle School Today marks American Independence Day, the Fourth of July, a time of parades, firecrackers, and outdoor picnics. But every time the Fourth of July comes around, I wonder how much children think about the reason for this holiday. If they don’t, how do we inform them about the American Revolution? Our book of the day, […]
Colonial America, Ghosts, HistoryFeatured on July 4
Witches!
Elementary School, Middle School, NonfictionThe end of February can be brutal in New England. Certainly more than one inhabitant of the region has felt that powers of darkness have seized the barren land. And during the end of February 1692, the Reverend Samuel Parris and other ministers in Salem, Massachusetts, grilled two children, nine-year-old Betty Parris and her eleven-year-old […]
Award Winning, Colonial America, History, Politics, Religion/Spirituality, SibertFeatured on February 29
Written in Bone
Elementary School, NonfictionOn December 20, 1606, three small ships—Godspeed, Susan Constant, and Discovery—departed London, England for Virginia. In May of the next year the men and boys on this ship founded the first permanent English settlement in America, Jamestown. Other colonists, including women, joined them in James Fort in 1608. In recent years members of the Jamestown […]
Archeology, Colonial America, History, ScienceFeatured on December 20
1621: A New Look At Thanksgiving
Elementary School, Nonfiction, Picture Book Today Americans worship those twin pastimes of indulging in food and football. How did this day, Thanksgiving, become a holiday? In searching for the best book on the topic, I discovered that there aren’t as many Thanksgiving books as you might think. Certainly the most intriguing on the subject is 1621: A New Look at […]
Colonial America, History, Holidays, Multicultural, Native American, ThankgivingFeatured on November 25
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.
