Omnivoracious

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

End-o'-the-Week Kid-Lit Roundup

In this week's roundup, we celebrate Moomin-mania, talk about kids' book reviews, and check out some cool temp tattoos:

More Moomins! We've had a low-grade Moomin obsession around our house since last year, when a couple of friends (one a comics genius, the other a Finn) introduced us to this enormously popular--outside of the U.S., at least--comic series. (When Silas cut himself for the first time last week, he even got a Moomin band-aid.) So I was excited to find out via Achockablog that Puffin is going to develop a bunch of new Moomin books for young children! There are quite a few great Moomin kids' books already, but the world could always use more. (Just don't get scared off by the Puffin marketing talk, about "cementing their place as a timeless family brand." Yick.)

New, improved Reading Tub. Jen Robinson tips us off that the Web site for the Reading Tub--a volunteer effort to promote books and literacy--just got a whole new look. I'd never heard of the site before, but as Jen points out, it's a great resource for anyone finding books for kids, with "hundreds of profile pages for books, with details like recommendations for age to read together vs. read yourself, whether to borrow or buy, and read-alikes." They also break down recommendations into useful categories beyond just age, like books for remedial or just reluctant readers. Definitely worth a look.

Mem Fox and Helen Oxenbury put on a show. Thanks to Fuse #8, we find out that Mem Fox and Helen Oxenbury were helping to celebrate the 99th birthday of the Children's Book Committee at the Bank Street Center for Children's Literature. They even had the audience read aloud together from their highly wonderful pre-school picture book Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes. (If you ever go hear Fox read, don't forget to turn off your cellphone. Her warning/threat re: errant ringing: "I will make you come down here. And I will kill you.")

What's the point of kids' book reviews? Just ask Liz B. at Tea Cozy. Galleycat had a thoughtful post titled Should We Mourn the Dying Book Review?, and then Liz followed up with a really interesting take on the subject but specifically with regards to kids' books. (E.g., "The 'listen to me I know better than you' model has disappeared. It's become the 'let's discuss it' model.")

A talk with illustrator Nicole Tadgell. Kelly Herold just did a short, sweet interview with Nicole Tadgell, who illustrated the lovely looking No Mush Today--which Kelly says is "best suited for children ages three to seven. I recommend it particularly for all first children and for children who really hate breakfast."

Cool Slidy Diner temp tattoos. Laurel Snyder (author of Inside the Slidy Diner and Up and Down the Scratchy Mountains) says, "Tell me these are not the coolest temporary tattoos in the history of the universe."

I will not. And kids who are lucky enough to go to an author event or school visit for Inside the Slidy Diner just might get to have one of these Slidy tattoos for themselves. This book for early grades also recently got a good review from Publishers Weekly (in part: "Edie, the narrator, claims she is held captive at the diner for stealing a lemon drop, and she gives a young patron the insider’s tour of the joint. Most of the best jokes are visual: the poison label stuck onto a countertop; pet food tins stashed amid the staples; a slice of pie garnished as if with eyeballs. The gross-out crowd will eat this up.")
--Paul

A Mind Swimming with Swords: An Interview with Swords artist and author Ben Boos

As you might guess from its subtitle, a lot of love went into Swords: An Artist's Devotion. The first book from former video-game artist Ben Boos, Swords is a gem, a lavishly illustrated and handsomely produced pictorial that celebrates (and satisfyingly geeks out on) this iconic piece of weaponry. Swords was released last month by Candlewick Press--a publisher that regularly puts out some very beautiful kids' books--but Boos definitely intended the book for all ages, including "anyone who likes swords in the context of history, fiction, fantasy, video games, pen and paper games, movies, comics, etc."

I got to talk to Boos in the midst of signings and events surrounding the book's release--and in fact, if you're reading this on Sunday, Oct. 19, and you're anywhere near Folsom, California, you can catch him in costume, doing a benefit for the Friends of the Folsom Public Library at the Folsom Renaissance Faire (near his hometown).

(And to get an idea of the meticulous detail that went into Swords, check out the higher-res image at the end of our interview....)

Amazon.com: So why swords? Why not... armor, or siege engines, or monsters?
Ben Boos: It's funny that you ask that, because I love all those topics, and I'm actually writing a second book about some of these very things (monsters). In choosing what to tackle for a first book, I thought long and hard about the various topics that would be fun to work with, and I kept coming back to the idea of a book totally devoted to swords. Funny enough, there were many sword-related synchronicities happening in my life at the time, so it all fell into place with a bit of luck and serendipity. Swords were a passion, and it felt like the right project to lead the way.

End-o'-the-Week Kid-Lit Roundup

In this week's roundup, we prepare for the worst, go to the movies, and check in with Marlo Thomas:

What books will best prepare kids for our impending financial ruin? Slate's always-great Erica S. Perl has another info-packed slideshow up, this one called "'Mom, What's a Credit Default Swap?' Books to Read Your Children During a Financial Crisis." As Perl observes, "a review of popular American children's books of the past century reveals a recurring theme in the children's publishing industry: When times are tough, cue the stories about times that were even tougher."

She covers books that you've heard of--like Little House on the Prairie, popular in the midst of the Depression (and again, on TV, in the inflationary '70s)--as well as ones you probably haven't, like Five Little Peppers and How They Grew. Eudora Welty, for the record, was a big fan of that one. In her autobiography, she admitted that "when she discovered the Peppers in 1918, at age 9, she began daydreaming about being poor." (Found via Fuse #8.)

City of Ember finally in theaters! I read Stephen Holden's harsh review in the NYT of this big-screen adaptation, and I figured I'd pass on the movie. I'm a newcomer to this popular kid series and I liked the books so much that I didn't want to be disappointed. But lo and behold, a lot of reviewers thought it was pretty good (aside from the inexplicable giant mole scenes)! Count me in for a matinee. (Thanks to 100 Scope Notes for the review revue and the blow-by-blow.)

Happy birthday, Free to Be You and Me! The Marlo Thomas classic just turned 35(!) and they've decided to celebrate with a "new, expanded edition." I still love the old-school LP cover (and I can still hear "bald as a ping pong ball" like it was yesterday), but including the likes of Tony diTerlizzi and Peter H. Reynolds sounds pretty promising. (Found via Ypulse Books.)

Boston Globe-Horn Book awards. The Boston Globe-Horn Book awards are now available for your viewing pleasure. Or you can just read about the winners. They were these, FYI:

• Nonfiction: The Wall by Peter Sís
  
• Fiction and Poetry: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, illustrated by Ellen Forney
  
• Picture Book: At Night by Jonathan Bean
  
• Special Citation: The Arrival by Shaun Tan

Even better, check out the entertaining ShelfTalker recap, which includes pics of some certain ducklings.

New Notes from the Horn Book. Speaking of the Horn Book, the latest Notes from the Horn Book just came out, and it includes an interview with David Macaulay about The Way We Work: Getting to Know the Amazing Human Body.

Three quick links:

• Don't miss Lauren's post on Mary Ann Hoberman, the new U.S. Children's Poet Laureate.
  
• Check out the official site for Coraline, the Focus Films adaptation of Neil Gaiman's book. (As Monica says, "I’m quite the fan of the book and fussy, but so far this is shaping up to look terrific.")
  
• Don't forget: the deadline is this Wednesday to get your nominations in for the Cybils! Wondering why you should be excited about these blogger awards? Gail Gauthier has three good reasons.
  

--Paul

End-o'-the-Week Kid-Lit Roundup

In this week's roundup, we contemplate parties in our tummies, visit a new Newbery blog, and get tips on writing:

Yo Gabba Gabba board books. Thanks to some of our Amazon toy bloggers, I found out that Yo Gabba Gabba just started its second season this week! You don't need to have kids in your life to love Yo Gabba Gabba. There hasn't been a cooler kids show since the Morgan Freeman era of The Electric Company--and the second season features everyone from Biz Markie to Amy Sedaris to Hot Hot Heat. If you've never heard of it, watch this now:

So what does that all have to do with kids' books? I was wondering if there had been any YGG titles yet, and apparently there's a whole slew of sticker and coloring books and--more importantly, for our 17-month-old Silas--board books coming out in a few months, including Party in My Tummy and Welcome to Gabba Land! We'll keep you posted....

New blog: Heavy Medal. Nina Lindsay, the chair of the last Newbery commitee, and Oakland children's librarian Sharon Senser McKellar have started a new blog called Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog. They'll talk about Newbery contenders and follow this year's real--and mock--Newbery process:

The actual Newbery Committee is bound to secrecy. But their criteria and procedures are open. Using these, Sharon and I coordinate each year a Mock Newbery Discussion in Oakland CA, where adult participants who've read our posted shortlist discuss some of the best contenders of the year and vote for a medal and honor books. (This year's discussion will be Sunday, January 11, more details to come!).

