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Here are some books with a distinctive fantasy feel that stood out to me in 2024. Read 'em! Enjoy 'em! Love 'em!
Today, I celebrate what little science fiction there is. And, interestingly enough, the bulk of it this year seemed to come in the form of picture books. What are we to make of that? Not sure, but it's kinda cool.
In this month's Newbery Author Spotlight, we look back at some memorable Newbery Medal acceptance speeches and invite readers to share their own experiences.
Sometimes the simple act of adding some books to my own personal endless TBR stack or list is all it takes for me to want to do a Take Five list.
Over the next two weeks I’ll be sharing the 10 most popular 100 Scope Notes posts during the past year.
On today's list you'll discover a wild mix of nonfiction, poetry, comics, novels, and more. Just sit back and enjoy the array!
Announcing the winners of the 2024 Endies Endpaper Awards.
Ah, this is a big one. There are only a couple topics including in the 31 Days, 31 Lists series that take significantly more time and energy than the others. With today's list we start tackling books for older readers this month. Comics just make for a natural starting place.
Meet the 13 members of the 2025 Heavy Medal Award Committee (HMAC). Every one of them is committed to reading all 15 titles on our Heavy Medal Book List, then discussing each one, starting December 30th.
If you’re looking to foster a love for fantasy that’s sure to last a lifetime, here are six spectacular, inclusive (and more or less recent) middle grade fantasy books to gift this holiday season.
Whatever you might call them, today's books are the titles that transition children into first reading on their own, and then into reading on their own for pleasure.
Mike Kunkel's Herobear and the Kid, a longtime favorite and award-winning kids' comic, has found a new home at Papercutz.
Check out these 25 middle grade titles coming out in 2025!
Announcing the winners of the 2024 Undies Case Cover Awards!
Some books today could easily be called "weird" but you're also going to see a number of titles that upset our conceptions of what a children's book published in America can even be. That might mean the subject matter, the narrative style, the art, or some other aspect is "unconventional".
Check out this week's list of new comics, manga, and graphic novels for readers 12 and under, featuring Alligator Loki Holiday Special #1 from Marvel Comics and Surfside Girls The Clue in the Reef from IDW Publishing.
Teen librarian Karen Jensen looks at the PEW Research findings on teens, social media and technology for 2024.
Our discussion of 15 Heavy Medal Mock Newbery titles begins in two weeks. Here's a complete schedule of titles and discussion dates, along with other Heavy Medal activities in store as we approach the announcement of the 2025 Newbery Medal.
Dive in to a delicious array of poetry for children. Poetry. It ain't just for April anymore.
Unfamiliar with today's book? Maybe it deserves classic status as an undiscovered gem. Today we discuss Gremlins, tiny demons, and so much more.
Today, I'm giving you the books in 2024 that hadn't a word of narration to spare. And they're not all picture books either! See if you can spot the graphic novel hiding in their ranks.
Today's list combines the best parts of traditional storytelling and modern mores. Come and enjoy the old and the new together.
The X-Men get the manga treatment in this retelling of the animated series.
Take a look at the 15 titles that made the Heavy Medal Mock Newbery Book List for 2025. We will discuss these titles in depth- Dec. 28- Jan. 14th.
Today we're giving a shout out not simply to the translated books that make to American shelves, but also to the hardworking translators who are so good at what they do.
Here's a look at the graphic novels that publishers have been acquiring, and when we can expect to see them.
Being vulnerable on the page hasn’t been easy. Opening myself up to judgement—both good and bad is terrifying.
I LOVE photography. I feel it's the great unsung, untapped genre of children's books and is vastly deserving of more attention. 2024 had some true photographic beauties and we're going to experience them firsthand, right now!
In celebration of Taylor Swift's birthday on December 13th (iykyk), Teen Librarian Cindy Shutts shares her Taylor Swift themed Escape Room
Today we have a preview of the final arc of James Tynion IV and Michael Dialynas' fantasy tale Wynd.
