Book-A-Day Almanac
Discover the stories behind the children’s book classics and the new books on their way to becoming classics.
A Nest for Celeste
Elementary School, Fantasy, Historical FictionIn February of 1896 the Massachusetts Audubon Society was founded, the beginning of the current national organization. It was established to protect birds and to discourage the women of the era from wearing bird plumes in their hats. The man honored by the name of the organization, John J. Audubon, has been the focus of […]
19th century, Animals, Art, History, Mice, Nature, Science, ZoologyFeatured on February 11
Harry the Dirty Dog
Elementary School, Picture Book, Preschool Today for children’s authors and artists week, I’d like to honor a nonagenarian who published her first children’s book sixty years ago, Margaret Bloy Graham. Born in Canada, Margaret moved to New York in the 1940s to work as a commercial illustrator. During that time she became good friends with two other U.S. immigrants, Hans […]
Animals, Bedtime, Dogs, HumorFeatured on February 5
Bill Peet
Elementary School, Picture BookIn the next two days, I’m going to celebrate the birthdays of two of the twentieth century’s great creators—one an illustrator, one an author. For several decades January 29 has been a birthday dear to me. In the last week of January, during Bill Peet’s lifetime, thousands of cards and greetings arrived from children across […]
Animals, HumorFeatured on January 29
Martha Speaks
Elementary School, Picture Book, PreschoolJanuary is appropriately named National Soup Month. Inevitably, when the weather turns chilly, I gravitate toward warm soup, a fire, and a good book. Susan Meddaugh began her career as a graphic designer in the children’s book department of Houghton Mifflin. She worked with James Marshall, Bill Peet, Bernie Waber, and David Macaulay, among others, […]
Animals, Dogs, HumorFeatured on January 24
Angelina Ballerina
Babies and Toddlers, Elementary School, Picture Book, Preschool Today we celebrate Measure Your Feet Day. But why? Well, one reason youngsters might measure their feet would be for special shoes, say ballet shoes. Since this also happens to be the birthday of Katharine Holabird, author of Angelina Ballerina, our book of the day features a very special mouse, Angelina, who loves to dance. […]
Animals, Dance, MiceFeatured on January 23
How to Talk to Your Cat
All Ages, Nonfiction, Picture Book Today has been designated Ask Your Cat Questions Day. Most pet owners admit that they talk to their animals all the time.“How are you feeling today, Lancelot?” I just said to my puppy before sitting down. However, what if you really wanted to communicate with a cat—beyond meaningless questions such as, “Why did you bring […]
Animals, CatsFeatured on January 22
Scaredy Squirrel
Babies and Toddlers, Elementary School, Picture Book, PreschoolToday has been designated Squirrel Appreciation Day. Like many city dwellers, I don’t appreciate squirrels. My dogs, Lady and Lancelot, basically believe that all squirrels deserve to be driven up trees. The squirrels in my back yard retaliate by making fun of these lumbering, large dogs. I have liked these bushy-tailed creatures a great deal […]
Animals, Award Winning, Feelings, SquirrelsFeatured on January 21
365 Penguins
All Ages, Picture BookToday marks Penguin Awareness Day. Who doesn’t love penguins? They look so wonderful in their tuxedos, so well turned out and charming. But, then, I must admit that I have never lived with any. If I did, possibly I’d feel differently—I’d be more circumspect about them, like the family in our book of the day, […]
Animals, Award Winning, Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Family, Humor, PenguinsFeatured on January 20
Caps for Sale
Classic, Elementary School, Picture Book, PreschoolToday we celebrate National Hat Day. If you have ever met me, you know I am a hat fanatic. I began wearing them in the mid 1970s, when a bad haircut before a sales conference sent me into a tizzy. I stopped at a store on my way back to work and purchased a hat […]
Animals, Clothing, Hats, MonkeysFeatured on January 15
Letters From a Desperate Dog
Elementary School, Picture BookJanuary 8 through 14 is designated Universal Letter Writing week, celebrating the art of writing and receiving a hand-written letter. Certainly in the age of computers, letter writing on paper has suffered in popularity. Even the protagonist of our book of the day, Emma, uses the keyboard to send off her letter. Possibly Emma can be […]
Animals, Dogs, HumorFeatured on January 13