In previous years, Sharon and I each had blogs to drum up suggestions for titles and discuss issues brought up by the Newbery criteria in relation to some favorites. Must a sequel stand alone? And what about the text of a "graphic" novel?

Should be a great discussion--and a good place for parents and teachers to find some good early picks and tips. (Found via Fuse #8.)

The Knife of Never Letting Go wins Guardian prize. Patrick Ness' inventive SF tale The Knife of Never Letting Go won this year's Guardian children's fiction prize:

The chair of the judges, Guardian children's books editor Julia Eccleshare, said the panel, made up of children's authors Mary Hoffman, Mal Peet and last year's winner, Jenny Valentine, had been blown away by the "breathtaking quality" of Ness's writing. "It's challenging but not bleak--an excitingly different book," she added.

Ness, 36, said he was "genuinely astonished" to win. "I think it was a super-strong shortlist," he said. "Before I Die is a huge hit, Frank is a great writer, and I'm reading Siobhan Dowd now--it's really great and I kind of thought she would win."

Don't miss some kids' takes on the award shortlist. (Found via Achockablog.)

How to write children's books. Speaking of the Guardian, they recently ran a fun How to Write series, spanning multiple genres, from the hilarious Catherine Tate on comedy to Wendy Cope talking about poetry. Children's Laureate Michael Rosen gives his thoughts on writing for kids and teens, along with some interesting meta-commentary about the genre in general:

It may sometimes seem to you that editors can only think inside specific boxes, whereas a book you liked, The Little Prince, say, defied such boxes. So you'll hear from editors, comments like: "There's no point in writing a picture book text that's longer than a couple of hundred words", "That story is too 'old' for a picture book audience", "Your story is too short" and so on. Bafflingly, if you go to the library and pick up a pile of books, you may well find some that seem to defy such boundaries. Nearly always, that's because it's a famous author who's been granted leeway to write what they want - Roald Dahl's The Minpins is an example of that. Or you've got in your hand a book produced by an independent company, a firm like Tamarind, Frances Lincoln or Barefoot Books.

(Found via Bookninja.)

Ain't no party like a Brisingr party. Readers are still debating the merits of the third and latest installment in Christopher Paolini's Inheritance series (following Eragon and Eldest), but the real question is... how much fun was your Brisingr launch party? You would be hard-pressed to top this six-hour extravaganza, with an Olympic fencing coach, readings from Dugald Steer, foam swords, and more. Foam swords!

September Carnival of Children's Literature. I have been slow to catch up on the monthly kid-lit carnivals (and blog carnivals in general), but what a worthwhile endeavor: a well-organized uber-roundup of linky wonderfulness, from all over the blogosphere. This month's carnival is hosted by Jenny's Wonderland of Books. (Found via Big A little a.)

And just a heads-up: Heidi and I will be taking some time off later this week and weekend to visit NYC--so look for YA Wednesday and the End-o'-the-Week Kid-Lit Roundup to return the following week. If you have any ideas for fun stuff to do while we're there, let us know! We already have our eyes on kid-lit exhibits at the Morgan Library and Museum and Cooper-Hewitt. (And likewise, give us tips for toddler withdrawal: this is the first time that both of us will be away from Silas for more than one night. Is a 17-month-old too young for webcam conversations?) --Paul

End-o'-the-Week Kid-Lit Roundup

In this week's roundup, we celebrate a birthday, learn about a resurrected Brit kids' mag, and check in on Al Roker:

Happy Birthday, Children's Bookshelf! I don't usually make a habit of extending birthday greetings to e-mail newsletters, but I'll make an exception for Children's Bookshelf, which just turned three this week. Although it's primarily intended for booksellers, librarians, and other industry professionals, anyone who wants to keep up on the world of kids' books will learn a lot by subscribing (even just interested parents who want to keep up on their kids' favorite series or read new reviews and author interviews). It's free to subscribe (and if you're into comics, check out PW Comics Week while you're at it).

And Another Thing... Speaking of Children's Bookshelf, that's where I learned that Eoin Colfer (author of the stupendously popular Artemis Fowl series) will be writing a follow-up to Mostly Harmless, as a continuation of the even more stupendously popular Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy "trilogy"--which ended abruptly after the death of Douglas Adams.

Reaction has been predictably mixed, with excitement but also apprehension and skepticism towards the early PR for the book (along the lines of Marvin saying, "Well, I wish you'd just tell me rather than try to engage my enthusiasm"). Colfer is clearly chuffed at the prospect (likening it to "suddenly being offered the superpower of your choice"), but even he says, "My first reaction was semi-outrage that anyone should be allowed to tamper with this incredible series." But if you're familiar with Colfer's talents and you listen to his audio announcement, it's hard not to get a little giddy at the news.

(Perhaps not surprisingly, though, Arthur Dent himself does not sound entirely pleased.)

New Al Roker Pick: Inkheart. Al Roker's Book Club for Kids recently announced its newest pick: Inkheart, the first book in Cornelia Funke's soon-to-be trilogy--followed by Inkspell (a favorite of mine) and Inkdeath, which will be published next month.

The Roker announcement revealed a literally fun fact that I hadn't heard before, about the Inkheart movie: "Cornelia Funke wrote the character of Mo with Brendan Fraser in mind, and Cornelia got to see her wish come to life--Brendan Fraser plays Mo in the movie!" You know, that kind of makes sense.

"Sniffup..." "Spotera." That was the coded greeting exchanged by "Puffineers," readers of the Puffin Post, an apparently very cool British kids' book magazine shut down in the early '80s that is now being relaunched. Check out the new Web site and all the cool old covers. E.g.:

Three quick links

• Sad news for the world of children's literature this week. Celebrated New Orleans author and storyteller Colleen Salley passed away. (The ALA Flickr stream has a particularly sweet photo of her reading from Epossumondas.)
  
• Some big-hearted kids' authors are pitching in for an auction to help a relief fund inspired by one of their fans who died in a storm earlier this year. (Check out the Brightspirit Relief Fund auction and consider donating or bidding.)
  
• Adam Gopnik rescues Babar from reductive lefty analyses.
  
  

--Paul

End-o'-the-Week Kid-Lit Roundup

In this week's roundup, we witness inspiration by the likes of Roald Dahl, Bob Dylan, and SuperPaint:

The Roald Dahl Funny prize. UK children's laureate Michael Rosen (We're Going on a Bear Hunt) founded the Roald Dahl Funny prize, which rewards "the most hilarious children's authors." You have to love the frank and fairly funny rationale behind it:

"I have sat on judging panels before and what happens is that the funny books get squeezed out, because somehow or other they don't tackle big issues in the proper way," [Rosen] explained. "They'll get through to the last four or five books, and then historical fiction, or something about death or slavery or new technology will win out. I think it's a great shame, because actually when I think about the books I remember from childhood they are the funny books."

The prize's two shortlists were announced earlier this week:

Ages six and under:
Stick Man
Elephant Wellyphant
The Great Paper Caper
The Witch's Children Go to School
There's an Ouch in My Pouch!
Manfred the Baddie

Ages seven to fourteen:
Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear
Paddington Here and Now
Stop in the Name of Pants!
Cosmic
Aliens Don't Eat Dog Food
Urgum and the Goo Goo Bah!

The judges for the prize promised that "every title on the shortlists was 'properly tears-in-eyes, wheezing, sneezing, snorting funny.'" (Found via Bookninja.)

"What Book Got You Hooked?" ShelfTalker reminds us that time is quickly running out to tell people about the book that got you hooked on reading--and vote for which state you'd like to get 50K free books for low-income kids. (Can't we vote for all of them?)

Don't miss the books that got celebrities hooked, including short write-ups by everyone from Scarlett Johansson (Fantastic Mr. Fox) and Neil Patrick Harris (Bridge to Terabithia) to Stephen Colbert (Swiss Family Robinson). Colbert on the SFR: "It had it all--a shipwreck, a tropical paradise, a treehouse, pirates, home made bombs, a tiger pit, and the enviable freedom of those three Robinson boys who were seemingly on permanent Summer vacation."

