Malu finds herself caught between a Mexican mother who wants her to be the perfect señorita and a music-loving father who helped foster her love of all things punk. After their divorce, Malu and her mother move to Chicago from Florida, where Malu has to start a new school and find her place, ultimately discovering …
When I heard an interview with Jonathan Auxier talking about how many years of historical research he did when writing Sweep, I couldn’t wait to dive into his authentic world of Victorian chimney sweeps. As perfectly as he has constructed this world it is, after all, the story of a girl and her monster, so there is plenty of …
An enthusiastic customer tipped us off to this graphic novel, nearly a year after it came out. All we needed to hear, really, was “two cats in a robotic dog suit,” but “narrated by a sentient litter box”? That sealed the deal. And the book itself lived up to every hope raised by those oddball …
This was recommended to me by Alison, our Children’s Buyer, and boy, am I glad she told me to read it. This perfectly illustrated, character-driven picture book puts the reader in the mind of a young girl who instantly judges one of her classmates. Through her, we see how a child who is not innately …
This book may be more for ex-kids like me, for whom the mysterious M. Sasek created a fascinating world of cities and landmarks in the ’50s and ’60s in his This Is… picture books. This Is Paris, This Is San Francisco, This Is Hong Kong, This Is Cape Canaveral: all told, he made eighteen locations his own, …
For those of us who love Harry Potter (and there are a LOT of us), the magic never truly ends. We re-read the books. We watch the movies for maybe the hundredth time (and I might not be exaggerating). We find camaraderie and instant connections with fellow Potterheads who also believe in love, magic, and forever friendship. …
This week, booksellers from around the country with a specific interest in children’s books gathered in New Orleans for the American Booksellers Association’s annual Children’s Institute, an annual educational conference that was hosted last year in Portland. I attended in my role as children’s book buyer for Queen Anne Book Company in Seattle, but I …
Like Vanessa by Tami Charles All I can say is thank goodness the ’80s are back in fashion, because this gem of a book is best read sitting in front of a TV tray in a recliner. Inspired by Vanessa Williams’ 1983 Miss America win, a headstrong and pushy teacher, and a supportive and scheming …
Brian Selznick, known for intricate illustrated epics like Wonderstruck and The Invention of Hugo Cabret, reinvents the early-reader book with this fat set of simple stories about a primate private eye who has a lot more trouble putting on his pants than solving his cases. There are plenty of hidden pleasures to enjoy in repeated readings, but the …
[Thursday] morning, The Children’s Book Council, Every Child a Reader, and the Library of Congress today announced the appointment of Jacqueline Woodson, National Book Award Winner for her memoir-in-verse Brown Girl Dreaming, as National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. Woodson spoke with The New York Times, The Associated Press, The Washington Post and Publishers Weekly for pieces to coincide with the announcement. If You Come Softly was …
