Honoring Disability Pride Month: How to Keep Your Library Accessible and Inclusive for Everyone
By: Rebecca Cybulski | July 26, 2023 |
July is known as Disability Pride Month because it marks the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This law is meant to protect the rights of individuals with disabilities and discourage discrimination, however, people are still marginalized for their abilities or limitations. To help combat ableism and injustice, librarians across the nation strive to make a safe space where all people and communities can see themselves embodied in literature.
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New voices, new talent: Debut authors coming from JLG this fall
By: Rhonda Mihalic | July 13, 2021 |
At JLG, our editors keep their ears to the ground and listen for the whispers gradually building about new authors. These debut selections coming this fall earned the JLG Gold Standard seal of approval.
BLOGtalk BOOKtalk - Sorted: Growing Up, Coming Out, and Finding My Place
By: Jennifer Bennett | February 27, 2020 |
Jackson Bird’s book Sorted: Growing Up, Coming Out, and Finding My Place is a welcome addition from a trans man to this literary history that is fresh, modern, thoroughly millennial, and relatable to younger readers.
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JLG Selections Take Home 63 ALA Awards & Honors
By: Katie Lynch | January 27, 2020 |
We are thrilled to announce that 63 of the 112 winners/honorees were JLG selections. We are so proud of our amazing authors and illustrators, as well as our talented editorial team and their history of picking winners.
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JLG selects Caldecott & Newbery winners for 20 years
By: Sarah Cooke | September 11, 2019 |
Our renowned Editorial team has long been on the forefront of selecting books that go on to earn starred reviews, industry awards, honors and prestigious acclaim. Case in point: They've selected the Newbery and Caldecott Medal winners nearly every year for the last 20 years (before they were even published!).
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JLG Back-to-School Book Bundle Giveaway!
By: Rhonda Mihalic | August 14, 2019 |
Check out the five back-to-school author-autographed book bundles that were part of our giveaway. It's too late to enter—but find out how you can catch the next one!
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JLG Titles Dominate Excellence in Graphic Literature Awards
By: Sarah Cooke | June 17, 2019 |
The 2019 Excellence in Graphic Literature (EGL) Award winners were recently announced at the Denver Pop Culture Con, and the competition was stiff.JLG's Graphic Novel categories are among our most popular—and we are thrilled to see so many JLG selections honored in this year's EGL Awards!
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JLG selections shine in 2019 Boston Globe-Horn Book awards
By: Rhonda Mihalic | June 05, 2019 |
The 52nd-annual Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards (BGHB) were announced at the end of May, showcasing nine outstanding books—seven of which are JLG Gold Standard Selections!
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Webcast Recap:
Books We Love June 2017
By: Deborah B. Ford | June 13, 2017 | Shelf Life
On our webcast today, Kiera and I talked about some of our favorite upcoming books you might want to check out this summer. Kiera Parrott is the Reviews Director for School Library Journal and Library Journal and a former children's librarian. Whether your to-be-read pile grew or it became prioritized, we are sure your readers will get also enjoy getting to know these new stories and their wonderful characters. Read More
You've Got the Winners, Now What?
By: Deborah B. Ford | February 02, 2017 | Shelf Life
The Youth Media Awards for 2017 have been announced. Your favorites won. Your favorites lost. There were surprises. Is there anything out there to help sell the books to the winners? And if I already have the books, how can I get those shiny stickers to add to their marketing charisma? What about programming should that be part of what I do with these winners?
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Webcast Recap: A New Year's Celebration of New Books
By: Deborah B. Ford | January 26, 2017 | Shelf Life
In our webcast today, Susan Marston, JLG's Editorial Director, joined me in a chat about 2017 titles for elementary readers. From animals you never heard of to a cow in a tutu, the books also varied from prekindergarten to grade 6, fiction and nonfiction. Feel free to pass on the archive when it is posted later this week. Read More
Webcast Recap: Silly and Somber: Books for Spring 2017 From the JLG Webinar Series
By: Deborah B. Ford | December 12, 2016 | Shelf Life
While the rest of the world is wagering guesses on ALA Awards, the JLG Team is busy working on 2017. Today Susan Marston and I talked about some of the titles on deck for spring 2017. With an early trend of silly and somber, we chatted about a modern day Lord of the Flies, a graphic novel memoir, and a wordless book with words. Read More
What Makes a Good Picture Book?
