Our kids' books columnist Juanita Giles says she avoided the Miss Peregrine series for years because it seemed too creepy — but now she regrets all the time the books spent untouched on her shelf.

Our kids' books columnist, Juanita Giles, gave her daughter Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story for Christmas; she says the book's depiction of food and history mirrors her family's experiences.

Our kids' books columnist Juanita Giles has a secret: Her kids don't care about Harry Potter. But they do like Mike Johnston's relatably hapless boy wizard Wick, star of Confessions of a Dork Lord.

For October, our kids' books columnist Juanita Giles praises picture book author Todd Parr and his insight into the emotional needs of children who are dealing with loss, change — and other children.

This month, our kids' books columnist Juanita Giles is thinking about how hard it is to race through a series — as her son did with The Last Kids on Earth — and have to wait for the next book.

Our kids' books columnist Juanita Giles says the cartoonist Raina Telgemeier is almost like a personal friend to her own children, who fight over tattered copies of Telgemeier's graphic novels.

Our monthly children's book column returns with a look at the dubious (to adults, at least) charms of cartoonist Jim Benton's grouchy feline Catwad, who has mastered the anti-joke.

NPR's new kids' fiction column — by Juanita Giles, founder of the Virginia Children's Book Festival — kicks off with an explanation of why the epic poem Beowulf is the perfect bathtime read.