The New Policeman

Kate Thompson has won the Guardian Children's Fiction prize for The New Policeman. The New Policeman, according to Julia Eccleshare writing for the Guardian, "makes the impossible credible in a seductive story about 15-year-old JJ, who visits the land of eternal youth, in search of Time - the perfect birthday present for his mother, whose constant lament is the shortage of it in her life."

Thompson has been very influenced by Irish fairytales and says of her writing, "I'm trying to provide a psychological map, but I don't want to preach. If there's a common thread to my books it is that each involves an individual's journey. The individual must stay true to themselves. It's what the fairies do and that's why the fairy stories are so important."

Congratulations to Thompson. She sounds like a fascinating person and I can't wait to read this book.

Censorship.

Bill Gibron examines "What's So Funny 'Bout Pee, Poop, and Underwear: The Controversy Over Captain Underpants" in PopMatters today. I had no idea that Dav Pilkey's Captain Underpants tomes were the fourth most challenged books in libraries and schools (monitored by the ALA). I mean, come on, the humor may not appeal to an adult, but everyone with children know they hold a certain attraction for your average 7-year-old.

Gibron thinks Captain Underpants has been a target for three reasons. First, he writes, "George and Harold are portrayed as spirited little brats, boys of above-average intelligence more than willing to share their prankster secrets with the audience." In other words, there are lots of good tips for young troublemakers here. Secondly, Gibron claims that the spelling, grammar, and "appalling literary form" have attracted negative attention. Finally, Gibron writes, "Believe it or not, people are mad at the books for making kids laugh."

Nice article on the appeal of Captain Underpants and one of several interesting pieces about censorship on the web.

Also of interest is Chris Crutcher's "I don't give a damn 'bout my reputation" for the Book Standard. Camille at BookMoot recently expressed her dismay in a "Know-Nothing Alert" (September 23) with the Limestone County Schools for canceling a Crutcher appearance. Crutcher writes about censorship,

"Our schools are filled with kids who have been treated badly all their lives. They don’t tell anyone, because there is shame in being treated badly. Many—girls and boys—have been sexually mistreated. Still others struggle in fear with sexual identity. They respond with eating disorders, cutting, suicidal thought or action. I can’t tell you how many letters I’ve received from kids who found a friend in one of my books, a character who speaks to them. And if I get those letters, think of the letters Walter Dean Myers, or Lois Lowry, or Judy Blume get, thanking us for letting them know, through literature, that they are not alone. In light of all that, there’s really only one thing to say to the censors. Shut up."

I couldn't agree with him more.

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Also in Book Standard, a cheery article on Book-Banning around the Globe by Kimberly Maul.

Meeting halfway

My four-year-old loves science books. He likes to read about airplanes, snakes, sea animals (especially sharks), reptiles, and dinosaurs. He loves the Eyewitness books, the Discoveries (a Barnes and Noble product), and other such detailed fare. I have to cop to nodding off while reading aloud about jet engines, reticulated pythons, and carnivores on a nightly basis. I like stories, not endless cataloguing of fact.

But, there's one dinosaur book I like. Ruth Ashby and John Sibbick's My Favorite Dinosaurs.

My son's adult counterpart must be John Sibbick, illustrator of My Favorite Dinosaurs. Sibbick is a man who has seriously considered the question "What's your favorite dinosaur?" many, many times. (My answer--stegosaurus--is always met with a blank stare. The stegosaurus is not a glamorous dinosaur.) My Favorite Dinosaurs is a great book and my clear favorite of the "scientific" books about dinosaurs. Ashby's text is dramatic and places the dinosaurs in action. You can read it aloud with some intonation and suspense. Sibbick's illustrations are realistic and teeming with prehistoric lizards. If you have a kid obsessed with these creatures, I highly recommend My Favorite Dinosaurs.

What's your favorite dinosaur?

Lyra, Sunny, and other news

Philip Pullman confirmed during his inaugural Fickling Lecture on developments in children's literature (organized by Newcastle University and Seven Stories, the Centre for Children's Books) that Lyra will return.

A tantalizing, yet extraordinarily brief, mention from the Journal.

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Well, someone coughed up $6,300 to be "an utterance" made by Sunny Baudelaire in the 13th book of Series of Unfortunate Events. Kim Curtis summarizes the results from the First Amendment Project auction for the Washington Post.

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A funny article by Tanya Gold for the Guardian: "How Many Times Have You Read War and Peace?" I'm going to sound like a nutcase when I tell you I'm one of these people too. I've read it about 8 times, and the war parts are actually my favorites now. I do ALWAYS skip Tolstoy's thoughts on history at the end, however. I've read them once and once was enough.

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John Bergstrom discusses The Wiggles for PopMatters (an online journal I find myself reading more and more). I prefer listening to The Wiggles to watching them. Apparently there are many blogs and fansites devoted to the Australian foursome. Who would have known?

