February 2006 Archives

Woot!  Tamora Pierce, author of so many great fantasy books for teens that it is impossible to list them, has signed an exclusive deal with Marvel Comics.

“Her first project will be WHITE TIGER.
Tamora’s going to revisit the concept, linking it to the original Tiger
and creating a new female hero with street smarts, guts, and a whole
lotta obsession. I hope all Marvel fans will take a look and join us on
this new adventure.”

I definitely will!

Chicken Spaghetti is hosting the 2nd Carnival of Children's Literature. If you are a blogger who blogs about children's literature in any way, submit one of your favorite posts to the carnival. Submissions are due by this Friday, March 3rd. Join in, it's a lot of fun, and you can get exposure for your blog!

The Edge of the Forest is a new online children's literature magazine filled with articles from some of the top children's literature bloggers.  They have book reviews, a collection of the best of the blogs, and a great section called Kid Picks where they ask children's for book recommendations.  Wonderful job! 

The Marvelous Misadventures of Fun-Boy by Ralph Cosentino is a book perfect for boys who are emergent readers.  It is a nearly wordless book where the pictures tell the story in comic-book style.  The modern feeling art is a perfect match to the series of silly episodes that any little boy can relate to.  This one will have your new reader giggling along to jokes at exactly their level.  He will be able to "read" the book to himself in the very next sitting, and will want to because he will want to laugh at the jokes all over again. 

The Miami Herald has an article on boys and reading entitled, These tips might make your son a reader. The tips are simple but powerful:

Find an "entry point." Meaning look for reading materials that your son is interested in.

Look for books with male characters.

Think "outside the book." There is plenty of reading materials not between book covers.

Start a book club.

Go to the bookstore and library.

Get involved in your child's education.

Set the tone. Read in front of you children.

Start early. Read. Read. Read.

Music to my ears!

MTV to target lucrative teen publishing market is not the big news that some seem to think it is. Money-making and teenagers has always seemed to be in the front of MTV's business plans. But wait, perhaps I am being too cynical. Let's see what their four books for teen girls are going to be about: "coming-of-age themes, glamour and hot boys." Just what the teen publishing world is missing. Not.

Alt Teen Services Blog is a blog run by two librarians who work professionally with teenagers. They have great ideas for working with teens, technology and teens, and programming.

I Spy Little Bunnies by Jean Marzollo, illustrated by Walter Wick.

This is a charming board book version of the popular I Spy series.  The puzzles have been made easier by simplifying the graphical elements.  The rhymes by Marzollo have also been made simpler.  Photographs have been mixed in with the text so they are rebus-like, perfect for emergent readers to begin to understand how reading works.  The puzzle and game aspect of the book may draw in more reluctant beginning readers who will not realize they are learning about reading while they play.

    

Dog Food and Baby Food by Saxton Freymann and Joost Elffers are charming board book versions of their whimsical, magical vegetable characters.  From ducklings made of potatoes to banana giraffes to brocolli  poodles, readers will be welcomed into a bright colored world of puns.  Parents can get very tired of overly sweet board books that lack a real sense of humor.  Point them to these books, though I don't think it will be necessary.  One look at the covers of these books will have them in the hands of both parents and children in seconds.  Make sure you stock the earlier books by these talented authors as well, there will be requests! 

Sorry about the break in postings, but we have once again been hit by the curse of the preschool flu.  The entire family has had it and I have basically eaten up years of accumulated sick leave. 

I have news about two new children's-book-based films in production.  The first is Nancy Drew where the star is already hoping publicly that it becomes a series of films.  I can really see girls eating up Nancy Drew on the big screen.  The second is Bridge to Terabithia, a film that will call for all of us to bring tissues along in our pockets.  Both films are scheduled for release in 2007.

Sorry about the break in postings, but we have once again been hit by the curse of the preschool flu.  The entire family has had it and I have basically eaten up years of accumulated sick leave. 

I have news about two new children's-book-based films in production.  The first is Nancy Drew where the star is already hoping publicly that it becomes a series of films.  I can really see girls eating up Nancy Drew on the big screen.  The second is Bridge to Terabithia, a film that will call for all of us to bring tissues along in our pockets.  Both films are scheduled for release in 2007.

ALA announces that YALSA releases new book on summer reading programs for young adults, entitled Sizzling Summer Reading Programs for Young Adults. The emphasis is on libraries of all sizes providing high quality teen-friendly programming.

Bookslut has a great article about Investing in the Children's Section of public libraries. The author uses the new library in Eugene, Oregon, and explains what she and her son love about their library. Most of the things they love are attainable by any public library serviing children: put books on display so busy parents can reach out and grab, have puzzles and puppets and toys, and have art on display. Her love letter to her public library is not about the budget or the new library. It is about how her library makes her and her son feel.

