Author: Rosemary Kiladitis

I'm a mom, a children's librarian, bibliophile, and obsessive knitter. I'm a pop culture junkie and a proud nerd, and favorite reads usually fall into Sci-Fi/Fantasy. I review comics and graphic novels at WhatchaReading (http://whatchareading.com). I'm also the co-founder of On Wednesdays We Wear Capes (http://www.onwednesdays.net/), where I discuss pop culture and geek fandom from a female point of view.
Posted in Fiction, Graphic Novels, Middle Grade, Middle School, Realistic Fiction, Tween Reads

Frizzy unleashes curly hair power!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Frizzy, by Claribel A. Ortega/Illustrated by Rose Bousamra, (Oct. 2022, First Second), $12.99, ISBN: 9781250259639

Ages 8-12

Marlene is a tween who loves her books, her supercool Tía Ruby, and her best friend, Camila. What she doesn’t love? Her mother’s insistence on “growing up” and having “good hair”, which means Marlene is spending every weekend in the salon having her hair straightened. She hates every bit of it, and wishes she could have curly hair like her Tía, or like one of her favorite characters, Dulce Maria from Super Amigas; then, she wouldn’t be teased or forced into a hellish hair straightening torture session. Tía Ruby and Camila both come together to help Marlene appreciate and care for her beautiful hair – and Marlene and her mom have deep conversations about self-esteem and value. Ortega examines cultural attitudes, grief, and self-worth with a plot that reveals itself as the story moves along, keeping readers invested with every page. Marlene is a lovable character that readers will cheer for as she – and her hair – come into their own. Tía Ruby is a bright spark who shows Marlene the key to self-acceptance and hair care. Rose Bousamra’s realistic illustration work is filled with rich color and Afro-Latinx characters. A first-purchase that so many readers need.

Frizzy has starred reviews from Kirkus, School Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly.

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads, Uncategorized

Book Blitz & Giveaway: Dear Wild Child

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Dear Wild Child, by Wallace J. Nichols & Wallace Grayce Nichols/Illustrated by Drew Beckmeyer, (Aug. 2022, Cameron Kids),
$18.99. ISBN: 9781951836467
Ages 4-8

Inspired by a letter from a father to his daughter about life, family, and the wildfire that took their home, Dear Wild Child is a emotional story that chooses to celebrate the idea of home and its presence inside of all of us. Textured artwork shows beautiful detail: a home filled with books, music, and nature, from seashells to plants; family moments as a child grows up in a home filled with love; a life, filled with memories, moving on. An author’s note discusses climate change and its detrimental impact on our homes and our environment.

“The art echoes the text’s emphasis on beauty rather than loss. . .In the event’s aftermath, the affecting story’s tone remains openhearted, concluding with sentiments that encourage resilience and reflect on the nature of home.”
―Publishers Weekly

“It’s a touching sentiment that reminds readers of all ages that our lives are defined not by our material possessions but by the memories we make… Intricate and emotional.”
―Kirkus Reviews

In the shade of ancient redwood trees, by a creek, not far from the ocean, a father builds a house for his newborn daughter, where she grows up wild and strong in their coastal canyon home. When a wildfire takes back their beloved house, a father writes his now-grown daughter a letter telling her it’s gone. Inspired by the real letter the author wrote his daughter, this poignant story—written together by father and daughter—joyfully declares that a home is more than just wood and stone; it is made of love and can never be taken away. You carry home with you wherever you go.

 

Wallace Grayce Nichols is a student of sustainable design, problem solver, and water lover. Her father, Dr. Wallace J. Nichols, is a marine biologist and the author of the bestselling book Blue Mind: The Surprising Science That Shows How Being Near, In, On, or Under Water Can Make You Happier, Healthier, More Connected, and Better at What You Do. Home is the slow coast of California. Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Drew Beckmeyer is a fine artist, illustrator, and elementary school teacher. He lives in Northern California. Website | Instagram

Additional Links:

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10 winners will receive a hardcover of Dear Wild Child. US/Can only; no P.O. Boxes, please! Enter the Rafflecopter giveaway here!

