Children's Literature

Derrick Barnes

2012-01-17T14:23:00.000-05:00

Derrick Barnes is a native of Kansas City, Missouri. He is a graduate of Jackson State University (B.A. Marketing, 1999). He is the author of the children's books Stop Drop and Chill and The Low Down Bad Day Blues published by Scholastic, as well as the popular "Ruby and the Booker Boys" series, also published by Scholastic. His first middle grade novel, We Could Be Brothers, was published by Scholastic in 2010. Derrick has presented at elementary, middle, and high schools all over the country, and has been invited twice by Barbara Bush to her annual Celebration of Reading conference in Florida. He is also known for writing bestselling copy for various Hallmark Card lines and was the first African American male staff writer for Hallmark. Derrick resides in Kansas City with his enchanting wife, Dr. Tinka Barnes and their sons, Ezra, Solomon, Silas, and Nnamdi.

Visits: Derrick’s presentations are approximately 35-45 minutes. His fee is $600 for a full day (2-4 presentations) plus travel expenses for outside the Kansas City, MO area.

To have Derrick visit your school or organization email marilyn@childrenslit.com

Congratulations!

2012-01-04T13:45:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to Children's Literature Booking Service author Susan Stockdale. Her book Bring on the Birds was recently named a 2011 Cybil Award Finalist.

To have Susan visit your school or organization please email marilyn@childrenslit.com

Alison Formento

2012-01-02T14:34:00.001-05:00

Alison Formento's first picture book This Tree Counts! (Whitman 2010), proves that trees are for more than just climbing. Alison has written several plays, short stories, and poetry. With a background in journalism, Alison has written for several publications including The New York Times, The Writer, and Parenting. She grew up in Arkansas and now resides in New Jersey and besides writing everyday and enjoying life with her husband and kids, Alison dreams of someday building a spectacular tree house. She donates a portion of her book sales toAmericanForests.org to help plant more trees.

Visits: Alison's presentations are designed for PreK to 8th grade and blend storytelling and language arts with trees, fun and wit. Children are invited to help make "Human Trees" and act as editors to choose the next story for Alison to write. For third grade and older, Alison offers writing workshops to share her "Idea Seeds" process. She shares her journalism experience, structure and tools for creating stories.

To have Alison visit your school or organization email marilyn@childrenslit.com

http://www.childrenslit.com/bookingservice/formento-alison.html

Alison Hart Joins "Pencil Tips Writing Workshop" Blog

2011-12-20T10:51:00.000-05:00

Booking Service author Alison Hart recently joined the blog “Pencil Tips Writing Workshop: Strategies from Children’s Authors and Illustrators.” Her first post is on the complexities of writing. If you are a teacher who is often frustrated with teaching writing, join the discussion!

www.penciltipswritingworkshop.blogspot.com/2011/12/writing-is-complicated.html

To have Alison visit your school or organization email marilyn@childrenslit.com
http://www.childrenslit.com/bookingservice/hart-alison.html

Congratulations!

2011-12-16T12:52:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to booking service author Thomas F. Yezerski. His book Meadowlands: A Wetlands Survival Story is a 2011 Horn Book Fanfare selection.

To have Thomas visit your school or organization email marilyn@childrenslit.com

Candice Ransom

2011-11-29T10:09:00.000-05:00

Candice is an award-winning writer who has published more than 100 children's books, ranging from fiction to nonfiction, biographies to board books, picture books to young adult novels. She learned to tell stories by listening to her mother recall the "olden days" of her childhood in the Shenandoah Valley and by taking note of her sister's excuses for cutting school ("I broke my arm playing basketball"). The combination of reminiscence and creative fibbing became the basis for her work. Many of her books are set in her native Virginia. She lives in Fredericksburg, Virginia, with her husband and three high-maintenance cats.

Visits: Candice gives three presentations plus an autographing session. Many of her programs are PowerPoint slides, peppered with an enthusiastic discussion. A choice of programs for grades K-1, 2-3, and 4-5 is available.

To have Candice visit your school or organization email marilyn@childrenslit.com.

http://www.childrenslit.com/bookingservice/ransom-candice.html

Win an e-book edition of A HANUKKAH PRESENT

2011-11-02T13:56:00.000-04:00

Enter to win an e-book edition of Mark Binder's A Hanukkah Present. Published in 2007 by Light Publications this holiday was just released in e-book format. Email emilyqgriffin@gmail.com with the subject "A Hanukkah Present" to be entered to win. Contest ends 11/8/11. Everyone who enters will receive a free sample chapter!

To learn more about having Mark visit your school or organization visit http://www.childrenslit.com/bookingservice/binder-mark.html

Julie Kraut

2011-10-25T10:00:00.001-04:00

Young adult author Julie Kraut graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and after living in New York and working in publishing for several years she recently returned to Maryland, where she was raised. Julie speaks to middle and high school students in many different ways—teen book clubs, campers, and even high school students in Africa—her presentations are always lively and engaging. In addition to her two YA novels, Hot Mess and Slept Away, she is a humor writer and her pieces have appeared in the Washington Post, Dallas Morning News, and Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Visits: Julie's presentations are geared towards eleven through seventeen year olds and last 45 minutes, including a reading and time for questions. Fee and number of presentations are negotiable.

To have Julie visit your school or organization email marilyn@childrenslit.com

http://www.childrenslit.com/bookingservice/kraut-julie.html.

50% OFF BOOK SALE

2011-10-19T12:56:00.000-04:00

How to Place Your Order:

Print a copy of the order form and mark it up with your choices. Then fax the completed order form to (301) 469-2071 or put it in an envelope and send it to Children's Literature at the following address:

Children's Literature

7513 Shadywood Rd

Bethesda MD 20817

Orders will be filled as they are received. For credit card purchases, we will confirm your total before processing your card. If you want to use a personal or business check for a purchase, circle check as as the payment option and we will get back to you with the amount due. We will ship the books when your check arrives. If you are an institution using a purchase order, we will fill your order and send an invoice with the books.

Marilyn Courtot, Proprietor

Children's Literature

marilyn@childrenslit.com

Horses and History by Alison Hart

2011-10-11T10:08:00.000-04:00

I’ll admit it: I have been horse crazy since my first Steiff pony and Billy and Blaze picture book by C.W. Anderson. Decades later, my passion is still with me: I ride my Quarter Horse, Relish, read horse books (try Chosen by a Horse a memoir by Susan Richardson), and write about horses.

Under my real name Alice Leonhardt and my pen name Alison Hart, I have written over fifty books about horses. Many are contemporary including books in the Nancy Drew and Thoroughbred series, my own Riding Academy series, Shadow Horse, an Edgar nominated mystery, and its sequel Whirlwind (Random House). I also have combined horses and history to create suspense-filled historical fiction. The two meld perfectly because humans and horses have been intertwined as early as 3500 BC when horses were raised for milk and meat in Kazakhstan. (See the fascinating March 2009 article in National Geographic)

Horses have been used (and exploited) by humans in all parts of the world. In America, horses became extinct about 10,000 years ago and were then reintroduced by 16^th century Spanish Explorers. That gives me centuries of history to write about. My Racing to Freedom trilogy (Gabriel’s Horses, Gabriel’s Triumph and Gabriel’s Journey) focus on the 1800’s when horses were necessary for transportation, farming, commerce—and war.

During the Civil War, both the Confederate and Union armies depended heavily upon horses. The animals were needed to pull wagons, cannons, and ambulances to and from battlegrounds. The horses also carried cavalry soldiers and officers into battle. About 1.5 million horses and mules died during the Civil War.

From “The History behind Gabriel’s Journey” by Alison Hart.

Bell’s Star is set in 1800’s Vermont and my newest book, Risky Chance (both from the Horse Diaries series from Random House) is set during the Great Depression. Writing historical fiction means I have to know the facts. The Racing to Freedom trilogy took over two years to research. I have notebooks and file folders of notes and photos from visits to Lexington and Camp Nelson, Kentucky, and Saratoga, New York; magazine articles, old maps, and scrawled notes from over two hundred books and online sources. My job as a writer is to use the facts to write a compelling story for young readers. Take for example, a scene from Gabriel’s Journey—which is about an African American cavalry unit that fought at the Battle of Saltville, Virginia—that I created around the statistics on the number of dead horses:

I lead Sassy and Hero up onto the road. In front of us, a bulky mound lies in the center of the lane. The horse that was shot is dead. Blood oozes from its neck and shoulder. Already someone has stripped it of bridle, saddle, and gear. Soldiers lead their mounts around it or step over it. No one but me pays it any mind.

I remember Jackson’s words when we first visited Camp Nelson and saw the broken-down remounts: Horses don’t choose to fight, and they sure don’t get no enlistment fee.

And no glory neither, I see now. The body will be left for vultures and varmints.

My eyes blur. I lead Sassy and Hero around the fallen horse and say a silent prayer.

Whether it’s a pony on the prairie during the Blizzard of 1888 (Anna’s Blizzard) or a Morgan horse helping a runaway slave in 1850 (Bell’s Star), each novel I write must be filled with vivid scenes that not only convey our history, but bring it to life for readers.

Contributor: Alison Hart

To have Alison visit your school or organization email marilyn@childrenslit.com
http://www.childrenslit.com/bookingservice/hart-alison.html

Thomas Yezerski

2011-10-05T15:12:00.000-04:00

Author and illustrator Thomas Yezerski was raised in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and was passionate about writing, art, music, and the outdoors from a young age. He earned his B.F.A in illustration from Syracuse University and now loves to talk to students about how one’s interests and passions can translate into a career. His most recent work, which he wrote and illustrated, is Meadowlands: A Wetlands Survival Story. This picture book received starred reviews fromPublishers Weekly and School Library Journal. Next year he has two books coming out with author Michael J. Daley, Pinch and Dash Make Soup and Pinch and Dash and the Terrible Couch.

Visits:

Tom visits schools to engage children and to help them realize and become the sort of person they want to be. By discussing his passion for writing and illustrating, he builds in the children an understanding of what it is to be passionate about a life goal, and to be succesful at reaching it. Tom can work with all different sizes of group, ages and expected attention spans of the children. The ranges of his program are 10 to 300 students, grades K to 6, from 40-60 minutes.

Fee: $1200 for a full-day visit, including 4 presentations and $1500 for a full-day visit over 80 miles from Rutherford, NJ.

To have Thomas visit your school or organization email marilyn@childrenslit.com

http://www.childrenslit.com/bookingservice/yezerski-thomas.html.

Movie Review: Dolphin Tale

2011-09-26T16:11:00.000-04:00

This weekend I went and saw the new family movie, Dolphin Tale, inspired by the true story of a dolphin named Winter. From Warner Brothers, the film features big name actors like Harry Connick Jr, Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, and Kris Kristofferson. Not to mention, Winter, who plays herself.

I was familiar with Winter's story from the 2009 picture book Winter's Tail by Juliana, Isabella, and Craig Hatkoff. The basic premise is in 2006, 3 month old Winter was found caught in a crap trap off the coast of Florida. She was rescued and brought to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium; in critical condition her tail had to be amputated. She was not expected to survive any of this, but did and learned to swim in a side-to-side motion. But doctors were concerned for her spine, as her body was not designed to swim that way. A team of prosthetic specialists spent nearly two years developing and testing a prosthetic tail for Winter. With it, she learned to swim in the proper up-and-down motion and has become a hugely popular attraction at the aquarium. The gel sleeve developed for Winter's tale has since been used with human prosthetics.

The film follows this story, showing the struggles that Winter and those trying to help her faced. It also adds several plot lines to give a different narrative arc to the film. There is Sawyer (played by Nathan Gamble, who's had a few small roles prior to this film), a quiet kid who prefers to tinker with toy helicopters to school work or socializing. He develops a special relationship with Winter after finding her washed up on shore. The aquarium's director, Clay (Harry Connick Jr) and his daughter, Hazel (newcomer Cozi Zuehlsdorff) welcome shy Sawyer into the group where he becomes the force that brings together the different stories. Sawyer's cousin, a local swimming hero, joins the army but returns home from his deployment with injuries and must learn to wear a leg brace. It is when visiting his cousin in the VA hospital that Sawyer meets Dr. McCarthy (Morgan Freeman) who he recruits to create a tail to save Winter. As if Winter didn't have enough problems, the aquarium is feeling the effects of the recession and must sell to a developer. Sawyer and Hazel's grit and determination end up saving Winter and the aquarium--they use a webcam to show Winter online and to hold a big fundraiser.

While these characters and story lines are fictional, and yes, somewhat cliche, the film does capture the heart of Winter's tale. Many people did come together and work tirelessly to help Winter, who has become a true inspiration for countless children and adults. Clearwater Marine Aquarium was a low-profile aquarium until their CEO David Yates promoted Winter's story. The webcam is real, you can log on anytime to see Winter at http://seewinter.com. Stick around at the end of the movie to see footage that documents the real rescue and rehab of Winter as well as scenes of actual kids and adults with medical conditions or disabilities who have made the trip down to Florida to visit Winter.

I saw the movie on a Saturday afternoon and it was packed with families. I didn't spot any crying kids but every adult near me was wiping away tears--including me! While there were younger kids in the theater, kids 8 and up would get the most out of it; it is a family drama so with the humor (Winter is a playful dolphin and there is a mischievous pelican who hangs around) it involves heavy issues and is not just a lighthearted animal movie. There are lots of options to further explore the themes in the movie. For starters, the Hatkoff family has several other picture books that tell stories of hope and friendship including Owen & Mzee; Leo the Snow Leopard, Knut, the Baby Polar Bear; and Lola & Tiva. I truly enjoyed watching this new take on Winter's remarkable story.

http://dolphintalemovie.warnerbros.com

Contributor: Emily Griffin

CL President Marilyn Courtot Interviewed in The Atlantic

2011-09-12T12:14:00.000-04:00

Dr. Seuss vs. Madonna: Can Celebrities Write Good Children's Books?

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/09/dr-seuss-vs-madonna-can-celebrities-write-good-childrens-books/244700/

SEP 12, 2011

On the last Saturday before the first day of school in New York City, a children's bookstore on 18^thStreet called Books of Wonder had the expectant stillness of a classroom before the bell rings. Looking out from the brightly-colored covers that lined the shelves were cats, ducks, an elephant named Babar, and—tucked into the corner of a section marked "Modern Picture Books"—the name Molly Shannon.

Shannon's picture book, Tilly the Trickster was released this month, marking the former SNL cast member's entry into an ever-expanding group of celebrities who write children's books. This fall, supermodel Tyra Banks and The Decemberists' lead singer Colin Meloy also have books for young readers coming out.

The celebrities-who-write-children's-books boom began about three decades ago, according to Wendy Lukehart, Youth Collections Coordinator at the D.C. Public Library system. Prince Charles of Wales came out with The Old Man of Lochnagar in 1980, and Jimmy Buffet and his daughter wrote The Jolly Mon in 1993. But the trend stretches back even further. In 1955, an entertainer who was a vocal coach and friend of Judy Garland published a book about Eloise, a little girl who lives at the Plaza Hotel (as the author did, apparently rent-free). For years before Eloise was published, Kay Thompson's voice had been heard on the radio, and later she had a featured role in Funny Face.Eloise has become a classic, of course, so much so that its fame has surpassed that of its celebrity creator.

It's not hard to guess why the genre has taken off.

"I mean, obviously the publishers are out to make a little money," says Marilyn Courtot, a trained librarian and founder of Children's Literature, a service that provides book reviews librarians and teachers consult when they're stocking their shelves. Celebrities snag coveted interviews on major networks, and of course, they can always count on their fan-base for support. Jamie Lee Curtis, John Lithgow, and Whoopi Goldberg have all made it onto the New York Times bestseller list for their children's books. As Nicole Deming of the Children's Book Council, a nonprofit trade association for children's publishers, put it, "They're natural publicity machines."

The success of these books inspires mixed feelings from those within the children's literature industry.

"It's more for the parents. The kids don't know who these celebrities are," said Kayla, one of the Books of Wonder employees. She walked over to the counter and to ask a colleague what he thinks of celebrity children's books. He's partial to Freckleface Strawberry, by Julianne Moore.

"Well, the illustrator is great," Kayla said.

"That's my favorite illustrator!"

"Yeah, the illustrator helps a lot."

The artwork for Moore's series was done by LeUyen Pham, who has illustrated dozens of books. The figures are lively, like the hastily drawn sketches of a child. "I think it gives an opportunity for an illustrator to rise, if an unknown illustrator is paired with a celebrity author," says Deming. For an early reader scanning the shelves, pictures would be more likely to catch the eye than Moore's name. Or Gloria Estefan's, or Dolly Parton's, or Madonna's—all among those who got into the children's literature game after having already established themselves as, say, a Latin pop sensation, a country diva, or a sex symbol.

"I mean, how many 4-year-olds know who Madonna is?" wonders Courtot.

For authors who have struggled to make a name for themselves, it can be hard to see shelves stocked with what seem to be the side projects of celebrities.

"We understand that publishers want to make money. But we do strongly believe that the really good books deserve as much attention as possible," says Rosalyn Schanzer, who has been a full-time author and illustrator of children's books since the early '90s.

Rita Williams-Garcia, who was a Newberry honoree this year and won numerous other awards for her young adult fiction, says she views most attempts by celebrities at children's literature as "book products and something less than a book itself."

When the Newberry and Caldecott awards were announced this year, Williams-Garcia expected to cheer on the winners for what had been a customary celebratory appearance on NBC's Today show. But after a decade of annual interviews, NBC turned down publicity requests from the American Library Association—which administers the awards—in favor of a sit-down with Jersey Shore star Snooki , who had come out with a book of her own.

"It's just a big thing for children's books because we don't get the same exposure as the regular market," Williams-Garcia explained. "So it was a huge disappointment and sent a large ripple through the community."

The episode brought back unpleasant memories for another author, Laura Vaccaro Seeger, whose 2007 book First the Egg won a Caldecott honor. After being invited on the Today show to talk about a book she published in 2003, Seeger was bumped for Madonna, who had just come out with The English Roses, a picture book about schoolgirls in London.

"Media and publishers are basically responding to what the public wants. Or what they think the public wants," says Seeger. But she was consoled when, shortly after her ill-fated television experience, Seeger took her kids to a bookstore and watched from a distance as a mother put Madonna's book down and bought hers—at the request of a pleading child.

Kids know what they like, which usually has little to do with what they are supposed to like. "That's why I love writing for kids. Because they're not really persuaded by the hype. They just love a good story," says Maryland-based author Margaret Meacham, who has taught children's literature and writing at Goucher College.

As for the stories of stars, "obviously some of them are not worth the paper they're written on. On the other hand, there are some who can write," says Courtot. She cited Jamie Lee Curtis and Marlo Thomas as examples. The staff at Books of Wonder liked Julie Andrews, who has penned some of her books under her married name, perhaps to disguise her celebrity. Williams-Garcia says Curtis Jackson, otherwise known as 50 Cent, has a knack for crafting young-adult literature.

But for the most part, says Schanzer, "It shows. The books are different." She and fellow non-fiction authors of young adult books can spend a year or two working on one book, seven days a week. Schanzer traveled to the Galapagos to research for her book on Charles Darwin's expedition, and consulted scholarly materials as historical references.

Moore, on the other hand, wrote the first draft of Freckleface on a place to London in the margins of her Filofax. While working on her novel, "Modelland," (due out September 13^th), Trya Banks "spent so much time in libraries," she said in an interview, "When I was working on America's Next Top Model I'd leave that set and write until four o'clock in the morning. I got carpel tunnel because I type with two fingers."

Her editor at Random House, Wendy Loggia, said Banks initially came to her with an outline for the book, which "was a great jumping off point. And that's where I came in." Banks sent in her manuscript one section at a time over the course of a year and a half, keeping in touch with Loggia by sending text messages from the set of her show. "I think we were both kind of finding our way," says Loggia. "She was learning about publishing and learning about turning in a manuscript, and character development."