The Call of the Wild
All Ages, Classic On January 12, 1876, Jack London was born in San Francisco, California. But the event that shaped London’s life occurred in 1896 when he was twenty. Three men who were fishing for salmon – Shookum Jim, Dawson Charlie, and George Carmack—found gold in Rabbit Creek, a small tributary of the Klondike River in Alaska. Because […]
Adventure, Animals, Dogs, Gold Rush, History, SurvivalFeatured on January 12
Robert C. O’Brien
Fantasy, Middle SchoolToday marks the birthday of one of the most reclusive children’s book authors of the 20th century. He was not so, however, because of his personality or because he did not want to engage with children. Robert Leslie Conly was born in Brooklyn in 1918; he studied English at the University of Rochester. Working for […]
Adventure, Animals, Award Winning, Mice, Newbery, SurvivalFeatured on January 11
10 Little Rubber Ducks
Babies and Toddlers, Elementary School, Picture Book, PreschoolOn January 10, 1992, a cargo of around 29,000 rubber toys—including ducks, beavers, turtles, and frogs—fell overboard from a container ship in the northern Pacific Ocean. Some eventually landed on a remote coast of Alaska. In Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam, and the Science of Ocean Motion author Loree Griffin Burns explains what actually happened to […]
Adventure, Animals, Ducks, ToysFeatured on January 10
Walter R. Brooks
Classic, Elementary School, Fantasy, Middle School, Mystery/ThrillerOn January 9, 1886, Walter R. Brooks was born in Rome, New York. Orphaned at an early age, he was sent to a military academy and then attended the University of Rochester. An interest in homeopathic medicine brought him to New York City, where he worked for the Red Cross. He then turned his hand […]
Adventure, Animals, Humor, PigsFeatured on January 9
The Race to Save the Lord God Bird
Elementary School, Middle School, NonfictionToday marks a relatively new holiday on the calendar, National Bird Day–set aside to think about the birds people keep as pets and how owning them affects the bird population on earth. Our attitudes toward animals and birds and how we treat them has changed dramatically over time. No one has ever captured the changing mores […]
Animals, Birds, History, Nature, Science, Social Conscience, ZoologyFeatured on January 5
The Great and Only Barnum
Biography, Elementary School, Middle SchoolOn January 4, 1838, Charles Sherwood Stratton, probably the most famous small person in history, was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He was discovered in 1842 by another resident of the city, P.T. Barnum, and named “General Tom Thumb.” Because the General performed for years for Barnum, the two men are inextricably linked in history. Showman, […]
19th century, Animals, HistoryFeatured on January 4
Diamond Willow
Middle School, Poetic NovelToday marks Alaska’s statehood day, when in 1959 Alaska became the forty-ninth state in the Union. Of the myriad books for children that have been set in Alaska, my favorite, Diamond Willow by Helen Frost, appeared recently in 2008. Frost lived and taught for three years in a small Athabascan community in interior Alaska. Many […]
Adventure, Animals, Dogs, Multicultural, Native American, Religion/Spirituality, SurvivalFeatured on January 3
Mr. Popper’s Penguins
Classic, Elementary School, Fantasy Today marks the birthday of Richard Atwater, born in 1892. He graduated with honors from the University of Chicago, where he taught Greek. But for most of his career, Atwater worked as a journalist, book review editor, and columnist for newspapers. He dabbled in publishing—first he wrote an opera, then a children’s book Doris and […]
Animals, Award Winning, Newbery, PenguinsFeatured on December 29
Ben and Me
Biography, Elementary School, FantasyOn December 28, 1732, the first issue of Poor Richard’s Almanack was advertised in the Pennsylvania Gazette. Published from 1733–1758, this brainchild of Benjamin Franklin has been imitated and copied many times. Franklin, like so many of the Founding Fathers, was a Renaissance man—inventor, printer, ambassador, and the delight of the French ladies. He has […]
Animals, History, Mice, Revolutionary WarFeatured on December 28
Millions of Cats
Classic, Elementary School, Picture BookDecember 15 has been designated Cat Herding Day. Certainly, this impossible task deserves to be celebrated! Eighty-two years ago a classic children’s book demonstrated what a lot of herded cats might look like—although it left the way to accomplish this feat unexplained. In the history of picture books, men have created the vast majority of […]
