The Joy of Children's Literature

I just watched a CNN story about Connie Heermann, a high school teacher for 27 years at Perry Meridian High School in Indiana, who was suspended for a year and a half by the school board for assigning her students to read The Freedom Writer's Diary . The book is based on the true story of Erin Gruwell and made into a movie and contains bad language. Heermann had previously attended the Freedom Writers Institute training, a program for teachers about Gruwell’s three-stage process for student success: Engage, Enlighten and Empower. Heermann felt her students faced many of the same issues as Gruwell's students, almost all of whom went on to college. "The odds are against them to graduate," she explained. "Some have experienced abuse, gangs and juvenile detention centers, and others have emancipated from their parents." (from the Southside Times , 6/29/08 ). Heermann found a sponsor to pay for the 175 books and sent home permission slips, explaining the project,...

I am a BIG fan of The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo. I love the beautifully crafted language and the way DiCamillo talks to you, the reader. However, I'm not so sure how these elements will translate into a movie. I've been more disappointed with movie adaptations of my favorite books ( Tuck Everlasting , Ella Enchanted , on an on..) than I have been thrilled. So, I wasn't suprised when my reaction to the new movie trailer for The Tale of Despereaux was less than luke warm. What are your thoughts?

Why are these two people smiling like they've just won an award? Because they did...two very perstigious awards in the UK. Philip Reeve won the Carnegie Medal which is awarded by children's librarians for an outstanding book for children and young people. Emily Gravett won the Kate Greenaway Medal which is awarded by children's librarians for an outstanding book in terms of illustration for children and young people. EMILY GRAVETT LITTLE MOUSE’S BIG BOOK OF FEARS Macmillan (Age range: 6+)ISBN: 9781405089487 Little Mouse is afraid of almost everything. We learn about all his phobias, from his fear of creepy crawlies to his fear of clocks, dogs, cats and shadows. The only thing that makes him feel better is that human beings actually seem to be afraid of him! This is a clever, funny and innovative book which is also extremely warm and emotionally engaging for the reader. It’s a book you can explore and spend ages over. The attention to detail is quite astonishing: every ...

The June issue of The Edge of the Forest is out with lots of great reviews and articles. The June Carnival of Children's Literature is up at Susan Writes. This month's carnival is about fathers in children's literature. Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast has a great interview with author/illustrator David Small. Audiobooker has a link to two lists of family audio books that will hook readers of all ages. Even if you don't think you or your family are big fans of audio books, I urge you to give them one more chance. My family always listens to audio books when we are on trips (long or short). In a few weeks, we are driving to Florida for vacation and we have already collected a stack of audio books to take on the trip! A Year of Reading has a great interview with educator extraordinaire Shelly Harwayne about her new book Look Who's Learning to Read . Cynthia Lord, author of the very brilliant book Rules has a wonderful post on her blog about responding to c...

all I want to do is read The Magician ! It was released yesterday and I was first in line for my reserved copy! The Magician is the second book in The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series by Michael Scott. I was absolutely enthralled with the first book, The Alchemyst , which I listened to on audio and was expertly narrated by Denis O'Hare. I'm only about a quarter of the way into The Magician , but I'm not disappointed so far. Now, back to reading! A Q & A with Michael Scott is here .

Today is Eric Carle's birthday! To the right is his self portrait from Artist to Artist: 23 Major Illustrator's Talk to Children About Their Art . I love how he has the butterfly from The Very Hungry Caterpillar coming out of his head! The Very Hungry Caterpillar will be 40 years old next year (and it doesn't look a day past 20). I think it is more popular with children today than ever before. Often when introducing children's literature to preservice teachers, The Very Hungry Caterpillar is one of the few books they remember as a child, which is a great place to start. In Artist to Artist , Carle states, "Ever since I was very young, as far back as I can remember, I have loved making pictures. I knew even as a child that, when I grew up, I would be an artist of some kind. The lovely feeling of my pencil touching paper; a crayon making a star shape in my sketchbook, or my brush dipping into bright and colorful paints--these things affect me as joyfully today as ...

Today, June 18, is Chris Van Allsburg's birthday. In chapter four of The Joy of Children's Literature , I wrote about the brilliant illustrative work and prosaic writing of Chris Van Allsburg. But, there are a number of resources online that allow his admirers to really get up-close and personal! The picture to the left is Van Allsburg's self-portrait that appears in Artist to Artist: 23 Major Illustrators Talk to Children About Their Art (all profits from the sale of this book benefit the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art ). I like this picture because he is winking, which I think he does often through the stories he tells in his books. Chris Van Allsburg's website is one-stop-shopping for everything Van Allsburg. In his biography , you'll find out that he was born in Grand Rapids, MI in 1949 and walked a mile and a half to school everyday until he was in the sixth grade. When he went to high school, he didn't take art classes, but was interested in math ...