Author Sabrina Moyle discusses her graphic novel, ASTRID AND STELLA COMET TOGETHER
Several journals and libraries have announced their "Best Children's Books of 2024." How do their choices compare to the possible Newbery contenders on our Heavy Medal nominations list?
A behind-the-scenes look at how THE LAST ZOOKEEPER was made.
This year, we're going to talk about the usual slew of "message" books, while also taking some time to consider those titles that look at social and emotional learning.
This sweet graphic novel about a girl with dyslexia will help readers understand not only their own challenges, reading or otherwise, but also those that their friends may be facing.
It’s time to take a look back at the year that was in children’s lit miscellanea.
Math! It's beautiful, isn't it? The perfection of it. Its logic. Cadences. Sublime applications. Today we celebrate it when it's put into children's books brilliantly. Don't be scared. Math is for everyone.
What do you do when four million wasps invade your town? Make 'em a sandwich, of course! Kate and I discuss this 1972 publication and determine whether it ranks as a "classic".
Teen librarian Karen Jensen discusses the end of the Eras Tour and what libraries can learn from Taylor Swift
View the final nomination list of 57 Mock Newbery contenders and vote in a poll to help determine our final book list.
Make your voice heard by voting for the 2024 Undies Case Cover Awards.
Enjoy both books where two different languages appear in the same title, and books of translation from one language to another. It's a celebration of all things bilingual today!
While from a sales perspective picture book reprints are risky things, today we are highlighting those rare titles that get a second chance at life.
What precisely is a "Caldenott"? Any book where the illustrator is inconveniently from a country other than America. Today, we look beyond rigid classifications to celebrate artists deserving in every possible way save location.
Here's a look at the graphic novels that publishers have been acquiring, and when we can expect to see them.
Are you a serious children's book reader who loves to discuss the best of the best? Now's your chance to volunteer for the Heavy Medal Award Committee. Participants will take part in in-depth book discussion and a live webcast leading to the selection of our Mock Newbery winner. Apply online by December 12th.
As always, the one thing that makes life tolerable is escaping into fiction. And for all my hatred of actual winter, I love books set in winter. Here are a few you might like, too!
Can you guess the children’s book by its scathing one-star review on Goodreads?
Funny books? They're difficult to create. Today we look at a slew of books that are doing it right. From parrotfish and hilarious Iranians to science fiction, nonfiction, and more, there's something here for every humor lover on your list!
The friendship of two stray cats is explored in this adorable, yet realistic, manga.
If you need a holiday gift for that childhood friend you always traded books with, look no further.
Here are twelve books I read, loved, and didn’t review in 2024.
Today we celebrate the successful rhymers! These are the books that scan beautifully and give us good reasons for loving that particular type of tricky verse.
Save the date for our 2025 Mock Newbery webcast Friday Jan 24th at 1 pm EST.
TLT Contributor Riley Jensen shares some December YA releases on her TBR, and one from January because it's her post and she can do what she wants
Today on this list you're going to see titles about Eid, Mexican Independence Day, Día de Muertos, Passover, and more.
These three teens know each other so well! In Constellation they are each facing situations and decisions that are difficult for them individually and impossible collectively.
Here's a look at the graphic novels that publishers have been acquiring, and when we can expect to see them.
This Thanksgiving season, I’ve been thinking about all the ways libraries have influenced my life.
It's Giving Tuesday! Here are some bookish nonprofits to support.
It can be difficult to understand how truly praiseworthy simple picture books and their basic texts are, and how much good they do for the youngest of readers. Today, we celebrate those rarities.
It was a huge week in the movie world this Thanksgiving, as Wicked and Gladiator II continued their streaks and Moana 2 premiered to huge numbers. So I thought, while listening once again to the Wicked soundtrack, why not recommend books that I think fit some of the characters from these huge films? After all, […]
Check out this week's list of new comics, manga, and graphic novels for readers 12 and under, featuring Powerpuff Girls Winter Snowdown Showdown from Dynamite Entertainment and Flavor Girls #1 Return to the Mothership from Boom! Studios Archaia imprint.