By: Deborah B. Ford | December 07, 2016 | Shelf Life
Do you remember when The Invention of Hugo Cabret (Scholastic, 2007) won the medal? I recall being both delighted and shocked that a 500-plus-page novel could win a picture book award. After a little investigation, I learned that the Caldecott (like the Newbery) considers books for readers through age fourteen. Length of book is not a factor. Instead, a "picture book for children" is defined by the committee as something distinct from other books that have illustrations—it's one that "essentially provides the child with a visual experience." Read More
Webcast Recap: New Books by Favorite Authors From the JLG Webinar Series
By: Deborah B. Ford | November 01, 2016 | Shelf Life
On today's webcast I chatted with Sara Pennypacker, Barbara O'Connor, and Candace Fleming. From a giant squid, to a girl who makes the same silent wish every day, and new characters for independent readers, these new books from authors you know and love will fly off the shelves. Read More
Webcast Recap: Falling for New Teen Books 2016
By: Deborah B. Ford | October 17, 2016 | Shelf Life
On today's webcast Leslie Bermel and I talked about the some of the fall forthcoming books for teen readers. From three magical children and their holy dog to a laugh out loud retelling of the story of Jane Grey, you'll find the new releases to be worth the wait. Read More
New Highly Starred Books for 2016
By: Deborah B. Ford | October 03, 2016 | Shelf Life
Now that we approaching the end of the 2016 season, you may be like me and starting to make your Best Lists. I know the journals are putting in the hours and whittling down their lists. Our own Jeanette is constantly adding new stars, lists, and awards of our own titles. You can keep track of JLG title selections at Awards & Lists/Lists & Reviews. If you've been keeping tabs, the following are the most highly starred titles of 2016--so far. Read More
Webcast Recap: A Hat, a Pig and Panda Pants August 2016: From the JLG Webinar Series
By: Deborah B. Ford | August 18, 2016 | Shelf Life
On today's webcast Leslie Bermel and I talked about the some of the fall forthcoming books for elementary readers. From two turtles that discover a hat in the desert to a much-anticipated biography of E.B. White, you’ll find the new releases to be worth the wait. With the addition of new categories, Character Building Elementary, Fantasy/Science Fiction Elementary and Multicultural Elementary, you'll have even more wonderful books for your young readers. And remember to add some Plus categories to get even more books in the fall—just when you need them most! Read More
PPP Irving ISD: Ensuring Diversity in Your School Library Program
By: Deborah B. Ford | March 17, 2016 | Shelf Life
What is diversity? Is it race, gender, ethnicity, ability, or culture? Is it all of the above and more? If we work with diverse students and patrons, shouldn't our teaching strategies, programs, and literature collection be a reflection of our community and beyond? Librarians are faced with the challenge of linking these students and arming them with tools for life beyond academia. Read More
PPP: Leap into Spring with New Books for Teens
By: Deborah B. Ford | February 29, 2016 | Shelf Life
On today's webcast Leslie and I talked about some of our favorite upcoming middle and high school titles for the spring season. From fascinating nonfiction to hard-to-put-down novels, there are plenty of amazing titles to add to your collection. Remember that in addition to providing you with great selections, we are building resources to help you use these titles. Check out the NEW JLG Spring 2016 Booktalks to Go LiveBinder for resources for these and other great JLG titles. JLG BTG titles are added to our Pinterest board and tweeted out by following Deborah B. Ford. Look for book trailers and archived webcasts on our JLG YouTube Playlist. This webcast will be archived and posted on the JLG website at a later date. Your certificate of attendance can be reprinted by watching the archived video for at least ten minutes. Keep reading to find links to the titles. Read More
Get to Know Spring's Hottest Debut Authors and Illustrators!
By: Deborah B. Ford | February 23, 2016 | Shelf Life
From a picture book about reading and surfing (What?!) to a middle grade novel about Manzanar, readers will love the new stories from the Debut Class of 2016. Can you guess which new writer or illustrator used to be in publishing? Which one had an award-winning novel? Which author has a collection of deerstalker caps? Which illustrator is an assistant professor of illustration in Detroit? Which author/illustrator works for The New Yorker? Which illustrator was born in India and now teaches second grade? Who is director of biodiversity and wildlife solutions at RESOLVE? Which author is fourteen-years-old? How can you find the answer to these and other burning questions? Read More