Poetry Friday: Trauma Edition

This Friday I'm heading back to my own childhood and posting two classic poems I read (or heard) often. One of these poems was a great comfort, the other a childhood trauma.

First, the comforting poem: "The Land of Counterpane," by Robert Louis Stevenson (from Child's Garden of Verses)

When I was sick and lay a-bed,
I had two pillows at my head,
And all my toys beside me lay,
To keep me happy all the day.

And sometimes for an hour or so
I watched my leaden soldiers go,
With different uniforms and drills,
Among the bed-clothes, through the hills;

And sometimes sent my ships in fleets
All up and down among the sheets;
Or brought my trees and houses out,
And planted cities all about.

I was the giant great and still
That sits upon the pillow-hill,
And sees before him, dale and plain,
The pleasant land of counterpane.

"The Land of Counterpane" is the perfect poem for the young introvert. A whole day to play with your toys in an imaginary world. Too sick for school and duties, but well enough for a whole day of creation.

True, I never knew what a counterpane was as a child. But it did sound mysterious. I was somewhat disappointed when I finally looked it up as an adult and found out it meant "bedspread."
***************************************
Okay, now for the trauma: "Monday's Child".

Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace,
Wednesday's child is full of woe
Thursday's child has far to go,
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child works hard for its living,
And a child that's born on the Sabbath day
Is blithe and bonny and good and gay.

"Monday's Child" is in so many anthologies of nursery rhymes and it is almost impossible to escape it as a child. (If any of you readers know the origins of this one, I'd love to find out more!)

Why was it a traumatic poem for me? Why I was a Wednesday's child, of course. I even convinced myself I was born on a Thursday. Unnecessary trauma for 1/7th of the world's children, in my opinion.

Middle-grade and audiobook reviews

Christina Hardyment reviews middle-grade novels for The Independent. Six books make her list. They are:

• The Penderwicks, by Jeanne Birdsall ("a slim charmer of a book, and a page-turning read")
• The Book of Everything, by Guus Kuijer, translated by John Nieuwenhuizen ("an unforgettable fable about how closely cowardice and cruelty are linked, and how both can be overcome by brave, united action")
• The Mob, by Clem Martini ("a fine tale of upstart younglings who flout the rules but, when danger threatens, succeed where their more cautious elders fail") Published in the U.S. in 2004
• The Time Apprentice, by Val Tyler ("Tyler offers clever pseudo-science, attractive characterisation and well-sustained suspense") Second in the Greenwich Chronicles series, The Time Apprentice, as the first volume in the series, The Time Wreccas, hasn't been published in the U.S. yet.
• Transform! How everyday things are made, by Bill Slavin. Non-fiction, U.K.
• LionBoy: The Truth, by Zizou Corder ("there is nothing an energetic boy, a circus and the King of Bulgaria can't cope with, and happy endings for all")

************************************************

Also in The Independent, Christina Hardyment finds, "children's audiobook listening is becoming ever more compelling, with classy readers, snappy sound effects, appropriate music and unabridged titles."

Isn't that the truth! Take a look at her selections (knights, castles, and lots of adventure).

James Sullivan talks to Dick Berkenbush, who as a child played "a role in the making of Virginia Lee Burton's 1939 children's classic, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel," for The Boston Globe.

Berkenbush is now 81 years old, but when he was much younger Virginia Lee Burton was a frequent guest in his home. One evening, the author told her hosts:

• "She had written Mike and Mary Anne into a literal corner -- they were stuck in the hole they dug for the Town Hall basement. Dick, then about 12 years old, suggested the steam shovel could become the building's heating source. It was a simple notion, he said. 'My father had a garage in town that had a steam heating system, so I was familiar with it. 'In the first edition of Mike Mulligan, Burton credited her young collaborator as 'Dickie Birkenbush.'"

Sullivan concludes his article by mentioning, "the misspelling has remained in print ever since, through an estimated 70 million copies sold." Seventy million!

Anthony Horowitz interview

Dina Rabinovitz talks to Anthony Horowitz for the Guardian on occasion of, "the launch of the second book in the Power of Five series and an Alex Rider movie due in the summer." (An alert goes out to A Fuse #8 Productions regarding author photo.)

Here's some news on the Power of Five series:

• "Anthony Horowitz has launched his latest boy-hero adventure, Evil Star, in this South American corner of London (a substantial part of his speech was given in Spanish) in tribute to the Peruvian setting of the exploits of its hero, Matt Freeman. With his two tall sons standing in the audience, he has also let slip that in the next book in the series, the hero is something of a departure for him: it's a girl."

Rabinovitz and Horowitz discuss good parenting and gadgets (Horowitz is all for them at the earliest possible age). And, Horowitz is an advocate of the "just muddling through" school of parenting. As Rabinovitz writes,

• "'Parenting is not an art,' Horowitz says, 'it's just something you do.' And with those words, like a grown-up super-hero, he metaphorically blasts away all those parenting manuals, all those bossy nanny TV shows, busting we parents free of those shackles. And he does it in one sentence, and without using any gadgets at all."

Rodman Philbrick

Stephanie Loer interviews writer Rodman Philbrick for The Boston Globe.

Philbrick is, as Loer tells us, "a longshoreman, a carpenter, and a boat builder and is currently an avid fisherman." In addition, he is the author of Freak the Mighty, Max the Mighty, The Young and the Sea, and other novels for children.

The Boston Globe will be running a Philbrick story in the Life and Style section beginning next Tuesday (free registration required). The story, ''The Tinycawlers," "is set on an island off the coast of Maine and features a young boy who discovers his heritage and the surprising history of his family."

Philbrick is a prolific author, who has written for adults (under different names) and children. Here's what he tells Stephanie Loer about writing for kids:

• "I will always write for kids. It helps keep my imagination young, even as the rest of me gets creaky. I'll never forget how that first sentence, spoken by Max in Freak the Mighty, suddenly came to mind: 'I never had a brain until Freak came along and let me borrow his for a while, and that's the truth, the whole truth.'"

The Hans Christian Andersen Award

Margaret Mahy (of New Zealand) has won the Hans Christian Andersen for contributions to children's literature (writing). Here is pertinent information about the award from the award site:

• "Every other year IBBY presents the Hans Christian Andersen Awards to a living author and illustrator whose complete works have made a lasting contribution to children's literature".
  
• "The Hans Christian Andersen Award is the highest international recognition given to an author and an illustrator of children's books. Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II of Denmark is the Patron of the Andersen Awards."
  
• "The nominations are made by the National Sections of IBBY and the recipients are selected by a distinguished international jury of children's literature specialists."

