Book-A-Day Almanac
Discover the stories behind the children’s book classics and the new books on their way to becoming classics.
Diego Rivera: An Artist for the People
Elementary School, Middle School, NonfictionMay 1, International Workers Day, is celebrated in more than eighty countries around the world The observance originated in the United States in the 1880s as workers mobilized to secure an eight-hour workday. The Association of American Publishers has designated May as Latino Book Month. So today seems like a perfect time to look at [...]
History, Latino, Multicultural, PoliticsFeatured on May 1, 2013
Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909
Elementary School, Picture Books Today marks the birthday of Clara Lemlich, born in 1886 in Ukraine to a Jewish family. Following a pogrom in 1903, Clara and her family immigrated to the United States. She stood a mere five feet tall, but as Brave Girl, our book of the day, tells us, she had grit and was going to [...]
20th Century, Clothing, History, Jewish, Multicultural, New York, WomenFeatured on March 28, 2013
Starry River of the Sky
Elementary School, Fiction, Middle SchoolIn January we celebrate National Folklore Month. Folklore collections and retellings have tended to be Euro-Centric in books for children, whether retellings from Grimm, Perrault, or the Lang Fairy Books. But after American-born Grace Lin traveled to the land of her ancestors, Hong Kong, China, and Taiwan, she began incorporating the folklore of this land [...]
Asian American, Folktale, MulticulturalFeatured on January 28, 2013
Chickadee
Elementary School, Historical FictionNovember has been designated Native American Heritage Month. A perfect book for this month is Louise Erdrich’s fabulous new novel for young readers ages eight through twelve, Chickadee. Several years ago, Erdrich, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of the Chippewa, began a series of books set in the same region as Laura Ingalls [...]
19th century, History, Multicultural, Native AmericanFeatured on November 12, 2012
Mom, It’s My First Day of Kindergarten!
Elementary School, PreschoolAlthough some schools began in August, this week many children are headed back to school and some are headed there for the first time. Starting kindergarten is a topic so well covered by children’s books that I sometimes mistakenly think no one can come up with an original approach. But then creative people always find [...]
Asian American, Family, Multicultural, SchoolFeatured on September 5, 2012
Carver
Elementary School, High School, Middle School, PoetryAugust has been designated National Inventor’s Month. Possibly because my engineer father held many telecommunications patents, as a child I always felt that invention was something exciting and possible. Certainly in the book of the day, Marilyn Nelson’s Carver, George Washington Carver emerges as a figure any child would want to emulate. Marilyn Nelson has [...]
19th century, African American, Award Winning, History, Newbery, ScienceFeatured on August 6, 2012
The Wall
Elementary School, Picture Book Today marks the anniversary of the Tet Offensive in 1968. After calling a cease-fire during the Tet holiday celebration, North Vietnam launched a major offensive throughout South Vietnam. A milestone in the Vietnam War, after the Tet Offensive the U.S. Government began to seek a way out of their involvement in the Vietnamese War. Certainly [...]
Family, Grandparents, History, Multicultural, Vietnam WarFeatured on January 30, 2012
A New Year’s Reunion
Elementary School, Picture Book Today begins the Chinese New Year, the Year of the Dragon. Certainly over the years many American publishers have offered titles appropriate for this holiday. But a few months ago, a book that first appeared in Taiwan in 2008 was released and it’s one of the finest I have ever seen. A New Year’s Reunion [...]
Asian American, Family, Holidays, Multicultural, New Year'sFeatured on January 23, 2012
A Nation’s Hope
Biography, Elementary School, Picture BookDecember has been designated Read a New Book Month, and this week we are celebrating Kwanzaa. The book of the day, A Nation’s Hope: The Story of Boxing Legend Joe Louis, fits for both holidays and combines the talents of Matt de la Peña and Kadir Nelson in one of the best new offerings of [...]
African American, Boxing, History, Multicultural, Sports, World War IIFeatured on December 27, 2011
Breadcrumbs
Elementary School, Fantasy, Middle School December is Read a New Book Month; many are hunting for new books not only to read but to buy for the holidays. Because of the robust young adult market, those authors who write books for fourth through sixth graders have been a bit overlooked. Fortunately, this is not true of our book of the [...]
Adventure, Family, Friendship, Multicultural, SchoolFeatured on December 21, 2011
Morning Girl
Elementary School, Historical FictionToday we celebrate Columbus Day. Every now and then a book not only educates you but changes the way you view history. Once you have read it, you cannot see things quite the way you once did. That is how I think about the book of the day, Michael Dorris’s Morning Girl. Published in 1992, [...]
