- 2021 Nov 30
Still Swinging and Teaching
Trombonist Julian Priester, celebrated 86 year-old jazz musican and retired college professor, is profiled in the Seattle Times about his post-retirement teaching efforts, and his legendary musical career playing with such giants of jazz improvisation as Max Roach, Duke Ellignton, Herbie Hancock, Sun Ra, Dinah Washington, Lionel Hampton, and so many other great musicians.
Women in Comics Workshop
Women in Comics Collective International, a nonprofit that supports of the work of women in comics and other industries, is hosting an online art workshop by illustrator and graphic novel author Micheline Hess (Malice in Ovenland), December 2, on the WinC Media Channel. The workshop is free to WinC members and nonmembers can pay what you wish.
Charles Johnson Speaks
E. Ethelbert Miller, a Washington D.C.-based poet, writer, and literary activist, interviews Charles Johnson, acclaimed novelist, scholar, cartoonist, essayist on issues of philosophy, and author of the novel The Middle Passage, which was awarded the 1990 National Book Award for fiction. In this YouTube video, Johnson talks with Miller about his life and work.
A Year In Reading At The Millions
The Millions has posted it’s annual feature on just what its contributors have been reading over the last year. The monthlong series kicks off with the reading lists of Stephen Dodson, retired freelance editor, author, and prioprietor of the blog LanguageHat.com; and Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, author of the novel The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois. The Millions editors: “Well, here we are. The beginning of Pandemic Winter 2: The Omicron Story, and the 17th annual Millions Year in Reading. We are grateful to our contributors for sharing their years with us, some of them very difficult years, and to you for returning every December to celebrate the role of books and reading in our lives.”
- 2021 Nov 29
From Publishing Perspectives
The U.K.'s Costa Book Awards has revealed its shortlist, including those in the children's book category.
From the Hill
Texas mother organizes transgender story time after library faced threats over 'Rainbow Storytime.'
From the Scholastic Blog
Obituary: John Ramsay Maslen, illustrator of the Bob Books series.
From NBC News
Overdue book returned anonymously to Idaho library 111 years later.
From BET
All Boys Aren't Blue author George M. Johnson says banning books can't erase our truth.
From BuzzFeed
40 Highly Anticipated YA Books Releasing in the First Half of 2022.
From BabyGaga
Books to Teach Babies & Toddlers About Hanukkah.
From Book Riot
15 YA Fantasy Books That Feature Love Triangles.
- 2021 Nov 24
Alabama Gets a New Bookstore
Downtown Books Dothan has opened in the town of Dothan.
Pennsylvania's Newest Kids' Store
Nook Book, a new children's bookstore, has opened in Lancaster.
Kentucky Store Opens Second Spot
Roebling Point Books & Coffee in Covington is opening a new location in Newport.
- 2021 Nov 22
Word Sets Down Roots in Jersey City
Word Bookstore will open up a storefront in Jersey City, N.J.'s Hamilton Park neighborhood early next year.
From the 19th
Librarians are resisting censorship of children’s books by LGBTQ+ and Black authors.
From Entertainment Weekly
You'll Be the Death of Me author Karen M. McManus reveals how she puts thrilling tales together.
From the NYPL
The NYPL’s Best Books of 2021, including those for kids and teens.
From Book Riot
Texas Book Ban Would Cost School Districts Millions of Dollars in Staff Time.
From Chalkbeat New York
To boost a joy of reading, this East Harlem school installed a book vending machine.
From Book Riot
Texas Book Ban Would Cost School Districts Millions of Dollars in Staff Time.
From Catapult
Why Don’t American Schools Value Creativity?
From Book Riot
The Things I Learned During My First 9 Weeks as a School Librarian.
From Book Riot
The Things I Learned During My First 9 Weeks as a School Librarian.
From Romper
Max Greenfield Wrote a Book for All the Kids Who Don’t Love to Read.
From Book Riot
10 YA Books with No Romance for When You’re Out of Love.
From Book Riot
24 Cloth Books for Babies and Toddlers.
From Book Riot
8 Great Children’s Books About Money.
- 2021 Nov 19
New York Bookseller Adds Second Store
The Little Book Store in Clayton is opening a location in Watertown.
Philadelphia Bookstore Is Moving
The Head & the Hand Bookstore is moving to a new location in 2022.
Wisconsin Bookstore Is Closing
Book World in Janesville is closing in March of next year. It has been open since 1986.
Welsh Bookstore Raises Cash for Home
Book-ish, an award-winning bookstore in Crickhowell, is raising £30,000 to buy its building before it is sold.
- 2021 Nov 17
From CNN
A Florida school board member filed a criminal complaint over Black queer memoir All Boys Aren’t Blue.
From the Associated Press
Emerging filmmaker receives seven-figure book deal for YA thriller.
From the Washington Post
The best children's books of 2021.
From Jacobin Magazine
The Italian Communist Whose Radical Children's Books Shaped a Generation.
