Happy Poetry Friday, everyone. I hope you'll scoot over to the Poetry Foundation's online edition and read "Home Appreciation," an article I wrote about the joyful approach several homeschooling families take to poetry. You'll get a armload of recommendations for...

Current UK children's laureate Michael Rosen says, "Give children books, not SATs," at the Independent.The Children's Book Council of Australia announced the books of the year earlier this month. And there is controversy about the picture book winner, Matt Ottley's...

In the last several weeks we've been canoeing, kayaking, swimming, watching cartoons, and reading books. Here are a few titles that our 4th grader liked. (4th grade, as of today! I can't believe it.) Katie Loves the Kittens, a picture...

"More than a finely etched, honest portrait of an artist, Margaret Wise Brown: Awakened by the Moon is an exciting, fast-paced glimpse into the very beginnings of the golden age of children's book publishing in America. Leonard Marcus has cut...

Susan Taylor Brown is the author of a number of books for children, including Hugging the Rock (Tricycle Press, 2006). Newly issued in paperback, the middle-grade novel in verse was chosen by the American Library Association for the "Notables" list...

Welcome to the beach party. Surf's up, y'all! It's still summer, and let's see who's in the swim at the August Carnival of Children's Literature. But, first, an announcement from the lifeguard: next month's carnival takes place on September 21st...

Around here we're still reveling in summer, with lots of time outdoors and very little talk about back-to-school. If day camp at the Y went year-round, the 8 year old would move there happily. What's not to like about days...

Welcome to "On the Books," a new series devoted to the timeless question, "Whatcha reading?" Today's guest is author and playwright Betsy Howie, whose first picture book, The Block Mess Monster, was published in May. Illustrated by C.B. Decker, it's...

Yesterday we drove down to the New York Botanical Garden to see the fabulous Henry Moore sculptures and other exhibits. As we passed Fordham University, which is across the street from the NYBG, Junior and his dad had the following...

Look who's on GalleyCat. Ain't she a beauty? The book-publishing blog has been running a series called Dog Days of Summer, and I hoped a chicken would be a nice addition. Thanks for including her, GalleyCat! Here is a picture...

A friend of mine likes the work of Emily Dickinson so much that she always travels with a book of Dickinson's poems in her purse. I'm going to be sure to tell her about a brand-new work of nonfiction, White...

As the third anniversary of Katrina approaches, Susan Larson, books editor at the Times-Picayune, rounds up a long list of new titles that deal with the hurricane in some way. She includes children's books and a number of poetry books,...

"The fire of literacy is created by the emotional sparks between a child, a book, and the person reading. It isn't achieved by the book alone, nor by the adult who's reading aloud—it's the relationship winding between all three, bringing...

And it's only $3 million and change. Summer share, anyone? F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald lived in the 18th-century house in Westport for six months in 1920. (It's been substantially renovated and added onto in the years since.) Barbara Probst...

The blog "Read. Imagine. Talk." is hosting the July Carnival of Children's Literature. Head thataway for all kinds of reading suggestions.The August kid-lit carnival takes place right here at Chicken Spaghetti on Monday, August 18th, with a deadline of Saturday,...