Press Room
The Stars of the Show: Top Titles of 2020
Studded with starred reviews and awards, this list of books from Lerner Publishing Group is the cream of the crop! Check out our best titles from 2020. View →
New #OwnVoices Picture Book CLASSIFIED by Traci Sorell Tells the Inspiring True Story of “Hidden Figure” Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer
Coming this spring from Millbrook Press™ an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group™, Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer by award-winning Cherokee author Traci Sorell and acclaimed Métis illustrator Natasha Donovan traces Ross’s journey from being the only girl in her high school math class to becoming an accomplished engineer and leader. View →
A World of Hands-On STEM Discovery: Active Nonfiction
What can kids learn by dropping bouncy balls into a container filled with flour? This simple activity brings the formation of craters to life for kids. As they try balls of different sizes, they see science in action and add to the information they know about the world around them. View →
Guest Post: Patricia Newman
By Patricia Newman, Sibert Honor-winning author of Sea Otter Heroes, Plastic Ahoy!, Eavesdropping on Elephants, Planet Ocean, and many other books View →
New #OwnVoices Picture Book UNSPEAKABLE from Carole Boston Weatherford and Floyd Cooper Reveals the Forgotten History of the Tulsa Race Massacre
Celebrated author Carole Boston Weatherford and award-winning illustrator Floyd Cooper shed light on the untold story of Black Wall Street in Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre, coming this spring from Carolrhoda Books®, an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group™. View →
Bionic Beasts Author Interview with Jolene Gutiérrez
By Carol Hinz, editorial director of Millbrook Press and Carolrhoda Books
I still recall how excited I was when I read Jolene Gutiérrez’s initial idea for the book Bionic Beasts. I don’t often see middle grade nonfiction that brings together engineering and biology in this way. Bionic Beasts highlights the innovation and problem-solving skills people around the globe are using to build prosthetic body parts for animals including a sea turtle, an elephant, and a goose. Jolene was kind enough to answer several questions about her book. View →
5 Kinds of Nonfiction: Candice Ransom
Candice Ransom writes series nonfiction for Lerner, including the Bumba Books Discover Your Senses series. These fall into the Traditional Nonfiction category in Melissa Stewart’s 5 Kinds of Nonfiction framework. Read on to learn about how Candice does her research and writing, and more about Traditional Nonfiction and the 5 Kinds of Nonfiction. View →
Librarian Prep Post for February
December is here, which means 2020 is on its way out the door. Discover books for February now! View →
Taking Readers on a Science Adventure: Narrative Nonfiction
Today we explore Narrative Nonfiction with Kate Messner, author of Tracking Pythons: The Quest to Catch an Invasive Predator and Save an Ecosystem. This engaging middle-grade nonfiction takes a deep dive into the science of pythons and their role as invasive predators. Keep reading to learn more about how Kate began her adventure in the Florida wetlands, and about Narrative Nonfiction and the 5 Kinds of Nonfiction. View →
New Young Adult Book WHEN DOGS HEAL Offers a Unique Portrait of HIV Infused with a Deep Message of Hope
Coming this spring from Zest Books™, an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group, When Dogs Heal: Powerful Stories of People Living with HIV and the Dogs That Saved Them illustrates a refreshing, beautiful, and totally unique portrait of HIV infused with a deep message of hope for young adults. View →
Titles You Might Have Missed This Fall
Here’s a roundup of some delightful titles that we don’t want you to miss! View →
Animals Eat What?: Disgusting Meals in Bite-Size Pieces (Browseable Nonfiction)
This spring, Lerner Publications launched the browseable nonfiction series Animals Eat What? This series takes a look at the nasty and unusual elements of animal diets, and fits into the browseable category of Melissa Stewart’s Five Kinds of Nonfiction. Read on to learn more about these awesomely disgusting books, and the just-plain-awesomeness of browseable nonfiction. View →
Unspeakable: A Visit to Tulsa’s Black Wall Street
In April 2019, editorial director Carol Hinz and art director Danielle Carnito traveled to Oklahoma to gather information related to several books they were working on. One of them was Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Floyd Cooper, which will release on February 2, 2021. We asked Carol and Danielle to share a little about how their trip shaped their work on this book. View →
Active Coding for Sports Fans
What does sports have to do with coding? As it turns out, a lot. Because once you learn about coding concepts, you can see them everywhere. A play on the soccer pitch, for example—players passing the ball to one another—is just like an algorithm, or lines of code put together to tell a computer what to do. A repeated part of that play, like passing the ball back and forth, is a loop. Perhaps one player passes the ball only if the other has a clear shot at the goal—that’s a conditional. And if something goes wrong, say the ball is intercepted by the opposing team, that’s a bug in the code! View →
Ready for Summer Reading?
