Kids Lit
Books and More for Children and Teens

Occult book ban demanded

A group of parents is asking that books about the occult be pulled from the school libraries in Washington Township, NJ. Their son checked out two books on the devil from the school library and also accessed devil-related websites on school computers.

Usually I don't see the humor in censorship, but a couple of things in this article struck me as funny. The fact that the boy was trying to tattoo DAMIEN on the back of his neck but only got as far as DA because it hurt too much. And most of all that one of the books being challenged is an Opposing Viewpoints book! Um, wouldn't that mean that it had both opinions on Satanism in it?

Via LISNews.com.

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Children's librarian tells tales

A glimpse into the job and life of Win Rosenberg, a youth services librarian for 17 years in Delaware. It is a pretty comprehensive look at what a children's librarian does each day.

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NEWS.com.au | Porn alert on children's books

This news story from Australia shows a new movement to place warning labels on children's books that contain "violent, hard-core porn" that is "disguised as children's literature."

I would love to hear an example of what they consider hard-core pornography being marketed as children's books. I can't think of even a teen book that would come close to being considered hard-core porn. But then, porn is now a word that is bandied about to mean anything sexual. And yes, there are certainly sexual themes in young adult literature. But not pornography.

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Nickelodeon - Kids Choice Awards 2003!

The nominees for favorite book are the Harry Potter series, the Captain Underpants Series, Double Fudge, and A Series of Unfortunate Events. But the big question is which movie will win for Best Fart.

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Quirky mystery wins Whitbread

Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time has won the Whitbread, one of Britain's top literary awards.

"Haddon said of his hero: "He should be a really bad narrator because he takes everything literally, who doesn't understand emotion and misses the big picture.

"But he turns out to be a really good narrator because he leaves a lot of space for you to add your own stuff to the story."

The Whitbread judges agreed, saying: "Haddon sets himself considerable limitations - a teenage narrator who lacks conventional emotions - but makes his observations moving and amusing."

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MSNBC - Books: Rewriting History

A look at the trend to publishing history books and historical fiction for children that don't gloss over the truth.

"Nobody specifically tracks sales of kids' history books, but publishers and booksellers agree it's a hot niche, and not the old sanitized version of events. Many of the new books aimed at kids 4 and older take a surprisingly sophisticated look at our world and our heroes, warts and all. "There's been this amazing leap in the quality and breadth of the topics," says Ilene Cooper, children's-book editor for the American Library Association's Booklist."

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Munsch on this

Robert Munsch is the honorary celebrity of Family Literacy Day this year. To honor the day, he has shared the inspiration behind some of his books.

Via [places for writers].

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Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen -- The Official Movie Website

This movie, based on a popular teen novel and starring Lindsay Lohan (Freaky Friday, Parent Trap), will be released on February 20th. The site offers a preview.

Via ACHOCKABLOG.

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Philip Pullman

Official site for this author of the His Dark Materials series. The site contains information on him, his books, his writing techniques, and the worlds he has created.

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To PG-13?

A look at the different turn the new Harry Potter film is taking from the first two. With a new director, a different type of story, and perhaps a PG-13 rating.

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MSNBC - Not Just for Children

An article on the appeal of children's material for grown ups filled with some great insights into why the crossover is happening now.

"Or maybe grown-ups like children's entertainment simply because it's better than their own. Since writers can't fall back on sex, romance or profanity, the storytelling has to be dramatic and clear. Critic Francis Spufford, who reread all his childhood favorites while writing his memoir, "The Child That Books Built," believes that kids' books fill a need for compelling stories currently missing in adult fiction. He blames modernism for encouraging experimentation at the expense of a sound narrative. "What's happening now is a return to the story in its strongest sense, to the primal excitement of wanting to know what happens next," he says. Furthermore, children's stories are more sophisticated and nuanced than they used to be, addressing adult themes like darkness, loss, sorrow and moral ambiguity."

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BCCB-2003 BLUE RIBBONS

The top picks for children's books selected by Bulletin staff. It has a lot of books I haven't read, but also includes some of my favorites, like Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and The Dirty Cowboy.

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Wow, check out the gorgeous set of covers
for the new editions of the Harry Potter series.

Via Canuck Librarian.

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Reading Is Fundamental and Nestle USA Announce Winners of the 2004 RIF National Poster Contest

"The national champion is 10-year-old, fifth-grader Rebecca Galloway of Warwick, R.I., whose depiction of a child reading a book with the sun, earth and stars in the background earned her top honors."

The press release contains a link to the poster. I love the vivid colors.

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Stevens Point Journal - Trivia contest for kids puts 'Reading First!' Game will

Finally, a trivia game that I might have a chance of winning! Sign me up!!

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Captain Kangaroo entertained, educated a generation of children

"Bob Keeshan, television's beloved Captain Kangaroo, who entertained and educated millions of children for more than 30 years, died Friday. He was 76."

