“I was very shy and self-conscious as a kid, and I never wanted to try anything,” Davis told the crowd at the Closing Session of the American Library Association’s (ALA) 2025 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Philadelphia on June 30. “My fondest wish was to take up less space.” Her debut picture book (released by … Continue reading Taking Up Space
A panel of librarians and authors dug into this slice of the broader fight against censorship at “Free Children Read Freely: Banned Books in Story Times for Young Children,” a June 28 session of the American Library Association’s (ALA) 2025 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Philadelphia. Pat Scales, a retired school librarian and author of … Continue reading Free Children Read Freely
Throughout her more than 25-year career, Lin has garnered many accolades, including a 2010 Newbery Honor, 2019 Caldecott Honor, and 2022 Children’s Literature Legacy Award. In advance of her appearance at the American Library Association’s upcoming 2025 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Philadelphia, she talked with American Libraries about being inspired by myths, the insidiousness … Continue reading Newsmaker: Grace Lin
At the heart of your new novel is an underwater realm called the Library of Despair and Sorrow. Why do you view sadness and suffering as “more precious than gold,” as you describe in the novel? I think it acknowledges our humanity. It says to the reader, “We all have feelings of sadness, despair, or … Continue reading Newsmaker: Pam Muñoz Ryan
Our mid-size Midwestern public library thought: Why not develop an award to honor excellent titles that buck this trend? In 2022, Evanston (Ill.) Public Library (EPL) announced the inaugural recipients of its Blueberry Awards. These awards, the first of their kind in the library world, recognize and elevate fiction and nonfiction books that teach children … Continue reading Nurturing Nature
A complete list of the 2025 award winners follows. John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature: The First State of Being, written by Erin Entrada Kelly, is the 2025 Newbery Medal winner. The book is published by Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Four Newbery Honor Books also were named: Across … Continue reading 2025 Youth Media Award Winners
“It’s totally normal to be scared of a shark if you’re in the water and a shark is swimming toward you,” says Greenfield, an actor most known for his roles on sitcoms New Girl and The Neighborhood. “It’d be weird if you weren’t scared. But if you’re thinking about a shark when you’re lying in … Continue reading Newsmaker: Max Greenfield
The Tony Award–winning actor, singer, and storytime series host—perhaps best known for voicing Princess Tiana in Disney’s The Princess and the Frog—has written Tiana’s Perfect Plan (Disney Hyperion, October), a picture book that teaches kids the importance of self-forgiveness. “Things don’t always go the way you want them to go, and yet they still turn … Continue reading Nobody’s Perfect
“My daughter was told that you can’t be Black and Muslim at the same time,” said author Khadijah VanBrakle. “I come from an Iraqi Shia background,” said author Huda Al-Marashi. “Even in a nonfiction textbook, the only definition of us was as the radical group of Muslims.” Muslims are one of the most racially diverse … Continue reading Muslim Voices in Children’s Literature
“I’m scared of sharks and straight men,” Greenfield recalled Jordan saying in his signature Tennessee twang. Those conversations inspired Greenfield, best known for his roles in the sitcoms New Girl and The Neighborhood, to write his forthcoming book Good Night Thoughts (G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, September), which focuses on anxiety and how … Continue reading Putting Anxiety to Sleep
The American Library Association’s 2024 Annual Conference and Exhibition will be held June 27–July 2 in San Diego. 4 Number of crown-shaped chandeliers designed by author L. Frank Baum for the Hotel del Coronado, located on San Diego Bay. The hotel, where Baum frequently stayed as a guest, is said to have inspired the Emerald … Continue reading By the Numbers: Literary San Diego
Adlesic is codirector and producer of The ABCs of Book Banning, a 2023 film that has been nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Short category. Sheila Nevins, famed documentarian and current head of MTV Documentary Films, led the project, and journalist-turned-filmmaker Nazenet Habtezghi also codirected. American Libraries spoke with Adlesic and Habtezghi … Continue reading Newsmakers: Trish Adlesic and Nazenet Habtezghi
