Author name: FGoldsmith

librarian, professional development trainer, writer

Children's Book Committee logo shows a star-shaped human otline against an open book

Bank Street College of Education Publishes Best 2025 Edition

During the last days of 2024, and the first weeks of 2025, we shared the books that had appeared on a wide array of Best Kids’ Book lists for the year. At that time, we promised to return with one of the most respected of these annual lists. Bank Street College of Education publishes a […]

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Cover of Downpour shows a yellow shorted child with a large yellow umbrella playing in the rain

It’s Onomatopoeia Season!

April’s rainy weather is a harbinger of spring flowers—and it’s also just right for picture books with onomatopoeia-rich texts! Rain makes so many wonderful sounds, depending on how big the drops, how puddle-welcoming the ground on which it falls, and activities we undertake outdoors in rainy weather. Cloudy skies and falling water make glorious subjects

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Outstanding International Books 2025

At the very end of 2024, we were able to share a bounteous serving of news about books from our publishers that had earned spots on an array of “best of the year” lists from librarians, educational associations, professional journals, and more. The lists continue to arrive, with the most recent from the United States

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Butterknife and fork on blue background

Pairing Power

Just as two eyes provide depth missing when we look ahead with just one eye, a pair of complementary books provide a deeper experience of their shared—and complementary—theme. The pairs suggested here each fit together, rather than presenting oppositional or dichotomous views. Like a pair of friends rowing a boat across new waters with greater

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Fimo dough constructed penguin pair and their stack of books tucked into a rocky niche, Kelvin Walk, Glasgow

Celebrating Titles Featured on 2024’s Best Books for Kids Lists

It’s the end of another publishing year and the best lists are snowing upon us! What we love about the plethora of these lists from children’s literature experts, review publications, and national press resources is how so many perspectives pop into focus: diverse list makers see “best” in so many different—and complementary—ways. Some of the

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Chai symbol for life in Hebrew

Explore Diversity in Jewish Identity with Picture Books

Culture and tradition are part and parcel of every person’s identity and yet many of us—perhaps especially in the United States—tend to see the identities of those around us as flattened into tropes. Instead of ignoring the nuances that encompass unforced and forced migrations, developments in social and political surroundings, and even availability of food

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A cover collage of the titles discussed

Building Stories

Introducing children to participating in and observing the natural world holds well-acknowledged merit—as well as rich offerings in current children’s books. No matter how urban a child’s environment may be, there are almost always snatches of nature available: the sky and weather; a vendor selling fruit that was planted and grown to be eaten and

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Marcia Goldman signing book with Lola sitting in her lap

Photo Perfect Picture Books

Picture book illustrators use so many different media to create engaging—and often revealing—elements for the pages children examine during read-aloud times. Sometimes the illustrator makes use of a tool other than a brush, a pencil, pen, or cut paper. Sometimes, we see picture books—in a range of age interests from board books to informational books

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Women Who Connect the World of Books to Readers

August is celebrated annually as Women In Translation Month. This is the time when we turn specific attention—and give gratitude—to the women writers  and the women translators who make possible access to stories from many languages to readers who can access them only in their own home languages. Professional translation is an art, just as

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