Margaret Mahy is the author of stories, poetry, picture books, and novels for children. Her website lists her most recent works. In addition, according to the press release, "her first two novels, The Haunting and The Changeover, won the prestigious British Carnegie Medal for 1982 and 1984." Thanks to a Child_Lit member for the press release.

Here are some additional links about the award:

Past winners

Nominees for 2006

Jury for the 2006 prize

Monday tidbits

Janet Maslin reviews The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, for The New York Times.

It is an ambiguous review, one that can be summed up by this paragraph:

• "To be sure, The Book Thief attempts and achieves great final moments of tear-jerking sentiment. And Liesel is a fine heroine, a memorably strong and dauntless girl. But for every startlingly rebellious episode — Rudy's Führer-baiting impersonation of the black American athlete Jesse Owens, the building of an indoor snowman for a Jew in hiding, the creation of books and drawings that frame Liesel and Max's experiences as life-affirming fairy tales — there are moments that are slack."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Washington Post is gearing up for Poetry Month (April) with a "KidsPost" entry, "It Could be Verse."

"KidsPost" invites young poets to submit their poetry to their second annual poetry contest. Winners will receive copies of Poetry Speaks to Children. To get kids started, the column includes five of their favorite poems from Poetry Speaks to Children.

• Why?, by James Stevenson
• Eagle Poem, by Joy Harjo
• On a Flimmering Floom You Shall Ride, by Carl Sandburg
• Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening, by Robert Frost
• The Unwritten, by W. S. Merwin

Sunday Reviews

Airball: My Life in Briefs by L.D. Harkrader is the "KidsPost" book of the week (Washington Post).

L.D. Harkrader's basketball novel for children ages ten and up is, "a pretty familiar story about believing in yourself and finding what you're looking for in unexpected places."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Book of Everything, by Guus Kuijer and translated by John Nieuwenhuizen, is the Times "Children's Book of the Week."

Nicolette Jones writes in the review, "Quirky, touching, magical and blackly humorous, this most unusual book will reward readers of all ages."

The Book of Everything will be on shelves April 1.

Curious George a wimp?

Also in The Boston Globe, Christopher Shea considers a new study recently published in The Journal of Social History by Daniel Greenestone. Shea explains, "in 'Frightened George: How the Pediatric-Educational Complex Ruined the Curious George Series,' Greenstone suggests that the Reys lost faith in their original madcap vision and hitched George to psychological theories that viewed children as sensitive flowers and potential neurotics."

Interesting study! Shea wrote to Greenestone to ask why he began this study. Shea writes:

• "Lest anyone think that Greenstone comes to this research project with an anti-George bias, he explains by e-mail from Taipei that George was his favorite stuffed animal as a kid. But while reading the series to his son (now 4) and daughter (now 2) he was struck by the shift in tone from the first to the last books and nagged by a question: Why did George become such a wuss? 'My essay,' he says, 'is an attempt to answer that question.'"

Greenestone found that not only did the Reys simplify the vocabulary in the Curious George books, but that they also took parenting theories of the day seriously--particularly ones that suggested children's worries need to be "validated."

Reading for children as an adult

Katherine A. Powers discusses reading for children in The Boston Globe. She opens her essay with the following:

• "Like the rest of my multitudinous cohort, so odiously called ''boomers," I like nothing so much as sitting around reading novels written for children. I don't think this is really a new phenomenon. People used to be able to get away with it without looking pathetic by reading aloud to actual children."

Powers defends her reading of children's books by describing what is so great about The Bartimaeus Trilogy (everything) and Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle.

I haven't read I Capture the Castle, but if it has been mentioned in the same breath as The Bartimaeus Trilogy, I will immediately.

(Note: X-ers read for children too!)

Philip Pullman loves libraries

Philip Pullman tells the Times why he loves libraries as part of the Love Libraries campaign.

A library in Battersea made a "big impression" on Pullman, when he was ten years old. Pulman explains in this gorgeous paragraph, one we can all relate to:

• That was where I first read about the Moomins, and about the French children in that exciting novel A Hundred Million Francs, by Paul Berna, and, come to that, about Biggles. Ever since the day when my mother took me there and got me signed in as a member, joining the local public library has been almost the first thing I’ve done on moving to a new address.

Pullman goes on to explain why libraries are still necessary in this day and age. His reasons are beautiful, sound, and human. They are:

• "First, there’s the place itself: a special place, dedicated to assembling knowledge and making it available."
• "Secondly, there’s the physical engagement with the books. Looking at a screen, reading text on a monitor, is a process I and many people find a bit cold and distancing, and certainly uncomfortable to do for a long time."
• "Thirdly, there’s the infinite value of browsing." Boy, do I agree with this reason. The things I've found looking for something else in a library have often turned out to be much more important or useful than the original, searched-for target.
• "Fourthly, there’s the library staff. What helpfulness, what experience, what knowledge!"

Pullman concludes, "So libraries of every sort are treasure houses. I love them, I cherish them, I use them all the time, I could not bear to live in a society without them. "

A beautiful ode to the library. Librarians take note--you have an friend in Pullman.

David Almond story

Take a look at David Almond's short story in today's Times. "The Missing Link" is a tale of bullying, written by a master.

Almond is the author of Skelling, Kit's Wilderness, The Fire-Eaters, and Clay (forthcoming this spring in the U.S.)

************************************
And, for all you The Lord of the Rings fans (I know you're out there!), two contrasting views of Tolkien's work at the Times.

Book Review Roundup

Elizabeth Ward reviews poetry and non-fiction in this week's "For Young Readers" in the Washington Post. Ward begins her column with an indictment of the American Academy of Poets:

• "The American Academy of Poets obviously didn't consult children when it decided in 1996 that poetry deserved the kiss of death as much as black history or crime prevention and gave it its own official month. The result has been a decade of Aprils reinforcing the idea of poetry as broccoli: You'd like it if you'd only try it, kids, and besides, it's good for you! But what is 'it'?"

This is an interesting point, one that has been made many times about Black History Month. On the one hand, creating a month for an issue marginalizes whatever that issue is. On the other hand, sometimes a given issue doesn't get enough attention (say, poetry in 1995) and creating a month helps to bring it attention. I'm still torn. I will say, that I had no idea there was a Crime Prevention month.

