Celebrity Children's Books

Chris Bridges has written a very funny article (for the Daytona Beach News-Journal) on the plethora of celebrity-penned titles in the children's section this season.

According to Bridges, "This month Sir Paul McCartney's High in the Clouds elevated him to the ranks of

• Madonna, Spike Lee, Billy Crystal, Will Smith, Jerry Seinfeld, John Travolta, Gloria Estefan, Maria Shriver, Henry Winkler, Shaquille O'Neal, Lynne Cheney, Sarah Ferguson, Martha Stewart, LeAnn Rimes, Bob Dylan, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, Harvey Fierstein, Della Reese, Michael Bolton, Debbie Allen, Cindy Crawford, Keith Hernandez, Katie Couric, Dom Delouise, Bill Cosby, Jimmy Carter, Larry King, LL Cool J, Jane Seymour, Carly Simon, Jay Leno, Whoopi Goldberg, Carson Kressley, Jimmy Fallon, Britney Spears, Jimmy Buffet, Jesse Ventura, and His Royal Highness Prince Charles in the hearts of starry-eyed parents everywhere.

Good grief! Bridges then suggests some titles of his own for celebrity slackers. My favorites are the following two ideas for Tom Cruise and Ashlee Simpson:

• Thomas the Tranq Engine by Tom Cruise. After escaping from a den of wicked psychotherapists and their evil drug therapies, a troubled young train finds solace on a secret island where anyone is welcomed no matter how different or wealthy they are.
• Bright, Shiny! by Ashlee Simpson (with Jonathan McIntyre, Elizabeth Wee, Brian Griggs, Alexander Hough, and Bernice Lynn Partridge). A colorful, easy-to-flip, 6-page board book that your child will love reading to you.

If you need a lift this Wednesday, give the article a read.

Best Word Book Ever

Via Book%^&*, a wonderful flickr set demonstrating ten differences between the 1963 and 1991 editions of Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever.

I think we still have the 1963 edition at home.

Stan Berenstain

Stan Berenstain of the Berenstain Bears died this Saturday from Lymphoma. Douglas Martin has written his obituary for the New York Times.

I am sure I have read all 250 Berenstain Bears books over the past years. I first read them to my youngest sister who is 12 years younger than I am (Hi, Kate!) and then to both my children. If there is one thing you can say about the Berenstain Bears, it is that children love them and their world. As an adult, I must admit I've had mixed feelings about the Bears, mostly because of Mama Bear who often infuriates me for in her all-knowing perfection.

But, Stan and Jan's mission was writing for children. And in this, they are a great success. As Martin writes,

• The Berenstain Bears hail from the mythical land of Bear Country and for more than a generation have helped children just shy of reading age glimpse the connection between stories and pictures, both of which the human Berenstains amply provided....The stories often center on the young bears' anxiety about new experiences, like having a baby sitter or visiting the dentist for the first time. Happy endings and a clear moral are de rigueur.

Good wishes to Jan and all the Berenstain family and here's to a life well lived.

(And check out Camille and Susan's comments on Stan Berenstain at BookMoot and Chicken Spaghetti respectively.)

The Sisters Grimm

The Book of the Week in the "Style" section of the Washington Post is Michael Buckley's The Sisters Grimm.

Written for kids ages 9-12, The Sisters Grimm tells the tale of Sabrina and Daphne Grimm, two foster kids who end up with "Grandmother." Crazy adventures ensue when "grandmother is kidnapped by a giant, and some police officers turn out to be the Three Little Pigs." Two volumes are out now--The Sisters Grimm: The Fairy-Tale Detectives and The Sisters Grimm: The Unusual Suspects with a third to be released in the spring.

These are on my must-purchase list.

Beatrix Potter in America

If you are lucky enough to live in or near Boston, check out "Beatrix Potter in America" at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. (Roger Sutton of The Horn Book recently visited the Carle Museum and recorded his impressions on his blog Read Roger.)

Grace Glueck covers the event for the New York Times today. The exhibit features work given to Americans by Beatrix Potter during her lifetime and is curated by, "Lolly Robinson, a children's literature specialist in Boston."

I loved most of Beatrix Potter's books as a child, although I must admit I had a clear favorite--The Tale of Two Bad Mice. Their disappointment with the plaster food is palpable and their ingenuity inspiring.

Which is your favorite Potter?

NaNoWriMo

What a day. I still have 12,000 words to go and only (according to their site at this very moment) two days and 35 minutes. Can I make it? I don't know, but I'm sure going to try. It has been fun, though I question the choice of November as a month (as did Gail Gauthier a few days ago). Between first viruses, family visits, and work, November is not a leisurely month.

