Weekend Reviews (I)

The flu finally caught up with me and I missed everything yesterday, including Poetry Friday. Thanks to HipWriterMama for rounding up. I'm on my feet now--with the help of a little coffee--and ready to round up the beginnings of this weekend's reviews. Here we go...

It's Children's Book weekend at the New York Times. Titles reviewed this time include:

• Tree Shaker: The Story of Nelson Mandela, by Bill Keller (reviewed by Ruth Conniff). You can also find the first chapter linked to the review and a mp3 interview with the author. (And, ooh, a controversy! Edward Champion notes that Bill Keller just happens to be the executive editor of the New York Times. Can you say conflict of interest? Champion can, and I understand why.)
  
• Sarah Boxer reviews Delicious: The Life and Art of Wayne Thiebaud, by Susan Goldman Rubin.
• Jessica Bruder considers "nighttime" picture books.
• This week's Bookshelf column is devoted to children's books, including Sara Zarr's Sweethearts.
  

Rebecca Young reviews Presidents' Day books for The Tacoma News Tribune.

Not-a Review Alert: Amanda Craig talks about the world of Shel Silverstein for the Times.

Christina Hardyment reviews children's audiobooks "for Easter" in the Times.

Mary Harris Russell doesn't disappoint with reviews of five new children's books in the Chicago Tribune. (The new Lesley M.M. Blume looks particularly interesting.)

Eleanor Updale reviews Jenny Valentine's Broken Soup for the Guardian.

Last, but not least by any measure: Elizabeth Ward finds herself falling for an Anne of Green Gables prequel in the Washington Post.