School Year Calendar of Children's Books: 2012-2013

Here you'll find children's books and/or articles related to starting School / changing schools/grades, Library Card Sign-up Month, Jane Addams, Patriot Day: Remembering September 11, 2001, Grandparents' Day, the start of National Hispanic Heritage Month, Citizenship Day, Constitution Week, the beginning of Autumn / Fall, National Punctuation Day, the start of Banned Books Week - Celebrating the Freedom to Read and the birthdays of Paul Fleischman, Jack Prelutsky, Jon Scieszka, Roald Dahl, Robert McCloskey, Tomie DePaola, H.A. Rey and Andrea Davis Pinkney.

Celebrate the remainder of Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read, the rest of National Hispanic Heritage Month, Teen Read Week, the anniversary of the 1886 dedication of the Statue of Liberty, Halloween and the birthdays of Jeanette Winter, Elisa Kleven, Steven Kellogg, Eric Kimmel and Sydney Taylor.

Here you'll find children's books related to National Adoption Month, National Alzheimer's Disease Month, National American Indian Heritage Month, The Day of the Dead, Election Day, Veterans Day, America Recycles Day and Thanksgiving Day, plus the birthdays of Astrid Lindgren, P.D. Eastman, Ed Young and C.S. Lewis.

The December Calendar incudes a very large number of children's books about Christmas, as well as children's books about Hannukah and Kwanzaa, plus children's books by Jan Brett and Jerry Pinkney, both of whom celebrate December birthdays.

Here you'll find children's books and/or articles related to New Year’s resolutions, Martin Luther King Day, the 100^th Day of School and the announcement of major children’s book awards, as well as the birthdays of J.R. Tolkien, Jacob Grimm, Charles Perrault, Julius Lester and Pat Mora.

African American History Month / Black History Month,  Library Lovers’ Month,  Chinese New Year / Lunar New Year, the anniversary of the Greensboro Sit-ins, Groundhog Day,  Valentine’s Day, and the birthdays of Poet Langston Hughes,  Laura Ingalls Wilder, Barbara Jossee  and Wilhelm Carl Grimm are all occasions for which I recommend related children's books.

The major children's book-related event in March is Dr. Seuss's birthday celebration. Other holidays and events for which I recommend children's books include Women's History Month, Irish-American Heritage Month, National Craft Month, National Grammar Day, St. Patrick's Day, First Day of Spring and Passover,  as well as the birthdays of Mem Fox, Chris Raschka, Ezra Jack Keats, Lois Lowry, Louis Sachar and Randolph Caldecott.

April is filled with holidays and events for which I recommend children's books, including Autism Awareness Month, National Poetry Month, Passover, April Fool's Day, International Children’s Book Day, Easter, National Library Week, Young People's Poetry Week, Turnoff Week, Earth Day, Children’s Day / Book Day - El dia de los niños / El da de los libros, and the birthdays of Hans Christian Andersen and Coretta Scott King.

May is a busy month as we celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, Get Caught Reading Month, Latino Books Month, National Egg Month, Mother Goose Day, Mother's Day,  Children’s Book Week, National Transportation Week, Memorial Day and National Tap Dance Day, as well as the birthdays of  L. Frank Baum,  Margret Rey and Amelia Jenks Bloomer.

Summer reading is the focus all summer.  June events include Flag Day, the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s “House Divided” speech, Father's Day and the birthdays of Cynthia Rylant, Maurice Sendak and Eric Carle.

Celebrate the Fourth of July, the anniversary of the publication of “America the Beautiful” and the birthdays of Mildred Wirt Benson,  Brian Selznick,  John Newbery,  Jan Berenstain, Paul Janeczko, Beatrix Potter,  Sharon Creech, J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter.

Find children's books about the start of school, President Barack Obama whose birthday is in August, National Aviation Day / Birth Date of Orville Wright, the anniversary of the release of the movie version of The Wizard of Oz and the birthdays of Mary Ann Hoberman and Virgina Lee Burton.