Family reading children's book

In Children’s Books, How Much Reality is Too Much?

While children will undoubtedly counter myriad difficulties as they navigate life--and it does them a disservice to pretend otherwise--exposure is a double edged sword.
Sunbonnet Babies

The Merchandising Whiz Behind the Sunbonnet Babies

In the late 1890s, Bertha Corbett set up her own illustration studio in Minneapolis. Her simple drawing of children in sunbonnets became her ticket to success.
Iskander Miscellany

The Ultimate Bespoke Manuscript

In The Miscellany of Iskandar Sultan, sections of text stack on top of one another, interlaced like fretwork. Bursts of flowers and tangles of vines fill the empty spaces.
Norma Jean the Termite Queen

A Forgotten Feminist Novel About the Creative Power of Rage

Remembering history helps us to parse the present, and it follows that women struggling to process these "decades of pent-up anger" can find apt reading material in the feminist fiction of the 1970s.
Old open book

The Great American Game of Picking the Great American Novel

Arguing about the great American novel was perfect fodder for periodicals in the late 1800s, and it is catnip for a listicle-obsessed internet.
White Rabbit banned books

Celebrate Banned Books Week

The last week of September is Banned Books Week, when the American Library Association calls our attention to works that have been censored.
de Heem books

The 17th-Century Dutch Version of Bookstagram

Jan Davidszoon de Heem, one of the greatest still-life painters of the 17th century Dutch Golden Age, brought particular brilliance to book still-lifes.
Bronte Sisters

Branwell: The Other Brontë

It's the 200th anniversary of the birth of Branwell Brontë, who isn't nearly as famous as his three sisters but remains a key player in the family drama.
Denis Johnson

Denis Johnson

Denis Johnson, author of Jesus' Son and other award-winning books, speaks with Eric Elshtain on the role of religion in his work.
JSTOR Daily Friday Reads

Louise Erdrich

Friday Reads: An exclusive short story by Louise Erdrich (author of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry), originally published in The Georgia Review in 1985.