In any case, Ward reviews the following titles this month:

• Langston Hughes, edited by David Roessel and Arnold Rampersad, illustrations by Benny Andrews. Twenty six poems, with some "less famous efforts...equally piercing."
• Langston Hughes: American Poet, by Alice Walker. (1974 biography recently reiussued, "ages 7-10")
• Scranimals, by Jack Prelutsky, illustrations by Peter Sis. Prelutsky at his "playful, sparkling best ."
• The Beauty of the Beast: Poems From the Animal Kingdom, edited by Jack Prelutsky, illustrated by Meilo So. "Little jewels of poems by more than 200 animal-loving word wizards, including Basho, Milton, Ted Hughes and Randall Jarrell. " This one is on my "to buy" list. I've an animal-crazy preschooler at home and he'd love this one.

On to non-fiction. Ward reviews:

• Cause: Reconstruction America, 1863-1877, by Tanya Bolden and calls it "an excellent example of serious juvenile nonfiction that grasps a plain truth: You can't teach if you don't engage."
• John, Paul, George & Ben, by Lane Smith. An "engaging" take on the American Revolution.
• Constitution Translated for Kids, by Cathy Travis. "Enlightenment for All," writes Ward.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Amanda Craig reviews two new action-adventure novels in the Times.

Anthony Horowitz has a new one, Evil Star. One of his "Power of Five" series, Evil Star's hero is Matt Freeman, " is blessed (or cursed) with precognition. "

Craig finds Horowitz to be in prime form. She writes, "The climax, involving a double-agent, some Tintin-inspired Incas, the mysterious pictures of the Nazca Desert and fancy satellite technology, is hair-raising, spine-tingling, satanic stuff. Horowitz is an absolute master of narrative suspense, knowing just how to balance his imagination between horror and satire, cruelty and kindness."

Craig also reviews action novels for younger kids: Jimmy Coates by Joe Craig. I have to quote the following paragraph, because Amanda Craig neatly sums up the appeal of the Jimmy Coates series in just a few sentences:

• "Both Jimmy Coates: Killer and Jimmy Coates: Target are cracking adventures with enough ideas to make them more than just page-turners. Jimmy’s love for his family and best friend battle his instructions to kill the “democratic terrorist” Viggo. He is a wonderful creation with which it is easy to identify and sympathise. As in all super-hero tales, you half fear, half long for the extraordinary powers that guide our protagonist along labyrinthine corridors or show him how to duel with a kebab stick, even if using them draws him further away from normality into a manic or psychopathic state that is brilliantly described."

Poetry Friday

Taking my cue from some favorite academic bloggers (Scrivener, for example), I'm instituting poetry Fridays around here.

Kids don't read poetry enough. Heck, Americans don't read poetry enough. I memorized a grand total of one poem in school.

Reading and memorizing poetry gives a child so much--dexterity and creativity in language use, increased memory skills, and a line at the ready for any occasion. And, poetry is fun to read aloud and share with others.

This week I've chosen a poem that's a blast to read aloud. It's a funny one with a fabulous title, "Disobedience," by A.A. Milne.

DISOBEDIENCE

James James
Morrison Morrison
Weatherby George Dupree
Took great
Care of his Mother,
Though he was only three.
James James
Said to his Mother,
"Mother," he said, said he:
"You must never go down to the end of town,
if you don't go down with me."

James James
Morrison's Mother
Put on a golden gown,
James James
Morrison's Mother
Drove to the end of town.
James James
Morrison's Mother
Said to herself, said she:
"I can get right down to the end of town and be
back in time for tea."

King John
Put up a notice,
"LOST or STOLEN or STRAYED!
JAMES JAMES
MORRISON'S MOTHER
SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN MISLAID.
LAST SEEN
WANDERING VAGUELY:
QUITE OF HER OWN ACCORD,
SHE TRIED TO GET DOWN TO THE END
OF THE TOWN--FORTY SHILLINGS
REWARD!"

James James
Morrison Morrison
(Commonly known as Jim)
Told his
Other relations
Not to go blaming him.
James James
Said to his Mother,
"Mother," he said, said he:
"You must never go down to the end of the town
without consulting me."

James James
Morrison's mother
Hasn't been heard of since.
King John
Said he was sorry,
So did the Queen and Prince.
King John
(Somebody told me)
Said to a man he knew:
"If people go down to the end of the town, well, what
can anyone do?

(Now then, very softly)

J. J.
M. M.
W. G. DuP.
Took great
C/o his M*****
Though he was only 3.
J. J.
Said to his M*****
"M*****," he said, said he:
"You-must-never-go-down-to-the-end-of-the-town-
if-you-don't-go-down-with ME!"

I love this hilarious read-aloud. It generates so many questions. Who is the narrator who spoke to King John? What happens at the end of town? What in the world was mother up to?

From: Talking Like the Rain, by X.J. and Dortothy M. Kennedy. Illustrations by Jane Dyer. Little, Brown, 1992.

Who are these people?

From Book%^&*:

Some parents of Malibu (Calif.) High School students are unhappy with the selection of Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones for a "campuswide reading event for grades 9-12." A committee of students selected the book.

• Parent Cathy Egner predicted, "There will be kids who will be haunted for the rest of their lives by the things they will be exposed to for the first time in this book. Why do we have to think that we are so politically correct that we have to deal with these issues now, at this stage in their lives?" . . .
• "Kids always do what they think makes them look mature, and that may be why they picked this book" said parent Cindy Dorn. "I don't want my son to read about a rape and a murder."

And this is Malibu, for goodness' sake. A liberal bastion. And they're banning books? The parents should be ashamed of themselves.

At least they're ensuring the kids will read The Lovely Bones.

Review: Verdi

We're crazy about snakes around here, but this mom and reviewer gets a little tired of non-fiction from time to time. I was thrilled, then, when my son selected Verdi, by Janell Cannon at a recent bookstore trip.

Verdi is a story of a snake--a young python--who doesn't want to grow up. He doesn't want to become big, green, and lazy, like all the adult pythons in the forest. Instead, he likes "the bold stripes that zigzagged down his back" and "his bright yellow skin." He also likes to play and jump into the air and perform dangerous and daring tricks.

The large green adult pythons in the forest know Verdi is going to come to no good. And, they're right. He lands badly after an ill-advised stunt, performed while trying to forget that he is slowly turning green. While splinted to a branch, Verdi finally grows up and begins to find joy and beauty in sitting still and enjoying his surroundings. He's become an "old green."

But, Verdi hasn't forgotten his youth. When two young, yellow pythons happen upon him "one fine morning," Verdi challenges them to a "fancy figure eight." In the end, he learns, "'I may be big and very green, but I'm still me.'"

Janell Cannon's illustrations are beautiful, lush, and nearly photographic. A wonderful picture book for the 4-8-year-old crowd.