The Association for Library Services for Children (ALSC) of the American Library Association also gives top software awards. The Current Notable Computer Software for Children List only has a few titles on it, but if you are looking to find the top encyclopedia program or software titles to use in the classroom, this is your list.

Drop Everything And Read or D.E.A.R. Day is on April 12th. It is a program featuring beloved book character Ramona Quimby and celebrates reading as well as Beverly Cleary's 90th birthday. On their site you can learn about the celebration, read the press release, and request free materials for your library.

Ptolemy's Gate by Jonathan Stroud.

Stroud has done it again with the conclusion to his unique Bartimaeus Trilogy.  The book does start slowly, almost painfully so, because readers will know that there is plenty of action awaiting them.   This book occurs three years after the second.  We find out what happened to Kitty after the Golem Affair and how being a magician on the Council has corrupted John Mandrake even further. 

I don't want to say any more about the plot because the joy of reading Stroud is discovering what happens.  Let me just say that it is an amazing conclusion to a great trilogy.

I Lost My Tooth in Africa by Penda Diakite, illustrated by Baba Wague Diakite.

With vivid illustrations and a rhythm to the storytelling, this book is a perfect read aloud for preschoolers through elementary aged children.  It is the story of a girl who travels to Mali to see her extended family and loses her tooth while she is there.  She is told that if she loses her tooth in Africa, the African tooth fairy will give her a chicken in return.  So she places her tooth on the ground under a calabash gourd and waits.  Eventually she gets her chickens.  The illustrations are a perfect complement to the text and children will find themselves savoring the differences between the United States and Africa, from the dance of the names on your tongue to the bright red ground, it is all different but delightful. 

Share this book with children losing their first tooth, those learning about Africa, and any child who would enjoy experiencing travel to Africa.  This one is a winner. 

Once Upon a Time, the End (Asleep in 60 Seconds) by Geoffrey Kloske, illustrated by Barry Blitt.

This is a wonderful picture book that will be enjoyed by smaller children on a certain level, but will be appreciated by older elementary students most of all.  A father is trying to read his child to sleep and begins skipping parts of the stories, leading to very funny results.  Stories like Goldilocks, Little Red Riding Hood, The Princess and the Pea and the Three Little Pigs are all rushed through, each ending with a reason for the child to just fall asleep. 

This one is perfect reading for a lock-in for older elementary kids or a parent reading aloud to a class.   It was great fun to read aloud to my 8-year-old son, who immediately asked for it to be read again.  His 4-year-old brother didn't get a lot of the humor, but still enjoyed the stories. 

Share this with fans of other versions of twisted fairy tales.  The humor here will have kids who know their stories laughing out loud and happily sharing the book with friends. 

BWIBooks has an interview with Gail Gibbons, author of amazing nonfiction picture books for children on a wide, wide variety of subjects.  The interview talks about how she comes up with new ideas to write about, how the illustrations come about, and the process of creating her books. 

Teaching Tolerance has a great interview with James Howe, author of the Bunnicula series and Totally Joe.   It talks about him coming out as a gay man as well as diversity in general. 

Here in the Bonny Glen has the first ever Children's Literature Carnival up and running.  It is a great way to find new children's literature blogs.  Enjoy!

Writing with a broken tusk is the blog of author, Uma Krishnaswami. The blog focuses on writing books for children. Wonderful insights and inspiritional ideas.

GraceAnne DeCandido is a children's book reviewer amongst many other things.  Her site offers information on how to write a good review, how to become a book reviewer, and a list of her favorite books from the last two years. 

Sound Bend Tribune has a great article about art in picture books. It ends with:

"Exposing children to many different visual styles is doing them a great service, says dePaola. "Children who are picture-book age -- I don't think they have any 'taste.' Their taste is in formation. Let them see as much as they can, and then they'll form their own taste.""

Exactly. Read, read, read to those kids!

ALA also has a list of Notable Children's Videos for 2006.  You will see lots of videos from Weston Woods, the high quality creator of films based on children's picture books.  Though Weston Woods videos can be prohibitively expensive for many libraries, you will want to take a look at the DVD series from Scholastic that compiles several Weston Woods films on a single DVD for a very reasonable price. 

Pete Hautman, author of Godless and Invisible, has a new book coming out in May, entitled Rash.  He also has an Amazon author blog that is worth checking out. 

The Center for Children's Books has announced the 2006 winner of the Gryphon Award.  This year's winner is Stinky Stern Forever by Michelle Edwards.  The Gryphon Award is given to "an English language work of fiction or non-fiction for which the primary audience is children in Kindergarten through Grade 4.  The title chosen best exemplifies those qualities that successfully bridge the gap in difficulty between books for reading aloud to children and books for practiced readers."  

