This is one in our Double Scoop Sundae series featuring a pair of thematically-related books and ideas for teachers and library program developers seeking ways to extend reading from them. Mathematics in its many forms—arithmetic, geometry, algebra, calculus, and more—comes with rules that can seem daunting. In fact, those rules can be both imagination-provoking and fun! In […]
Cumulative tales build the way a snowball does: they get bigger as each new point in the tale passes to add another layer to the whole. Items (and sometimes people) are collected as the story moves along. “Stone Soup” is such a tale and has various versions in many cultures. Cumulative stories are sometimes rhythmic,
New Snowball Stories Read More »
For many decades, children’s picture books we see in North America that include realistic descriptions and/or illustrations of dwellings have largely featured homes that appear to be single family, often suburban with lawns. Like others around the world, however, many kids here live in homes that are apartments—whether middle class, well-to-do, or economically struggling. What
Many Doors, One Home: Apartment Living in Kids’ Books Read More »
This article was last updated 16 January 2026 What’s better than a book award? A list of best books! Why? There are more titles to choose among and to compare and contrast. While judges who determine book awards are looking at lots of competing titles critically, with a list of bests, we get to see
Best of the Year Lists Are the Best! Read More »
This is one in our Double Scoop Sundae series featuring a pair of thematically-related books and ideas for teachers and library program developers seeking ways to extend storytime with them. Two new picture books, each released in the US in both English and Spanish editions, center needlework as a way many families keep alive family stories and
Stitching Generational Stories Read More »
As a librarian who has provided readers’ advisory support on the front line with kids, teens, and adults, and now trains library staff in both public and school libraries to deliver support for readers and would-be readers, I have come to recognize some salient differences among the age ranges: Genre fiction written for and engaging
A Smorgasbord of Series for Middle Graders Read More »
This is one in our Double Scoop Sundae series featuring a pair of thematically-related books and ideas for teachers and library program developers seeking ways to extend storytime with them. From a single point to a line, from a flat area created by connecting lines to a multidimensional entity, our concrete and imaginary worlds both supply us
Get in Shape with a Pair of Picture Books Read More »
As individuals, some of us tend to messy disorder while others keep the laundry quickly folded and the dishes stacked back in their places before day’s end. In spite of these personal styles, each of us belongs to a larger, and generally well ordered, social framework. These frameworks are as diverse as human languages and,
We’re putting a bit of a twist on Translation Month this September. We frequently highlight linguistic translators and their work in making children’s books from around the world accessible to English language readers. We look for them to receive credit from publishers on book covers and seek out their skillsets in workshops and on panels.
Translating Classic Art into Contemporary Picture Book Illustrations Read More »
