Kids Lit
Books and More for Children and Teens

The English-to-12-Year-Old-AOLer Translator is a lot of fun. It takes normal written English and turns it into the short-cut language of tween AOL chatters. Who knows, it may help some of you discover what those kids are writing in their school papers!

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Should ‘raunchy’ be the 4th ‘R’? is another article attacking teen literature for being too graphic sexually. This article focuses on graphic books in school libraries. This writer calls for the school to require parental permission for kids to read contested books where a review panel cannot agree on the appropriateness of the book. Sigh.

I would emphasize that all parents have the right to question books in their childrens' schools. All parents have the right to decide for THEIR CHILDREN, but they do not have the right to decide for all children in their community.

I would guess that the number of public school libraries with these graphic novels is very small. When I look for Doing It by Burgess in our 30 member PUBLIC library database, I find that only two of the libraries were brave enough to purchase it. If public libraries were shying away from the title, school libraries would be even more skittish.

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Teen's dragon soars again: South Florida Sun-Sentinel is a mixed review of Eldest, the new book by Christopher Paolini. Eldest continues the saga started in Eragon, and is one of the most highly anticipated books this summer.

I haven't read it yet, but my guess is that if you loved Eragon, like so many teenage boys did, then you will also love Eldest.

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Houghton Mifflin offers a very cool Curious George site that has information on Curious George, his books, films, art, and media. It also offers a teacher/librarian resource center with lesson plans and reproducibles, as well as online games for kids to play.

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ALA | YALSA offers teen “books that don't make you blush”

The Young Adult Library Services Association's Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults Committee is creating a list of recommended reading for teens and parents looking for popular reading materials free of swearing and sexuality. The booklist is not released yet, but the link above offers connection to previously created booklists.

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Coming Soon has an interview with Anna Popplewell who plays Susan in the upcoming film Narnia.

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Coming Soon! has a link to USA Today's picture gallery on the new movie version of Charlotte's Web.

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Writer weaves a Web of young fans for her novel - The Boston Globe is an article about how Libby Koponen used the Internet to get her book, Blow Out the Moon, directly into the hands of children and eventually published.

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The Hans Christian Andersen Awards Nominees for 2006 have been announced. The awards are presented every other year by the International Board on Books for Young People. 28 countries submitted 26 authors and 25 illustrators as nominees. Americans will know very few of these names, but they are ones we can look out for if they get translated.

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Powells offers a great interview with Neil Gaiman who has a new book and a new movie coming out.

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Lifetimetv.com: Movies - Speak

Lifetime Channel will be running their movie version of Speak, based on the book by Laurie Halse Anderson, on September 5th.

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For libraries in 32 states, the 2006 Summer Reading Program Theme is Paws, Claws, Scales & Tales. The art is done by David Shannon. If you are brave, you can scroll down to the bottom of the page to see the upcoming themes for 2007 and 2008.

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Author Arthur Slade now does podcasts! At ArthurSlade.com: Podcasts you will find the two podcasts he has produced. Both include tips on writing.

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Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert (0152053042)

Lois Ehlert's books are always wonderful. In Leaf Man, there is a man made out of leaves who blows away across the landscape. He flies over orchards, ducks, animals, and much more and all of the landscape and creatures are also made out of leaves.

I use many of Ehlert's books in story times throughout the year. Leaf Man is a perfect autumnal story that will tie in brilliantly with leaf projects in classrooms or at libraries. Ehlert has once again triumphed with her paper art, creating leaves that are very realistic and at the same time whimsical. Having kids build their own creatures out of leaves would be the perfect follow-up to the book. It is filled with inspiration.

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Traction Man Is Here! by Mini Grey (0-375-83191-6)

This book is one of my favorites of the year! A little boy wakes up and finds Traction Man gift wrapped on his bed. "Traction Man: Generic Action Figure with Dazzle-Painted Battle Pants." Traction Man immediately leaps into action riding in a sneaker and fighting off the Evil Pillows. From there he adventures in the kitchen sink, the back yard, and the bath tub. Finally, they arrive at Grandma's house where a "lovely (grrr)" knitted green romper suit and matching bonnet are waiting for Traction Man. How will Traction Man survive wearing this humiliating costume? Read the book and see!

