Book-A-Day Almanac
Discover the stories behind the children’s book classics and the new books on their way to becoming classics.
Josephine
Elementary School, Picture Book Black History Month encourages the sharing of books about African American history with children. And although there has always been a certain predictability to the titles authors and publishers offer for young readers on this topic, we have recently seen some unique and unexpected titles, such as Steve Sheinkin’s Port Chicago 50. Such is the […]
20th Century, African American, Dance, History, Multicultural, ParisFeatured on February 17
Audacious Kids: The Classic American Children’s Story
Adults, High SchoolDecember has been designated Read a New Book month, but my offering for the Almanac today, although first published in 1992 by Oxford University Press, has just been updated and rereleased this year. Although I know a handful of my readers picked up Jerry Griswold’s critical examination of some of our great American classics, Audacious […]
19th century, 20th CenturyFeatured on December 8
The Family Romanov
Elementary School, Middle School, NonfictionOn November 7, 1917, a revolution began in Russia that would change the twentieth century. In what is sometimes called the October Revolution, Bolshevik Revolution, or the October Uprising (because at the time Russia used the Julian or Old Style calendar), Bolshevik Red Guards began to seize buildings in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and the Winter […]
20th Century, History, World War IFeatured on November 10
The Cure For Dreaming
High School, Historical Fiction, Middle SchoolAround this time of year, I like to alert Almanac readers to some new titles, ideal for holiday gift-giving, that they might have missed. Today I want to sing the praises of the second novel by Cat Winters, The Cure for Dreaming. Now, I have been an active part of the children’s book world since […]
20th Century, History, Politics, Social Conscience, Women, Women's SuffrageFeatured on October 29
Krabat & the Sorcerer’s Mill
Elementary School, Fiction, Middle SchoolSeptember is Library Card Sign Up Month, and I hope everyone who reads the Almanac has such a card. I personally owe the Westwood (MA) Public Library an invaluable debt; every book I have written would have been impossible without them. For several years, our book of the day—Krabat & the Sorcerer’s Mill by Otfried […]
History, Religion/Spirituality, World War IIFeatured on September 29
The Shadow Hero
Elementary School, Graphic Novel, Middle School September has been designated a month to be kind to editors and writers, which is always good advice. One of the writers and artists I have not mentioned enough on the Almanac, Gene Luen Yang, is our hero of the day. Those who have had a chance to meet this charismatic and charming creator in […]
Asian American, History, Imagination, MulticulturalFeatured on September 22
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
The Pilot and the Little Prince
Elementary School, Picture BookAntoine de Saint-Exupery was born in Lyon, France, on June 29, 1900. Called the Sun King by his family because of his golden hair, the young boy truly had his eyes on the sky. At the age of twelve he made his first flying machine from a bicycle. In The Pilot and the Little Prince, […]
History, Planes, True Story, World War I, World War IIFeatured on June 29
Who Says Women Can’t Be Doctors?
Biography, Elementary School, Picture Book Since 1987, Women’s History Month has been celebrated in March—a time to look at all the unsung heroines and their contributions over the years. In 2013 the talented duo of Tanya Lee Stone and Marjorie Priceman teamed up to create a picture book perfect for Women’s History Month, Who Says Women Can’t Be Doctors? The […]
History, Science, Social Conscience, WomenFeatured on March 10
There Goes Ted Williams: The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived
Elementary School, Picture BookI grew up in the state of Indiana, where basketball stood as the supreme sport, and moved to a city Boston, where baseball reigns. Consequently, like most Bostonians, I know that today the Red Sox play their first game in spring training. So I thought I would use this occasion to talk about one of […]
20th Century, Baseball, History, Sports, World War IIFeatured on February 27
The Port Chicago 50
Elementary School, Middle School, NonfictionFebruary has been designated Black History Month since 1976, and this observance has allowed for both the acquisition and publishing of many fine children’s and young adult books. But although there are so many stories from Black American history to be told, these books often focus on the same subject areas or heroes. Hence I […]
20th Century, African American, History, Multicultural, World War IIFeatured on February 10
Ghost Hawk
Elementary School, Fantasy, Historical FictionThis week we celebrate Children’s Book Authors and Illustrators week, and I’d like to use the day to talk about an author whom I have admired for more than forty years. As a young Horn Book assistant editor, I read the galleys of the second children’s book by Susan Cooper, The Dark Is Rising, and […]
Colonial America, History, Multicultural, Native AmericanFeatured on February 5
The Other Side
Elementary School, Picture Book Today, many in the blogging community will be celebrating multiculturalism in children’s books. For a list of those participating, check pragmaticmom and Jump Into a Book. In a society where our children come from a variety of racial backgrounds, the plea for high-quality content, featuring characters of all races, has never been more important. On […]
African American, Civil Rights, History, MulticulturalFeatured on January 27
Wendell Minor’s America
All Ages Every now and then on the Almanac, I like to discuss a book about children’s books, written for adults. Today, for Read a New Book Month, the Almanac features Wendell Minor’s America: 25 Years of Children’s Book Art, published by the Norman Rockwell Museum in conjunction with their current Wendell Minor exhibit. In this gorgeous […]
Animals, Art, HistoryFeatured on December 9
How I Learned Geography