Indeed, writing children's literature is more challenging that it might seem. An author must use compelling structure without causing confusion; write in creative language without jumping too far ahead of young readers' vocabulary; express pain without scaring children off. Authors and librarians say that a book is as successful as its story, and where some books fail—particularly those authored by celebrities—is in their didactic attempts to teach simple lessons.

"Some people sell the elementary school kids a little bit short," says Courtot. They can be as discriminating as older readers. When Williams-Garcia writes, she tries to "respect a young person's experience and their thoughts."

"I don't really approve of anything that's dumbed down, that doesn't treat kids with respect," says Courtot, adding, "I mean, if these kids can run around pronouncing dinosaur syllables with ten names then, come on, they can read something with a little more meat to it."

When kids encounter a good book, the response is palpable. "When you share that book with children, the room goes silent, they lean in closer, they want to touch the book," says Lukehart. And, she noted, "I've seen few celebrity books that create that response."

Lukehart has come to realize that, by releasing celebrity books, children's publishers can take risks on unknown authors. It's all part of a business ecosystem that revolves as much around star-savvy parents as what makes a 6 year-old's eyes grow wide over and over again. "I'm almost more frustrated with the people buying them than the people publishing them," says Seeger.

For Williams-Garcia, celebrity books are "a nice supplementary diet. But I would certainly not like a young person to think that is all that reading has in store."

Rosalyn Schanzer

2011-09-07T12:30:00.000-04:00

Booking Service author and illustrator Rosalyn Schanzer recently won the Society of Illustrators Gold Medal for the Best Illustrated Book of 2011. Roz, a frequent contributor and member of the I.N.K blog (Interesting Nonfiction for Kids), wrote a piece about how she was informed she won.

Her winning book, Witches! The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem, comes out on September 13th. You can watch the stop-motion animation book trailer here.

To have Roz visit your school or organization email marilyn@childrenslit.com
http://www.childrenslit.com/bookingservice/schanzer-rosalyn.html

Witches! The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem

Rosalyn Schanzer

For the smart, stunning Witches!: The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem, Rosalyn Schanzer chose a subject that is well suited to her talents as a writer and illustrator: the mass hysteria that erupted in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692 and 1693, and led to more than 150 arrests and 20 executions. Schanzer’s appealing storyteller’s style will draw readers into this strangest of episodes in American history and keep them riveted. She deftly manages a large cast of characters and structures her narrative just as she should: straightforwardly and chronologically, leaving readers to draw their own conclusions or make broader comparisons. “The root of all this horror and pandemonium lies buried in a dark and misty past,” Schanzer writes. Her black and white scratchboard illustrations--highlighted with startling touches of red--evoke that past and the spirit of the tale. Their stylized sophistication recalls the wood engravings of Fritz Eichenberg, yet one also sees playful touches that mark this as Schanzer’s work. I love the enormous demonic beast lurking beneath the Atlantic’s waves; the decorated initials that begin each chapter; the imaginative use of patterns. Witches! will appeal to readers seeking an accurate, entertaining account of the Salem witch trials. This fine book will also attract students who have read The Crucible and want the complete story behind the play. 2011, National Geographic, Ages 10 up, $16.95. Reviewer: Catherine Reef (Children’s Literature).

ISBN: 978-1-4263-0869-7

Interested in reviewing Children's and YA?

2011-08-31T09:30:00.001-04:00

Would you like to be among the quoted?

Children’s Literature is seeking more good reviewers.

You may see your reviews printed on jacket covers and in

publisher catalogs!

Children’s Literature receives approximately 6,000 new books each year. Reviewers are not paid, but you do get to keep all of the books that you review. Our reviews are licensed to Barnes & Noble, Borders, and to our sister company, CLCD, LLC. You may also see your reviews on jacket covers, in publisher catalogs, and up on our extensive web site where we provide lots of information at no charge to teachers, librarians, parents, and anyone with an interest in children’s books.

Our book selections range from tots to teens and in every genre. If you enjoy children and young adult books, have a facility for writing, and are interested in becoming a reviewer, please contact Marilyn Courtot, Editor, Children’s Literature, phone 301-469-2070 or email marilyn@childrenslit.com.

“I agreed to take anything they sent. And have I ever been glad! It has been greatly rewarding, as [Children’s Literature] have shared with me books I never would have read otherwise.” —reviewer Keri Collins Lewis

www.childrenslit.com

7513 Shadywood Road

Bethesda, MD 20817

301 469 2070 (office)

301 469 2071 (fax)

David McLimans

2011-08-22T12:14:00.002-04:00

Have David McLimans visit your school, library, or conference

email marilyn@childrenslit.com

David's third picture book, Big Turtle, will be published this October from Bloomsbury Walker. It is his first book that dives into folktales, with a graphic spin on a Huron creation tale. His first two books, the critically acclaimed Gone Wild and Gone Fishing, combined environmentalism with learning the alphabet and numbers. Kirkus Reviews called his work, "as informative as it is gorgeous." This Caldecott Honor-winning artist earned his MFA from Boston University and currently lives in Wisconsin, where he was born and raised. His unique artistic style captivates his audience and his presentations include sharing visual materials such as projected images, original art, and printed samples with the group.

Visits: David's presentations are geared towards K-6 students and college students but he varies his talk depending upon age level. His presentation includes visual materials such as projected images, original art, and printed samples. While he can give presentations that are talks only he prefers to give interactive presentations where students, with his help and instruction, create a project of their own. Fee: $1,200/day plus travel expenses.

For more information about David, please visit http://www.childrenslit.com/bookingservice/mclimans-david.html.

Marshall Cavendish Partners with The PJ Library

2011-08-08T12:04:00.000-04:00

Marshall Cavendish and The PJ Library (a Massachusetts based non-profit organization) have announced that they will partner to launch a new Jewish children's book line in 2011. The first three titles will launch this fall and will continue with two to four titles each season.

"For a long time, I've wanted to start a line of Judaica picture books, but because they'd sell mainly into a niche market, I could never make the numbers work," said Margery Cuyler, Publisher of Marshall Cavendish Children's Books. "I'm so glad that The PJ Library came along, because with their support, we can now develop an exciting program of children's books that reflects Jewish values and identity."

Each of the new books will be branded with an image of a shofar, an ancient musical horn that historically announced important events and is used today on the High Holy Days. They will also be an embossed seal with The PJ Library logo on the jacket of the Marshall Cavendish editions.

"We are honored to have our logo appear on titles in the major bookstores," said Marcie Greenfield Simons, Director of The PJ Library. "Marshall Cavendish embraces publishing books with Jewish values and bringing them into the mainstream market. The PJ Library is thrilled to partner with Marshall Cavendish in this endeavor, which will bring more high-quality Jewish-themed books into print.

To assist in making Shofar Books a success, Marshall Cavendish is seeking Judaic picture book submissions. Please send submissions to Margery Cuyler, Publisher, Marshall Cavendish Children's Books, 99 White Plains Road, Tarrytown, NY 10591 and mark the package "Shofar."

The first three titles will be:

The Golem's Latkes

Eric A. Kimmel
Illustrated by Aaron Jasinski
ISBN: 978-0-7614-5904-0

Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah!

Illustrated by Olga and Aleksey Ivanov

Three generations of a Jewish family, plus their goofy dog, celebrate the holiday of Hanukkah with the “other” traditional song. Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah doesn’t have quite the cachet of I Have a Little Dreidel with elementary school choirs, but perhaps this will give teachers an overdue alternative. The song sheet is printed in the front of the book with an after note that explains the tune’s origin as a 19th century folk song to which Hebrew words were added. The joyous, smiling family lights the Hanukkiah and eats a traditional dinner that includes latkes with sour cream and apple sauce. Mom, dad, the kids and the dog dance a happy hora while the candles burn and the children open simple gifts, a flute and a dreidel. This brings to mind the Hanukkah Harry skit on Saturday Night Live where Jewish children got underwear for the holiday to explain why it doesn’t compete with Christmas. However, the dog seems ecstatic with his holiday bone. Grandad, father, and son are wearing kippot for the celebration, but all indications are that this is a modernly observant family. The illustrations are the best part of the book--bright, cheery, and with a final reminder of the holiday’s origins depicted by an ancient Hebrew family lighting candles in the son’s imagination. Overall, this will be a winner for holiday sharing of an old, familiar song. 2011, The PJ Library/Marshall Cavendish Corporation, $12.99. Ages 3 to 7. Reviewer: Lois Rubin Gross (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 978-0-7614-5845-6

Many Days, One Shabbat
Fran Manushkin
Illustrated by Maria Monescillo
ISBN: 978-0-7614-5965-1

Roxie Munro

2011-08-02T15:11:00.000-04:00

Have Roxie Munro visit your school, library, or conference

email marilyn@childrenslit.com

A multimedia artist, Roxie is the author/illustrator of over thirty five books for children, including her newest, Hatch! (Marshall Cavendish, 2011) and the upcoming Busy Builders (Marshall Cavendish, 2012). This year also saw the release of her new ipad app, "Roxie's a-MAZE-ing Vacation Adventure," an animated, interactive counting and maze game. Born in Texas and raised in southern Maryland, Roxie studied at the University of Maryland, the Maryland Institute College of Art (Baltimore), and received a BFA in Painting from the University of Hawaii. In addition to writing and illustrating for children Roxie has worked as a freelance artist—fourteen of her paintings have been published as covers of The New Yorker magazine. She has a wide selection of programs for schools and adults, where she shares stories about her art, books, publishing career, and childhood. Roxie lives in Long Island, New York with her husband.

School Visits: Roxie will visit 3 classes (35-45 minutes each with 10-15 minute Q&A) per day, with a book signing session. Fee: $1200/day plus travel expenses. Programs are tailored for grade level, venue, and class size, but the following gives an idea of the content and possibilities.

Adult Programs (conferences, workshops, teachers, librarians, etc): Typically, a 45-minute PowerPoint, with Q&A and a signing session. Presentations and teaching varies depending upon venue and time. Fee: contact us for a specific price quote.

For more information about Roxie, please visit http://www.childrenslit.com/bookingservice/munro-roxie.html.

Using Review Books in the Classroom by Meghan Robertson

2011-07-26T10:00:00.001-04:00

We all know the tremendous power of literacy for its possessor. What I didn’t imagine when I started reading and reviewing for Children’s Literature was the power reading a children’s book could have within my classroom.

That was until one day before the start of my Latin I class when two students, one generally outgoing and the other her very reserved and likely quiet because of emerging acquisition of English. However, this day went differently from the usual “20 questions” her verbal friend manages to ask before the bell. This day, the quiet observer noticed a small, girlie colored book on my desk. She came closer – and closer – and turned her head to read the title, confirming it was, in fact, one of the “Goddess Girls” series. At the point, I was watching a big smile spread across her face. It seemed she was wanting to look through the book or ask me about it, and she seemed both surprised and elated when I handed the book to her. As if receiving the permission she thought she needed, she suddenly came alive with questions, comments, and storyline narrative because she was reading another of the same series, which she proved by nearly leaping to her desk and back to me with the book in hand.

I shared with the student how I read and write reviews of different kinds of books and said that I was nearly done with this one, indicating that we could swap if she’d like. Indeed, she would like that she said. To my surprise, she finished her book that night and came in the next class excited to swap books with me. We did, we each read the new book, and discussed parts when she arrived to class. At the end of our quasi book club, when she thought we would return each others books, I asked if she’d like to keep it so she could collect the series. She seemed so happy, and we even agreed to obtain the other two books of the series to read and swap when we come back to school in the fall.

What a great reminder for me to always be reading and model that for my students as a lifelong skill, and what a tremendously timely “gift” from Children’s Literature to unexpectedly “unlock” a student I didn’t know how to reach or bring out of her shell.

Meghan Robertson
Children's Literature

Pirate vs. Pirate by Mary Quattlebaum

2011-07-18T10:00:00.002-04:00

Book Buccaneers

To borrow the opening line of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice: It is a truth universally acknowledged that…kids love to dress as pirates. And so do many adults, which is how I got the idea for my recent picture book Pirate vs. Pirate.

A few years ago my husband said to me, “Why don’t you write a pirate book so I can dress up like a pirate for your book events?” And so I wrote him a funny story—Pirate vs. Pirate—about a guy pirate and a girl pirate (Bad Bart and Mean Mo) who both want to be the biggest, baddest, richest pirate in the world. So they have a series of contests to determine who might lay claim to that dubious honor.

I loved every bit of the process for this picture book. The tale came easily in one draft and my editor at Disney Hyperion suggested only a few revisions. (I probably don’t need to tell you how rare that is for most writers, and certainly for me!) My editor chose the perfect illustrator—Alexandra Boiger—and I loved seeing her preliminary sketches turn into lively, full-color illustrations that swirl and swagger across the page. But my favorite part was writing the dedication to my husband, “a true treasure of a guy,” who has been cheerfully supportive of me and my writing for lo these many years.

An added bonus has been the chance to visit bookstores and schools…dressed as a pirate. Often the audience dresses, too—in everything from eye patches and paper hats to a velvet frock coat and ruffled shirt. And by audience, I mean kids and, yes, adult booksellers, teachers, librarians and parents. They all want to release their inner pirate! Arrrr!

“Pirate” can also be a playful way to connect books and writing with even reluctant young readers/writers (largely k-2nd). I teach some pirate lingo, show me powerful writing plume (because the pen is mightier than the sword) and have the audience help me to write a pirate poem. It’s all very Jolly Roger-ish. And I get to display some of my favorite pirate books, including June Sobel’s Shiver Me Letters: A Pirate ABC, with hilarious illustrations by Henry Cole, and Kathleen Krull’s Lives of the Pirates.

Pirate/writing games can be found on my website http://www.maryquattlebaum.com/. Palisades Librarian Jess Storke shares piratical decorating tips, activities and photos at http://www.dclibrary.org/node/13751 and http://inkspotplot.blogspot.com/2011/05/everybody-loves-good-pirate.html

Mary Quattlebaum

To have Mary visit your school or organization email marilyn@childrenslit.com
http://www.childrenslit.com/bookingservice/quattlebaum-mary.html

David Macinnis Gill

2011-07-12T15:30:00.000-04:00

Teaching someone how to write a novel in a thirty minute class period is probably not going to pan out very well. Young Adult author David Macinnis Gill should know from his long experience teaching high school and college students. After receiving his bachelor's degree in English/creative writing and his doctorate in education, both from the University of Tennessee, David began his teaching career as a high school teacher in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He is now an Associate Professor of English Education at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

His approach to teaching creative writing is a little different. In that short thirty minute period he chooses to focus on teaching how to pitch an idea for a novel.

Just like pitches for movies, David shows students how to write a log-line. Understanding how a novel works is a big concept to teach in a short period of time, but teaching what elements make-up a story is a much needed foundation for future writers. So he teaches about story versus the sequence of events and the difference between conflict and a complication.

I had the pleasure of hearing David deliver a talk to a room full of English teachers and other interested attendees at last fall's ALAN Workshop. David, the past-president of the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents, has served on the organization's board of directors for approximately ten years. In addition to sharing his strategy and tips on teaching writing to students with the group he also presented the template he gives to students to use as the skeleton of their novel.

This template is the spine of the novel--it covers the over arching actions and is composed of six parts. First, the given situation. Followed with an action by hero; then a complication occurs. Despite this complication the hero goes on to another action. However, the antagonist tries to thwart the hero with his/her own action before the hero's plan succeeds. David emphasized that pitches and templates require more than a cool premise or character. Teaching students about tension is key.

After writing short stories for magazines such as The Crescent Review and Writer's Forum, David's debut novel, Soul Enchilada, was published by HarperCollins in 2009. It was featured on several Best Book lists such as those from Bank Street College of Education, Kirkus, and YALSA; and was included in New York Public Library's Stuff for the Teen Age list.

His newest novel, Black Hole Sun, also from HarperCollins, was published in August 2010. Durango, a sixteen-year-old living on Mars, is leader of a crew of mercenaries who have been hired to protect miners from a cannibalistic group pursuing the mining treasure. Action packed and witty it has received starred reviews from School Library Journal and Booklist, who said "readers will have a hard time turning the pages fast enough as the body count rises to the climactic, satisfying ending, which will leave new fans hopeful for more adventures." Luckily, it's sequel, Invisible Sun, will be out in early 2012.

David is very active on social media and his website. To watch book trailers, read his blog, follow him on twitter, and much more visit: http://davidmacinnisgill.com/

Black Hole Sun

David Macinnis Gill

Movie-ready doesn't even begin to describe this lightning-paced action novel about a group of teen mercenaries out to make a living on a hardscrabble Mars and, if it's financially rewarding, save a few lives along the way. To be fair, only a few members of the ragtag group are in it solely for the cash, while the others are following a complex moral code of a samurai-esque group called the Regulators. Either way, none of them is quite prepared for the horror of the flesh-eating Draeu and their even more powerful, used-to-be human leader. Mars is tough living at best, and a group of miners, long weary of handing over their children on demand to the Draeu, decide to take a stand. Durango, the book's protagonist, takes the job to help them, and gathers as many allies as he can, though his word as an outcast Regulator means little. He has Mimi, his dead leader who is implanted in his head (and who offers both sardonic advice and technologically advanced assistance), and fiercely loyal Vienne, who will always help him, but everyone else in the group is dubious at best. The good guys are muddy and just trying to survive; the bad guys are creepy in all the right ways and just trying to survive as well. The elegantly, intricately described exotic setting is unremittingly bleak, and it serves almost as a character in itself, sometimes subtly sucking away ambition and other times bashing characters over the head with yet another Mars-related nightmare. Action, adventure, sci-fi, and horror buffs will all find this an almost perfect mix of all of the genres, and the addition of a soupçon of romance and hints of painful family drama results in a book that's got appeal to just about any potential speculative-fiction fan Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2006, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2010, Greenwillow, 340p., $16.99 and E-book ed. $12.99. Grades 9-12. Reviewer: April Spisak (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, October 2010 (Vol. 64, No. 2)).
ISBN: 9780061673047
ISBN: 9780061673054

Contributor: Emily Griffin

New Picture Books from India Offer Visual Excitement

2011-07-07T12:00:00.000-04:00

Books, particularly picture books, become more valuable as resources as our educational goals reach out globally. Often labeled "multicultural" because their subject matter deals with areas and peoples our children are less familiar with, they offer both textual and visual information along with the emotions they evoke. Most books currently available from American or European publishers are influenced by Western traditions. If they are motivated to tell a story from another part of the world, they must translate and interpret story and image to fit our protocols.

So currently we find Gerald McDermott in Monkey: A Trickster Tale from India (Harcourt, 2011) telling his story with a simple American text and objects reflecting current esthetics. How different are the following books now available from Tara Publishers: first Gita Wolf & Swarna Chitrakar's Monkey Photo, visualized in the patua folk style of Bengal! Another mischievous monkey stars in the Indonesian folk tale, Mangoes & Bananas, by Nathan Kumar Scott with art by T. Balaji in the traditional Kalamkari style of Indian textile painting. Another impressive book is illustrated by a self-taught "domestic helper," Dulari Devi, whose story is told by Gita Wolf in Following My Paint Brush, and who paints in the Mithila style of folk painting from Bihar in eastern India.

The illustrations of the almost textless Do! are rendered in the style of the traditional Warli wall paintings from western India, painted in white on the outsides of their houses. Another remarkable work is Tsunami by Joydeb and Moyna Chitrakar, whose ballad-like text describes the horrors of the flood. The book is a Patua from Bengal, striking narrative graphic art in series of panels bound together to open vertically, so we follow the flood from the top to the bottom of each horizontal page.

Traditional books from another Indian publisher, Karadi Tales Company, will soon be available in the United States as well. A series of folk classics include CDs with music along with the text read aloud. Stories are from folk classics like the Panchatrantra and the Jataka. These books can also offer students a view of another culture.

