The Joy of Children's Literature

As I read the posts of many of the blogs I follow, I've noticed that quite a few bloggers have posted their New Year's resolutions. One of the things I have struggled with since I started this blog is how much personal information to post. I started the blog as a way to share resources about children's literature for the readers of The Joy of Children's Literature and anyone else who happens upon this blog. Surely no one is interested in my personal life. However, if there is anything I know for sure, it's that for reading to be meaningful, it must be personal. As I wrote JCL , one of my goals was for my passion for children's literature to be palpable. I want the reader to know that I care deeply for children's literature and one reason for that is how it has touched me personally. The way I conveyed that feeling in the book was to share stories from my own childhood and from my work with children as a teacher and a mother that exemplified the affect child

I love the beginning of a new year! It brings with it the sense of a fresh beginning and the hope for all that is to come the rest of the year. I always think about the year of new books ahead (okay, and summer vacation!). As much as I'd like to be the girl bringing in the new year with champagne and dancing, most often I'm watching the ball drop on TV like many others in the US. However, New Year's Day is celebrated many different ways (and times) around the world. So, below is a list of a few great books that can be shared with children in celebration of the New Year everywhere! Happy New Year, Everywhere! by Arlene Erlbach (2000, Millbrook Press) Through interesting text and colorful, dynamic illustrations, this excellent book briefly describes traditional New Year's celebrations and customs in 20 countries. The introduction explains that varying cultures observe different calendars and seasonal celebrations. Each spread highlights a different country, providing the

From NPR by Renee Montagne: Author Judy Blume talks with Renee Montagne about how a suburban housewife in New Jersey turned into one of the country's most celebrated children's writers and how her own childhood inspired her fiction writing. Listen to the story here !

The Newbery Medal has been the gold standard in children's literature for more than eight decades. On the January day when the annual winner is announced, bookstores nationwide sell out, libraries clamor for copies and teachers add the work to lesson plans. Now the literary world is debating the Newbery's value, asking whether the books that have won recently are so complicated and inaccessible to most children that they are effectively turning off kids to reading. Of the 25 winners and runners-up chosen from 2000 to 2005, four of the books deal with death, six with the absence of one or both parents and four with such mental challenges as autism. Most of the rest deal with tough social issues. An article in October's School Library Journal — "Has the Newbery Lost Its Way?" by children's literary expert Anita Silvey—touched off the debate, now in full bloom on blogs and in e-mails. The Association for Library Service to Children, the organization that awards

The International Reading Association has launched IRA Gateway, a new monthly e-newsletter offering practical tips from IRA publications and links to valuable resources online. To view a sample issue or to subscribe, visit the IRA website.

Reading Rockets has a new video interview with Helen Oxenbury! You can watch the interview below, view the interview transcript , or see a selected list of her children's books. You can also see our exclusive video interview with writer Mem Fox , Oxenbury's partner on Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes .

And the "best of 2008" lists keep coming. Check out Hornbook's list .