“Once a little boy sent me a charming card with a little drawing on it. I loved it. I answer all my children’s letters — sometimes very hastily — but this one I lingered over. I sent him a card and I drew a picture of a Wild Thing on it. I wrote, 'Dear Jim: I loved your card.' Then I got a letter back from his mother and she said, 'Jim loved your card so much he ate it.' That to me was one of the highest compliments I’ve ever received.
He saw it, he loved it, he ate it.” ― Maurice Sendak
What do There's a Dinosaur on the 13th Floor, The Adventures of a Girl Called Bicycle, and When You Grow Up to Vote have in common? They are all books written for young audiences and appear on a select list of the "Best Children's Books of 2018" compiled by Bethel schoolteacher and children's literature expert, Robert Zupperoli. As a career educator, Zupperoli reviews and writes curriculum for the major publishers of literature for youth.
On Tuesday, Jan. 15 from 6:30-9 p.m., Byrd's Books will welcome Zupperoli back to present his annual comprehensive look at the field and what surprises and delights it offered to young (and old) readers in 2018.