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Welcome to Reading Online

The International Reading Association presents this peer-reviewed journal that focuses on classrooms serving students aged 5-18. The site offers access to the current edition as well as a collection of articles dating back to 1997.

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Wisconsin Office of the Governor - 2004 State of the State Address

Hurrah for Governor Doyle for mentioning Newbery Honor winner Kevin Henkes in his State of the State address.

"I also believe we need a major focus on literacy. Different kids have different abilities - but every child should have the chance to read.

We have here tonight a native of Racine who has dedicated his life to getting kids excited about reading. Kevin Henkes is part of Wisconsin's proud tradition of creativity, and a winner this year of the Prestigious Newberry Honor Award for his distinguished contributions to American Literature for Children.

Last year, he was kind enough to join my wife Jessica and a group of middle school students for "Reading Day at the Residence." Because there is no better way to encourage reading than a good book.

Kevin, thank you for your service, and let's all work together to ensure every child has the chance to spark their imagination through reading."

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Katherine Ayres Homepage

Official site for this author of historical fiction for children.

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Minnesota Book Award nominees announced

"Literary heavy-hitters -- including Newbery Medal winner Kate DiCamillo, Louise Erdrich, Charles Baxter and Wang Ping -- and dozens of new voices are among the 2004 Minnesota Book Award nominees, announced Monday by the state Humanities Commission."

The winners will be announced on April 25th. A list of nominees is available with the article. Subscription required.

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YAPP

Collection of online resources for librarians who work with teens. The resources cover all aspects of the job from administration to materials to programming. Very complete resource.

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Colossal Directory of Children's Publishers

Lists of children's book and magazine publishers, as well as information on copyrights, contracts, critique groups, recommended sites, workshops, and marketing.

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Author Illustrator Source

A list of authors and illustrators who do school visits and presentations. The list can be browsed as a whole or is also broken down by the region that the authors live.

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Welcome to Mo Willems Home Page

Offiical site for the Caldecott Honor winning illustrator Mo Willems. His honored book is Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, one of the most popular books with the kids that I have ever read aloud. The kindergarten class I read to weekly just had to keep it for several more weeks and read it often.

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Reading for the Future

This is a fascinating site that offers resources for teachers and librarians to promote the reading of speculative fiction. The site contains book lists, online resources, news, and more.

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Robert Kimmel Smith - Home

Official site for the author of Chocolate Fever.

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Matt Novak author/illustrator

Homepage for one of my favorite picture book illustrators! Elmer Blunt's Open House and Mouse TV are beloved by children in my library, because of all of the clever touches that Novak includes in his illustrations.

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Carolyn Meyer's Website

Homepage for Carolyn Meyer, author of historical fiction for children including several of the Royal Diaries series.

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Lynne Cherry - Home

Homepage for the author of The Great Kapok Tree.

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FrankAsch.com

Homepage for this author of the Moonbear books and many others.

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Good Dog, Carl

Official homepage for this author of the nearly wordless Carl series.

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SCBWI

Website for this "professional organization for writers and illustrators of children's books," containing news, events, publications, web sites, and discussion boards.

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Senator wants book showing family living in car blacklisted

Senator Martin Golden from Brooklyn objects to the book by Arthur Dorros due to its portrayal of a US city with boarded windows, a family living out of a car and a caption featuring illiteracy.

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Children's author Joyce looking forward to Disney's `Wilbur Robinson'

"The Walt Disney Co.'s announcement this week that it will produce an animated version of the children's book "A Day With Wilbur Robinson" was something author William Joyce had been waiting for."

Joyce says later in the article that the film will be "pretty faithful to the book." He will also be a producer of the project.

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ALA | 2004 Best Books for Young Adults

Here is the complete list of the Best Books for Young Adults. There are 84 titles on this year's list. Even more to add to my reading list!

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ALA | 2004 Top Ten BBYA

YALSA has announced the Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults for 2004. They include many of the ones I have seen on similar lists, but a couple surprises too. I love this season of awards, and love adding so many titles to my list of books to read.

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Miramax | Ella Enchanted

After watching the trailer online at the site above, the movie doesn't seem to bear much resemblance to the book I liked so much. Ah well, it's exactly what I have come to expect. But the cast looks wonderful with Anne Hathaway (star of The Princess Diaries), Joanna Lumley and Eric Idle.

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National Theatre: His Dark Materials

Information and images from this new production based on Philip Pullman's books.

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Mars Exploration: Fun Zone!

NASA presents this site on the Mars Rover with online games, activities, and educational information.

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ALA | American Library Association Announces Award Winners

Drum roll, please!

Newbery to Kate DiCamillo for The Tale of Despereaux

Caldecott to Mordicai Gerstein for The Man Who Walked Between the Towers

Coretta Scott King to Angela Johnson for The First Part Last and to Ashley Bryan for Beautiful Blackbird

Printz to Angela Johnson for The First Part Last

Vist the ALA site to see the Honor Books in each category!