Dylan's "Forever Young" as picture book. I loved illustrator Paul Roger's work with Wynton Marsalis on Jazz ABZ, so I'm excited to see what he's done with Dylan's legendary song in a new book from Candlewick Press. From his Publishers Weekly interview:

“I really love the song, especially the simple acoustic version released on Dylan’s first Bootleg Series CD, and I wanted to keep the illustrations simple and direct and not try to illustrate the lyric literally. I mean, it’s a beautiful song, and there have been some great interpretations of it--Joan Baez does a wonderful version. So I wanted to make it good.”

In the era of SuperPaint. 100 Scope Notes uncovered an example of a curious vintage of kids' book the other day: Daniel Pinkwater's Muffin Fiend, from 1986. As he points out, digital illustrations are commonplace now (and often indistinguishable from physical ones), but this was produced in the sadly bygone heyday of bitmap graphics and weird patterned fills. E.g.:

Four quick, don't-miss links:

• a hilarious, almost impossible to believe story about stock photography, the U.S. cover of How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone, and Daniel Handler a.k.a. Lemony Snicket on a beach with an accordion
  
• the Spike Jonze Where the Wild Things Are movie gets a new old release date (10/16/2009, the same date given before it disappeared earlier this year)
  
• the new Notes from the Horn Book e-mail begins with a teacher-parent couple interview full of great book recommendations
  
• Big A little a lets us know that it's children's book weekend in the NYT Book Review.
  

--Paul

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?")

--Paul

End-o'-the-Week Kid-Lit Roundup

In this week's roundup, we check out the latest issue of The Horn Book Magazine, test our "knowledge of child readers," and catch up with Wally and Beaver:

The new Horn Book Magazine. The September/October 2008 issue of The Horn Book Magazine is now out, and you can read some of the contents online. In addition to Web Extras for the print issue, you'll find a couple of the features (I especially liked the one in which a second-grade teacher talks about his favorite fictional teachers), a sampling of reviews (including a starred review for the promising All Stations! Distress!), and a few "Stories Out of School," personal reminiscences from the likes of Megan McDonald (of the Judy Moody books) and Sherman Alexie.

CLAT Level III: Children’s Literature Application Test. Also in the latest Horn Book Magazine but deserving of a special mention is the CLAT Level III, a silly but sharp pseudo-quiz that is "designed to test your knowledge of child readers." For example:

If you enjoy the test, make sure you check out the sites of the people behind it (here and here).

Kid-lit authors on the radio. I just caught two great interviews, one with Lauren Child (Clarice Bean, Don't Look Now) and another with Francoise Mouly, who is behind the Toon Books, with her husband Art Spiegelman. (Thanks to 100 Scope Notes for tipping me off to the Child interview, and thanks to Heidi for always letting me know when she hears something cool on KCRW's excellent Bookworm program.)

"Leave It To Beverly." I can barely remember seeing Leave It To Beaver (on Nick at Nite, at the same time as my short obsession with Bachelor-Father), but my brain had clearly carefully archived the speech patterns of all the characters, seeing as I found this to be hysterical. Peter at "Collecting Children's Books" not only found three forgotten TV-tie-in paperbacks by Beverly Cleary, but he also somehow managed to write a long, informative post about them as an imagined conversation between the Beav, Wally, and Eddie Haskell, mimicking the voices perfectly. And no, I checked, it is not too late to track down copies of these for yourself. (Found via Fuse #8.)

Hosting a spa party vs. surviving a shark attack. I hadn't even heard of the Girls' Book of Glamour or the Boys' Book of Survival, but according to Colleen at Chasing Ray, that's just as well: "There are so many things I could say here but what I'm really wondering is if the people who put these books together thought for even half a minute about how appalling they are."

A free online James Bond game to encourage reading. Charlie Higson, the author behind the popular Young Bond series (Silverfin, Blood Fever), has helped create "The Shadow War," an online game to "help address declining literacy standards in young boys," according to a story in the Guardian. In the UK, the books are on a recommended reading list for schoolboys, and the "Shadow War" is intended to draw them into the Young Bond world, playing as either a British agent or a Soviet spy. (Also noteworthy in the Guardian: How to Cook Children: A Grisly Recipe Book.) --Paul

PAX

This weekend, Seattle is Mecca for gamers. The metaphor might not extend to people actually praying in the direction of Seattle (although I wouldn't rule that out) but it is true that gamers of every kind--from casual console players to hard-core boardgame geeks--are traveling from around the world to attend the Penny Arcade Expo, a.k.a. PAX.

PAX is the largest gamer festival in the U.S., the spiritual successor to the now-more-corporatized E3, and it's just a mad-crazy three-day lineup of "freeplay" games, huge LAN combats, exhibitor demos, a variety of tournaments and competitions, panels, movies, and even concerts--from H.P. Lovecraft tribute band Darkest of the Hillside Thickets to nerdcore godfather MC Frontalot.

So what does all this have to do with books and writing? Well, there's actually some reading going on amidst all the gamer craziness. The latest edition of D&D and many of the creative minds behind it will be well-represented, but here are a few even better (and more traditionally narrative) examples:

YA Wednesday: Reviews by Kids, Librarian Love, and the Requisite Weekly Twilight Miscellany

In this edition of YA Wednesday, Heidi is taking a break while I root around for noteworthy YA news (but watch for her this weekend, when she compiles the End-o'-the-Week Kid-Lit Roundup).

More reviews by kids. This was fun to see after writing about Storytubes last week. The Chicago Tribune just published a whole passel of reviews by kids between 5 and 15, talking about their favorite books as part of the Trib's "Read & Write" series. From a Kid-Lit vs. YA perspective, it's especially fun to see where the kids break and self-select into YA and beyond--from the likes of Tales of Animal Heroes moving onto 24 Girls in 7 Days and then Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Plus, you get to hear about some books you might never have noticed, like The Hardy Boyz: Exist 2 Inspire. (Found via Big A little a.)

"Young Adult" classification possibly good; also, possibly bad. Science-fiction site io9 has a couple of essays up on YA SF, pro and con. ("Young Adult Books Will Save Science Fiction" and "Stop Writing Young Adult Science Fiction", respectively.) Kid-lit cognoscente Colleen Mondor calls them "two of the silliest pieces I have read on YA literature in ages." Take that! You've got to love her advice: "Here's an idea - why doesn't everyone just grow up and stop talking about this and let teens read what they want; whether a publisher designates it YA or not. (And really, that is what they are quite happily doing anyway.)"

Violence! Swears! Kids' book awards!. Elsewhere in the world of controversy, we found out from achockablog that Matt Ottley's Requiem for a Beast was named the Children's Book Council of Australia's "Picture Book of the Year"--despite having swears and "illustrations of a bloody axe," among other things. By many accounts, the book--explicitly intended for "adults and young adults"--is dark, complex, and also fairly awesome. But one former Book Council president isn't happy: "I really have a problem with this book. It shouldn't be on the shortlist, let alone win."

Some obligatory Twilight. I now believe Heidi that when you're reading about YA on the Web, you can't help but read about the Twilight Saga, whether it's funny Robert Pattinson interviews or commentary in the Washington Post from the author of Why Gender Matters. My favorite (sorry, I'm sure I'm getting to this late) was the cute Twilight trailer spoof:

Advice from college guys for high school guys. Guys Lit Wire is a great site for teen guys--or anyone who recommends books to teen guys--to find new ideas on what to read. (You can even find ideas from me there from time to time.) Kelly Herold's "Higher Learning" interviews are especially good, in which "college guys talk about what they're reading, what they read in high school, and what books are important to them now." She just posted her third, with Ben, a second-year student at Grinnell College, who cut his teeth on the likes of Lois Lowry's The Giver and Jack London's Martin Eden.

Show your librarian some love! Okay, this isn't specific to YA, but everyone should know that nominations just opened last Friday for the "I Love My Librarian!" awards....

--Paul

End-o'-the-Week Kid-Lit Roundup

In this week's roundup, we find some help for first-time school-goers, visit the intersection of kid lit and tattoos, and get some free Daniel Pinkwater:

"Back to school, for the first time." How do you help new preschoolers and kindergartners prepare for their first big day of capital-S School? The latest Horn Book newsletter has some great tips, including several recommendations for books that will help kids know what to expect--like Wow! School! and Kindergarten Rocks!. Read the newsletter for even more titles and ideas.

