August 2007 Archives

I am off for a long Labor Day weekend where we will be having the last of our lazy summer days as a family.  I'll be back on Tuesday!  Enjoy your holiday weekend!

School Library Journal has an important piece on the Senate looking at improving the way that Head Start and libraries collaborate.  Here is the part that warmed my heart.  This Senator really gets it!

In February 2007, Sheketoff sent a letter to Representative Raul
Grijalva (D-AZ) saying that libraries play a crucial role in early
childhood literacy, which is a critical part of Head Start’s mission.
“By recognizing the important role that public libraries play in
improving literacy and school readiness in the Head Start
reauthorization bill, libraries across the country can continue to
develop new innovative programs to provide young children with the
tools they need to succeed in school and life,” the letter reads.

Yes! 

One of my favorite parts of being a children's librarian in Cape Girardeau, Missouri was going out on a weekly basis to read to a Head Start class.  The incredible difference between the children who started each year and the children who completed Head Start!  I would start the year reading all of my most gimmicky books, trying to get them to sit still long enough to make it through my short pile.  At the end of the year, I was being begged to read more and amazing the teachers and myself with the books the children would not only sit through but enjoy.  I have yet to find anything as immediately rewarding as sharing books with those children. 

Mouse Shapes by Ellen Stoll Walsh

I have always enjoyed Walsh's mouse series, especially the illustrations.  Her mice and cats are so simple but accurate at the same time. 

In this book, the mice are running from the cat and find themselves near a pile of colored shapes.  They discover they can create things from the shapes: houses, trees, a sun.  And then more and more intricate designs.  When the cat pounces at them, the mice come up with a cunning plan to use the shapes to scare him away.

As always, the story is simple, the words are easy, and the illustrations are welcoming and bright.  Walsh has once again captured with her paper designs a world of clever mice and menacing cats.  I loved the juxtaposition of this wonderful paper artist having her mice characters create things out of colored paper shapes.  To me it was the perfect cherry on this wonderful book.

Recommended to add to your mouse story times, but also to discuss shapes, colors and to promote creating things from shapes.  I can see this leading to a table filled with paper shapes and a long time of gluing, ripping and creating.  This book will work well with toddlers and younger preschoolers.

Mary and the Mouse, the Mouse and Mary by Beverly Donofrio and Barbara McClintock.

What an absolutely wonderful book!  It combines a classic feel with a marvelous story.  Mary hadn't even realized that there was a mouse family living in her walls until she drops her fork at the same exact time the little mouse drops her spoon.  They spot one another through the mouse hole and grow up side by side, living parallel lives.  They miss one another in college and are reunited as they end up in the same house once again, both with daughters of their own.  But the daughters prove to both be much more forward than their mothers!

For me it was the illustrations that drew me in and held me fast, but for my sons the words and pace of the book caught them by the second page.  So we have a perfect pairing here.  McClintock's illustrations remind one of books from the 50s and 60s.  They have a vintage feel that adds a real charm and cozy quality to the book.  Donofrio's text is filled with lovely patterns and rhythms echoed in the illustrations.  The pacing is dynamic and enticing while the illustrations are cozy and sweet.  I love the way they work together in the book.

Highly recommended as a bedtime read.  Not as good for groups of children, because everyone will want to gaze at and discuss the mouse homes.  I would also recommend this as a perfect holiday present to any young girl in your family, ages 4-7.  It's guaranteed to please the parents too.

A huge warm welcome to the Kidslitosphere for fellow Wisconsinite KT Horning!  Not only is KT active on the national children's lit level, but she also runs the Cooperative Children's Book Center in Madison, a place where I wish I had time to simply bunk down for months and read, read, read.

KT's new blog is Worth the Trip, a blog of "queer books for kids and teens."  Hurrah!  I am adding it immediately to my collection of blogs I must read daily.

Thanks to several other blogs for the link.  Definitely worth repeating.

It's always with mixed emotions that I look at the Guardian Children's Fiction Longlist.  Since it is a British award, so often the books aren't published here yet.  So it can be a frustrating list to look at.  But here they are.  I will list whether they are out in the US yet, to warn you whether to not get so very excited yet.