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New Photo of Hanks from The Polar Express

This new image from the upcoming movie starring Tom Hanks and directed and co-written by Robert Zemeckis shows the incredible motion-capture technology they are using to recreate the beloved picture book. To see more, visit the official site.

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The Salt Lake Tribune -- Utah couple receive acclaim with flying colors for children's books

Mark Buehner has illustrated fourteen children's books, six of which have been written by his wife Caralyn. He is most famous for his first book, The Adventures of Taxi Dog. His illustrations are filled with hidden elements and lots of character.

This article on him and his wife captures the joy they have found in working on children's books.

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Yahoo! News - Lego Fires Two Executives, Mulls Layoffs

Lego will stop making the Mindstorms series of toys that many schools use to participate in regional and state competitions for robot building. I imagine that this will end those competitions, which is too bad for our scientifically-gifted kids.

Time to bid on some extra sets on EBay!

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dict.html

It's a question we get asked all the time, especially for authors like Jon Scieszka. Now there is a webpage to answer that, so that when you are presenting a program, a booktalk, a book discussion, you can actually feel free to mention the author by name! Oh, and Scieszka is SHESS-ka (rhymes with Fresca). Who'd have thunk?

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Blackwater Ben by William Durbin (0-385-72928-6)

13-year-old Ben spends the winter of 1898 with his father cooking at a lumberjack camp in the northern Minnesota woods. The book is filled with incredible characters like the man who sharpens saws and hasn't bathed in over 15 years. It also contains facts that bring the hardship of camp to life, like the amazing temperature of -50 degrees below zero, when the horses couldn't work because they would die from the cold.

Ben is a wonderful narrator, he sees the logging camp from the vantage point of the kitchen, where all the loggers come every day. The story is funny, factual, and colorful.

I would recommend this book to any boy looking for a great read. It would also be a fun book to choose for a kid looking for a historical novel for an assignment. The colorful characters keep the story moving almost as fast as a a team of sawyers can eat 200 scones.

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Telegraph | News | Joan Aiken

Joan Aiken has died at age 79. I absolutely adored The Wolves of Willoughby Chase when I was a kid and read it at least five times, maybe many more. Her creepy settings and brave children were captivating.

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Diane Stanley - Books for Children

Homepage for this author of nonfiction for children with sections on her books, her life and school visits.

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Gloria Skurzynski

Biographical information, awards and publications from this author of children's books.

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Welcome to Tomie.com

Looks like the old link I had to a Tomie dePaola site has stopped, so here is the link to his official site. It is entirely done in his distinctive style with resources, book information and a section on being an artist.

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Seymour Simon: Award-Winning Children's Science Author

Homepage for this amazing author of children's science books that range from space to spiders.

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The Neal Shusterman Web Site

Official site for the award-winning author of books for older children and teens, including the marvelous Eyes of Kid Midas.

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Robert D. San Souci's Home Page

Official site for this prolific illustrator of children's picture books.

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Wisconsin State Journal: These tales for young readers are perfect for winter

Librarians from the CCBC recommend several books that capture the beauty of the coldest season.

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The Seattle Times: Gay references touchy in children's literature

Sigh. Yes, I understand that picture books with central gay themes are often questioned. But a book set in San Francisco where some of the neighbors are gay? Come on! And then the veteran school librarian just gives in without a fight? Sigh.

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The Salt Lake Tribune -- Outdoor titles a new frontier in book awards

This article reports on a book award that I had never heard of, the Pocatello National Outdoor Book Awards.

"In 2003, Jam & Jelly by Holly & Nellie, written by Gloria Whelan and illustrated by Gijsbert van Frankenhuyzen, took the prize for the children's book category."

"Jam & Jelly is a journey though the northern woods as a mother and daughter pick various berries through the seasons."

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She Speaks 3-Year-Old

The New York Times has a 4 page article on Anne Wood, the creator of the Teletubbies, and her new series Boohbah coming to the US this month. Sounds like another series that will have our smallest patrons clamoring for videos.

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Tri-City Herald: They Might Be Giants ... of the kids section

The band They Might Be Giants has published a children's picture book Bed, Bed, Bed complete with a music CD.

"While They Might Be Giants may have joined the crush of celebrities turned kid-lit writers, they've stayed true to their musical roots, with a CD that tucks neatly into the back of the children's book. In many ways, the four stories of "Bed, Bed, Bed" read like quirky liner notes with deft illustrations.

And that's the way they like it.

"Picture books are leisurely, not pushy," says Flansburgh, who fondly remembers the stories of Dr. Seuss and Babar the elephant from his childhood. "They're not trying to teach kids. They're really for entertainment and pleasure.""

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The Making of a Brick

This is a great site for kids fascinated by factories and how things are made. Visit this site to see exactly how Legos are made. The text is wordy, so kids will need adult help to enjoy the site.

Via Roberta's Blog.

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Louis