I'm hoping to finally post a review of Rick Riordan's The Lightning Thief tomorrow. I really enjoyed this book and it has kept my spirits up during the marathon that is NaNoWriMo. Until tomorrow!

Goblet of Fire

I saw Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire for the second time this afternoon. The Goblet of Fire really demanded a second viewing because I missed so much visually the first time. And it was interesting enough to hold my attention the second time through. It is definitely the best of the four movies, although Azkaban is a close second.

Here's what I especially liked:

• The kids. Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson are all quite good and have improved so much over the course of the series. James and Oliver Phelps as Fred and George Weasley are as funny as can be and look like red-headed, elongated Sean Cassidys.
• The look of the movie is just great, if dark. All the colors are muted, even the colors of the food and clothing. Each frame has so much to look at that it really took both viewings to see everything.
• Brendan Gleeson as "Mad-Eye" Moody is truly brilliant. A great and funny performance.
• The adolescent angst culminating in the Yule Ball is inspired. Ron and Harry are as lame as any pair of fourteen-year-old boys. The shot of Harry and Ron sitting with Padma and Pavarti Patil on either side of them alone at the edge of ball is heartbreaking and true.
• Neville Longbottom (Matthew Lewis)'s pure and innocent enjoyment of the ball is a treat to behold.
• The three tasks are as thrilling and scary as they are in the book. In fact, the maze is even more frightening than its literary counterpart.
• Michael Gambon as Dumbledore is growing on me. I thought he really got Dumbledore's combination of quirky and brilliant down this time.
• The scene in Potions class, during which Harry and Ron discuss trying to find a girl for the ball, is priceless. Alan Rickman's brilliant Snape brings joy to this teacher's heart.

Read Alert

I'm really enjoying Read Alert's "Best Book" series.

Run by the State Library of Victoria, Read Alert is a great addition to the kid lit blogging world and the "Best Book" series is so much fun. Their goal is the following: "Read Alert has asked a wide range of writers, booksellers, librarians and others for their best YA book for 2006." They have been publishing individual entries and will post a complete list on Dec. 16.

I love these kinds of lists, when literary (or at least smart) people are consulted. The Guardian and the Scotsman have published such lists of favorite adult reads here and here.

More books for the Holidays

Julia Null Smith (for the Austin American-Statesman) and Thomas Maresca (for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) look past marketing blitzes, movie tie-ins, and celebrity-penned titles to recommend literary presents "that haven't had the benefit of massive marketing campaigns." (Smith)

Null Smith suggests eight new titles from the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Vincent's Colors for the youngest readers to Donna Jo Napoli's The King of Mulberry Street.

Maresca seems particularly bothered by the merchandizing of children's literature. He writes, "Walk into the children's section of any bookstore this holiday season and you might think you've accidentally wandered into the lobby of the multiplex instead. Kids' books and movies seem to be cross-pollinating more than ever. There are blockbusters made from books ('Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,' 'Zathura,' 'The Chronicles of Narnia'); books made from movies ('March of the Penguins'); and an overwhelming number of kids books by celebrity authors - most of whom should stick to making movies." I agree and Maresca didn't even get into those awful cardboard stands such books are "merchandized" in. I'm forever catching them with my computer bag and knocking a few books to the floor.

Maresca recommends a number of good books, including Sabuda's Winter Tale, Funke's Inkspell, and Willems' wonderful Leonardo the Terrible Monster. He also notes a few recent Wisconsin titles and has chosen some interesting middle-grade and young adult novels.

Saturday Links

The Royal Literary Fund begins its work at Queen Margaret University College, Edinburgh. The Royal Literary Fund, set up by A.A. Milne, sponsors the employment of writers at colleges and universities, writers who will work one-on-one with students to improve their writing. Gareth Rose explains in the Scotsman: "The scheme - one of Milne's last wishes before his death in 1956 - was set up in 1999, and is funded through royalties from the Winnie the Pooh TV series, the Disney film, his books and other merchandise."

Lucy Ellman is the first Royal Literary Fellow and says she wants, "students to become more daring in their approach to academic work, which doesn't have to be dry and dull if they don't want it to be." Amen to that.
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Jonathan Landreth (Hollywood Reporter) covers Katie Leung's promotional trip to China for the Washington Post. Leung, who plays Cho Chang in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, says, "I think everybody here is proud of me. I'm Chinese and I think my trip here will be good for the film."
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Bob Minzesheimer discusses the perks, direct and indirect, of being a National Book Award winner in USA Today. Jeanne Birdsall, winner for The Penderwicks, gains $10,000 and an extra 20,000 in book printings. Moreover, she says, "Children don't buy children's books, but adults do. And that, Birdsall says, is where the award will most affect sales. Until now, she says, she has relied mostly on independent bookstores that have 'hand-sold the book — one at a time.'"
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Elizabeth Ward singles out four new books in her "For Young Readers" column (Washington Post). She especially likes a new picture book by Lena and Olof Landstrom (translated from Swedish by Joan Sandin). Four Hens and a Rooster, Ward writes, "is about as good as a picture book can get." An epic Chinese journey and exploration, a Holocaust memoir, and a new picture book by Cynthia Rylant round out the list.

