Book-A-Day Almanac
Discover the stories behind the children’s book classics and the new books on their way to becoming classics.
Hidden
Elementary School, Graphic Novel Last week was Children’s Book Week, when kids around the country celebrated the books they love to read. I’d like to continue the conversation this week with a topic always on my mind. How does an author create a book that will really make a difference in the life of a child, one that will […]
20th Century, History, Jewish, Multicultural, World War IIFeatured on May 11
The Book Thief
Elementary School, High School, Historical Fiction, Middle School May serves as both Personal History Awareness Month and Jewish American Heritage Month. When I saw these events, I immediately thought of one of the most amazing novels of the last ten years, Marcus Zusak’s The Book Thief. Although Zusak grew up in Australia, his mother had lived in Munich during the reign of Hitler […]
Award Winning, History, Jewish, Multicultural, Printz, World War IIFeatured on May 27
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
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
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
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
Whiteblack the Penguin Sees the World
Elementary School, Picture Book, PreschoolToday marks National Polar Bear Day, to celebrate the world’s largest carnivore. Although we have honored a lot of penguins on this website (Mr. Popper’s Penguins and 365 Penguins), polar bears have received scant notice. So today I’d like to honor a polar bear—although he happens to be the best friend of a penguin. In […]
Animals, History, Jewish, Multicultural, Penguins, World War IFeatured on February 27
Simms Taback
Babies and Toddlers, Elementary School, Picture Book, PreschoolToday marks the birthday of one of our most innovative illustrators and Caldecott winners, Simms Taback. When Simms won the award in 2000 for Joseph Had a Little Overcoat, so many members of the illustration community delighted in this news not only because they had long admired his work but also because he had worked […]
Art, Award Winning, Caldecott, Humor, Jewish, Multicultural, MusicFeatured on February 13
You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax?!
Biography, Elementary School, Picture Book December 30, 1935, marks the birthday of Sandy Koufax, left-handed pitcher for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers. When inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972, Koufax became the youngest player to receive that honor. But 1972 happened in the dark ages if you are six to ten. How can a baseball player of that […]
Baseball, Jewish, Multicultural, SportsFeatured on December 30
All-of-a-Kind Family
Elementary School, Historical FictionFor those hunting for a book about Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, today I want to remind some people of—and introduce others to—one of the most memorable books about Jewish life and customs ever written, All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor. When Taylor published this gem in 1951, books featuring religious Jewish children were hard to […]
Family, History, Immigration, Jewish, MulticulturalFeatured on December 4
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.
