Kids Lit
Books and More for Children and Teens

This Telegraph article speaks to the new phenomenon of large numbers of adults reading children's and young adult books. They offer up two theories of why adults are doing this. First is the sad theory that it is "further proof of an intellectually degraded culture in which magical quest literature is teh new rock'n'roll." Yikes! But the second theory hits closer to the truth, "that some adults are rejecting the arid pastures of clever-clever, look-at-me contemporary adult fiction".

I have read books for children and teens for years. I enjoy the clean writing style, the unpretentious language, and the strong narrative line. I enjoy their subject matter more too, where I don't have to worry about graphic murders and explicit sexual scenes dominating the book. I also find more treasures, more books that will stay with me for years, more worthwhile reading than when I read bestsellers aimed at adults.

But frankly, I don't know any other adult who reads the books I do. They still don't know what their missing, and I suppose they would say the same to me. As I tell patrons who complain of a specific book, that's why the library has to have so many. So everyone can find the book that is right for them and there can be room for those that are right for others.

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The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler (0-7636-1958-2)

This is a humor-filled and emotion-filled book about Virginia, a teenage girl who is plus sized in a family of people who look perfect. She worships her older brother until he commits a crime. The way that her family reacts to his actions forces Virginia to see their apparent perfection for what it is. She begins to understand that body weight does not define us.

Mackler perfectly captures the angst of large teens, the self-hatred that they feel, and the finally the joy of realizing that their size does not define who they are. Girls of all sizes will enjoy the book and understand Virginia.

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Donna Jo Napoli

Official site for this author of young adult books and picture books.

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Dark Horse Libraries

Dark Horse Comics has this new website specifically for librarians. The site requires sign-up to use it.

Via Library Planet.

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Megan McDonald

Website for this author of the Judy Moody books.

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Sheroes Central

I had never heard the term "shero" before, but this site makes the definition clear, a female hero. There are discussion forums available on the site and the focus is not only on sheroes in books, but also in other media forms and real life.

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Teen Fiction: sex, drugs and more sex

A rather inflammatory article on the fact that teen fiction has "racy subject matter." The article pulls out Anne of Green Gables and Nancy Drew as examples of older teen fiction, which I completely disagree with. Those are children's books not teen novels. When I was a teen, Judy Blume's Forever was the one being passed around the school. Racy? You betcha! Must have scarred me for life too, since I think that teen novels need a little danger, angst and racy subject matter.

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Carol Matas

The website for this author of books for young people shows the breadth of her work.

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Suse MacDonald

A bright and energetic site for this illustrator and author of children's picture books.

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Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan (0-375-82400-6)

When I went to library school, we had someone come to our YA lit class and talk about gay literature for teens. In all of the books at that time, the gay teen in the books died at the end or in some way disappeared until Annie on My Mind came out.

Now we have this book which once again revolutionizes gay literature for young adults. Imagine a community where gay kids are just as normal as straight, where P-FLAG is as large a program as the PTO, where love is still confusing and hard, where two boys can kiss on the front steps of a school with no stares or whispers, where everyone is accepted. If you can't imagine that, then you have to read this book. It is a realization of what the world could be like if homosexuals were treated the same way as heterosexuals.

Amazing book with nothing more graphic than kissing. This is one that should be shared and discussed.

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Canadian Toy Testing Council

The Canadian Toy Testing Council reviews not only toys, which is helpful for holiday shopping, but books. Every year they put out a list of "Great Books." Just select Great Books from the menu on the left side of the screen and you will be shown not only this year's choices but choices from several previous years.

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Northwest writer scores book award

Polly Horvath wins the National Book Award for children's literature for The Canning Season.

People who work with teens may also be interested in the controversy surrounding the honorary award Stephen King received for his lifetime body of work.