Wonderland, Witches, and War

Julia Eccleshare lists her favorite books for the 2005 holiday season.

Helen Oxenbury's illustrated version of Lewis Carroll's Alice Through the Looking Glass makes the list. I love Oxenbury's illustrations for Alice as she humanizes the stories for littler or more sensitive children. As Eccleshare notes, Oxenbury, "interprets the world through the looking-glass benignly. The Red Queen, though very red, is comfortably dumpy, which makes her less frightening when she loses her temper."

Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart's Encyclopedia Prehistorica: Dinosaurs makes the list. It's on its way to our house as well.

Also included is Jill Murphy's The Worst Witch Saves the Day (perfect for the pre-Potter reader) and Christianna Brand's Nurse Matilda (with illustrations by Edward Ardizzone).

The Kirkus Review Top 40

Check out the Kirkus Review's Best Children's Books of 2005 (click from Book Standard and you can read the whole issue in PDF format). There are lots of familiar titles (The Penderwicks, Zen Shorts, A Wreath for Emmett Till, Liz B. at A Chair, a Fireplace and a Tea Cozy just reviewed the last of these on November 13) and some extras.

Extras include an interesting Q&A with Jules Feiffer. Here's a sample:

• Q: What did you enjoy about working with Norman Juster on The Phantom Tollbooth?
• A: First of all, we were roommates, so it was just part of the ongoing relationship of two people eager to establish themselves in some sort of career. A lot of other things were going on. You know, while we were collaborating on the book, we were actually exchanging girlfriends.

And, there's a bookend Q&A with Norman Juster as well.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I'm off until Thanksgiving day enjoying the sights in Chicago (True, it's snowing, but you can't have everything. The metropolis is enough for me.)

Writing the movies

Mary McNamara talks to Steve Kloves, screenwriter for the first four Harry Potter movies, for the Los Angeles Times.

After six years writing the first four movies, Kloves decided to take a break. But after reading The Half-Blood Prince he signed on again for movie number 6, overlapping with Michael Goldberg who is writing the script for The Order of the Phoenix. Kloves explains this is a good thing because, "'They want to film the two as close to back-to-back as they can...Because the kids are really starting to grow up. And if we lose the kids, if they have to recast for six or seven, I think we will lose the movies. That's what makes them magic.'"

Kloves comments on The Half-Blood Prince and Snape: "'It's hard because if you look at the books, Snape really just sort of hovers, as a threat, more than actually does something,' Kloves says. 'And Alan is just a wonderful actor. He always says the lines exactly as I write them, including the ellipses. I have never met an actor who could act out ellipses, but Alan can.'"

I saw Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire last night and Rickman, regrettably, has very little to do. He's a brilliant as ever and one Potions scene is just riotous. I am not entirely sure what I thought of the movie overall, though, but it is the first Harry Potter I'd like to see again. It had so much to offer and I felt like I missed a lot taking kids with me!

Sunday Reviews

"Style's" (Washington Post) book of the week is Sharon Creech's Replay. The short article notes, "Of course, readers expect great stories from Walk Two Moons author Sharon Creech. This novel is a play within a play, with much of Leo's real-life drama presented as lines of dialogue."
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Nicolette Jones selects Anna Dale's Dawn Undercover as the Times' "Children's Book of the Week." No real hope this one will be published in the States, but I'm going to have to find it anyway, because it sounds like a charming take-off on the British mystery. "It is set in a knowingly nostalgic present: Dawn wears mushroom-coloured knee-socks with plimsolls, the village show holds a contest for odd-shaped vegetables, and the (female) vicar pedals around on an ancient bicycle 'with the air of someone who longed to be in the Famous Five.'" A vicar! A village! And the Famous Five. I longed to be in the Famous Five too.
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Speaking of the Famous Five, and I wasn't going to bring this up, I swear, but, well, it fits here. Apparently, Madonna, Children's Writer, admitted at the premiere of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire that she had never actually read J.K. Rowling's books but had seen all the movies. She also was asked if she aimed to be the next Blyton. "The American-born star looked blank and asked: 'Who is that? Is she good?'" How dare she live in the U.K., really? (Evict her, Michele!) In any case, the Guardian has provided her with a brief tutorial.