The Edge of the Forest: March

The March edition of The Edge of the Forest has been posted. We're edging closer to a regular publication date of the 15th of each month--by May I think we'll be there.

There's lots of good reading this month, so do have a look and drop us a line if you have suggestions, ideas, letters, etc.

The Book Thief

Carol Memmott reviews The Book Thief (by Markus Zusak) in today's USAToday.

The Book Thief has been getting amazing reviews. I've read about half of it so far and the first half, at least, is more than deserving of the acclaim.

Released as an adult book in 2005 in Australia (you were right, Lee!), Memmott writes, "Zusak's U.S. publisher chose to release it as a young-adult book, believing young readers can and will attempt a 550-page novel that realistically portrays the Holocaust. One only hopes adults also will discover The Book Thief."

I am certain adults will discover The Book Thief. I'm afraid, though, that it may scare young teens away. Death is the narrator and the subject matter necessarily grim. It does seem like something I would have appreciated when I was sixteen, though.

Memmott concludes: "The Book Thief is unsettling and unsentimental, yet ultimately poetic. Its grimness and tragedy run through the reader's mind like a black-and-white movie, bereft of the colors of life. Zusak may not have lived under Nazi domination, but The Book Thief deserves a place on the same shelf with The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank and Elie Wiesel's Night. It seems poised to become a classic."

"Wallace and Gromit" quote

My favorite line from Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Wererabbit has to be the following:

"It's just a little harmless brain alteration."--Wallace.

Random good things on a Sunday

There haven't been many reviews of children's books this weekend in the major media. One in fact (with the exception of the Times Children's Book of the Week, which hasn't been published yet in the U.S.)--KidsPost recommends Tonya Bolden's Cause: Reconstruction America, 1863-1877.

But A Fuse #8 Production has a couple of great links this weekend:

• One resource she mentions as a "shameless co-worker promotion," but shameless or not, it is definitely one to watch. Warren Truitt blogs about Children's Music that Rocks. Finally! I'm one of those musically clueless people, and I'm thrilled that this new blog exists. I need just this kind of help. Keep up the good work, Warren.
• Fuse #8 also points out kidSPEAK, an anti-censorship site just for children. kidSPEAK instructs the youngsters to READ! COMPLAIN! ORGANIZE! and GET HELP! A great resource.

The best news I've heard all day

Louise Jury reports for the Independent that Truss "takes her comma campaign to young audience." Truss is adapting Eats, Shoots & Leaves for children ages 6 and over as Eats, Shoots & Leaves: Why, Commas Really Do Make a Difference! for Profile Books (September publication).

As long as she includes the apostrophe (at the very top of her list), I'm thrilled.

Dragons!

Amanda Craig reviews dragon books for the Times.

Craig and her son are in love with dragons (sounds familiar), and she's found some new titles to keep them busy. The first--Dragon Keeper, by Carole Wilkinson--features a Chinese dragon. Craig writes, "Chinese dragons seem a bit too dignified for the kind of stuff you want from a dragon, that is, flying, breathing flames and the odd potion. Dragon Keeper may well change all that." Hooray! Craig calls Dragon Keeper, "the most captivating children’s book I’ve seen so far this year." (Dragon Keeper was published in 2005 in the States.)

Craig also reviews Angie Sage's new Septimus Heap novel, Flyte. "It’s all jolly, freewheeling stuff, with young Queen Jenna being kidnapped by Simon and a rat (yes, another one) having to bring help at the crucial moment. " Craig faults the editing and the illustrations, but finds, "Spit Fyre does all the proper dragonish things such as burning holes in precious shoes and giving rides. We can't get enough. More, please!"

More from Namoi Wolf

Naomi Wolf responds to questions about her essay (on girl teen fiction) from readers in today's New York Times. I really liked the following question from a reader. It's the one we all asked in response to the article.

• Q. 3. Is this literary trend really as insidious as it seems? Are silly novels by silly novelists really that capable of turning a reflective, critical, Gap-wearing teenage girl into a nasty clone of the girls she reads about? — Anne De Marzio, Bloomfield, N.J.

Wolf responds:

• They may not change the girl's behavior; but they do posit a model of what the dominant culture says holds value. I know from the girls in my own life that they often feel quite alone these days when they do hold out for kindness or integrity in a social setting. Is this a new problem? No, but in past generations the dominant culture of teen fiction did not make this behavior seem so geeky and aberrant.

Unfortunately, Wolf confirms what I thought when reading the essay the first time. The problem isn't the books, per se, as they merely reflect "dominant culture."

Ricky Gervais

Okay, I must be really out of it, but I didn't realized Ricky Gervais, author and illustrator of Flanimals, is the same Ricky Gervais as this guy:

• "The writer-performer who immortalized the understimulating workplace in the British TV comedy 'The Office' might just be the hardest-working man in show business.
  He's developing a second series of his sitcom, 'Extras,' has written an episode of the U.S. version of 'The Office,' appears in Christopher Guest's forthcoming ensemble movie, 'For Your Consideration,' and wrote and starred in an episode of his favorite show, 'The Simpsons.'"

Check out CNN.com for the article.

I love "The Office," both the British and U.S. versions. I don't get to watch them often, but when I do, I always laugh.

My son and I adore Flanimals, which features short entries of brutish beasts of all possible shapes, sizes and colors. Flanimals are not nice guys and they often have very bad, even wicked, habits (that is, if they aren't too dumb). Gervais tells CNN.com, "the books were a natural follow-up to 'The Office,' which exposed workplace dynamics in excruciatingly funny detail. 'I put just about everything I know about human nature into 'The Office...This is what was left.'"

The Astrid Lindgren Award

U.S. writer Katherine Paterson has won the Astrid Lindgren Award. (Announcement via Monsters and Critics.) Paterson is best known in the U.S., perhaps, for The Bridge to Terabithia.

The jury wrote that Paterson is, "'a brilliant psychologist who gets right under the skin of the vulnerable young people she creates, whether in historical or exotic settings, or in the grim reality of the United States today.'"

This prize, "created 2002 by the Swedish government in honour of Lindgren," is a big one--worth, currently, $636, 000! Congratulations to Paterson. What a wonderful coup.

Previous winners include Philip Pullman, Ryôji Arai (Japan) , Lygia Bojunga (Brazil), Christine Nöstlinger (Austria), and Maurice Sendak.

Review: Stellina

The True Story of Stellina tells the tale of an abandoned baby finch found in New York.

Matteo Pericoli narrates and illustrates the life of Stellina, from her discovery on the corner of 46th and Third "in the middle of the day" to her eventual death eight years later. The True Story of Stellina is a lovely book, released this month by Random House.