The December Nomination period is now open. It's the last chance for Heavy Medal readers to identify two more titles that could be contenders for the 2025 Newbery Medal. Nominate your two books by December 7th.
Today, we celebrate the books that can enrapture in mere moments thanks to the power of words and images (and your own vocal chords) alone.
Board books for the youngest of young. We've the greatest 2024 titles for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers on display. Be the star of the next baby shower you attend and give some of THESE!
Mac and Sydney take us behind the scenes of SANTA'S FIRST CHRISTMAS.
Each year I dedicate the 31 days of December to a different list of children’s books released in America in the current publishing year. Find new favorites!
With only one nomination period left, now is the time to convince readers to give specific titles a second (or first) look.
Book mail continues to trickle in as we get ready to wrap up 2024!
Why on earth would the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art do an exhibit on a musical revue? I talk with its guest curator and discover the kidlit connection.
What I enjoy about Miss Edmonia's Class of Wildfires is how it encourages children to see the museum experience as something they can ACTIVELY be a part of.
Of the many Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossovers, this is the most unexpected one yet, as they meet Naruto and Team 7 from Masashi Kishimoto's manga series.
Teen Librarian Karen Jensen reviews the January YA release THE LAST BOOKSTORE ON EARTH by Lily Braun-Arnold
Is Go Tell It our first picture book bio of James Baldwin? Not at this point (though it was when it was written). But trust me when I say that this is one of those books you'll be thinking about long after you put it down.
Check out this week's list of new comics, manga, and graphic novels for readers 12 and under, featuring Flash Gordon Adventures Volume 1 Flash of Greatness from Papercutz and Sesame Street #4 from Oni Press.
I am very grateful for the books here that managed to hold my wandering attention and pull me into their fictional worlds.
I just can't keep myself from making more predictions on what might win the upcoming ALA Youth Media Awards. I already did my Fall Prediction list of Newbery and Caldecott titles. But lest we forget, those are hardly all the awards out there.
COLBY: ‘The First Cat in Space’ series by Mac and Shawn is easily one of the most read graphic novels series in my classroom. Chatting with Mac and Shawn about the book was SO MUCH fun. I hope you enjoy the interview! Subscribe below to catch every episode of The Yarn: iTunes Spotify Stitcher
Jackson and his thylacine friend Irwin are back for more whirlwind trips around the world to learn about the habits and peculiarities of animals.
I am essentially making comfy nests where other tired hearts can rest, books with arguably naive but stubborn resilience against tough odds, and books with kind power in them.
Our list of nominations for the Heavy Medal Mock Newbery includes 19 books (out of 45) that have received just one vote so far. Which ones (if any) have a real chance to earn Newbery recognition?
"Put a box over them! This is not rocket science!" For Thanksgiving we enjoy the bad choices made by the characters in today's book. Will this make the book a classic? Find out!
We're talking haunted synthesizers and Tiffany/Robin Sparkles in today cover reveal and interview!
Emily: In September, we introduced a Friday series about Notable Newbery authors and kicked off a Newbery Authors Poll, which is still open. In October we discussed the “powerhouse” Newbery authors. This month we thought it might be fun to focus on authors who have not won a Newbery Medal, including those who have won […]
The shining light of the drive-in evokes the warmth, healing, and joy found in the collected writings. Details in the artwork will feel familiar to Native readers and offer a rare invitation to non-Natives.
Left-handed writer and artist Kevin McCloskey reviews Lefty and offers some commentary of his own on the prejudice against left-handed people and the hazards of living in a world geared for righties.
If I pick TEN books surely I must get one or two right when the awards are announced, right?
Can you guess the children’s book by its scathing one-star review on Goodreads?
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