Just in time for her 20th anniversary, Kate & I tackle the fanciest nanciest gal in picture bookdom on the @fuse8nkate.bsky.social podcast. WILL Kate think she's a brat? IS this the first book we've done with glitter on the cover? Find out! #kidlit 📚👍 afuse8production.slj.com/2025/09/22/f...

This came out early in the year, but I'd like to remind you to give it a close look. Highly sophisticated art with an incredible batch of storytelling. @galegalligan.bsky.social's greatest is here. #kidlit 📚👍 afuse8production.slj.com/2025/09/20/r...

Come for the wacky promotional video for one of the greatest graphic novels of 2025. Stay for the celebrity picture book cameo at the very end. #kidlit 📚👍 afuse8production.slj.com/2025/09/19/c...

It may be a one-of-a-kind picture book, at least in the history of American publishing. A picture book about a mayoral candidate put out by a major publisher? How did this happen? #kidlit 📚👍 afuse8production.slj.com/2025/09/18/n...

Fall prediction time! Our penultimate prediction post before final considerations. Here are the titles I think have the best show at the two major literary awards. Do you agree? Disagree? Find out! #kidlit 📚👍 afuse8production.slj.com/2025/09/17/2...

I'm so so so so excited! I haven't been to one of these in years and now it's in my backyard? WHOOPIE!! www.ala.org/news/2025/09...

Stunning cover reveal and Q&A for A HOME ON THE PAGE by @kaokaliayang.bsky.social and Seo Kim! This incredible book is coming in February 2026.

Seems to me the more books we can devise that confront racism, the better. But how do you confront a hate crime in a picture book? Today's title does precisely that. #kidlit 📚👍 afuse8production.slj.com/2025/09/16/t...

Our first Rosemary Wells on the podcast? How is this even possible? On @fuse8nkate.bsky.social we meet Max & Ruby for the first time and have a LOT to say on the matter. Particularly about 1980s malls. #kidlit 📚👍 afuse8production.slj.com/2025/09/15/f...

A childhood manuscript makes good. ND Stevenson discusses the origins of his debut mg fantasy while I fall over myself to get you to read it. This discussion is delightful. #kidlit 📚👍 afuse8production.slj.com/2025/09/11/n...

Tomi Ungerer fans take note of Blunderbus!! in person event w/ Aria Ungerer, Susan Hirschman, Steve Heller, Lisa Brown @fuse8.bsky.social Jon Agee, Maria Russo, Philip Nel, Kate Feiffer & others www.rabbitholekc.org/blunderbuss

Is it too early to start calling Caldecott 2027 contenders? That's not an idle question since today we're talking to Steven Weinberg about a book that, honestly? You're going to need to see this thing. #kidlit 📚👍 afuse8production.slj.com/2025/09/10/a...

A picture book character returns to us in a middle grade novel. Though it's not out until March 2026, we talk with @carolelindstrom.bsky.social about her new foray into older fiction for kids. #kidlit 📚👍 afuse8production.slj.com/2025/09/09/c...

"Horrendously honest" is not a term I usually use but can you imagine writing an entire picture book about your own parenting fails? That's another level. On the @fuse8nkate.bsky.social podcast we discuss My Daddy is a Monster... Sometimes. #kidlit 📚👍 afuse8production.slj.com/2025/09/08/f...

Dissected tongues, fruit trends, space microbes, and more all appear in this remarkable preview of some of our very favorite small publishers all thanks to @pubspotlight.bsky.social #kidlit 📚👍 afuse8production.slj.com/2025/09/05/m...

Always a treat to chat with the one and only Betsy Bird for the @fuse8.bsky.social blog! 🧸🧵 Here, we chat about my new #mglit novel POCKET BEAR, working with @charlessantoso.bsky.social, the inner lives of toys, what's next, and more: afuse8production.slj.com/2025/09/03/e... Thank you, Betsy! 💛

Not only has the creator of Strange Planet (Nathan Pyle) written a bedtime book, but it's chock full of science, humor, and some seriously sweet backmatter for the younger set. We talk! #kidlit 📚👍 afuse8production.slj.com/2025/09/04/t...

