Books

The Rabbit hOle museum in North Kansas City is hosting The Lucky Rabbit Literature Festival this weekend, bringing together seven of the most prominent authors and artists working in the children’s book industry. Matthew Burgess and Cátia Chien join Up To Date to discuss their award-winning children’s book, “Fireworks.”

Missouri legislators passed a law in 2022 making it a crime for school employees to provide students with what was defined as explicit sexual material. Last year, a judge ruled the law unconstitutional.

Dr. Sasha Hamdani's new book, "Too Sensitive," aims to provide a science-backed, empathetic framework for understanding why some people experience high emotional sensitivity. The Kansas City psychiatrist joined KCUR's Up To Date on Tuesday.

Harry Houdini's connection to Kansas City started out by accident, but it lasted throughout his legendary career. A new historic marker will commemorate the debut of his first escape from a straitjacket while suspended in midair.

As students across the Kansas City metro dust off their books and head back to school, our literary experts recommend titles perfect for reading deeply, just like you’re in English class yourself.

Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins says he intends to block state and federal funds from reaching Daniel Boone Regional Library after its Columbia branch read LGBTQ+ picture books aloud. One state lawmaker said the event was wholesome and called the threats "government censorship."

Robert Warrior, a citizen of the Osage Nation, said serving as a consultant on the new series helped improve how Native Americans are portrayed as compared to the original "Little House on the Prairie" books.

Mark Twain’s hometown of Hannibal, Missouri, contains many of the inspirations for “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.”

Looking for a chaotic murder mystery or a meditative summer beach read with LGBTQ+ characters? Three Kansas City book experts share a range of selections in honor of Pride Month.

Missouri lawmakers cut the Imagination Library's budget for the upcoming fiscal year by more than half — from about $6 million to $2 million. The state education department said it won't have the money to enroll new children in the program after next month.

Nate Bukaty, who calls games for Major League Soccer on Apple TV and previously served as a television announcer for Sporting KC, is out with a new book titled "Perfect Pitch: How Kansas City Became the Heart of American Soccer and Landed the World Cup." He'll speak at a Rainy Day Books event with co-author Rustin Dodd on May 28.

Television writer and director Michael Schur and sportswriter Joe Posnanski will be in Kansas City on May 21 for a Rainy Day Books event promoting their new book, "Big Fan: Two Friends, 81,589 miles, and the Wild, Wonderful Sports We Love."