Guardian Children's Fiction Longlist for 2007

The Boyhood of Burglar Bill by Allan Ahlberg (Not in US yet)

Stoneheart by Charlie Fletcher (In US as hardcover, will be out in paperback in 2008)

The Falconer's Knot by Mary Hoffman (In US)

Fearless by Tim Lott (Coming out in US in Oct)

The Penalty by Mal Peet (In US)

The Truth Sayer by Sally Prue (In US in paperback)

Mr. Gum and the Biscuit Billionaire by Andy Stanton (Not in US, though the title will probably have to be changed to "Mr. Gum and the Cookie Capitalist")

Finding Violet Park by Jenny Valentine (Not in US)

Here is a very nice article from SLJ that talks about great back-to-school books.  I like their various categories by age ranges plus a special section for the first day jitters.  I'm sure someone will have those around our house.  Probably me.

Five Nice Mice by Chisato Tashiro.

Translated from the Japanese, this is a story of five urban mice who hear music in the distance and follow it to a park where they find a chorus of frogs singing.  But the concert is for frogs only, so they are forced to leave and can't listen any longer.  The mice are all inspired by the music, and build their own instruments.  They practice and practice until they are ready to perform their songs on stage.  During their performance, they glimpse some frogs in the audience and the book culminates with them all up on stage together.

Right from the beginning, readers know that this is not an American book.  There is something a little different about the pacing, illustrations and the story itself.  I love publishers who bring such varied books to the American market, allowing us a glimpse into other societies and their values.  Penguin has done well.

The illustrations are charming and filled with small details and lovely perspectives that are unusual to see in children's books.  Additionally, the prose is clear and bright, almost allowing the readers to hear the music in the air. 

A lovely translation, this book is recommended for story times on music or mice or frogs. 

Siobhan Dowd, author of the incredible A Swift Pure Cry, died on August 21st from breast cancer at age 47.  If you haven't read her poetic, powerful novel for teens, you really should.  Sad that there won't be many more books like this coming from her, she had a real gift.

Don't Say That Word! by Alan Katz, illustrated by David Catrow.

Open this book to the title page with the wild-haired child picking his nose, and you have gotten the tone of the entire book in a single image.  A boy has come home from school and is telling his mother about his day.  He does it in rhyme with the last word of the line being a word that his mother does NOT want him to say aloud.  So the word is left unsaid, but implied by the rhyme itself.  The words are only slightly naughty at most, like booger, butt, and poop.  Just the right amount of vulgarity for the lower elementary level. 

While I don't consider this great literature, it does have a wonderful way of making books inviting, silly and fun for children, especially boys.  The illustrations are also equally funny and accessible.  They have that same naughty quality as the rhymes do. 

I wouldn't recommend this for reading to a group, unless you want these words talked about over and over again for days.  But if you have a young imp you read to at home, they just might find this as side-splittingly funny as my children did.

Eggs by Jerry Spinelli.

Nine-year-old David simply cannot get along with his grandmother.  Ever since his mother died, she has been taking care of him while his father works.  But every word she says is like a challenge to him and a reminder that his mother is gone.  It isn't until David meets Primrose, a strange thirteen-year-old girl, that he starts to open up again.  Primrose lives with her mother, who works as a palm reader.  She resents that their roles are often reversed and has decided to move out of the house and use an abandoned van in their yard as her room.  When she befriends David, she too begins to slowly realize what she has and what she is missing in her life.

This book's title is perfection with both characters because they are so brittle on the outside and so golden and soft inside.  So very breakable.  But it also holds the key to the writing itself which is filled with a delicious tension and its own shell and hidden insides.  The writing is golden, liquid and tense at the same time.  Add to that the two main characters and you have a real gem.  Both children are vivid and complex people whose very relationship is filled with complexity, anger and need.  They are never two-dimensional and neither are the adults in their lives.  While it would have been easy to make David's grandmother a secondary and forgettable character, Spinelli takes the time to make her real and allow the readers to see her own fragility and pain. 

There is a delicacy here, a tenderness that is not often seen in children's books.  And so often Spinelli takes the risk of disrupting that, wrenching it, allowing us to see exactly what is frail and fragile and what is strong and unbreakable in life. 

I consider this book one of the top books for elementary to middle grade readers of the year.  Highly recommended for both boys and girls of that age.

Fish, Swish!  Splash, Dash!:  Counting Round and Round by Suse MacDonald.

I am a real fan of paper art in children's books, but I especially enjoy books with holes to peek through.  So this is a book I highly recommend!