Wherein I am taken to task for referring to beloved stuffed animals as "inanimate objects" by the inimitable (and very correct) @kaaauthor.bsky.social. Dear god she's a grand person to interview: #kidlit 📚👍 afuse8production.slj.com/2025/09/03/e...

A dual interview with two women deeply connected to the great novel TUCK EVERLASTING . If you ever loved the book, you're not going to want to miss this... #kidlit 📚👍 afuse8production.slj.com/2025/09/02/t...

It's World Kid Lit Month: the annual celebration of international children's literature🎉 We kick things off with children’s librarian, author, and blogger extraordinaire Betsy Bird @fuse8.bsky.social! What will you be reading this month? worldkidlit.org/2025/09/01/k... #WorldKidLitMonth

One of my favorite NYC art exhibits will feature a piece from my latest book and it’s all thanks to the sheer brilliance of my illustrator, @atsurumi.bsky.social!!

Today we've a bit of science, a round of board books, and even some soccer related hijinks. Here's what's on the menu for the upcoming 2026 spring from @nosycrow.bsky.social #kidlit 📚👍 afuse8production.slj.com/2025/08/28/p...

Wow, this is spectacular! A must-read for nonfiction readers and writers!! (And now I need to seek out the SLJ article as well...)

Bonus content! Why interview just one author when you can interview a slew? Today we speak with a host of different nonfiction creators of children's books to figure out how they make their difficult topics child appropriate. #kidlit 📚👍 afuse8production.slj.com/2025/08/27/t...

Grief and humor mixing and melding in middle grade is a delicate thing to establish. We talk with author @joannelevy.bsky.social on how to make this very secret sauce. #kidlit 📚👍 afuse8production.slj.com/2025/08/26/g...

"They don't just give a gatefold to anyone these days." We tackle our second author/illustrator Eric Carle title on the @fuse8nkate.bsky.social podcast and discover there's a lot to love in this engineering marvel of a picture book. #kidlit 📚👍 afuse8production.slj.com/2025/08/25/f...

Anyone else see The Little House in this image?

A marvelous tale from @rebstead.bsky.social of space aliens and vast conspiracies. Put another way, just the thing to lure the science fiction curious back to the fold. #kidlit 📚👍 afuse8production.slj.com/2025/08/22/r...

"I knew the book had to be accessible for children. I also wanted it to have a point of view, to be specifically Black (as much as I could manage in 100 poems), and to be honest." Traci N. Todd talks about her latest poetry collection. #kidlit 📚👍 afuse8production.slj.com/2025/08/21/t...

Thanks, @fuse8.bsky.social, for covering how kids' nonfiction covers sensitive, mature topics. “In life, adults have to field questions from kids about the unethical to the reprehensible. In literature, authors must find ways to do the same.” www.slj.com/story/Author...

Nonfiction books for kids are more important than ever. Thank you for writing this story @fuse8.bsky.social and for running it @slj.com

NYC: Kidlit Drinks are back! Thursday, September 18, at the Dickens in Hell’s Kitchen.

In the mood for some menudo? I get to ask Erika Meza about one of her latest, and we touch on everything from gay grandparents (these guys are amazing) to the chaos and buzz of a family weekend. #kidlit 📚👍 afuse8production.slj.com/2025/08/19/t...

Librarian @fuse8.bsky.social on nonfiction #kidlit that grapples with tricky subjects. It's exciting to read what celebrated authors Carole Boston Weatherford, Candace Fleming, Marc Tyler Nobleman, and Deborah Heiligman have to say on the topic. (I'm in there, too!) www.slj.com/story/Author...

