End-o'-the-Week Kid-Lit Roundup
Eric Carle at age 80. Interviewed in the Guardian. On applying his ad man's discipline to books like the Very Hungry Caterpillar: "'I often joke,' he says, 'that with a novel you start out with a 35-word idea and you build out to 35,000 words. With a children's book you have a 35,000-word idea and you reduce it to 35.'" (via Educating Alice)
"GIRL FINDS MESSAGE FROM DEAD MOTHER...ON AMAZON.COM." An extraordinary and sweet story about how "a little known children’s book led to [an] unexpected reunion."
"A picture book is a motorcycle... an easy reader is a chartered bus." Find out how and why in "Five Questions for Mo Willems," which headlines the Horn Book's latest monthly newsletter.
Interview with author-illustrator Emma J. Virjan. In this Cynsations interview, we learn more about Nacho the Party Puppy--and an upcoming yoga board book called "Nacho the Downward Dog."
Why does a particular kids' book get reviewed in the New York Times? The short answer: "Serendipity," according to NYT Book Review children’s books editor Julie Just, at a recent reviewers panel--and she also talked about how the Book Review is not there just “to give children’s books a pat on the head.”
Reflecting on "Red Nose Day" and kid lit. Last Friday was Red Nose Day, a huge comedy fund-raising day in the UK. Nicolette Jones talked about the kid-lit tie-ins in her weekly column, and also philosophized a bit: "Last year's Roald Dahl shortlist, though, raised interesting questions about what funny picturebooks are. Are they books with pictures and jokes, or books with funny pictures? Or books that subvert your expectations? Or just books with pants and bottoms in them?" (via achockablog)
A great book for tween girls. Jen Robinson just wrote a review of Boys Are Dogs, a fun-sounding book for a sometimes difficult demographic. (But, as she notes, "I wouldn't bother to offer this one to boys.")
Early bad buzz about the new Harry Potter movie. That is, if you count comments like "severely disappointed" and "partially blows what may be the biggest surprise of the entire franchise" as bad. (via Bookninja)
What kid-lit awards went to the wrong books? Shelf Talker invites some venting: "What award winners really aggravated you, in this or in any year?" This is after she received 200+ comments in her "books that are loved by everyone but you" bleg.
Vintage kid-lit blog. Via the good folks at Boing Boing comes a review blog devoted to forgotten--often beautiful--older kid lit, Vintage Kids' Books My Kid Loves. E.g., Daniel *Manus* Pinkwater's the Big Orange Splot (reviewed here), originally from 1977, already a favorite at our house after a likewise vintage-minded friend gave our son Silas a copy.
--Paul
Jen Robinson on March 16, 2009 at 08:25 AM
Thanks for linking to my Boys are Dogs review, Paul. I've been hearing good things from librarians about the tween girl response to the book.
Love the Eric Carle quote, too!
Paul on March 16, 2009 at 10:21 AM
Thanks for the "Boys Are Dogs" review, it does look interesting. And yeah, that Carle quote is great. Make sure you read the rest. I couldn't stop laughing at this:
His readers are shrewd critics of Carle's work. After The Very Hungry Caterpillar, he wrote The Very Busy Spider and The Very Quiet Cricket, to which one satirical young fan, observing himself in the changing rooms after swimming, suggested a book entitled The Very Slow Penis, to the author's great amusement. One underestimates children at one's peril.