Contributor: Ken & Sylvia Marantz

Tara Publishers: http://www.tarabooks.com/
jennifer.abel@tarabooks.com

Karadi Tales: http://www.karaditales.com/
contact@karaditales.com

Themed Reviews: Gardens

2011-06-29T14:24:00.000-04:00

Gardens are a vital part of children's literature. They are the setting for favorite stories such as The Secret Garden and Oscar's Wilde's The Selfish Giant, and more recently, young adult novels The Poison Diaries and Forget-her-nots. Gardens also tell us about significant times in American history, such as the role of vegetable gardens during WWII as seen in the picture book Lily's Victory Garden. Many nonfiction titles explore the diverse ways people have used gardens over the years—from Dr. Carver's lessons about sustainable agriculture to how to grow an elementary school garden.

Because gardening is one of those activities that can be done at nearly any age—and in nearly every location—it is a perfect way to expose children to the joy of growing their own flowers and food. There are so many different and creative ways to grow a little, or a lot, or simply learn how to identify basic items found in a garden. The highlighted selections below are recently published titles about gardening, and of course, many more titles can be found when you search the CLCD database.

Full feature: http://www.childrenslit.com/childrenslit/th_garden.html

For more information and ideas for gardening with kids visit:
http://inkrethink.blogspot.com/2009/04/10-reasons-why-kids-need-garden.html
http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/family/garden-activities-for-kids.htm
http://www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/gardening-kids

The Imaginary Garden

Andrew Larsen

Illustrated by Irene Luxbacher

Theo loves her Poppa's garden, and is concerned when he moves to an apartment and has to leave it. Since Poppa says it will be too windy on his balcony for real flowers, Theo suggests an imaginary garden. When spring arrives, Poppa puts a big blank canvas on the balcony. With paint they "build" a stone wall and create soil. Poppa paints crocuses and scilla coming up, and adds a visiting robin. When Poppa goes on holiday, he leaves Theo in charge. She adds blossoms in many colors and eagerly awaits his return. This delightful imaginative story combines sketchy black ink drawings with particularly colorful multimedia collages for illustrations. The decorative iron fence on the balcony makes a fine contrast for the great canvas that becomes the garden. There is a logic to the way it grows, with paints added in time for the crocuses and then tulip bulbs, while vines cover the stone, for a sense of magic to the colorful creation. The love between Theo and her grandfather is evident. If only a real garden were as easy to establish and flood with blooms as this one! 2009, Kids Can Press, $16.95. Ages 4 to 8. Reviewer: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz (Children's Literature).

Awards, Honors, Prizes:
Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator's Award, 2010 Shortlist Canada
Governor General's Literary Awards, 2009 Finalist Children's Literature (Illustration) Canada
Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Award, 2010 Shortlist Picture Book Canada
ISBN: 9781554532797

Contributor: Emily Griffin

Children’s Literature Continues Under Leadership of Marilyn Courtot

2011-06-22T11:21:00.000-04:00

Children’s Literature Continues Under Leadership of

Marilyn Courtot

Marilyn Courtot, the founder of two companies, Children’s Literature and the Children’s Literature Comprehensive Database (CLCD) announces that she will continue as Proprietor of Children’s Literature and has sold her other company, CLCD.

Children's Literature, currently an independent on-line review source, was founded by Marilyn Courtot in 1993 as a monthly print newsletter. It now consists of a review team of more than 125 individuals who read and critically review more than 5,000 books annually. Children's Literature reviewers include book authors, librarians, writers and editors, teachers, children's literature specialists and physicians. The company mission is to help teachers, librarians, childcare providers and parents make appropriate literary choices for children. To that end, Children’s Literature is not affiliated with any publisher and accepts no advertising. Additionally, Children’s Literature currently assists schools, museums, conferences and other organizations in identifying authors and illustrators for speaking engagements. Authors and illustrators provide valuable insight into their craft and connect their audience with the world of literature.

The Children's Literature reviews are licensed to Barnes & Noble and to Borders Books for use on their web sites and in store kiosks. The reviews will continue to be licensed to CLCD, LLC whose new President, Ajay Vijay Gupte, will take ownership on July 1, 2011. Marilyn Courtot will continue as a consultant for the CLCD for the next two years to ensure a smooth transition. Her responsibilities will include many of the tasks that she is currently engaged in.

As Marilyn has said in the past and continues to believe today “A love of books is one of the most treasured values you can give a child. As a trained librarian, I founded Children’s Literature because reading is the most important skill there is in determining a child’s future success. It takes root early on with infants and board books and it never stops growing.” Children’s Literature will continue reviewing and growing to fulfill this mission.

CLCD Welcomes Its New President and Owner

2011-06-16T10:41:00.000-04:00

Marilyn Courtot, President of the Children’s Literature Comprehensive Database Company, LLC, announced the sale of the CLCD to Dr. Ajay Vijay Gupte. Ownership will be transferred on July 1, 2011.

Dr. Gupte is currently a partner in the CLCD and has been a part of the CLCD team from its beginning. He developed the software to build the database that supports the product and has continued to do the CLCD monthly updates ever since joining the organization. Dr. Gupte has worked in the Library Automation industry since 1988 starting with The Library Corporation, TLC. He was intimately involved with the MARC data updates and with library data in the early years. Later, he was responsible for the second generation of the Public Access Catalog and was instrumental in development of the associated production system. Dr. Gupte has diverse computer software industry experience having worked as a senior manager in a number of global organizations.

“There will be little noticeable change initially,” states Ms. Courtot. “I will continue as a consultant for the CLCD for the next two years to ensure a smooth transition. My responsibilities will include many of the tasks I am currently engaged in. It is both satisfying and gratifying to know that someone so familiar with the CLCD will be moving the company forward. Ajay has supported the underlying database at Children's Literature since its inception in 1999. He also brings a new perspective and energy at a time when small businesses need to be revving up to encourage economic growth. ”

“Although I left the world of libraries and books for youth for a while, I gravitated back through my work with the CLCD,” comments Dr. Gupte. “Children and their books continue to intersect my personal life, as well. I have been married to a pediatrician for 17 years, and we have a 11-year-old son who just happens to be a voracious reader. The purchase of CLCD is an exciting opportunity for me, and I am already planning ways to further enhance the database and its usability for our customers.”

Dr. Gupte has a Doctorate in Computer Science from George Washington University and a Master’s Degree from George Mason University in the same field. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech.

Effective July 1, 2011, the new address for the company is CLCD, LLC; 322 Shore Road, Somers Point, NJ 08244. The web address will be http://www.clcd.com/. The Toll Free Help Line is still 1 800 469 2070.

Graphic Novel Resources

2011-06-08T16:20:00.000-04:00

Here at Children's Literature we see so many new graphic novels coming in for review—our shelves are overflowing with them! We want to know how you use graphic novels in your classroom, library, and at home. The resources below are helpful tools for getting the most out of graphic novels for children and teens. Don't forget that you can use the CLCD database to search for thousands of graphic novel reviews, curriculum tools, plus awards and best book lists. For a free trial go to http://clcd.odyssi.com/admin/form.pl

Recommended Resources:

Cooperative Children's Book Center
http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/books/graphicnovels.asp

SUNY Buffalo
http://library.buffalo.edu/libraries/asl/guides/graphicnovels/

The Comic Book Project
http://www.comicbookproject.org/

Good Comics for Kids - School Library Journal
http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/goodcomicsforkids

Teaching Comics
http://www.teachingcomics.org/

Graphic Novel Reporter
http://www.graphicnovelreporter.com/

Get Graphic
http://www.getgraphic.org/teachers.php

No Flying No Tights
http://noflyingnotights.com

Articles:

"Can the X-Men Make You Smarter?" by Drego Little, a graduate student in the Language, Literacy, and Culture program at the University of Washington in Seattle
http://www.parents-choice.org/article.cfm?art_id=140&the_page=reading_list

"Using Comics and Graphic Novels in the Classroom" by The Council Chronicle, NCTE
http://www.ncte.org/magazine/archives/122031

"Graphic Novels for Kids Make Comic Books Accessible to All" by GeekDad blog at Wired Magazine
http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2011/03/graphic-novels-for-kids-make-comic-books-accessible-to-all/

Best Book Lists:
Great Graphic Novels for Teens - American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/booklistsawards/greatgraphicnovelsforteens/gn.cfm

Selected Book Reviews:

The Readers' Advisory Guide to Graphic Novels
Francisca Goldsmith
     The American Library Association (ALA) adds another excellent and, in this case, much-needed volume to its readers' advisory library with this succinct guide by transplanted (to Nova Scotia) California librarian and graphic novel expert Goldsmith. After dispelling the two main myths that ghettoize graphic novels--they are just for adolescents and they are far less complex than texts without pictures--Goldsmith emphasizes that Graphic Novels (GNs) are a format and not a genre. She suggests active and passive ways to offer readers’ advisory (RA) from face-to-face encounters with patrons to book displays and book groups and offers guidance on helping established GN readers to find new titles they might enjoy. Goldsmith includes lists of "crossover" titles by genre to urge readers' advisors to include the format of GNs when offering RA; and since graphic novels share characteristics with visual media, she includes instruction on advising movie lovers or gamers on graphic format literature they might find to their tastes. There are two separate annotated lists of "books to know." The first is broken down into the usual-suspect genres plus some less expected: science, religion, and health and wellness. The second list includes categories such as adaptations, instruction, and even wordless narratives. For the experienced RA professional, there are lists of print and online resources to offer further assistance. Although for the completely uninitiated professional seeking a foot in the door, the after matter includes a ten-step "short course" with specific title suggestions and pointed questions followed by an abbreviated glossary of manga terms. All in all it is a valuable and quite readable resource that belongs in every library's professional collection. 2009, ALA Editions, 126p.; Glossary. Index. Biblio. Source Notes. Further Reading. Appendix., $45.00 pb. Ages adult professional. Reviewer: Timothy Capehart (VOYA, February 2010 (Vol. 32, No. 6)).
ISBN: 9780838910085

Graphic Novels Beyond the Basics: Insights and Issues for Libraries
Martha Cornog and Timothy Perper
     This collection of essays is geared toward the librarian who already knows that graphic novels are a critical part of a library collection. Practical concepts covered include issues with selection and acquisitions, cataloging and processing, and housing the materials, as well as information about censorship and dealing with related problems in a library, which supplements the historical and sociological context in the book. Title lists are featured throughout to aid in the development of collections and displays. Programming suggestions are offered as well. Contributors to this book include librarians, scholars, and publishers, giving the reader a well-rounded perspective from trustworthy sources. The tone is encouraging and empowering, and the information and advice is practical. This title would be an asset to any public library professional collection. Content is useful to library media specialists, academic librarians, and teachers and should be considered by those teaching in library science and media programs at the graduate level. It will serve as a reference resource to those developing a core collection, planning programs around graphic novels, academic libraries considering adding or expanding a graphic novel collection, and those writing policies or dealing with challenges of the format. 2009, Libraries Unlimited, 325p.; Index. Biblio. Appendix., $45.00 pb. Ages adult professional. Reviewer: Molly Krichten (VOYA, February 2010 (Vol. 32, No. 6)).
ISBN: 9781591584780

The Librarian's Guide to Graphic Novels for Children and Tweens
David S. Serchay
     Confused about all the graphic novels out there? Wondering which ones are appropriate for young audiences? Asking yourself why graphic novels should be included in your library at all? Youth services librarian and comic book fan David S. Serchay answers all these questions and more in 10 easy-to-follow, yet content-rich chapters. Tracing the history of comic books back to cave paintings and hieroglyphics, Serchay takes readers on a ride that explores how comic books are made, the diverse genres covered by graphic novels and the enormous appeal of Asian manga and other graphic novels from different countries. Newcomers to the world of comic books will be amazed to learn how effective graphic novels can be in teaching English, developing visual literacy and helping reluctant and enthusiastic readers improve their vocabulary. Those wondering which graphic novels to select for their libraries will be happy to know that the book provides three appendixes with lists of recommended graphic novels, further reading and online resources. Practical issues, including the best way to purchase, preserve, and promote graphic novels for libraries, are also covered. And while graphic novels currently enjoy greater respect from librarians, Serchay is aware that prejudices still exist, and devotes an entire chapter to strategies for dealing with potential problems. Given the many misconceptions surrounding graphic novels today, Serchay’s book is an essential primer for any parents, teachers or librarians who would like to expand their own horizons and those of their children, students and patrons. 2008, Neal-Schuman Publishers Inc, $55.00. Ages 17 up. Reviewer: Michael Jung (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9781555706265

Emily Griffin
CLCD

Ally Condie

2011-06-01T12:49:00.001-04:00

When I heard Ally Condie speak at the 2010 ALAN Workshop following the NCTE conference she began by telling the audience that she had always pictured herself attending the conference as a teacher—not a writer. How things have changed for this former high school English teacher! Her novel, Matched, a dystopian tale for young adults, was published by Penguin in November 2010. Its highly anticipated sequel, Crossed, is due out this November with the third book planned for the following year. Despite her explosive career, Ally still keeps her teaching license current—just in case.

Ally has her degree from Brigham Young University. Following college, she spent several years teaching high school English in Salt Lake City and upstate New York. During her first year of teaching, Ally discovered that one of the girls in her class was the daughter of author Chris Crowe, best known for the award winning young adult novel Mississippi Trial, 1955—an intimidating way to kick off your teaching career. Other memorable moments from this period in her life included chaperoning school dances with her husband as a way to make a little extra money. Recalling that junior prom was her favorite to chaperone, Ally explained that all the students were on their best behavior—the boys made sure all the girls had dates. One year Ally witnessed a boy proposing during prom. This set off a dual reaction in her. From wanting to jump in and fix this bad idea and then also stopping and recognizing that it's the couples' own life to do with what they will.

That idea of being torn between wanting to fix young peoples' lives and stepping back to let them make their own way is a critical part of the narrative thread in Matched. In the world Ally created, the governing body, known as The Society, selects everything for you in return for a long life. Your job, who you marry, when you die: all determined by Society officials. The heroine in Ally's novel is Cassia, a teen who during her Matching ceremony experiences a rare occurrence: a mistake by The Society. After the screen shows the face of her mate, a second face briefly appears. This sets off a chain of events that lead to what Cassia never expected—a choice.

The desire for control is an important element in many dystopian novels. In Matched, messiness is unacceptable. The Society, through control, has been able to extended the life span and "improve" the quality of life for its people. The science behind the matching process in Ally's novel was influenced by her husband, an English major turned economist, who would often talk about algorithms for relationships. Since relationships can be a particularly messy element in anyone's life, it isn't a huge leap to see why controlling that would be appealing to a society striving for perfection. But as Ally pointed out, in life messy is real and unavoidable. In that regard, high schoolers are often in a strange place where feelings of both power and powerlessness exist. That painful juxtaposition is a natural fit with dystopian literature. While students in our world may not have Big Brother or a harsh government repressing them as in Matched, they can identify with the struggle against something or someone. In a recent piece written for MTV about dystopian novels Ally wrote, "when we read dystopia, we root for these people to break free because we are these people; hoping and fighting against things that are bigger than ourselves."

Matched is often recommended for fans of The Hunger Games and The Giver and, as do many young adult novels, it has a broad cross-over appeal. With a lot of buzz surrounding her book, Ally has been busy touring and promoting Matched. Her fans look forward to reading the next two installments in the trilogy--the start of a promising career.

Ally Condie lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with her husband and three sons. For additional information about Ally, visit her web site http://www.allysoncondie.com/. To read the MTV article, visit http://hollywoodcrush.mtv.com/2011/05/06/matched-ally-condie-on-dystopian.
Photo source: http://www.allysoncondie.com/

Emily Griffin
CLCD

Themed Reviews: Memorial Day

2011-05-20T14:16:00.000-04:00

Honoring those who have given their lives for their country has a long history in every culture. Monuments, poetry, psalms, music, parks, bridges, buildings, and even highways have been created and named to honor the fallen. In the United States the history of a nationally observed Memorial Day has a variety of origins but is generally commemorated on the last Monday in May, having been changed from May 30th by an act of Congress to create a three day week-end. For many the holiday marks the beginning of the summer season and is a time of picnics and outings. There are many others who would like to see the date returned to the 30th to give more solemnity to the observance. The following information gives more background and history for Memorial Day as it has evolved in the U.S.

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation’s service. There are many stories as to its actual beginnings, with over two dozen cities and towns laying claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day. There is also evidence that organized women’s groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War: a hymn published in 1867, "Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping" by Nella L. Sweet carried the dedication "To The Ladies of the South who are Decorating the Graves of the Confederate Dead" (Source: Duke University’s Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920). While Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it’s difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day. It is more likely that it had many separate beginnings; each of those towns and every planned or spontaneous gathering of people to honor the war dead in the 1860’s tapped into the general human need to honor our dead, each contributed honorably to the growing movement that culminated in Gen Logan giving his official proclamation in 1868. It is not important who was the very first, what is important is that Memorial Day was established. Memorial Day is not about division. It is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all.

Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states. The South refused to acknowledge the day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I (when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war).

Since the late 50’s on the Thursday before Memorial Day, the 1,200 soldiers of the 3d U.S. Infantry place small American flags at each of the more than 260,000 gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery. They then patrol 24 hours a day during the weekend to ensure that each flag remains standing. In 1951, the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts of St. Louis began placing flags on the 150,000 graves at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery as an annual Good Turn, a practice that continues to this day. More recently, beginning in 1998, on the Saturday before the observed day for Memorial Day, the Boys Scouts and Girl Scouts place a candle at each of approximately 15,300 grave sites of soldiers buried at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park on Marye’s Heights (the Luminaria Program).

http://www.childrenslit.com/childrenslit/th_memorialday.html

For more information visit:
http://dc.about.com/od/hoildaysseasonalevents/a/MemorialDay.htm
http://www.history.com/topics/memorial-day-history
http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/family/memorial-day-crafts.htm

Arlington: The Story of Our Nation’s Cemetery

Chris Demarest

Honor echoes in images and words chronicling Arlington National Cemetery’s history. Capturing the essence of America’s iconic burial ground, the nonfiction narrative presents readers essential information from early nineteenth-century construction of Arlington House through interment of twenty-first century Iraq and Afghanistan war casualties. A U.S. Coast Guard artist, Demarest, whose father is buried at Arlington, comprehends military subjects and traditions, effectively portraying scenes from Arlington’s past and present in pastel watercolors which convey sentimental and patriotic tones. His artistic interpretations distinguish this work from other Arlington Cemetery picture books which consist primarily of photographs. Demarest identifies notable veterans and presidents interred at Arlington, describes ceremonies, and discusses monuments memorializing the U.S.S. Maine, military nurses, Challenger astronauts, and 9/11. Paintings of the best-known Arlington landmark, the Tomb of the Unknowns, exemplify rituals expressing respect and dignity. Arlington’s Freedman’s Village, illustrated with an archival photograph is placed adjacent to supplementary material instead of the Civil War section. Concludes with author’s note explaining Demarest’s affinity for Arlington and bibliography. Adults can consult Robert M. Poole’s On Hallowed Ground: The Story of Arlington National Cemetery (2009) to elaborate about aspects Demarest introduces which intrigue young readers. 2010, Flash Point/Roaring Brook Press, $17.99. Ages 6 to 10. Reviewer: Elizabeth D. Schafer (Children’s Literature).

ISBN: 9781596435179

The Grand Plan to Fix Everything

2011-05-09T15:54:00.001-04:00

The Grand Plan to Fix Everything

by Uma Krishnaswami and illustrated by Abigail Halpin

Ages 8 to 12

Dini loves movies—watching them, reading about them, trying to write her own—especially those oh-so-stunning Bollywood movies where you don't even need to know the language to get what's going on. But when her mother reveals big news, it does not jive with Dini's script. Her family is moving to India! Not to Bombay, the "center of the filmi universe" (and home to Dini’s all-time favorite star, Dolly Singh). No, they're moving to a teeny, tiny town that Dini can’t even find on a map. Swapnagiri. The name means Dream Mountain: a sleepy little place where nothing interesting can happen…. But wait a movie minute! Swapnagiri is full of surprises: rose petal milkshakes, mischievous monkeys, a girl who chirps like a bird. And is that...?Could it be...? Dolly herself?