School Library Journal has a great article: Stir It Up that has a list of things you should NEVER do with teenagers at your library.

Because it is written so bluntly, you can immediately see why you shouldn't do something. But check yourself, are you doing some of these things? When I worked in a larger library with other staff who had issues with teens and their behavior, this would have been a very handy way to start a conversation about why they were having problems with the teen patrons we had.

HipLibrariansBookBlog is a great blog that was also featured in SLJ's list of recommended book review blogs. Click here to get the full list.

News in Science - Bookworms born not made has interesting information for parents and teachers. A study shows that genetics play a larger role than environment in deciding children's reading ability. The article is quick to say that this does not mean that children do not need to be read to, and in addition it does mean that children with reading issues need to be very fully supported to overcome them.

Imagine my surprise as I was happily paging through my new volume of School Library Journal and found my KidsLit blog featured as part of the "Blograrian" Book Reviews column! The kind words said about my blog literally made me do a happy dance around my office. What a wonderful way to perk up a Wednesday lunch hour. I am still grinning ear to ear and probably will be all day long.

So welcome to any of you who visiting because of the SLJ article. Hope you find lots of love of children's literature and the children themselves.

The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs by Betty G. Birney is a book with an old-fashioned, folk-tale feel.  Eben is fascinated by the seven wonders of the world, and his father challenges him to find seven wonders right in his small, rural home town of Sassafras Springs.  Eben doubts that it is possible, but his father says that he can travel to Colorado if he manages to find all seven wonders in seven days.  The reader is carried along with Eben and his faithful dog as they search the entire town for wonders, meeting all sorts of characters along the way.  

The writing and subject are perfectly matched.  The writing is as unadorned as Sassafras Springs but leads to the same sort of joy as the wonders. Unfortunately, the brown cover of the book will not draw children to reading it. This one will take some hand selling or direct sharing to find its audience.  

This is a perfect book to read aloud to third or fourth graders, especially those living in small towns.  It will inspire children to see their own communities in a different way, celebrating the small things that make us all unique and learning about the tale tales and ghost stories that may be right under their own noses.  

USATODAY.com - Schools grapple with policing students' online journals is an article from The Christian Science Monitor. It nicely covers the problems schools are facing with students doing inappropriate and questionable things on their personal blogs. Unfortunately, there are no easy answers to the problems, but the article does give some insight into what other schools are doing and where the legality gets shaky.

School Librarian in Action is a very active blog from a school librarian in Manila, Philippines.  She wirtes essays from her own perspective as a Filipino librarian, but many of them translate well to school librarianship world wide. 

Thank you to Tangognat for posting about a very cool new service! 

YALit.com has a list of upcoming teen book releases.  And best of all, there is an RSS feed to subscribe to!  Right now the release dates frun from February through June.  Lots of new books to look forward to.

Tana Hoban has died at age 88.  Her obituary is in the New York Times.  She has written, designed and illustrated over 100 books for children, and she did it with photographs that were vivid even when black and white.  Her books are marvelous for sharing with very young children, because they get kids talking and involved in books.  Consider them especially for children who don't want to sit through stories, because they are concept books of the finest quality. 

I had Here in the Bonny Glen on the list to include here, but now they are doing a Carnival of Children's Literature, so I will move them to the top of the list. You can submit any posting from your blog that has to do with children's literature. It can be an interview, review, story about books in your life, anything that has to do with children's literature!

Super Fly Guy by Tedd Arnold.

This is the sequel to the Geisel Honor Book, Hi Fly Guy.  It contains the trademark Tedd Arnold humor and style.  In this book, Fly Guy goes to school with Buzz and discovers the lunch room.  He makes friends with the lunch lady by saying her name, Roz.  But the principal is not happy and when he discovers Fly Guy, he fires Roz for allowing the lunchroom to have flies.  They hire Miss Muzzle who can't cook at all, burning everything into piles of brown glop.  But Buzz and Fly Guy come to the rescue and find a way to get rid of Miss Muzzle and get Roz back. 

I think I enjoyed this sequel more than the first book.  It has a great rhythm to the writing, the story is funny, and the book just carries the reader along.  This kind of momentum in an early reader is wonderful to see, because early readers need books that will grab them and make them want to see what will happen next.  The humor is also crucial because then the reader gets the joke and understands that the book is there for their enjoyment.  And perhaps best of all, this is a very boy-friendly book with gross humor that will not bother the adults. 

This is a necessary purchase.  If you are a librarian, get a copy for your library.  If you are a parent, find this at your library.  And make sure you read the first book too!

Super Fly Guy is being released in March.

Do Not Open This Book! by Michaela Muntean, illustrated by Pascal Lemaitre.

