Tuesday Kidlit Trivia for May 27, 2025

 This New York City cartoonist worked as the art director for magazines and made his debut into the world of children's books when he illustrated "The Carrot Seed," written by his wife Ruth Krauss in 1945. He wrote and illustrated his most famous book in 1955, about a toddler with a magic writing implement, and it has never gone out of print.  He was bald and said he drew characters without hair "because it's so much easier."There were other book in the series, but none did as well as the original. The book is Harold and the Purple Crayon and the author/illustrator is known as Crockett Johnson, but his real name was David Johnson Leisk. 

Tuesday Kidlit Trivia for May 20, 2025

 This former elementary teacher from Los Angeles now lives in Plainfield, MA. A mom of three, she has written over 70 children's books. Her best known are part of a series, begun in 2008, about a small, colorful vehicle. Over 20 million of these books have sold, and they include some in Spanish, such as El Camionsito Azul. The author is Alice Schertle, and her series began with The Little Blue Truck.

Tuesday Kidlit Trivia for May 13, 2025

 The librarian at The U.S. Library of Congress was recently fired. The reason?  "There were quite concerning things that she had done at the Library of Congress in the pursuit of DEI and putting inappropriate books in the library for children." However, the Library of Congress is NOT A LENDING LIBRARY. It is a RESEARCH LIBRARY and only members of Congress may check out books. The librarian, Carla Hayden, posed no threat to children.

Tuesday Kidlit Trivia for May 6, 2025

 One of the books I've read to children most often through the years has only 34 words and was a Caldecott honor book for illustration. The author/illustrator, born in Pennsylvania in 1959, graduated with a BA in biology from St. Olaf College and planned to become a doctor, but realized his passion was for art and children's books. He moved to New York City where he still lives with his wife and son. He plays the viola and the concertina and enjoys yoga and knitting. This is Chris Raschka, author of Yo! Yes?