Articles%20%26%20opinion
While Gregory Maguire was assiduously working away, with a less-than-generous deadline, on his review of Philip Pullman’s long-awaited The Amber Spyglass (see page 735), I was enjoying a busman’s holiday on Herring Cove Beach in Provincetown, reading the Horn Book’s other preview copy of the same book. Perhaps more than...
Ms. Gish’s article on religious concerns about Harry Potter (May/June 2000) was a revelation to me. I had no idea anyone, other than the delusional, actually believed in witches. Even though she insists that such believers no longer wish to persecute those thought to be witches, the mere existence of...
Barbara Cooney came late to center stage, after decades as an illustrator admired for her graphic arts skills. But that particular accolade carried an implication, justified or not, of limitation. To succeed in a changing market, to satisfy her own ambitions, Cooney had to transform herself into a different kind...
I used to be afraid my daughter would never learn to walk. Every time she tried to take a step, she immediately came sliding back down on one of the board books invariably littered around her like so many banana peels. She had better success remaining upright once I began...
“Call him Voldemort, Harry. Always use the proper name for things. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself.” (Dumbledore, Hogwarts headmaster, page 298, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone)“For I was my father’s son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. He taught me...
As an occasional adjunct instructor in children’s literature, I’ve taught Natalie Babbitt’s Tuck Everlasting three times. While the students have sometimes been contemptuous of my other reading assignments (my beloved Tom’s Midnight Garden in particular seems to reveal a generation gap), they tend to get along quite well with Tuck,...
In the beginning, there was retail. In 1916, when there were no superstores, no thought of Internet shopping, and few notable children’s books for sale anywhere, the founding editor of the Horn Book, Bertha Mahony, opened a new bookshop in Boston. Learn more about The Bookshop for Boys and...
On this occasion of our 75th anniversary issue, I’m reminded what a constant presence the past is at the Horn Book offices. When, as we do here with some regularity, we invoke past editors of the Horn Book, we don’t bother with chronology. They aren’t Back Then but (with the...
By Nancy SheridanIt was December of 1979, and Susan Cooper, Margaret Hodges, David McCord, Erik Haugaard, Jill Paton Walsh, and Norma Farber were contributors to the Horn Book. Not a bad line-up. And I was continuing an editorial internship that would eventually lead to the job of editorial assistant and,...
7,072 articles
ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER? LOG IN
We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing.
ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER? LOG IN
Thank you for visiting.
We’ve noticed you are using a private browser. To continue, please log in or create an account.