Poetry Reading Competition

A poetry reading competition? With a big scholarship ($20,000) as a prize? Amazing. And, thrilling.

USAToday (AP) reports, "The National Endowment for the Arts and the publisher of Poetry Magazine have organized a national poetry reading competition for high school students, with the winner receiving a $20,000 college scholarship."

The program, called Poetry Out Loud: The National Recitation Contest has two aims: "One half is education; students come into contact with great poetry and language and learn it by heart. There's also an equal, and often overlooked practical importance. It will improve the student's command of language, and will provide much needed training for speaking in public."

National Book Award: The Penderwicks

Jeanne Birdsall has won the National Book Award (Young People's Literature) for The Penderwicks.

Check out Bob Thompson's report on the awards ceremony for the Washington Post.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Recent reviews of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire have been good indeed. Today's New York Times review finds the film to be a "happily satisfying film adaptation."

Manohla Dargis is clearly a fan of the Harry Potter series and s/he writes from that perspective, which I find helpful. Because, really, who is going to see these films if they don't like the books? I also appreciate what Dargis has to say about Daniel Radcliffe and his development as an actor. Radcliffe from the beginning has been a weaker actor than Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, but as Dargis writes, "Cinema doesn't just immortalize actors, locking them into youth, it also solicits our love in a way that books do not, since it isn't just the characters we fall for, but the actors playing them, too. Mr. Radcliffe isn't an acting titan or even one of the Culkins, but you root for him nonetheless, partly because you want Harry to triumph and partly because there is something poignant about how this actor struggles alongside his character."

And, apparently Ralph Fiennes triumphs as Voldemort: "Mr. Fiennes is an actor for whom a walk on the darker side is not just a pleasure, but liberation. His Voldemort may be the greatest screen performance ever delivered without the benefit of a nose; certainly it's a performance of sublime villainy."

Yikes!
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See also: recent reviews from The Scotsman and the Hollywood Reporter.

Carl Hiaasen interview

Dave Weich interviews Carl Hiaasen about his children's books, writing, Florida, and Paolini for Powells.com. (Thanks to Child_Lit for the link)

For fans of children's literature, here's an interesting exchange:

• Dave: In both Hoot and Flush, the narrators have to deal with bullies.
• Hiaasen: I was writing from my own adolescence in those books. I was a year younger than everybody, so I was always the smallest kid in my class, all through high school. I had to develop a wit. I became a class clown to disarm them with words because physically I would just get my ass pounded.

Hiaasen then discusses the fan letters he receives from children, most of which focus on either bullying they face or on environmental issues important to them (as to Hiaasen).

Also, did you know Hiaasen was instrumental in getting Paolini published? (I haven't been able to get through Eldest or Eragon, but I hadn't heard the Hiaasen connection before. )

Whitbread

Susan at Chicken Spaghetti has posted the shortlist for the 2005 Whitbread Children’s Book Award. The honored works are:

• Frank Cottrell Boyce Framed
• Geraldine McCaughrean The White Darkness
• Hilary McKay Permanent Rose
• Kate Thompson The New Policeman

I'm glad to see the four titles selected have been universally acknowledged as exceptional works of fiction for children. (Only one of them has been published in the States as of yet--Permanent Rose. I really enjoyed Permanent Rose and am anxiously awaiting the other three, along with Helen Dunmore's Ingo.)

The adult fiction shortlist, however, is another story. A Long Way Down was quite possibly the worst novel I read all year.

Severus Snape: One Teacher's Hero

Found via The Lady Rona...a wonderful article by Mary Beth Ellis about why teachers love Snape. I'm one of those teacher/academics myself and I REFUSE to believe Snape is guilty. (Don't disappoint me, J.K.)

The article is very funny and highly recommended.

Gopnik article on C.S. Lewis

Adam Gopnik takes on C.S. Lewis' reputation here in the States and in England for the New Yorker (link will last only briefly). The issue is, as Gopnik notes, that, "if in England he is subject to condescension, his admirers here have made him hostage to a cult." Gopnik includes an interesting side note in the article supporting this analysis--there is a stained glass window featuring Lewis in a church in Monrovia, CA. (I had no idea!)

Gopnik finds in Lewis' works and in the many biographies of Lewis "the hidden truth that his faith was really of a fable-first kind kept his writing forever in tension between his desire to imagine and his responsibility to dogmatize."

An interesting, detailed article. Check it out before it disappears.

Weekend Reviews

Lots of reviews online over the weekend. I've been down with the flu, so I'm only catching up now.

