End-o'-the-Week Kid-Lit Roundup
In this week's roundup, we find out about Roald Dahl's literally undercover wartime activities, read an interview with author and blogger Laurel Snyder, and learn the last name of a certain Jack:
Roald Dahl, celebrated children's literature author, hunky super-spy. Wow, check this out:
He is known to the world as the author of bestselling children’s books such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach. Yet before he became a successful writer, Roald Dahl had a very different reputation--as the sexiest British spy in America.
And it just gets better. My favorite line, hands down: "He was ordered back to the bedroom, and told to close his eyes and think of England."
Interview: Up and Down the Scratchy Mountains. Kelly Herold just did a sweet interview with author and blogger Laurel Snyder, on her new middle-grade novel Up and Down the Scratchy Mountains:
Laurel: It's a very old fashioned kind of book, a fairy tale about a snippy milkmaid named Lucy, and a clumsy prince named Wynston. When Wynston is forced to begin searching for a "suitable" princess to marry, Lucy runs away, and they both have some silly adventures in the mountains. And eventually they learn a few lessons--about bad government, honesty, and how to bend the rules. There's a lot of little songs in the book, and some incredible art by Greg Call.
Collecting Children's Books, again. I got into this blog last week and I can't stay away: in surveying some old editions of the famous 19th-century poem "The House That Jack Built," Peter has not only discovered the last name of the Jack in question ("Jingle"!), but he's also found the poem on a hankerchief (cost: one farthing) and uncovered a couple "frisky" illustrations of the "man all tatter'd and torn" and the "maiden all forlorn."
If you need any further encouragement to go read the post (don't you want to learn about Tripod the Rat?), check out this excellently exemplary illustration from the grim, cautionary 1820 version:
"Moomin Madness." Like Heidi, I also loved Philip Pullman's quirky "settled personal canon". And speaking of Moomins and their inclusion therein, this is a very sweet story of early onset Moomin-mania--or rather “mah-mih”-mania. (Found via Children's Illustration.)
Publishers Weekly review revue. PW just put up another slew of kid-lit reviews, including the following starred titles:
- Last Night by Hyewon Yum, ages 3–6. ("Some picture books are written for children; this one gives a sense of what it's like to be one.")
- Jibberwillies at Night by Rachel Vail, illustrated by Yumi Heo, ages 4–8. ("Exuberant and self-proclaimed 'really happy kid' Katie Honors, the tantrum-thrower from Sometimes I'm Bombaloo, now explains what happens when she gets an attack of night terrors, otherwise known as 'the jibberwillies.'")
- Hank Finds Inspiration by Craig Frazier, ages 4–8. ("The artist's signature high-intensity graphics exert their usual force field on readers' attention: Frazier's sophisticated compositions combine style with kid appeal.")
- Enigma: A Magical Mystery by Graeme Base, ages 5–10. ("Akin to The Eleventh Hour, this über-puzzle of a picture book asks readers to crack codes and find hidden pictures, all in aid of solving a mystery relayed in rhyming quatrains.")
- Brooklyn Bridge by Karen Hesse, illustrated by Chris Sheban, ages 10–14. ("Inspired by facts surrounding the inventors of the teddy bear, Newbery Medalist Hesse (Out of the Dust) applies her gift for narrative voice to this memorable story set in 1903 Brooklyn.")
- Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson, ages 10 and up. ("Pursuing similar themes as M.T. Anderson's Octavian Nothing, this gripping novel offers readers a startlingly provocative view of the Revolutionary War.")
- What the World Eats by Faith D'Aluisio and Peter Menzel, all ages. ("Adapted from last year's Hungry Planet, this brilliantly executed work visits 25 families in 21 countries around the world. Each family is photographed surrounded by a week's worth of food and groceries, which Menzel and D'Aluisio use as a way of investigating not only different cultures' diets and standard of living but also the impact of globalization: why doesn't abundance bring better health, instead of increased occurrences of diabetes and similar diseases?")
Laurel Snyder on September 08, 2008 at 11:47 AM
Oh! Thanks so much for the link-love. Your site is incredible!
xoL