Than never. Isn’t that the old saying? If you’re wondering where the 28 Days Later list is because we promised it on Martin Luther King’s actual birthday (Jan. 15) wait no longer. My dad passed last week and as I tended to my and my mom’s needs, my Brown Bookshelf family handled the release preparation. [ Read the full article… ]

We hear a lot about the need to get more boys reading. According to a 2000 study cited by the National Center for Education Statistics, boys lagged behind girls in reading performance across all age groups. Experts say the reading gap for African-American and Latino young men is even more pronounced. There are lots of factors that contribute [ Read the full article… ]

The fact that the Coretta Scott King award does not evoke as much “who will win?” chatter as the Newbery and Caldecott, in my opinion, is simply more proof that too often the books for and by African Americans remain somewhat on the periphery of children’s literature. But that’s what places like The Brown Bookshelf [ Read the full article… ]

Since much of the debate surrounding the Newbery is that it doesn’t much cater to what many kids actually like and since the Newbery isn’t likely to go changing what it’s been doing for a few decades just because those of us in the kidlitosphere are whining, AND because solutions are so much more fun [ Read the full article… ]

Mmmm…it’s awards time. Know how I know? Because debating the merits of kiddie lit’s most prestigious honors has started. I always peek my head up during awards season, if only to hear the buzz. And the recent article in the Washington Post, Plot Twist- The Newbery May Dampen Kids’ Reading, is particularly interesting to me. [ Read the full article… ]

Yes, I’m a grown man. But I dig children’s literature, especially picture books. I admire creators of these wonderful works of art — authors and artists. So you can imagine the excitement I felt when I discovered a new book on the horizon, illustrated by an artist I admire, Kadir Nelson, about the President-elect whom [ Read the full article… ]

A recent article in Publisher’s Weekly emphatically backs what The Brown Bookshelf has long endorsed — importance of increasing the diversity of books out there for young African American teen readers. The article points to signs that this is happening. One interesting point – editor Stacey Barney (who actually acquired So Not The Drama for [ Read the full article… ]