Fun things online

Adam Jacot de Boinod celebrates the "joy of foreign words" in a new book called The Meaning of Tingo. The BBC discusses the book and some of its many fascinating examples here. (Neil Tweedie also covers the book for the Telegraph in this recent review.) It is amazing how and why languages create new words--their creation reflects both the culture and the linguistic boundaries of the given language. English loves new verbs, for example. We can make a verb from almost any noun. German loves compounds and has some great ones de Boinod mentions like Dragonfutter, "literally translated as dragon fodder - the peace offerings made by guilty husbands to their wives." Readers of the BBC have written in examples of their own, including monobrow from English.

(One note: While koshatnik in Russian does mean "a seller of stolen cats", it also more frequently means someone who loves cats and has a female form koshatnitsa, simply "cat lady.")

Also, via Maud Newton, books left on NYC's MTA (Travelers Diagram). Lots of Lolita and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Probably offerings, rather than forgotten or abandoned books.

The Callahan Cousins: Home Sweet Home

I recently received a review copy of Elizabeth Doyle Carey's The Callahan Cousins: Home Sweet Home. Home Sweet Home is the second in this new series about four tween cousins who have free run of their Grandmother's rambling estate in "Eastport Harbor" over the summer.

This series will definitely appeal to girls who love Nancy Drew, The Babysitters Club, and other such middle grade favorites. The four cousins take turns playing the central role in each volume with Neeve (the spunky, adventurous one) heading up Home Sweet Home.

The girls' grandmother, Gee, presents the girls with a challenge in the very first chapter of Home Sweet Home. She allows them to fix up the "Dorm," a two-story cabin near the main house, and make it their own home. Decorating always brings out the worst in people and opinionated Neeve frequently clashes with her more subdued, but aesthetically-gifted cousin, Kate. The other cousins, bookish Phoebe and tomboy Hillary, keep the peace. While cleaning out the Dorm, Neeve finds an old photo--a photo of her father's wedding to someone who is not Neeve's father. The girls spend their summer solving the mystery, fixing up the Dorm, negotiating the social waters of Eastport Harbor, and discovering that cousins really "are forever."

The Callahan Cousins: Home Sweet Home is a cute read and it has helped me to survive my required reading for the week, Crime and Punishment.

The Lightning Thief

Amanda Craig reviews Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief for Sunday's Times.

The Lightning Thief is a very cute book and a heck of a fun read. Camille at BookMoot wrote a very good review and summary quite recently (August 23) if you'd like to know more.

What struck me about Craig's review of The Lightning Thief, however, was not that she enjoyed the book, nor that she found it to be very funny. What surprised me was her opening claim, "BRITISH CHILDREN suffer from a seemingly incurable yearning: at around 10, they all want to be at an American high school." What?!? I wanted to go to a British school (which I did for one short year only and it was 2nd grade, not high school). Who'd want to go to an American high school? Egads!

A Request for Help

I received the following request last night and because it came from somone I recognize (who writes for my favorite bookblog, Bookslut) and it is a nicely organized way for anyone to help children displaced by Katrina, I'm going to post it.

Colleen Mondor writes, "I am trying to build support for donations down South. I am currently working with a group in Baton Rouge to help some children displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Josh Causey and his group at Parkview Baptist Church are spending their time with children sheltered with their families at Southern University. They are doing arts and crafts, playing games and reading books. The program is expanding to other shelters and includes after school tutoring. I have set up wishlists for the kids at Amazon, but I'm hoping that authors, illustrators, reviewers and comic creators and publishers will also consider donating a few titles. The children cover all ages and all interests - at this point, I think they would be thrilled with any gift. "

Colleen has put together two amazon wish lists--one for books and one for games. Check them out and make a donation if you can. Sounds like they're doing great work with the kids. If you'd like to send something directly, here is the mailing address:

Josh Causey
Parkview Baptist Church
11795 jefferson highway
Baton Rouge, LA 70816

Operation Red Jericho

The Times Children's Book of the Week is Operation Red Jericho. Now this one caught my eye a week or so ago because of its definite resemblance to my beloved moleskine notebook, only red.

Nicolette Jones in reviewing Red Jericho indicates that it is worth another look. Written by Joshua Mowll, Jones says, "the strengths of the tale are the frantic action and the larger-than-life characters, including a wise-cracking American aviatrix whose quips take the sting out of the dangers and horrors." Moreover, the book claims "to be a notebook and associated papers inherited by the author from his late aunt, giving an account of her adventures with her rebellious brother in their youth in the Far East in the 1920s, after their parents have gone missing." There are maps, and drawings, and other documentary material included with the notebook. (This must be the reason why there are three illustrators: Juleck Heller, Niroot Puttapipat, and Benjamin Mowll.)

My book list is getting longer and longer, though I doubt this purchase will be a waste of money. My daughter will love this one for sure.

Anansi Boys

Neil Gaiman scores in the U.S. as well.

Elizabeth Hand reviews Anansi Boys for the Washtington Post and calls it "the literary equivalent of a hole in one, employing the kind of self-assured storytelling that makes it all look so easy."