• Elizabeth Ward reviews two Fall-themed picture books "For Young Readers" in the Washington Post--Lynn Rowe Reed's Thelonius Turkey Lives! (on Felicia Ferguson's Farm) and a reissued fall classic, Lois Lenski's Now It's Fall. In addition, Ward reviews Cornelia Funke's Inkspell and Rafe Martin's Birdwing, a novel that reworks the Grimm fairy tale, "The Six Swans." Ward recommends this title stating, "The marvelous thing about Birdwing is that, given its highly literary origins, it is so tough, colloquial, funny and moving. But then, having been sent back to the Grimms, you realize Martin has merely emulated his masters. A book for kids who appreciate the likes of William Mayne and Ursula K. Le Guin."
• Nicolette Jones chooses a picture book in translation for the Times "Children's Book of the Week." The Wizard, the Ugly and the Book of Shame, written by Pablo Bernasconi, an Argentinean artist. The books' hero is a blue ogre and magician's assistant named Chancery. Jones concludes about the book, "When Chancery learns to tell the truth and make amends, he finds out how to be handsome without any hocus pocus. (The trick is a confident smile.) Readers will feel as Chancery does: “His head was dizzy with all the wonders the book contained.”
• Liz Rosenberg reviews Allen Say's Kamishibai Man and Lynn Rubright's Mama’s Window (ill. by Duane Smith) for the Boston Globe. Both books, Rosenberg finds are " about lives of austerity and dignity."

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my eldest child. She turns 10 (!) today.

In honor of her birthday, I thought I'd share our favorite birthday book. She's long outgrown the book, but both she and her younger brother loved it, so it has been read continually for ten years. It is Helen Oxenbury's It's My Birthday.

What I love about It's My Birthday is its beautiful simplicity and charming drawings. No consumerism here. It is a young child's birthday and he (or she) wants to make a cake. All his (or her) animal friends help to obtain sugar, milk, butter, salt, flour, and, best of all, cherries for the top. Not expecting anything in return, the animal friends are all thrilled to celebrate with the young child in an impromtu party when the cake has cooled.

Reviews and more

There's a wealth of riches in this season's New York Times Children's Book Issue, from picture books to young adult titles. With more articles to mention, I'll just note several reviews I find intriguing.

• Elizabeth Devereaux considers two books concerning the Holocaust--Josephine Poole's Anne Frank (illustrated by Angela Barrett) and Isaac Millman's Hidden Child. Devereaux prefers Millman's book, writing, "Close observations, not neat conclusions, allow readers to understand the author's experiences. Weigh the emotion compressed in this statement: 'Sometimes, days went by when I didn't think about the war or Mama and Papa.' Hauntingly transmitted, this child's experiences, preserved in the memory of the adult Millman, can become the reader's memories."
• Polly Shulman reviews the marvelous wonder that is Rick Riordan's The Lightning Thief.
• Sam Swope discusses three new children's books by writers who usually write for adults--Dale Peck, Adam Gopnik, and Carl Hiaasen. Swope concludes that only Hiaasen has successfully crossed over to the children's market with Flush. He writes, " Part of what makes Flush so enjoyable is the sense it conveys that Hiaasen himself is having such a grand old time. It's thrilling to read a writer so shameless and so good. Hiaasen stoops to any cornball shtick - slapstick villains, mysterious pirates, a boy hiding in the ladies' room - and pulls it off each time. This is pitch-perfect writing, better than Hoot, and that's saying something, because Hoot was a 2003 Newberry Honor book. "

New York Times Children's Book Issue

Oy, vey! No wonder Susan at Chicken Spaghetti commented that the New York Times had already reviewed two titles I mentioned in my round up of the Children's Book Issue. An anonymous (kind) commenter pointed out I was reading the spring 2005 edition of the Issue. No more blogging before coffee.

In any case, here's the correct link to the Children's Book Issue (It is still not showing up on the site under the title "Special Section: Children's Books," but I'm sure it will by midnight). There are many interesting reviews and articles and I'm off to read, mug of coffee in hand.

Cressida Cowell

Amanda Craig reviews Cressida Cowell's newest installment to her dragon series, How to Speak Dragonese for the Times. How to Speak Dragonese is the third volume in the series following, How to Train Your Dragon and How to Be a Pirate. The first two volumes in this series have been published in the U.S. by Little, Brown.

Craig describes How to Train Your Dragon as "irresistibly funny, exciting and endearing." It "tells the tale of Hiccup the Useless, a nerdy Viking boy whose gigantic father Stoick the Vast is chief of the Hairy Hooligan tribe living on the Isle of Berk. Despised by the other Vikings, Hiccup is even more wretched when he picks a runty, remorselessly selfish dragon, Toothless, to be his hunting beast. Little does he know that this is how he will become a dragon whisperer, something that will save his tribe when the monstrous Green Death rises from the seabed."