History, Multicultural, Native AmericanFeatured on October 10, 2011
Octavian Nothing
High School, Historical Fiction, Middle SchoolToday I’m looking at another audio book, like The Golden Compass created by Listening Library, for Audio Book Appreciation Month. M. T. Anderson’s The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing: The Pox Party has had a profound effect on good seventh and eighth grade readers, although it may be most appreciated by high school students and [...]
African American, History, Multicultural, Revolutionary War, ScienceFeatured on August 26, 2011
The People Could Fly
Elementary School, Picture Book August 23 of each year has been designated by UNESCO as the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and Its Abolition. This date was chosen because from August 22–23, 1791, an uprising began on the island of Saint Domingue, now Haiti, which helped bring about the end of the slave trade. If [...]
African American, Folktale, History, Multicultural, Slavery, Social ConscienceFeatured on August 23, 2011
Sally Goes to the Beach
Elementary School, Picture BookAugust has been designated National Beach Month and during this time people are encouraged to make one more trip to their local beach and enjoy the scenery and warm weather before it vanishes. As a landlocked child in Indiana, I envied people their ocean beaches—although we did have beautiful sand dunes bordering Lake Michigan. If [...]
Animals, Asian American, Dogs, Family, Multicultural, Seasons, SummerFeatured on August 21, 2011
Clemente!
Biography, Elementary School, Picture Book On August 18, 1934, one of the most revered National League baseball players of all times, Roberto Clemente, was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico. Considered something of a saint in his native land, Clemente made his fame in America, after being drafted in 1954 by the Pittsburgh Pirates. He brought new life to the team [...]
Baseball, History, Latino, Multicultural, SportsFeatured on August 18, 2011
Code Talker
Elementary School, Historical Fiction, Middle SchoolIn 1982 the United States Senate designated August 14 as National Code Talkers Day. In his address that day, Dennis DeConcini, an Arizona Senator, said, “Since the Code Talkers’ work required absolute secrecy, they never enjoyed the national acclaim they so much deserved. I do not want this illustrious yet unassuming group of Navajo marines [...]
History, Multicultural, Native American, Politics, World War IIFeatured on August 14, 2011
Bad Boy
Elementary School, High School, Memoir, Middle SchoolToday marks the 75th birthday of a man who calls his autobiography Bad Boy. But for the past forty years the children’s book field has considered Walter Dean Myers a “Good and Great Man.” Possibly that should be the title for the second volume of his autobiography. Myers initially made his mark when he entered [...]
African American, Family, History, Multicultural, New YorkFeatured on August 12, 2011
Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same!
Chapter Book, Elementary SchoolFrom August 5–7 in Twinsburg, Ohio, twins from around the world have come for festivities that include contests, talent shows, and fireworks. In years past this assembly has made the Guinness Book of World Records for being the largest gathering of twins at one time. Well, twins have always fascinated children, and literature for children [...]
Asian American, Award Winning, Family, MulticulturalFeatured on August 6, 2011
The Diary of a Young Girl
Elementary School, Memoir, Middle SchoolOn August 1, 1944, a fifteen-year-old girl wrote what would be the last entry in a diary she had been keeping since June 14, 1942. Her outpourings in this diary over the course of more than two years were remarkable. In this final entry, she talked about her character, striving to become a better human [...]
History, Jewish, Multicultural, World War IIFeatured on August 4, 2011
Paddle-to-the-Sea
Elementary School, NonfictionToday marks the birthday of one of America’s greatest author and illustrators. Holling Clancy Holling worked on developing his signature style for forty years before the release of his classic, Paddle-to-the-Sea, in 1941. For this book he drew on his years as a Michigan farm boy, a sailor on the Great Lakes, an anthropological researcher [...]
Geography, History, Multicultural, Native American, NatureFeatured on August 2, 2011
Number the Stars
Elementary School, Historical Fiction, Middle SchoolSeventy-six years ago on July 30, 1935, the modern paperback revolution began when Sir Allen Lane published the first Penguin paperback. I have always been grateful that he was knighted for this achievement—and that in the United States, beginning in the sixties, paperback books for children became a staple of publishing lists. Although I love [...]