The book counts fish on each page, moving from one to ten.  Then the book doesn't end, but you flip it over and count back from ten to one.  I know, it doesn't sound thrilling.  But what makes it marvelous is the paper art.  The fish start large and move smaller, each hole in the paper allowing you to see the different colors of the layers below.  And even nicer, the fish are different on your way back to one. 

This is one of those simple but lovely books.  Not really a read aloud, it is best done with a very small group or one-on-one so that everyone can enjoy the fish up close.  The pages are extra sturdy and will stand up well to even small toddlers.  This is a winner of a picture book for the smallest of children.

When a Monster Is Born by Sean Taylor and Nick Sharratt.

This was one picture book that I picked up and just knew that my sons would love it.  But it is even better than the cover promises, which is saying a lot.  Great cover!

The book stars by saying that when a monster is born it can be one of two types of monster.  It can be a faraway-in-the-forests monster or an under-your-bed monster.  If it is a forest monster, that's the end of it.  But more possibilities open up if it lives under your bed.  Then another set of two possibilities is open to the reader.  One is always a dead end and the other merrily continues the story.  Children will immediately get the humor and the structure of the book.  I predict lots of laughing out loud.

However, be aware that even though the text is simple, this is not a book for the smallest children.  I think it will be enjoyed best by children in Kindergarten or older.  There are school references, plus very funny eating of people.  Not harsh by any means, but might worry toddlers who won't see it as humor.

This book is made great by two things.  First is the skill of the writing which is simple, straightforward and almost gleeful as it moves through the options.  Second are the delightfully colorful pictures of monsters.  Each set of facing pages has a black or white background, creating a real dynamic aspect as you turn the pages.  The monsters are neon colored and gloriously horrible, as you can see from the infant on the cover.

Highly recommended as a book to pull out from behind you in an out-of-control storytime for Kindergarteners or as a great treat for any little monsters you may be reading to.

This Christian Science Monitor article is all about the new titles being included on high school reading lists.  Classics like Shakespeare and Hawthorne are being joined by Sandra Cisneros, Laurie Halse Anderson, and Yann Martel.  The article ends with a list of books from high school reading lists across the country.  I love the juxtaposition of the old and new, exactly what teens should be filling their minds with.

The 2007 Crichton Award for Children's Book Illustration has been announced by The Children's Book Council of Australia. 

Winner:  When Elephants Lived in the Sea illustrated by Vincent Agostino

Shortlisted:  Automaton illustrated by Aaron Hill and Clancy the Courageous Cow illustrated by Lachie Hume

The Children's Book Council of Australia has awarded their Children's Book of the Year for 2007.  They give an award in several age groups.

Older Readers:

Winner:  Red Spikes by Margo Lanagan

Honor:  Monster Blood Tattoo by D. M. Cornish and The Red Shoe by Ursula Dubosarsky.


Younger Readers:

Winner:  Being Bee by Catherine Bateson

Honor:  The Tuckshop Kid by Pat Flynn and Bird & Sugar Boy by Sofie Laguna


Early Childhood:

Winner:  Amy & Louis by Libby Gleeson

Honor:  Doodledum Dancing by Meredith Costain and Chatterbox by Margaret Wild


Picture Book:

Winner:  The Arrival by Tan Shaun

Honor:  The Rainbirds by Sally Rippin and Woolvs in the Sitee by Anne Spudvilas


Eve Pownall Award for Information Books:

Winner:  The Penguin Book: Birds in Suits by Mark Norman

Honor:  Red haze by Leon Davidson and Queenie: one elephant's story by Corinne Fenton

Runaround by Helen Hemphill.

This tween novel that takes place in Kentucky in the sixties, features the vivid protagonist, Sassy.  Sassy has decided after her older sister publicly humiliates her during a kissing game, to get revenge by becoming the girlfriend of the cutest boy in town.  Sassy is addicted to reading Love Confessions, a magazine all about romance.  But as Sassy goes about getting the boy interested, it all becomes more and more confusing.  No one will help explain exactly how you know a boy is interested or how you know the person is the right person for you. 

This is a well-crafted novel that is perfect for tween readers.  It has just the right amount of romance, including french kissing, but doesn't go so far that it would make it more appropriate for older readers.  Hemphill has created a dysfunctional family that reads as  completely real.  Sassy and many of the other characters in the book reveal layers to themselves that are fascinating to read.  I also appreciated that Sassy is not always good, appropriate or honorable.  She is complex, torn and down-to-the bone real.  And that is not something that can be often said of a teen female character.  Refreshingly, Sassy is so complex she defies categorization.  She is simply Sassy.

