Book-A-Day Almanac
Discover the stories behind the children’s book classics and the new books on their way to becoming classics.
Tomorrow, When the War Began
Elementary School, Middle School, Science FictionIn May, the Association of American Publishers celebrates Get Caught Reading Month—publicity for the event includes posters of famous people each absorbed in a good book. Certainly, any book featured on the Almanac over the past year would be great to be caught reading. But I’d like to showcase a series that not only engages [...]
Adventure, Dystopia, SurvivalFeatured on May 20, 2013
Amelia Bedelia: Fiftieth Anniversary Edition
Elementary School, Picture Books From May 13–19 we celebrate Children’s Book Week, a great time to look at old classics and new favorites. Last year for Scholastic Book Clubs, I worked with more than twenty children’s book experts to identify the best books to include in their offerings. When we took our original ballot, before discussion, one book garnered [...]
HumorFeatured on May 13, 2013
Twelve Kinds of Ice
Elementary School, Memoir Today I would like to wish happy birthday to one of the loveliest ladies in the children’s book world, illustrator Barbara McClintock. Born in New Jersey, Barbara drew constantly as a child. By the time she reached seven, she knew she wanted to be an artist when she grew up—although she also had designs on [...]
Nature, Seasons, WinterFeatured on May 6, 2013
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
One-Eyed Cat
Elementary School, Fiction, Middle SchoolToday marks the ninetieth birthday of writer Paula Fox, born in New York City. Her memoir Borrowed Finery tells the haunting story of her childhood and her rejection by her mother who left her in an orphanage. Paula was initially raised by Reverend Elwood Corning and his bedridden mother; later Fox’s Cuban grandmother took care [...]
Animals, Award Winning, Cats, Family, Great Depression, History, NewberyFeatured on April 22, 2013
Book of Animal Poetry
Elementary School, Poetry, PreschoolApril 15 is, of course, tax day—but I have never found a suitable book on the subject for the Almanac. Some concerns really are not appropriate for children. Instead I will focus on a perfect title for Poetry Month, J. Patrick Lewis’s Book of Animal Poetry. In March at the Charlotte Huck Festival in Redlands, [...]
Animals, Science, ZoologyFeatured on April 15, 2013
Dead End in Norvelt
Elementary School, Fiction, Middle SchoolThis week from April 10–13 the International Cemetery, Cremation, and Funeral Association holds its annual convention. I once took care of the Houghton Mifflin booth during a convention held in a small hotel complex where funeral directors took up the other half of the hall. I couldn’t think of a book that I might bring [...]
20th Century, Award Winning, History, Newbery, SummerFeatured on April 8, 2013
Stardines Swim High Across the Sky and Other Poems
Elementary School, Poetry Happy April Fools’ Day! As someone quite gullible, I find this day taxing. But since April is also Poetry Month, I have a reason to celebrate today. In a new offering that will appeal to both adults and children, Jack Prelutsky has teamed up with the talented Carin Berger to create a book that provides [...]
Animals, Art, ScienceFeatured on April 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
The Giant and How He Humbugged America
Elementary School, NonfictionMarch has been designated Ethical Awareness Month. Really good books that allow children and adults to explore ethical issues are not that easy to come by, although both Wonder and How to Steal a Dog can be used for this purpose. But a 2012 nonfiction book by Jim Murphy, The Giant and How He Humbugged America, [...]
Civil War, HistoryFeatured on March 18, 2013
Three Times Lucky
Elementary School, Mystery/ThrillerThe game’s afoot! This weekend in Cape May, New Jersey, one of my favorite events of the year, Sherlock Holmes Weekend, takes place. Anyone lucky enough to attend can don Victorian garb and stalk gas-lit streets to solve the “Case of Anima Orbis.” I myself always want to go, if only to wear one of [...]
Award Winning, NewberyFeatured on March 11, 2013
The Wreckers
Elementary School, Historical Fiction, Middle SchoolToday marks the birthday of Canadian writer Iain Lawrence. He was born in Sault Ste. Marie, Canada, called simply “the Sault,” which is pronounced to rhyme with zoo. Once a year his brother would sing, “Happy Birthday to you. You were born in the Sault.” Possibly this early nonsense verse encouraged Lawrence to seek a [...]
Adventure, England, History, SurvivalFeatured on February 25, 2013
The Shrinking of Treehorn
Elementary School, Picture Book Born in Chicago on February 22, 1925, Edward St. John Gorey briefly attended the Art Institute of Chicago but actually received a B.A. from Harvard in French. He began his career as a book jacket designer and became a staff artist at Doubleday. Around that time, Gorey started publishing illustrated tales, often under a pseudonym, [...]
Art, FamilyFeatured on February 22, 2013
Road Trip
Elementary School, FictionFebruary has been designated Responsible Pet Owners Month. The book of the day, Jim Paulsen and Gary Paulsen’s Road Trip, has been dedicated to “everyone who’s ever loved and been loved by a really good dog.” It was pressed into my hands recently by Carol Stoltz of Porter Square Books in Cambridge, Massachusetts, when I [...]
Animals, DogsFeatured on February 11, 2013
The Tree House
Elementary School, Picture BooksFrom February 3–9 this year, we celebrate Children’s Authors and Illustrators Week. Of course, on the Almanac I celebrate them every day of the year. But still I appreciate a week where everyone can focus on these extraordinary people. After being in the field for more than forty years, I love finding an author-illustrator unknown [...]
