End-o'-the-Week Kid-Lit Roundup
In this week's roundup, we look at Halloween picture books, check in with Al Roker's latest pick, and witness a very young Daniel Handler:
Harry Potter fans imitate art. Earlier this week, a British marketing academic realized that there are four distinct types of Harry Potter fans--and those types seem to match houses at Hogwarts:
His research found 'Hufflepuff' readers take the tales at a slow, steady and systematic pace and enjoy re-reading the books over and over.'Gryffindor' readers are eager and energetic and will devour the latest Potter book in one sitting, but quickly move on to new things.
'Ravenclaws' are subversive and take the stories with a pinch of salt, while 'Slytherin' readers are not fussed about the books.
They prefer the films but pretend to have read the books when it suits them.
If you're a fan, read the whole thing. This bit was funny, too: "...the Slytherins never really liked him anyway and the Ravenclaws are too busy writing their own fan fiction or posting spoof videos on YouTube."
Halloween books on Lookybook. I always love checking out picture-books on Lookybook, and I just noticed that (not surprisingly) they have a bunch of Halloween titles up--including one of Silas' current favorites, Ghosts in the House! by Kazuno Kohara (read it on Lookybook here).
Tale of Despereaux the latest Al Roker pick. Al's Book Club for Kids consistently picks some really great kids' books, and the latest--Kate DiCamillo's 2004 Newbery-winner Tale of Despereaux--is no exception. You can read the beginning on the "Today Show" site. (The pick was foreshadowed for me when I bought a giant twin-pack of Nutella at Costco this week and there was a sticker advertising a "Tale of Despereaux Sweepstakes" for the upcoming movie adaptation. Cue the marketing deluge.)
Describing race in kids' books. Kicking off from a student question in one of her Boston College classes, Mitali Perkins has been hosting a pretty interesting and revealing conversation, a discussion of the mental acrobatics involved when authors decide how--or whether--to describe the race of their characters. (Found via Gail Gauthier.)
Bookslut's Daniel Handler interview. Because you can never have too much Lemony Snicket, i.e., Daniel Handler, don't miss Bookslut's edifying and entertaining interview with him. Among other things, amidst talk about a movie sequel and casting, he says, "Oh, I’m lousy at casting. I pretty much got thrown out of the Snicket movie casting conversation by insisting on James Mason as Count Olaf, his death notwithstanding." Thanks to Educating Alice for the link--and even moreso, for digging up Daniel Handler's high-school graduation video, as mentioned in the interview:
Three quick links:
- Canadian award shortlists (the Governor-General's Awards for Children's Literature via Achockablog)
- Dragons in children's fiction
- The 2008 Cybils nominations
--Paul














































































Podcast Pick: Roger Sutton talks to kid-lit historian Leonard Marcus. Roger Sutton, the head of Horn Book (and a 




