Beyond the characters, the story is also very well done.  While I consider it primarily a character-driven story of Sassy, it does have implications that are worthy of discussion.  What makes a bad girl?  What is love?  How do you know when you have found it?  All of these questions will pull tween readers in and not allow them to put the book down until they learn whether Sassy ever discovers the answers.

Highly recommended for tween readers and middle school collections.  If you want to read a book about a girl who is unique, bold and questioning, this is the book for you.

Penguin by Polly Dunbar.

Ben gets a present and finds a penguin inside.  Though Ben tries to talk to the penguin, it does nothing at all.  He tries ticking, making faces, being silly, but nothing happens.  Finally in desperation, Ben tries to feed Penguin to a lion, but the lion refuses to eat the penguin.  That does it!  Ben loses his temper and screams at the penguin, "SAY SOMETHING!"  So the lion eats Ben for being so loud.  And finally, Penguin does something.

There are certain quirky picture books that work and others that just leave you scratching your head and wondering how an adult can be so very confused by a children's book.  This is one of the ones that really works.  The text of the book is simple as are the illustrations.  Ben's antics to get the penguin to respond are charmingly done.  And the timing of the book is perfect.  Just when readers will have decided conclusively that the penguin is not alive and cannot respond, the book changes and becomes wonderfully odd. 

I would recommend this more for one-on-one sharing than for a group.  I can see the ending puzzling some children while others merrily take to the strange twists.

The Best Father's Day Present Ever by Christine Loomis, pictures by Pam Paparone.

Langley wants to get his father the best present he can for father's day.  Though his mother encourages him to make something, Langley now has an allowance and wants to buy his dad the perfect gift.  Unfortunately, being a snail, he is not fast enough to get to the store before it closes.  On his slow return home, Langley starts to notice things that his father would love to see, and he finds the truly perfect father's day present.

I simply love books that speak out against consumerism and give children alternatives to purchasing things for any holiday.  Langley's solution for a gift is charming and personal, demonstrating his real adoration of his father.   The text is a nice length for reading aloud to preschoolers or kindergartners.  Even first and second graders will appreciate the storyline of having an allowance but being unable to spend it.  The prose is fluid and doesn't talk down to child readers.  I love the great descriptions of the items he sees on his walk home.  The illustrations in the book are equally distinct with a feel of woodblock prints, they have bright colors that make them modern feeling as well.  I enjoy the tension between the modern style and colors and the format itself. 

Recommended as a great addition to Father's Day story times, this is also a great readaloud when doing bug stories or talking to a child about what a present really is.

An intriguing article on German authors breaking into the English book market.  We all know of Cornelia Funke, and I have often wondered what other treasures we are missing.  Of course, that means not just German authors but world-wide, what children's fiction could we be enjoying!  It seems to me that picture books are more likely to cross over, perhaps because translation is simpler?  I love publishers like Kane/Miller who focus on bringing in foreign titles.

There is hope:

Around twice as many licenses for German-language children and teen
literature were sold to foreign countries in 2006 than in 2001,
according to Germany's book trade association. All told, 2,300 foreign
licenses were sold for German-language literature for children and
teens last year, far more than for adult fiction. The increase,
however, also reflected the fact that German publishers have been
granting more licenses generally.

The San Jose Mercury News has a great article by librarian Julie Winkelstein, who writes about the lack of reading material for children when they travel.  I admit that I am guilty of this as well.  My house is filled with books for children, but when we travel we pack handheld games, DVDs, and pencil activities rather than books.  I'll blame it on the noise of the airplane, but it really would be nice to read aloud a chapter book to my youngest, or see the oldest with his nose in a book rather than a screen.  Hmmm.  Time to pack away some reading treasures for our next trip!

Two Sticks by Orel Protopopescu, pictures by Anne Wilsdorf.

This jaunty title is filled with rhythm galore as well as rhymes.  It is the story of Maybelle, a girl who moves to her own beat.  She plays with two sticks that she creates rhythms with on all sorts of objects: doors, fences, logs, and more.  She gets carried away with her drumming and finds herself falling into a swamp with only her two sticks to save her from approaching crocodiles!  You can bet that the story ends with a lot of motion, rhythm and courage.