The pictures of the book are filled with messy rooms, action galore, and make kids feel right at home. The entire text of the book is written exactly the way boys play with their action figures. I think this is the first time that both my boys found a book that sounds just like them, featuring a boy that plays just like they play. It was magical for them to read this book with me, and they requested it again and again. My oldest even read it himself over and over again.

Hand this to those creative little boys who come to the library lugging any type of action figure. They will find a kindred spirit here. A perfectly written, wonderfully illustrated book for the little boy in all of us.

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Dungeons and Dragons is working to get their game into more public libraries. You can take a look at their campaign at Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Library Web Page. If you get one of their printed flyers, you will see a quote from me advocating D&D in libraries.

I did D&D with a group of teens via the Teen Center we set up at a public library. It is one of the programs I am most proud of, because we turned a very negative situation with teens over-running the library each day into a positive one. Each afternoon, we converted the public meeting room into a teen center using a computer on a cart, lots of bean bags, and carts of very cool books, including D&D books and dice. It was a very popular space and one that resulted in a lot of positive things happening. D&D was at the center of bringing some of those teen boys in. It was a wonderful experience. I still miss some of those kids.

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Innovate Live Index offers several articles on using video games in classrooms and as instructional devices. All articles are free to access once you register with the site at no charge.

Via Game On: Games in Libraries.

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Rhianna and the Wild Magic by Dave Luckett (Book on CD by Bolinda Publishing)

Rhianna has always had trouble learning magic in the local school. She doesn't understand why everything has to be so precise and why her teacher can't explain the reason behind the complicated gestures and words. Rhianna's entire society relies on magic. They use it to make bread rise, make cloth stronger, and prevent damage to crops. But then one day, the local magic starts to fail. A master mage is sent in to see what is happening and he discovers Rhianna's disastrous attempt at magic. What he realizes when he sees Rhianna's mistake is that she is a wild mage who uses magic naturally and draws it from the countryside. So Rhianna is blamed for the loss of magic and must take lessons to try to control her magic and wear a pendant to absorb the magic she is taking from the land so that each week it can be returned to be reused.

This is a creative fantasy read aloud by a gifted reader with a strong Australian accent. The book is well-paced and the character of Rhianna is a wonderful female protagonist. The book is filled with humor and magic. This fantasy should be recommended to families traveling on car trips. Both adults and children alike will enjoy the book. For my eight-year-old and me, it kept us wanting our drives to be just a little longer, so we could hear more of the story: the hallmark of a great audio book.

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The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch by Joseph Delaney (0060766182)

Twelve-year-old Thomas Ward is a farm boy who is apprenticed to the county Spook. As the seventh son of a seventh son, Thomas is able to see things that others don't. The Spook trains Thomas to fight boggarts, but Thomas finds himself up against a family of witches. Despite the Spook's warnings to stay away from girls in pointy shoes, Thomas begins speaking with Alice and agrees to do her a favor. But that favor will change his life entirely, making him a target of local witches.

This book is a wild ride of horror for children. It is fantastically done with spine tingling pacing, skin crawling details, and sudden chills. The main characters of the Spook, Thomas, Alice and Thomas's mother are all well-rendered and complex. The atmosphere of the book is hauntingly vivid, dark and horrible. Give this to kids who enjoyed Goosebumps at a younger age. How wonderful to have a horror book that is a well-written triumph to recommend to young readers.

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Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin (0-374-32091-8)

Fifteen-year-old Liz Hall finds herself floating in a cruise ship on the ocean with a roommate who has a bullet hole in the back of her head. Though evidence is all around her, Liz takes a long time to realize that she is dead and headed to Elsewhere. Elsewhere is where all dead souls go to live their lives backwards, so Liz will become younger and younger until she is a newborn baby and is sent back to earth. Liz's grandmother is there to meet her and give her a place to stay, but Liz is unable to deal with her death and spends a lot of time gazing back at earth watching her family try to put the pieces back together. It is not until she tries a desperate act to reach her family that she begins to realize that there is a life for her on Elsewhere.