Animals, Award Winning, Cats, NewberyFeatured on December 15
Art & Max
Elementary School, Picture BookDecember has been designated Read a New Book Month. And, of course, in December for one holiday or another, children often receive books as presents. If I wanted to pick a new picture book for ages four to ten that’s perfect for gift giving, I would recommend the new offering by three-time Caldecott winner David […]
Animals, ArtFeatured on December 11
The Wind in the Willows
Classic, Elementary School, Fantasy, Middle School Often, with classic children’s books, we remember both the writer and the illustrator. So Lewis Carroll brings to mind the illustrations of Sir John Tenniel. Contemporary readers appreciate Tenniel more than Lewis Carroll ever did—he was basically disappointed with the art for Alice in Wonderland. Fortunately, our birthday celebrant, Ernest H. Shepard, born 132 years […]
Adventure, AnimalsFeatured on December 10
C. S. Lewis
Elementary School, Fantasy, SeriesWe are going to end the month with two birthday celebrations—one a writer, the other an illustrator. C. S. Lewis, today’s celebrant, was born on this day in 1898 in Belfast, Ireland. But he would live and write in Oxford, England, where he taught on the English faculty with his good friend and fellow author, […]
Adventure, Animals, Magic, Other WorldsFeatured on November 29
Marc Simont
Elementary School, Picture Book Today we celebrate the ninety-fifth birthday of an incredible artist, Marc Simont, who in seven decades has illustrated more than one hundred books for children. Born in Paris to parents from the Catalonian region of Spain, Simont lived in France, Spain, and the United States during his childhood. Very much like Jean Fritz, our other […]
Animals, Award Winning, Caldecott, DogsFeatured on November 23
My Season with Penguins: An Antarctic Journal
Elementary School, Nonfiction, Picture BookOn November 17, 1820, Nathaniel Palmer and his men on the Hero became the first Americans to set foot on the Antarctic Peninsula. He was a young man, twenty-two, when he accomplished the act for which he has been immortalized. When I think of young Americans journeying to Antarctica, the book that instantly comes to […]
Animals, Award Winning, Penguins, SibertFeatured on November 17
Pippi Longstocking
Elementary School, FantasyBorn on November 14, 1907, Astrid Lindgren grew up on a farm just outside Vimmerby, Sweden. Pippi Longstocking, the book for which she became world-renowned, published in the United States sixty years ago, arose from stories she told her seven-year-old daughter. Sick in bed with pneumonia, the young girl asked for a story about Pippi […]
Adventure, Animals, HumorFeatured on November 14
Masterpiece
Elementary School, Fantasy, Mystery/Thriller Today I’m focusing on another book for National Young Reader’s Week, one of the relatively new titles I think is destined to become a classic. A mystery and suspense novel, it also presents the work of Albrecht Durer, painter and printmaker, to young readers in grades three through six. Precocious as a child because of […]
Adventure, Animals, Art, InsectsFeatured on November 12
Hachiko Waits
Elementary School, Fiction, Middle SchoolOn November 10, 1923, the eighth puppy in a litter of Akita Inu dogs was born on a farm near Odate, Japan. He would become one of the most famous dogs in the world. Although Akitas are naturally smart and loyal, Hachi, which means eight, would come to exemplify just how devoted a member of […]
Animals, Dogs, True StoryFeatured on November 10
The Cricket in Times Square
Classic, Elementary School, Fantasy More than fifty years ago a down-on-his-luck, New York City playwright who had graduated from Yale wandered into the Times Square subway station late at night and heard a cricket chirp. It reminded him of his childhood in Connecticut when his life had been more optimistic and innocent. Because he knew how to write scenes […]
Animals, Award Winning, Cats, Classical, Insects, Mice, Music, New York, NewberyFeatured on October 30
Bats at the Ballgame
Elementary School, Picture BookToday the boys of October, the World Series contenders, begin the final part of the yearly epic quest—to gain the World Series pennant. For over a century, baseball and baseball legend have been an integral part of American life. If you plan to watch or attend the World Series, or if you just want to […]
Animals, Baseball, Bats, Humor, SportsFeatured on October 27
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.