From BuzzFeed
Chloe Gong Didn't Set Out to Write a YA Fantasy Novel That Mirrored Our Pandemic Reality, But Readers Can't Get Enough.
From Mercury News
Jon Agee's whimsical word play yields a book of palindromes.
From Black Enterprise
The 1619 Project Has Been Adapted into Two Books, Including One for Kids.
From Vox
Motel of the Mysteries by David Macaulay: the 1970s children's book that envisions an America overrun by trash.
From Book Riot
I Was a Middle School Library Volunteer.
From Your Tango
12 Best Progressive Books for Young Social Justice Warriors.
From Book Riot
20 Middle Grade Fairy Tale Retellings.
From Book Riot
20 New Christmas Books for Kids.
- 2021 Nov 16
Cowboy Bebop Live
It was first a manga, then a Japanese anime, and now Cowboy Beboy, a much-loved action/adventue series about three snarky bounty hunters out to snag the galaxy’s worst criminals, is a live action TV series that will premier November 19 on Netflix. The Trailer.
Black Book Excellence
AALBC founder TroyJohnson interviews Tracy Sherrod, editorial director of Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollins and a pioneering publishing house specializing in books by and about African Americans. Amistad was founded by the late Charles Harris in 1986 and has published books by such acclaimed authors as Arthur Ashe, Edward P. Jones, Joyce Carol Thomas, and Jill Nelson.
Lyrically Weird
Over at The Millions Martha Anne Toll interviews essayist Randon Billings Noble, editor of A Harp In the Stars: An Anthology of Lyric Essays, a collection featuring the work of 50 authors writing in different forms of the essay. “The book’s subject matter covers the map of human emotions. In these distracting times, a lovely aspect of A Harp in the Stars is that you can open it to any essay, and instantly immerse yourself in a meaningful and gorgeous piece of writing.”
- 2021 Nov 15
From the New York Times
Check out the 10 picks for this year's New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children’s Books.
From Deadline
Rodrick Rules Set As Second Diary of a Wimpy Kid Animated Movie at Disney+.
From Deadline
The Spiderwick Chronicles: Disney+ Prepping Series Adaptation of Fantasy Books.
From the Guardian
Jason Reynolds: “Reading rap lyrics made me realize that poetry could be for me.”
From Electric Literature
Queer and Jewish Identity Are the Heart of Where the Wild Things Are.
From Literary Hub
Somebody finally fixed the ending of The Giving Tree.
- 2021 Nov 11
Maryland Gets a New Bookstore
the Paper Herald, a new bookstore and stationary store, has opened in Baltiomore.
New York City Gets a New Bookstore
Yu and Me Books, a bookstore cafe, is opening on Mulberry Street next month.
New Bookstore Is Coming to Michigan
Sleepy Dog Books is opening in Mt. Pleasant next year.
W.H. Smith Had a Tough Year
U.K. chain W.H. Smith reported a group loss before tax of £116m for the year to end August 2021.
Minnesota Bookstore Hits Milestone
Good News Bookstore in Fairmont is now 75 years old.
Aussies Schedule Booksellers Confab
The Australian Booksellers Association has scheduled its annual conference for June 12-13, 2022 in Sydney.
YouTube Series Features Booksellers
A Romanian bookstore has launched a series of interviews with booksellers on YouTube.
- 2021 Nov 10
From Deadline
Jon M. Chu Tapped to Direct Adaptation of Dr. Seuss’s Oh, the Places You’ll Go!
From NPR
Children's book Calvin shows how a community can embrace a trans child's identity.
From Tinybeans
The 90 Best Bedtime Stories of All Time.
From A Mighty Girl
The Festival of Lights: 21 Mighty Girl Hanukkah Books.
From Brightly
Lights, Action, Babies! 10 Board Books Starring Babies.
Connecticut Is Getting a New Bookstore
New York chain bookseller Shakespeare & Co. is opening a new store in Norwalk, its first in Connecticut.
- 2021 Nov 08
From the New York Times
Bans on Critical Race Theory Threaten Free Speech, Advocacy Group Says.
From CILIP
Nominations have been announced for the 2022 CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals.
From Variety
The Royal Diaries TV Adaptation in the Works from Legendary Television, Scholastic Entertainment.
From PureWow
Jennifer E. Smith Opens Up About Her First Picture Book, YA Movie Adaptations, and What It's Like to Write for Grownups.
From Literary Hub
How to Reopen a High School Library 18 Months After a Pandemic Closure.
From Romper
15 Classic Children's Books from the '90s That Belong on Your Child's Bookshelf.
Nashville Bookstore Marks Milestone
Parnassus Books, co-owned by author Ann Patchett, is celebrating its 10th anniversary.
Montana Bookstore Will Live On
Aunt Bonnie’s Books in Helena is transitioning to new management after the death of its owner this year.
Florida Bookseller Remembered
Marion Ballard, who founded Bayboro Books in St. Petersburg, has died at age 81.