Tattoos, kids, tattoos involving kids' books, kids' books involving tattoos, etc. Can we all agree that tattoos have finally, irrevocably, resoundingly become mainstream? 100 Scope Notes compiles the "colliding worlds" story of tattoos and kid lit, with links to a kids' book about parental tattoos, cool librarian temp tattoos (e.g., "Literate 4 Life" and "Read or Die"), a beautiful Matilda tat, and more. I think this full-color Giving Tree tattoo was my favorite, just for sheer commitment to the bit:

Daniel Pinkwater's Yggyssey, serialized free online. If you followed the zany journey of Nedworth Wentworthstein in the Neddiad, you won't want to miss the Yggyssey--the Neddiad told from the point of view of Ned's friend, Iggy. Pinkwater is putting the Yggyssey online in serial form, with a new chapter every Monday. You can already read all the way up to Chapter 17 (how did I miss this?), and you can even download an mp3 of him reading the first chapter. (Found via Bookshelves of Doom.)

Science-fiction roundup for kids and teens. Amanda Craig of the London Times just pulled together an excellent roundup of the "dazzling results" of relatively recent SF efforts for children and teenagers--including the particularly creepy-sounding Unwind:

Unwind imagines a society in which parents who get fed up with their children can sign them up, secretly, to be “unwound” at 13: that is, taken away to have every part of them, from eyes to skin, donated to others. The decision to “abort retrospectively” is irrevocable, and when the clever, rebellious Connor discovers his fate, he plots his escape.

This is the kind of rare book that makes the hairs on your neck rise up. It is written with a sense of drama that should get it instantly snapped up for film, and it's satisfyingly unpredictable in that its characters change and realise things about each other in a credible way. Enforced organ donation isn't a new idea, but Unwind has the kind of anger that will appeal to teenagers.

(Found via Achockablog.)

New Fuse #8 podcast. Elizabeth Bird procrastinates funnily in another "children's literary" podcast, talking about the Bloodhound Gang's secret Newbery-winning writer, the Twilight backlash (and the Twilight backlash backlash), and the "WORLD PODCAST PREMIER" of The Effin G's song "Randolph Caldecott." She also has two fun "booktalks," on King George: What Was His Problem? and The Cabinet of Wonders (Book 1 of the Kronos Chronicles). --Paul

End-o'-the-Week Kid-Lit Roundup

In this week's roundup, we watch kids review books on YouTube, check out some very tiny Golden Books, and get commentary on the Hillary-Barack kids' book "smackdown":

Get ready for Storytubes 2009! Imagine a bunch of super-cute kids creating a bunch of super-cute video book reviews, and putting them up on YouTube, one kid and one book per video, and all under two minutes. That was StoryTubes 2008, and it was such a success that Storytubes 2009 is in the works and fast approaching. If you're involved with a school or public library, go to the StoryTubes site to find how you can get involved. If you're not willing to take my word w/r/t the super-cuteness--or even if you are, for that matter--you must check out the review excerpts in this promo video:

The girl reviewing the chicken book totally reminds me of April from Gilmore Girls, but somehow even cuter if that's possible. After the intro, you can skip ahead to :45, 2:16, and 2:57 for more excerpts. (Found via the ALSC Blog.)

Tiny Golden Books. Speaking of super-cuteness.... Children's Book Illustration pointed us towards someone's beautiful eBay find: a set of miniature Golden Books, just 2" x 3" each. This one is originally from "Tiny Nonsense Stories":

If the covers look familiar, that might be because the illustrator is Garth Williams.

Miffy, "the £150 Million Rabbit." I discovered another international sensation, the Moomins, only late last year. So I guess it shouldn't have surprised me that I'd never heard of Miffy--or so I thought. Once I actually *saw* Miffy, I realized I had just never known Miffy's name:

As you might already know--if you're a person on our planet--Miffy is "the world's most popular rabbit (and think for a moment of the competition for that title: Br'er, Peter, Roger...), whose modest adventures have sold more than 85 million storybooks, been translated into 40 languages." This can all be verified in a very enjoyable Telegraph profile of Dick Bruna, Miffy's creator and basically an accidental multi-millionaire. (I now intend to make Mr. Bruna very slightly richer, as I check out Miffy books for our 16-month-old Silas.) (Found via Bookninja.)

Jim Flora book covers. The Jim Flora Web site has put up covers of all the children's books he worked on. E.g.,

Some nice Amazon customer has even uploaded a few nice interior shots of Charlie Yup and His Snip-Snap Boys. (Found via Fuse #8)

Eoin Colfer/Artemis Fowl tour, continued. I mentioned Eoin Colfer’s touring show--“Fairies, Fiends and Flatulence”--week before last, but I had to share this account from Educating Alice. She went the night of his last U.S. show and related two especially funny bits I hadn't heard before: Colfer had Mo Willems and Jon Scieszka running through the audience helping him do Q&A (how cool is that?) and in response to a question about how he plans out the Artemis Fowl books, he said, "I go down to Philip Pullman’s house and go through his trash." As the post also notes, the whole tour was vlogged, so you can go see some of the show for yourself. (Relatedly: the Scotsman just published a new review of Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox. The lead: "Why Harry Potter became a Phenomenon while Artemis Fowl only remains a Huge Sensation is a conundrum for future ages to ponder.")

"Hillary vs. Obama in the children's book smackdown." I haven't read either of them yet, but Alex Beam at the Boston Globe gives an entertainingly snarky survey of the kids' books written about Hillary and Barack. ("It's round two of the Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton smackdown. This time, it's about publishing: My soupy, shot-through-gauze children's book is more saccharine than yours.") (Found via Big A little a.) --Paul

End-o'-the-Week Kid-Lit Roundup

In this week's roundup, we learn about a forgotten kids'-book author who also wrote erotica, ask whether the Incredible Hulk is really the best reading tutor, and find out who Helena Bonham Carter would play in a Runaway Bunny movie:

Mo Willems: Radio Cartoonist. Cartooning on the radio? Few people could pull off such an unlikely sounding feat, but Mo Willems is definitely one of them. The beloved creator of the Pigeon and Elephant & Piggie stories (and a former Emmy-award-winning writer for Sesame Street, to boot) has just started what we can only hope is a recurring gig on NPR's All Things Considered.

Mo draws and describes a cartoon (which also gets posted to the NPR site), and then host Michele Norris and listeners take a crack at giving it a caption--in sort of an audio version of the New Yorker's weekly Cartoon Caption Contest. Try your luck with my favorite out of the first week's entries:

Oprah's books for kids. If you hadn't heard, Oprah's Book Club is now recommending kids' books, too. And you're not just getting Oprah's seal of approval--the list came straight from the American Library Association. ("According to Diane Foote, executive director at the ALA's Association for Library Service to Children, the organization was contacted by Winfrey's staff in the spring about putting together such a list. 'We were gratified they came to librarians to do so,' Foote says.")

"The most famous children’s book author you have never heard of." That's how Tomi Ungerer is described by Phaidon Press in a great NYT profile of the author. Ungerer was friends with Shel Silverstein and Maurice Sendak and... well, this description sums it up well:

[F]ew children’s book authors in those wary cold war years made a habit of playing poker with the Cuban envoy to the United Nations, as Mr. Ungerer did, or applied for a visa to visit China. Or had a side career publishing books of often disturbing erotica. Or held parties in the Hamptons so notorious that the neighbors were afraid to invite him to theirs. Or, as an author willing to feature a boa constrictor as a main character and to leave a bloody foot dangling inexplicably from a hobo’s knapsack, elicited descriptions in children’s book reviews like “brutal,” “nasty” and a “master of the diabolic.”

And it just gets better. Thankfully, Phaidon is reissuing his children's books, starting this fall with The Three Robbers. Make sure you don't miss the accompanying slide show to see more of Ungerer's work.

"See Iron Man Run" Kids' book author Erica Perl just did another amazingly informative kid-lit article/slideshow for Slate--this time asking the interesting question "Do you really want the Hulk teaching your kid to read?" She talks about the new early readers based on Hollywood movies, puts the whole genre in perspective, and even makes some great recommendations along the way (like Small Pig and The Horse in Harry's Room). (Found via 100 Scope Notes.)

Johnny Depp is... Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle! Best Week Ever just wrote up--hilariously--the "7 Children’s Tales That Johnny Depp & Tim Burton Should Remake." My favorites:

THE SECRET OF N.I.M.H. It’s sad. It’s creepy. Johnny Depp would make a great rat. Helena Bonham Carter can play Mrs. Brisby! What more can you ask for?

THE RUNAWAY BUNNY. Johnny Depp will play the runaway bunny, Helena Bonham Carter will play the mother, an alcoholic rabbit-brothel-owner who refuses to let her child run away.

(Found via Tea Cozy.)

Kid-lit quilting? This probably belongs in the same unlikely category as radio cartooning--but in the same way, it totally works. A professor at the University of Miami requires all the teachers in his Children’s Literature courses to make a quilt-top "inspired by a piece of quality children’s literature." You've got to see the results. (I particularly liked the Eloise one.)