Amanda Craig's article is a nice long one with plenty of interesting details about the books and Cowell's approach to her subject.

James Mottram profiles actor Michael Gambon for the Scotsman.

Michael Gambon, famous actor of the stage, has been in more movies than he can actually remember. And, he likes playing Dumbledore--all his friends (Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, et al) are on set. He tells Mottram, "'It's like going on holiday every day. You just muck about with your mates. Only having the beard stuck on makes your life miserable.'"

Gambon, at least in this interview and article, has a refreshing approach to acting for film. "Asked if he has found he was easing into the role of Dumbledore better second time around, he says: 'I just play myself. I don't have to ease into any role. I stick a beard on and play me. It's no great problem.'"

The King in the Window

I highly recommend Adam Gopnik's new novel for children, The King in the Window.

The King in the Window is perfect for intelligent middle-grade readers (8-12) who love adventure and fantasy. It is a complex tale involving multiple worlds--worlds populated by mirrors, water and ice, window wraiths, shadows and other such liminal creatures and objects.

Oliver Parker is a twelve-year-old boy living a fairly normal life as an American boy in Paris. He attends a French school and struggles with his courses, particularly rhetoric. Accidentally called as the "King in the Window," he visits Versailles and the window wraiths, a collection of wonderful French classics including Molière, Racine, and Richelieu. Oliver discovers he has been called to defeat "The One with None" otherwise known as "The Master of the Mirrors." Confused by his charge and the greats' explanation of it, Oliver seeks the help of the wisest person he knows, Mrs. Lucy Pearson, an old woman, great wit, and author of books on the Grand Siècle.

Amazing adventures ensue, adventures cloaked in riddle and mystery. Oliver is joined in his quest by an American computer fiend named Charlie Gronek and the mysterious and beautiful neighbor girl, Neige.

Oliver is a character who grows on you over the course of reading The King in the Window. He begins as a blank, unthinking character who is forced to make intellectual and imaginative leaps to solve the problem set before him. Lucy Pearson is a marvel of a character and one with the best lines in the book. The first four chapters of the book are kind of slow (some editorial brutality would have been nice here) and focus way too much on Oliver's parents, but if you persevere you will be greatly rewarded.

Gopnik's writing is just stunning in places, particularly when Lucy Pearson speaks. For example, Mrs. Pearson explains to Oliver, "If you have a soul, champagne makes it more soulful; if you don't have one, a latte gives you the illusion you do. You may write that down." During their first meeting, Lucy Pearson tells Oliver what is essentially the moral (and by writing moral I do not mean The King in the Window is a morality tale) of the book:

• "Craft, strategy, cunning, tactics : thought. That is all that allows good to triumph. Renounce reason and you're lost. Rely on your 'inner sense,' and you will make a mess of everything. Thinking is your only hope. Start thinking now and never stop. Outwit the evil doer! Learn to tell the difference between sound argument and slippery rhetoric. Discriminate between the Received Idea and the Enduring Truth; between the odd and the strange; the selfish and the self-centered; the childish and the child-like; between metaphors and ironies, riddles and paradoxes. Think, and if you can't think, read. And if you can't read--why then think some more! Discriminate, adjudicate, split hairs, dispute priorities, but think, think! It is your only hope."

If a book is to have a message, that's a pretty good one.

Zathura

Scott Moore interviews (for the Washington Post) Chris Van Allsburg about the upcoming release of "Zathura."

"Zathura" is a film version of Van Allsburg's 32-page picture book of the same name. Moore begins his article in the following way: "Zathura is easy to spot among children's picture books. Very few are in black and white. And even fewer have a gold sticker proclaiming 'Now a Major Motion Picture!'" Two other picture books had that sticker too. Van Allsburg's own Polar Express and Jumanji (I liked the 2nd of these two movie versions.)

The book's 32-pages were, needless to say, elaborated upon. Moore explains, "Characters have been added; Danny's relationship with his brother is more complicated; the game is more elaborate; and there's no mention of Jumanji."

Adam Gopnik interview

Via Child_Lit, an interesting interview with Adam Gopnik about his latest book, and first work for children, The King in the Window. Regan Mc Mahon, San Francisco Chronicle Assistant Book Editor, interviews Gopnik for SFGate.com.

I just finished reading The King in the Window and hope to post a review this evening. It is a fascinating, compelling read (with a few "issues," mostly to do with editorial choices, in my opinion.)