It took me a few pages to get the beat of the this book, because I was expecting less rhythm and more standard rhyme.  But once I got it, I was completely enchanted by the beat, the repetition and the joy inherent in the text.  Just make sure that you give it a read through before reading it aloud to a group.  Wilsdorf's illustrations add to the wild drumming and the gutsy heroine with their bright colors, flamboyant compositions, and pure fun. 

Highly recommended for a bored group of preschoolers who would enjoy moving their bodies to a beat.  I would recommending handing out rhythm instruments (or sticks) to the children to get them participating.  This is a perfect closer to a story time on crocodiles or music. 

Fred Stays with Me! by Nancy Coffelt, illustrated by Tricia Tusa.

In this book, a little girl moves between her father and her mother, but Fred her dog moves with her to both homes.  She explains the differences between the two homes in terms of her bedroom and what Fred does.  But both of her parents are getting tired of Fred and all of the messes and problems he creates.  Neither of them want the dog to stay with them, but the little girl has the solution. 

This is a lovely book on divorce.  It is handled matter-of-factly, rather than as a disaster for a child.  I love the girl and her spunk that she obviously gets from Fred.  The text is very brief and many of the illustrations will have people giggling, especially when Fred barks at the poodle next door. 

Usually I am not one for bibliotherapy books, but this one would be nice to give to children going through a divorce.  Otherwise, it is a good read no matter what sort of family you live in, especially a family of dog lovers.

Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree by Lauren Tarshis.

This is one that has been getting a lot of buzz, and deservedly so!

Emma-Jean does not fit in with the other seventh graders in her school.  She observes them from afar, but doesn't concern herself much with what they think or do.  But when Colleen tearfully asks Emma-Jean for help, Emma-Jean is drawn to help her devising a scheme that solves the problem.  But the solution isn't quite as elegant as Emma-Jean thinks, and Colleen is dismayed when she finds out what Emma-Jean has done.  Nevertheless, this doesn't deter Emma-Jean from continuing to help another classmate out as well as looking for a wife for a graduate student who lives with her and her mother. 

This is a wonderful book with a protagonist who is able to be both tough and withdrawn as well as immediate and fragile.  Emma-Jean is one of the most well-conceived and well-drawn characters in recent memory.  I particularly enjoyed that we encounter Emma-Jean several years after her father has died.  We don't witness the death, but rather come into the story as it is already in progress, which is a winning way to do this.  I also appreciated that even though Emma-Jean does some transforming by the end of the story, she remains quirky, strange and definitely unique.  Just like her beloved father. 

Highly recommended for tweens, this book will please both late elementary readers and middle school readers.  It is one that teachers of those grades will want to look at for a readaloud in their classrooms.  But it is also such a personal story that it is perfection for a tween to curl up with and read in a single sitting. 

Now on Yahoo! Movies, you can view two breathtaking trailers for the new Golden Compass film.  You can also find out about the film itself with a synopsis, photos and information on the cast.  It looks gorgeous, atmospheric and seems to echo the pictures of the books I had in my head.

Epic by Conor Kostick

Looking for a book that will hook all of those video game playing teens?  Well, look no further!  This is THE ONE.

Erik is a boy living on a planet where the world revolves around an incredible video game.  The game, Epic, decides the wealth of people in the real world, settles disputes, and works as a form of government.  The most powerful players in the game are the most powerful people in the world.  Erik's parents are poor and Erik has had a hard time playing Epic well enough and cautiously enough to advance.  Soon the graduation trials were coming and Erik was expecting to do very badly.  That is until he decides to go ahead and go against the trend of highly armored and ugly characters and creates a lithe, beautiful swashbuckler as his character.  Soon Erik is discovering things about Epic that no one else has.  Will it be enough to help his family and his friends?  And what happens when you gain the attention of the most powerful gamers in the world?

This book completely rocks!  The writing is crisp and clear, creating a book that reads like a video game encounter.  It is just as all-encompassing and world bending as a great game too.  Even better, Epic asks questions and will generate discussion and thought for its readers.  It is the best of both worlds:  a book that is easily read and enjoyed but one that is worthy of digestion and thought.

I particularly enjoyed the characterizations of Erik, his family and friends.  All of them were three dimensional and well written.  Some of the villains were a bit cardboard, but that just added to the gaming feel of the story. 