On the "to read" list.

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Here's hoping our Texas friends, Camille at Book Moot and Jamie at Once Upon a Story are doing okay today. At least one of the Austin folk, Cynthia Leitich Smith (Cynsations) has checked in already (though I suspect she's Wonderwoman in disguise).

Book-->Film, Oliver Twist

Hooray! Oliver Twist is a good movie.

Stephanie Zacharek at Salon addresses the book to film issue in the first paragraph of her rave review writing, "Sometimes you look at a movie adaptation of a classic book and it's as if you're reading it with the filmmaker, turning the pages together. Roman Polanski's "Oliver Twist" takes the useless question of whether reading is "better" than moviegoing and renders it academic: This is that rare movie version of a great novel in which watching is reading. " A.O. Scott agrees in the New York Times, writing, "with tact and enthusiasm, Mr. Polanski grabs hold of a great book and rediscovers its true and enduring vitality."

In many ways, Dickens was the first great writer of Young Adult fiction (YA) and, indeed, I think, the inspiration for many authors of what is now considered YA fantasy (Tolkien, J.K. Rowling included). Now, if I only lived in New York or LA...

Sebastian's Roller Skates

Sebastian's Roller Skates is a charming tale about a shy little boy who wants to be able to talk, but freezes up when spoken to. One day he finds a pair of roller skates on a park bench. He tries to skate and falls. He swears never to skate again.

But the skates are still on the park bench the next day and Sebastian decides to try again. Slowly, slowly he improves taking tiny, tiny strokes. One afternoon a dog escapes and runs up to Sebastian and begins licking his face. Sebastian grabs onto the dog's leash to steady himself and the dog takes off. Sebastian's ride through the park exhilarates him. He can skate! And fast. After his wild ride, Sebastian can do anything. He tells the barber, "I know the names of all the most important deserts in the world and where they are: the Sahara in Africa, the Gobi in Asia, and the Atacama in South Africa. And this time I don't want my head to look like a billiard ball."

Joan de Déu Prats' text is very sweet and tells a tale all the shy kids in the world (myself included) can appreciate. Francesc Rovira's illustrations are beautiful and each page incorporates a slowly changing collage on its edge. The collages are dark and newpapery at the beginning and close the book in tissue-papery brilliance. From Kane/Miller books, who specializes in translating and publishing foreign books for U.S. children.

Sign me up on the waiting list...

According to Publishers Weekly, there's a lot of buzz around the upcoming release of Kai Meyer's The Water Mirror. According to PW, "American booksellers who received advance galleys have been raving about it for months now."

Published in 2001 in Germany, The Water Mirror tells the tale of two children, Merle and Serafin, thrown in to the world of magical Venice and its mermaids. Possessed with some magical instruments, like the water mirror and magical cloth, the children set off to save their city and its protector, the Flowing Queen.

Sounds like a fascinating novel. Special thanks go to Elizabeth D. Crawford who translated The Water Mirror into English. (Translators never receive the attention they deserve for their dedication to their field and their own artistry.)

The Original Alice

I love the British Library.

They've posted The Original Alice, illustrated and written, of course, by Lewis Carroll, on their magnificent Turning the Pages online gallery. It takes a while to load, but it's well worth it. You can zoom in on pages, magnify sentences, and there's even a voice over.

Check it out when you've got a few moments and a fast connection.

Toot & Puddle

In a nice bag of books from Time Warner, the newest Toot & Puddle offering Toot & Puddle: Wish You were Here.

Holly Hobbie's charming books have long been favorites in our house. They appeal to both girls and boys with their slow-paced approach to life in Woodcock Pocket. Hobbie's illustrations are gorgeous, cheerful, and often hilarious and Toot and Puddle can brighten any gloomy day.

Toot is on the road again in Toot & Puddle: Wish You Were Here, just as he was in one of my favorites in the series, Toot & Puddle: Welcome to Woodcock Pocket. He sends his entertaining postcards home, detailing his adventures in Wildest Borneo. All begins well as Toot seeks out "the wildest plants ever." He's thrilled by the "imperial quaking spice pod," the "hairy indigo mud lily," and the "wandering moon bloom." (Great illustrations, needless to say!) Meanwhile, Puddle is at home with his young pig-cousin Opal planting marigolds and zinnias. One of Hobbie's recurring themes is the contrast between home and faraway. Home always wins for Puddle, while Toot likes to experience the world.

This time, however, Toot runs into trouble. I won't spoil the suspense, but Toot arrives home in an altered state and Puddle and Opal must cure him with a little detective work. The internet and some exploration at home do the trick.

A very cute read and a welcome addition to our home library.

Deborah Wiles will begin publishing a serialized novel--"Moves the Symphony True"--next week for the Boston Globe. According to the Globe, "the story, set in Aurora, Miss., features several characters from Wiles's other books, ''Love, Ruby Lavender" and ''Each Little Bird That Sings."

