When I was in college, my extra-awesome English department started the October Unhappy Hour to celebrate Halloween. We’d all get together, dress up, eat food (the more sugar and unnatural orange dye, the better), and listen to each other read spooky stories in the library for a few hours. Designed by Jennifer Williams Dressing up […]Read more "All Hallows Read Recommendations"

When the nuclear power plant at Chernobyl exploded in April 1986, no one could possibly have foretold the dramatic resurgence of plant and animal life that scientists are witnessing in the region in the twenty-first century. Rebecca L. Johnson interviewed some of the key scientists who are working in Chernobyl’s so-called Dead Zone to try […]Read more "Life at Chernobyl?"

Congratulations to Elizabeth Meyers! You’ve won Monster Buddies! Please send an email to publicityinfo@lernerbooks.com with the subject line “Free Book Friday” and your mailing address so we can get your books in the mail. We’ve got another great book for Halloween to give away: Ghostly Evidence: Exploring the Paranormal! It’s late at night, and you’re on a tour of a […]Read more "Free Book Friday’s Countdown to Halloween: Ghostly Evidence!"

You guys! It’s almost Halloween! And we can celebrate big-time this year, because the Night of Fright is falling on a Friday. This means later trick-or-treating, lots of Halloween party potential, and the option to stay up late eating candy and watching scary movies (provided that’s your thing). Since this Halloween is bound to be […]Read more "Spooooky!"

Congratulations to Toni Chipka! You’ve won Sometimes You Barf! Please send us an email to publicityinfo@lernerbooks.com with the subject line “Free Book Friday” and your mailing address so we can get your book in the mail. Halloween is coming up, so to help you prepare, we’re giving away Monster Buddies! Putting a fun twist on a spooky subject, this eight-book […]Read more "Free Book Friday’s Countdown to Halloween: Monster Buddies!"

Maybe it’s just me, but autumn always gets me thinking about the past. Perhaps it’s the changing colors of the trees or the approach of Halloween and the dwelling on ghosts and ruins. Regardless, I can’t help thinking about how the world has changed in the last few months, years, decades, centuries. I wonder what […]Read more "FREE Activities for Ghost Walls"

I’m going to ask for something completely unfair. Unless you attended opening night of this year’s Children’s and Young Adult Literature Conference at The Loft Literary Center, you probably haven’t seen the Czech film Who’s Afraid of the Wolf. The 2008 film was shown at The Loft thanks to a University of Minnesota professor’s connection […]Read more "This is a call"

I’ve been living in a place known as “PictureBookLand” recently. All the spring 2016 books need to get to illustrators—or are currently with illustrators—and of course said books need to be edited before they go to the illustrators. (Crazy, right?!) In addition, I’ve been giving out a lot of advice about picture books—to authors, to […]Read more "Greetings from PictureBookLand"

Congratulations to Mrs. Winter (@librarywinter)! You’ve won Perfectly Good White Boy! Please send us a DM on Twitter or an email to publicityinfo@lernerbooks.com with the subject line “Free Book Friday” and your mailing address so we can get your book in the mail. Our next free book offering is the perfect picture book for kids who are afraid of throwing […]Read more "Free Book Friday: Nancy Carlson’s Sometimes You Barf"