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CYBILS: Call for Judges
The CYBILS, Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards, are looking for book bloggers and reviewers to volunteer for this year’s awards. I got the chance to judge in the first round a few years ago for the children’s nonfiction category and really learned a lot about nonfiction titles that…
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Role Model or "Other"? How Windows & Mirrors Are Vital to Today’s Society
Actress Kelly Marie Tran, wrote a beautiful piece in The New York Times this week as a means of responding to horrible harassment online after becoming the first woman of color to be cast in a leading role in the Star Wars franchise. In the article, she discusses how she…
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Tips & Tricks for Booktalking
Yesterday, I posted about the disservice of labeling books “boy” or “girl.” Today, I’m going to give you some tips and tricks for booktalking great books to kids – hopefully pushing beyond stereotypes and focusing on pairing children with their right book at their right time. Because it’s not our…
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Gatekeepers’ Disservice When Defining Books as "Boy" or "Girl"
This is not a new topic in the kid lit world and honestly, I’m not sure I’m going to bring and new or surprising ideas to the topic, but I definitely think it’s something that really does prevent kids from experiencing some amazing literature! Let’s start at the beginning –…
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World Make Way: New Poems Inspired by Art from The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Synopsis: “‘Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen.’ —Leonardo da Vinci Based on this simple statement by Leonardo, 18 poets have written new poems inspired by some of the most popular works in the collection of The Metropolitan…
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#KidLitWomen
It’s Women’s History Month and you’ve got to take a look at #KidLitWomen and all the amazing information, resources, opinions and books by women in the kid lit world! Plus, you’ve got to spend some time on their Facebook page as women in the kid lit world have written a…
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Follow-Up to Sexual Harassment in the Children’s Book Industry Conversation
Not only do I think it’s important to share that sexual harassment is something that is pervasive throughout the society we currently live in, but I also think it’s important to share a heartfelt apology from a man named for sexually harassing women in the comments of the SLJ article.…
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Share the Love this Valentine’s Day with Book Giving
It’s a day of book love – it’s International Book Giving Day! For International Book Giving Day, it’s easy to participate – give someone a book as a gift or leave a book for a friend, drop off a book in a waiting room or lobby, or donate a book…
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Jacqueline Woodson at the Free Library of Philadelphia
If you know anything about me at all, you’ll probably pick up that I’m a planner – I like to know what’s happening, when it’s happening and what is expected of me. So when I scrolling through Twitter yesterday morning and saw that Jacqueline Woodson (yes, the Jacqueline Woodson) was going…
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Jacqueline Woodson Named National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature
Jacqueline Woodson, a four-time Newbery Honor Medalist, Coretta Scott King Book Award winner, former Young People’s Poet Laureate, and National Book Award Winner has just been named the sixth National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. An inauguration ceremony will be held on Tuesday, January 9 at 10:30am at the Library of Congress and…
