Book-A-Day Almanac
Discover the stories behind the children’s book classics and the new books on their way to becoming classics.
El Deafo
Elementary School, Graphic Novel, Memoir, Middle SchoolFrom March 13 through April 15, we celebrate Deaf History Month. Until last year, I had difficulty finding a book that I could recommend for this period of time. But Cece Bell’s El Deafo, one of the best books of 2014, won me over from the first time I picked it up. The funny, smart, […]
Autobiography, Deafness, Newbery, Special NeedsFeatured on April 6
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
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 in the last couple of years, 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 […]
20th Century, History, Women, World HistoryFeatured on December 27
Bad Boy
Elementary School, High School, Memoir, Middle SchoolToday marks the 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 the […]
African American, Family, History, Multicultural, New YorkFeatured on August 12
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
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
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
Rascal
Elementary School, MemoirFrom May 1–7 we celebrate National Pet Week, with a theme this year of “Save a Life, Adopt a Pet.” Desiring a pet is almost a universal experience of childhood. Usually, the term pet bring to mind dogs, cats, fish, hamsters, or other domesticated animals. But, of course, a pet can be any animal that […]
20th Century, Animals, Award Winning, History, NewberyFeatured on May 6
Smile
Elementary School, Graphic Novel, Memoir, Middle SchoolFebruary has been designated National Children’s Dental Health Month—to increase awareness and stress the importance of regular dental care. In 2010 New York Times bestselling author Raina Telgemeier published a graphic memoir, ideal for ten- to fourteen-year olds called Smile. In 214 pages Telgemeier presents the struggles of her protagonist, Raina, who has two front […]
Award Winning, Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Family, Health, Humor, SchoolFeatured on February 16
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.