This book is breathtakingly haunting and rich. Impossible to put down, the story and characters will catch you and hold you until you reluctantly finish. The setting of Elsewhere is vivid and the concept of aging backwards is ingenious. The book reads very quickly and lightly for all the depth that it has and will be a favorite among girls who like a little tragedy, angst and romance in their teen novels. This one should fly off the shelf all on its own. Beautiful.

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The Vacation by Polly Horvath (0-374-38070-8)

Horvath's new book is a wonderful mix of humor, poignancy and eccentricities. Henry's parents head off on a trip to Africa, leaving him with his two aunts, Mag and Pigg. Mag gets very ill and upon recuperating, decides that they all need to go on a vacation. Hopping into the car, the three travelers head off and have a series of adventures on the open road. From a disappointing beach visit to floating down the Everglades to eventually losing Pigg in Oklahoma, the stories string together with a rhythm that replicates car travel. The pacing of the novel is perfection as is the vivid characterization of the two aunts and Henry.

This is a wonderful one to read aloud to classes, because there are plenty of laughs to match the insights that Henry comes to realize. Recommend this one to both parents and teachers to share with kids. As for kids, I think this will take some hand-selling to persuade them to try it out, but if they have read and enjoyed other Horvath novels, many of them will be more than willing to look past the cover and head off on this wonderful road trip.

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Quills Awards is a new national book award that involves consumers in the selection process. Sponsored by NBC, Borders, Barnes & Noble, and Reed Business, it is definitely worth participating. There are a variety of categories such as illustrated children's books, chapter books, graphic novels, teen, and science fiction/fantasy. Plus many more for adult books. you can vote online or at any participating Borders or Barnes & Noble.

The nominees are a little strange, though some of my favorite books are on the lists. Hopefully you will find some favorites of your own to support!

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Lemony Snicket and the title of his next book are missing! Head to The N A M E L E S S Novel website to help solve the mystery before it's too late! Just enter your birthdate and information to register and then you will be able to start the search. Wonderful fun!

The Nameless Novel is due out in October.

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Unfortunately, when the server went down, so did my Blacklist on Moveable Type. So please be patient with all the spam that you will see. I am hoping they can fix it today. Right now spam is coming in almost as fast as I can delete it.

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Fantastic Fantasies: Hollywood's Hunt for the Next Boy Wizard is an article from The Book Standard that looks at the new trend of fantasy movies for children. Movie version of Eragon, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Golden Compass, and Artemis Fowl are all in the works. I love that all of these films are based on books, since it will draw kids who enjoy the movies to seek out the books they are based on.

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'Click, Clack, Moo' author inspired by her father is an article with the touching story of Doreen Cronin's relationship with her father and how even after his death, he continues to inspire her work. Fans of Cronin, can look forward to her new Diary of a Spider and Click, Clack, Quackity, Quack. If you haven't read Cronin's Click Clack Moo, Cows That Type and her other books, you are missing some great kid humor. They are wonderful read-alouds for early elementary kids.

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Journal Gazette: Rad Reads offers a brief review of the newest version of the Hardy Boys books, the Undercover Brothers series. It looks like the language the boys use is updated and that this time the boys are working undercover as detectives. The books are also written from both boys' points of view in alternating chapters.

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One of the more controversial stories among teen librarians is New trend in teen fiction: Racy reads - Nightly News with Brian Williams - MSNBC.com. You can either read the article or watch the video. Either way the gist is the same: that teen novels are too provocative and that the books are "gratuitous -- even dangerous." Now, yes there are racy reads for teens out there. There have been for a long time, anyone remember Deenie, Forever, and other Blume novels? Anyone love them as teens?

The only good part of the article is when at the end it encourages parents to read what their kids/teens are reading. Yes! Please parents, do this!

