This article was authored by Publisher Spotlight intern Shanti Liu My parents immigrated to the United States from Fuzhou, Fujian, China. From then on, my mom and dad felt that very little truly belonged to them. The food they ate was unfamiliar, the houses they lived in were temporary, and the country they built their […]
Roots: Stories of Gardening, Identity, and Belonging Read More »
While many associations, journals, bloggers, and libraries publish their lists of best kids’ books of the year right at calendar’s close, some important ones do arrive later in the winter and even into spring. With summer on the horizon, we want to share these with you so that you can restock your shelves for vacation
More Best Lists for 2025 Kids’ Books Read More »
This article was authored by Publisher Spotlight intern Sophie Morris. Family is one of the most important structures in a young child’s life, but family often looks different for every child. One way to teach kids about the beauty of families is through the beauty of picture books. With the reassurance and humor they provide,
Branching Out: Family Units in Children’s Books Read More »
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 »
The approach of the Spring Equinox offers us a chance to get warmed up for our gardens coming back to life! Spring brings a veritable smorgasbord of inspiration in books for young readers, from the science of a seed becoming a blossoming garden, to the hands-on crafting of an origami flower, to a a field
Celebrate Spring with Little Bookworms Read More »
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
Celebrating Titles Featured on 2024’s Best Books for Kids Lists Read More »
The newly released list from Bank Street College of Education reflects their Children’s Book Committee’s choices from 2023’s publications. Bank Street’s seal of “best” is recognized by librarians, teachers, teacher training programs, and parents as a gold standard guide to children’s books. The selection committee is composed of more than two dozen members who are
Bank Street Books Announces Newest Best Children’s Books of the Year Read More »
Westerners have a peculiar way of prioritizing physical status over the conditions of our minds. We supply, even in casual conversation with children (and other adults), specific names for an array of possibilities when talking about our physical manifestations, including the experience of excellent health, impediments such as injury and disease names, recovery degrees, and
Fusing the delights of music and story is a powerful way to teach basic concepts as well as explore deeper ideas and emotions. Over my nearly 30 years of teaching young children, I’ve set a LOT of knowledge to simple tunes: the names of continents, oceans, countries and states, math concepts, simplified steps of the
Tales in Tune: Music and Picture Books Read More »