"How is this a birthday for Frances? This should be A Birthday for Gloria! The title is wrong!" Kate and I wildly disagree on the rating of today's book on the podcast @fuse8nkate.bsky.social and whether or not it's worth your time. #kidlit 📚👍 afuse8production.slj.com/2025/08/18/f...

Should you feel inclined for the smartest deep dive into Anne of Green Gables you will ever hope to find, might I be so bold as to recommend the latest episode of A Good Story Well Told. @jonathanauxier.bsky.social & Matt Bird discuss “The Great Canadian Novel”: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...

Should you feel inclined for the smartest deep dive into Anne of Green Gables you will ever hope to find, might I be so bold as to recommend the latest episode of A Good Story Well Told. @jonathanauxier.bsky.social & Matt Bird discuss “The Great Canadian Novel”: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...

Hello! 👋 Ahead of the US release of Five Little Friends next week - here's Sean acting out 'On My Phone' as requested. Happy finger rhyming! : ) www.instagram.com/p/DLpM6rBIGrJ/

"I understand the value of escapism for kids, but I also understand the value of representation." Craig Kofi Farmer goes deep with his latest book on what toxic mentorship can do to a kid. #kidlit 📚👍 afuse8production.slj.com/2025/08/14/t...

“Anything less is not good enough for a child.” Those would be the words of the irascible editor, Ursula Nordstrom. Now she's getting a middle grade nonfiction book on her life, and author @nancyhudgins.com is here to tell us more. #kidlit 📚👍 afuse8production.slj.com/2025/08/13/c...

I am absolutely in love with Mafalda and soon, my friends, you will be too. Translated into English for the first time, I talk with the people who have given her life here in the States. #kidlit 📚👍 afuse8production.slj.com/2025/01/14/s...

Were you aware that ghosts are the hot trend of 2025? Not sure what that says about the state of the world today, but it does give me an excuse to talk to the creator of the ghost with the most. #kidlit 📚👍 afuse8production.slj.com/2025/08/12/g...

Arguably Tomi Ungerer's least weird picture book, on the @fuse8nkate.bsky.social podcast we at last tackle the tale of a woman and her beloved reptile. #kidlit 📚👍 afuse8production.slj.com/2025/08/11/f...

Y’all, please pray that when you die you don’t get a “tribute” like this polemic. Poor Allan Ahlberg. By all accounts a swell fellow. He deserved better than this stream of bitterness: www.yahoo.com/entertainmen...

A beauty, kid-friendly, fun, touching, and there’s just the barest hint of bittersweetness at its core. In short, the perfect summer picture book. #kidlit 📚👍 afuse8production.slj.com/2025/08/07/r...

We continue our ode to science fiction this week with the delightful @rebstead.bsky.social, in discussion about her latest title, tails and all. #kidlit 📚👍 afuse8production.slj.com/2025/08/06/n...

Is there life on Mars? Who cares! It's the Moon we're focusing on today, in this ribald conversation about one of my (already) favorite middle grades of 2026. A talk with Matthew Swanson and Robbi Behr about Life on the Moon. #kidlit 📚👍 afuse8production.slj.com/2025/08/05/l...

A @fuse8nkate.bsky.social podcast return to the world of Mini Grey and a book that should remind you of Toy Story and yet, miraculously, does not. #kidlit 📚👍 afuse8production.slj.com/2025/08/04/f...

Got a-hankering for more Penderwicks? Then get the next best thing! Jeanne Birdsall has an all new book out and it involves libraries, fairies, and terrible terrible parents. #kidlit 📚👍 afuse8production.slj.com/2025/08/01/j...

So @dangutmanbooks.bsky.social writes me the other day, and he tells me that he has this new book called The Picasso Curse out Sept 2nd and, "I think it’s the best thing I ever wrote." And if you're an intrepid reporter like me? That's a scoop. #kidlit 📚👍 afuse8production.slj.com/2025/07/31/t...