I think it crosses a line and becomes sensationalist journalism when the word "dangerous" is applied to teen novels. I am proud to say that we just purchased a whole set of the dangerous Gossip Girl series as well as some other hot teen paperback series like A-List and The Clique. I don't see them as any more dangerous than Forever was for me. Good golly, all of these teens could be turned into radical librarians by reading so much! Be afraid, be very afraid!

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USATODAY - Fashion magazines showing more body types

Following Dove soap's new real women ad campaign, teen magazines like Seventeen, Teen People and CosmoGirl are now featuring girls off all shapes and sizes rather than just tall, thin models. This can only be good for girls' self esteem and body image. I look forward to seeing the trend continue with an emphasis on health rather than size.

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The lost blogger has returned! The server that my blogs and the library's website live on went down and it has taken almost a week to get it back up again. Meanwhile, I have been collecting things to post about, including a couple book reviews for wonderful new books. Plus, today I got a large box of preview books from Scholastic that have me drooling, but I will have to do my review book for SLJ first. So lots to look forward to. My pile of books next to my chair never seems to shrink, which is just the way I like it!

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For Young Readers is a Washington Post article that captures the type of picture books that kids will want to read as summer wanes. Books that will prep little ones for the first day of Kindergarten, fun math books and other school subjects and finally books that are just plain fun.

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Paper Toys is a site that offers patterns for fold-up models. From building models to origami to cards to paper airplanes, this site offers a variety of challenges for kids and grown ups alike.

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Locus Online News: Hugo Awards Winners were announced this week. The winner of best novel is Susanna Clarke for Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.

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UpToTen is a website filled with online games for children from toddlers to age ten. There are over 600 games and activities for children.

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Always on the prowl for quick ways to find crafts, theme ideas, rhymes and more for my storytimes, I discovered Preschool Activities at EnchantedLearning.com. It has a wide range of printables, ideas, activities and more that will be useful for both teachers and librarians.

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Under the Persimmon Tree by Suzanne Fisher Staples (0-374-38025-2) is the new book from the author of Shabanu. This new book tells the story of two women caught in the recent events in Afghanistan. Najmah is a girl happily living in a village in Northern Afghanistan until her father and brother are taken away to fight for the Taliban. Then the bombing starts and Najmah is caught in a series of horrific events that finally leave her as a refugee in Pakistan. The other half of the story is that of Nusrat, an American woman who married an Afghan doctor and came to Pakistan with him. But soon after they arrived, he headed out to start a clinic in Northern Afghanistan. She has not heard from him in months, and meanwhile she has created a school for refugee children.

Staples has created a breathtaking work here. Using present tense, she draws readers directly into the horror of what happens in war. Her use of tiny details to show how life is both different and the same in Afghanistan is beautifully done. The characterization is vivid, allowing these two female characters to stand out strongly against the situation they are caught in.

The entire work is wonderfully evocative and magical. This would make a wonderful read in classes doing modern history or current events.

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PAGES has a great article on service to teens in public libraries.

"Libraries have to start becoming community centers and move away from the white ivory tower type place where you're only allowed to go in there for the information you need and you have to be quiet," he says. "That bun-head thinking is going to kill this public library world."

It goes on to say that until teen services are considered as important as children's services, we are not doing enough as libraries to serve them.

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RoaldDahlFans is a website devoted to Roald Dahl, beloved author of books like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach. The site offers a biography of Dahl, timelines, pictures, awards, articles, lists of Dahl's work, information on collecting, and much more.

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Podcasting is one of the hottest new trends online. The Education Podcast Network collects podcasts of interest to teachers to use in the classroom or to use to understand the latest issues. You can browse by subject specific podcast or find student and class podcasts.

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Written by an English teacher, How schools are destroying the joy of reading is definitely not an attack on teachers or schools. Rather it is an attack on those huge textbooks that hinder teens from really enjoying language and literature.