Animals, Art, Award WinningFeatured on February 4, 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
Boy + Bot
Elementary School, Picture Books, Preschool The 20th Singapore Robotic Games is taking place on January 22 and 23 at the Science Center in Singapore. Does this sound like fun or what? Since I can’t be there, I am doing the next best thing: picking up Ame Dyckman’s Boy + Bot, one of the funniest and most original picture books of [...]
Friendship, Science, Technology, ToysFeatured on January 23, 2013
The Breadwinner
Elementary School, Historical Fiction, Middle SchoolMany make reading resolutions for the New Year, and I do as well for the Almanac. Last year, a consulting project I worked on made me painfully aware of how few of our best books for children focus on other than English-speaking countries. So this year I intend to write more Almanac entries with an [...]
Award Winning, Family, History, Social ConscienceFeatured on January 14, 2013
Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs
Elementary School, Picture Book, PreschoolJanuary has been designated National Folktale Month. For those interested in some fascinating essays about the role of folklore in the lives of children, head over to the Children’s Literature Network this month. Ever since Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith published The True Story of Three Little Pigs, over two decades ago, fractured fairy tales, [...]
Dinosaurs, FolktaleFeatured on January 7, 2013
Stories 1 2 3 4
Elementary School, Picture Book Today illustrator Etienne Delessert celebrates his birthday—he has been creating children’s books for more than fifty years. When I was a young critic in the 1970s, the avant guard of illustration consisted of Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are), Tomi Ungerer (No Kiss for Mother), Edward Gorey (The Shrinking of Treehorn), and Etienne Delessert, [...]
Art, Bedtime, Imagination, TrendsettingFeatured on January 4, 2013
Little White Duck
Elementary School, Graphic Novel, Memoir, Middle School For our last selection for Read a New Book Month, I’d like to look at one of the most original graphic novels to appear this year, Na Liu and Andrés Vera Martínez’s Little White Duck. When books for American children focus on other parts of the world, they tend to be in line with accepted [...]
20th Century, History, Women, World HistoryFeatured on December 27, 2012
A Crooked Kind of Perfect
Elementary School, FictionToday I am recommending a book to chase the holiday blues away. Sometime during this joyous, or not so joyous, season, people find themselves a bit depressed. When that feeling comes upon you, make sure you have a copy of Linda Urban’s A Crooked Kind of Perfect nearby. Urban’s first novel, published in 2007, provides [...]
Family, Humor, Music, SchoolFeatured on December 17, 2012
Monsieur Marceau
Biography, Elementary School, Picture Book December has been designated Read a New Book Month. During this month many hunt for new books from the 2012 publishing year to give as gifts. If you are one of those people take a look at the picture book biography, Monsieur Marceau, written by Leda Schubert and illustrated by Gerard Dubois. The story of [...]
History, Theater, World War IIFeatured on December 10, 2012
Unspoken
Elementary School, Picture BookDecember has been designated Read a New Book Month. I look forward to this celebration because I can present some new gems just published this year. First on that list for me is Henry Cole’s remarkable wordless picture book, Unspoken: A Story from the Underground Railroad. In artwork created only with charcoal, paper and pencil, [...]
Civil War, History, Social ConscienceFeatured on December 5, 2012
Balloons Over Broadway
Elementary School, Nonfiction, Picture BookFor more than eighty years, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has entertained Americans. For many households the viewing of the parade is as essential as eating turkey. But how did such an event come about? In Balloons Over Broadway, author and illustrator Melissa Sweet takes readers behind the scenes of the parade as she presents [...]
History, Holidays, Humor, Thankgiving, ToysFeatured on November 22, 2012
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
Homer
Elementary School, Picture Book, PreschoolNovember has been designated Adopt a Senior Pet Month. Most families want to find a puppy or kitten when they chose a pet, but there are so many benefits in bringing a more mature animal into the house. My own senior pet, a Bernese mountain dog named Lady, turns twelve this month. Two years ago [...]
Animals, Dogs, FamilyFeatured on November 6, 2012
The Great Gilly Hopkins
Elementary School, FictionUnless you are living under a rock, you know today is Halloween. Either for nutritional or theological reasons, Halloween has not been as appreciated in recent years as when I was a child. But I think there is a better holiday to celebrate on October 31. In fact, I am sorry that it is not [...]
Award Winning, Family, NewberyFeatured on October 31, 2012
Castle: How It Works
Beginning Readers, Elementary School, NonfictionToday marks the death date of Chaucer, the birthdate of English historian Thomas Macaulay, and the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, when the English defeated the French. When I looked at those three events, a new beginning reader comes to mind: David Macaulay’s Castle: How It Works. Good beginning readers with historical or informational content [...]
Architecture, HistoryFeatured on October 25, 2012
Ed Emberley’s Drawing Book of Animals
Elementary School, Nonfiction, PreschoolLast year I missed the eightieth birthday celebration of illustrator Ed Emberley, but I’m now weighing in on his eighty-first. Ed Emberley was born in Malden, Massachusetts, graduated from the Massachusetts School of Art, and then painted signs for the army and worked in commercial illustration. In the late fifties he began publishing books with [...]
Animals, Art, NatureFeatured on October 19, 2012
The Lincolns
Elementary School, Middle School, NonfictionOn October 15, 1860, eleven-year-old Grace Bedell wrote to a candidate running for the presidency, Abraham Lincoln. She stated that her brothers would vote for him if he grew a beard. “You would look a good deal better for your face is so thin,” she advised. Lincoln wrote back, and then, as a reporter announced, [...]
Civil War, HistoryFeatured on October 15, 2012
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.
-
Tools
SUBSCRIBE
SEARCHFind A Book!
Search the archives for recommendations by age group, book type, subject, date, and more.
-
