Book-A-Day Almanac
Discover the stories behind the children’s book classics and the new books on their way to becoming classics.
Greenglass House
Elementary School, Middle School, Mystery/Thriller On November 29, many authors will head to one of their favorite bookstores to become booksellers for a day. Indies First was the brainchild of author Sherman Alexie, who wanted to celebrate what every author knows: that without independent bookstores and booksellers to carefully select books and support authors, our lives would be so much […]
Seasons, WinterFeatured on November 24
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
Coaltown Jesus
Elementary School, Fiction, Middle School, PoetryJune has been designated Rebuild Your Life Month. In Ron Koertge’s extraordinary book Coaltown Jesus, the protagonist, fourteen-year-old Walker, who lives in Coaltown, Illinois, does indeed need to rebuild his life. Two months ago his brother Noah died at age seventeen, and his mother hasn’t stopped crying. Walker struggles with guilt, believing that he might […]
Poetry, Religion/SpiritualityFeatured on June 16
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
The Real Boy
Elementary School, Fantasy, Middle School Continuing in the spirit of Read a New Book Month, today marks the publication of a book that I’ve been eager to share with Almanac readers: Anne Ursu’s The Real Boy. I thought Anne’s Breadcrumbs was a spectacular book. But I am ever more impressed with her storytelling abilities in The Real Boy. Oscar, an […]
Adventure, Magic, QuestFeatured on September 24
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
Tomorrow, When the War Began
Elementary School, Middle School, Science FictionIn May, the Association of American Publishers celebrates Get Caught Reading Month—publicity for the event includes posters of famous people each absorbed in a good book. Certainly, any book featured on the Almanac over the past year would be great to be caught reading. But I’d like to showcase a series that not only engages […]
Adventure, Dystopia, SurvivalFeatured on May 20
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
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
Starry River of the Sky
Elementary School, Fiction, Middle SchoolIn January we celebrate National Folklore Month. Folklore collections and retellings have tended to be Euro-Centric in books for children, whether retellings from Grimm, Perrault, or the Lang Fairy Books. But after American-born Grace Lin traveled to the land of her ancestors, Hong Kong, China, and Taiwan, she began incorporating the folklore of this land […]
Asian American, Folktale, MulticulturalFeatured on January 28
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
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
The Lincolns
Elementary School, Middle School, NonfictionOn October 15, 1860, eleven-year-old Grace Bedell wrote to a candidate running for the presidency, Abraham Lincoln. She stated that her brothers would vote for him if he grew a beard. “You would look a good deal better for your face is so thin,” she advised. Lincoln wrote back, and then, as a reporter announced, […]
Civil War, HistoryFeatured on October 15
Bomb
High School, Middle School, NonfictionFrom my point of view, author Steve Sheinkin is one of the most interesting young writers of narrative nonfiction today. Like most who choose to write nonfiction, he has an obsession, a passion, for history. But he excels in making history exciting for young readers, in bringing them into the action and adventure of whatever topic […]
20th Century, History, Politics, ScienceFeatured on September 17
Shadow on the Mountain
Elementary School, Historical Fiction, Middle SchoolSeptember has been designed Read a New Book Month. Certainly those headed back to school, whether teachers or students, will probably encounter some new titles in the next few weeks. I’d like to highlight a book just published in 2012: Shadow on the Mountain by Margi Preus. Margi Preus has published two stellar books in […]
History, World War IIFeatured on September 10
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
Carver
Elementary School, High School, Middle School, PoetryAugust has been designated National Inventor’s Month. Possibly because my engineer father held many telecommunications patents, as a child I always felt that invention was something exciting and possible. Certainly in the book of the day, Marilyn Nelson’s Carver, George Washington Carver emerges as a figure any child would want to emulate. Marilyn Nelson has […]
19th century, African American, Award Winning, History, Newbery, ScienceFeatured on August 6
The Amulet of Samarkand
Elementary School, Fantasy, Middle SchoolJuly marks Audio Book Month, a perfect time to listen to a title that will entertain the entire family. I owe the audio of the day to Alison Morris of Scholastic Book Clubs, who raved about Simon Jones’s rendition of The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud for Listening Library. How right she was. Now […]
Adventure, London, MagicFeatured on July 16
The Watch that Ends the Night
High School, Historical Fiction, Middle School, Poetic NovelOn July 13, 1864, John Jacob Astor IV was born in Rhinebeck, New York. He would become the richest man in the world—a land developer, inventor, and even author of a science fiction novel. Today Astor is best remembered as one of the victims of the Titanic. He serves as one of the multiple narrators […]
20th Century, HistoryFeatured on July 13
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 Sherwood Ring
Elementary School, Historical Fiction, Middle School Today marks American Independence Day, the Fourth of July, a time of parades, firecrackers, and outdoor picnics. But every time the Fourth of July comes around, I wonder how much children think about the reason for this holiday. If they don’t, how do we inform them about the American Revolution? Our book of the day, […]
Colonial America, Ghosts, HistoryFeatured on July 4
The Lions of Little Rock
Elementary School, Historical Fiction, Middle SchoolOn June 15, 1836, Arkansas became the 25th state admitted to the Union. Hence today marks Arkansas Admission Day. Certainly in the last part of the twentieth century, Arkansas has loomed large in American politics: It’s the home state of President Bill Clinton and also the site of the highly contested 1957 attempt to integrate […]
Civil Rights, History, School, Social ConscienceFeatured on June 15
The Odyssey
Elementary School, Graphic Novel, Middle SchoolAccording to Eratosthenes, a Greek mathematician and poet, on June 11, 1184 BC the city of Troy was sacked and burned by the Achaeans, ending the Trojan War. Although throughout the years, the very existence of Troy itself has been debated by scholars, one truth remains: Whether real or fabled, these events form the backdrop […]
Adventure, Ancient, History, QuestFeatured on June 11
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.
-
Tools
SUBSCRIBE
SEARCHFind A Book!
Search the archives for recommendations by age group, book type, subject, date, and more.
-
