Clik here to view.
Well, this bites
Here at the Horn Book we’ve gotten used to publishers sending us off-the-wall books. But this week even we were taken aback when we lifted the flap of a box and found this volume sitting on top of the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Search for Distinguished
In a much talked about opinion piece published in School Library Journal in 2008, former Horn Book editor Anita Silvey asked, “Has the Newbery lost its way?” She made it clear that she thought it had,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Jack Gantos: Seriously Funny
That "Gantos boy," in full Norvelt mode. Jack Gantos knocks people out with his comedy. Literally. I know of two speaking gigs where he has done so. In each instance, Jack was riffing away in the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
2012 ALA Round-Up
For those suffering from ALA withdrawal — or envy! — here’s the Horn Book’s take on this year’s events. For even more, check out the July/August 2012 issue of The Horn Book Magazine. Photo (and cake):...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Newbery 2012: The Year in Words
Newbery speculation is alive and healthy, with even the mock awards receiving national news coverage (and with the USA Today reporter who interviewed me also confiding that his fifth-grade son was...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sequelitis
I was out for a run the morning of the 4th when a squadron of Blue Angels came zooming across the sky in formation. The contrast between the Olmsted-ordered beauty of my surroundings (see above, near...
View ArticleGo visit Nina and Jonathan
As we get Calling Caldecott ready to rev today, I must also remind you to keep tabs on Heavy Medal, SLJ‘s blog on the race to the Newbery, run by Nina Lindsay and Jonathan Hunt. Jonathan has just...
View ArticleNewbery Award Acceptance by Elaine L. Konigsburg
You see before you today a grateful convert from chemistry. Grateful that I converted and grateful that you have labeled the change successful. The world of chemistry, too, is thankful; it is a neater...
View ArticleProfile of Elaine Konigsburg by David Konigsburg
Elaine Lobl Konigsburg was born in New York City but lived most of her precollege days in the small town of Farrell, Pennsylvania. Although she readily adapts to any environment, it is probable that...
View ArticleProfile of E. L. Konigsburg by Laurie Konigsburg Todd
Readers frequently ask where E. L. Konigsburg, my mother, gets her ideas. I’ll tell. Although Mom can detect the most subtle nuance in painting or prose, she never developed a musical ear. Knowing...
View ArticleClik here to view.
ALA 2013 preconference report
On Friday, June 27, I attended the ALSC preconference, “A Wild Ride: 75 Years of the Caldecott Medal,” which took place at the Art Institute of Chicago and was organized by co-chairs K. T. Horning and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
ALA 2013 photos
Caldecott cookie. Newbery Caldecott Wilder program. Three Newbery Medalists in the ladies room at the Newbery-Caldecott-Wilder banquet: Patricia MacLachlan, Cynthia Voigt, Katherine Paterson. Photo:...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Profile of Katherine Applegate
Katherine Applegate and Michael Grant Katherine Applegate was born a very long time ago in Michigan. She grew up in the suburbs, suffered no major traumas, was not shaped by great historical events,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Newbery 2013
On the one hand, it was a very good year for children’s books. The number of books that fit the Newbery’s definition of “distinguished contribution to American literature for children” was, to my...
View ArticleClik here to view.
2013 ALA Round-Up
Caldecott cookie. Suffering from ALA withdrawal? (Or maybe envy?) The Horn Book is here to help — we’ve got plenty of coverage of this year’s events. For even more, check out the July/August 2013 issue...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Impressions from the 2013 Newbery–Caldecott banquet
Three Newbery Medalists in the ladies room at the Newbery-Caldecott-Wilder banquet: Patricia MacLachlan, Cynthia Voigt, Katherine Paterson. Photo: Martha Parravano. I’ve been lucky enough to attend...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Profiles of Cynthia Voigt
Cynthia Voigt’s mother and daughter profile the author to celebrate her 1983 Newbery Medal Award win for Dicey’s Song. by Elise K. Irving When Cynthia called that Monday night, she asked if I was...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Reviews of the 2014 Newbery Award winners
Winner: Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo; illus. by K. G. Campbell (Candlewick) Ten-year-old Flora Belle Buckman’s life changes when she resuscitates a squirrel after...
View ArticleClik here to view.
ALA Awards 2014: Horn Book reviews of the winners
The most prestigious honors in children’s literature, the Newbery and Caldecott medals, were awarded to Kate DiCamillo and Brian Floca on January 27, 2014, at the American Library Association’s...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Profile of Kate DiCamillo
Kate and a nutty pal at the Berdoll Pecan Farm in Cedar Creek, Texas. Superheroes come in all shapes and sizes: Incandesto is a towering beam of light; Ulysses is a squirrel; and Kate DiCamillo, of...
View Article
