Booklist Online: Book Reviews from the American Library Association

The Children’s Literature Association bestowed the Phoenix Award on Rosemary Sutcliff’s novel, The Shining Company (1992). Wondering why the Phoenix award is named the Phoenix? Behold:
The Phoenix Award is named after the fabled bird that rose from its ashes with renewed life and beauty. Phoenix books also rise from the ashes of neglect and obscurity and [...]

The 2009 Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards for Excellence in Children’s Literature were announced yesterday. The winners are:
Fiction and Poetry
Nation, by Terry Pratchett
Nonfiction
The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary, by Candace Fleming
 
Picture Book
Bubble Trouble, by Margaret Mahy, illustrated by Polly Dunbar

In a former life, I interviewed movie stars. I can tell you what Russell Crowe smells like, what Neve Campbell drinks, and what Ben Kingsley would really rather be talking about. But here’s the main revelation: hanging out with movie stars, as it turns out, is kind of a drag.
Which is why, these days, I [...]

Happy Children’s Book Week! In honor of the occasion, the Children’s Book Council announced the winners of the Children’s Choice Book Awards after 220,000 online ballots from kids (and, er, some adults) across the country were counted.
And winners are:
Kindergarten to Second Grade Book of the Year
The Pigeon Wants a Puppy! written and illustrated by Mo Willems
Third Grade to [...]

Perhaps you have a personal vendetta against Mo Willems. Maybe Melina Marchetta’s Jellicoe Road gives you the hives. Or maybe you’re the one person left on the planet not totally in love with Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book. Whatever the reason, it’s hard not to have fun second-guessing the ALA Youth Media Awards. That’s why [...]

A favored award among the books for youth editors was announced today by the Jane Addams Peace Association. Later this week Gillian will devote a post to one of the winners. I’ll keep the subject a surprise for now.
In the  meantime, the winners are:
Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai, written and illustrated [...]

When Judith Krug died on April 11, the children’s and young adult literature communities lost both a tireless supporter and a defender. As the director of the Office of Intellectual Freedom and the founder of Banned Books Week, Judith was on the front lines helping libraries keep books in their collections, everything from Harry Potter to [...]

Those blood-curdling shrieks you hear in the distance are the battle cries of School Library Journal’s Battle of the Kids’ Books. SLJ has gathered a panel of celebrity referees to judge each round of duke-’em-outs between some of the big youth titles of 2008. A bit late, perhaps, but a fun idea nonetheless, and already [...]

So, last week, in my ed note for REaD ALERT #26 (”A Series of Thoughts about Youth Nonfiction Books”), I asked, “Where’s a book like Guess What Happens When We’re Dead? when I need it?” Well, if there’s a topic, there’s a series nonfiction book about it. Readers wrote me with their suggestions, which ranged [...]

I had a ball chatting with Ingrid Law, and Gillian Engberg seemed thrilled to be talking to Ann Brashares, but for sheer frequency of giggling frivolity, it looks like Ilene Cooper has us beat. She had a pow-wow recently with author Kate DiCamillo and before it’s over they both sound like they’re about to hyperventilate [...]