Know any children who won't go to bed? Well, sit them down in front of this video, in which the demonic lead vocalist of the legendary metal band GWAR reads this classic children's book to them. It won't help them sleep, but they should run into their bedrooms in pure terror immediately, and that's close enough.
If you were a child in America in the past so many years, you probably read or at least can acknowledge the existence of Norton Juster's great children's classic The Phantom Tollbooth. Though Juster may have written the book, it was equipped with equally important illustrations by Juster's longtime friend Jules…
Since Rush Limbaugh can do very little that is not worthy of immediate and unstinting public ridicule, he has gone ahead and written a children’s book about a suspiciously-named protagonist, a substitute teacher named “Rush Revere” who kidnaps some students in a time machine so he can teach them about the…
When a biracial family simply eating Cheerios
The children's literature market has come a long way since (the ever wonderful and important) Pat the Bunny. These days, kid's tales tackle topics from adoption to egg donation — and they do it in giant books with adorable, full-color illustrations. Basically, if you're looking for something to explain to your…
Sylvia Plath, the brilliant, tragic literary giant you were Most Likely to Be Obsessed With in high school, isn't all Ariel and The Bell Jar. In 1959, she wrote The It-Doesn't-Matter Suit, a children's book about Max Nix, a boy who longs for an awesome all-purpose suit. Although all six of his older brothers find…
As children, many of us encountered Richard Scarry's book, What Do People Do all Day? A classic kid's book, it uses animals to represent the division of labor that exists in "Busytown." The book is an example of a brilliant piece of analysis by sociologist John Levi Martin (full text).
Just like how Michael Jordan played baseball competently and then came back to play basketball superbly, J.K. Rowling will be re-entering the children's fiction racket...at least for one book. The Casual Vacancy may have coasted to a big debut, selling 124,603 copies or ten times the next-highest debut, but J.K.…
Marcel The Shell is making the leap from overnight viral sensation
A new book by the author of Where the Wild Things Are has parents upset over its supposedly scary content. But are moms and dads overestimating the dangers of a frightening read?
Dear People Who Keep Writing This Crap: This trend is dead, it's dead! Dear god; it's dead!
The American Library Association is creating an award for children's books that address LGBT themes. Cue the apocalypse!
On Friday the 1952 cover art for Charlotte's Web sold at auction for $155,000, more than five times its estimated value. The drawing by Garth Williams was purchased by an anonymous New York collector.
Not all print material lends itself naturally to the iPhone (I still like to read the Times the old-fashioned way: on my laptop screen). But one genre is a natural for mobile apps: Choose Your Own Adventure.
Does your five-year-old lack ambition and drive? Maybe she needs her very own self-help book, based on the Law of Attraction!
One Potato is a nifty blog devoted to rediscovering both forgotten and beloved children's books. Jay Bushara, the father of two sons, also solicits ideas from readers. A recent find? Sylvia Plath's picture book,The Bed Book.
Evangeline Lilly told Craig Ferguson that she plans to write children's books, a step that's become almost de rigueur for celebs. But not all celebs are on the bandwagon; we can think of more who should really jump aboard.
"The Country Bunny's message: plucky little girl bunnies who defy prejudice and believe in themselves can grow up to become fully actualized lady bunnies who raise smart, happy, kind children and do fulfilling work outside the warren." [NewYorker]
The Disney Channel is set to release Harriet the Spy: Blog Wars — Harriet's now "a blogger competing with a popular girl at school." This led us to imagine how other children's favorites might be updated for today's young MySpacerati:
Blast from the past: The Berenstain Bears are going to get the Fantastic Mr. Fox treatment and become a "warm-hearted comedy" to hit theaters in 2011. They're also getting a "slight" modern makeover, whatever that means. [USAToday]
"I've eaten quite a few children over the centuries. You may wonder where I get them all. The answer is: I get them the traditional way. From parents, of course." — The Witch's Guide to Cooking with Children [New Yorker]
Sad news: Norma Fox Mazer, the author of several critically acclaimed books for children and young adults, including When She Was Good, Silver, and Newbery Honor Book After The Rain, has died at the age of 78. [PublishersWeekly]
For a long time now I have been too emotional to really write about THE BEST SERIES OF ALL TIME:
And Tango Makes Three, a kids' book about two male penguins who raise a baby penguin, tops the ALA's banned books list, because of supposed "homosexual undertones." Guess a penguin needs an "opposite marriage" partner — maybe an elephant? [Guardian]
Am I the only one who's kind of apprehensive about the Spike Jonze-helmed Where the Wild Things Are movie? Yes? Okay, then. But here's why:
Fellow members of the Betsy-Tacy Society will already know this, but the club - which celebrates the BEST SERIES IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD - has refurbished the homes of the real "Betsy" and "Tacy" in Mankato, MN. [PW]
Karla Kuskin, the author of more than 50 books for children, including many books of verse and the classic The Philharmonic Gets Dressed, has died at 77. [NYT]
Guadalupe Rivera on her new children's book: "I was so young at the time and didn't realize what it meant to pose for him. I never knew my father was such a great painter. He was just my father." [PublishersWeekly]
The beloved Little House books have sold sixty million copies worldwide. It would suck if they turned out to be Libertarian propaganda.