Gopnik talks of his creation of the book, other children's literature he likes and is reading currently (Harry Potter, Series of Unfortunate Events), and the joy and interest in raising children. My favorite part of the interview, however, was when he discussed the parental ban on reading at night established in his home:

• "But he and his older sister Alison, one of his five siblings, found a way around the cutoff. They discovered that if they sat in the doorways of their facing rooms, there was just enough light coming up the stairwell from their parents' bedroom to read by. So every night about 11, he and Alison would tiptoe out into the dim glow. 'It was this silent, clandestine partnership,' he recalls. 'She'd be reading her book and I'd be opposite her, reading my book, we'd look at each other from time to time -- 'Are they coming?' That's one of the keenest memories of my childhood.'"

I think all readers have such memoirs. I read with a flashlight, mostly, and waited until my parents went to bed (always early, fortunately) to turn it on. I'd be reading long after they went to sleep.

Little "d" award

The Children's Literature Connection has established a new prize--the Little d Award. The Children's Literature Connection is "an organization dedicated to the advancement of children's literature." They unite librarians, teachers, readers, editors, writers, publishers, etc. to strengthen "the connection between the people who create children's books and the people who use them." Check out their site if you have a chance--lots of resources, news, and other fun stuff.

The CLC site has announced that the winner "of the Little d Award for humor in children's literature is... BRUCE HALE! Bruce, the author of Murder My Tweet and other Chet Gecko mysteries, has agreed to accept the award during Children's Book Week in November, and will be speaking on Tuesday, November 15 at the College of St. Rose."

Via child_lit listserv.

Century

Sarah Singleton has won the 2005 Booktrust teenage prize for her novel for young adults, Century. Michelle Pauli reports for the Guardian that the novel, "is set in the 18th and 19th century and the action is entirely contained within a house and garden. Two young girls, Mercy and her sister Charity, live in perpetual winter until, one day, Mercy wakes to find the first sign of spring - a snowdrop - on her pillow, A chance meeting then prompts her to question everything she has ever known and to wake from the long dream of the past."

Louise Jury recently reported on Singleton's coup for the Independent. Jury reports that, "So far her daughters [Singleton's] have been unimpressed by her writing efforts, although Poppy has offered advice on her next title, Heretic, published in February."

This is the third year of the competition and Singleton is in excellent company. Mark Haddon was a previous winner for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.

Check out the Booktrust's website, Bookheads, for the shortlist and its resources for teen readers and information on what "other teenagers and celebs from tv, entertainment and sport are reading."

David Almond

I can not wait until David Almond's Clay is published in the U.S. The reviews have just been stunning in the U.K. It is one of three children's novels this fall that have received universally glowing reviews. (The other two are Helen Dunmore's Ingo and Geraldine McCaughrean's The White Darkness.)

Benedicte Page interviews Almond for the Independent today. It's a fascinating interview focusing primarily on Almond's influences, geographical, religious, and literary. Here's a taste:

• "The novel was an opportunity to mingle Almond's own private mythology with other, older ones. 'The idea of clay is something that keeps cropping up in my books; it seems to me that there's something very basic and fundamental about working with the earth, making stuff from it,' he says."

The Reviews are good!

Emma Brockes covers the premiere of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire for the Guardian.

There's lots of information regarding fan behavior and appearance, comments about the stars (apparently Rupert Grint and Daniel Radcliffe are equally popular), etc. The best part of the article, however, is a fan review at the end. Jessica Lambert, 17 (!), reports the following:

• "But while the fourth book will never be remembered as the greatest in the series, the fourth film should be hailed as the first to deserve being remembered at all. It is fantastic.
  It is beautifully shot, each scene a delight seen brought to life. It has some delightful performances, and even makes those less-gifted actors into characters you can empathise with. In parts it is surprisingly scary, and it often makes you laugh out loud. But that's not what makes it stand out. This is the only film that feels like it could have survived without the books. It doesn't rely on you already knowing the emotional journey you are supposed to be following as you watch. It grips you, and engages you and there is something magical about it. It makes you remember why half the world fell in love with Potter."

I can't wait to see it! The fourth book, despite its editorial shortfalls, is actually my favorite in the series. I like the international aspects especially. I'll be attending with 6 young girls for my daughter's 10th birthday party. It should be so much fun.

ETA: A pretty good review from the Times, as well as an article asking the question, "Are the Potter stars getting too old?"

William Flesch reviews the Norton Anthology of Children's Literature today for the Boston Globe. (Registration may be required. Unfortunately registration at the Boston Globe doesn't always work for me. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.)

Flesch's review is more complete than was Cashdan's for the Los Angeles Times a few weeks back. It is so complete in fact, that he has tipped the scale for me and I will purchase the volume.

