Today marks the start of Banned Books Week, a celebration of the freedom to read. This week, LGBT families have a particular reason to observe the event. Children’s storybook And Tango Makes Three, based on a true story about two male penguins who adopt an abandoned egg, tops the American Library Association’s list of “10 […]
At our local library the other day, I flipped through Kids Cook 1-2-3: Recipes for Young Chefs Using Only 3 Ingredients, but didn’t expect much. I assumed it told how to mix chocolate chips and raisins into a pre-made cake mix and the like. Instead, I was surprised to find recipes from fresh ingredients and
I popped into the library of my son’s school the other day as part of my “get to know the school” plan and because as a (perhaps not successfully) recovering academic, I am constitutionally unable to stay out of any library within a 100-yard radius. I started chatting with the libarian, and in the course
Literary site Young Adult Book Club has dedicated September as GLBT Month, and will be posting a variety of relevant reviews, interviews, and essays. M. E. Kerr, author of the first hardcover book about AIDS in which the protagonists were gay, is their first interviewee. Check their blog for new content every day. Thanks to
The September/October issue of Horn Book Magazine, one of the leading journals on children’s and young adult literature, is all about books and gender. You can revisit the lesbian classic Annie on My Mind, learn how author Brian Selznick answered the question “Are you part man and part woman?,” discover “Gender Alchemy: The Transformative Power
And Tango Makes Three, the children’s book based on a true story about two male penguins who adopt an abandoned egg, tops the American Library Association’s list of “10 Most Challenged Books of 2006,” “for homosexuality, anti-family, and unsuited to age group.” A challenge, according to the ALA, is “a formal, written complaint, filed with
One of my favorite parts of writing this blog is doing reviews of children’s and young adult books, especially those with LGBT themes. I admit, however, that there are those more versed in the far reaches of children’s literature than I. Kathleen T. Horning is one such person, and her week-old blog, Worth the Trip:
Yesterday I mentioned Steven Caney’s Toy Book as a great source of ideas for homemade kids’ toys. Along the same vein, but with an added bonus, is The Science Explorer by Pat Murphy, Ellen Klages, and Linda Shore of the San Francisco Exploratorium Museum. It’s chock-full of quick, craft-like projects aimed at six- to nine-year-olds,
With toy recalls coming faster than a toddler’s diaper changes these days, it seems natural to turn to homemade options for our children’s playthings. One great resource for toy ideas is Steven Caney’s Toy Book. First published in 1972, it was reissued in 1990 and still stands the test of time. Some toys are simple,
The room was dark. “Lumos!” said the witch, and a glowing orb of light illuminated the bookshelves. The woman searched for a few minutes and then cried out in surprise. Behind a well-thumbed, leather-bound volume of Hogwarts: A History and a fraying copy of Parent Hex, was a tome covered in cruelty-free fabric (woven by