The piece concludes with:

"It's time for states and school districts to kick the mega-textbook habit that four or five big corporations control and start spending money on the kind of books that will make kids want to do sustained reading, to get lost in the written word. For English classes, that's paperback novels (whole novels) and collections of short stories (complete short stories) and poetry."

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Chicago Tribune -- No joke: Comic strips aid in learning, teachers say is an article on how ESL teachers are using comic strips to teach English. The combination of visual, aural and humor add up to a perfect teaching tool.

You will get to have a free login at the Tribune to access the article.

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Connect for Kids is a website that encourages parents and teachers to connect and talk about issues facing children today. From newletters to recommended sites to recent news and online forums, this site is timely and filled with items of interest.

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Another new blog find! OK, so the blog isn't new, but it is new to me. Librarian in the Middle is a blog that focuses on resources and news for middle school librarians.

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Check out the new children's lit blog on fantasy and science fiction: Wands and Worlds. As far as I am concerned, there can never be too much talk about kids' books, fantasy and science fiction in particular!

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Independent Online Edition: The facts about teen fiction takes a look at some of the more powerful British books for teens and children. Featured authors include Marjorie Blackman, whose first book in her Naughts and Crosses series was released in the U.S. earlier this year, and Melvin Burgess, whose books usually get some eyebrows raised. The great part of the article is that it acknowledges that there are darker parts to these new novels, and finishes with this take on children's literature:

"More remarkable than the upfront passions and terrors is its ability to win and keep readers with an amazingly wide range of forms and genres - from the grittiest kinds of "dirty realism" through every possible brand of fable and fantasy. Alongside its exploits and experiments, much of mainstream adult writing looks stuck in a drearily naturalistic backwater. So read Blackman, or Pullman, or Burgess, and be shocked: not by their ambitions, but by their adult counterparts' timidity."

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Teenlibrarian offers a podcast interview with VOYA editor, Cathi Dunn MacRae that gives a glimpse behind the scenes of VOYA . If you haven't tried listening to podcasts yet, this is a great way to get started.

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The Escapist is an intelligent online gaming magazine. This is exactly the sort of information that libraries wanting to do gaming programs for teens are interested in.

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wayfarers all is a children's lit blog. Recent posts have been on the new Willy Wonka movie and Harry Potter 6.

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The Journal of African American Children's Literature offers a website that provides links to useful websites, features African-American authors and illustrators, and lists news and book reviews.

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The Claremont Review is a literary magazine that publishes writings by teens. The site features some samples from their first issue, as well as information on their writing contests and resources to aid young adults in getting their writings published.

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On Wings of a Dragon by Cora Taylor is a great book I found because School Library Journal is having me review the sequel. I hadn't read or even heard of the first book, but I am so happy that SLJ asked me to review the second because I got to discover another very talented Canadian children's book author.

On Wings of a Dragon is the story of two girls. First is Kour'el who is trapped alone in a tower cell until she finds a tiny dragon who used to be a Great One, or huge dragon. Her story is how they grow stronger, and the dragon grows bigger, and they escape. Meanwhile, Maighdlin, a girl in a small village is gathered up by the queen's soldiers and taken to the palace to work as a servant girl. Servants are always disappearing from the castle and never return to their villages, so it is seen as a death sentence. Her grandfather and another girl's boyfriend follow the girls in the hopes of rescuing them.

The many stories converge into a single story by the end and readers will find themselves in a rewarding book that is fresh and new, despite its traditional epic fantasy setting. The characters are multidimensional and sparklingly written.

Recommend this to fantasy readers, especially those who enjoy dragon stories or stories with strong female protagonists.

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TimesDispatch.com | Fries with that? Baldacci takes a child-oriented detour

David Baldacci joins a growing list of authors of books for adults who are writing children's books. I enjoy the fact that this started as a bedtime story for his children.

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Library Journal - Half-Blood Prince Sets Sales Records, Bests Order of the Phoenix by 20 percent

I suppose we could have guessed it! After all, so many people have purchased their own copy in our community that the hold list for the library copies is very small. A record 6.9 million copies were sold in the first 24 hours in the U.S. alone!

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