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Selected Books

A Curious Collection of Cats

"Surely the time has come for a book of cat-related poems that upsets the status quo in some fashion."

--Booklife

Falling Hard, 100 love poems by teenagers

Candlewick Press

Falling Hard was reviewed in the New York Times. My fourth anthology with Candlewick, it's an ALA Quick Pick and on the New York Public Library list of Books for the Teen Age. I had a great time speaking about it on Boston NPR. The anthology is an uncensored discussion of love through poetry.

Bees, Snails, & Peacock Tails

McElderry Books (Simon & Schuster)

"The duo behind Birdsongs (2007) teams up again in this winning introduction to the patterns and shapes found in the natural world. From the dazzling eyes of the male peacock's feathers to the hexagonal chambers of the bee's hive, Franco's spirited poems explore the many forms and functions of nature's geometry."

--Booklist, starred review

"This inviting book is bound to spark more careful observation of the shapes and colors in the reader's natural world."

--Publisher's Weekly, starred review

Birdsongs

McElderry Books (Simon & Schuster)

"Franco and 2004 Caldecott Honor artist Jenkins celebrate the free concert that birds perform for backyard audiences every day. There's a method to their merriment: as the book introduces various species, it uses their sounds to count down from 10 to one.."

--Publisher's Weekly, starred review

Chosen as a "Parenting Pick Best Book"
--Parenting Magazine

Mathematickles!

McElderry Books (Simon & Schuster)

"Word lovers might stand a better chance of becoming math lovers if more math lessons were like these..."

--Horn Book, starred review

 

"Enchanting..."

--School Library Journal, starred review

 

"Franco plus Salerno adds up to plenty of fun..."

--Publisher's Weekly, starred review

Counting Our Way to the 100th Day

McElderry Books (Simon & Schuster)

"the bouncy, humorous poems include an amazing variety of math concepts...delivered with a light touch"

--Kirkus Review

 

"The range of 100-related concepts is truly inspirational..."

--Center for Children's Books


"Teachers will think of dozens of ways to use this collection, not only on the hundredth day of school, but on all the other days as well."

--Kirkus Review

You Hear Me? poems and writing by teenage boys; Things I Have to Tell You, poems and writing by teenage girls

Candlewick Press

"Betsy Franco presents the writing of more than 50 boys around the country who wrestle with their identity, emotions, and daily life."

--Publisher's Weekly

...honest, raw and sometimes tender selections..."

--School Library Journal


"With more urgency than many YA novels,...many teens will recognize their search for themselves..."

--Booklist