“On Sunday, March 12, 1944, at eleven in the morning, when most people were still at church, a group of basketball players who thought they were the best in the state of North Carolina piled into two cars. The members of the Duke University medical School team knew they were playing a game, but they […]
This charming memoir, a follow-up to Jonathan Bean’s equally delightful Building Our House, takes us through a day of home-school with his family. The narrator, a cheery blond-headed boy (suspiciously like the photos of cheery blond-headed Jonathan Bean in the back of the book) shows us his world of school. He stands in front of his […]
Before you visit the zoo next time, read this book. Then look for all the ways that Abraham Dee Bartlett helped create your zoo experience: informational signs, veterinary care, naturalistic habitat, all of them can be traced back to this self-taught nineteenth century zoo director. The book begins with Bartlett’s childhood, with one-on-one encounters with […]
The Common Core introduces informational and explanatory writing to children as young as kindergarten. How do you explain how to books to kindergarteners? Most of the titles on the shelves of the library are going to be more technical or involved than is appropriate for such young readers. Here’s the solution! This charming “how to” […]
I already posted about books I wish could win the Sibert but probably won’t. Here’s my list of books I hope are in the running: A Fine Dessert: Four Centuries, Four Families, One Delicious Treat by Emily Jenkins, illustrations by Sophie Blackall. This book has been the center of a firestorm because one of […]
Growing up, I visited my grandparents on the farm every summer, and every day after our huge noon dinner (not lunch), when Gram finally rested, I would sit by myself in the quiet, dim living room and read Childcraft. My favorite volume was the one about real people. I read about Jenny Lind and Robert […]