(Found via Children's Illustration.)

Off with their heads! Okay, so this is only very peripherally related to kid-lit--but anybody who's into either Lewis Carroll or preying mantises should really see this. As the artist kindly reminds us, "The female mantis is notorious for decapitating her mate after copulation." (Found via Educating Alice.)

All right, I'm off to work on my Mo Willems captions.... As always, if you see anything during the week we should include in the Kid-Lit Roundup, please pass it along! --Paul

End-o'-the-Week Kid-Lit Roundup

Cool off with "Water Babies." Check out a virtual art show from the Cotsen Children's Library at Princeton, a swimming-themed kid-lit art exhibition. It features illustrations from books as diverse as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Orlando (the Marmalade Cat): A Seaside Holiday--and it was "supposed to lower the temperature a few degrees for our visitors who weren't able to escape to the pool or to the Jersey shore on steamy days."

from The 'Trocious Twins, 1926, illustration by Nancy Parker. (Found via Menasha Kids.)

Summer Fart Watch, Part I. There aren't quite 50,000 fart-related videos on YouTube yet (amazing!), but we're getting there--thanks to a new web promotion for Kevin Bolger's debut children's novel, Sir Fartsalot Hunts the Booger:

Summer Fart Watch, Part II. Watch the Today Show next Friday to catch the newest title for Al's Book Club--a well-curated list of picks from Al Roker that includes some of my very favorite kid characters, from Molly Moon to the Sisters Grimm. Next Friday, Al will feature Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox.

What does that have to with farts? Check out the bus Eoin Colfer is currently touring the U.S. in:

You can also watch the trailer for Eoin Colfer's one-man show on YouTube.

A librarian defends Uncle Bobby's Wedding. A mom was unhappy her library was carrying Uncle Bobby's Wedding, a beginning reader book that includes a wedding between two gay guinea pigs. The story itself is interesting, but by far the best part is the librarian's long, reasoned response to the mom, which he then posted to his blog to help other librarians. (Found via Bookshelves of Doom, who of course was quick to identify the salient aspect of the story: "Guinea pigs! In tuxedos!")

"Beach Bag Books" podcast. The folks at the Horn Book have put together another excellent podcast, this time making some smart recommendations for kids' vacation reading. If you don't have time to listen to the whole podcast (or want help skipping to the books you're curious about), check out the list of books covered.

Tucking in your kids with an mp3. Seriously? Is this actually a trend?

Nearly a third of children ages 6 to 10 are regular users of digital audio players, according to market research firm the NPD Group. And thanks to entrepreneurs like Katz, they can now use them to listen to bedtime stories.

In March, the Audible.com founder launched Audible-Kids.com, where children can download books directly onto their digital audio players.

"I hear lots of people talking, saying that when they put their kids to bed, they put them down with an audiobook," Audio Publishers Association president Michele Cobb said.

Granted, uh, that's the head of a trade organization who's "hearing people talking." But it's intriguing. Although in the article, Susan Linn--whose book my mom just gave us, The Case for Make Believe: Saving Play in Our Commercialized World--calls this "another gadget for outsourcing parenting." But I also know kids that age who love their iPods. So... are any kids and parents out there doing this? (Found via Ypulse Books.) --Paul

End-o'-the-Week Kid-Lit Roundup

In this week's roundup, we read the New Yorker, do some tightrope-walking, and then flip through a few hundred picture books:

"Old Media Monday" for kids' books. One of my favorite things on Omnivoracious is Tom's Old Media Monday posts, where he collects and blurbs the weekend's most interesting book reviews in print, from the New York Times, Washington Post, New Yorker, LA Times, etc. Kid-lit blogger Big A little a performs an equally commendable public service for the kid-lit world, in her Weekend Review posts, which run down all the latest children's book reviews. This week's installment was exceptionally packed, covering special sections in the New York Times and Telegraph. If you're a picture book fan like me, you don't want to miss the Telegraph's survey of exceptional picture-book titles from (among others) Mo Willems, Anthony Browne, and Anne Cottringer and Alex T. Smith, creators of Eliot Jones, Midnight Superhero:

The Man Who Walked Between the Towers: The Movie. I somehow missed The Man Who Walked Between the Towers, which won the Caldecott in 2004, telling the strange but true story of how a young Frenchman walked between the World Trade Center towers on a tightrope in 1974. The story is now a movie, and the trailer just became available. (Found via 100 Scope Notes.)

Was Stuart Little the "product of a sick mind"? When this week's New Yorker showed up in the mail, there was only one thing more exciting than the Barack-and-Michelle-terrorist-fist-jab cover: it was Jill Lepore's exhaustive "The Lion and the Mouse" piece on the bumpy path of E.B. White's Stuart Little to publication and prominence. Anyone interested in books will love the rich history and philosophizing around this early literary struggle involving one of America's most celebrated essayists. You can get a quick rundown of the story on the New Yorker's book blog--and if you're looking for iPod fare, don't miss the audio feature with Lepore and Roger Angell (E. B. White’s stepson and an editor at the magazine).

"Global Reading for Children" radio segment. "How much do you want your kids to know about what's going on in the rest the world? And when is the right time to begin?" Those are the questions asked (and quite ably answered) by a segment on Wisconsin Public Radio's excellent "Here on Earth" program. You can still catch the archived show--a pretty short, worthwhile listen, with Megan Schliesman (librarian at the Cooperative Children's Book Center at UW-Madison) and Jean Westmoore (children's book reviewer for The Buffalo News). You can also just read their book recommendations on the show's archive page.

Browse picture books on Lookybook. I've been spending way too much time flipping through picture books on Lookybook. You won't necessarily find your favorite or the latest books there, but there are hundreds of fun-to-browse titles, in a pretty ingenious interface. To get an idea, click on the mini-Lookybook interface embedded below:

You can even find The Man Who Walked Between the Towers on Lookybook. --Paul

End-o'-the-Week Kid-Lit Roundup

In this week's roundup, we travel from Australia to a library-based comic strip to the set of Rachel Ray:

Two composers collaborate on a tribute to The Red Tree. Later this month, Gondwana Voices (Australia's national children's choir) and the Australian Chamber Orchestra will be performing an original work inspired by Shaun Tan's The Red Tree. The creative process behind the work sounds pretty amazing:

"One of the things we want to stress is we're not actually scoring the book, like you would score a film or a play. What we've done with every image is we've interpreted it and it's our own response to the image, as composers," Yezerski says.

Has this happened with other books? It really should. (Found via Book Ninja.)

Kid-lit art exhibits in NYC and LA. Want to see original work up close, from some of the most renowned artists in children's literature? If you're in New York or Los Angeles this summer, you're in luck: the Children's Museum of Manhattan is hosting "Golden Legacy: Original Art from 65 Years of Golden Books" until August 28, and the Los Angeles Public Library is showing "Children Should Be Seen: The Image of the Child in American Picture-Book Art" until September 14, with work from artists such as William Steig, Maurice Sendak, and Theodor Geisel. As a bonus, the LAPL exhibit is being shown with all the original art from Stompin' at the Savoy.

(from The Day the Babies Crawled Away by Peggy Rathmann, shown at LAPL)

Pimp your bookcart! Does your local school or library need a new bookcart? The folks behind the library comic strip Unshelved are sponsoring their third-annual Pimp My Bookcart contest, with the winners getting new carts, Unshelved gift certificates, and more. Heidi and I don't qualify to enter, but we just bought a slick cart of our own (after getting buried in review books) and it's hard to resist the urge to pimp after seeing past winners like these:

Check out the galleries for winners from 2006 and 2007.

Cool Calvin's No Bandanas for Me. The North Carolina Herald just featured an anti-gang kids' book that's gained success thanks to the author's on-air chutzpah:

Two years ago, the Clayton resident arrived outside of NBC's "Today" at 4 a.m. in New York. As soon as host Matt Lauer came outside to chat with the crowd, Burgess yelled, "Matt! I have a book that is going to save kids' lives out here." The one line was enough to catch Lauer's attention. Burgess got a 10-second spot to promote Cool Calvin's No Bandanas for Me: Staying Gang Free. "When I got home, I had 2,000 orders placed in the first half-hour," Burgess said. "That literally changed my life."

You can order the book and learn more at coolcalvin.com.

The Veggie Monster goes on Rachel Ray. Speaking of smart on-air author promotion, George McClements recently went on Rachel Ray to talk about how he turned his son's veggie aversion into The Night of the Veggie Monster. Check out the linked video clip to see this fun and silly read-along in action.