Stephanie Loer interviews Wiles today in advance of publication which begins next Tuesday. This should be an interesting experiement. I wonder if kids will follow it? (Registration may be required.)

Lost in America

Found on the library shelves: Lost in America by Marilyn Sachs.

As a child I was obsessed with the holocaust and my absolute favorite book was Judith Kerr's When Hilter Stole the Pink Rabbit. I would have loved Lost in America as well.

Sachs' Lost in America is told from the point of view of seventeen-year-old Nicole, an French-Jewish escapee from the Holocaust who moves to New York City. The story begins with the last night Nicole ever saw her parents and younger sister (whom, painfully, Nicole mistreats that evening). Nicole narrates her survival in France, move to New York, and her first year in NYC. What is most interesting and compelling about Nicole's story is that all those who assisted her along the way were conflicted in some way or another about helping her to survive. The teacher/headmistress who first protects her actually supported the Germans in theory. Nonetheless she protects Nicole and then helps her to leave her hometown, Aix-les-Bains, when the Germans arrive. Nicole's aunt then takes Nicole in until the Americans arrive to the South of France. Nicole's aunt is a frivolous woman who cares more about boyfriends, cheese, and redecorating Nicole's parents' apartment. The New York cousins who take her in actually don't like her very much and are put out by having (due to peer and familiar pressure) to take her in. But Nicole's spirit never flags and with the help of some good friends and a demanding, yet kind employer, Nicole makes it on her own.

Nicole's voice is straightforward and matter-of-fact. Although she is 17, the book should appeal to middle-graders interested in history and personal stories. Sachs has told a very complex tale simply and in a way young Americans can truly grasp the horrors of the holocaust. Highly recommended.

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Speaking of the Holocaust and Holocaust survivers, Simon Wiesenthal died today at the age of 96.

New Roald Dahl

Quentin Blake, famous artist and illustrator for many children's books, including Dahl's, has collaborated with 26 other artists to produce a new collection of Roald Dahl's stories "lavishly illustrated." Due out in October, Blake has enlisted many talented illustrators to bring life to Dahl's work.

To the right is Mini Grey's rendition of Augustus Gloop. Other illustrators include Lauren Child and Alex Scheffler (of Gruffalo fame).

Via the BBC. Publisher is not mentioned in the article.

The Secret Blog of Raisin Rodriguez

The Secret Blog of Raisin Rodriguez (by Judy Goldschmidt) has stolen my heart.

Raisin's entry into seventh-grade does not go well. First, she is forced to move from Berkeley to Pennsylvania because of her parents' divorce. (As a displaced Californian myself I feel her pain!) Her mom's new husband, Horace, is a total dork and she inherits a new stepsister and a cross-dressing dog.

Raisin starts a blog (twoscoopsofraisin.com) to communicate with her best friends at home, Pia and Claudia. This technique works really well in a book for tween girls. Raisin's voice is so strong you feel you know her. In her blog, Raisin chronicles her (admittedly lame) attempts to join in with the popular crowd, her crush on the mysterious CJ, and the horrors of her first period (with an excellent shout-out to Margaret). You know what will happen and it does. Some kid finds her blog, prints it out, and distributes it widely. Even the cafeteria lady quotes from it. Raisin sort-of triumphs in the end in a spunky way all her own. I should be grading papers right now, but I couldn't put The Secret Blog of Raisin Rodriguez down.

The good:

**Raisin! What a great character with an original, yet familiar voice. She's like many smart 13-year-olds with a talent for writing and dramatic behavior. You want to hug and slap her at the same time. Most of all, though, the reader admires her for her ability to wake up the next day and deal with the drama she's created.
**Berkeley details. As a former Berkeley student myself, I loved the yoga instructor dad, the middle school campout with tofu burgers, and the earnest parenting techniques of the granola set.
**Goldschmidt's writing. She really became a smart 13-year-old girl. A snappy, snarky, and yet still innocent and accepting 13-year-old girl.
**The "sort-of" triumph in the end. Everything doesn't work out exactly as Raisin had hoped, but it is still okay and interesting and she'll deal just fine.

The bad:

**Well not much. I did want to know a lot more about Pia and Claudia who comment on Raisin's blog. Maybe they'll be in the sequel.

Okay. How long will we in the U.S. have to wait for Geraldine McCaughrean's The White Darkness and Helen Dunmore's Ingo? These two books seem to be U.K. standouts this year. Kate Kellaway writes for the Guardian,

"It is extremely hard to get the tone right for children, harder still with teenagers. This summer, I read boxloads of books for teenagers and older children. Of these, there were two outstanding novels."

Saturday Reviews

Daniel Morden reviews Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys for The Times. It's mostly a positive review with a few reservations (sense of humor, secondary characters too broadly drawn, etc.) Still, Morden calls Anansi Boys "thoughtful" and "atmospheric."

Also in The Times, Julia Donaldson pays homage to Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad books. Who can blame her? These are classics, although perhpas not as buried in the U.S. as they are in Britain.