Posted in awards, Cybils

CYBILS Awards: Last Call for Judges!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Hi all! Regular readers may know that I’m a big fan of the CYBILS Awards – Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers Literary Awards – and that I have been lucky to be picked as a judge for almost 10 years now. The application period for 2022 judges is open, and will be until this coming Monday, September 12th. If you have an interest in kidlit and you have the time, I highly recommend applying. It’s rewarding, you get to read great books, and have a hand in telling other readers what’s good this year.

First Round judges will read ALL the nominated books: this is heavy-duty reading, so clear your night table. You’ll be reading upwards of 100 books in some cases, and deliberating with your fellow panelists on what books are good enough to make the cut and move on to become Finalists.

Second Round judges will read the 6-8 finalists nominated by the First Round judges. Second Round judges will choose the CYBILS award winner and finalists in their chosen category. This is where the nitty gritty discussions happen.

Visit the CYBILS call for judges post to learn more. You don’t necessarily need a blog to qualify: do you talk books up on Twitter? Instagram? Facebook? If you have a public venue for talking kids books, please think about contributing your time and expertise!

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

My Beautiful Voice celebrates self-expression

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

My Beautiful Voice, by Joseph Coelho/Illustrated by Allison Colpoys, (Aug. 2022, Kane Miller), $12.99, ISBN: 9781684644698

Ages 4-7

A classroom assembles, ready to meet their new teacher, who “explodes into the class”. Miss Flotsam has traveled the world, wears colorful clothes, and loves poetry. She makes the classroom an exciting place to be, with her stories of bicycle rides and hurricanes and flights through storms, but when her class begins working on their own poetry, one child becomes anxious. Miss Flotsam comes to the rescue, calming her nerves and stopping bullies in their tracks with her “eyes that can turn summer into rain”. Encouraged and feeling supported, the child whispers her poem into the teacher’s ear and, eventually, finds her voice and is able to share it with her class. Coelho spins a story in verse that illustrates the exhilarating gift an educator can be in this story. Miss Flotsam is a force in the classroom, encouraging equity and sharing her spark. Miss Flotsam is brown-skinned and dark-haired; the shy child who serves as narrator is brown-skinned with brown hair, and the class is a diverse group of children. Miss Flotsam brings life to the story’s pages, with butterflies, birds, and magic around her. A good back-to-school choice.

 

Posted in picture books, Preschool Reads

Otters vs Badgers: Yummy food is the great equalizer

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Otters vs. Badgers, by Anya Glazer, (Aug. 2022, Kane Miller), $14.99, ISBN: 9781684644117

Ages 4-7

Otters and badgers live on either side of a shared river, but they do NOT get along until Francie, a shy otter who loves to bake delicious treats, accidentally ends up in badger territory on a quest to find new ingredients. The resulting kerfuffle can only be resolved with Francie’s delicious baked goods! Glazer spins an amusing tale of sharing and finding common ground that readers will appreciate. Cartoon animals communicate outside of the omniscient narrator through speech bubbles, making for a fun readaloud. Anthropomorphic characters sport scarves and bowties, carry babies in slings, and wear hats. Francie has a wooden spoon tucked behind one ear and rocks a striped apron. Endpapers are striped to match Francie’s apron. The fun resolution shows readers that you don’t have to agree on every single thing to get along. A good book to read as kids head back to the classroom, or enter classrooms for the first time.

