The blog of author Matthew J. Kirby

Category: Books

  • "The Wilderness of Childhood"

    I really enjoyed this essay by Michael Chabon.  I mean, I love his fiction (and you may remember that The Yiddish Policemen’s Union was one of my favorite books that I read last year) but he’s a great essayist as well.  I plan to read the collection from which this essay comes when it’s released…

  • Why History is Important

    I was recently browsing in a book store, and couldn’t help overhearing the conversation between a mother and her teenage daughter right next to me.  The daughter was looking for a new book to read, and her mother was offering guidance on the titles she thought would interest her daughter. The daughter picked up Jane…

  • Movie Adaptations

    I’ve recently been thinking about what makes a good feature-length movie adaptation of a picture book, and what doesn’t.  I’ve decided that I don’t think picture books can be directly adapted for feature films.  At least, not in the sense that a novel can.  Picture books are an art form altogether different from other types…

  • 10ers

    As an author with a debut novel coming out in 2010, I’m now a member of the 10ers, a group of authors who also each have a debut novel coming out in 2010.  Stop by and take a look at their bios and books.  I’m in really good company.  Here’s my bio from their site,…

  • Reading as Virtual Reality

    This is interesting.  Psychologists Nicole Speer and Jeffrey Zacks conducted a study of reading using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).  Basically, these researchers used imaging technology to look at what our brains are doing while we read a story.  They found that some of the same regions of the brain are active for the reader…

  • And the winner is…

    The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman won the 2009 Newbery Medal this morning.  I am absolutely thrilled.  It was my pick this year, but I didn’t think it was eligible based on some internet rumblings.  You see, there’s an award exclusion criterion for works or portions of works previously published, and a chapter of The…

  • Because I'm a little obsessed right now…

    Here’s an NPR interview with Pat Scales of the Association for Library Service to Children, in which the recent Newbery controversy is discussed.

  • On Graphic Novels

    Recently, Shannon Hale wrote a blog entry on books with pictures.  In that entry, and in its follow-up, she argues against the idea that young readers eventually need to be weened from books with pictures in them, that it’s not a mark of maturity to no longer need the images to enjoy the story (in…

  • Newberiness

    Later this month, the American Library Association will be broadcasting the ALA Midwinter Meeting on January 26th, 7:45 AM, MT.  This conference, among other things, is the time at which the winner of the 2009 Newbery Medal will be announced.  For those who want to watch the event, the ALA will have a first-come, first-serve…

  • Favorite Books of 2008

    That is, favorite books that I read in 2008, not books that were published in 2008.  Sometimes I read a book the year it comes out, but not usually.  I’m behind the curve that way, either slow to hear about the book or waiting for my public library to acquire it.  That being said, there…