The Joy of Children's Literature

Video of the final edition of The Rocky Mountain News. Is this just the beginning of the end of newspapers as we knew them? Will children today remember how the news used to be published? Thanks to Bud Hunt for the link.

I just listened to a wonderful interview with Laurie Halse Anderson on a ReadWriteThink podcast . Laurie speaks with such heartfelt concern, understanding and compassion for young adult girls with eating disorders, the topic of her latest book Wintergirls (to be released March 19). Additionally, Laurie has written a poem in honor of the 10th anniversary of the publication of Speak . The opening and closing stanzas were written by Laurie, but the lines in the middle were all taken from the many letters she has received from young readers over the years. Laurie reads the poem in the podcast but you can watch her read the poem here . Before you watch it though, be prepared. As soon as the words of the young readers hit me, I started crying. It is a very moving poem to say the least and definitely a suiting tribute to her many readers. The Brown Bookshelf has a great interview with Jacqueline Woodson you don't want to miss. It includes a discussion of Peace, Locomotion , the sequel t...

Q & A with Susan Patron By Shannon Maughan -- Publishers Weekly , 2/26/2009 Susan Patron spent 35 years as a children’s librarian at the Los Angeles Public Library. She retired in 2007, after winning the Newbery Medal that year for her novel The Higher Power of Lucky (Atheneum/Jackson). A sequel, Lucky Breaks , hits shelves next month. In what ways has your life changed since winning the Newbery? Where to start? Okay, here’s one example that’s like a little miracle to me: my first novel, Maybe Yes, Maybe No, Maybe Maybe (Orchard) came out in 1993 and was an ALA Notable, got starred reviews, generated mail from kids, but it went out of print in a few years. After [I won the Newbery], Atheneum bought the rights for a paperback reissue with new art. Then, this very morning [Monday, February 23], an Israeli publisher made an offer to publish Maybe Yes, Maybe No, Maybe Maybe in Hebrew. So [before the Newbery] I was a midlist author and had gotten used to that sad, frustrating, and c...

-- Publishers Weekly, 2/26/2009 They’re back: the Children’s Book Council has unveiled the finalists for the second-annual Children’s Choice Book Awards. Nearly 15,000 children cast their votes in six categories—four based on age group, as well as author and illustrator of the year. As last year, the winners will be announced at the Children’s Choice Book Awards Gala on May 12, during Children’s Book Week. Jon Scieszka, the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, will reprise his role as host of the gala, during which the second annual Impact Award will be given—this year to Whoopi Goldberg. From March 16 through May 3, kids can vote for their favorite books and authors at their schools, libraries and bookstores, as well as at BookWeekOnline.com . And the finalists are: Kindergarten to Second Grade Book of the Year The Donut Chef by Bob Staake (Random/Golden) Katie Loves the Kittens by John Himmelman (Holt) The Pigeon Wants a Puppy! by Mo Willems (Hyperion) Sort It Out! ...

-- Publishers Weekly , 2/23/2009 Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy vy David Soman and Jacky Davis. Dial, $16.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-8037-3339-8 What's a superhero without a sidekick? Lulu, star of last year's Ladybug Girl, meets her friend Sam at the playground, but before they can join forces, they must first agree on what to play—a sequence handled with understanding and humor. At one point, Lulu hits on the idea of using the seesaw: “She runs over and sits down on one side of the seesaw and waits. And waits. Sam just stands there, not getting on.” Ultimately, intrigued by Lulu's suggestion of a game involving superpowers, Sam becomes Bumblebee Boy, with his striped shirt and a stick for a stinger. Together they battle the Mean Robot (tire swing) that threatens to “crush the playground” (“Ladybug Girl grabs on, and jumps on top of its head! Bumblebee Boy stings it with his stinger again and again”) and attract some new heroes, too. Soman's pen-and-ink characters are remark...

On February 17th, New York Times bestselling author Walter Dean Myers presented an NCTE Web seminar, "Teaching Dope Sick in the Classroom," as part of the National African American Read-In . This book, one of Myers's most recent, is available for free viewing from the Adlit.org website until February 24, 2009. In the Web seminar, Myers talks openly about growing up in Harlem, the origin of his book ideas, the significance of Dope Sick, ways to bridge the gap with inner city youth, and ideas for writing about literature. View the recording of the Web seminar as part of your National African American Read-In celebration during the month of February!

I just "reserved my place in line" for the new Kindle 2.0 . I've wanted one for a long time, mostly for traveling (I don't see myself curling up in bed at night with it). Interestingly, an article from Publisher's Weekly titled, Taking Steps into the Digital Future , discusses the likelihood of e-books becoming popular with kids. Below is an excerpt: It's no secret that teens live online—Twittering, blogging, posting videos on YouTube and downloading from iTunes—or that most teens (80%, according to a national survey last fall) have cellphones. Together that adds up to a sizable potential market for mobile phone and Web-based e-books. Google and Amazon have no intention of ceding that business to developers of iPhone apps like Stanza. Earlier this month, they announced that they will provide e-content for mobile phones. Google will release 1.5 million public domain titles; Amazon will adapt books already in the Kindle format. Like earlier technological innov...

Starred reviews from Publishers Weekly , 2/16/2009 Picture Books Sneaky Weasel by Hannah Shaw. Knopf, $15.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-375-95625-6 When the eponymous “nasty, measly” antihero of Shaw's authorial debut invites everyone to a party “to boast about his incredible castle, fast car and huge swimming pool,” he discovers that he has made an offer that is very easy to refuse. Shocked when his previous crimes and pranks are thrown in his face by his victims (he doused Hedgehog with fleas and allowed Shrew to believe he was going to be fed to Weasel's cat), Weasel makes amends and—eventually—learns something about apologizing (“After a while he began to mumble, 'I'm so... so important! No... I'm su... super sneaky?' ”) What keeps the story from turning sappy are Shaw's considerable talents. Her gangly ink drawings are amplified with funny visual asides (such as endpapers featuring nasty and nice weasel-themed advertisements), while the quirky typography imbues...

If you thought the blog posts were going to slow down Post -Newbery, think again! Below are some of the posts I thought were most interesting and thought provoking... First and foremost, Neil Gaiman's twitter response to The Graveyard Book winning the Newbery has been all over the blogs and zines (Oh, my:-) On his own blog , Gaiman writes about his reaction to the phone call from the Newbery Committee: You are on a speakerphone with at least 14 teachers and librarians and suchlike great, wise and good people, I thought. Do not start swearing like you did when you got the Hugo. This was a wise thing to think because otherwise huge, mighty and fourletter swears were gathering. I mean, that's what they're for. I think I said, You mean it's Monday? Nice recaps of Newbery coverage are at SLJ and Heavy Medal . Wizard's Wireless responds to the question: How do Caldecott and Newbery winning books get their shiny stickers? "I wish I could tell you that on the day of...