What I especially appreciate about Stellina is that Pericoli tells his tale as an adult would speak to a highly intelligent child. In other words, despite the presence of many "cheeps" and a few "roars," Pericoli does not talk down to his audience. Instead, Pericoli presents a love story, the story of his wife Holly and her love for the little bird. Stellina accompanies Holly on all her everyday activities--on the subway, to the office, to dance class, while playing music. It is a happy relationship, one children will find attractive and comforting.

Pericoli's illustrations are evocative of a happy, urban life, full of activities and the arts. Stellina is a charming, peaceful book for the 4-8-year-old audience.

Rebranding for Teens

Via Bookninja, check out this article by Andre Mayer on Canadian publishers marketing adult fiction for the hot YA market.

The trend, at least in Canada, began with Lori Lansen's The Girls. After Lansen met a young fan, she suggested to her publisher (Knopf) that they market the book to teens. Mayer writes,

• "There’s no fail-safe formula for winning over teens, but The Curious Incident, Life of Pi and, to a certain extent, The Girls provide hints as to what it is in adult fiction that engages young readers. All three narratives feature youthful protagonists, are told in the first person and exhibit a healthy scepticism about grown-up behaviour."

I wonder, in the end, if there is even a line between Young Adult and "adult" fiction? I find certain books appeal to younger readers, teens and young adults, than others. Dickens and Dostoevsky's novels, for example, are more appealing to younger readers, than say novels by Tolstoy or James. Interesting article.

Small Press Month at Wands and Worlds

I wanted to draw your attention to Small Press Month at Wands and Worlds.

Sheila has commited to reviewing new titles from small presses during the month of March and has already reviewed a number of books, including:

• The Witch from the Sea, by Lisa Jensen (older YA from Beagle Bay books)
• Robin: The Loveable Morgan Horse, by Ellen Feld (middle-grade fiction, Willow Bend Publishing)
• The Secret Weakness of Dragons, by Brad Grochowski ("best enjoyed by middle-grade children, who can appreciate the irony and humor in the stories," from Eepie Press)
• Riddle in the Mountain, by Daryl Burkhard (middle-grade historical ghost story, published by Dogtooth Press)
• Saviors of the Bugle, by Barbara Elmore (middle-grade fiction "about the rights and responsibilities of the free press in a democratic society. It's also about ordinary kids coming of age and finding themselves." From Mud Pie Press.)

I've really been enjoying this series. Thanks to Wands and Worlds!

The Sisters Grimm

The following is a book review submitted by my 10-year-old daughter, Anna.

The Sisters Grimm

In these funny and exciting books, the Sisters Grimm live in a town called Ferryport Landing, New York, by the Hudson River. They are related to the brothers Grimm. Their town has fairy tale creatures and people under disguise, and there is a barrier, so they can’t get out. When the last of the Grimms dies, they’ll be free, so some of the fairy tale residents don’t exactly like the Grimms.

Sabrina who is 12, and Daphne, who is 7, have been orphans, because someone, The Scarlet Hand, captured their parents. They lived in lots of foster homes, but they escaped from each one, because the people there are mean. Finally, they find their Grandma Relda, and they always get into mysteries with her; like Jack, the giant killer, sets giants free to regain fame, or Lilliputians robbing toy stores.

But most of all, Sabrina wants to find their parents. She takes keys, and ends up solving a mystery involving the Pied Piper who is the principal, his son, Rumplestiltskin, and fairy-tale babies! In the town, there is forgetful dust, in case regular people find out about the fairy tale creatures. Luckily, the Grimms are protected. Since the fairy tale creatures are under secret identity, they take normal lives, like the mayor, who is the legendary Prince Charming, the Grimm sisters’ new brother is Puck the Trickster, the Sheriff, is Sheriff Hamstead, along with his helpers, they are the three little pigs, and the nicest teacher at school is Ms.White, or Snow, along with other characters. Those books are excellent! “We are Grimms, and this is what we do,” one of the Grimms says before every crazy adventure. What other people should do is read the books!

Anna has read these books several times each and is desperately waiting for the third volume. The Sisters Grimm series is written by Michael Buckley.

Saturday's Sunday Reviews

There's much in today's New York Times on children's books.

First, alternative teen books are recommended in "What's a Girl to Read?" by Justine Henning. Twenty books are featured in the web version of the article (12 in the print) from Speak (Laurie Halse Anderson) to Flipped (Wendelin Van Draanen).

Emily Jenkins recommends two "charmingly illustrated stories that will appeal to any child who loves to dress up" as antidote to the endless parade of officially-sanctioned "princess" books. Jenkins finds humor and fashion in:

• Fancy Nancy, by Jane O'Connor, illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser ("The message here is welcome — fanciness (unlike physical beauty) is available to anyone with a can-do spirit")
• The Bora-Bora Dress, by Carole Lexa Schaefer, illustrated by Catherine Stock ("'Lindsay never ever ever' wears a dress, but her fabulous Aunt Fiona is having an 'end-of-the-summer, snazzy, ritzy dress-up party' in an enormous hedge maze with moonlight dancing on the beach, and Mama (chic, even in her bathrobe) says a dress is de rigueur.")

Jessica Bruderfrom reviews Megan McCarthy's Aliens are Coming! The True Account of the 1938 "War of the Worlds" Radio Broadcast. Bruderfrom writes, "Meghan McCarthy recounts the epic prank in her new picture book, Aliens Are Coming! Alternating between her own narration and excerpts from the original broadcast, she deftly switches from scenes of actual events, illustrated in black-and-white acrylics, to full-color spreads of imagined Martian mayhem." Sounds like a great non-fiction title.

Lawrence Downes recommends two new books about Benjamin Franklin for children. Downes explains that, "Franklin's image seems to have become more inconsequential and comic than those of the other founding fathers" and these two new titles attempt to convey Franklin's true importance and genius to the younger set. Downes reviews,

• A Dangerous Engine: Benjamin Franklin, From Scientist to Diplomat, by Joan Dash, illustrated by Dusan Petricic ("Any author would have trouble cramming Franklin's long and overstuffed life into a single volume. Dash does so with the briskness of an impassioned teacher who has little patience for classroom goof-offs. There is no condescension here — you kids will have to pay attention as you work your way through the science parts, the Revolutionary War parts, and especially the French-diplomacy-and-intrigue parts. But the rewards will be great.")
• Now and Then: The Modern Inventions of Benjamin Franklin, by Gene Barretta ("It does not bother with its subject's life and times. It has enough to do simply presenting — with charming illustrations — the innovations, oddities and civilizational necessities that kept fizzing and popping from Franklin's restless brain.")