Elizabeth Ward reviews Carl Hiassen's second novel for children, Flush, for The Washington Post. It's a nice review and Flush sounds comfortingly like Hoot. Ward also reviews Polly Horvath's The Vacation and a few picture books.

The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize

Hooray! Julia Eccleshare introduces the shortlist for the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize in Saturday's Guardian.

On the list:

The Merrybegot by Julie Hearn
The Boy in the Burning House by Tim Wynne-Jones
The Hunted by Alex Shearer
The New Policeman by Kate Thomspon

Included with brief reviews of each novel are children's comments, which I think is great. That's what is difficult about children's literature. Sometimes what adults like isn't exactly what children like and vice-versa.

Prizes will be announced Oct. 1.

(The Merrybegot and The New Policeman have not been released yet in the U.S., unfortunately.)

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Julia Eccleshare also reviews Terry Pratchett's picture book Where's My Cow in the same issue of Guardian. She ends her review with a warning: "like Sam's little boy, your toddler may replace their winsome baa-lamb noises with impersonations of Coffin' Henry and Foul Ole Ron."

Girl Sleuth

Heather Lee Schroeder has written a nice article for Madison's The Capital Times about Melanie Rehak and her new book Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her. (There's another nice interview of Rehak on the Harcourt Brace site.)

Rehak shows in her book how Nancy was adapted by various authors to the times--more adventurous in the 1930s, more domesticated in the 50s, etc. Rehak discusses her research process and how she learned much about Nancy's creators from the archives. Rehak explains,

"Mildred Wirt Benson and Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, didn't always see eye to eye, but they loved their character and their work. The two women were alike in many ways, but they also came from different generations, Rehak explains, and that made conflict between them inevitable. Benson was tough-minded and independent, while Adams came from a generation of women who believed in sisterhood and bonding. Rehak believes Nancy Drew fans ultimately gained from her creators' sometimes stormy relationship; the girl detective became a little of each woman, thereby strengthening her overall appeal."

Lucky

One more book from the Kane/Miller box--Gus Clarke's Lucky.

Our narrator is a cute brown dog, named Lucky (seen to your right), who one day ends up at an animal shelter. Lucky doesn't know why he's in the shelter, but right away begins matchmaking animals to owners. He makes friends with all the other dogs and strategizes with them to get one particularly hard-to-place dog adopted. Lucky and his friends all make frightful faces and behave inappropriately so their friend will be easily the most appealing dog. (My four-year-old particularly liked these pages.)

Lucky watches as his friends are taken to real homes one by one and wonders if he too will find a new human friend. I hope it's not a spoiler when I tell you he does find a new human in the end.

Lucky is a true charmer. The dogs are chosen by people who look just like them and Clarke's illustrations are charming. This book is a great read-aloud, especially if you point out how much the dogs resemble their new human companions.

An great read for the 3-6 crowd.

The Vacation

I just finished Polly Horvath's The Vacation. What an interesting read. It's original, funny, and just a little bit odd. If you're looking for something out-of-the-ordinary for the middle-grade crowd, this is your book.

Eleven-year-old Henry is our young narrator. He's a calm and accepting child who has to struggle with the fact that his family is, essentially, crazy. His mom, Katherine, tries to become a Mormon so she can travel to Africa as a missionary. When that doesn't work, she leaves for Africa anyway on her own improvised mission. Henry's dad follows soon after and Henry is left with his two aunts, Mag and Pigg.

Mag and Pigg decide to pull Henry out of school and go to the beach for a Vacation. Henry thinks they've left for the weekend, but Mag and Pigg have other ideas. They set off across the country, following the whims first of Mag (who, having recovered from a serious blood illness, decides upon the trip initially). They visit many states from Virginia to Texas and meet all sort of crazy people.

Henry is apprehensive of Mag and Pigg at first, because let's face it, they're a bit eccentric. They argue all the time, haven't traveled in twenty years, and make decisions based on very little information. But over time Henry becomes used to his aunts and even begins to have fun with them.

The Vacation shows just how enlightening leaving your comfort zone can be, even for a child. When Henry arrives at their first destination, the beach, he looks at the ocean and thinks, "I was suddenly aware not just of all those people in Europe looking in our direction over the waves, wondering about us, but of all the billions of things moving and alive beneath the water...Sometimes you can get so closed into your little corner of the world you forget all the stuff like the ocean going on without you thinking about it, while you breathe somewhere else."

Horvath's narration is clear-eyed and not a little bit irreverent. There is no happy ending, beyond a less-than-promising "Welcome to Iowa," but Henry becomes resigned in a good way to his less than perfect family. When you begin reading The Vacation, you think, "Goodness, where is the child?" But Henry's presence and voice grow throughout the novel and you grow up with him.

Highly recommended. I'm going to kid-test this one on my nine-year-old reader and I'll update in the future.

Cool Links

Some cool links found on Bookninja today.