Posted in picture books

Mister Rogers is the Gift that Keeps on Giving

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Mister Rogers’ Gift of Music, by Donna Cangelosi/Illustrated by Amanda Calatzis, (Aug. 2022, Page Street Kids), $18.99, ISBN: 9781645674702

Ages 4-8

Fred Rogers – or, as we all knew him growing up, Mister Rogers – will forever be remembered as the man who welcomed all of us to his neighborhood. He brought today’s audiences Daniel Tiger; he taught us all to take our shoes off and change into something more comfortable when we got home, and he taught us to sing about our feelings. Mister Rogers’ Gift of Music is a picture book biography on Fred Rogers’s childhood, when music was his “sunshine”, always there to cheer him up and help him work through his feelings. He shared his music with children to help them understand and see themselves in music, too: “Fred made everyone feel special. Sick kids, lonely kids, kids who didn’t fit in. Everyone.” The story helps children connect music with feeling. Mixed media illustration is warm and embracing, with the lyrics to some of Rogers’s most memorable songs dancing across spreads, embraced in color. Diverse and inclusive artwork shows a multitude of children around Rogers as he enchants them with a handpuppet that I’m pretty sure is Daniel Tiger. Endpapers show Fred Rogers’ neighborhood, with a swirl of colorful music bringing vibrant color. Ask kids to point out the bright red trolley! I recognize each of Mister Rogers’s sweaters in the book: his green sweater, his blue sweater, and that iconic red sweater; all here to delight readers of every age. This is a first-purchase biography.

Mister Rogers’ Gift of Music has a starred review from Booklist. Visit the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood website to learn more about Fred Rogers, his organization, and to watch episodes.

Posted in picture books

Annette Feels Free breaks barriers and dances past challenges

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Annette Feels Free: The True Story of Annette Kellerman, World-Class Swimmer, Fashion Pioneer, and Real-Life Mermaid, by Katie Mazeika, (Sept. 2022, Beach Lane Books), $18.99, ISBN: 9781665903431

Ages 4-8

Born in 1887, Australian youngster Annette Kellerman loved the freedom that she felt while dancing, but was sidelined by a childhood disease that attacked her legs. As part of her physical therapy, her father brought her to Lavender Bay, where the freedom of the ocean and the absence of her braces gave her the freedom she missed. She spent more time in the ocean, strengthening her legs, and became a water artist: she danced, she competed, and she attempted to swim the English Channel. Katie Mazeika’s picture book biography on Annette Kellerman looks at her life in the water, where she was feted as a “Diving Venus” and includes her struggle against Victorian social mores that kept her in bloomers and skirts, impeding her swimming career, until she designed – and fought to wear – a more comfortable, practical swimsuit, which influenced women’s swimwear fashion.

Mazeika covers challenges that today’s readers can easily identify and understand: overcoming physical disability, the drive to compete, and inequality. She navigates Kellerman’s life with informative, age-appropriate text; her artwork brings the wonder and excitement. Back matter includes an author’s note on Annette Kellerman’s life, photographs, and a note on overcoming physical challenges. A very good addition to picture book biography collections.

Download a free curriculum guide for Annette Feels Free at author Katie Mazeika’s webpage. Learn more about Annette Kellerman at the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia and the Australian Dictionary of Biography.

Katherine Mazeika is an author and illustrator with a BFA from the Columbus College of Art and Design. When she isn’t in the studio, she likes to spend time at the theater, in her garden, or getting lost in a good book. She lives in Ohio with her husband, two kids (Lillian and Jack), and two dogs. To learn more, and download a free curriculum guide, visit her website at katiemazeika.com.

Twitter: @kdmaz

Instagram: @kdmazart

Facebook: Katie Mazeika Illustration

 

A Junior Library Guild Selection

“Annette’s legacy in competitive, artistic, and recreational swimming is undeniable, and Mazeika’s text deftly balances her subject’s varied career. . . . Swim-pressive!”—Kirkus Reviews

“An enthralling introduction to a remarkable woman.”—Booklist

Posted in Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

The Death-Cast Universe gets a prequel with The First to Die at the End

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

The First to Die at the End, by Adam Silvera, (Oct. 2022, Quill Tree Books), $19.99, ISBN: 9780063240803

