Balderdash!: John Newbery and the Boisterous Birth of Children's Books

By Michelle Markel and Nancy Carpenter

This delightful picture book biography is “a stellar introduction to ‘the father of children’s literature,’ and a glorious example of dynamic bookmaking” (School Library Journal, starred review).

In Balderdash!, acclaimed children’s book author Michelle Markel shares a loving tribute to John Newbury, the first pioneer of children's books. In the eighteenth century, children were given nothing to read but lessons and rules. John Newbery imagined books overflowing with entertaining stories, science, and games—and he caused quite a stir when he made this dream a reality.

Newbery—for whom the prestigious Newbery Medal is named—believed that every book should be made for the reader's enjoyment. He became a celebrated author and publisher, changing the world of children's books forever. This book about his life and legacy is as full of energy and delight as any young reader could wish.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Apr 4, 2017
• ISBN: 9781452130798

Michelle Markel

Michelle Markel loves writing narrative nonfiction. She’s the author of Brave Girl, which won the Bank Street Flora Stieglitz Straus Award and the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award for Younger Children, and was also chosen as an NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book. Some of her recent titles include Hillary Rodham Clinton: Some Girls Are Born to Lead (on the Amelia Bloomer Project List of feminist literature) and Balderdash!: John Newbery and the Boisterous Birth of Children’s Books. She lives in Woodland Hills, California. You can visit her online at michellemarkel.com.

Book preview

To every librarian who has assisted me on my projects, including those in Special Collections, for getting those tiny, wonderful antique books into my hands —M. M.

In memory of Vinnie Kralyevich—whose mind bubbled with ideas —N. C.

Text copyright © 2017 by Michelle Markel.

Illustrations copyright © 2017 by Nancy Carpenter.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Names: Markel, Michelle, author. | Carpenter, Nancy, illustrator.

Title: Balderdash! : John Newbery and the boisterous birth of children’s books / by Michelle Markel ; illustrated by Nancy Carpenter.

Description: San

Reviews for Balderdash!

[abigailadams26 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

As someone who has a great interest in the history of children's literature, and who has done some research into the earlier centuries of that history, I was quite excited to discover that there was a picture-book biography of John Newbery, the eighteenth-century British publisher who did so much to popularize books for the young. Unfortunately, almost everything about the book - with the notable exception of Nancy Carpenter's expressive and amusing illustrations - was a disappointment for me. To understand why this is so, and why I am panning a book that seems beloved by every other online reviewer, one should know a few things about me.