Book-A-Day Almanac
Discover the stories behind the children’s book classics and the new books on their way to becoming classics.
The Doll People
Elementary School, Fantasy Tomorrow marks the publication of the fourth installment of Ann M. Martin and Laura Godwin’s The Doll People series, The Doll People Set Sail. Since, for some inexplicable reason, I have not talked about the original book, published in 2000, on the Almanac, today seemed appropriate to sing its praises. Many consider The Doll People […]
Dolls, Family, ToysFeatured on October 13
We Were Liars
Fiction, High SchoolDuring the summer months, I often look at books that conjure up summer vacations and settings. Our book of the day, E. Lockhart’s recently published We Were Liars, does exactly this. Exploring the world of the extremely rich, this realistic novel is set on a privately held island off the coast of Massachusetts where four friends, […]
Family, Seasons, SummerFeatured on August 11
Seven Stories Up
Elementary School, Fantasy, Historical FictionRecently I came across an excellent summer reading list pulled together by teacher extraordinaire Mike Lewis. It made me reflect on how some books just beg to be read in the summer. I hope that Laurel Snyder’s new book Seven Stories Up graces many future summer reading lists. In a compelling opening, readers encounter Annie […]
Family, Grandparents, Great Depression, History, Time TravelFeatured on July 28
Half A Chance
Elementary School, FictionOne of my most cherished summer memories centers on reading. In it, I’m nine years old, and I have just returned from the Marietta, Ohio, public library with my grandmother and a pile of books. As I settle into a favorite chair to read, I know I will have days of uninterrupted time to go […]
Family, Friendship, Seasons, SummerFeatured on July 14
Ira Sleeps Over
Elementary School, Picture BookThis week we celebrate the annual observance of Children’s Book Week. In April, an exhibit of the work of Bernard Waber opened at the Eric Carle Picture Book Museum in Amherst, Massachusetts. About a hundred people attended the opening, including a roster of writers and illustrators who had known and loved Bernie Waber. Meeting Bernie’s […]
Family, ToysFeatured on May 12
We’re Going On a Bear Hunt
Babies and Toddlers, Picture Book March has been designated March into Literacy Month, and when I think of that idea, a particularly brilliant book comes to mind—We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and illustrator Helen Oxenbury. This book completely belongs to both author and illustrator. Michael Rosen took a chant for children that enticed him, and set […]
FamilyFeatured on March 17
The Year of Billy Miller
Elementary School, FictionFor Read a New Book Month, today I recommend one of 2013’s real gems, Kevin Henkes’s The Year of Billy Miller. Henkes has always shifted between picture books that delight young readers, such as Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse and novels for readers grades five and up like Olive’s Ocean. But in The Year of Billy […]
Family, Humor, SchoolFeatured on December 23
Princess Posey and the First Grade Parade
Elementary School, Fiction Around this time of year, many children head back to school—often feeling anxious and as though they are unequal to the task. Scary teachers or buildings may await them. What if they are not grown up enough to enter a new grade? Such is the dilemma of our heroine of the day, Posey, entering first […]
Family, SchoolFeatured on August 26
Turtle in Paradise
Elementary School, Historical FictionOn July 21, 1899, Noble Prize–winning author Ernest Hemingway was born. Although raised in Oak Park, Illinois, during his later years Hemingway lived in Key West, Florida, and Cuba. This booze hound and bullfighting advocate seems an unlikely candidate for an upbeat and whimsical children’s novel. But in 2010 Jennifer L. Holm used Papa in […]
Award Winning, Family, History, NewberyFeatured on July 21
One-Eyed Cat
Elementary School, Fiction, Middle SchoolToday marks the birthday of writer Paula Fox, born in New York City. Her memoir Borrowed Finery tells the haunting story of her childhood and her rejection by her mother who left her in an orphanage. Paula was initially raised by Reverend Elwood Corning and his bedridden mother; later Fox’s Cuban grandmother took care of […]
Animals, Award Winning, Cats, Family, Great Depression, History, NewberyFeatured on April 22
The Shrinking of Treehorn