Ages 13+

The prequel to 2017’s They Both Die at the End follows two teens who fall in love against the backdrop of New York City during the Death-Cast launch. Orion is a teen convinced he’s living on borrowed time thanks to his serious heart condition. He signed up for Death-Cast – an app that alerts subscribers on the day they are going to die – so that he would know when it was coming. Valentino just arrived in New York; a young model ready to take the City by storm, he signed up for Death-Cast on a lark after almost losing his sister to a car accident. The two meet and the attraction is instant: but one of them receives a call and the other doesn’t. Is Death-Cast real, or is it a hoax? The two don’t have time to mull it over; they have a day to create a lifetime. While it isn’t necessary to read They Both Die at the End before reading The First to Die at the End, you’ll want to. It’s a gorgeous story, and you’ll get a little more context from characters who make an appearance in this prequel. Using the space of one day, Silvera creates a story that is filled with expectation, joy, tension, and longing. His fully realized characters have no time to waste; they spend the most memorable day together, moving through relationship milestones and daring to to love in the face of the unthinkable. Thought-provoking discussions between the characters will translate well to discussion groups, and supporting characters and the connections made over the course of the day expand the Death-Cast universe and make this an unputdownable story that teens will devour. An essential first purchase.

Visit Adam Silvera’s author website for more about his books.

Posted in Fiction, Intermediate, Realistic Fiction

Tales from the TBR: Nina Soni: Master of the Garden

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Nina Soni, Master of the Garden, by Kashmina Sheth/Illustrated by Jenn Kocsmiersky, (Apr. 2021, Peachtree Publishing), $7.99, ISBN: 9781682632260

Ages 7-11

Join me in my never-ending quest to read down the TBR while I also keep up with up-and-coming kidlit! Today’s pick is the third book in the Nina Soni series: Master of the Garden. I love reading about Nina, her younger sister Kavita, and her best friend Jay. This time out, Nina, Kavita, and Jay learn how to plan out a garden, courtesy of Nina’s landscape architect Mom, for Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day. They all love the idea of growing their own food, but Nina thinks bigger than that: she wants to grow so much that she can sell the extra vegetables and make money! The only thing she doesn’t plan for? The work it takes to make a garden successful: weeding, pest control, and harvesting, for starters. Kavita thinks that her singing will help the plants grow even bigger, but Nina’s not too sure about that – it’s driving her crazy! Sheth makes Nina very relatable and very likable, with a determination that underlies everything she does and an imagination that keeps moving her forward. Black and white illustrations and Nina’s famous checklists add context and interest. Nina and her family are Indian-American; each story is filled with cultural touches that provide texture to these rich, fun stories. A fun intermediate series that belongs on shelves.

Visit Kashmira Sheth’s webpage for a downloadable discussion guide to the series, and more information about the Nina Soni books.

Posted in Fantasy, Fiction, Humor, Intermediate, Middle Grade

New intermediate series: Leo’s Map of Monsters

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Leo’s Map of Monsters: The Armored Goretusk, by Kris Humphrey/Illustrated by Pete Williamson, (Aug. 2022, Kane Miller), $5.99, ISBN: 9781684644858

Ages 7-11

Set in a fantasy world where kids receive apprentice Assignments at the age of 9, Leo wakes up on the morning of his ninth birthday and discovers that he’s been given a Top Secret Assignment! The Village Chief appears and whisks Leo off to the curmudgeonly Guardian, who keeps everyone safe from the monsters that lurk in the forest outside the village walls. He hands Leo a map, some magical stones, and a slingshot, and sends him off on his first mission: to draw the Armored Goretusk away from the village. Black and white fantasy artwork with an Edward Gorey-bent features on almost every page; antiquing elements give the appearance of reading an ancient tome. The adventure is light and fun, with a buddy-cop partnership between Leo and Starla, one of the forest residents; the promise of more fantastic beasts to come will keep readers coming back. A map lets readers follow Leo’s adventures; back matter includes stats and descriptions of the creatures he encounters in this first book and a look at the different stones he uses. This one is a fun fantasy series to add to your chapter book/intermediate shelves.

Originally published in the U.K. in 2020, The Armored Goretusk is the first in the Leo’s Map of Monsters series. All four books are available in the States and fantasy fans will want them all, posthaste!