Weekend Reviews (I-II)

Here are this weekend's reviews of children's books in the major papers. Enjoy!

A Fistful of Pearls and Other Tales from Iraq, by Elizabeth Laird, is the Times' Children's Book of the Week, reviewed by Nicolette Jones.

The always-intelligent Amanda Craig considers "grim-lit" for children in the Times. (Grim lit=books that deal with death.)

Liz Rosenberg reviews The Invention of Hugo Cabret and two Caldecott honor books in the Boston Globe.

Mary Harris Russell reviews five new books for children in the Chicago Tribune, including John J. Muth's latest Zen Ties.

Susan Perren reviews five new books for the Globe and Mail, including Smart-O-Pedia.

Philip Ardagh reviews Between Two Seas, by Marie-Louise Jensen, for the Guardian.

Three new books "for Black History Month" are reviewed in the Salt Lake Tribune. (author?)

The San Francisco Chronicle talks to kids about what they are reading.

Profile Alert: Justin Berton talks to illustrator Shane Evans for the San Francisco Chronicle.

George Washington for Kids and Abraham Lincoln for Kids share Washington Post Kids Post Book of the Week honors.