Big A little a: The Fifth Carnival of Children's Literature

Welcome to the Fifth Carnival of Children's Literature!

The witches are circling (apologies to William Shakespeare) and ready to begin their work.

"Three times the brinded cat has mewed," said the first witch.
"Thrice plus one the hedgehog whined," said the second.
"Harpier cries: it's time, it's time!" the third said.

The first witch moved closer to the boiling cauldron.

The witches prime their cauldrons with some fresh reviews:

Melissa Wiley at Here in the Bonny Glen admires How Do I Love You? (by Leslie Kimmelman, pictures by Lisa McCue), while Susan at Chicken Spaghetti shares a bewitching review of Malín Alegría's Estrella's Quinceañera.
Tasha of KidsLit finds one magical book in Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, and Camille considers Forging Freedom, by Hudson Talbott, a "moving" tribute to Jaap Penraat at BookMoot. Always use magic for good as Camille does. She writes, "This is one of my favorite books to share with elementary and older readers about WWII. Jaap Penraat was a hero."
PJ Librarian knows all about good witches (Check out the image on her blog, The Magic of Books). This month she finds Deborah Wiles' Every Little Bird That Sings more than just a little magical.
Rinda M. Byers shares some writing (and reviewing) tricks in her post Gone with the Wind, Kitten, & Plots at Rindawriter.
Jone Rush MacCulloch takes a sneak peek at Vive la Paris (by Esme Raji Codell) and That Girl Lucy Moon (by Amy Timberlake) at Check it Out.
Sheila Ruth takes the witches head on with a review of Stormwitch at the magical and mysterious Wands and Worlds, while the Sorceress of Fantasy, Michele Fry, adds spoilers to her blogging repetoire with Scholar's Blog Spoiler Zone. She recently considered Peter Dickinson's The Gift Boat.

Round about the cauldron go:
In the poisoned entrails throw.
Toad that under cold stone
Days and nights, thirty-one
Vicious venom its sleeping got,
Boil it first in this charmed pot!

Writers and Illustrators work a magic all their own:

Words can be powerful spells. Greg R. Fishbone shows you how with Bookman.
Kim Winters has a simple, but effective spell for writers: Want to Escape the Slush Pile? Read, read, read (at Kat's Eye)
Editor Alvina asks whether you remember your first (publication, that is) at Bloomabilities.
Author/illustrator Grace Lin takes magic to heart with some Small Magic in the Pacyforest. (And the author referenced to, Libby Koponen, blogs at CarefreeinCT)
Melinda R. Cordell turns some relationship floss into gold at I write for young adults, so take that (Cordell also discusses on being black in fiction in a recent issue)
Illustrator Roz Fulcher shares news on a recent Highlights venture and her bewitching cover at Rozzieland

Then in unison the witches chanted into the cauldron:

"Double, double, toil and trouble,
Fire burn and cauldron bubble."

Children's books cast their own spells, turning children into powerful beings--readers:

Carrie Kitzmiller testifies that a certain Magician's Nephew can open new worlds and inspire a love of reading at Mommy Brain.
Jennifer shares some tips on starting a Family Book club and a useful guide to The Penderwicks at Snapshot.
Laurie and Harvey Bluedorn recommend the strongest of spells at Trivium Pursuit.
Karen Edminsten shares some magical parenting skills with If you give a girl some lunch

The second witch came to the cauldron for her contribution to the spell.

Fillet of a marsh snake,
In the cauldron boil and bake:
Eye of newt and toes of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork and blindworm's sting,
Lizard's leg and owlet's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

Kidlit bloggers are a vocal bunch. They chat frequently with other writers and bloggers. Great reports and interviews result:

Little Willow demonstrates she is the witchiest witch of them all when it comes to site design. Bildungsroman is gorgeous. She also does a fabulous author interview.
Liz B. of A Chair, a Fireplace and a Tea Cozy shares pixie dust, not toads, in her report on the Kidlitosphere Highlights at the ALA.
A Fuse #8 Production cozies up to the highest of witches and wizards at the Newbery/Caldecott awards and banquet. (A little magic could have helped with the eyebrows, though. Where's Hermione when you need her?)
The "sometimes spooky," but always wonderful, Cynthia Leitich Smith interviews Nancy Werlin for Cynsations.

The witches then chanted together.
"Double, double, toil and trouble,
fire burn and cauldron bubble!"

One of the most wonderful things about blogging (and reading blogs) about children's literature is the freedom to write about anything interesting or amusing that strikes your fancy. The result is, often, better "articles" than you'd find in the major media. These posts don't disappoint:

Becky discusses how summer has a magic all its own over at Farm School (a little danger included!).
Gregory K. wonders, between lobster (rolls) with Arthur Levine (Sorry, Gregory!), Why bother to Blog? at GottaBook.
Anne Boles Levy asks Value added? Depends on your values over at Book Buds (A must read)
MotherReader is a generous witch! She shares some spells on booktalking and bookhooks with us all. And, speaking of MotherReader...Stephanie Ford reports that MotherReader's 48-hour Book Challenge made the School Library Journal.
Stephanie Ford Survives the Applewhites through the magic of the theater at Children's Literature Book Club.
Jen Robinson shows just how cool girls can be with her mesmerizing list 200 Cool Girls from Children's Literature (Jen Robinson's Book Page).
The Buried Editor finds children's books every bit as compelling and much more enthralling than adult titles at Buried in the Slush Pile
Gail Gauthier reconsiders a bewitched wooden puppet and finds he stands the test of time at Original Content
Daniel Pinkwater casts a curse on our friends Evan and Wendy at Blog from the Windowsill.
Susan Taylor Brown performed some real magic on this witch by distracting me from the Carnival. Check out her post on literary fun and games at Once There Was a Girl who Wanted to Write
The Disco Mermaids know how to work magic. Robin's gold lame pants cast a spell on Gordon Korman and transport her directly into Born to Rock. (Though an equally powerful Lisa Yee begs to differ.)

Witch's Choice: Liz B. (A Chair, a Fireplace, and a Teacozy) asks what children's/young adult book has the main character die? I don't know the answer, but will add the following:

Toes of frog and eye of newt,
J.K., this message you must heed,
If it's Harry, Ron, Hermione,
Beware, beware the blast-end skrewt.

Thank you for visiting the Fifth Carnival of Children's Literature. Witches 1 and 2 bid you farewell (the third was sent home long ago for discriminatory speech). Until we meet again:

Oh, well done!
I commend your pains
And everyone shall share in the gains.
And now about the cauldron sing,
Like elves and fairies in a ring,
Enchanting all that you put in.

***************************************
The Sixth Carnival of Children's Literature will be held at the Castle of the Immaculate. Check in with Melissa Wiley at Here in the Bonny Glen if you'd like to host a carnival in the future.

Previous carnivals held here: