Booklist Online: More than 130,000 book reviews for librarians, book groups, and book lovers - from the trusted experts at the American Library Association

Cindy: It’s impossible for me to pick a favorite page in this book. Okay, maybe I am partial to the grasshopper opposite the title page. The angle of the photograph makes it appear as if the little guy is flying overhead. But there’s no poetry on that page, so that can’t be my favorite. 2011 [...]

Lynn:  When I saw Oliver Jeffers’ new book at our public library I grabbed it instantly.  The focus group and I had loved Stuck and I was eager to see what wackiness Jeffers was hatching now.  I wasn’t disappointed.  Not only is The Hueys in The New Sweater (Penguin/Philomel 2012) a terrific and oddball little [...]

Lynn:  Summer is winding down (sob) but there’s still plenty of days ahead that are ideal for outside play.  Tag, Toss & Run: 40 Classic Lawn Games (Storey 2012) is another ALA conference find that is sure to be helpful for entertaining your own kids or grandkids, or running excess energy off active little ones [...]

Cindy and Lynn: Tomorrow, Thursday, 4.12.12 is Rock the Drop Day. What’s that, you say? Readergirlz Blog and Figment sponsors this annual event and Cindy spied it on a friend’s Facebook page this week (thank you Stacy Dillon of Welcome to My Tweendom). The details are spelled out here, but basically you are encouraged to leave [...]

Cindy: I’m reading a classic. Don’t faint. You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings. No, that quote is not about me reading a classic, although it could be. It’s the opening of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Last fall we read [...]

Cindy: As I write this, Lynn is winging her way to The American Library Association Midwinter Meetings in Dallas…propelled as much by excitement and nerves as she is by Delta Airlines. Her 2012 Newbery Award deliberations start tomorrow and I am left behind to work for two more days before I can leave town and [...]

Lynn: “Hickory dickory dock, the mouse ran up the clock,” is a rhyme most of us know from childhood.  Even in today’s too-busy-to-read-world at least some nursery rhymes are passed along to children.  Nursery rhymes have never been as much fun though as in Nursery Rhyme Comics:  50 Timeless Rhymes from 50 Celebrated Cartoonists (Roaring [...]

Cindy: Not at my house, it’s not. The tree is up (but not decorated) and nothing is hung by the chimney with care. I’m a little behind in my holiday decorating this year. Fortunately, there are Christmas books to add some holiday cheer to my home and for us to recommend for your collections or [...]

Cindy: “Most folks my age and complexion don’t speak much about the past. Sometimes it’s just too hard to talk about…So it’s important that you pay attention, honey, because I’m only going to tell you this story but once.” Fortunately for us, the story has been captured in a gorgeous book so we can read [...]

Cindy: I was excited and a little nervous when I heard there was to be a new Shel Silverstein collection. Post-humous publications often disappoint, but this one is successful. Every Thing On It (Harper 2011) has over 130 poems with his trademark line drawings, selected by his family from his archives and published her for [...]