Check out the activity kit for The Grand Plan to Fix Everything:
http://www.umakrishnaswami.com/sites/default/files/GrandPlan_activitykit.pdf

“A Grand Plan, a grand read! A modern-day fairy tale whose crazy threads tie up perfectly in the end. Truly a delight!” Linda Sue Park, Newbery Award-winning author of A Single Shard.

Fiction contains large helpings of both truth and make-believe. What’s real? What’s invented and why? How do you make it all come together? How do you know what to show and when to tell? Whose story it is or what voice to tell it in? How do you decide where it takes place? Finally, how do you choose words and sentences with energy, to create images that move through space and time in a reader’s mind?

Uma Krishnaswami speaks by invitation to school and community groups all over the country and overseas. She reads, and draws connections between finished work and the ideas, sounds, music, and memories that went into making it. She uses writing exercises to get her audience to reflect on their own words and ideas. Gr. 3-7. Other presentations are also available across the age range.

Uma will be appearing at the National Book Festival and Politics & Prose in September 2011. She will be available for author visits in the DC area at that time. If you are interested in having Uma visit your school or organization please contact Emily Griffin at Children's Literature, emilyqgriffin@gmail.com.

Uma has written many books for children. She was born in India, and when she was young, she lived in a house named Sunny Villa with blinky-looking shutters, just like the house in her new middle grade book, The Grand Plan to Fix Everything. Now she lives and works on fixing plots in Aztec, New Mexico, but like her character Dolly, she is all over the place. She also works for the Vermont College of Fine Arts, teaching grownups who want to write for children.

For more information about Uma visit:
http://www.childrenslit.com/bookingservice/krishnaswami-uma.html
http://www.umakrishnaswami.com/
http://umakrishnaswami.blogspot.com/

Themed Reviews: Celebrate Mother's Day

2011-05-02T15:46:00.000-04:00

In the United States Mother’s Day is celebrated on the second Sunday in May. The holiday was created in 1908 by Anna Jarvis as a day to celebrate one’s own mother. President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Mother’s Day as an official national holiday in 1914.

In 2011, Mother’s Day falls on Sunday May 8th. Though around the world many countries celebrate Mothers at different times of the year. In fact, over 60 countries have their own version of Mother’s Day.

Mother’s Day is an excellent opportunity to incorporate family reading. Browse through the following selections for stories to share with any mothers in your life.

http://www.childrenslit.com/childrenslit/th_mothersday.html

For more information on Mother’s Day:
http://www.biography.com/womens-history/mothers-day.jsp
http://planetgreen.discovery.com/home-garden/mothers-day-gift-alternatives.html
http://www.marthastewart.com/mothers-day-kids-activities
http://www.pbs.org/parents/special/mothersday.html

My Mother is So Smart!

Tomie dePaola

Having written extensively about families in the past, DePaola now presents his homage to mothers. The book is dedicated to his mother, Flossie, and "all the other smart mothers in the world." We see a young child and his mother in a variety of scenes, all drawn in the award-winning style that is so famously "Tomie." Right from the earliest days, the baby recognizes that his mother is smart because she knows "when to change [his] diaper" and when he is hungry. Told in the first-person from the child’s point of view as he grows into a school-aged child, we learn that his mother knows how to dress him for cold weather and let him explore outside. Later, he appreciates her baking skills and willingness to interact with all of the neighborhood children. She teaches everyone to sing songs and be "VERY careful" using sparklers on the Fourth of July. One Halloween, she turns him "into a bird." The costume is adorable, and the child wears it with pride. When he describes how "she makes our house the best house at Christmas," he adds that he and his father help. Her versatility astonishes him, and he is impressed that she can drive his grandfather’s old delivery truck, sometimes even taking him to school in it. It is obvious that the narrator is impressed that she can "change into a movie star" when he sees her dressed to go out for the evening with his tuxedoed father. Her exuberance is portrayed as she teaches him to dance the polka and in his telling the principal of his school that "she can stand on her head." The blurb on the jacket cover explains that the generalized scenes in the book were inspired by DePaolo’s mother but the scene with the principal "actually happened." If only all mothers and children could have the loving relationship depicted here. Perfect for Mother’s Day or any day when children and adults share stories. 2010, Putnam/Penguin, $16.99. Ages 18 mo. to 5. Reviewer: Sheilah Egan (Children’s Literature).
ISBN: 9780399254420

Fred Bowen

2011-04-15T10:36:00.000-04:00

For many in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan area, author Fred Bowen is known not only for his sports stories but his weekly column that appears in the Washington Post. Fred has several new books and has also been testing a variety of new techniques with his school and conference appearances. He recently tried a webinar, but then he discovered that he really missed the feedback from the kids. When you actually see your audience you immediate feedback and you know immediately if thing are "clicking." Fred also noted that he is used to walking and talking which is not what happens in a webinar. He also remarked that it will also be a learning curve using Skype which does offer more possibilities for interaction than a webinar.

Fred remarked that PowerPoint presentations, while often overdone, can be effective. For example, he can show his books and other pictures such as his high school golf team buddies and then that same group 37 years later. This kind of long term relationship is really an important part of the books that he writes—friendships that develop or are related to sports. What are his sources? Fred told me that there are always "things going on" in the sports world. His experience coaching kids for many years resulted in Playoff Dreams. The same is true of Off the Rim, a story about a kid who wants to be a star but has to learn to contribute, especially in a team sport like basketball. The same is true of football—"sure everyone would like to be the quarterback and when one tries out and doesn't make quarterback, it is those who are really interested in playing the game and being part of a team that stick it out in another position. The ones who just wanted to be stars leave. You need more than Michael Jordan on your team to win."

If you follow soccer, you probably know how many games are decided by one goal, or one play, even though every player has to play hard all the time. There seem to be so many different plays that can appear to be meaningless, but that person who got the ball at midfield and manages to assist in making a score certainly can make a difference. There are plenty of situations/issues that arise in sports and that kids see and understand. They can relate to issues when they are brought up in a sports related milieu--especially issues such as honesty which in turn carries over into their daily lives. He related a story about a Cornell team that tossed themselves out of the playoffs when they realized that they had not won the game fairly. Fred not only tackles these tough issues in his book, he does the same in his sports column, like his piece about Hamm and how he probably should have returned the medal when it was discovered that the score was miscalculated. Also the football player Albert Haynesworth who stopped trying to play his best, had an attitude and action that was really unacceptable no matter how you feel about a coach (or teacher). Not working hard or not going to work are examples of unacceptable behavior. The penalty in this case was suspension from play and in all probability never playing for the Redskins again.

Stepping back in time, Fred related how he really began his writing career. He wrote movie reviews for a local newspaper and after his son, Liam, was born he moved to movie video reviews. This type of writing was quite a change from his work life—as a lawyer his writing was not geared to the general consumer like those who would be reading movie reviews. His career for the government as an attorney at the Department of Labor ended in 2008 after 30 years. He is now devoting his full energies to writing books and his newspaper column. As Fred noted--"It really is hard to believe that I have been writing it for ten years. The column is fun, but it also keeps my name alive and kids always want to know when my new book it going to be published." He also gets a real kick about being on top of "hot" sports issues. For example, his editor called on a Tuesday with the news about Haynesworth and requested that it be the subject of the next column. In two hours Fred had his 450 words ready to go and it appeared in the Thursday edition of Kids Post. He knows that his columns are read and discussed in schools and is delighted when teachers compliment him on what he has written. It gives Fred a real chance to say something—present his message.

Why sports books? Well in addition to playing sports himself, Fred discovered in reading sports books to his son that they were "clunky." They did not seem to take sports seriously and believe me, said Fred, kids do take sports seriously. His first attempt at writing a book didn't work—but over time he honed his craft and then wrote T.J's Secret Pitch. One of the people who helped Fred is Valerie Tripp—yes the one who writes the American Girl stories. The idea of marrying history and the story is what helped set her series apart, so why couldn't Fred do the same? He did, and the result has been a very successful series—all published by Peachtree with more books under contract at the time of this interview. Lest people think that Fred is rolling in dough—he made it a point to say that he has not made piles of money. He is just delighted that he gets to write more books and feels that they are at a good price point for this economy (Fred Bowen's Sports series are original paperbacks). So far Fred has written about basketball, football, baseball and soccer. Nothing on golf and yet he is a golfer. Kids have also requested stories about lacrosse. But Fred is branching out. His first picture book No Easy Way: The Story of Ted Williams was quite successful and he has another one that will be published soon.

One of the real pluses of having a writing career is that Fred can now work from home. He also has more time to read books by other authors and pointed out how much he enjoyed Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo. In addition, Fred now has more time for school visits. One of his programs incorporates a writing exercise with kids. It starts by developing a series of talking points—developing a list of what to write about. His goal is to demystify the whole writing process and to break in into logical pieces. It is a good exercise and seems to be a successful program.

I mentioned earlier that Fred used to read sports books to his son Liam. Well the love of sports must be part of the genes because his son is now a graduate assistant and pitching coach at a Division 2 school—Lincoln Memorial University and has aspiration of moving up to Division 1. He has also been struck by the writing bug and has maintained a notebook for himself about running a college baseball program. As Fred said, "until you have thought it out enough to write it out, you haven't really thought it out." His son was also number one in the state of Maryland for sports writing in a school newspaper and was one of the finalist in the Hemmingway award (it is only fair to mention that his mother also is a writer), so he had his talent coming from both parents.

Fred has a daughter who is a senior at the University at Mary Washington and has also had some wonderful experiences in sports. She played field hockey and managed to become a "mvp" during her high school career. Not only did her skill level increase, but so did her confidence and ability to see herself in a leadership role. For Fred there could be no better example of the positive influence sports can have on a young life. He plans to keep on writing books and wants more kids to discover his stories and take away the messages that he presents.

Contributor:
Marilyn Courtot
CLCD
http://www.childrenslit.com/childrenslit/mai_bowen_fred.html

No Easy Way: The Story of Ted Williams and the Last .400 Season

Fred Bowen

Illustrated by Charles S. Pyle

Crack! Imagine the sound of the bat hitting the ball as major-league hitter, Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox brought his batting average to .406 at the end of the season. His passion was baseball and he practiced playing through his years in school, the minor-league and then the majors. Ted Williams wasn't satisfied with an easy way to hit .400; he was determined to go all the way. He learned how to determine which pitches to swing at and he practiced smooth, strong swings to constantly improve his batting skills. The story focuses on his journey toward his magnificent feat. Wonderful, color illustrations capture different moments in Williams' career as they lead up to his well-earned moment of a record batting average. In addition, there are a few photographs of Williams. On the back cover, fans will find his baseball statistics. For those readers interested in additional information on about Williams, the author cites a couple resources on the cataloging in publication page. 2010, Dutton Children's Books/Penguin, $16.99. Ages 7 to 9. Reviewer: Carrie Hane Hung (Children's Literature).

ISBN: 9780525478775

Themed Reviews: National Poetry Month

2011-04-06T14:10:00.000-04:00

Since 1996 National Poetry Month is celebrated every April. Introduced by the Academy of American Poets, many different events take place all month long, celebrating and highlighting poetry. One such event, Poem In Your Pocket Day, falls on April 14, 2011. Another, the Poems on the Range Project, is a collection of videos and photos of places associated with iconic poems.

There are many ways to celebrate and teach poetry this April. Browse through the these titles and those from previous years for some selections to share. Books from the past year show the diverse subject matter of quality poetry available to young people--historical, passionate, inspirational, humorous--something for everyone.

And for more information on National Poetry Month visit:
http://www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/41
http://www.loc.gov/poetry

For more reviews visit:
http://www.childrenslit.com/childrenslit/th_poetry.html

Guyku: A Year of Haiku for Boys

Bob Raczka

Illustrated by Peter Reynolds

Because poetry is not considered a "guy" thing, Raczka has written twenty-four poems in haiku form celebrating the seasons, with direct appeal to boys. He begins with a section for spring, with subjects ranging from wind and kite to grasshopper and fishing. In the summer, mosquitoes and toasted marshmallows are included. For the fall, there are falling maple tree "helicopters" and leaves: "From underneath the leaf pile, my invisible brother is giggling." Then, "Winter must be here. Every time I open my mouth, a cloud comes out." Finally, "Last week's snowman looks under the weather. Must be a spring allergy." Reynolds offers lively drawings of boys in all sorts of activities as visual interpretations, with watercolor yellows, browns, and greens plus digital additions. The text is hand printed. Notes from both author and illustrator on why they did this book add background interest. 2010, Houghton Mifflin Books for Children/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, $14.99. Ages 5 to 8. Reviewers: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9780547240039

150th Anniversary of the Civil War

2011-03-24T12:54:00.000-04:00

Historical fiction writer Carolyn Reeder has several books that are set during the Civil War. Her readers often ask her, “Why do you always write about wars?” She used to remind them that two of my books are Blue Ridge Mountain stories and one is about canal boaters. But then she realized that none of her books is about war. They are all about young people who are facing challenges in their lives. Often, though, their challenges are caused by war—whether the fighting is going on near where they live or on the other side of the world.

To learn more about Carolyn Reeder visit her site http://www.reederbooks.com/home.html and her booking service page.

Shades of Gray
Reeder's ALA Notable tale takes on the Civil War after the fact, and on the side of the Confederacy. It's a narration of the trials and tribulations of young Will Page, orphaned rebel extraordinaire. After losing his Virginia family, Will is taken from the city of Winchester to live with his aunt and uncle in the country. He doesn't mind the unexpectedly hard labor around the farm, and he rather likes his younger cousin, Meg. What he can't accept is what he sees as cowardice in his Uncle Jed, who refused to fight for the South. Will has a lot to work out, and a huge chip to get off his shoulder, but finally learns the difference between cowardice and choosing to live by one's beliefs. This is a book that should elicit strong and useful debate in the American History curriculum. 1991, Avon Camelot, $12.95 and $4.50. Ages 8 to 12. Reviewer: Kathleen Karr (Children's Literature).

Awards, Honors, Prizes:

Children's Book Award, 1989 Winner
Jane Addams Children's Book Award, 1990 Honor Book
Jefferson Cup Award, 1990 Winner
Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction, 1990 Winner
ISBN: 9780027758108

Across the Lines
Carolyn Reeder sets her story in 1864 as twelve-year-old Edward prepares to leave his plantation home when war encroaches. He looks everywhere for Simon, his servant and his best friend. Simon, however, chooses to stay missing because he's determined to find freedom. Reeder's skillful alternating chapters tell of Edward's search for self, Simon's search for belonging, and the turmoil of besieged Petersburg. Reeder shows her talent for research and for creating characters who make us care. 1997, Atheneum, $16.00. Ages 8 to 12. Reviewer: Susie Wilde (Children's Literature).
Awards, Honors, Prizes:
Best Children's Books of the Year, 1998; Bank Street College of Education
ISBN: 9780689811333

Timothy Donovan’s Story
Timothy Donovan isn’t a coward . . . not exactly. But he is prickly, overly defensive, stubborn to a fault, and not precisely certain he really wants to give his life for his country. This is not historical fiction’s standard image of the Civil War’s loveable fourteen-year-old bugler boy. Carolyn Reeder is braver than her protagonist in taking a stance for the secret doubters who surely peopled the Civil War’s battlefields in greater percentAges than are ever allowed. In the first part of her Before the Creeks Ran Red trilogy, Reeder sets her young bugler in Charleston Harbor during the months leading to the firing on Fort Sumter and the irrevocable declaration of war between North and South that event precipitates. Along the way she takes on other complex topics: petty feuding between the non-commissioned men; the lack of faith in Sumter’s southern-bred, vacillating commandant; near-starvation conditions within the blockaded island fortress. By the time the Stars and Stripes are lowered and Fort Sumter is evacuated, Timothy has done some maturing. But he’s still not sure he wants to die for the Union. This is a provocative thought. That the choice might not be his is another one. Reeder’s novelette is filled with these classroom discussion bombshells. 2007 (orig. 2003), Children’s Literature, $6.95. Ages 10 up. Reviewer: Kathleen Karr (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9781890920159

Gregory Howard’s Story
People were taking sides in Alexandria, Virginia. The Secessionists believed in the rights of states to make their own decisions and felt that they had a right to withdraw and be independent. The Unionists, on the other hand, supported the federal government. Gregory, his mother, and his siblings were Secessionists, but his father was a staunch Union supporter. Gregory witnessed the events leading up to the war. He watched the Confederate Stars and Bars replace the Union Stars and Stripes at the Marshall House Hotel. When the Union troops moved in to occupy the city, Gregory saw the conflict over the flags result in the death of a citizen. The Union soldiers invaded people’s homes, demanding food, and taking whatever appealed to them. Much of the plot centers on Gregory’s efforts to recover a treasured music box for his ill sister. Author’s notes at the end clarify the factual information within the story. A good choice for students who want to understand some of the emotional and personal issues that go beyond the usual facts and dates presented in Civil War units. 2003, Children’s Literature Paperback, $6.95. Ages 10 to 14. Reviewer: Phyllis Kennemer, Ph.D. (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9781890920173

Sharon Salluzzo from CLCD Speaks with Author Rona Arato

2011-03-14T13:30:00.000-04:00

Rona Arato is the author of a range of nonfiction titles for middle readers focusing on history, biography, science, invention and design. She ventured into historical fiction with the publication of Ice Cream Town, loosely based on her father's remembrances on coming to America. Her most recent title about the immigrant experience offers the reader a truly unique experience. Mrs. Kaputnik's Pool Hall and Matzo Ball Emporium combines history, fantasy, and mystery. America's favorite pastime, baseball, comes into play as well. It certainly takes a skilled writer and a good storyteller to seamlessly bring these together in one fun story. What makes this so special is that it can be read on several different levels. Some may just enjoy the dragon fantasy. But they will be getting so much more. They will learn how immigrants adjust to a new life and a new language in a new culture. Speaking about this book, a teacher told Rona that she was discussing teamwork and problem solving through the immigrant experience when her students began to talk about the issue of bullying within the story. Here is a magical storyline and lively characters that take the reader into the past before they realize they are absorbing history.

Although Mrs. Kaputnik's Pool Hall and Matzo Ball Emporium was published in 2010, the character of Mrs. Kaputnik has been around a lot longer. About twenty-five years ago, she appeared in stories that Rona created for her children. There was also a fire-breathing dragon that cooked matzo balls. She wrote the stories down, and about five years ago dusted off this one and talked with her editor about it. After many discussions and many rewrites, "Mrs. Kaputnik" was ready to be published.

Right from the start we know there will be elements of magic. Shades of the folktale Jack and the Beanstalk immediately spring to mind when Moshe Kapustin sells his firewood to a mysterious stranger in the forest in exchange for a strange egg. While Rona did not intentionally create this allusion, she said it probably was there subliminally. When her children were small she would create fractured fairytales as bedtime stories. "Folktales are universal and just naturally come into our stories. You could say they are ingrained in our DNA."

When she sits down to write, Rona blocks out everything. She does not plot out the story but rather devises a general outline. As she creates a character she tries to be that person: "What would I do? How would I feel? What would I see? In this case, for example, I envisioned the Statue of Liberty, the river, and the activities of the street. Sometimes it is hard to put myself in a child's place but I work at that and then fill in the details. Computers are a big help in many ways. For this book I was able to pull up an early twentieth century map of New York City. I completely immerse myself in the characters and let them lead. They just take over and tell me where they want the story to go. The story then begins to unfold." In the case of Mrs. Kaputnik's Pool Hall and Matzo Ball Emporium, Rona started with Mrs. Kaputnik as the main character. Of her Rona says, "She was a woman who had to keep her family together in Russia, on the trip to America, and in New York. However, this was to be a children's book and, therefore, I had to focus on the children."She chose to have a sister, Shoshi, and brother, Moshe. Shoshi is slightly older. Their involvement is fairly equal without the necessity of making them twins and it provides two perspectives. With characters such as Nick the Stick, Dingle Hinglehoffer, and Yicky Stickyfingers, I asked Rona how she came up with the names and the characters. Aloysius P. Thornswaddle was another character in the original bedtime stories she told her children. As the characters and story developed, Rona drew a giant chart with Thornswaddle in the middle that showed the interconnectedness of all the characters. Her editor was also helpful in the development of characters. Salty, a helpful sailor, just appeared to her, rising out of her subconscious. When she finished one of the versions of the story her editor wanted Salty to be more involved. Rona's revision gave Salty a more prominent role and tied him to Aloysius P. Thornswaddle, too.

