Book-A-Day Almanac
Discover the stories behind the children’s book classics and the new books on their way to becoming classics.
It’s Perfectly Normal
Elementary School, Middle School, NonfictionI live in a highly literate, educated, and politically centrist town in Massachusetts. While others have been cutting school money, Westwood recently built a new library. The children’s staff here has to be one of the best I have ever seen in action, responsive to teachers and parents. For me personally, they have provided amazing […]
Award Winning, Boston Globe-Horn Book AwardFeatured on September 29
An American Plague
Elementary School, Middle School, NonfictionOn August 3, 1793, a young French sailor in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, contracted a virulent fever, which worsened before he died. Newspaper accounts in the new nation’s capital did not even give his name, and everyone went about their usual business in the City of Brotherly Love. But from that moment on, an invisible killer stalked […]
Award Winning, Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, History, Newbery, Science, SibertFeatured on August 3
My Louisiana Sky
Elementary School, Fiction, Middle SchoolAround this time of year the Squire Creek Louisiana Peach Festival takes place with a rodeo, parades, and a cooking contest. If you are in the area and want some local culture, the next two days will provide that and more. But if you aren’t, I have an alternative: Kimberly Willis Holt’s My Louisiana Sky, for […]
Award Winning, Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Family, Special NeedsFeatured on June 24
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
The Schwa Was Here
Elementary School, Fiction, Middle SchoolGet out your party clothes! Today those in the know celebrate National Paper Clip Day. The modern version of this lowly but extremely useful object was patented on November 9, 1899 by William D. Middlebrook of Waterbury, Connecticut. But during World War II the paper clip became the symbol of national unity in Norway. Forbidden […]
Animals, Award Winning, Blindness, Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Dogs, Humor, School, Special NeedsFeatured on May 29
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
Holes
Elementary School, Fiction, Middle SchoolFor Get Caught Reading Month I want to talk about a book published in 1998 destined to become a classic. Whenever I ask audiences which book of the last fifteen years seems most poised for classic status, one title leads all the rest, Louis Sachar’s Holes. A rare winner of the Triple Crown in prizes […]
Adventure, Award Winning, Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Humor, National Book Award, Newbery, SurvivalFeatured on May 3
The Arrival
Elementary School, Graphic Novel, High School, Middle SchoolOn May 1 we celebrate a relatively new holiday, Immigration Day. Except for Native Americans, the United States is a nation of immigrants; consequently, hundreds of books for children present the experience of our ancestors from different perspectives. But none enable readers to experience the emotions of an immigrant to a strange country as brilliantly as Shaun […]
Award Winning, Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Social ConscienceFeatured on May 1
Red-Eyed Tree Frog
Babies and Toddlers, Elementary School, Nonfiction, Picture Book, Preschool April 29 has been designated Save the Frogs Day, a day of amphibian education. Although there will be an event in Washington, D.C., the third annual Save the Frogs Day organizers encourage people to recognize the day in their own communities. Their website contains lesson plans and activities that can be adapted by teachers and […]
Animals, Award Winning, Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Frogs, NatureFeatured on April 29
Maniac Magee
Elementary School, Fiction, Middle SchoolTwenty-one years ago, in April 1990, Jerry Spinelli’s Maniac Magee was published. I first read an advanced reading copy of the book before it was published and then watched it sweep the prizes, including the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award and Newbery Medal. Still going strong, it has now become a classic, one of the books […]
Award Winning, Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Family, Humor, Newbery, SchoolFeatured on April 8
How to Steal a Dog
Elementary School, Fiction, Middle SchoolToday I’d like to acknowledge two holidays. March has been designated Ethical Awareness Month, and today is National She’s Funny That Way Day, a time for people to list the five ways that the women in their lives make them laugh. When I thought about a funny, engaging character who faces an ethical dilemma, Georgina […]
Animals, Award Winning, Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Dogs, FamilyFeatured on March 31
Clementine
Elementary School, Fiction March has been designated Exotic Winter Fruit Month and Leeks & Green Onions Month. When I think of winter fruit, my mind instantly conjures up one of the most engaging heroines developed in the past few years in children’s books—a very fresh and cheeky third grader named Clementine. She also has a baby brother, and […]
Award Winning, Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Family, HumorFeatured on March 28
Marching for Freedom
Elementary School, Middle School, NonfictionOn March 21, 1965, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. began the five-day protest march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama—a triumphant event in the Civil Rights Movement. A few months later the Voting Rights Act was signed into law, outlawing literacy tests and other measures used to keep African Americans from registering to vote. A remarkable […]
African American, Award Winning, Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Civil Rights, History, Multicultural, Politics, Social ConscienceFeatured on March 21
A Wizard of Earthsea
Elementary School, Fantasy, High School, Middle SchoolMarch has been set aside to recognize the contribution of small presses to our literary heritage. After I had finished selecting books for 100 Best Books for Children, I went back to calculate the percentage that had originally been published by small or independent publishing houses. 10 percent! An amazing figure when you realize that […]
Adventure, Award Winning, Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, QuestFeatured on March 16
The Westing Game
Elementary School, Mystery/ThrillerOn March 13, 1928, Ellen Raskin was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At first she pursued a career in fine arts, graduating from the University of Wisconsin. After she moved to New York, she began designing book jackets and created over one thousand of them. Raskin was lured into the field of children’s books to serve […]
Award Winning, Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Games, NewberyFeatured on March 13
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
365 Penguins
All Ages, Picture BookToday marks Penguin Awareness Day. Who doesn’t love penguins? They look so wonderful in their tuxedos, so well turned out and charming. But, then, I must admit that I have never lived with any. If I did, possibly I’d feel differently—I’d be more circumspect about them, like the family in our book of the day, […]
Animals, Award Winning, Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Family, Humor, PenguinsFeatured on January 20
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.
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