Summer reading list rant-o-rama. Summertime reading lists for kids were the object of much bloggy discussion this week, as noted by Gail Gauthier (who also shares the observation that the phrase "summer reading" evokes diametrically opposite reactions out of kids and adults). The Book Whisperer thinks that lists discourage reading for pleasure later in life, Shelftalker comments on the lack of YA, and the Reading Zone notes lists' tendency towards outdated suckiness (a notion seconded with vigor by Fuse #8 and Jen Robinson).

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! I finished up The Knife of Never Letting Go last night, which was as interesting as promised, but the cliffhanger literally made me say, "You've got to be EFFING KIDDING ME!" ("effing" being the book's profanity of choice). So I figure that's as good an excuse as any to take a break from kids' books for a few days. (Nixonland isn't going to read itself, after all!) --Paul

End-o'-the-Week Kid-Lit Roundup

"Children's books I have banned." Carrie Kirby (from Chicago Moms Blog) wrote a really funny piece about an understandable form of book banning: namely, banning particular children's books from your home because they personally bug the crap out of you. One example from her home is Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree. ("Like any self-respecting hippie-leaning liberal, I thought it was a wonderful book about the power of love or something like that.") But she could only handle seeing that sad old stump at the end so many times:

A little Googling shows that I'm far from the first woman to look askance at a story of a female tree giving her everything to a male child. Even if the book is a realistic look at self-sacrifice rather than the sick world view of a selfish male, I still don't want to read it ever again. It's like putting Wilbur of "Charlotte's Web" to bed each night with "The Omnivore's Dilemma." (Two books I love, by the way.)

(Found via Ypulse Books.)

J.K. Rowling joins the "growing revolt" against age-banding in the UK. This could be a big blow to plans in the UK to give books age-specific labels (5+, 7+, 9+, 11+ and 13+/teen). As snarky Book Ninja notes, "Now it’s not just the good kids authors who are opposed, it’s the rich ones too. Ratings scale, I have two words for you: sayonarius suckorum!"

Quentin Blake and Friends at Nunnington Hall. I got a nice shout-out from Julie at Children's Illustration the other day, and I have to return the favor. Her blog has a steady stream of amazing kid-lit art, and this week she points us to a great exhibition of British illustrators, with tons of work viewable online from the likes of Emma Chichester Clark (who did all the wonderful Blue Kangaroo books) and Quentin Blake (of Roald Dahl illo fame).

ALA celebration recap. What's it like to party at the American Library Association conference? It seems to involve a lot of fancy restaurants and moving speeches. Get the lowdown from Educating Alice, who as a Newbery committee member got to wine and dine with all the award winners.

More from the new Horn Book. Speaking of the ALA convention and award winners, there are a lot of Web extras in the new issue of Horn Book Magazine devoted to Newbery medalist Laura Amy Schlitz and Caldecott medalist Brian Selznick. (If you can get your hands on the magazine in print, you can also read their reportedly amazing speeches.)

Newbery medalists write one-act plays for kids. I ran out of room for this last week, but I think it's still worth mentioning: PW Children's Bookshelf tells the story behind Acting Out. This ingenious idea pulls together six Newbery winners to write six one-act plays, all of which are free to produce in an academic setting.

A Girl, A Boy, and Three Robbers interview blog tour. Blogger and kids' book author Gail Gauthier made the bloggatory rounds this week, giving interviews on her promising new chapter book, A Girl, A Boy, and Three Robbers, which just came out Thursday. Unlike some movie celebrity who might rehash the same one or two anecdotes for "The View" in the morning then Conan at night, Gail covers some serious ground, from her interviews with Big A little a (where she talks about TV vs. books w/r/t kids' imagination) and Fuse #8 (where she talks about why chapter books tend to get the short end of the stick, and how these books can be a lightning rod for parental anxieties at that age). If you can't enough of Gail, you can find all the interviews cross-linked at the end of her final talk, with Fuse #8.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! We're heading out now to a barbecue to celebrate with an Australian friend who just became "naturalized" (I love that verb) as an American citizen yesterday, in a big ceremony near the Space Needle. Once we're back home and Silas goes to bed, I'll be diving into The Knife of Never Letting Go (next up on my kid reading list after finishing Suzanne Collins' addictive Hunger Games).

End-o'-the-Week Kid-Lit Roundup

In this week's Kid-Lit Roundup, we visit Harry Potter in China and eventually come around to dancing with a pig and an elephant:

Learn a Harry Potter spell in Chinese. Heidi and I discovered the hip language-learning site ChinesePod before our trip to China a couple years ago. We still get their e-mails, and we were excited to see this week's lesson using Harry Potter--or "Hali Bote," as he's transcribed in the comments. Harry is pretty popular in China (he apparently has his own statue in a housing development somewhere), and you can find the books in nearly every street-side book cart.

Podcast Pick: Roger Sutton talks to kid-lit historian Leonard Marcus. Roger Sutton, the head of Horn Book (and a prolific and entertaining blogger besides) recently traveled to NYC and interviewed Leonard Marcus, the author of the acclaimed Minders of Make-Believe: Idealists, Entrepreneurs, and the Shaping of American Children's Literature. The podcast's atmospherics are charmingly NPR-esque (from the herds of schoolkids at MoMA to chirping birds in Central Park), and the short interview is packed with great anecdotes, including a story about members of the 19th-century American Library Association saying, "Children in America are just reading way too much these days."

ALA video blogging with Fuse #8. Speaking of the American Library Association, Elizabeth Bird is trying her hand at video-blogging on her trip to the annual ALA conference, going on in Anaheim through Wednesday. Get started with her arrival. (This year's conference logo features a surfer, so we're holding out hope for some surfboard-mounted webcam footage.)

Why do homes in picture books often look so dated? Kids' book author Erica S. Perl asks the question--and documents the weirdness--in an entertaining and well-annotated slideshow in Slate. For example, when's the last time you saw a corded phone like this?

Are kids the best judge of what's age-appropriate for them? A couple of opinion pieces have made pretty persusasive, practical arguments to that effect, one from blogger Ann Giles in the Guardian and one from Aussie librarian Miffy Farquharson in The Looking Glass: New Perspectives on Children's Literature.

Brush up on your Jamaican Patois with Dr. Seuss. This just gets funnier and funnier:

(Found via the 100 Scope Notes.)

Elephant and Piggie dance! If you don't love Mo Willems' Elephant and Piggie series, you have a heart of stone. What's the sure cure for a heart of stone? Playing the new Elephant and Piggie Dance Game:

I'm embarrassed to say that I played it for so long, I discovered you can set up combo dance moves. If you need homework this weekend, you can join me in trying to perfect your own Robo-Gerald-3000.... --Paul

End-o'-the-Week Kid-Lit Roundup

I helped Heidi kick off YA Wednesdays a couple days ago, and in turn she'll be helping me with a weekly roundup of kid-lit news--from board books on up to middle readers. Please comment with suggestions or tips! Without further ado:

Hungry Planet for kids! Peter Menzel and Faith D’Aluisio--the duo behind Hungry Planet--did a fascinating Q&A on the Freakonomics blog last month. I had heard about their book and never read it, but after reading the interview and seeing some of the photography, I went straight to the library to get it. One of the best parts of the Q&A (aside from an insane anecdote about slaughtering sheep in Mongolia) was when they said they'd be releasing a kids' version of the book--What the World Eats--later this summer! We'll surely talk about it here.

Stephen Colbert's three-sentence "review" of My Beautiful Mommy:

(At 3:56.) For those who can't watch clips, here's the quote: "One plastic surgeon has written a book, My Beautiful Mommy. This book is to help kids cope with their parents' cosmetic surgery. It is a lot more sensitive than the previous children's book on the subject, Heather's Mommy Has Two Expressions."

O'er the Pond, Part I: Kids' activity book bags British science award. How many book awards can there possibly be? If you follow book blogs at all, you can't click a link without running into yet another award list. Occasionally, though, a ceremony stands out--either because the books or the presenters seem exceptionally extraordinary, or both. That's the case for the Big Book of Science Things to Make and Do, honored at the Royal Society's Prizes for Science Books (hat tip to the always great Achockablog!). The winner came out of a formidable shortlist (including Serious Survival: How to Poo in the Arctic and Other Essential Tips for Explorers), and the awards were presented by a bona fide *lord* (Lord Rees, that is, president of the Society and "Astronomer Royal"). All that, and the ceremony had classy, custom cupcakes:

What's not to love? Got to wrangle an invite for next year somehow....