Finally, in the New York Times, Julie Just recommends children's books for "Bookshelf."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

My favorite reviewer of children's books, Elizabeth Ward of the Washington Post, takes on Kate DiCamillo's The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. In her review, she expresses doubt about the book's message.

Ward writes, "What, exactly, are they meant to take away from this tale, with its hammer blows of random brutality, its weirdly malevolent adults (Pellegrina is by no means the only one) and its endless moralizing about love? The last is particularly baffling. What child needs to be reminded to love? Why, in any case, demonize a child's natural self-involvement, which is all that's 'wrong' with Edward?"

I've really been struggling with this issue myself. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane is a beautifully written novel. DiCamillo's prose is sparse and elegant and Bagram Ibatoulline's illustrations are gorgeous. But, there is something cruel, something unfair to Edward (who, after all, is only a china rabbit) in the story. Thanks to Ward for saying it!

Naomi Wolf article on teen fiction

The much-anticipated Naomi Wolf article on the Gossip Girl, A-List, and Clique series is up at the New York Times.

I must admit that these books have never appealed to me, maybe wrongly, because this world didn't appeal to me as a teen. The phenomenon that is their popularity does interest me, however. Wolf writes these novels, "represent a new kind of young adult fiction, and feature a different kind of heroine. In these novels, which have dominated the field of popular girls' fiction in recent years, Carol Gilligan's question about whether girls can have 'a different voice' has been answered — in a scary way."

Wolf finds blatant consumerism, detached parents, and conformity to be at the heart of these series: "In the world of the A-List or Clique girl, inverting Austen (and Alcott), the rich are right and good simply by virtue of their wealth. Seventh graders have Palm Pilots, red Coach clutches, Visas and cellphones in Prada messenger bags. Success and failure are entirely signaled by material possessions — specifically, by brands." You could argue, then, that these books simply mirror society today. It is unfortunate, but this is the life of well-off teens today.

Wolf is looking for the rebellion of old: "The great reads of adolescence have classically been critiques of the corrupt or banal adult world. It's sad if the point of reading for many girls now is no longer to take the adult world apart but to squeeze into it all the more compliantly. Sex and shopping take their places on a barren stage, as though, even for teenagers, these are the only dramas left."

What do you think? Where is the rebellion today? I'd argue it still exists in Harry Potter and The Bartimeus Trilogy. But where else?

Review: Ingo

This is an early review.

Helen Dunmore's Ingo, the first in a trilogy, won't be out in the States until August 1, but I loved it and can't help myself.

Have you ever enjoyed a book so much you've read it slowly? That was my experience with Ingo. (Michele at Scholar's Blog had the opposite experience. She raced through 300 pages in a few hours! Either way, it is a compelling read--a book impossible to resist.) Ingo drew me in as the tide does its protagonist, Sapphire Trewhella.

Sapphire (Sapphy) lives in Cornwall, on a hidden cove, with her older brother, Connor, and her parents. Sapphy's father is drawn to the sea and sings of Ingo to his children. Connor and Sapphy know the sea, their cove, and the tides like a suburban kid knows the rhythm of her own street. One day their father disappears on his boat without a trace.

Matthew Trewhella's disappearance upsets daily life for Sapphy and her family. Mom has to work out of town and Connor makes a new friend, a girl from the sea. When Connor, ordinarily the best big brother you could ever have, abandons his sister to meet his new friend, Sapphy follows him into the ocean. There she meets Faro, a Merperson and brother of Connor's new friend, Elvira. Sapphy is drawn into the world of Mer, losing all sense of earth and earthly time.

Connor brings Sapphy out of the sea and she struggles with the impulse to return. It turns out that Sapphy and Connor have some Mer in them, each to varying degrees. Sapphy is ready to give up earth and to become one with the Mer, but Connor, more grounded in earth, holds her fast.

As Ingo is the first in a trilogy, we don't learn everything about the Mer, their world, Sapphy and Connor's relationship to Ingo, and what happened to Mr. Trewhella. I know I'll be waiting anxiously for books two and three to find out.

The beauty of Ingo is in Dunmore's lyrical prose and the atmosphere she creates. You can feel the pull of the tide and the song of the Mer when you read the novel. Sapphire's struggle to resist their pull is tangible and, as a reader, you hope she succeeds.

Put Ingo on your "to order," "to buy," or "to check out" list for Fall. Thanks to Michele of Scholar's Blog who sent me this one.

Amanda Craig reviews Susan Cooper's Victory for the Times. Craig writes,

• "Victory, Cooper’s latest novel, is also a time-slip story. Molly is an English girl whose widowed mother has uprooted her to a new family in Connecticut. Desperately homesick, she finds an old copy of Southey’s Life of Nelson, with a fragment of the Victory’s flag, and a letter mentioning Samuel Robbins. Half the novel is narrated by Sam, and half is about Molly."

Craig's review is mixed, but she also recommends several other titles, from picture books to Young Adult fiction, relating to the Napoleonic Era.

History for Children

Amanda Vickery takes a look at history for children in today's Guardian. In particular, Vickery analyzes three recent publications: 1) Horrible Histories: Dublin (Terry Deary, illustrated by Martin Brown); 2) Our Island Story (H.E. Marshall); and 3) A Little History of the World (E.H. Gombrich, translated by Caroline Mustill) . Our Island Story and A Little History of the World are reissued classics, the first published in 1905 and the second in 1935.

I must admit I really enjoy the Horrible Histories and wonder if we have U.S. equivalents. They are irreverent, funny, and Deary leaves "'the nasty bits'" in.

Vickery finds Our Island Story insular and remarks, "To recommend Our Island Story as a textbook for nine- to 12-year-olds is like relying on Mel Gibson for the history of Scotland." A funny comparison. Gombrich fares better and Vickery quotes from his elegant conclusion: "We are all carried along by its force, each a tiny, evanescent bubble of foam, lifted momentarily on the crest of a wave, only to vanish for ever. 'But we must make use of that moment. It is worth the effort.'" Agreed.

Boys and Girls and Reading

Emily Bazelon writes about boys and girl's books in today's Slate.

Bazelon feared she'd never be able to read her most loved books to her boys. And, she writes, "I don't like the idea of teachers or librarians steering my sons toward some preconceived notion of 'boy-friendly' reading material. Don't tell my boys, subtly or directly, that they'd probably prefer a book with a boy for a hero. Don't even point out the distinction."