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ShelSilverstein.com

After being online for awhile, new sites stop impressing so much, but this newly launched Shel Silverstein site is incredible! You never know what your mouse is going to find next, what little touch of humor will be incorporated, what drawing will suddenly come to life. This is one to share with kids who love Silverstein's poetry, and what kid doesn't!

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Patricia Hubbell

Homepage for this author of children's books and children's poetry. Her site offers tips on poetry writing, answers to questions, and information on her books.

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Denise Fleming

Homepage for this author and illustrator of picture books. My favorite part of the site is the page on papermaking, the technique she uses to create her incredible art.

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Jan Pienkowski

Jan Pienkowski is the creator of some of the more popular pop up books available. His website offers games, a book list and a look at some of his other work.

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The Dirty Cowboy by Amy Timberlake, pictures by Adam Rex (0-374-31791-7)

Whoooowheeeee! What a wonderful book filled with pictures that make you laugh out loud and a text with a rollicking rhythm. I particularly enjoyed the illustrations during the cowboy's bath when different objects are positioned to hide delicate areas. What a hoot!

This one is a great read aloud, though the illustrations are so great that it makes a good lap book as well so one can linger over them. Use this one to hook boys.

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Thanksgiving Is Here by Diane Goode (0-06-051588-0)

A wonderful glimpse into a family's Thanksgiving that makes you want to jump right into the illustrations and join in. The illustrations are jam-packed with so many details and parallel stories that you will be able to look at them again and again and find something new every time. The essence of a busy Thanksgiving Day is perfectly captured here.

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The River Between Us by Richard Peck (0-8037-2735-6)

I had heard wonderful things about this book and couldn't wait to read it. Everything I heard was true! This book is set during the Civil War, but is unlike any Civil War book I have ever read. We get to see the lives of a poor family before and during the war, the roles on girls and women in the war, war conditions for boys who joined up, and a look into race relations. And that list can't even begin to reveal the complexity of the book, the levels of discussion that are possible, and the way in which it transports the reader into the past.

A must-read for everyone, I wouldn't be surprised if this one wins some awards. There are male and female characters, so both boys and girls will enjoy it, if you can get the boys to see past the girl on the cover. No sexual situations, this one is YA due to the complexity of the story and the war descriptions. I could see this being used in classrooms for history, race, and women's studies.

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www.TerryTrueman.com

Official site for the author of Stuck in Neutral currently involved in a controversy in a Wisconsin school. Some parents in Evansville, WI are trying to get the book removed from the curriculum claiming it is obscene. The site offers press coverage of the reconsideration process currently underway as well as Trueman's new book, Inside Out. Kudos to Trueman for giving prominent space to the both sides of the controversy. Here's to hoping the reconsideration process works and the title is retained.

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BBC NEWS -- Next Madonna children's book out

Madonna's first book sold over 500,000 copies, and here comes her second, Mr. Peabody's Apples.

[Via Places for Writers.]

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LISNews -- Parent objects to book in catalog from school

So now the complaint is that children can be damaged simply by reading a title or seeing the cover of a book? Of course as a librarian, I am opposed to parents trying to get books removed from school libraries, but I can see the logic that the parents are using. This seems like a really extreme reaction by both the parent and the school, which is looking at ways to review book catalogs before they are presented to the students.

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Planet Esme

A wonderful children's book site with lists of the best children's books of the year, a collection of great children's literature sites, and recommendations of the best read alouds, picture books, fiction, and non-fiction.

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Popups by "paper engineer" stand out as ingenious reads

Robert Sabuda is the author and artist of some of the most incredible popup books I have ever seen, including his Wizard of Oz book that takes your breath away. He is now releasing a popup version of Alice in Wonderland that should again amaze people.

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Janet Taylor Lisle

Homepage for this author of children's books. I haven't read any of her more recent titles, but really enjoyed Afternoon of the Elves years ago. I'll have to try her latest one.

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The Artful Shopper: Not just for kids

A great testimonial for the appeal of children's books plus a list of recommended titles for gifts this holiday season, all from the Capital Times from Madison, WI.