U.K. Theater Publisher Opens Pop-up
Theatre publisher Nick Hern Books is launching its first ever pop-up bookshop inside London's Bush Theatre.
- 2021 Nov 05
San Francisco Storefront Transforms
Alley Cat Bookstore & Gallery has closed and will become a new bookstore, Medicine for Nightmares.
Michigan Gets a New Bookstore
A Novel Concept, which was previously a pop-up shop, is opening a permanent location in Lansing.
- 2021 Nov 04
Florida Gets a New Bookstore
Joybird Books will open in Orlando later this month, stocked with 10,000 former college library books the owners won at auction.
- 2021 Nov 03
From the Guardian
Report shows fourfold rise in minority ethnic characters in U.K. children’s books.
From Kidscreen
Nickelodeon and Random House Children’s Books ink deal with Run-DMC’s Darryl McDaniels.
From Entertainment Weekly
R.L. Stine has an all-new collection of Stinetinglers ready to scare young readers.
From Time
Darcie Little Badger Turns Our Darkest Realities into Hopeful Fantasies.
From Book Riot
Love You Forever… Sweet or Creepy?
From Literary Hub
What I Learned While Cataloguing an Entire Library of 19th-Century Schoolbooks.
From Book Riot
10 Disturbing Nursery Rhyme Origin Stories to Celebrate Nursery Rhyme Week.
From US Weekly
Joanna Gaines and More Celebs Who Have Written Children’s Books.
From Book Riot
How to Pick Children’s Books About Gender.
From Book Riot
Navigating Winter Holiday Picture Books When You Have an Interfaith Family.
Bookshop.org Marks U.K. Milestone
Bookshop.org in the U.K. celebrated its first anniversary, saying it had raised £1.7 million for 480 bookstores on the platform.
Iceland Bookstore Reopens
Mál og menning will reopen in Reykjavik after closing in 2020. The store had been open for 60 years.
- 2021 Nov 02
Michigan May Lose a Bookstore
Unless a buyer is found, Crazy Wisdom Bookstore and Tearoom will close next Valentine's Day after 40 years in business.
Raising Cash for a Long Island Store
The former manager of the Book Revue in Huntington, N.Y., has launched a $250,000 Kickstarter campaign to open a new store.
Ontario Bookstore Gets a New Life
City Lights Book Shop in London has been bought, and its new owners have ambitious plans for the store.
A Virtual Salute to Mark Twain
The Mark Twain House and Museum is holding a virtual gala and tribute November 4 at 7pm EST called Mark Twain Around the World, which will celebrate Twain’s travels, his travel writing, and his home in Hartford. The lineup of all-star guests include authors David Baldacci, Kevin Kwan, and Scott Turow, comedians Larry Wilmore, and Roy Wood Jr. and others.
Celebrating Jackie Ormes
The Women In Comics Collective hosted an online tribute to pioneering 1930s Black cartoonist Jackie Ormes, the first Black female syndicated newspaper cartoonist, best known for the character of Torchy Brown and her syndicated strip Dixie in Harlem. Cartoonists Barbara Brandon-Croft (Where I'm Coming From), Bianca Xunise (Six Chix), and Steenz (Heart of the City) join Hello Barkada founder Christine Pasalo Norland to discuss the impact of the late and celebrated cartoonist Jackie Ormes.
Honoring Black Trans Women Artists
Queer|Art, an arts organization devoted to the support of the LGBTQ+ arts community, announced that Lee Laa Ray Guillory, a New Orleans-based visual artist, has been awarded the second annual Illuminations Grant for Black Trans Women Visual Artists. Guillory will receive $10,000 in cash, professional development support, and studio visits with members of the judging panel. Guillory’s work uses photograpy and performance to illuminate transgenerational trauma among Black femmes in rural Louisana.
2021 Hurston/Wright Legacy Awards
Named after Black literary giants Zora Neale Hurston and Richard Wright, the Hurstson/Wright Foundation was founded by novelist Marita Golden and literary activist Clyde McElvene in 1990. Devoted to the support of Black writers and Black literature, the organization also awards the annual Hurston/Wright Legacy Awards which honor the best Black books of the year. This year’s Legacy Awards were held online on October 15 and hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones. The foundation honored three pioneers of Black literature: novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, author and historian Ibram X. Kendi, and the Calabash International Literary Festival, a literary festival with roots in Jamaica. The Legacy Awards followed, presenting prizes in the categories of poetry, nonfiction, fiction, and debut fiction. The event was recorded and has been archived on the Hurston/Wright Foundation YouTube channel.
Loud and Wrong: Talking Poetry
The Millions’ Jonathan Farmer is “tired of the ways we talk about poetry.” Despite the fact that “the institutions of American poetry are better off than they’ve ever been,” Farmer takes on the task of methodically describing the various patterns of speech (and social behavior) that are bringing him and poetry down. “Favoritism, shallowness, self-dealing, competition dressed up as virtue, flatterers dressed up as sages, coteries dressed up as the elect: none of that is new. But right now, it just seems so loud.”
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