Bazelon aims to sort out professional opinions on boys and reading in attempt to keep her own boys reading. While this is a noble aim, I do think she unfairly blames librarians in the article. (Note: I'm not a librarian) She claims, "Librarians and teachers often look down on boy humor or nonfiction, and their disdain seeps through to the boys who crave those things." This hasn't been my experience either in public or in school libraries, but it is true that boys often do enjoy this type of fiction. But, then again, so do many girls. In fact, a school librarian introduced Scieszka's books to my daughter.

The only difference I've seen between boys and girls and reading, frankly, is that more boys do seem to enjoy books about "how things work" than girls might. (Bazelon quotes Marc Aronson on this phenomenon in her article.) Other than that, good readers of both sexes enjoy stories, memoirs, non-fiction, and, yes, books with rude jokes at their heart. I think the real issue is making sure boys become good readers, not what they read.

Apologies for "Pigling Bland"

Simon de Bruxelles writes (for the Times) of a Beatrix Potter letter up for auction next month.

In the letter Potter apologizes to a six-year-old reader for a recent book, The Tale of Pigling Bland. Here's an excerpt of the absolutely lovely letter:

• "'My dear Joy, I have had a photograph of you and nice funny pictures of Mrs Tittlemouse since last June! It is almost too late to say ‘thank you’; you will be quite surprised to get a letter. I was very ill last spring — I thought it was the last of Peter Rabbit — and since then I have been drawing dozens of pigs. I have been so tired of them, but the printers said all the little friends would be disappointed if I did not screw out my normal Christmas book.'"

Funny to think the same publishing concerns were germane to 1913.

Women's Day

A Happy International Women's Day and a virtual carnation to you all!

(I must admit I'm too stressed out about the Project Runway finale to pay much attention to books today.)

YA Fantasy

Colleen Mondor considers YA Fantasy for the March issue of Book^%$#.

Mondor explains at the outset that, "I wish I had a list of twenty books, or thirty or forty to tell the world about, but at this point, I’m just happy to be able to recommend four. Plus, as a bonus, I have an interview collection with some great fantasy authors that will be a treasure for anyone interested in the writing process."

Mondor recommends:

• The Wall and the Wing, by Laura Ruby
• Passarola Rising, by Azhar Abidi
• The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, by Kate DiCamillo (I love Mondor's preconceptions about this work. I shared the same before beginning to read Tulane.)
• The Greenstone Grail and The Sword of Straw, by Amanda Hemingway
• The bonus book is The Wand in the World, edited by Leonard Marcus

Wonderful recommendations and reviews from a true fan (and author) of YA fantasy.

Illuminated Books and Audio Stories

We all receive a lot of e-mails advertising this site, or that book (Zionist conspiracy, anyone?), or this service--but, occasionally, there's some gold amongst the dross.

Take a look at Illuminated Books, a "free access digital library of illuminated and illustrated books." The site was created and run by Alfredo Malchiodi, Anita Malchiodi and Carlos Alonso Cabezas and will feature books in Spanish as well as those from the Anglo-American tradition.

There are several children's titles available for view, including a few by Kate Greenaway. Very nice work and a wonderful resource
*********************************************
I'd also like to recommend Storynory, "i-pod ready stories for kids." The brainchild of Angharad and Matthew Lynn and Hugh Fraser, Storynory features classic tales, plays, jokes, original stories, and much more. Prince Bertie guides kids through the site and offers them not only stories, but many chances for interaction as well.

A great resource!
**********************************************
While not children's lit, I have to say I am extremely saddened by this news today.

Stop the Celebrities!

Enough already. I mean it. I used to be generous about this issue. I mean, actors and singers are creative people. It makes sense they'd like to apply their talents in a variety of media.

However, today I learned the following from Mediabistro: GalleyCat--Kylie Minogue and Jessica Simpson are writing for children. I quote from Sarah Weinman:

• "It's bad enough that a publisher is giving Kylie Minogue money to write a children's book -- specifically, Puffin's Jane Richardson has bought the rights to The Showgirl Princess for publication this September -- but now word comes in from the wires (via an interview with W magazine) that blonde bombshell Jessica Simpson is working on a book of poetry that she's been writing since she was 11. 'It's a piece of my heart I want to share with my fans.'"

I'm up for giving Kylie a break. She's had a hard year and maybe she's kept herself occupied by writing The Showgirl Princess. But Jessica Simpson? The girl can't string two words together. My patience is wearing thin. Anyone want to come to her defense?

2nd Carnival of Children's Literature

Susan (Chicken Spaghetti) takes us to Coney Island for the Second Carnival of Children's Literature. Can spring be far behind?

We go on all the rides and meet some new faces in the crowd. Grab some cotton candy and give the Carnival a whirl.

And the Oscar goes to...

Wallace and Gromit!

Congratulations to Nick Park and Steve Box. Love the bow-ties.

Scott Nash

Ray Routhier profiles illustrator Scott Nash for the Portland Press Herald.

Scott Nash is the illustrator of one of my most-loved children's books, The Bugliest Bug (by Carol Diggory Shields).

Nash was chosen to illustrate a newly reissued Dr. Seuss title, Hooper Humperdink...? Not Him! Nash says he was thrilled to receive the call from Random House because, " I sometimes joke with friends that I wasn't a Caldecott (an award given in children's literature) kid, I was a Seuss kid and a Golden Book kid. I loved the 'Bright and Early' books, and P.D. Eastman was one of my favorites. Go, Dog. Go!"

Nash tells his audience that actor Adrian Brody is the model for Hooper Humperdink. (Okay, Adrian Brody is my favorite male actor. I'm going to have to look for Hooper Humperdink...? Not Him!)

An interesting interview. Give it a read!

Her Story

Kathy Englehart recommends "stories of little-known women who made a difference" in today's Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Englehart suggests a wide variety of books (from picture to biography) about a number of important women. They are:

• I Could Do That! Esther Morris Gets Women the Vote, by Linda Arms White (illustrations by Nancy Carpenter). Esther Morris was an, "abolitionist, a pioneer and a suffragist whose efforts led to Wyoming being the first state to give women the right to vote - in 1869 - 50 years before the United States did the same. She was also the first woman to hold public office in the United States."
• Marvelous Mattie: How Margaret E. Knight Became an Inventor, by Emily Arnold McCully. Margaret E. Knight was an inventor who came up with solutions to everyday problems and created the machine responsible for square-bottom paper bags.
• My Name is Gabriela: The Life of Garbriela Mistral / Me llamo Gabriela: la vida de Gabriela Mistral, by Monica Brown (illustrated by John Parra). A bilingual text about Chile's beloved poet, who became the first Latina to win the Noble prize for Literature.
• She's Wearing a Dead Bird on Her Head! by Kathryn Lasky (illustrated by David Catrow). She's Wearing a Dead Bird on Her Head! tells the tale of Harriet Hemenway and Minna Hall, who began the Audubon Society in response to, "the shocking style of wearing dead birds as hats."
• Vherses: A Celebration of Outstanding Women, by J. Patrick Lewis (illustrated by Mark Summers). Lewis writes of the lives of famous (and not-so-famous) female poets.