Here in Minnesota, winter is starting to set in – which is the perfect time to begin planning summer reading 2021! We have perfect picks for your library’s summer reading theme below – keep reading for title preview videos, book lists, and more. View →
Top 5 Things for Grads to Do Now That COVID-19 Has Tanked Their Plans
The coronavirus has changed plans for high school students across the country, and what will happen when they graduate? Genevieve Morgan’s new book Undecided, 2nd Edition: Navigating Life and Learning after High School, has the information to help teens navigate the difficult process of deciding among a gap year, college, enlisting in the military, and more. View →
Librarian Prep Post for January
There’s a lot going on right now; we’re here to help! This holiday season, don’t forget to sit down, take a deep breath, and center yourself. It’s easy to forget about our own needs in these unprecedented times, but don’t forget – you matter! Hopefully, we can help you weather the storm with our January booklists and reader advisory. View →
Happy Book Birthday: New Picture Books, Young Adult, and Non-Fiction
Check out November new releases from Lerner Publishing Group! View →
5 Kinds of Nonfiction: Jeff Fleischer
In preparation for election day, we explore Traditional Nonfiction with Jeff Fleischer, author of Votes of Confidence 2nd Edition: A Young Person’s Guide to American Elections. This updated edition provides the next generation of voters with essential guidance about the past, present, and future of American elections. Continue reading to learn more about Jeff’s research process, Traditional Nonfiction, and the 5 Kinds of Nonfiction. View →
History and Sci-Fi Collide in New YA Graphic Novel Lizard in a Zoot Suit by Marco Finnegan
Lizard in a Zoot Suit, available now from Graphic Universe™, an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group™, sends readers on an adventure through the streets of Los Angeles during the Zoot Suit Riots of 1943. This historical graphic novel by Marco Finnegan embraces timely topics of race and social unrest, but adds a sci fi twist making it a must-read for fans of E. T. and The Shape of Water. View →
5 Kinds of Nonfiction: Nonfiction Writers Dig Deep
Many teachers and students seem to think that writing nonfiction requires nothing more than doing some research and cobbling together a bunch of facts, but nothing could be further from the truth. To dispel this alarming myth, fifty of today’s most celebrated authors for children have come together to share a critical part of the nonfiction writing process that often goes unseen. The result is the illuminating anthology Nonfiction Writers Dig Deep: 50 Award-winning Children’s Book Authors Share the Secret of Engaging Writing View →
New Audisee and Audiobook Titles Bring The Natural World to Life
Here at Lerner, our Digital imprint is always looking for ways to deliver our award-winning educational content to audiences in all formats. Our enhanced eBooks are a great way to keep your students reading in the classroom and at home. Read on for a quick overview of new Audisee eBook with Audio and Audiobook titles out this fall. View →
A Bowl Full of Peace: An Illustration Timeline
Picture books aren’t that quick to make. Sure, there can be exceptions, but mostly they involve a lot of time and love and work. It can be years from start of a project to the book release, when you hope that thing you worked on for so long gets a good reception when it finally makes out into the world. I took a look back at events in the timeline of one of our new Fall picture books; A Bowl Full of Peace by Caren Stelson, illustrated by Akira Kusaka. View →
5 Kinds of Nonfiction: Sara Levine
We explore Expository Literature with Sara Levine, author of Eye by Eye: Comparing How Animals See. The playful picture book keeps readers guessing as they learn wonderfully weird and gross facts and find out how different animal’s eyes are like—and unlike—those of starfish, owls, slugs, and more! Keep reading to learn more about Sara’s process, and about Expository Literature and the 5 Kinds of Nonfiction. View →