Elementary School, Picture BookNovember has been designated Life Writing Month, dedicated to the idea that each person has a story to tell from his or her own history. Next week, we celebrate National Geography Week. Our book of the day, Uri Shulevitz’s How I Learned Geography, can be used for both occasions. This powerful picture book, perennially popular […]
Geography, History, World War IIFeatured on November 12
Locomotive
Elementary School, Nonfiction, Picture BookOctober has been designated National Reading Group Month. Usually, reading groups select novels. But today I recommend an unusual and brilliant work of narrative nonfiction published last month: Brian Floca’s Locomotive. With a career that began when Brian illustrated books for Avi in the early 1990s, the artist has continued to grow and get better […]
History, Science, Technology, Trains, TransportationFeatured on October 21
The Egypt Game
Elementary School, FictionSeptember has been designated Read a New Book Month. But for me, rereading a book I haven’t picked up for decades often seems like reading a new one. At the beginning of every school year, I ask my graduate students to talk about the book they most loved as a child. Zilpha Keatley Snyder’s The […]
Ancient, Award Winning, History, Multicultural, NewberyFeatured on September 16
The Boy Who Loved Math: The Improbable Life of Paul Erdös
Biography, Elementary School, Picture Book Today we can celebrate Wonderful Weirdos Day, created by the citizens of Austin, Texas. The organizers suggest that we all need to recognize those individuals in our lives who are not normal or average. Our book of the day does just that; even its subtitle suggests that it celebrates a wonderful weirdo as it chronicles […]
History, Science, TechnologyFeatured on September 9
Salt
Elementary School, Historical FictionOn September 5, 1812, the siege of Fort Wayne, Indiana, began, one of the incidents in the War of 1812. As a child growing up in Fort Wayne, I always thought that important American events happened elsewhere, in towns like Boston. And I believed that the Miami people, who had lived for centuries in the […]
History, Multicultural, Native American, War of 1812Featured on September 5
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
Curse of the Blue Tattoo
Elementary School, Historical Fiction, Middle SchoolJune has been designated Audio Appreciation Month. Today I am going to talk about an audio series that was recommended to me by my two favorite audio experts: Ellen Myrick, who created the audio section of 500 Great Books for Teens, and Alison Morris of Scholastic. If you are headed out for a road trip […]
Colonial America, History, WomenFeatured on June 10
The Book Thief
Elementary School, High School, Historical Fiction, Middle School May serves as both Personal History Awareness Month and Jewish American Heritage Month. When I saw these events, I immediately thought of one of the most amazing novels of the last ten years, Marcus Zusak’s The Book Thief. Although Zusak grew up in Australia, his mother had lived in Munich during the reign of Hitler […]
Award Winning, History, Jewish, Multicultural, Printz, World War IIFeatured on May 27
Diego Rivera: An Artist for the People
Elementary School, Middle School, NonfictionMay 1, International Workers Day, is celebrated in more than eighty countries around the world The observance originated in the United States in the 1880s as workers mobilized to secure an eight-hour workday. The Association of American Publishers has designated May as Latino Book Month. So today seems like a perfect time to look at […]
History, Latino, Multicultural, PoliticsFeatured on May 1
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
Dead End in Norvelt
Elementary School, Fiction, Middle SchoolThis week the International Cemetery, Cremation, and Funeral Association holds its annual convention. I once took care of the Houghton Mifflin booth during a convention held in a small hotel complex where funeral directors took up the other half of the hall. I couldn’t think of a book that I might bring over to them. […]
20th Century, Award Winning, History, Newbery, SummerFeatured on April 8
Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909
Elementary School, Picture Books Today marks the birthday of Clara Lemlich, born in 1886 in Ukraine to a Jewish family. Following a pogrom in 1903, Clara and her family immigrated to the United States. She stood a mere five feet tall, but as Brave Girl, our book of the day, tells us, she had grit and was going to […]
20th Century, Clothing, History, Jewish, Multicultural, New York, WomenFeatured on March 28
The Giant and How He Humbugged America
Elementary School, NonfictionMarch has been designated Ethical Awareness Month. Really good books that allow children and adults to explore ethical issues are not that easy to come by, although both Wonder and How to Steal a Dog can be used for this purpose. But a 2012 nonfiction book by Jim Murphy, The Giant and How He Humbugged America, […]
Civil War, HistoryFeatured on March 18
The Wreckers
Elementary School, Historical Fiction, Middle SchoolToday marks the birthday of Canadian writer Iain Lawrence. He was born in Sault Ste. Marie, Canada, called simply “the Sault,” which is pronounced to rhyme with zoo. Once a year his brother would sing, “Happy Birthday to you. You were born in the Sault.” Possibly this early nonsense verse encouraged Lawrence to seek a […]
Adventure, England, History, SurvivalFeatured on February 25
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
Little White Duck
Elementary School, Graphic Novel, Memoir, Middle School For our last selection for Read a New Book Month, I’d like to look at one of the most original graphic novels to appear in the last couple of years, Na Liu and Andrés Vera Martínez’s Little White Duck. When books for American children focus on other parts of the world, they tend to be […]
20th Century, History, Women, World HistoryFeatured on December 27
Monsieur Marceau
Biography, Elementary School, Picture Book December has been designated Read a New Book Month. During this month many hunt for new books to give as gifts. If you are one of those people, take a look at the picture book biography, Monsieur Marceau, written by Leda Schubert and illustrated by Gerard Dubois, winner this year of NCTE’s Orbis Pictus Award. […]
History, Theater, World War IIFeatured on December 10
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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