There's a great collection of illustrations of authors and characters by a variety of artists on a site titled, "Artistic Impressions of Literary Figures." My favorite is Derek Kirk Kim's rendition of Pippi Longstocking, posted to your left. He really captures Pippi's spirit, I think.


And, for the real nerds among us (myself included) a Guide to Diagramming Sentences. Diagramming sentences was the highlight of seventh grade for me. True, it wasn't a great year overall, but I sure loved those diagrams.

Book --> Film, Again

Stephen Hunter (Washington Post staff writer) has written a very funny piece about Hollywood's insatiable appetite for material, an appetite that has lead to many new films "based on the book."

When you see a film based on a book, the question is: "Should you read the book first." In other words, do you have a moral obligation to read the book first or just skip it and go to the film. (I don't think this question applies to non-readers, of course.)

Mr. Hunter's deliberations are hilarious. Here are some of his decisions regarding new fall movies:

· "Shopgirl": Read the book. Steve Martin is always funny. (Agreed. And it's a fun read.)

· "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe": Read the book aloud to your kids. It will be good for them and you. If you don't have kids, you're off the hook. (Agreed. I'm not a huge C.S. Lewis fan)

· "Pride and Prejudice." If you've already read the book, so much the better. If you haven't and you're smart and young, you probably should read Miss Austen (and if your high school hasn't required it, find a new high school). If you're old and you haven't read the book, it's probably too late for you, as it is for me. (It's never too late for Austen!)

· "Harry Potter and the Flagon of Iced Vodka": Everyone else has read the book, Rowling doesn't need your 7 cents, so you can skip this one. (I love Harry Potter, but Hunter's title cracked me up nonetheless. )

If you need a good laugh, this article is for you.

The National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance

The National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance (NCBLA) has an excellent new website up and is looking for publicity (via child_lit listsev). The goal of the NCBLA is, "is to make issues related to young people's literacy, literature, and libraries an ongoing priority on our national agenda. We act as a freelance, nonpartisan advocate, creating and developing special projects and events that promote literacy, literature, libraries, and the arts; educating the public about practical literacy and education solutions; and ensuring young people's right to read." Sounds like a plan to me!

The NCBLA site lists upcoming projects, including a Democracy at Risk summit and a series of books about The White House. The site also features loads of information for teachers, librarians, and mentors all in the aim of turning children into critical thinkers. Check it out when you have a chance.

Brain Fog

Ever have a brain fog day? You know, not a bad day, and certainly not a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, but just one of those days when it seems your mind moves s-l-o-w-l-y.

I think the many bureaucratic mundane tasks on my "to-do" today turned my brain to mush. I didn't even have time to read blogs, or the news, let alone a book.

Speaking of books, I can't think of any kids' books about such foggy days. Maybe the youngsters are just too busy thinking all the time.

The Journey that Saved Curious George

Louis Borden has written a book about Margaret and H.A. Rey (German-born Jews) and their escape from the Nazis. This picture book, The Journey that Saved Curious George, intended for older readers charts the Reys' journey from Paris in 1940 through Spain on bicycles and their eventual arrival in New York City.

The Reys began writing kids books before arriving to the States and even had a 1939 French publication, "Raffy and the 9 Monkeys."

An exciting tale and one with a happy ending. Borden was interviewed by Dinita Smith for the New York Times.

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ETA: USA Today has covered Borden's new book as well (by Bob Minzesheimer).

Books for the Very Young

Liz Rosenberg writes about books for the very young today in the Boston Globe (registration may be required). It is her toddler and desert isle list and it includes:

Good Dog, Carl by Alexandra Day
Maisy's Color Collection, 1,2, 3, Maisy and Maisy goes to School by Lucy Cousins
Alphabet Flash Cards by Beth Nelson
Big Trucks and Diggers Touch-and-Feel, Chronicle Books

and, number one on her list: The Very Busy Spider, by Eric Carle.

It's a nice article because it brings up an issue Susan at Chicken Spaghetti has mentioned before.

There are millions of picture books, but which ones are truly hold the attention of a young child? Susan's favorite is Hello Digger by Anne Rockwell. My favorites are Ellen Stoll Walsh's Mouse Paint and Peggy Rathmann's Good Night, Gorilla.

Canada's Globe and Mail features a number of reviews on new children's literature today.

Most interesting is Wendy Kitt's review of T.C. Boyle's (!) new collection of stories for teens, The Human Fly and Other Stories.

Sherrie Posesorski reviews the book that's currently on top of my "to read" list, Polly Horvath's The Vacation.

Susan Perren rounds up recent back-to-school books . And there are also reviews of Inkspell, Skybreaker, and even an article about books about reading and writing kids' books.

Phew! That's a lot of reading for a Saturday morning.

The White Darkness

Adèle Geras has a rave review of Geraldine McCaughrean's new book The White Darkness in today's Guardian. (As an aside here, the Guardian's book coverage is first rate.) Geras, a writer for children and young adults herself (Happily Ever After), praises the language, excitement, and adventure in The White Darkness and writes, "Reading Geraldine McCaughrean is like being on a spiral staircase. You move down and down and it gets darker and darker, but somehow you're travelling towards some kind of light. You surrender yourself to the writer, and you are in the best of hands." Sounds good to me!

