First, all of my thanks to NTE for a very thoughtful selection of books – In the Hall with the Knife and Little Weirds have already found their way to my Holiday reading schedule once I can convince Snowman Bear and the Owl to hand them back over. Second, apologies for not posting this sooner, I’ve had the books for over a week! Third, I’m so grateful to everyone who participates in the Book Exchange each year, it is always worth the time that goes into it, because […]
Poetry that’s actually readable. Read it.
Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman
I suspect like most of the world, I learned who Amanda Gorman was within hours of Joe Biden’s inauguration. Turns out her collection Call us What We Carry is every bit as good as “The Hill We Climb” which is included as the final poem in the book. I should be up front, I don’t typically read poetry for fun, in part because I work with it so much professionally. Gorman’s book though is an exception, even more so in that it wasn’t a struggle […]
Liar Liar Tri-corner hat on fire
Why Longfellow Lied: The Truth about Paul Revere's Midnight Ride by Jeff Lantos
Why Longfellow Lied: The Truth about Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride by Jeff Lantos. This review is based on about me being half finished with the book. That does not mean the book is bad. In fact, it is the opposite. However, it is a bit on the slow side, making it a bit hard to finish the book in one or two sittings. You must be a fan of non-fiction and/or history to be the right audience. Plus, you should probably be at least 10 […]
Get Down and boogie with your bad-cello-self
Playing at the Border: A Story of Yo-Yo Ma by Joanna Ho
Playing at the Border: A Story of Yo-Yo Ma by Joanna Ho and illustrated by Teresa Martínez is a lovely story about how music is the sound of the world, and how it can build a bridge, not a wall. This story follows and is based on the journey of Yo-Yo Ma to promote peace in a divided time. Lyrical text gives life to how Ma wanted to spread a bit of hope during a time in this country that was less than hopeful. With […]
How Can Black People Write About Flowers at a Time Like This
A Fortune for Your Disaster by Hanif Abdurraqib
I love poetry, and am hopeless at both understanding and explaining it. TS Eliot said “Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood.” I love the words and rhythms and feeling, but I don’t always understand a poem in its entirety. So I apologize in advance for not being able to say anything sophisticated about Hanif Abdurraqib’s astonishing book of poetry, A Fortune for Your Disaster. Abdurraquib is a Black poet who writes with great fierceness and beauty about the Black experience, freedom, confinement, death, […]
For those who question and have big feelings
Aaron Slater, Illustrator by Andrea Beaty
Meesha Makes Friends by Tom Percival
The Questioneers and Big Bright Feelings series are a set of books dealing with social themes, such as confidence, being different, trying and failing, fears, lack of friendships all set for the (strong) four and up crowd. Aaron Slater, Illustrator by Andrea Beaty and David Roberts on illustrations, and Tom Percival doing double duty with Meesha Makes Friends continue the themes. Beaty and Roberts use bold, bright, busy text and colors in Aaron Slater, Illustrator. The rhymes and fantastic illustrations (that are brassy, sassy, and […]
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