Elementary School, Picture Book Born in Chicago on February 22, 1925, Edward St. John Gorey briefly attended the Art Institute of Chicago but actually received a B.A. from Harvard in French. He began his career as a book jacket designer and became a staff artist at Doubleday. Around that time, Gorey started publishing illustrated tales, often under a pseudonym, […]
Art, FamilyFeatured on February 22
The Breadwinner
Elementary School, Historical Fiction, Middle SchoolMany make reading resolutions for the New Year, and I do as well for the Almanac. Last year, a consulting project I worked on made me painfully aware of how few of our best books for children focus on other than English-speaking countries. So this year I intend to write more Almanac entries with an […]
Award Winning, Family, History, Social ConscienceFeatured on January 14
A Crooked Kind of Perfect
Elementary School, FictionToday I am recommending a book to chase the holiday blues away. Sometime during this joyous, or not so joyous, season, people find themselves a bit depressed. When that feeling comes upon you, make sure you have a copy of Linda Urban’s A Crooked Kind of Perfect nearby. Urban’s first novel, published in 2007, provides […]
Family, Humor, Music, SchoolFeatured on December 17
Listening for Madeleine
Adults, High School, Middle SchoolOn November 29 we celebrate the birth date of one of America’s most beloved authors. Madeleine L’Engle was born in 1918 and throughout her life faced many obstacles, including roughly twenty-seven rejections of the book that made her famous, A Wrinkle in Time. Her father was a troubled man—she frequently spoke of him in public […]
Award Winning, Family, New York, Newbery, WomenFeatured on November 29
Homer
Elementary School, Picture Book, PreschoolNovember has been designated Adopt a Senior Pet Month. Most families want to find a puppy or kitten when they chose a pet, but there are so many benefits in bringing a more mature animal into the house. My own senior pet, a Bernese mountain dog named Lady, turns twelve this month. Two years ago […]
Animals, Dogs, FamilyFeatured on November 6
The Great Gilly Hopkins
Elementary School, FictionUnless you are living under a rock, you know today is Halloween. Either for nutritional or theological reasons, Halloween has not been as appreciated in recent years as when I was a child. But I think there is a better holiday to celebrate on October 31. In fact, I am sorry that it is not […]
Award Winning, Family, NewberyFeatured on October 31
Mom, It’s My First Day of Kindergarten!
Elementary School, PreschoolAlthough some schools began in August, this week many children are headed back to school and some are headed there for the first time. Starting kindergarten is a topic so well covered by children’s books that I sometimes mistakenly think no one can come up with an original approach. But then creative people always find […]
Asian American, Family, Multicultural, SchoolFeatured on September 5
Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree
Elementary School, Fiction, Middle SchoolAround this time of year, many children have already headed back to school or are in the process of doing so. If you are hunting for a book that might make middle school sound more interesting than the child in your life thinks it will be, pick up the book of the day, Lauren Tarshis’s […]
Family, SchoolFeatured on August 27
Make Lemonade
Fiction, Middle School, Poetic NovelToday marks the birthday of American author Virginia Euwer Wolff. She grew up on her family’s fruit ranch in Oregon’s Cascade Mountains. Her father died when she was five—she would later create many fatherless children in her novels. A violinist, Wolff attended Smith College, and then traveled with her husband and two children. In the […]
Family, School, WomenFeatured on August 25
Glory Be
Elementary School, Historical FictionThe summer in New England has been unbearable a few days in July; but I can always drive down to the ocean for a fresh breeze. Not so in my landlocked childhood state of Indiana. For many of my summers, the community pool provided the only escape from long, hazy summer days. Hence I found […]
Civil Rights, Family, HistoryFeatured on July 30
Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life
Elementary School, FictionThe first entry of our book of the day, Wendy Mass’s Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life occurs on July 22, and so today seemed an appropriate time to look at this beloved book by one of today’s most popular writers for children. Our hero Jeremy beings his saga with words that grab readers’ […]