Rona wrote and rewrote three complete versions of this story over several years. While working on the ending she would go back to make adjustments in the story. She would look at why a character changed, or she would make the necessary changes to the character in the beginning of the story. "There is an editing process that exists all the way through the writing of my books," says Rona. Within the final version there were another three or four re-writes. All of this, of course, results in a story in which all the characters and actions neatly fit together. "It is easier to write long than short," says Rona who says she overwrites. "Just like when you are sewing and have a dress pattern, you have to start trimming. It is important to be concise and tight in writing." Her foreshadowing is done at the end. "Just like in a painting, the extra touches and shading are done at the end." If needed, some scenes are added--such as making Snigger afraid of heights. Sometimes, more interaction between characters is necessary. She sometimes needs to give a character a push. "The best asset is a good editor who will tell you what is wrong and needs to be fixed. Sometimes, I just step away for a while. The problem can usually be worked out. There are times when it is best to abandon what I have done and start over by tightening the story or getting rid of a character," offers Rona. "A good editor can be very helpful in offering solutions to problems. In the case of Snigger the Dragon, I wanted him to stay in New York. My editor thought it made more sense for him to return to the Amber Forest in Russia, but I did not agree. Then I came up with the idea of having Snigger join a circus. That was the perfect solution. In the end, the book has to be the author's version, not the editor's."

To create historical fiction, a great deal of research is required. Rona finds history fascinating and hopes to instill that in her readers. She wants to give the reader a good story to read while learning history. In 2007, her book Ice Cream Town was published. It is a more serious story, loosely based on her Polish father's experiences as an immigrant after World War I. In Mrs. Kaputnik's Pool Hall and Matzo Ball Emporium , the Kapustin family is Russian and arrives in the United States about the turn of the twentieth century. The immigrant experience takes place on the Lower Eastside of New York City. Rona herself was born in Brooklyn in the Williamsburg section. "It is a very trendy area now, but wasn't when I was a child," she laughs. In addition to family recollections, Rona studied the kinds of ships that crossed the ocean. She read accounts of people who came, and learned about the journey. She had, of course, done a great deal of research for Ice Cream Town, but with an earlier timeframe for Mrs. Kaputnik's Pool Hall and Matzo Ball Emporium there was much to discover. She needed to know what the clothing looked like, what food they ate, what an apartment looked like and how the streets looked during the setting of her story. Rona visited the tenement museum at 97 Orchard Street where she absorbed many wonderful details. (http://www.tenement.org/) Of course she also visited Ellis Island. Dragon research was required. Would it be a European or an Asian dragon? While visiting the Museum of Natural History in New York City to learn about mystical animals, Rona came upon the phrase, "No animal is so wise as the dragon." That was it; it had to be a dragon.

When I asked Rona if she had anything she wanted to say to readers, parents, and teachers, she said, "Mrs. Kaputnik's Pool Hall and Matzo Ball Emporium was fun to write. I had a good time with the characters and liked writing about the bad guys. This book was a labor of love."

Her next project is completely different. When I asked her what she was working on, Rona said she is in the process of conducting interviews for a World War II story based on her husband's experiences in Bergen Belsen and his liberation by the 30th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army. It is an incredible story. Rona is a gifted writer and storyteller. I am anxiously awaiting its publication.

http://www.childrenslit.com/childrenslit/mai_arato_rona.html

Visit Rona Arato at http://ronaarato.com/ where you will find information about her books and presentations.

Sharon Salluzzo
CLCD

Women's History Month

2011-03-07T11:28:00.000-05:00

On March 19, 1911, Klara Zetkin, a German woman, organized the very first International Women's Day. But interest in the day was low until the women’s movement of the 1960s & 70s. Then in 1978 schools started Women’s History Week to teach women’s history. It became so popular that in 1981 Congress passed a resolution so that the entire nation would celebrate Women’s History Week. Not long after that the celebration extended to the month of March. The theme for the 2011 Women’s History Month is “Writing Women Back into History.”

Today, Women’s History Month is most often celebrated in schools and libraries and other organizations studying women, past and present, that have pushed boundaries and made a lasting impact on the world. The books in this feature are a selection of recent books for parents, teachers, librarians, and caregivers to use with children and teens. http://www.childrenslit.com/childrenslit/th_womenhist.html

For more information please visit:
http://womenshistorymonth.gov/
http://www.nwhp.org/whm/index.php
http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/kids/specials/articles/0,28285,101044,00.html

Fearless: The Story of Racing Legend Louis Smith

Barb Rosenstock

Illustrated by Scott Dawson

Boldly illustrated with additional background information to enhance this opportune biography, children and adults learn about a young girl's dreams to drive "Fast! Faster! Flying! Free!" through decades of change. For women in the 20th century auto racing was not as popular or sought after as other fields dominated by men like politics, business, sports, or aerospace. However, solid inroads became more evident after the mid-1970's as the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR ) and other entities officially allowed women drivers. Up until then, it was a cut-throat world of constant danger, meager pay and unabashed limitations. Louis Smith may not have won every race she entered; she suffered severe injuries over and over again. Races were filthy dirty, cars were not always reliable, rewards were not tangible or forthcoming, and certainly motel living was far from home. However, Smith continued racing throughout her long life no matter the obstacles. No matter the rules, determination led the way in following her heart. Forty-three years after she left the racing world, she was the first woman elected to the International Motorsports Hall of Fame. Students readily connect with those who pursue daring adventures and demonstrate tremendous courage. The text is appropriately brief and yet quite vivid, that nicely accelerates with every turn of the page. Youngsters can begin studying about women who have successful careers against tremendous odds by incorporating this inspiring book. 2010, Dutton Children's Books/Penguin Young Reader's Group, Ages 4 to 8, $16.99. Reviewer: Susan Treadway, M.Ed (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 978-0-525-42173-3

The Children’s Literature Author & Illustrator Booking Service

2011-02-23T14:16:00.000-05:00

The Children’s Literature Author & Illustrator Booking Service

Let our Booking Service connect you with enthusiastic audiences, promote your book sales and build your readership base. Author and illustrator events should be fun for everyone involved and our flexible and hassle-free service is committed to making sure your events run smoothly and are beneficial to all.

You can find us on Twitter (@CLCDreviews), Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/ChildrensLiteratureComprehensiveDatabase) and here on our blog. We encourage all members of our booking service to participate by sending us your news or by contributing items to post.

We actively promote our authors and illustrators through our free monthly e-newsletter—which runs features about our authors and illustrators—as well as via Twitter, Facebook, this blog, and our presence at conferences and trade shows.

Visit our booking service website to see our extensive list of authors/illustrators that includes: Susan Roth, Lindsay Barrett George, Sneed Collard, Kevin O’Malley, Valerie Patterson, J. Patrick Lewis, Henry Cole, Vicki Cobb, Roxie Munro, Lulu Delacre, Erica Perl and many more.

7513 Shadywood Road • Bethesda MD 20817 • 301 469 2070
http://www.childrenslit.com/bookingservice/bs-home.html

Black History Month

2011-02-15T12:01:00.000-05:00

I delight in learning history. Perhaps it was growing up in an historic city or the family stories my grandmother told me, or the way Sister Margaret made American History come alive in her high school class each day. It is most likely a combination of all three and much more. I now live in Rochester, NY. It, too, is rich in history. The Erie Canal made it the first American Boom town. Queen Victoria requested bread made of flour from Rochester. Susan B. Anthony lived here and her home was the national headquarters for the National American Woman’s Suffrage Association.

I became a docent at the Susan B. Anthony House a couple years ago, and find her story fascinating. How exciting it was to discover that she and another Rochesterian, Frederick Douglass, were good friends. Mr. Douglass and his family attended abolitionist meetings on Sunday afternoons at the Anthony farm. In her writings, Miss Anthony mentions that she worked with Harriet Tubman in getting a slave to Canada on the Underground Railroad. Rochester and the surrounding communities with their proximity to Canada were an integral part of the Underground Railroad. The more I read about the 1850s, the more I am fascinated by how the lives of so many famous people intersected.

I recently interviewed Rona Arato, author of Mrs. Kaputnik’s Pool Hall and Matzo Ball Emporium. (The interview will be in the CLCD March Newsletter.) As we talked, Rona told me about another book she had written entitled Working for Freedom: The Story of Josiah Henson. Like Harriet Tubman, he was born in Maryland and escaped slavery, and returned to the South to free his family and over 100 other slaves. He met Harriet Beecher Stowe who read Henson’s life story and wrote her own book based on what she had learned, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which became the best-selling novel of the 19th Century and a catalyst for the Civil War.

Working for Freedom: The Story of Josiah Henson by Rona Arato is a compelling story and just perfect to share during Black History Month. The slaves who chose to escape on the Underground Railroad were all courageous. I am always pleased to discover another biography. Certainly one way to interest students in history is to give them some “edge of their seats” stories. Start with the most exciting story. Make history come alive. Then fill in with dates and details. It will be an unforgettable experience for you and for your students.

Here are some titles to help you present the Underground Railroad:

American Archaeology Uncovers the Underground Railroad

By Lois Miner Huey

Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2010

Eliza's Freedom Road: An Underground Railroad Diary

By Jerdine Nolen

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2011

Follow the Drinking Gourd

Story and pictures by Jeanette Winter

Random House, 1992

Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom

By Carole Boston Weatherford; illustrated by Kadir Nelson

Hyperion Books for Children, 2006

Maritcha: A Nineteenth-century American Girl

By Tonya Bolden

Harry N. Abrams, 2005

Night Running: How James Escaped with the Help of His Faithful Dog

By Elisa Carbone; illustrated by E.B. Lewis

Random House, 2008

Traveling the Freedom Road: From Slavery and the Civil War through Reconstruction

By Linda Barrett Osborne; in association with the Library of Congress

Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2009

Working for Freedom: The Story of Josiah Henson

By Rona Arato

Napoleon Publishing, 2008

Sharon Salluzzo
CLCD

Tech Savvy Advice

2011-02-10T09:00:00.000-05:00

Parents, teachers, librarians, and students—we all use modern technology on a daily basis. There are so many options for its uses, such as homework, research, social media, and games. The classroom and library have become hubs for technology geared to kids and teens.
In March, YALSA is celebrating their 5th Teen Tech Week. According to their site, "Teen Tech Week is a national initiative aimed at teens, librarians, educators, parents, and other concerned adults that highlights nonprint resources at the library." The 2011 theme is Mix and Mash @ your library, which will focus on "encouraging teens to use library resources to express their creativity by developing their own unique online content and safely sharing it by using online collaborative tools." http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/teentechweek/ttw11/home11.cfm

The books in this month's tech feature focus books focus on technology—its history, its "rules," and its many uses. http://www.childrenslit.com/childrenslit/th_technology.html

The Internet and the World Wide Web

Sean Connolly

Use of the internet and the web are so prevalent in present day society that it is hard to remember that as recently as twenty years ago hardly anyone was familiar with terms such as download, web site, or e-mail. The technology has advanced so quickly that, in many cases, young people use the internet and web with more ease than the adults who are interacting with them. The possibilities and promises in this technology are great, but there can be risks involved in their use. Beginning with the development of computers and continuing through the extensive and sophisticated uses of the internet and web sites, the book presents an overview of this modern media phenomenon. Some of the risks discussed include the possibility of accessing incorrect or misleading information on web sites, the dangers of revealing personal information to strangers, and identify theft. Lists of suggestions for Netiquette and Safe Use of the Internet are included. Predictions for the future of these media are left open. Appropriate full-color photographs aid in understanding. Questions and activities designed to engage the reader appear in boxes throughout the text. Includes a glossary, bibliography, list of websites, and an index. A good choice for middle grade research. Part of the "Getting the Message" series. 2010, Smart Apple Media, $34.25. Ages 10 to 14. Reviewer: Phyllis Kennemer, Ph.D. (Children's Literature).

ISBN: 9781599203478

ANY QUESTIONS?: HOW STORIES GROW by Jacqueline Jules

2011-02-01T14:35:00.000-05:00

ANY QUESTIONS?: HOW STORIES GROW

by Jacqueline Jules

http://www.jacquelinejules.com/

http://www.childrenslit.com/bookingservice/jules-jacqueline.html

Any questions? This portion of my school visits is my favorite part—and NOT because it usually comes at the end. I like to answer questions because they provide the answer to the question authors are most frequently asked. Where do you get your ideas?

My stories all grow out of questions. For example, when I sat down to write my picture book No English, I began with the question, “Can two people who don’t speak the same language become friends?” From there I continued with other questions. “Can you imagine what it’s like to be surrounded by people you don’t understand?” By posing and answering one question after another, I crafted a story about two second grade girls who found a creative way to overcome a language barrier.

For my chapter book series, Zapato Power, I began with a question I love discussing with students. If you could have one superpower, what would it be? Would you want super strength? Would you like to be invisible? How about super hearing or super eyesight? The possibilities were endless, and the more I considered the question, the more fun I had.

After much thought, I decided that my character of Freddie Ramos in Zapato Power: Freddie Ramos Takes Off, would receive a mysterious box filled with super-powered purple sneakers. These shoes would give him the ability to run faster than a metro train. But my questions did not stop there. Who gave Freddie the shoes? How would Freddie use his special sneakers? Would it be easy for him to become a superhero? Where would he find superhero jobs at elementary school?

To write the sequels, Zapato Power: Freddie Ramos Springs into Action and Zapato Power: Freddie Ramos Zooms to the Rescue, I also asked myself questions. What other mysteries could Freddie solve? What problems should he overcome? I have discussed these questions with students at schools, and their intriguing answers often ignite my imagination.

Questions are the fuel for my stories. Not only do they help me create, they help me revise. When I look over my first drafts, I have to ask myself questions, too. Did I make this scene clear enough for the reader? Should I give the reader more clues before the mystery is solved? Did I say anything that might confuse my reader?

I hope that after my school visits, my audiences will be ready to go back to their own writing notebooks and pose question after question until their imaginations are racing as fast as Freddie Ramos in his magic purple shoes.

Snow Snow Snow

2011-01-06T09:30:00.000-05:00

I may be out numbered here but this time of year I am always hoping for a massive blizzard. Living in the DC area means this rarely happens—even a few inches is a big deal. I just feel that if it's going to be cold, dark, and I'm going to have dry skin, I at least want something pretty to look at and play in. Even if it does cause chaos.

For kids in school, Snow Days can be pretty magical. No school. Playing outside in the snow then curling up inside with hot chocolate and a good book. A break in routine. But, coming up with activities for kids to do, both inside and out of the house, can be a challenge. Traditional crafts, like creating snowflake chains, snowmen out of cotton balls, and playing board games are always popular. There are so many games and sports that are perfect for a snowy day—making snowmen and igloos, sledding, skiing and snowboarding. And of course, Snow Days can be a excellent opportunity to read as a family. The selections below are a mix of fiction and nonfiction and they all relate to snow. Also, check out these sites for more ideas and craft suggestions.

http://www.childrenslit.com/childrenslit/th_snow.html

http://workathomemoms.about.com/od/kidsactivitiesfamilyfun/a/snowdaytodo.htm
http://crafts.kaboose.com/holidays/seasons/winter
http://fun.families.com/blog/simple-snow-day-crafts-for-kids

Willow and the Snow Day Dance

Denise Brennan Nelson

Illustrated by Cyd Moore

The story opens with a description of Mr. Larch's lonely life and his lack of interest in his garden, his neighbors, or any seasonal activities. He even posts signs on his perfect-for-sledding-hill warning everyone to "keep off" and "go away." The cheerful watercolor illustrations portray the seasons and their decorations passing by Mr. Larch's house, known locally as "The Cave." When irrepressible Willow moves across the street from the Cave, her sunny disposition is obvious. Delighted with enough room to start a garden, Willow sends colorful letters to each of her neighbors asking for help getting started with seedlings or seeds. The response is such that her yard becomes a luscious garden that brightens the entire street and gives everyone pleasure for having shared. Willow organizes a collection of "hats and mittens" for her school's charity drive and rewards participants with vegetables from her garden. Sharp observers will notice that Mr. Larch makes a donation and receives his own share of the harvest's bounty. Willow sends letters and notes to all of the neighbors and manages to provide a shining example of how neighborliness changes everyone. Winter's approach makes Willow want to have a giant sledding event but the weather refuses to cooperate. Willow delivers yet another note: "I'm in need of snow! Can you help?" The picture of Mr. Larch reading the note shows a hint of a smile on his lips. Willow receives a response in the form of a letter with instructions for "The Snow Day Dance." She passes out copies of the instructions (which include wearing pajamas inside out and backwards AND dancing wildly on one's bed). The double spread of all of the neighbors cavorting on their beds includes Mr. Larch in one corner. Then the next morning the entire neighborhood is covered in snow and decorated with cheerful snow people and a big message made from snowballs "Snow Day." Mr. Larch stands waiting at the top of his hill, ready to lead the sledding. This title covers so many things that teachers can employ in a classroom setting that the list could read like a basic curriculum: sequences in nature, weather, seasonal activities, recycling, predicting outcomes, having faith in people is important, generosity makes everyone feel good, writing letters can change attitudes and actions, observing others can provide inspiration, being a role model is essential (and can be contagious) and so forth...all of this wrapped in appealing illustrations. 2011, Sleeping Bear Press, Ages 3 to 8, $16.95. Reviewer: Sheilah Egan (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 978-1-58536-522-7

Emily Griffin
CLCD

2011 SB&F Prize Winners

2010-12-29T11:37:00.000-05:00

CLCD President Marilyn Courtot once again served on the SB&F Prize committee. The following winners were recently announced. http://www.sbfonline.com/Subaru/Pages/CurrentWinners.aspx

Children's Science Picture Book

Magic School Bus and the Climate Challenge

Oh, that all students could have an imaginative science teacher like Ms. Frizzle! The Friz loads her students into a magical bus-plane which takes them on a tour of the world. They see first-hand the causes and results of global warming. Student notebook pages are interspersed throughout the text to show their understanding of these concepts. Whimsical illustrations throughout the book show the elements of global warming and the students’ reaction to these events on this tour. Questions and answers in the back of the book address what children have read. The text is age appropriate and the humor combined with scientific facts make reading this book fun and informative. Young readers and their parents will learn how to make actionable changes that will make a difference in global warming. Although this is a stand-alone topic, it is part of the “Magic School Bus” series. 2010, Scholastic Press, $16.99. Ages 7 to 10. Reviewer: Annie Laura Smith (Children's Literature).

Middle Grades Science Book

The Hive Detectives: Chronicle of a Honey Bee Catastrophe

In 2006, a commercial beekeeper lost all the bees in 400 hundred of his hives for a total of 20 million bees. To unravel the mystery, four respected scientists began an investigation to seek the cause of the bees’ disappearance. What follows for readers is the unraveling of a mystery to match any fictional whodunit. One by one, leads are followed and discarded, but despite many theories, this mystery has yet to be solved. The book also includes the work of amateur beekeeper Mary Duane and follows her to her hives to watch her care for her bees and learn the fascinating process of extracting honey from the hive, which the author calls “liquid gold.” Along the way, readers pick up information on the social structure of the hive, physical description and division of labor of its inhabitants, and the vital role of bees in the agricultural world. Faux notebook-style pages introduce each scientist as well as provide some hive and bee information. The accompany photos, in addition to being well composed, are dramatic and colorful. An extended appendix and comprehensive glossary and index round out this highly readable and worthy science book. 2010, Houghton, $18.00. Ages 10 to 14. Reviewer: Beverley Fahey (Children's Literature).