By the way, Geraldine McCaughrean is probably most well known in the U.S. for her retelling of Greek classics. I can't tell you the number of times Greek Gods and Goddesses have come home from the library with us. She has also retold The Odyseey for younger readers (Penguin).

More great reading from the U.K.

Amand Craig reviews Spirit Walker by Michelle Paver for the Times. It's another rave review for Spirit Walker.

Also in the Times, reviews of two classic works of history for youngsters--H.E. Marshall's Our Island Story and E.H. Gombrich's A Little History of the World.

The Babysitters' Club

Via Book%$#@, it's the Babysitters Club in comic book form. I'm not sure how to react to this news. One the one hand, how can these books become even more accessible to their audience than they already are? On the other hand, Ann M. Martin has proven herself to be an author of considerable talents in her books like Corner of the Universe and The Doll People, so it is worth following her new fiction.

The Babysitters Club makes up my 9-year-old's comfort reading, but I've never quite understood why. Maybe it's because I never actually liked babysitting?

The real Louisa May Alcott

Lylah M. Alphonse reviews Alcott in Her Own Time: A Biographical Chronicle of Her Life, Drawn From Recollections, Interviews, and Memoirs by Family, Friends, and Associates (ed. Daniel Shealy) for The Boston Globe.

According to a family friend, Alcott, "preferred penning sensational ''blood-and-thunder" tales dealing with lust, evil, and deception, such as ''A Modern Mephistopheles," to wholesome children's stories including ''An Old-Fashioned Girl," noting in her journal that she had grown ''tired of providing moral pap for the young." Wow! Doesn't the professor object to Jo's writing of such "blood and thunder" tales? (I've always disliked him because of his disdain for her early work--see this earlier post.)

Julian Hawthorne (son of Nathaniel) describes Alcott much like the reader pictures Jo: ''She was a big, lovable, tender-hearted, generous girl, with black hair, thick and long, and flashing, humorous black eyes."

Lylah M. Alphonse recommends Alcott's own "Recollections of My Childhood" (1888) for particular insight into Alcott's (amazing) character.

Russian Children's Literature

There's a very interesting article in The Moscow Times about the state of children's literature in contemporary Russia (by Anna Malpas).

Work by young Russian authors is not being published and foreign works--like Harry Potter and Series of Unfortunate Events--have enormous print runs. Other problems include a literary culture that prefers "known names" (children continuing the series of their parents) and one that is hard for a newcomer to break into (sound familiar?)

The director of the Russian State Children's Library in Moscow, Lidiia Zharkova makes some very interesting observations in the article. First she points out that there is a lack of literature for school-aged children and young adults. Children's literature critic Kseniia Moldavskaia agrees. She also mentions that much new Russian literature is derivative, essentially copied from Western texts. She doesn't mention the nototrious Tanya Groter series by name (this series features a young witch with a scar who attends a boarding school for witches and wizards in Russia, etc.), but she might as well have.

There will be a contest for children's writers called "Treasured Dream" for the best new novel or short story collection for youngsters to help remedy the situation. Eduard Uspensky, the father of the cute little guy in the upper left corner of this post, Cheburashka, will head the jury.

Overall, this is a fascinating article. Well worth the read.

Away with the Fairies

The Telegraph has a series of articles and reviews for younger readers today. Ingo is reviewed again, as well as Dale Peck's Drift House.

Most interesting in this section is Judith Woods' article "Away with the Fairies"--an indictment against series books starring Barbie, footballers, and ballerinas. In other words, she objects to corporate, gendered "stuff" books for kids. I agree wholeheartedly.

Woods also recommends several titles, including a new one, Nag Club, by the wonderful Anne Fine and Francesca Simon's Horrid Henry books.

An excellent read.

Mr. Men and Little Miss

I'm usually not fond of series picture books for some reason, but I have soft spot for Roger Hargreaves' Mr. Men and Little Miss books. (Nice website too.)

Mr. Tickle was Hargreaves' first Mr. Men book, published in 1971. I remember loving this one and have read it to my much younger sister and my two kids over the years. It never fails to produce at least one giggle or two. Other favorites include Mr. Nosy and one for which I have a particular affinity, Mr. Messy.

My youngest began tacking on "indeed" at the end of his sentences after multiple readings of these books. It always makes me laugh.

Book --> Film

Camille at Bookmoot discusses two kids' books currently filming or in the planning stages--Charlie Higson's Silverfin and Anthony Horowitz's Stormbreaker. She has a lot of great info on both productions.

Ben MacIntyre has written a fascinating (and funny) article for the Times on authors' reactions to the filming of their works. He opens the article with the announcement that there is a film in the works of one of my favorite books of the past 20 years--Patrick Suskind's Perfume. I can't believe it! I have to say, though, that I'm glad Suskind has not gone entirely Hollywood with his movie, but has instead signed the rights (eyes closed, he swears) to a someone who was once a German producer, Bernd Eichinger (okay, so his most recent movies haven't been so good...)