************************************************

Elsewhere...

Tess Kalinowski covers the "banning" of Three Wishes (by Deborah Ellis) for the Toronto Star. While Three Wishes has not been banned (in the way we are accustomed to in the U.S.), "the Canadian Jewish Congress and York school officials" have recommended the book be, "guided to older students or read under the supervision of teachers and parents."

Nicolette Jones has selected Emily Gravett's Orange Pear Apple Bear as the Times "Children's Book of the Week."

Books Parents Hate?

Mick Hume contributes an intriguing piece on books parents don't want their children to read to the Times. In Hume's case, he's not a fan of Jacqueline Wilson.

Hume writes, "I don’t want my two young daughters to read Jacqueline Wilson books. Yes, I know, she is wonderful — the children’s laureate, most-borrowed author in libraries, 20 million books sold, 'every girl’s best friend' and so on, but this is one friendship of which I disapprove. " Why does Hume disapprove? Because, "Wilson’s books present 'real life' as an apparently relentless ordeal of divorce, bullying, abuse, redundancy and repossession; where parents never understand, most people are unhappy and your only refuge is to find a best friend and console each other."

Hume admits, however, "Nothing, alas, appeals to a child more than finding an author their parents dislike. Enid Blyton was probably the first of this kind." And he's right there. If Hume is a good parent (as I'm sure he is), he's powerless to his girls' tastes. He concludes, "Secretly, of course, I’m all for a bit of rebellious reading, but it would take away the fun for them if I said so."

Isn't that the truth! Too bad we couldn't introduce Hume to Camille's Know-Nothings over at Book Moot. He'd teach them a lesson or two.

For years I wanted to shield my children from The Berenstain Bears, but to no avail. The both loved them and I've read each and every Berenstain book one hundred times.

Final World Book Day Podcast

The Guardian's CultureVulture blog offers its final podcast, "a talk from acclaimed children's author Adèle Geras (whose latest novel, Ithaka, is longlisted for this year's Carnegie Medal) on her own experience of writing for children. "

Jan Pienkowski

Joanna Carey talks to Jan Pienkowski for the Guardian. Pienkowski is a well known and loved illustrator (particularly in the U.K.), whose The Fairy Tales will soon be released in the U.S. Pienkowski discusses the transformations necessary to create the large scale version of the fairy tales (originally six small books) and for U.S. publication:

• "Now, almost 30 years later, these same tales have been dramatically repackaged, in a large-format gift book with a beautiful gold-blocked cover and a glossy dustjacket, as The Fairy Tales. Was this an easy transformation? Apart from the loss of that pocket-sized intimacy, were there any problems? The words, Walser tells me, are more or less unchanged but there was a slight problem with the pictures: the new clarity of the enlarged silhouettes emphasised certain details, necessitating some small but significant adjustments for the US market. 'It was the nipples,' says Pienkowski."

Carey discusses Pienkowski's flight from Poland to Germany and then to England as a child, his beginnings as a children's writer and illustrator, and his plans for the future. An interesting interview!

Most searched?

I was browsing through my stats last night and noticed that many of the hits come from a google search--a google search for Rick Riordan's The Lightning Thief.

I think there are a lot of young fans of The Lightning Thief out there!

Violence in Children's Television

Until I have time to post reviews of Kate DiCamillo's The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane and Helen Dunmore's Ingo, I direct you to Lisa de Moraes article in the Washington Post about violence in children's television.

De Moraes tells us that Brent Bozell has issued the results from a new study: "Self-appointed TV watchdog Brent Bozell has put out the gazillionth study on children's television, in which he reveals that there is more violence on children's entertainment programming than in prime time.

Bozell and his assistants found 6.3 instances of violence per hour in children's programming. Most violent children's channel? No surprise here--Cartoon Network. Disney was the least (PBS Kids was not included in the study).

I know some scholars have found violence in TV does not necessarily lead to violent behavior, but some pretty bad Batman cartoons had a negative impact in our home for awhile. They've fortunately fallen out of favor in the past year.

Another gosh-darned list

Well, at least this one's an excerpt from the book 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. (For a review of 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, check out this entry from The Literary Saloon.)

In any case, of this selection of 25, there are only a few I'd put on my must-read list. They are:

• The Secret Agent, Joseph Conrad
• Ulysses, James Joyce
• Vile Bodies, Evelyn Waugh (this one is on my personal top-ten list)
• Frankenstein, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
• A Farewell To Arms, Ernest Hemingway
• Their Eyes were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston

There were others on the list I liked (A Prayer for Owen Meany, Unless, A Boy's Own Story, but I'm not sure they are must reads for everyone before they die!)

I can't tell from the Scotsman article whether their selections were random or not, but, still, a pretty strange list.

The Seventh?

"JK ROWLING yesterday warned fans that her seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series could be huge as she has been writing twice as much as planned on the last of the boy wizard's adventures. "

Fans have been wondering if J.K. could conclude the series in just one more volume. Do you think this is a warning?

Tony Ross

I became acquainted with Tony Ross' picture books a few years ago when my parents brought several titles back from the U.K. for my then-toddler daughter.

Many of Ross' picture books do teach a lesson, particularly those starring his Little Princess (I Don't Want to Go to Bed, I Want My Pacifier, I Want My Potty, I Want My Tooth). But, Ross is never preachy, despite the subject matter of his books. His Little Princess is a chaotic toddler and a fun one at that.

In Wash Your Hands! (brought to you by Kane/Miller), the Little Princess gets a bit tired of everyone telling her to wash her hands. She's told to wash her hands after playing outside, playing with her dog, going to the bathroom, and after sneezing. The Little Princess complains to the Maid who finally gives it to her straight: She's to wash her hands, "because of germs and nasties." When the Little Princess asks what in the world are germs and nasties, the Maid scares the Princess into action. "Worse than crocodiles," the germs and nasties live, "in the dirties...and on the animals...and in the sneezes....They can get into your food, and then into your tummy...and then they can make you sick."

Wash Your Hands! is a fun read-aloud for the grubby toddler set.