Someone once said that a good writer, whether for children or adults, has one story, which s/he keeps telling in various disguised ways; the fantastic writer has two stories; and the genius has three. Shakespeare, for example, could write tragedies, comedies, and histories with equal brilliance. In the world of children’s books, you can count the geniuses on one hand. In the pieces in this section, we write about them all – the good writers, the terrific writers, and, yes, those geniuses.
Listen to the Recess! Clip https://recess.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/42/JRR-Tolkien.mp3 Author Kevin Shortsleeve Air Date 1/3/2001 J. R. R. Tolkien Transcript A recent poll of 25,000 avid readers in the United Kingdom voted The Lord of the Rings the Number One Book of the Century. Yet, it may surprise you to learn how narrowly this trilogy was saved from […]
Listen to the Recess! Clip https://recess.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/42/Poetry-and-Pictures.mp3 Author John Cech Air Date 01/02/2001 Poetry and Pictures for the Year Transcript There are all kinds of ways to help us mark the passage of a year’s time, some concrete or numerical, others imaginative and personal. One of the honor books from last year’s Caldecott awards, is a […]
Listen to the Recess! Clip https://recess.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/42/Peter-Pan.mp3 Author Rita Smith Air Date 12/27/2000 Peter Pan Transcript The play, Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up, opened at the Duke of York’s Theater in London on December 27, 1904. The author, James Barrie, was one of the most popular playwrights of the time, but this play was […]
It’s that time of year again, when publishers are out to dazzle us with wonderful books for the children in our lives.
We’re in a Potter lull right now, but John Cech has a recommendation for a new fantasy series to tide children over.
Listen to the Recess! Clip https://recess.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/42/The-Yellow-Star.mp3 Author John Cech Air Date 12/1/2000 The Yellow Star Transcript Hans Christian Andersen’s first book of fairy tales was published today in 1835, and Andersen has since become a Danish national hero. But there is another Danish hero whom many of us haven’t heard about – the Dane’s beloved […]
Heather Tomasello has some tasty new books that are the perfect meal for this week.
It’s the beginning of National Children’s Book Week, and Heather Tomasello has some fuel to get us going.
Today, John Cech interviews William Woodruff, professor emeritus of history and economics at the University of Florida, and the author of dozens of books and articles, including this selection about the book that mattered most to him in his life. It’s from his autobiography, The Road to Nab End, which is on the nonfiction bestseller list in England, where it is being hailed as a “masterpiece” and “an English Angela’s Ashes.”
