Dec 31, 2013

Tuesday News: the popularity of “Shelf-Help” books, Amazon delivery services, gifting...

Janet Publishing News Amazon, childrens-books, geography, Kindle Fire, self-help

‘Shelf-help’ books set to fill publishers’ coffers in 2014 – So what’s the winning literary trend for 2014? According to this article by Vanessa Thorpe, it’s “shelf-help” books, which seem to be a clever repackaging of self-help books, but perhaps… more

Oct 29, 2012

REVIEW: Franny K Stein – Lunch Walks Among Us by Jim...

Jayne B Reviews childrens-books, Scientist, Simon & Schuster

Dear Mr. Benton, A good friend of mine steered me in the direction of the Franny K. Stein books. Her daughter loves them so much that she was crushed when she discovered that she couldn’t make her own monster. Or… more

Aug 24, 2012

REVIEW: Ella’s Big Chance – A Jazz Age Cinderella ...

Jayne A Reviews/ Recommended Reads 20th century, childrens-books, cinderella

Recommended Read

Dear Ms. Hughes, A few months ago, I was looking to buy another retelling of the Cinderella fairy tale and your book, “Ella’s Big Chance – A Jazz Age Cinderella” was recommended to me at the same time. Intrigued by… more

Aug 14, 2012

REVIEW: The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch

Jayne B Reviews childrens-books, Dragon

“In this bestselling modern classic, Princess Elizabeth is slated to marry Prince Ronald when a dragon attacks the castle and kidnaps Ronald. In resourceful and humorous fashion, Elizabeth finds the dragon, outsmarts him, and rescues Ronald—who is less than pleased… more

Jul 8, 2012

REVIEW: Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters by John Steptoe

Jayne A Reviews childrens-books

Dear Readers, When I went to buy a copy of “Princess Furball” at Amazon, several other books were recommended to me as being of possible interest. “Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters” was one of them. It has some elements of the classic… more

Jun 23, 2012

REVIEW: The Church Mouse by Graham Oakley

Jayne A- Reviews childrens-books, England

Dear Mr. Oakley, “The Church Mouse” was recommended to me by Cate, one our readers here at Dear Author, a few years ago. I took note of the title, wrote down your name and had always meant to seek out… more

May 16, 2012

REVIEW: Princess Furball by Charlotte Huck

Jayne B+ Reviews/ Book Reviews childrens-books, cinderella, Fairy-Tales, HarperCollins

Dear Ms. Huck, Your book “Princess Furball” was recommended to me by etv13, one of our readers here, after I posted a review of the movie “Donkey Skin.” I instantly fell in love with the name since I have two… more

Feb 8, 2012

GUEST REVIEW: Surprises According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney

Guest Reviewer A Reviews animals, childrens-books

Allow me to engage in some nepotism here.  Yesterday, tot came home and reported that she had started her own review blog pursuant to instruction from the teacher. Instead of the book reports that I used to write as a… more

Aug 4, 2010

REVIEW: Zoom Trilogy by Tim Wynne-Jones

Jayne A- Reviews cats, childrens-books, Fantasy Romance

Dear Mr. Wynn-Jones, Years ago, before I was on the internet or associated the word amazon with anything other than ancient female warriors, I used to get a book catalogue called “A Common Reader.” It was an eclectic mix of… more

Dec 11, 2008

REVIEW: The Frog Princess (Book One of Tales of the Frog...

Jayne Book Reviews/ C Reviews Category/ C- Reviews childrens-books, Fairy-Tales

Dear Ms. Baker, As I wandered through my local bookstore, the title of this book caught my eye. I love fairy tales retold from a modern perspective, given slight twists or are just cute. The cover, and that of the… more

Jun 17, 2008

REVIEW: Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit by Nahoko Uehashi

Jia B Reviews Category/ B- Reviews/ Book Reviews bodyguard, childrens-books, Fantasy Romance, Young-Adult

[Jia's Note: The English translation was done by Cathy Hirano.] Dear Ms. Uehashi, With the increasing popularity of manga and anime in the West, it only makes sense that Japanese novels would follow. I first heard about your ten-volume Moribito… more

Apr 27, 2008

REVIEW: Kidthing.com

Jane Ebooks childrens-books, ebook technology, Ebooks

Last month, I read about a new e book program for kids called Kidthing.com. Kidthing is based on Adobe flash and is one part audio book and one part video. It really harnesses the ability of a computer to translate… more

Oct 16, 2007

REVIEW: The Star of Kazan by Eva Ibbotson

Jan A Review Category/ A- Reviews/ Book Reviews childrens-books, Young-Adult

Dear Ms. Ibbotson, I’ve long been a fan of your adult novels. They have a way of showing even the most mundane things in a magical light, and that always makes me realize there’s a bit of fairy tale in… more

Aug 24, 2007

The New Pop Up Book for Kids

Jane Publishing News Candlewick-Press, childrens-books

I was at Barnes and Noble the other day and there was a display by the kids’ play table of two pop up books: one about dinosaurs and one about sharks. The covers are hard but slightly padded and they… more

Apr 12, 2007

Today is Drop Everything and Read Day; Recommendations for the Tot...

Jane Publishing News children, childrens-books, Recommended Reads

Today is Drop Everything and Read Day. Set on the birthday of Beverly Clearly, D.E.A.R., this day is designed to remind families of the importance of reading together on a daily basis. According to some studies, children who read are… more