Young Adult Science Book

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Science journalist Skloot makes a remarkable debut with this multilayered story about “faith, science, journalism, and grace.” It is also a tale of medical wonders and medical arrogance, racism, poverty and the bond that grows, sometimes painfully, between two very different women—Skloot and Deborah Lacks—sharing an obsession to learn about Deborah’s mother, Henrietta, and her magical, immortal cells. Henrietta Lacks was a 31-year-old black mother of five in Baltimore when she died of cervical cancer in 1951. Without her knowledge, doctors treating her at Johns Hopkins took tissue samples from her cervix for research. They spawned the first viable, indeed miraculously productive, cell line—known as HeLa. These cells have aided in medical discoveries from the polio vaccine to AIDS treatments. What Skloot so poignantly portrays is the devastating impact Henrietta’s death and the eventual importance of her cells had on her husband and children. Skloot’s portraits of Deborah, her father and brothers are so vibrant and immediate they recall Adrian Nicole LeBlanc’s Random Family. Writing in plain, clear prose, Skloot avoids melodrama and makes no judgments. Letting people and events speak for themselves, Skloot tells a rich, resonant tale of modern science, the wonders it can perform and how easily it can exploit society’s most vulnerable people. Review from Publishers Weekly http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/reviews/single/53674-the-immortal-life-of-henrietta-lacks.html

Hands-On Science Book

The Book of Potentially Catastrophic Science

Connolly starts at the beginning of human experimentation in the Stone Age and discusses the great discovery of weapons. Moving forward in history, the book explores the discovery of fire, the creation of arrows, and the wheel. Spending a chapter on each momentous change for Earth, we march past many scenes in history including the discovery that the earth is not flat; the invention of gunpowder, and nuclear explosions. The breadth of this book is amazing. Through it all, Connolly maintains a casual tone of a tour guide who assumes the reader is up to the (sometimes) complex topic. The projects, which are manageable for fairly young readers, include folding a paper helicopter, boiling water in a paper cup, and creating a chain reaction using marbles or toy cars. Each chapter is made up of a description of a particularly discovery or earth-changing experiment, an explanation of the scientific principles involved, and a short project. While the projects will be fun, they will not stand on their own as science fair projects; readers would need to come up with further questions to answer in their experiments. 2010, Workman Publishing, $13.95. Ages 9 up. Reviewer: Amy S. Hansen (Children's Literature).

Secrets of Stonehenge & Searching with CLCD

2010-12-15T14:34:00.000-05:00

Last month PBS aired a new feature, Secrets of Stonehenge, about new archeological finds around Stonehenge. You can watch the full program online at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/secrets-stonehenge.html.

This educational program is a great example to show how teachers, librarians, parents, and caregivers can incorporate The Children's Literature Comprehensive Database (CLCD) with other media to present truly comprehensive information to children and young adults.

By using simple search parameters, you can find a great list of appropriate books to tie-in to the Secrets of Stonehenge TV program. I searched for "stonehenge" and changed the pubdate to "2008" on. That's it. Other suggestions for more specific searches would be to select nonfiction and change the age ranges or grade levels under "additional search qualifiers," and also to select subject headings under "search specific fields." For more on search procedures go to http://www.childrenslit.com/use_database/search_procedures.php.

From 2 million MARC records this search narrowed down the results to 24 titles. By reading the different reviews you can determine what books fit your needs best. Because CLCD has full-text searching, a simple search on Stonehenge can lead you to books that include Stonehenge but focus on a different topic. This is one of my favorite parts of using CLCD -- that it can lead you in directions that you might not have originally thought of.

Here are a few selected reviews from that search:

Astronomy and Culture
Edith W. Hetherington and Norriss S. Hetherington

It’s the twentieth anniversary of the Hubble telescope launching--what better time to look at astronomy books? The Greenwood Guides to the Universe seven-volume series includes The Sun, The Inner Planets, Stars and Galaxies, Asteroids, Comets, Dwarf Planets, and The Outer Planets. The writing is accessible to most high school students, and the content is interesting for the browser but includes enough depth and breadth for more serious researchers. The information is as current as possible. In addition to the standard volumes on the components of the universe, the series contains two unique volumes: Cosmology and the Evolution of the Universe and Astronomy and Culture. Astronomy and Culture examines the history of astronomy from Stonehenge to recent discoveries. There are unique and interesting chapters on mythology and astronomy, calendars, extraterrestrial life and science fiction, and astronomy and religion. This set will be used for reports and for those interested in astronomy. It is a great choice for updating your collection in this changing scientific area. (Greenwood Guides to the Universe) VOYA CODES: 5Q 2P S (Hard to imagine it being any better written; For the YA with a special interest in the subject; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2009, Greenwood, 231p.; Glossary. Index. Illustrations. Photos. Charts. Biblio. Further Reading., $65. Ages 15 to 18. Reviewer: Susan Allen (VOYA, August 2010 (Vol. 33, No. 3)).

If Stones Could Speak: Unlocking the Secrets of Stonehenge

Marc Aronson

Working with chief archaeologist of the Riverside Project, Mike Parker Pearson, the author discusses the often-serendipitous nature of scientific discovery. This book does not deal with questions about how Stonehenge was built, but rather with understanding why it was built. The conventional wisdom--that it served as a temple--was turned on its head when an archaeologist from Madagascar was brought in to look at the site, and he suggested that it was a place to honor and assist the transit of the dead. Having studied a similar culture on Madagascar where the people built magnificent edifices of stone for the dead while living in humble wooden structures, Ramilisonina caused archaeologists to look at Stonehenge--and its surroundings--in a totally new way, leading to monumental discoveries of adjacent sites that fit with this new theory. The science of archaeology has advanced greatly in the last couple of decades and some of the earlier data that had been puzzling those studying Stonehenge turned out to be miscalculations by earlier scientists. Wonderful photographs of people as well as places, and abundant supplementary information in the form of chronologies, brief biographies of relevant archaeologists, and suggestions for further reading and research are plusses here. But perhaps the book’s most unique contribution are these ideas: science often advances by stops and starts; new knowledge is often as much the result of imagination and inspiration as hard detailed fact gathering; and there is always something new to learn. 2010, National Geographic Society, $17.95. Ages 7 to 14. Reviewer: Paula McMillen, Ph.D. (Children's Literature).

Stonehenge

Kate Riggs

This brief book about Stonehenge gives information about the famous circle of enormous stones located on England’s Salisbury Plain. Color photographs illustrate the area, the stones and their layout pictured at different times of day, visitors to the site, and contemporary Druid worshippers. The text points out that since the installation was completed around 3,500 years ago, the stones do not look exactly as they originally did. All have been worn down by centuries of weather, some have fallen over, and some have been taken away for use in other structures. The eighty bluestones that originally made up the inner circle were brought from the Welsh mountains, and the much larger sarcen rocks were arranged around them later. The reasons for building Stonehenge remain a mystery, though many people believe it was a place of worship. A very popular landmark, Stonehenge attracts nearly a million visitors every year. The text is followed by a four-word glossary, two suggestions for further reading, and a brief index. The book is part of the “Places of Old” series. 2009, Creative Education/The Creative Company, $24.25. Ages 6 to 9. Reviewer: Judy DaPolito (Children's Literature).

Emily Griffin

CLCD

Interview with Jim Gownley

2010-12-07T09:15:00.000-05:00

Children's Literature reviewer Kathie Josephs interviewed Jimmy Gownley, author of the popular Amelia Rules! series. Below are excerpts from that interview. For the full feature visit http://www.childrenslit.com/childrenslit/mai_gownley_jimmy_qa.html.

Kathie Josephs: When I was growing up I lived at the library. Did you go there much?
Jimmy Gownley: No, we didn't have one and we didn't have a bookstore either. There was a library in Ashlyn and that's about 3 ½ miles from Girardville. You couldn't even ride a bike to it because it was too dangerous a route. So I never went to the library. Sometime I could go to a bookstore that was even further away, but that was in the mall. In Girardville there was a very small convenience store. When I was really little, there were some candy stores and a newsstand, but essentially when I was growing up we had only the one store and that is where I bought all the comic books, but my parents were always hugely interested in getting me to read and to read early. When I was only 3 years old, my Mom was teaching me to read. And one of the first things she read to me was Charles Schultz's, "Peanuts." My whole life I remember those things. Another way she would teach me to read was by making flash cards. It was hilarious because that was in the 1970's which I know sounds like a million years ago. She could have gone to the store to purchase them, but she made her own for some reason. She can't draw, but she made little stick figures and stuff like that. One day when I couldn't have even been four, because I know we were still living in the apartment that we moved out of when I was four, I started taping the flash cards to the door of the apartment. I was making a story out of it. Boy got in his car – drove to his house. You know, I was just a little kid and I made my first comic strip by using my Mom's flash cards. What's nice about that is whenever people ask me, "How did you ever become a cartoonist," I can say, "I blame my Mother."

KJ: There you go, a perfect answer.
JG: Our school had a library and I could take books out. I remember that I was obsessed with one called Harriet the Spy.

KJ: That is a great book! You know kids still read Harriet.
JG: Yeah! Yeah! They have made a few attempts at sequels but they are sort of sad. The original Harriet the Spy was absolutely mind blowing; I just took it out again and again. For all I knew, this was a lost, forgotten book, because I had never heard anyone mention it... ever. I couldn't find a copy to buy, so I took my notebook and I was trying to copy it so I could have a copy to read. Of course I gave that up after the first charter. There was a Scholastic Book Fair at my school and that was where I was able to buy my own copy. You know, I still have that copy today.

KJ: My next question you have already answered, because I was going to ask when you realized you wanted to be a writer. I am going to assume it was when you put the flashcards on the door.
JG: It wasn't just writing; it was being a cartoonist. That was what I wanted to be from as early as Kindergarten. There was a brief time when I thought I wanted to be Jedi Knight, but it turned out when I would stare at items across the room and try to will to come into my hand nothing happened. I went back to cartooning. In fifth grade I had a teacher named Miss Klinger, and she was the first person that said that I had writing ability. I remember very clearly. She was a very good teacher. We would read stories from our readers and there were a couple of instances when we were assigned to write sequels. And I wrote one for a story called The House of Dies Drear, but I can't remember what it was about now. It was some kind of ghost story, and when I wrote my sequel, I can remember my teacher saying, "You could be a writer someday." And she actually gave me some extra assignments to foster that talent. It was fun, and kind of weird because it was fun, but didn't count toward my grade. I was thrilled that somebody thought that I could possibly write stories.

KJ: How did you decide to have Amelia face real things in her life? Your books give good messages to young people.
JG: I think it goes back to that conversation I had with my friend Tony back in high school. My initial intention when I started writing "Amelia"...the first thing I did was write a really, really short story called "Freeze Tag". It's in the first chapter of The Whole World's Crazy. It was to be unbelievably light-hearted and nothing serious, but it just didn't feel like that was my voice and what I was best at doing. I had written a number of stories and it was more humorous than having anything serious in them.

Then the September 11th attack happened in 2001. I was having dinner with a friend named John Trogner and he said, " What are you going to do about this? In the book, how are you going to address this?" I told him I wasn't going to address it. And he said, "You have to." I wanted to know what he meant by I had to. He said, "Your audience is kids and kids will read this; they relate to Amelia and they are going to be thinking about this and it is your responsibility to write about this." And I thought, "Wow, that's farther that I ever thought I'd go."

But I wrote the Christmas story called, Amelia and the Other Side of Yuletide. Mostly it's about Amelia's trying to scam her parents. Using their divorce guilt to give her more presents. At the end of the story Amelia gives a monologue. If you read them now, it seems like she is talking about people who have difficulties and then there are people who have great difficulties and we should be grateful. At the time it was very obviously a reference of what happened because she is from New York and her dad still lived in New York. Once I did that, then all bets were off and it became a real world. Amelia had always felt like a real character to me, a real little girl.

KJ: What is the most interesting activity that you do other than writing?
JG: You know what I like to do? I like to play the guitar. I've been playing since I was in 4th grade and I don't think I have gotten any better, but I like doing it.

KJ: What is your favorite food?
JG: That's easy. Cake! I wish I could say something more sophisticated like I have developed this great pallet. Oh, escargot is wonderful, but I like cake...most any kind of cake.

KJ: What's the best movie you have ever seen?
JG: You know, when I was very little, I would have thought the best movie was the Muppet Movie, and then Star Wars, and then it would have been Annie Hall, and then Pulp Fiction and now it is the Muppet Movie again.

(photo via http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2008/04/comiccon_amelia_rules_creator.html)

Hanukkah Read-Alouds

2010-11-29T09:00:00.001-05:00

Children's Literature reviewer Lois Gross shares some of her favorite read-aloud titles, appropriate for ages 4 to 7, for Hanukkah this year.

I Have a Little Dreidel
Maxie Baum
Illustrated by Julie Paschkis
(Scholastic, 2006)
Great illustrations highlight the traditional song with added lyrics. Kids can help with the chorus.

Our Eight Nights of Hanukkah
Michael Rosen
Illustrated by Anne DiSalovo-Ryan
(Holiday House, 2000)
A child describes the night-by-night events of his family's holiday.

Hanukkah Haiku
Harriet Ziefert
Illustrated by Karla Gudeon
(Blue Apple Books, 2008)
Interesting, different approach to telling the holiday story in Haiku form. Pages open to reveal a different lit candle for each night.

Lots of Latkes: A Hanukkah Story
Sandy Lanton
Illustrated by Vicki Jo Redenbaugh
(Kar Ben, 2003)
This has a nice old tale feel to it. A shtetl community comes together to celebrate the holiday. Everyone is supposed to bring one item for the holiday meal, but they all end up bringing latkes.

In the Month of Kislev: A Story for Hanukkah
Nina Jaffe
Illustrated by Louis August
This is the traditional story of paying the miserly baker for the smells of his cakes with the sound of coins. It's a little wordy, but it's a really good story.

The Hanukkah Mice
Steven Kroll
Illustrated by Michelle Shapiro
(Marshall Kavendish, 2008)
A little girl's celebration is duplicated by the mouse family living in her doll house.

Mrs. Greenberg's Messy Hanukkah
Linda Glazer
Illustrated by Nancy Cole
(Albert Whitman, 2004)
When Rachel makes latkes with her neighbor, Mrs. Greenberg, the cooking experience becomes messy fun.

My Two Holidays
Danielle Novack

Illustrated by Phyllis Harris

(Scholastic, 2010)

This really is a nice attempt to deal with the situation of dual holidays that so many families now have.

Just Enough is Plenty

Barbara Goldin

This is an Elijah tale for Hanukkah. Actually, I'd recommend anything by Barbara Goldin. She is a storyteller and has a storyteller's ear for how the story should flow.

The Best Hanukkah Ever

Barbara Goldin

Illustrated by Avi Katz

A story about how the gift itself doesn't matter; it's getting the right gift for the right person that counts.

Trees of the Dancing Goats

Patricia Palocco

(Simon and Schuster, 1996)

A Jewish family in Michigan helps to make Christmas special for sick neighbors creating their own Christmas miracle.

Themed Reviews: Thanksgiving

2010-11-18T09:00:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving is one week away. Browse through our Thanksgiving feature and those from previous years for selections to share with your students, family, and friends. http://www.childrenslit.com/childrenslit/th_thanksgiving.html

The First Thanksgiving: A Lift-the-Flap Book

Nancy Davis

Thanksgiving sometimes is a challenge when planning story time for little ones. Either you find books on the imminent death of the turkey (who then, humorously, becomes the guest of honor), or newly illustrated versions of Over the River and Through the Woods. This sweetly done board books with lift-the-flaps is a nice addition to a Thanksgiving holiday collection. Told in the manner of The House that Jack Built, the rhyme and pictures follow the round-faced pilgrims from England to the New Land where they are befriended and educated by the natives, set about planting crops, and celebrate with a banquet to which they invite their new friends. The pilgrims are all rosy cheeked and blonde. The native people are rosy-cheeked and brown-skinned. The pictures are easily talked about as the flaps reveal enterprising Pilgrims companionably fishing with the Indians, spinning, planting, and eating. The Thanksgiving dinner shows both groups of people share a celebratory meal. In addition to the obvious lesson about the Pilgrims settlement of the Massachusetts colony, this book can be expanded to lessons on cooperation, sharing, and helping our neighbors. Kids will ask for repeat readings so that they can manipulate the pages. 2010, Simon and Schuster Children’s Division, Ages 1 to 4, $5.99. Reviewer: Lois Rubin Gross (Children’s Literature).

ISBN: 978-1-4424-0807-4

Why Did the Pilgrims Come to the New World?

Laura Hamilton Waxman

In the 1600s Puritans and Separatists broke with the Anglican Church and sought relief from persecution first in Holland and then in the New World. After a perilous voyage on the Mayflower, they arrived at what is now called Plymouth on Cape Cod. Before settling in they drew up and signed the Mayflower Compact on the ship. The signers were not a homogeneous group, nor were they all members of religious sects.. All agreed to stay, work together, and treat each other fairly. Many died that first winter. Samoset and Squanto, Native Americans who spoke English, helped them. The first harvest in 1621 led to a feast which became Thanksgiving. A question at the end of each chapter leads into the next chapter. Unusual words appear in boxes with a line leading to the margin where the word is defined. Sidebars pictured on notebook paper answer further questions with information such as “The word pilgrim refers to a person who travels to a sacred place for a religious purpose.” Colored photographs, maps, and reproductions of famous paintings enhance the text. This is one of the “Six Questions of American History” series. There is a timeline, source notes, bibliography, list for further reading and web sites, and an index. This interesting account for young people explains the various controversies surrounding the Mayflower voyage and explains how they were overcome. 2011, Lerner Publications Company/Lerner Publishing Group, Ages 12 to 18, $29.27. Reviewer: Carlee Hallman (Children’s Literature).

ISBN: 978-1-5801-3665-5

Themed Reviews: Veterans Day

2010-11-08T12:45:00.000-05:00

On November 11, 1918 an armistice between Allied Forces and Germany was signed, ending World War I after four years of fighting. The armistice ended hostilities at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. The following year U.S. President Woodrow Wilson issued the first Armistice Day proclamation:

To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country's service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations.

On Armistice Day in 1921, an unidentified American soldier killed in WWI was buried in a special tomb in Arlington National Cemetery; now know as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It is guarded 24 hours a day, 365 days a year by members of The Old Guard and located near the center of the cemetery.

Armistice Day was declared a Federal holiday in 1938. Celebrations honoring WWI veterans continued to include parades, public gatherings, and moments of silence.

After World War II and the Korean War, veteran service organizations lobbied congress to amend the 1938 act—changing the word “Armistice” to “Veterans.” This new legislation was signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on June 1, 1954. Since November 11, 1954 the U.S. has honored American veterans, living or dead, of all wars on Veterans Day.

The following recently published books are about Veterans Day, wars involving American soldiers, or the impact veterans have on their friends and family. Browse through this feature and those from previous years to discover more. http://www.childrenslit.com/childrenslit/th_veteransday.html

The War to End All Wars: World War I

Russell Freedman

The clearest and most comprehensible book about World War I also delivers a strong anti-war message. Freedman presents the political and social temperaments of 1914 and the naiveté of European leaders and ordinary citizens that led to the war frenzy. He then takes the reader through all aspects of this war that was presumed at the very beginning to be short-lived. Well-selected photographs personalize the events. Along with the text they show life in the trenches and the death and destruction caused by the use of the new military technologies. The futility of war resonates as Freedman recounts the famous battles of Verdun and the Somme. The changing climate of the war is seen through the sinking of the Lusitania, the war at sea, the Russian Revolution, and the entry of the United States. The last chapter, titled “Losing the Peace” recounts stunning human losses. Freedman correlates the poorly-drawn peace agreement to discord in the Middle East and resentments in Germany, which led to World War II and to today’s wars and unrest. Freedman has a singular ability to get to the core of the issue and present it with compelling storytelling. Through his careful and exhaustive research, Freedman selects just the right quotes, and weaves them seamlessly into the text. For a wide range of reasons, this is a book every young person needs to read. Source notes, bibliography, picture credits and an index complete the book. 2010, Clarion Books/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Ages 10 to 14, $22.00. Reviewer: Sharon Salluzzo (Children’s Literature).
ISBN: 978-0-547-02686-2

In time for the holidays...