O'er the Pond, Part II: Free books for wee Brits. Another illuminating item courtesy of Achockablog: The British Booktime and Booked Up programs (for kids 4-5 and 11-12, respectively) promote recreational reading by giving kids high-quality books for free, over two million a year. It's a smart idea, and it's interesting to see what titles get included. (In particular, Heidi points out that poetry seems more mainstream for kids in Britain, with every younger child getting a free copy of The Puffin Book of Fantastic First Poems.)

Kids' books for tough topics. Librarian Kathy Englehart says that she's "frequently asked for books to help children understand the thornier issues in life." She lists some of her recommendations--on everything from same-sex marriages to seeing-eye dogs--for the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

2009 Newbery and Caldecott predictions. Sure, sure, I can gripe about the ubiquity of award lists, but it's hard not to get sucked into speculation, especially when it comes to the heavyweights like the Newbery and Caldecott. Elizabeth Bird collects her own savvy picks at the half-year mark and invites commenters to share their favorites. Even if you don't care about the awards themselves, this is an excellent mid-year reading/gift-giving list for the kids in your life. (I'm glad to see that she liked Frankenstein Takes the Cake, Adam Rex's gloriously nutbar followup to Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich. I fell in love with this book minutes after discovering it amidst the towering stacks in Lauren's office.)

Piaget's stages as buying guide. Sorry, this has nothing to do with books (or not much), other than that I found it on one of my favorite kid-lit blogs. Warren Buckleitner is a kids technology reviewer who just wrote a piece for the NYT about using Piaget's stages of cognitive development as a guide to what technology your kid can handle. This is in response to parents like this:

"My 4-year-old has been on the Web since he could sit up," said Samantha Morra, a mother of two from Montclair, N.J. "My 6-year-old has an iPod and wants a cellphone, although my husband and I aren’t sure who he’d call."

Our Silas is only 14 months old, and he already thinks iPhones and laptops are the most exciting thing in the world--based, no doubt, on how many hours a day he sees his parents staring at them. Buckleitner puts "watching funny videos on YouTube" at ages 6 to 11, but don't tell Silas: there's nothing he loves more these days than the Mexican Cat Dance:

--Paul

Winners Announced for the 2008 Weird-Ass Picture Book Awards!

The results are in! The 2nd annual Weird-Ass Picture Book Awards concluded this week, ending frenzied speculation and putting to rest months of controversy over the WAPBA's arcane selection process as well as ballot-stuffing rumors related to the 2007 WAPBA winner The Fuchsia Is Now, by J. Otto Seibold.

Actually... almost none of that happened, aside from the Weird-Ass Picture Book Awards themselves. The WAPBAs are a fiction created by popular kid-lit blogger MotherReader, while she was antsy waiting to hear the Oscar nominations in January. But it's such an entertaining fiction that it's hard not to love. And the winners? They're all great books--nominated by MotherReader readers and selected by the MR herself:

WAPB Award for Cover Art: New Socks, by Bob Shea

WAPB Award for Illustration: Bow Wow Bugs a Bug, by Mark Newgarden and Megan Montague Cash

WAPB Award for Story: Five Little Gefiltes, by Dave Horowitz

2008 Award for Best Weird-Ass Picture Book: Cowboy and Octopus, by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Lane Smith

And alas, there's no love for what many pundits and odds-makers put as a favorite for the Best WAPB award: the Steve Martin and Roz Chast collaboration The Alphabet from A to Y With Bonus Letter Z! ("[While it] was nominated and considered, ultimately it was rejected by the committee (uh, me) as being an adult book in children’s picture book clothing, and therefore ineligible for the award. Plus it sucked.") --Paul

Cool new kid-lit blogs: one here and one on the way

It's a lucky day when you discover not just one but *two* brand-new kids' book blogs worth checking out. One is already up and the other is still coalescing into blog-ificence:

1. I.N.K., i.e. Interesting Nonfiction for Kids. This blog promises to bring even more "charm, wit, and good looks" to this sometimes-neglected subphylum of kid lit. So far so good, with savvy recommendations like these "handsells":

   You say you really enjoyed the terrific humor and insights of the recent Newbery honor winner THE WEDNESDAY WARS? Well, let me tell you, if you liked those rats, you'll be blown away by Rats. The Story of Rats and People by Al Marrin. It's rats through the ages, reproducing and thriving, even in a court of law.

   Are you the more sensitive type who usually enjoys a tender tearjerker like Jenny Downham's BEFORE I DIE about a girl's battle with incurable cancer? We NF people do diseases--and lots of them. Why not give ace NF writer James Cross Giblin's When Plague Strikes. The Black Death, Smallpox, AIDS a try? Mr. Giblin does not disappoint in his ability to totally immerse his readers in infection, illness and disease.

2. Guys Lit Wire. Don't get too excited just yet: this site still isn't up, but it should soon be a great resource for teen-boy-book recommendations--both for people seeking books for teen boys and (it is hoped) for "actual teenagers," too. With its Guys Read-flavored mission and help from multi-talented bloggers like Colleen Mondor and Sara Lewis Holmes, it's bound to be great.

And it should be noted: I found I.N.K. via Tea Cozy, which points out another great kid nonfiction resource, the ALA's Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults' list "I'm Not Making This Up." --Paul

Kids' Books to Caucus By

In our home, we read political blogs compulsively (from smart liberals *and* smart conservatives) and we haven't been able to stop listening to streaming local radio from Iowa, New Hampshire, and now Nevada, all while watching the latest results tallied on Politico.

So how do we incorporate our kid into the action? At nine months, about the only way Silas gets involved is by laughing when we cheer and/or moan--in the most exaggerated way possible, for his entertainment--as primary results come in. And we may try to deploy his cuteness to sway fellow caucus-goers in February. (You have been warned, precinct #SEA 43-2059!)

But little did I know that for even slightly older kids, there's a slew of new political books out--even picture books! Publishers Weekly just posted a thoughtful and seemingly exhaustive list of new books this year on politics and elections, from novels to kid-friendly biographies of current candidates to a scrapbook-style history of Lincoln. (Sadly, there are no Huckaberry or Chicka Chicka DNC board books.)

There are lots of intriguing titles on the list, including a DK book on the voting process, an entry from one of my favorite kids' book dogs, and even a story written by White House press correspondent/legend Helen Thomas. Check out the informative PW article for more commentary and context on all the books, but here's the list--and if you don't see a link, that probably just means the publication date is still too far out:

Our Family's Holiday Book Recap

Heidi and I just got back from a long holiday break, including three family xmases and a New Year's trip to Vegas (in which we learned that 8-month-old Silas could care less about the Bellagio's fountains, but he loves fireworks and trying to eat Keno tickets). Silas and his cousin got plenty of books, so I figured I'd share some of the highlights:

• Winter in White: A Mini Pop-up Treat: For my money, you can't beat The Night Before Christmas for yuletide Robert Sabuda pop-up madness, but my mom got Silas this smaller, more subtle Sabuda pop-up and it seems like just the right scale.
• Gallop: Why hasn't this been done before? The low-tech, zoetrope-like animations (patented as "Scanimations") in this stout little board/pop-up book are weirdly compelling. A horse, cat, turtle, eagle, etc., comes to life on each page--without batteries or a screen--looking much like primitive Muybridge animations. The effect is too subtle for Silas (who finds everything fascinating), but kids who are even a little older will appreciate the coolness. I'd think that Robert Sabuda would be kicking himself over not thinking of this first, but he's got an admiring blurb right there on the back cover.
• Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See?: I'm such a sucker for Eric Carle's illustration style, and this board book has fun rhymes and repetition, too. Plus, all the animals in this particular book are endangered, so you can have fun reading a loud while also feeling terrible about destroying the planet. (How much habitat did I destroy from buying yet another board book? I don't even want to think about it.)
• Moomin books: My comics-loving friends and my Finnish friends (okay, one Finnish friend) couldn't believe that we'd never heard of Moomin. Moomin "is, like, the Mickey Mouse of our country"--with, I now know, an amusement park and everything. I loved a clever and goofy die-cut kids' book with the Moomin characters called The Book About Moomin, Mymble and Little My, but grownups and older kids will get way more out of the popular and very fun comic strip, a densely idiosyncratic serial that's more like Barnaby or Krazy Kat than more current strips. It was originally published in English in the 1950s in the London Evening News and has been collected in nicely oversized hardbacks by Canadian comics publisher Drawn and Quarterly. I devoured volumes one and two.
• The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: This was the sleeper hit of Christmas, for Silas' almost 5-year-old cousin, and for me and his dad. It should be noted that this was from the library, because we couldn't find it anywhere--despite trying, since Silas' cousin carried it with him everywhere, even though the entire beat-up book was in black and white, and he couldn't read the entries. He just kept asking, "Who is this? Who is that?" And we'd tell him, "Oh, that's Kang the Conqueror. Let's see, he's, uh... from the 40th century. And... he traveled back in time to become a pharaoh." And so on, through hundreds (thousands?) of entries. This seemed like classic, mastery-of-arcane-knowledge boy reading--like the way I (and his dad, coincidentally) would read the Guinness Book of World Records cover to cover and back again growing up. We never did find the Marvel guide in print before Christmas, so he could have his own copy, but it looks like an updated edition is coming out this spring. (We got him another slightly age-inappropriate book instead, DK's Spider-Man Ultimate Guide, to feed his growing Spidey obsession. We got bonus points because it matched his pajamas.)
• Drawn to Enchant: This wasn't a gift for anyone but just a book that I was carrying around reading, which has a ton of amazing illustrations, images, and ephemera, from children's books going back well over a century. I wouldn't recommend the book to anyone who isn't particularly interested in kids' literature, but Slate (where I originally learned about it) has a great slideshow of the highlights, including my favorite, an early sketch of Gandalf and Bilbo by Maurice Sendak, from a book that was never produced:

