Blogs We Follow
We draw insights and guidance from a wide range of sources including these online publications maintained by noteworthy children’s literature commentators and critics:
Anastasia Suen’s Blog – Author and editor Anastasia Suen highlights a wide array of beautiful books including picture books, board books, and graphic novels.
Books YA Love – A librarian-at-large turned book reviewer, Katy Manck reviews and recommends incredible middle grade and young adult books beyond just the bestsellers.
Celebrate Picture Books – Kathy Carroll and Dorothy Levine offer connections between picture books and celebrations of all sizes and sorts.
The Children’s Hour – Home-centered literacy is promoted through information about reading development throughout childhood and ways to practice and enjoy it within the family.
Fuse 8 Production – Librarian Betsy Bird’s dynamic blog with its critiques, praise, application ideas, and more is currently hosted on School Library Journal’s website.
Growing Book by Book – Fosters literacy by guiding adults in the best ways to nurture their young readers and provide them with reading materials that suit their needs and tastes.
Happily Ever Elephants – Reviews and booklists by topic are provided by parent Lauren Bercuson to guide other parents to excellent title for intentional reading.
Jean Little Library – Librarian Jennifer Wharton reviews books for children of all ages and provides insight into her life at the library.
Kids Read the World – Lori and her two daughters read as many picture books from other countries as possible to showcase children’s books from around the world and to encourage diverse bookshelves.
Kiss the Book JR – Middle school librarian Cindy Mitchell, alongside several other school library professionals and student reviewers, reviews books through the entire K-12 spectrum to help librarians and teachers find “the great, the good and the avoidable in children’s lit.”
Living Barefoot – Semi-weekly posts by educators and professionals in affiliated fields offer engaging information about child development, books, and book-inspired activities.
Luminous Libro – Music teacher Kailey reviews a variety of genres, including fantasy, mystery, classics, children’s and middle grade books, graphic novels, manga, and the occasional non-fiction title.
Matthew C. Winner – School librarian, media teacher, and podcaster Matthew C. Winner’s blog covers authors, provides author interviews, and features occasional “best of” lists.
A Mighty Girl – Carolyn Danckaert and Aaron Smith pursue their interests in public policy and technology through a robust source collecting pro-girl and girl=power books for all kids.
Mr. Alex’s Bookshelf – Alexander Fernández-Pons and his team of culturally diverse children’s media reviewers provide informed and critical responses to materials for a wide range of age groups and publishing in various media formats.
No Flying, No Tights – A graphic novel review website for librarians, parents, educators, and whoever else is curious to explore the world of comics, graphic novels, Japanese manga and anime, and beyond. Currently it boasts over 45 staff members, including dedicated reviewers and editors, all of whom work in libraries and are volunteers.
100 Scope Notes – Elementary school librarian Travis Jonker discusses kids’ books, multimedia, and online programming for kids and also about children’s publishing in a blog currently hosted on School Library Journal‘s website.
Sal’s Fiction Addiction – Reviews and more from a retired elementary school teacher and school librarian pointing up excellence in current publishing for children.
The Tiny Activist – The Tiny Activist collective approaches children’s books through the lens of centering marginalized communities to support educator and family access to books’ and other children’s media that empower them in the work of dismantling heteronormative white supremacy.
World Kid Lit – Literary translators Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp and Claire Storey lead a team of volunteers in finding, evaluating, and publicizing books for children and teens translated from a variety of languages and cultures.
YA Books Central – Entering it’s 25th year, YABC has evolved from a basic stopover for people looking for information on young adult books into one of the largest professional book recommendation sites targeted towards tween and teen readers, featuring reviews, book discussions, and monthly giveaways.