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Diane deGroat

Official site for this author of humorous holiday picture books for older picture book readers.

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Eileen Christelow

Official website for this author illustrator who just released the new book VOTE! in September. The site reflects her illustrating style completely. Lovely job!

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Edgy YA Fiction

The bibliography from a presentation done at the Wisconsin Library Association's Annual Meeting last month in Milwaukee. The presenters are from the revered CCBC in Madison.

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The art of darkness is an article in the English Telegraph that is all about Phillip Pullman and his writing. Librarians and teachers will be interested in the following part of his work history:

"After 18 months he moved to a more sedate posting as a librarian at Charing Cross library. Then he trained as a teacher. For the next 12 years he worked in two middle schools in Oxford, teaching English to children between nine and 13. Pullman describes his teaching as 'variable' but, according to former pupils, he was exceptional and exciting. Greta Stoddart, the poet, was taught by him at Bishop Kirk Middle School: 'He had an extraordinary energy. And he didn't need books. He would come in and just launch into some story. He had this great mane of long, wavy hair that he would scrape back with his long fingernails - he kept them long to play the guitar. And he had that very direct stare that stays just a little longer than you'd expect. All of us girls were a bit in love with him.' "

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The Northpole

A child-friendly site with a traditional feel, containing stories, a chance to write to Santa, recipes, games, and activities.

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Kids Domain Thanksgiving

A great holiday site for kids and parents. It has ecards, crafts, recipes, online games, downloads, clip art and more.

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Seek by Paul Fleischman (0-8072-0821-3)

Having listened to this on tape, I can't imagine reading it. Enveloped immediately by the sounds of the Louisiana swamp, I was captivated by the full cast recording. The story is that of Rob, a senior in high school, assigned to write his autobiography which he does in sound clips. Clips from his radio shows, his father's radio program, and the voices of his family and friends. It all combines to form the story of a boy searching for his absent father.

I enjoyed the fact that Rob is not what is considered a typical teen. He is an intellectual who reads classic literature, listens to opera, and loves the radio. I would recommend the audio for families traveling with older elementary and even teen boys in the car. The sounds will stay with you long after the audiobook is finished.

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From the BBC comes the article Author Haddon wins teenage prize.

Having just won the Guardian Children's Book Prize in England, Haddon wins the new teen book prize as well for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

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Ann Cameron

Official site for this author of the new release Colibri and some of my favorite readalouds for young elementary kids: the Stories Julian Tells series.

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Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares

I listened to this one on audio in the car, sometimes driving with tears running down my face.

I had thought that I had this one pegged, a group of girls share a pair of pants for the summer. They serve to tie the friendship and the story together. Fine.

But then I got caught up in the writing which is beautiful. The imagery is inventive and revealing, making the whole story sing, especially in audio format.

And the language led me straight into caring vastly for these different girls, so varied and yet so understandable. The story gives a glimpse into a single summer in their lives that demonstrates that they are human, all make mistakes, and all survive to fix them.

I know that there is a sequel and it will go straight onto my list to be read. This book is for teen girls. Any type of teen girl will find themselves somewhere on these pages.

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Granny Torrelli Makes Soup by Sharon Creech (0-06-029290-3)

The book I just finished, Olive's Ocean, was also about a 12-year-old girl and her special relationship with her grandmother. But the two books and the two grandmothers are special in different ways.

As Granny Torrelli mixes her soup and makes her pasta, she tells stories about her childhood friend. That relationship mirrors Rosie's with her friend Bailey, who is blind. Wonderfully, Bailey's blindness does not slow him down at all, but complicates Rosie's feelings towards him. The angst and wonder of friendship are captured here among the smell of great cooking.

Boys and girls alike will enjoy this story. It is a fast and easy read appropriate for sharing in classrooms, since it will generate conversations about disabilities, friendship, and grandparents.

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