Family, HumorFeatured on July 22
My Life as a Book
Elementary School, Fiction, Middle School Lazy July days—perfect for summer reading. But what if you don’t like to read; what if you actively avoid reading? Such is the dilemma of our protagonist of the day, twelve-year-old Derek, who begins his saga in My Life as a Book by Janet Tashjian with these bold words: “I DON’T WANT TO READ THIS […]
Family, Humor, SchoolFeatured on July 9
The Lemonade War
Elementary School, FictionThis week we celebrated Memorial Day, a time to honor those who have defended us during wartime. But unofficially it also means the beginning of summer, a time to bring out the barbecue and plan for warmer days. If you have any industrious children ages seven through twelve looking for some summer inspiration, you might […]
Family, FoodFeatured on May 28
Tangerine
Elementary School, Fiction, Middle SchoolOn May 21, 1904, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) was founded in Paris. Today the Fédération administers the World Cup. What the rest of the world calls “football” has been renamed soccer in the United States. Over the last decade, because of soccer’s obvious advantages—an exciting game, team play, and inexpensive equipment—the sport […]
Family, Soccer, SportsFeatured on May 21
The Animal Family
Elementary School, Fiction Born on May 6, 1914, Randall Jarrell did not publish his first children’s book until he was fifty. By that time he had established himself as one of America’s premiere poets for adults and was also renowned for his brilliant literary criticism. Michael di Capua, then at Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, lured Jarrell into children’s […]
Animals, FamilyFeatured on May 6
Wonder
Elementary School, Fiction, Middle SchoolApril 12 marks a day that I am very fond of: Drop Everything and Read (D.E.A.R.) Day. It reminds us to put aside whatever we are doing and take time to enjoy a book. Since Beverly Cleary’s birthday also falls on this day, families can find no better place to go than Cleary’s books. Today […]
Family, School, Special NeedsFeatured on April 12
The Wall
Elementary School, Picture Book Today marks the anniversary of the Tet Offensive in 1968. After calling a cease-fire during the Tet holiday celebration, North Vietnam launched a major offensive throughout South Vietnam. A milestone in the Vietnam War, after the Tet Offensive the U.S. Government began to seek a way out of their involvement in the Vietnamese War. Certainly […]
Family, Grandparents, History, Multicultural, Vietnam WarFeatured on January 30
A New Year’s Reunion
Elementary School, Picture Book Today begins the Chinese New Year, the Year of the Dragon. Certainly over the years many American publishers have offered titles appropriate for this holiday. But a few months ago, a book that first appeared in Taiwan in 2008 was released and it’s one of the finest I have ever seen. A New Year’s Reunion […]
Asian American, Family, Holidays, Multicultural, New Year'sFeatured on January 23
Breadcrumbs
Elementary School, Fantasy, Middle School December is Read a New Book Month; many are hunting for new books not only to read but to buy for the holidays. Because of the robust young adult market, those authors who write books for fourth through sixth graders have been a bit overlooked. Fortunately, this is not true of our book of the […]
Adventure, Family, Friendship, Multicultural, SchoolFeatured on December 21
Bigger than a Bread Box
Elementary School, Fantasy, Middle SchoolDecember has been designated Read a New Book Month. One of the best books of the last couple of years, Laurel Snyder’s Bigger than a Bread Box, features twelve-year-old Rebecca. Her life is suddenly torn in two when her mother takes Rebecca and her little brother, Lew, to live at her grandmother’s home in Atlanta, leaving […]
Family, MagicFeatured on December 16
My Brother Sam is Dead
Elementary School, Historical Fiction, Middle SchoolOctober has been designated Reading Group Month by the Women’s National Book Association. All kinds of reading groups have become popular over the last couple of decades: teen book groups, mother and daughter groups, parents and children groups. An ideal pick for book groups and classroom discussions is our book of the day: My Brother […]
Award Winning, Family, History, Newbery, Revolutionary WarFeatured on October 27
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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