2010-11-01T11:59:00.000-04:00

Children's Literature provides support for book sales at numerous author events, school book fairs and the like. Often we have one or two copies of a book left that we do not bother to return to the publisher. Our stock has grown and we would like to make some very good, never used books available on a first come first serve basis at a very attractive price: 50% off list with FREE SHIPPING until December 24th.

We have four brand new forms for you to browse:
• Board Book Titles
• Picture Book Titles
• Middle Grade Titles
• Young Adult Titles

How to Place Your Order:
Print a copy of the order form and mark it up with your choices. Then fax the completed order form to (301) 469-2071 or put it in an envelope and send it to Children's Literature at the following address:
Children's Literature
7513 Shadywood Rd
Bethesda MD 20817

Orders will be filled as they are received. For credit card purchases, we will confirm your total before processing your card. If you want to use a personal or business check for a purchase, circle check as as the payment option and we will get back to you with the amount due. We will ship the books when your check arrives. If you are an institution using a purchase order, we will fill your order and send an invoice with the books.

For further information visit: http://www.childrenslit.com/childrenslit/web-booksales.html

Themed Reviews: Johnny Appleseed

2010-10-26T15:19:00.000-04:00

Perhaps even more intriguing than the mighty imaginary figures of American folklore are the ones based on real people, who have a true life behind the stories. Johnny Appleseed's tale begs the questions: "Did he truly walk all about America, tossing apple seeds freely about the land?" and perhaps more curiously, "Did he really wear a pot on his head?"

But the reality does not disappoint. Appleseed, born John Chapman, did wear a pot on his head, and though he didn't gratuitously cast seeds onto anyone's land, he created nurseries of apple trees around the country and did not mind when customers couldn't pay for trees they bought on credit. He was probably too busy to collect, wandering the land more than any other businesspeople of his time, giving to charity, promoting the virtue of apples, and extolling peace between all things human and animal.

So when you're driving by an apple orchard in the Midwest of America, be glad to know that it is the heir of a tree planted by a genuine and stirring figure. These books introduce an important symbolic story to children. They variously tell the truth and the fiction of Johnny Appleseed.

Browse through this feature and those from previous years to discover more. http://www.childrenslit.com/childrenslit/th_appleseed.html

Johnny Appleseed: Select Good Seeds and Plant Them in Good Ground

Richard Worth

Part of the “Americans: The Spirit of a Nation” series, this is a very informative and useful reference for the middle grades to learn about legendary John Chapman. Born at the time of the American Revolution, John Chapman literally grew with the nation and became part of the westward movement. He was not the only nurseryman in this movement, but he was unique in his style and outlook. He preferred old, comfortable clothing and bare feet even in the winter, liked to sleep on the floor in front of the stove, and believed in gentleness with all living things. This gentleness extended to wasps, mosquitoes, and rattlesnakes and meant that he would rather plant seeds than use grafting, a process he considered to be violence against the tree. Add a little self-promotion and preaching and the reader can understand how the Johnny Appleseed legend developed. Included are numerous illustrations and sidebars, a table of contents, facts about apples, a chronology, footnotes, a glossary, book and Internet references, and an index. 2010, Enslow Publishers, $31.93. Ages 9 to 12. Reviewer: Sue Poduska (Children's Literature).

ISBN: 9780766033528

National Book Award Young People's Literature Finalists

2010-10-14T13:24:00.000-04:00

Reviews of the 2010 National Book Award Young People's Literature Finalists

Dark Water

Laura Mcneal

Since Pearl’s father left the family, fifteen-year-old Pearl and her mother have been living in a guesthouse on Pearl’s uncle’s avocado ranch. Soon she has a new focus, finding herself completely smitten with Amiel, a young field worker, whose impaired voice leads him to communicate mostly through gesture and mime and who lives, illegally, in a self-made shelter by the river. A wary Amiel begins to return Pearl’s interest, allowing her in to some—but clearly not all—of his secrets as they become closer. When California fire season brings a conflagration that threatens the area, Pearl fears that Amiel, in his isolation, won’t have heard the order to evacuate, and her determination to save him sets in motion a series of events that will change the lives of Pearl and her family forever. McNeal is skilled at creating a vivid world and multidimensional characters while keeping her writing fluid and unlabored. Pearl’s fall for Amiel is a believable reaction from a girl who’s been abandoned by her father and whose best friend seems to be drifting away, but it’s also sultry and intense, with their leaving of messages and secret rendezvous bringing a romantic poetry to the relationship. The romance is more significant, however, for being the contact point between two stories, that of the extent of Amiel’s marginalization as an undocumented worker (with immigration checking the evacuation points, he can’t flee the fire) and that of Pearl’s family’s shifting dynamics, which get smashed violently into a new phase after her uncle’s death—a consequence of her actions—in the fire. Overall, it’s involving and thought-provoking, it’s got contemporary resonance, and it’s got a conclusion that readers will find hard to forget Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2006, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2010, Knopf, 304p.; Reviewed from galleys, $19.99 and $16.99 and E-book ed. $16.99. Grades 7-12. Reviewer: Deborah Stevenson (The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, October 2010 (Vol. 64, No. 2)).

ISBN: 9780375849732

Lockdown

Walter Dean Myers

Reese Anderson is serving time in a juvenile detention center for something he most definitely did. He is serving his time with appropriate behavior and is now doing a work release program in preparation for an attempt at early release. But another young detainee is being bullied and Reese is not willing to let that happen. The center is a tough, gritty place with guards who look the other way and a code that does not allow Reese to tell them the truth. While on work release at a nursing home, Reese becomes an assistant to Mr. Hooft, an elderly Dutch immigrant who had been held in a Japanese internment camp during World War II. Through that relationship, Reese is able to better understand imprisonment, the kind someone does to you, and the kind that you do to yourself. When NYC detectives drag Reese down to the police station, he realizes that he is now being accused of doing something he did not do and the decision he has to make has serious consequences for his future. Reese is caught in a seemingly impossible situation where it is the thought of his kid sister that keeps him going, gives him a new purpose, and helps him see a possible life stretching before him. This novel tells the hard story of getting caught and what it takes to get out of the grim cycle of recidivism. Reese is a smart kid with a tough life but a moral center; readers cannot help but cheer him on. There is adult language and realistic violence. 2010, Amistead/HarperCollins, $16.99. Ages 14 up. Reviewer: Janis Flint-Ferguson (Children's Literature).

ISBN: 9780061214806

ISBN: 9780061214813

Mockingbird

Kathryn Erskine

Caitlin marks time by The Day Our Life Fell Apart, that is, the day her beloved older brother, Devon, was killed in a school shooting. Since then, Caitlin has turned even more inward than usual, and her Asperger’s syndrome exacerbates that withdrawal. In working through Devon’s death, Caitlin must make peace with fellow schoolmate Josh, whose cousin was the shooter, and find closure. Because of her Asperger’s, she struggles with even the most basic social skills during her healing process and is genuinely confused when the school counselor tries to explain how people generally interact. To set off these concepts, Caitlin refers to them in capital letters, such as Look At The Person, Talk About It, Closure, and Personal Space. This device underscores both the foreignness and the importance of these ideas to her. At one point, Caitlin describes her terror during recess, when she shrinks from children’s “pointy and dangerous” elbows and sharp screaming. She also draws the reader into her technique of “stuffed animaling,” which is how she stares at something until it becomes soft and fluffy and therefore less upsetting to her. The plot is more about Caitlin’s emotional growth than any external story line, although her growing relationship with a smaller child becomes a catalyst for the closure she seeks. This book is a fascinating glimpse into the thoughts and feelings of someone with Asperger’s and takes the reader into a journey of understanding. 2010, Philomel Books/Penguin Young Readers Group, Ages 10 up, $15.99. Reviewer: Michele C. Hughes (Children's Literature).

ISBN: 9780399252648

One Crazy Summer

Rita Williams-Garcia

Readers will quickly come to adore Delphine, the eleven-year-old protagonist. Abandoned by her mother and raised by her grandparents, she has developed a naturally protective attitude toward her two younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern. Now, for the first time, they are sent from Brooklyn to Oakland, California to visit their birth mother, Cecile. It happens to be the height of the Black Panther revolution. Although set in summer during the late 1960s, this is a story that today’s teen girls are likely to relate to on several different levels: the confusion of beginning to like boys, the complicated relationships with parents and siblings, and the innate responsibility that girls easily take for their younger brothers and sisters. On a broader level, it gives a unique perspective of a part of history not often seen in youth literature. The Black Panther aspect is thought-provoking, adding depth to the theme of Delphine’s family situation. Aside from the plot, the natural writing makes this a smooth read from start to finish, and the characters and situations are realistic. It is a “must” for library collections. 2010, HarperCollins Publishers, $15.99. Ages 11 to 14. Reviewer: Cherie Ilg Haas (Children's Literature).

ISBN: 9780060760885

ISBN: 9780060760892

Ship Breaker

Paolo Bacigalupi

When fate intertwines with desperation and luck, the outcome can be both a curse and a blessing. In an advanced world, where huge cities have been sunken to the depths of the oceans, humanity thrives on luck and self preservation. In this twisted new world, Nailer has suffered tremendously since the death of his mother, watching his father become a dangerous, reckless alcoholic. Faced with no other choice but to follow in the footsteps of the one man with the strength to kill him, Nailer dedicates his survival to breaking down and stripping rotting oil tankers. Constantly overwhelmed by making quota, Nailer crawls into the deepest bowels of the decrepit ships to scavenge for wire for ungrateful bosses. Fate carries him through a near-death experience thwarted by a coworker, but refuses to leave his side as he narrowly escapes his menacing father and a massive hurricane that hits the Gulf Coast. Upon searching the beach after the destruction of the hurricane, Nailer finds a washed-up clipper ship full of enough silver to seriously change his luck for good. However, the ship holds one survivor, a lone girl who claims to be the heiress to a major shipping company. Desperate to forgo the life his father has doomed him for, he resolves to save the girl and help her find her father’s alliances up the coast. The sincere hope for a better life fuels his dedication to help the heiress, despite the incessant bad luck that follows him at every turn. 2009, Little Brown and Company/Hachette, Ages 14 to 18, $17.99. Reviewer: Patrice Russo Belotte (Children’s Literature).

ISBN: 978-0-316-05621-2

Writing What You Know by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen

2010-10-12T12:03:00.000-04:00

Authors always say that we write what we know, and it is completely true – you cannot tell an authentic story if it doesn’t come from a place of truth. The trouble, though, is when you write picture books for kids, how do you define what it is that you know?

I write books about talking pigs and lonely ducks, and I can assure you I am neither a pig (verbose or otherwise) nor a duck nor any other kind of animal featured in any of my books. And yet I feel very strongly that I only write about the things that I know and that almost every one of my picture books draws heavily from my own life.

Take QUACKENSTEIN HATCHES A FAMILY, for example, my newest book published by Abrams. In this story, poor, lonely Quackenstein looks on in envy as all the other animals in the zoo settle in with their families. So he hatches a plan to solve his problem – upon spying a sign for “orphaned eggs,” Quackenstein decides to adopt an egg to start a family of his own.

The previously cantankerous duck becomes a devoted father-to-be, even cooing to his “ducky-poo” that he will never be neglected. But when the egg finally does hatch, it is more than the eggshell that cracks – Quackenstein takes one look at his hatchling and runs off in terror.

Without giving away the whole book, suffice it to say that the hatchling eventually catches up to his father and a few choice words serve to melt Quackenstein’s heart and open his eyes to the fact that families can be different or strange but always find a way to work. Despite his fears, Quackenstein learns to be the father he wanted to be – and that his son deserves.

I wrote this story when I was pregnant with my son, Sawyer, who is my third child. I’d already had two girls, Isabella and Brooklyn, and I was convinced that baby number three was going to be daughter number three. So when the doctor told me that I was having a boy, my first response was, “No, I’m not, and you can’t make me.”

Turns out, I really was going to have a boy and nothing was going to change that.

I will freely admit being terrified at the prospect of having a son. After all, I knew lots and lots about how to be a good mother to girls, but knew absolutely nothing about mothering a boy. (Since then, I’ve learned that boys and girls truly are as similar as, well, ducks and platypi – they might as well be two different species.)

I honestly didn’t sit down to write a book about a parent who was both excited and terrified about having a baby. But looking back, I realize I did exactly that.

Had I written QUACKENSTEIN five years earlier, I am convinced it would have been a different story, because there were different things important in my life then. If I’d never written the book and started fresh on it now, it would definitely be a different story (and probably far scarier!).

As much as authors write what they know, the real test of a good story is whether the author has not only found his or her own truth, but also illuminated some truth for the readers. So I’ll leave you with this hope: that you can find a little Quackenstein in your own heart.

For more information on Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen visit: http://www.childrenslit.com/bookingservice/bardhanquallen-sudipta.html and http://www.sudipta.com/

Mo Willems Author Talk

2010-10-07T13:23:00.000-04:00

Mo Willems often begins talks with a story about 3,472 little pigs. He explained to the Children's Book Guild of Washington DC that he does this for two reasons. The first is that it takes a couple of minutes, and the second is that it will never work as a picture book. He told us that because we can already see the wolf, the pigs, and the houses we do not need pictures. For Mo to write a picture book it has to be incomprehensible: "My job is to write incomprehensible books for illiterates." A literary rock star, Mo has published over thirty children's books receiving critical and commercial success. He spoke to the Children's Book Guild of Washington DC about his creative process, his views on writing and illustrating, and the importance of emotional truth in books. The audience punctuated his remarks with laughter throughout the event -- the humor of his books translating into his presentation.

His process of creating manuscripts is reductive, if he can read the words alone and know what is going on then it has too many words. If he can look at just his storyboard and see what is going on then it has too many pictures. So he takes out lines and takes out pictures. What is left is a story that leaves room for his audience. He believes that it is not up to him to decide what his books are about, it is up to his audience to give his books meaning.

Not understanding what his books are about is key for Mo. If he really understands the message of the story then it becomes didactic and that "is the death of all stories." His view is that the worst thing you can do to a child or adult is force them to read something they should read. An example of leaving room for his audience that he shared with us was from Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus (his debut children's picture book and winner of a Caldecott Honor in 2004). He quoted two early reviews, one saying they loved the book because it taught children never to give up, the other loved the book because it taught the value of the word no. What Mo thought was great about these two contrasting reviews was that they were both right. That was exactly what the book is about. For them.

Before Mo was a published children's book author/illustrator he worked in TV, most notably on Sesame Street, where he won six Emmy Awards, but also on a show called Sheep in the Big City. When Sheep was cancelled Mo went looking for answers, searching for them "where all true answers lie: the internet." A turning point for Mo was reading a comment from a ten-year-old who said that what he did not like about the show Sheep was it looked like the writer was trying too hard. This shook Mo up. He tried to think of any other profession where trying too hard was a negative.

However, it is the case with writing. The reader does not want a relationship with the author. They are looking for a relationship with the characters. If they feel that Mo exists in any way then he becomes the third wheel at the party. Since his writing on Sheep looked like it took effort it was interfering with the pleasure the audience was getting from watching. Another example Mo discussed with us took place during his time on Sesame Street. He was in his twenties and living in Brooklyn, and when he would explain to friends that he wrote for Sesame Street they would be excited -- "Elmo! I love Elmo!"-- but also confused. What exactly did that mean, writing for Elmo? They could not figure out that Elmo was written. They thought he was just Elmo and the camera just happened to be there. That Mo told us, is the sign of good writing. When nobody wants to know there is a writer -- you have to be invisible.

One way Mo makes himself invisible is by manipulating his audience. His belief is you have to show the emotional truth and the best way to show the emotional truth is by "lying." He gave the example of Where the Wild Things Are: the illustrations begin very small, then they get very big, then they take over, and then they get very small again, as Max goes from reality to fantasy and back to reality again. But if the child actually notices this then the writer has failed. He shared a few examples of audience manipulation from his own work that he hoped they did not notice.

In the Pigeon books Mo manipulates his audience with colors. The backgrounds are not places but solid colors that are like a giant mood ring explaining what the Pigeon is feeling. As he becomes more and more excited the colors get brighter and brighter. When he freaks out the colors are extremely bright but then, as his soul is crushed, everything is grey. The background serves as a color chart and rhythm to the story.

In Leonardo the Terrible Monster Mo used format, text size, and sentence structure to manipulate the audience. The book is the largest size he was allowed to make and the boy Leonardo is incredibly small, though is never referred to as small. There would be no point. Mo explained that he does not like to define a character for the audience. He also controlled how the book is read aloud: at first all the sentences are the same, getting you into a rhythm. Then the amount of words on a page increases. It reads a little bit faster. The words increase some more. It reads even faster. Then comes the page that just says "Sam" and automatically, it reads slower than any other word in the book. Mo pointed out that Sam is "sad" spelled wrong.

The illustrations in Knuffle Bunny are often described as cartoons on top of photographs. Not so Mo tells us. Those photographs of romantic Park Slope, Brooklyn are still illustrations -- he has manipulated them to better represent the emotional truth. The eye erases the "grey of ugliness." A camera does not do that, so in photoshop Mo fixes signs or gets rid of items like trashcans and air conditioning units that detract from the emotional truth of Trixie's neighborhood. The illustrations are more of a collage; but when people describe them as photos with cartoons on them, Mo takes it as a sign of success.

His pet peeve is when people come up to him and say "I've written a funny book about blah blah blah." He finds this rude as you are essentially telling him that he does not know what funny is. Something he would never presume to do to you. He never says "I wrote a funny book about a pigeon." Instead saying, "I wrote a book about a pigeon who wanted to drive a bus." If you laugh, great. If you do not, well, "maybe it is a tragedy. I don't know. It is for the pigeon." He believes writers can not describe how they want their audience to react.

As an author/illustrator Mo tries not to be didactic or have rules but one rule he does have is a "port-of-entry rule." He wants every character that he designs to be able to be reasonably drawn by a five-year-old. He strongly believes that books should not just be read but should also encourage play. That drawing, or any act of creation, is an act of empathy. When you draw a character, even a villain, you have to slow down and empathize with that character. "Ah, he has horns. I wonder what those are like?" He thinks the idea that reading is important should be the beginning of a deeper line of thought.

If he has a skill, Mo said, it is for really bad ideas: writing a book about a naked Mole Rat, having a rat with wings as a lovable star character, teaching potty training with an infestation of rodents. All terrible ideas. "But so horrible that you have to do it, right?"

Hopefully Mo will continue to have bad ideas for many years to come. His recent and upcoming titles include Knuffle Bunny Free: An Unexpected Diversion; City Dog, Country Frog; We Are in a Book! (the "Elephant and Piggie" series); and Time to Sleep, Sheep the Sheep (the "Cat the Cat" series).

Emily Griffin
CLCD

Fire Prevention Week

2010-09-30T14:46:00.000-04:00

This year’s official Fire Prevention Week (October 3rd - 9th) theme is Smoke Alarms: A Sound You Can Live With. Designed to educate people about the importance of smoke alarms and encourage everyone to take the necessary steps to update and maintain their home smoke alarms.

President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation in 1920 declaring the first National Fire Prevention Day and Fire Prevention Week has been observed annually since 1922. This awareness week was established to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 that killed more than 250 people, left 100,000 homeless, destroyed over 17,400 structures, and burned more than 2,000 acres. The fire started on October 8th and did not stop until the following day.

Sparky the Fire Dog has been the official mascot of Fire Prevention Week since 1951. His job is to teach children about fire safety. He even has his own website: http://www.sparky.org/ and http://www.sparky.org/parentpage/parents.htm.