Highly recommended to teens who enjoy video games.  Also for movie buffs and science fiction and fantasy readers.

Children's book illustrator, Bruce Wood is dead at the young age of 34.  Son of Audrey and Don Wood, he has collaborated with his mother on a series of concept books.  He has also seen success on his own with a series of alphabet books.  Wood specialized in illustrations using the computer and led both of his parents to start using computers for illustrations. 

At Night by Jonathan Bean.

This small and charming picture book offers a look at a long night when a small girl cannot fall asleep.  Her entire family sleeps around her, but she can't sleep until she follows a breeze from her window, up the stairs up to the roof of her urban building.  Up on the roof, under her blanket and in a chair, she happily falls asleep.  Her mother joins her there, looking out at the night with a cup of coffee.

This book is simply lovely.  The illustrations are an integral part of the storytelling here.  When the child can't sleep, the illustrations are boxed in by black lines with only a few images opening to the complete page.  Once she reaches the roof, the pages open to broad expanses so that the reader feels the sense of relief and space and even breezes along with her. 

The illustrations in the book have the feel of a Sendak to me in their color and style.  There is that feeling of home but a sense that anything could happen deep in the art.  The text is short, clear and crisp until she reaches the roof where the words and ideas expand along with the vista. 

This is a wonderful book that should be read to every child heading for bed.  It is a gem that I hope stays with families and libraries a long, long time.  Lovely.

Lissy's Friends by Grace Lin.

I am a great fan of Lin's.  She manages to do short, friendly picture books with a uniquely Asian perspective and universal appeal.

In this book, Lissy has moved to a new school.  No one is friendly with her at all.  She begins to build her own friends out of origami so she will never be alone again.  Her mother continues to push her to play with the other children, and Lissy heads out to the playground with all of her origami friends.  But when she pushes them on the merry-go-round, they fly away in the breeze.  Lissy is heart-broken until she finds that her paper friends have led her to some real ones.

The book is filled with Lin's characteristic illustrations where the sky is filled with swirls, and patterns cover the world.  It creates a vivid and inviting setting for her characters.  The language is accessible for children and they will recognize the struggle to make new friends and be thrilled with the use of origami as a bridge to friendship. 

Recommended for classes doing origami or as a read aloud when new students join a class.  But families should not save it until then.  It is a very nice book to share with children who are preschoolers through Kindergarten. 

The finalists for the Quills have been announced.  Each category will have a single winner decided by a board of 6,000 booksellers and librarians.  The category winners will be announced in mid-September.  Then the public will get the chance to vote for the overall winner of all categories.

Of course the categories of interest to me are the ones for children and teens.  Here are the lists of nominees:

Children's Picture Books

The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon by Mini Grey

Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy by Jane O'Connor

Flotsam by David Wiesner (My top pick!)

Orange Pear Apple Bear by Emily Gravett (My second to the top pick)

Owen & Mzee: The Language of Friendship by Isabella Hatkoff


Children's Chapter/Middle Grade

Clementine by Sara Pennypacker (YES!)

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney (one of my son's favorites of the year)

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (one of my favorites of the year, and my top pick)

Pick Me Up by Jeremy Leslie

The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan


Young Adult/Teen

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang (YES!)

The Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages

Incantation by Alice Hoffman (one of my favorites of last year)

Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Sold by Patricia McCormick (my top pick)


It's a very nice selection of great books.  What are your favorites?

Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series has a new look for its website.  Check out Meyer on ABC's Good Morning America too.

VOYA has put some of its August 2007 issue's content online.  One that you must take a look at is their Nonfiction Honor List for 2006.  Nonfiction is one of the areas that I feel very uncomfortable reviewing unless it is poetry or something that I am familiar with.  So often nonfiction is about things that I am just discovering, that I feel I can't really check for how accurate it is.  Hence my love of lists like this.

VOYA only does middle school and up, so remember many of these may be edgy and very teen oriented. 

Note:  This is a pdf file, so patience may be required while it loads.

And the Train Goes...  by William Bee.

This picture book is filled with the noises of a train station, from the ticking of the station clock to the call of the station master to the whistle of the train.  The entire text works together with a subtle rhythm of life and action combined with a style both vintage and quirky.  Turning the pages takes readers down the length of the train, seeing soldiers on parade, school children, businessmen, and chefs.  Each group of people matches the style of the train car they are on, creating a vibrant tableau of color and faces. 