Flesch includes in his review several of his own ideas about the attractions of reading children literature as an adult. He writes, for example, "What can make children's literature great is that it makes us think more consciously about what it was once like to respond as a child to literature, and what it must be like now for the child-reader implied by the book. For the adult reader, this child becomes another character we imagine and respond to and feel for, even or especially when the child isn't feeling what we are. Unlike so many characters we have later learned are fictional-Santa Claus, Cinderella, even, alas, Christopher Robin-we know the child-reader is real, at least for now."

The Princess and the Pea

More raves for Lauren Child's The Princess and the Pea.

Nicolette Jones has selected it as "Children's Book of the Week" for the Times. Jones explains the books appeal as follows: "To illustrate this glorious and enticing picturebook, Lauren Child made miniature sets out of cereal packets and doll’s-house furniture, filled them with paper figures of people and furnished them with objects put in place by tweezers. What child could resist the combination of tiny scale and make-believe?" With interiors compared to Vermeer's, this one sounds like a winner.

Now we await U.S. publication.

Conference

I'm traveling all day to a conference and will be unable to catch up with children's literature until evening. (One of the problems with living in Smalltown is that to travel anywhere takes a full day. And I'm only going 2 states west. True they are big states, but still...)

In any case, I'm really looking forward to discussing Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles at Chicken Spaghetti today. I enjoyed reading it so much I was able to overlook the characters' names (Comfort, Declaration, Dismay, Tidings, etc.)

Best Children's Books of 2005

Publishers Weekly lists their favorite books of 2005. (Via Children's Bookshelf)

Notable titles I've enjoyed this year as well include Victoria Chess' The Costume Party, Allen Say's Kamishibai Man (recently reviewed by Camille at Book Moot), M.T. Anderson's hilarious Whales on Stilts! (illustrated by Kurt Cyrus), Sally Gardner's I, Coriander, and Philip Pullman's The Scarecrow and his Servant.

Speaking of I, Coriander...Children's Bookshelf reports that the indefatigable Dakota Fanning will voice the title role in an animated film to be written and directed by Henry Selick.

(Re)branding Cinderella

Jodi Kantor has written a fascinating, yet scary article for the New York Times about the transformation of the Cinderella of yesteryear (in rags, with a broom, a hearth, etc.) to the Disney Princess she is today.

The Disney Princess phenomenon kind of freaks me out, and I'm glad I missed it by a couple of years (the Disney Princess brand/set was introduced 4 years ago). Cinderella is apparently the favorite princess amongst young girls (Kantor does not go into the reasons why she is more popular than Ariel, Mulan, Snow White and others, though I have my suspicions. Can we say blonde?)

Kantor has included a nice quote from Alida Allison (National Center for the Study of Children's Literature at San Diego State University). Allison says, "The beauty and material possession competition fostered by the consumer Cinderella campaign contradicts the folkloric message that a princess is someone who merits ascendancy, not just someone who can afford it."

Booktastic! Contest

Booktastic!, a literary board game, is creating a family edition. And, they are seeking your help:

"Booktastic! is having a contest where children and young adults can participate in future editions of the game! Would you like to have one or more questions you wrote included in the next version of the new hit literary board game Booktastic? Would you like to choose which children and young adults authors are featured? Booktastic! is excited to announce this contest for children and young adults."

Basically, submit some good questions and you are eligible to win a novel by Lynne Hansen. And your question may be used in the next edition of the game.

For more details, click here. Has anyone played this game before? It looks like it could be fun.

(Link via Book%^&*)

Please say this is a lie.

Growing Up Potter

Lev Grossman and Jumana Farouky have written an interesting article on Daniel Radcliffe and his Harry Potter co-stars for Time.

"Growing Up Potter" relies primarily on interviews with Radcliffe and the director of Goblet of Fire, Mike Newell, and the article conveys some idea of what it must be like on the Harry Potter set. As Grossman and Farouky explain, "The Harry Potter set is an exclusive microcosm, one that comes with its own delights and its own dangers--in other words, it's not all that different from Hogwarts."

Okay, I don't really love the name, but NaNoWriMo is here. I'm participating and so is Liz B. at A Chair, A Fireplace and a Tea Cosy. Any other crazies out there?

The Boston Globe features two good articles on the fun that is National Novel Writing Month, both written by Pat Washburn.

Washburn covers the insane event in "30 day guarantee: Ready, set, write: Thousands of aspiring authors have vowed to create an entire novel in one month." In addition, Pat Washburn contributes, "Helpful hints for staying on the write track," an article with a lot of useful advice including, perhaps, most importantly, "Don't edit as you go. Promise yourself that you will fix that scene, change that dialogue, rename that character -- but not until after Nov. 30. "

And, of course, "Give yourself small rewards along the way. 'OK, I can take a break and watch 'Lost' if I finish 2,000 words by then.'"

Off to the races!