Award Winning, History, Jewish, Multicultural, Newbery, Politics, Social Conscience, World War IIFeatured on July 30, 2011
Tar Beach
Elementary School, Picture BookJuly has been designated National Black Family Month, a month for Black Americans “to invest in their families as well as themselves.” The organizers hope that participants will have family reunions, dinners, or network with each other. Today I want to focus on one of the most magical family dinners ever portrayed. Faith Ringgold created [...]
African American, Family, Food, Imagination, Multicultural, New York, Seasons, Summer, True StoryFeatured on July 25, 2011
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
Elementary School, Historical Fiction, Middle SchoolI live in New England. During the month of July many of us in the region, as well as those from far away, seek out the beauty of the Maine coast—canoeing or kayaking in coves, sunlight on the water, baseball games, lobster, and fresh blueberry pie. These are just some of the images we all [...]
20th Century, African American, Award Winning, History, Multicultural, Newbery, Printz, Religion/SpiritualityFeatured on July 22, 2011
Words to My Life’s Song
Elementary School, Memoir, Middle SchoolToday marks a very special birthday: the 88th of author and illustrator Ashley Bryan. Born in Harlem and raised in the Bronx, Ashley has lived on an island off the coast of Maine for years. He gets to stay there less than he might like, because he is in so much demand as a speaker. [...]
20th Century, African American, Art, Award Winning, History, MulticulturalFeatured on July 13, 2011
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Elementary School, Historical Fiction, Middle SchoolJuly has been designated both Family Reunion Month and National Black Family Month. We all need to take time to celebrate the strengths and virtues of our families. For some writers, their family and their family stories provide the necessary ingredients for great books. Such is the case of our author of the day, Mildred [...]
African American, Award Winning, Family, History, Multicultural, NewberyFeatured on July 3, 2011
Pink and Say
Elementary School, Picture BookIn April of 2011 the five-year-long Sesquicentennial of the Civil War began; the Civil War Trust has an excellent website of resources. Over this period of time, we’ll be given hundreds, probably thousands, of new resources to use with children to explore the War Between the States. But if I were going to start observing [...]
African American, Civil War, History, Multicultural, True StoryFeatured on June 22, 2011
Anne Frank: Her Life in Words and Pictures
Elementary School, Middle School, NonfictionOn June 12, 1929, a young German girl was born. Had history played out differently, she might well have been celebrating her 82nd birthday today. Anne Frank lived in extraordinary times—and in recording those times, she ultimately became the world’s most famous young writer. Scores of books providing supplementary reading for The Diary of Anne [...]
Award Winning, Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, History, Jewish, Multicultural, Social Conscience, World War IIFeatured on June 12, 2011
When My Name Was Keoko
Elementary School, Historical Fiction, Middle SchoolToday Koreans celebrate Memorial Day – to pay tribute to those who died in war. Although very few books for children are set in Korea, Linda Sue Park’s extraordinary novel When My Name Was Keoko, published in 2002, explores World War II as seen by Korean citizens. For this powerful novel, Linda Sue Park, winner of the Newbery [...]
Asian American, Family, History, Multicultural, Politics, World War IFeatured on June 6, 2011
Hurricane Dancers
Elementary School, Middle School, Poetic NovelThis month marks the beginning of the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico hurricane season. June also marks Caribbean-American Heritage Month. Both events are celebrated in the book of the day, Margarita Engle’s Hurricane Dancers. In a powerful, 145-page poetic novel, Engle presents a fresh and unusual look at Cuba, its history from 1509–1510, and [...]
16th Century, History, Hurricanes, Latino, Multicultural, WeatherFeatured on June 5, 2011
Tom Feelings
Elementary School, High School, Middle School, Picture BookOn May 19, 1933, Tom Feelings was born in Brooklyn, New York. An African-American, he chose to spend many years of his adult life in Africa, seeking to understand his heritage. As an artist and picture book illustrator, he presented what he discovered about African culture and history. While in Africa in the 1960s, Feelings [...]
African American, Award Winning, Caldecott, History, Multicultural, SlaveryFeatured on May 19, 2011
The Circuit
Elementary School, High School, Memoir, Middle SchoolMay has been designated both Personal History Month and Latino Book Month. Both experiences can be found in one of the most remarkable autobiographies of the last twenty years, Francisco Jiménez’s The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child. Now a university professor, Jiménez began his journey toward United States citizenship as a [...]
20th Century, Award Winning, Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, History, Latino, MulticulturalFeatured on May 16, 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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