Today, Scholastic released the 2008 Kids and Family Reading Report conducted by Yankelovich and based on interviews with 1,002 respondents (501 children ages five to 17 and a parent or guardian for each). It explored kids’ attitudes toward reading, as well as the roles that technology, parental input and the Harry Potter books play in their reading habits. With reports of the decline of reading in children, especially after the age of 8, considered by many to be due at least in part to the increase in use of the Internet, this report brings welcomed findings. Publisher's Weekly has an article with a nice summary of the study, some of which I have included below: The study found that a majority of children (68%) think it is “extremely” or “very” important to read for pleasure, and “like” or “love” doing so. However, that number decreases with age: 82% percent of children ages five to eight “like” or “love” reading, compared to 55% for children ages 15 to 17 89% of kids say:“My favo...

The spring 2008 issue of The Dragon Lode , the journal of the Children's Literature and Reading Special Insterst Group of the International Reading Association, includes their annual booklist of 2008 Notable Books for a Global Society (NBGS). Criteria/Guidelines "The NBGS committee considers works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for students in grades K-12 that encourage readers to understand, accept, and celebrate cultural differences as well as recognize shared aspects of the human experience across time and space. Selected titles must be outstanding representatives of their genres and must promote an understanding of diversity both within an outside the United States, in terms of culture, race, ethnicity, gender, language, religion, social and economic status, sexual orientation, and/or physical and intellectual ability. To be eligible for selection , a trade book must have been published in the United States for the first time during the year of copyright under consid...

In chapater 10 of The Joy of Children's Literature , I discuss boys' preferences for "texts that connect directly to their lives--desires, concerns, experiences--and that are appropriately challenging and in which they can become totally immersed" (p. 279). What are those books, you ask? Well, a new blog, Guys Lit Wire , will help teachers, librarians, parents, and other adults find books with which teen aged boys will connect. From Guys Lit Wire : Guys Lit Wire was created after a broad discussion among YA bloggers within the lit blogosphere about the lack of books for teenage boys. There seems to be a perception that boys don't read as much as girls, especially teenage boys. As the YA Columnist for Bookslut it has been especially clear to me that whether or not boys want to read more, finding books for boys is not so easy. There are so many more books targeted toward female readers than male that it is really quite amazing - and also very disturbing. So we decid...

New updates from several resources on children's literature have been recently published: Notes from Horn Book (original post describing this resource is here ) Five Questions for Alexandra Day, author of Good Dog, Carl books An annotated compilation of books about dogs and ponies Reviews of three new books that address a few of today’s most compelling subjects: the war in Iraq, the conflict between civil liberties and national security, and climate change Annotations of three anxiously awaited sequels: The Penderwicks on Gardam Street , The Battle of the Labyrinth , and The Last of the High Kings Three reviews of books for the Fourth of July: King George: What Was His Problem, Lady Liberty: A Biography, and Otto Runs for President CLCD (The Children's Literature Comprehensive Database - original post describing this resource is here ) Themed reviews on books about butterflies , Father's Day , and Flag Day Author feature include Cory Doctorow , Meg Cabot , and Rosemary...

The first book in Jeanne DuPrau's Books of Ember series, The City of Ember , is coming out as a movie on October 10. Check out the preview below.

J.K. Rowling, author of the best-selling Harry Potter book series, delivers her Commencement Address, “The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination,” at the Annual Meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association. Watch the video of her speech or read the transcript here . Brilliant!

Writer Dave Eggers, educator Ninive Calegari, and Academy Award winning director Vanessa Roth are working to help teachers get what they deserve. Thanks to Publicschoolinsights for the link In a recent interview , Eggers stated that they intend the documentary to transform public perceptions of teaching and fuel much stronger public support for public schools. "They hope [it] will do for teaching what An Inconvenient Truth did for the environment. Featuring footage taken by teachers themselves, the film aims to offer a first-hand view of the challenges educators face every day--and to inspire greater public support for teachers' work." This short clip brought tears to my eyes...anyone who teaches, has taught, or knows dedicated teachers will recognize the passion and pain of the teachers featured in this clip. It is my hope that this documentary receives the attention it deserves.