Book Donation Opportunity

Stephanie Borgman, the Katrina Children's Specialist, sent a call out for books (via the child_lit listserve) for Katrina survivors. Here is what she wrote,

"We can use new and gently used paperback books. There seems to be two issues with hardbacks. Some seem to be intimidated by them, almost as if there is a presumption that if it has a hardcover it will be “too hard” for them. Another issue is weight. Whatever is given has to be something that can be carried around by the child (or adult) without becoming an issue of weight or bulk. I am sure that hardbacks will be greatly desired as libraries in the disaster area begin to rebuild their collections in the next several months."

Please send paperback donations to Stephanie with the following address:

Stephanie Borgman – Katrina
Children’s Specialist
HCPL Administrative Offices
8080 El Rio Street
Houston, TX 77054-4195

First Book

First Book "is providing books to children affected by Hurricane Katrina. Every $5 donated to First Book will be matched with 1 book that will go to children in the devastated areas."

Five dollars! That's not bad for a book. Check it out.

Project Mulberry

I've been meaning to get around to writing about Linda Sue Park's Project Mulberry all week. But as you know, this week has been a trying one. Here goes...

Julia Song and her best friend Patrick decide to enter a project to the State Fair. Julia's mother suggests raising silk worms. Patrick loves the idea and races ahead with their project. Julia isn't so sure. She wants a project that is more "American" somehow. She tries to sabotage the project in the beginning, but over time elements of their work begin to interest her more and more. Her mom teaches her how to embroider in the Korean way (no knots on the other side of the fabric), she becomes fascinated in watching the silkworms develop, and she makes a new friend in the man who owns the town's only Mulberry tree.

But Julia has a few problems along the way. She wonders about the degree of her mother's racism, deals with a troublesome younger brother, and struggles with her own Korean-American identity. The project's conclusion brings up an ethical issue Julia has trouble dealing with alone.

Julia is a great character, a good kid who just wants understand it all. So much so that she speaks to Linda Sue Park between the chapters, arguing about how the story is told. These interludes are funny, very instructive about the writing process, and young readers will find them surprising and new.

Overall, a great read. I was particularly impressed by Park's handling of race and racism in a way that wasn't preachy or heavy-handed. It was just part of the story and of Julia's life.

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ETA (9/7): 9-year old daughter devoured Project Mulberry. She read it in an hour flat--didn't move once. Highly recommended for the 2nd-5th grade group.

A Princess of Roumania

Michael Dirda reviews Paul Park's A Princess of Roumania for the Washington Post. It's a nice long review of what promises to be the first of a series of at least two novels.

Elizabeth Ward's "For Young Readers" (also for The Washington Post)features The Science of Philip Pullman's 'His Dark Materials' by Mary and John Gribbin and a brief review of Pullman's The Scarecrow and His Servant.

Camille at Bookmoot talks about refugee efforts on the ground and in the schools in Houston. In Houston some hope returns.

Ingo

Amanda Craig writes a rave review of Helen Dunmore's Ingo for the Times. Craig also recommends three other sea related titles for youngsters--Eric Linklater's The Pirates in the Deep Green Sea, Liz Kessler's The Tail of Emily Windsnap, and Charles Causley's The Merrymaid of Zennor.

Linklater's work is a reprint of a 1949 classic, Kessler's is a recent middle-grade title, and Causley's is a retelling of a Cornish classic.

I may even order Ingo from abroad. Like everyone else in the U.S., I could use a little distraction. The aftermath of Katrina has been devastating. And not just because of the torment it has caused many, many residents of the South. Katrina has exposed the insidious racism and classism underlying our society. Frankly I'm embarrassed and very sad. I hope forthcoming relief shows much more humanity than the past week has.

Boyd Tonkin writing for The Independent praises some forthcoming fall "teenage fiction" titles. In fact, Mr. Tonkin praises child lit for its newness and lack of artifice, writing: "Good novels for children seldom bother with such show-off feats of ventriloquism. They adopt a normal, not an exaggerated idiom, and appeal instead to character, plot, action, emotion - all those far from childish things."

Tonkin singles out two new books for particular attention -- Helen Dunmore's Ingo and Frank Cottrell Boyce's Framed because both works have "young narrators who speak in a unique tone without resort to linguistic trickery."

I think Tonkin is onto something.

Beslan

One year ago today the siege of Beslan began. HBO will be showing a new documentary narrated only by surviving children of Beslan. I won't be able to watch it, but it is supposed to be a ground (and heart)-breaking documentary.

Here's a review from The New York Times and a description from HBO.

Memories of Beslan and the news from the South (particularly when you realize that the poor, the old, the young, the sick, and, let's face it, the "of color" were left to fend for themselves) make this a difficult day.

ETA: Purple Kangaroo has a link to places where you can help with Katrina relief.