As a child, I always adored The Monster at the End of This Book with Grover frantically trying to stop the reader from turning the pages.  Do Not Open This Book has the same feel as a little pig tries to stop the reader from reading the book because it isn't finished.  He can't figure out what kind of story to write, scary or bedtime.  He does try hanging word after word, but then the reader turns the page and scrambles them around.  Some of the jokes are straight out of the Grover book with the pig taking a Very Heavy Rock and putting it in the way of page turning. 

That said, this book does cause laughs of its own.  It contains a nasty letter to get the reader to leave where for every blank, you put in your own name.  This caused a lot of laughter with my two sons, and we had to read it over several times using each person's name in the blanks. 

And on top of it, the book is really about the power of words, the writing process, and humor.  It is a great book to read one-on-one with an emerging reader.  They will be able to see how words go together to form sentences, gain clues to words from the way they are written, and have fun doing it. 

Sir Thursday by Garth Nix is the fourth book in the Keys to the Kingdom series.   Arthur is intent on heading out of the House and returning to the secondary realms to check on his family before he tries to find the next part of the Will and win the next Key.  But that is not to be.  Instead he is unable to return to his home because someone else is already there, pretending to be him.  Luckily, his friend Leaf can return and do battle with the strange creation that is impersonating him.  While he is trapped in the House, Arthur is drafted into the Glorious Army of the Architect under the command of Sir Thursday.  Arthur has to survive not only basic training, but a suicide run led by Sir Thursday himself. 

If all of this sounds a little confusing, that is part of the charm of this series.  The books are set in the House where the Universe is run.  Arthur is a reluctant hero who has been chosen as the Rightful Heir.  Because his own world and his family are threatened, he is forced to continue to battle through the Morrow Days one by one, putting the Will back together and gathering the Keys.  To my great joy, Arthur is accompanied now by two great girls who face battles themselves: Leaf and Suzy Blue.  The child characters are vividly rendered and they are surrounded by complex characters in the House.  The entire series should be read from the first, Mister Monday on through.  No skipping around, or you will miss some of the fun!

This book is recommended primarily for those who have read the first three.  But it could serve as a way for new people to get hooked on the series, wondering what they have missed.  It is not for reluctant readers or squeamish ones.  This is a dark series filled with humor and action.

Released March 2006.

Can You See What I See: Seymour Makes New Friends by Walter Wick. 

Walter Wick does it again with another charming Seymour book.  This illustrator of the continually popular I Spy series has created a series of his own that is for smaller children.  The illustrations are similar but more open with the same clear but cluttered photos.  Seymour is a little man made of wooden beads who along with the readers searches for items amid the pictures.   There is a slight storyline, but the most important part is finding the items and the fun of the search. 

This is not a book for storytimes, but one to curl up with a child and enjoy together.   Enjoy this one and search out the other Seymour books too. 

Fast Food by Saxton Freymann and Joost Elffers is another clever book from this duo.  They take vegetables and turn them into hilarious little creatures.  This time, they have focused on vehicles, from trucks made from squash to fire engines from red bell peppers to pear helicopters.  The result is a quirky, endearing book filled with all sorts of oohs and aahs. 

This duo is one of my favorites, and this book is one of the most readable books they have done.  This is a picture book that reads well and will allow you to share their silly humor with a group.  Really, if you haven't seen their books, run out and get them while their fresh. 

The Scott O'Dell Award is given for excellence in writing historical fiction for children or young adults. This year's winner is Louis Erdrich for The Game of Silence. What a great pick!

The 2006 Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults have been announced. Each year there are specific subjects specified, so the books on the list are recent publications, but not constrained to being from the last year. The categories this year are Books That Don't Make You Blush, Criminal Elements, What Ails You?, and GLBTQ.

A big thanks to A Chair, A Fireplace and a Tea Cozy for posting about blog clouds, and for making me desperately want a t-shirt too! 

Here is my blog cloud:

Hurrah!  The Jim Henson Company is doing a sequel to The Dark Crystal, one of my all-time favorite Henson films. 

"Set hundreds of years after the first film, the sequel follows a
mysterious girl made of fire who steals a shard of the crystal in hopes
of reigniting the dying sun."

The 2006 Current Notable Children's Recordings List has been released. It is a collection of great book recordings for children.

The 2006 Orbis Picture Books Winners have been announced.  The award is given to excellence in writing nonfiction for children. 

The winners is Children of the Great Depression by Russell Freedman. 

The honor books are:

ER Vets: Life in an Animals Emergency Room by Donna Jackson. 
Forbidden Schoolhouse: The True and Dramatic Story of Prudence Crandall and Her Students by Suzanne Jurmain.
Genius: A Photobiography of Albert Einstein by Marfe Ferguson Delano.
Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow by Susan Campbell Bartoletti.
Mosquito Bite by Alexandra Siy.

There is also a length of recommended titles on the website.