The Joy of Children's Literature

You may know that one of my favorite picturebooks is The Man Who Walked Between the Towers written and illustrated by Mordicai Gerstein. I wrote an extensive analysis of The Man Who Walked Between the Towers in chapter four of The Joy of Children's Literature . I love sharing this book with children and adults...both audiences are mesmerized by the story of the French aerialist Philippe Petit's walk between the twin towers of the World Trade Center. And both audiences always want to know if it's really a true story. So, I show them Petit's audiobiography, To Reach the Clouds: My High Wire Walk Between the Twin Towers , which includes stunning photographs of his death defying feat! Now there is a documentary about Petit's walk between the towers, Man On Wire , directed by James Marsh. The film won the 2008 Sundance Audience Award & Grand Jury Prize. It will be in limited release in the US starting July 25 ( theatre locations and release dates ); so limited t...

Even though it's the dog days of summer, there's still a lot going on in the blogosphere! Check out these sites and stories: Lois Lowry talks about her latest book, The Willoughby's on NPR's The Weekend Edition . I posted Lemony Snicket's review of The Willoughby's here. The UK's Booktrust, in association with Children's Laureate Michael Rosen, has established a new "Funny Prize" in Roald Dahl's honor to recognize children's authors who write funny books. A panel of 5 judges will select a short list of six books in each of two age groups: six and under and seven to fourteen. Books will be selected on September 13th, to coincide with Roald Dahl Day, and the winners will be awarded at a ceremony in London in November. Fiction, non-fiction and poetry will be included. Listen to Michael Rosen talk about the award on NPR's Weekend Edition . Love nonfiction? Want to connect with the best children's authors of nonfiction? Then the ...

If you are a fan of Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Series ( Eragon, Eldest , and the forthcoming Brisingr ), this interview on Barnes and Noble's website might will be of interest to you.