Add this to the large collection of books on trains, but realize that this is a real winner of a read aloud.  It would be my first choice for train read aloud due to its large and bright art and the evocative text. 

Framed by Frank Cottrell Boyce

Dylan is the only boy in the Welsh village where his family owns the garage.  There is no chance to play football anymore now that his last male classmate has left.  The only claim to fame the village has is that it has the lowest crime rate in Britain, and that is attributed to the fact that it also has the highest rainfall.  But things are about to change in the quiet village, because of the secret at the top of the mountain.  Who would have thought that a single secret could change people entirely, create color where there was none, inspire new endeavors, and rock the comfortable but dull world that Dylan lives in?

This book is pure magic, just as Cottrell Boyce's first book, Millions was.  The entire book has a warmth, a coziness, but also has plenty of mystery and magic.  The language of the book welcomes readers in, shares a laugh, and moves gently onward.  The characterizations of everyone is deep and meaningful, down to even the people of the village who play very secondary roles.  Everyone has an aspect of their personality that is surprising but rings very true. 

I loved the inclusion of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as the cusp of the story. But best of all was the message that art really does change lives, in ways that those who love it most may not understand.  The inspiration characters took from art is what makes this book sing.  Gloriously.

I listened to the book on CD, and the narrator, Jason Hughes, is extraordinary.  I would never have been able to read the book with a Welsh accent in my head, and it was a treat to listen to it.  Some narrators simply read the book, but Hughes has added a bit of himself into it and brought the entire story to life.  Lovely.

Highly recommended for children ages 10-13, this book will welcome them to a world they have never been before but will recognize immediately.

Happy Blogversary to me! 

KidsLit is officially 4 years old this week.  And how the time has flown. 

I was one of the first children's lit focused blogs online when I started, and am so thrilled to be part of the larger children's literature blogging community that is now online.  It's been amazing to watch, applaud, and be a small part of it.

Thank you all for reading, commenting and supporting me.  It has been a lot of fun to share books with all of you over the years.

Here's to many more years of book blogging to come!

Adventures of Cow, Too by Lori Korchek, photographs by Marshall Taylor.

If you read and enjoyed Adventures of Cow, you will certainly enjoy this one. 

Cow is the clueless protagonist of the story where he is sent to the grocery store.  On the way and at the store, he misnames all sorts of things.  Calling a school bus, a train, and limes apples.  Each page has just one sentence on it, and preschoolers will enjoy the pure silliness of the stories as well as the quick pace.  There is no waiting around for the jokes in this little book, they happen on almost every page. 

Looking for a book that will keep restless little bodies seated?  Well, this is it.  I would recommend having it on hand to be the final book in a story time.  Even better, it is short enough that you could make it a closing tradition for a class story time.  Children will appreciate the humor more each reading.

Reaching for Sun by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer.

I have seen this book on several people's favorites of the year.  And you can add my name to theirs.  This book is a real treasure of a read.

It is the story, told in verse, of Josie.  She is a teen with cerebral palsy who knows that she is different than the other children.  She has no friends until a boy, Jordan, moves in nearby.  He isn't like the other kids at school.  He listens to her thoughts and never thinks that she is mentally slow.  He is her first real friend.  Their friendship is beautifully captured in the poetry.  It offers an especially tender medium for their fragile first moves to being friends that magnifies it, creating a lovely taut feeling in the book.

Josie is portrayed flawlessly in the poems, remaining true to herself even while she grows and changes.  That is a feat that many authors don't achieve, the ability to have their characters change but remain real and true to who they started out as.  Again, the medium works extremely well here, allowing Josie the space and language to express herself.

I am often reluctant to start a verse novel.  If they are well done, they can be some of the most moving books in the world.  But poorly done, they are nothing more than prose forced into stanzas.  Luckily, this is one of the winners.  In the truest test of a verse novel, you could pull virtually any of the chapters from the book and they could stand on their own as individual poems.  Each poem was obviously separately crafted with care to make it a real verse, bearing no resemblance to prose storytelling.  Instead the verse, the medium strengthens the book into something it could never have become without the poetry of the language and power of the word choice. 

Lovely stuff.  Recommended for middle school readers who will enjoy the poetry here.  This would be a great first verse novel for anyone, because the poetry is accessible as most good poetry is.  Even better, the cover itself will reach out and grab the right sort of readers.  This is one that you just have to try.