Today we’re happy to present our first finalist review of the New Year! Our featured review is from Cybils organizer and judge Jennifer Wharton, who is on the Round 1 panel for Easy Readers and Early Chapter Books this year. On her blog Jean Little Library, she looked at Early Chapter books finalist Owen and Eleanor Move In (Owen and …
REVIEW: The Princess in Black and the Science Fair Scare
Our featured blog review for today looks at Early Chapter Books nominee The Princess in Black and the Science Fair Scare by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale and illustrated by the incomparable LeUyen Pham. The review was written just last week by Jennifer Miller, a Round 1 Cybils judge, scholar, and writer who blogs at Raise Them Righteous. About the …
Interview with Dori Hillestad Butler
You write a lot of mystery stories for emerging readers. What are the challenges in creating a satisfying mystery for that reading level? Creating a simple mystery isn’t really a challenge for me, but sometimes I struggle with word count. There’s a pattern to the King & Kayla books. Each one has five chapters. The first chapter sets up the …
Interview with Suzanne Selfors
How did you come up with the idea of a superhero dog and an evil genius guinea pig? This book came about in a different way than any of my other books. I’d been working with an editor at Harper Collins named Melissa Miller on an IP project and she shared an idea with me. She’d come up with these …
REVIEW: Christmas in Cooperstown
Today’s seasonally appropriate title is a nominee in Early Chapter Books this year: Ballpark Mysteries Super Special #2: Christmas in Cooperstown written by David A. Kelly and illustrated by Mark Meyers. Our Easy Readers/Early Chapter Books category chair Kristi Bernard reviewed it last month on her blog, Kristi’s Book Nook: Author David A. Kelly has created an interesting story that …
REVIEW: Princess Cora and the Crocodile
Today’s featured blog reviewer Valerie Byrd Fort is a Round 1 judge in Easy Readers/Early Chapter Books. She’s a former elementary school librarian who’s currently a stay-at-home mom and professor of children’s literature at the University of South Carolina. On her blog Library Goddess, she reviewed Early Chapter Books nominee Princess Cora and the Crocodile, written by Laura Amy Schlitz …
Interview with Polly Faber
Where did you get the idea for Mango & Bambang: The Not-a-Pig? The stories began with a first sketch Clara sent me of a girl and a tapir. We’d become friends and over coffee and cake a week or two before, Clara had suggested I write a book for her to illustrate. I hadn’t taken her seriously at all and had made a jokey response: “Alright …
REVIEW: Weekends with Max and His Dad
Today’s featured review–from our own Elementary/Juvenile Nonfiction chair, Jennifer Wharton, looks at Early Chapter books finalist Weekends with Max and His Dad by Linda Urban, illustrated by Katie Kath. This past fall, Jennifer reviewed the book on her blog Jean Little Library: “Max is nervous about spending his weekends with Dad, now that his parents are divorced. It seems like …
REVIEW: Elephant & Piggie Like Reading! The Cookie Fiasco
Since we’re on the verge of a major cookie-eating holiday, it seems seasonally appropriate to feature a book that’s cookie-themed: Elephant & Piggie Like Reading! The Cookie Fiasco by Dan Santat. The review was written by our Elementary/Juvenile Nonfiction chair Jennifer Wharton, who is not a stranger to the Early Chapter Books category, where this book was nominated. In her …
REVIEW: The Princess in Black and the Hungry Bunny Horde
What a mouthful of a title–and this hilarious book (the third in a series) promises much more than a mouthful of satisfaction. Today’s featured blog reviewer, Sondra Eklund, wrote about The Princess in Black and the Hungry Bunny Horde by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale, illustrated by LeUyen Pham, earlier this year and gave it a stellar review. Sondra is …