--Paul

If Omnivoracious had a secret world headquarters...

Or I guess it wouldn't be much of a secret in this case, but I think it would have to mimic our own top-o'-the-blog Omnivoracious bookshelf just like this:

These Brobdingnagian books cover the parking garage of Kansas City's Central Library. I've got to say, I even like the title curation. (And when I read Lord of the Rings the first time as a kid, I remember it felt that big.)

You can see more pics of the library in this nice person's flickr set. (Found via the ever-awesome Bookshelves of Doom. DOOOOOM.) --Paul

“Brooms down. Eyes closed. And the snitch is loose.”

In case you hadn't heard, Vassar won this year's Intercollegiate Quidditch World Cup on Sunday:

(photo from the entertaining Midd Blog)

So how do you play quidditch without flying broomsticks? It's "a violent ballet, of sorts," with a bunch of nonflying broomsticks, a volleyball, gold-painted hula hoops, some red playground balls, and--my favorite--a modified snitch: in the case of Middlebury, "Rainey Johnson, a rogue player dressed all in gold, runs wild throughout the game, a tennis ball in a sock attached to the back of his shorts. He isn’t confined to the field; he can run all over campus."

Note that Middlebury players frown on variants at other colleges that use a remote control helicopter for a snitch. “Our snitch does flips,” [referee and junior Victor] Larsen said. “Rainey is a cross-country runner and also a wrestler, so he’ll take you down if you try and get him. I’ve never seen a helicopter do that." (Yes: “Foul play is definitely encouraged.”)

And in addition to the compelling physical ridiculousness, you also get pageantry. Behold a Midd Blog pick for favorite uniform:

What's not to love? If you must know more about muggle quidditch, watch Middlebury prepping for last Sunday's matchup. --Paul

Ready for Children's Book Week?

The 88th annual Children's Book Week is next week, November 12–18. I know, I know: If you have kids and you're reading Omnivoracious, every week is probably Children's Book Week in your home. But the Children's Book Council has some good ideas for celebrating the occasion—including a few worth stealing from their suggested parents letter for teachers:

 

• During dinner, each family member should share their current favorite book by naming the title, author and illustrator, and giving a brief description of the book and why it’s a favorite.
• Go to the library or a bookstore as a family and help each other pick out new books to bring home.
• Work with your child and some friends to develop a play based on a scene from their favorite book. Invite family and friends to view the production. Remember to take pictures.
• Write a story based on some favorite book characters. Work together as a family to develop plot ideas.
• After dinner, instead of watching television, read aloud from a book (or books) to each other. If you haven’t been read to in a while, you’ll be surprised how much fun it is.

Also: be on the lookout for read-ins, author and illustrator visits, and awards parties in your area or school. And don't miss the very cool vintage posters for sale from past book weeks, e.g.:

--Paul

Guys Read

The new Horn Book magazine just came out, but darnit if I didn't just get my hands on the previous one! We took Silas to lunch with his great-grandmother yesterday, and Heidi read from the Sep/Oct issue aloud in the car. (I highly recommend the human audiobook to all young families as a way to squeeze in more reading time.) The Horn Book was my pick because I've been wanting to read editor Roger Sutton's interview with Jon Scieszka (the genius behind The Stinky Cheese Man, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, the Time Warp Trio books, etc.).

Scieszka was mostly talking about his crusade-slash-Web-site Guys Read, which is intended to draw attention to boys' literacy. ("Boys often have to read books they don’t really like. They don’t get to choose what they want to read. And what they do like to read, people sometimes tell them is not really reading.") The interview is insightful and often hysterical and I wish it were online to share, but I'll transcribe one particularly entertaining snippet. He's talking here about what happened when a neighbor of his tried to start a boy-friendly book club for his sons that also involved pizza and soccer:

I went to a couple of the meetings, and they were really funny. It was just like a bunch of guys in a bar. Even though they were only eight years old, they were master bullshitters, just throwing out what they knew about, say, Jackie Robinson, when the book under discussion was The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963. They'd go off on these tangents, little eight-year-olds trying to show that they each knew more than the other guy, and nobody was listening to each other at all. That's a different way boys experience books, and part of why they enjoy nonfiction, certainly. There's something about boys amassing expertise and being in charge of that knowledge, whether it's about all the dinosaurs in the world or every kind of truck that there is on the planet.

The interview is great if you can get a hold of it--and it's generated much discussion among parents, educators, librarians, and authors, e.g., on blogs on Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal.  --Paul

Where the Wild Things Are: Where It's At

If you already know about the upcoming live-action "Where the Wild Things Are" movie (directed by Spike Jonze, with a screenplay by Jonze and Dave Eggers, and a cast including Catherine Keener, Forest Whitaker,  James Gandolfini, et al.), then chances are you've already freaked out over the sneak-peek production still that was floating around a few months ago:

Sadly, there hasn't been much news since then for those of us hankering to learn more about the beloved book's adaptation—until last week! New York Magazine apparently got their hands on the script. The verdict? It's "really, really good":

In transforming the 338-word story of Where the Wild Things Are into a 111-page screenplay, Eggers and Jonze have fleshed out the story not, unexpectedly, with wild plot developments, and not, thankfully, with densely packed pop-fiction references. Instead Where the Wild Things Are is filled with richly imagined psychological detail, and the screenplay for this live-action film simply becomes a longer and more moving version of what Maurice Sendak's book has always been at heart: a book about a lonely boy leaving the emotional terrain of boyhood behind.

Say no more. Can't wait. (And yes, it was already a movie. But that one was only seven minutes long. And it was animated. Thanks to YouTube, you can still watch it.) --Paul

I Shall (Eventually) Read All the Best Books of 2007

This has been a weird year for books in our family. Heidi and I had our first kid in April--a boy, Silas, charming and no doubt doomed to bibliophilia, the poor guy--but that means I've been reduced to hit-and-run, guerrilla tactics in my reading. I'm fighting an increasingly asymmetrical struggle: the baby's naps get shorter, the stack of books I want to finish gets taller.

I've put my years of kids-book reviewing for Amazon to good use (as I hope to do in my posts to the Family Room), so I've at least had the consolation of satisfying reads with Silas, like Hug and Chicka Chicka ABC. But for sheer recreation, I'm definitely skewing now more towards nonfiction (esp. politics), comics, and anything else that I can quickly pick up and put down w/o completely losing the thread.

That's all my way of saying: Even though my survey of 2007 books hasn't exactly been encyclopedic, I have no reservations recommending I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets as my hands-down favorite. This bizarro time capsule rescued from the earliest days of superhero comics (1939-1941) is like a sublime, demented brick over the head. The collection--complete stories of "Stardust the Super Wizard," "Fantomah: Mystery Woman of the Jungle," and a couple others--surpasses itself in fantastical weirdness with nearly every panel, like an eight-year-old's dream of what a comic should be. Almost better than the work itself is the comic afterword by editor Paul Karasik, "Whatever Happened To Fletcher Hanks?" in which he recounts his pursuit of the renowned but forgotten outsider artist behind these obscure comics.

A panel from "De Structo & the Headhunter."

P.S. Speaking of short, satisfying reads, I should also mention my favorite zine of 2007: Man Why You Even Got to Do a Thing (hopefully already known to other fans of the Ignatz-winning Webcomic Achewood). --Paul