Visit http://www.firepreventionweek.org/ for further information regarding fire safety.

Browse through these titles and those from previous years for some selections to share with your family or students. http://www.childrenslit.com/childrenslit/th_fireprevention.html

Firehouse!

Mark Teague

Edward and Judy visit a firehouse because Edwards wants to become a firefighter. It is not all fun and games--the first thing the Fire Chief wants them to do is help wash the fire truck. They go up to the crew’s quarters and the game of cards that he and Judy were playing is interrupted by a fire alarm bell. Everyone gets into their gear and slides down to the truck. Edward is literally hanging on to the back of the truck by his fingers. There is a bit of a mishap at the fire hydrant when the stream of water knocks Edward over. It takes teamwork to handle the hoses and climb up the ladder. This was a drill, but no sooner do they return to the firehouse when the alarm goes off again and this time it is a real emergency. (Although I am not sure that firefighters still will come and rescue cats caught up in trees). Teague’s collection of canines are amusing and expressive and kids will have fun looking for the little mice dressed as firefighters in nearly every scene, including the closing one where a tucked out Edward is fast asleep with the kitten he rescued sitting on his bed. 2010, Orchard Books/Scholastic, $16.99. Ages 3 to 5. Reviewer: Marilyn Courtot (Children's Literature).

ISBN: 9780439915007

The Children’s Literature Author & Illustrator Booking Service

2010-09-23T11:11:00.003-04:00

Are you thinking of having an author/illustrator event at your school this year?

Enhance Your Next Author/Illustrator Event:

You can select from our list of over 100 authors and illustrators, many of whom have received accolades such as Caldecott Honor Awards, Coretta Scott King Awards, and Pura Belpré Honor Awards.

Our hassle free booking service takes care of everything so you don’t have to. Not only is this service free of charge, but when you order books directly from Children’s Literature you earn 20% off list price with the option to double that amount in brand new books. We are committed to working with you to make your author/illustrator events run smoothly.

“Children’s Literature takes the stress out of ordering books to coincide with author visits. Staff help select appropriate titles, create the order form including book reviews and deliver books promptly. Children’s Literature saves me so much time, and I really appreciate the extensive expertise lent to the whole process.” Joy A. McIntyre - Belmont Elementary, Montgomery County, MD.

The Booking Service’s customized approach does the heavy lifting for you by:

• Arranging a mutually agreeable time and date for the event
• Providing a letter of agreement between the school/organization and the author/illustrator that spells out the requirements associated with the visit as well as the fee
• Providing order forms and book selection guidance to the event coordinator to facilitate the purchase and delivery of books should there be an autographing associated with the appearance
• Processing all book sale payments, including credit cards, checks, and cash. Tax and discounts as appropriate.
• Providing the sponsoring organization with assistance in taking care of all details such as directions, parking, meals, set-up needs, etc.

A few author/illustrators from our extensive list include: Vicki Cobb, Henry Cole, Sneed Collard, Lulu Delacre, Pamela Duncan Edwards, Lindsay Barrett George, Alison Hart, Jacqueline Jules, David McLimans, Laura Melmed, Patrick O’Brien, Kevin O’Malley, Valerie Patterson, Audrey Penn, Myles Pinkney, Mary Quattlebaum, Catherine Reef, Susan Roth, Janet Morgan Stoeke, Carole Boston Weatherford, and many more.

Our list is constantly growing and we provide up-to-date information (news, events, book releases) about our participating author/illustrator’s through Twitter, Facebook, and this blog. Visit http://www.childrenslit.com/bookingservice/bs-home.html to plan your next event, or contact Emily Griffin, Publicity and Marketing Director, at 301-469-2070 or emilyqgriffin@gmail.com.

7513 Shadywood Road • Bethesda MD 20817 • 301 469 2070 • 301 469 2071 (Fax)

Themed Reviews: Hispanic Heritage Month

2010-09-15T09:15:00.000-04:00

September 15 marks the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month. The website http://hispanicheritagemonth.gov/ contains a wealth of information on a variety of topics surrounding the culture of Hispanic peoples. September 15 is the anniversary of independence for five Latin American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico declared its independence on September 16, and Chile on September 18.

The term Hispanic, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, refers to Spanish-speaking people in the United States of any race. On the 2000 Census form, people of Spanish/Hispanic/Latino origin could identify themselves as Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, or "other Spanish/Hispanic/Latino." More than 35 million people identified themselves as Hispanic or Latino on the 2000 Census.

There are many other features of interest to help parents, teachers, and others interested in teaching/learning about Hispanic Heritage. The link to Spanish Loan Words http://www.infoplease.com/spot/spanishwords1.html was particularly interesting. We use so many of these words without being conscious of their origins. As summer comes to a close, we can welcome September with the last of the homegrown tomatoes (derived from the Spanish tomate, a corruption of the Nahuatl word tomatl) and look forward to the last of the mosquitoes (the same in English and Spanish -- annoying in either language!); during September we can focus on all things Hispanic and revel in the richness of the heritage shared (or adopted) by so many people.

The following book reviews offer a variety of interesting aspects of Hispanic Heritage to share with young listeners; the listing also includes books to interest older readers as well. http://www.childrenslit.com/childrenslit/th_hispanicheritagemonth.html

Once Upon a Time: Traditional Latin American Tales

Rueben Martínez

Translated by David Unger

Illustrated by Raúl Colón

A collection of stories popular among Latin American children is sure to bring back memories as parents read them to their own children. We start with the story of the "Wedding Rooster." The rooster is on his way to his uncle's wedding when he spots a kernel of corn he cannot pass up. The corn soils his beak setting a chain of events into motion that will have children giggling at the interconnectedness of life. The next story is the "Tlacuache and the Coyote," in some parts of the world the tlacuache is known as an opossum or weasel. Weasel fits him well as he tricks the coyote more times than the coyote can count, even when the coyote has decided he will not fall for one more of the tlacuache's tricks, he does, actually, he jumps. We are also treated to "The Mother of the Jungle," a lesson about being good to mother earth; Martina the Cockroach and Pérez the Mouse, a love story; "The Flower of Lirolay," the story of a blind king and his three sons who each want to inherit the throne; "The King and the Riddle," a story of a clever girl that wins the king's heart; and finally, "Pedro Urdemales and the Giant," the story of a mischief maker who outwits a giant in feats of strength. All classic stories, it is appropriate that they are bound together in one book. 2010, HarperCollins, $19.99. Ages 5 to 10. Reviewer: Mandy Cruz (Children's Literature).

ISBN: 9780061468957

Q&A with author Patricia Newman

2010-09-07T11:02:00.000-04:00

Children's Literature reviewer and Booking Service author, Jeanne K. Pettenati (Galileo's Journal, 1609-1610), interviewed Patricia Newman, fellow Booking Service participant and author of two books for children: Nugget on the Flight Deck and Jingle the Brass.

Jeanne Pettenati: What were some of your favorite books as a child? Who were some of your favorite authors?
Patricia Newman: I liked books with strong female characters when I was a kid. Of course I couldn't articulate that at the time, but looking back on my "favorites" list, I can see it was true. Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink; Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh; the Nancy Drew series; the Trixie Belden series; and the Bobbsey Twins series. I also loved Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry (and all the follow-ups) and the Pippi Longstocking books by Astrid Lindgren.

JP: What is a typical day like for you? Do you write every day?
PN: I do not write every day, but when I write, I write in the morning. Writing words on a blank computer screen is the hardest part of writing for me, so I create early in the morning when I'm at my best. My goals for the day depend on the project. Sometimes my goal is to write a certain number of pages. Sometimes I work on getting the character's voice just right. Right now, I'm working on writing a proposal for a new book idea I have, so I need to complete a fair amount of research to understand how to shape this book into something children want to read. (The research phase is dangerous for me—it's easy to put off facing that blank computer screen by reading one more chapter in one more book!) Then I have to write a couple of sample chapters and a marketing proposal for my agent to send to potential editors.

As the day wears on, writing becomes more difficult for me. I leave email and promotion to the afternoon. Some days I post an entry to my blog and work on my next book-related trip (in July I will be in San Diego, CA at the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum and in October, I will be in Washington, D.C. at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museums). I am also the co-Regional Advisor for the California North/Central chapter of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI—see http://www.scbwi.org/), so event-planning and member-issues are usually handled in the afternoon.

JP: What are your hobbies?
PN: I play tennis and I love to read! I am also an active SCBWI volunteer (see above) and an active volunteer in a local high school band program. I am on a committee (called ecARTS) to build a performing arts center and art gallery on the campus of my children's former high school. (See http://www.performatec.blogspot.com/).

I also love to garden. Pulling weeds is therapeutic and a great way to solve story problems. Once I let my mind relax a bit and give the story I'm working on a rest, problems that seem insurmountable fall into place. (The shower is a great place for problem-solving, too!)

JP: When did you start writing books/stories for children?
PN: I began writing when my children were very small (they're in college now—my daughter is a senior and my son is a freshman). We visited the library every few days and checked out a pile of books. As I read to them, I recalled how important books were to me as a child and I knew writing books for children was something I wanted attempt.

JP: I love the way you handled the vocabulary in Nugget. There was a lot to learn, but it was done in a very kid friendly way. Did you plan this format at the outset? Or did the approach evolve as you were writing the book?
PN: Thank you for the nice compliment. One thing I've learned about writing for children is that even though the finished product looks easy, it's not! The approach definitely evolved. The format for Nugget on the Flight Deck is similar to that of Jingle the Brass, so for Nugget I (mostly) knew what I was doing. But for Jingle the Brass, I muddled along first with an idea for an ABC book. After several failed attempts, a kind editor wrote an extremely helpful rejection letter suggesting a "voice" for my story. I knew exactly what she meant because I'd interviewed a retired Southern Pacific railroad engineer as part of my research process and I wanted my engineer character to sound like him! The voice made all the difference and the story flowed out of me in one sitting and eventually sold.

I began work on Nugget on the Flight Deck when Jingle the Brass was in production, but had to put it away for awhile. The first editor who read Nugget rejected it because President Bush had just declared war on Iraq, and he thought the book's military theme would not go over well. I put it in my drawer for a year or so. My new agent at the time read it and decided to submit it. It sold relatively quickly.

JP: In writing Nugget, you opened a new world for children—I think readers really get a sense of life on an aircraft carrier and the myriad jobs/workers necessary to support the pilot and his/her mission. What kind of feedback from children have you gotten about the book?
PN: Children love the sound of the lingo and I often see them testing the phrases under their breath. They always laugh at the landing light called the meatball. And they marvel over how fast an aircraft catapults off the carrier. (They LOVE the Navy video I show them during school visits of a real jet catapulting off the carrier.) Part of my intent during school visits is to help children find something they love to learn about so they'll love reading. During school visits I ask students to come "onstage" with me. They learn how to shoot an aircraft down the cat stroke. They play the part of various flight deck personnel. They demonstrate how a pilot uses the number on a clock to refer to position, i.e. "Check your six" means to watch behind you. The aviator's alphabet is also a real favorite—I usually ask kids to spell their names with it.

I also talk to students about how I conducted the research for my books and are surprised when they learn that research doesn't necessarily mean sitting in a library reading a dusty book. They're thrilled when I tell them how I met the pilots I interviewed!

When I talk about Jingle the Brass in an assembly, I have different activities and volunteer opportunities dealing with trains that students get very excited about.

JP: Did you have any input on the illustrations for your books?
PN: The editors for Jingle the Brass and Nugget on the Flight Deck asked me who I would like to illustrate the books—more for style than any real suggestion, I think. I was also lucky enough to see very early sketches and both editors asked for comments. Rather than comment on the artists' styles (which I love for both books), I only commented on factual inaccuracies.

JP: How long did it take Nugget to become a book, from manuscript to publication? How about Jingle the Brass?
PN: They each took about 5 years from manuscript to finished book.

JP: What was the inspiration for Jingle the Brass? Did you have this title at the outset or did it evolve as you were writing the book?
PN: I live in Sacramento, home to the California Railroad Museum. When out-of-town guests visit, we usually make a trip to the museum. During one such trip an exhibit gave me an idea for a novel. Early in my research process I requested an interview with one of the museum docents, who happened to be a retired Southern Pacific engineer. While we walked around the now-defunct railroad yard, my guide used colorful terms like "mudhop" and "ashcat" and "bending the iron." I knew then that I was researching the wrong book, and began Jingle the Brass.

JP: What was your inspiration for the story about two brothers, one who dies from a brain tumor? My family knows several children who have suffered from brain tumors. Sadly, this cancer afflicts too many children. Was this a difficult story to write? How did you research the story?
PN: "My Brother, Josh" (published in Spider) was a difficult story to write because the inspiration came from a young friend of ours afflicted with a tumor wrapped around his brain stem. My children often played with this boy, and when we found out he was ill, I needed to figure out a way to explain his illness to my children; at the time, his prognosis was dim. I started writing. Much of the research came from my friend's experience, but I also spoke with bereavement counselors who worked with children. I am happy to report, though, that my young friend survived and is now in college.

JP: One of the things I really like to do is visit schools with an interactive presentation about Galileo based on my book. Connecting with children and seeing them get excited about Galileo's discoveries is very rewarding for me. What can students/teachers expect with your school visits? Have you had any memorable moments with your students/readers that you would like to share?
PN: My school visits are lively, interactive and use a variety of media—visual references, movies, sound recordings, hand-held visuals, etc. In each meeting with children I try to inspire them to read and write with a variety of anecdotes, examples and writing activities. For instance, I taped all of my rejection letters (there are 16 of them!) for Jingle the Brass end to end and unfurl them in a dramatic flourish during my assembly. I get a lot of "wows" and "awesomes" when I do this! I tell the students I never stopped believing in myself or my story. At one school a teacher tracked me down at lunch to tell me that after my assembly a boy in her class struggled with a writing assignment. The girl sitting next to him patted him on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry. You have 16 tries!" The best school visits allow me to connect with every student in the school on some level—whether it's asking them to volunteer for me, or shaking their hand after the show, or working with them in a writers' workshop.

JP: What projects are you working on now?
PN: I usually feel assaulted by ideas and sometimes have difficulty picking one or two to work on. Currently, I'm working on a nonfiction proposal for a book about zoo animals. I'm also working on a picture book about a unique bond with a dog. In my critique group this week, I discovered a new idea for a novel. The zoo animals book comes first, then we'll see about the rest...

JP: What are some topics you would like to write about in the future?
PN: Terrorism. Friendship. An alternate society. Who knows what form they'll each take or in which order I'll write about them!

JP: How can readers contact you? Find out more about school visits, etc.?
PN: Readers may email me at newmanbooks@live.com. They can also keep up with my appearances on my blog at http://patricianewmanbooks.blogspot.com/. My website contains information school visit programs and testimonials from students and teachers. Please visit http://www.patriciamnewman.com/.

For information visit http://www.childrenslit.com/childrenslit/mai_newman_patricia_qa.html

Themed Reviews: Back to School

2010-08-30T12:30:00.001-04:00

Kindergarteners are not the only ones who get nervous about school. As many of the books highlighted below show, back to school jitters can affect anyone. Reading about this experience can calm nerves and help settle anxieties about starting school this fall. It is also a way to empathize with others who may be having different experiences with heading back to school.

Back to school often brings a lot of new: new teachers, new classmates, new buildings, new neighborhoods, even things like new supplies and clothes. Transitions are challenging for most of us and this can be a big one, especially that first week or two of school. Eating healthy and getting plenty of sleep are always important but as summer draws to a close getting into a school schedule is a main focus point for parents. Allowing time to read aloud about the new school year is one way to help ease this transition.

In addition to the new titles below, there are many favorites that work for reading to your family or students as they head back to school. Did they see the new Ramona and Beezus movie this summer? Ramona starts kindergarten in Beverly Cleary’s Ramona the Pest. Other popular characters who experience starting school include: Ella (Ella the Elegant Elephant); the Berenstain Bears; Arthur; Little Critter; Lola (Charlie and Lola); Wemberly (Wemberly Worried); and many more. Browse through this feature and those from previous years to discover more.

For back to school resources visit:
http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Back_to_School.shtml
http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=10623

Browse through these titles and those from previous years for some selections to share with your family or students.
http://www.childrenslit.com/childrenslit/th_backtoschool.html

Pirate’s Guide to First Grade

James Preller

Illustrated by Greg Ruth

The language made me immediately think of Long John Silver and the font chose for certain words also has a look of the past. There are multiple stories—the text, the reality in the artwork and the fanciful imaginary world in the sepia illustrations that accompany the more realist ones. These shadowy illustrations feature the pirates. It is the first day of school and time to get ready—our young protagonist shines his snappers and after dressing mashes his chompers on grub. “Ahoy, me harties!” he cries as he boards the school bus. Wouldn’t you know his teacher’s name is Silver and is referred to as Captain Silver. The usual rituals are all couched in nautical terms including story time, after which our young lad exclaims “Blimy, it was a whale of a tale!” It ends with a trip to the library where his treasure is reading a copy of Treasure Island. The closing endpapers define the pirate terminology found in the text. If pirates are your thing great, if you are heading off for a first day at school this may be a good choice to alleviate those first day jitters. 2010, Feiwel and Friends/Macmillan, Ages 5 to 7, $16.99. Reviewer: Marilyn Courtot (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 978-0-312-36928-6

News Update from CLCD

2010-08-24T13:24:00.000-04:00

CLCD Introduces CLiPR Service for Publishers

Children’s Literature Publishers Reviews (CLiPR) is a new service offered to publishers by The Children’s Literature Comprehensive Database (CLCD), the trusted resource for information about Children’s and Young Adult media. CLiPR is another way to help increase sales, whether you sell on line or through other channels. How can it do this? CLiPR allows publishers to link the titles on their website to the power of CLCD. By doing so it eliminates the need for the publisher staff to locate reviews, cut-and-paste the review text, and attach the reviews to their current and backlist titles. Customers will appreciate the easy access to the range of information available on a particular title that CLCD presents. They will have access not only to the reviews but also to the reading metrics, awards and prizes, and links to curriculum tools and other information.

“A subscription to CLiPR has the full richness of CLCD behind it but makes it specific for each publisher’s title. It is a huge timesaver for a publishing house.” - Marilyn Courtot, President of CLCD

“CLCD is a godsend for someone like me who has more work than time. It’s a one-stop research destination, and I use it constantly when looking for quotes for book-jacket copy or checking out an author’s backlist.” - Margery Cuyler, Publisher, Marshall Cavendish Children’s Books

CLiPR is a new service with benefits to both publishers and their customers. Informed customers make better decisions, therefore, your titles should sail out of the warehouse. Approximately 2500 new reviews are added to CLCD each month from 38 review sources. Other monthly updates include those for Best Books, Awards and Prizes, and links to author and illustrator Web Resources, Features and Interviews.

For subscription information or to learn more about the CLCD, visit http://www.childrenslit.com/.

How to Write Poetry for Magazines by Suzanne E. Henshon

2010-08-20T11:14:00.000-04:00

How to Write Poetry for Magazines

by Suzanne E. Henshon, Ph.D.

If you write poetry for children, a good place to break into print is in children's magazines. You'll develop a publishing resume before you approach book publishers with submissions for anthologies or your own book of verse. As with any kind of writing, start by reading high-quality published examples to develop a sense of the craft.

Shel Silverstein's Where the Sidewalk Ends and A Light in the Attic are modern classics. Also check out the work of Jack Prelutsky, Mary Ann Hoberman, Karla Kuskin, Paul Fleischman and others who have received critical acclaim. Read their stand-alone poems (found in anthologies and collections) to get a sense of the structure of poetry that is not a full-length picture book.

Writing poetry requires several skills: observation, brevity, rhythm, and the ability to go beyond cliches. Poems capture a moment in time or an idea that children believe to be a universal truth. They also create a strong visual image in the reader's mind. Be sure to match the poem's content to the age of the child. Younger children are more literal, whereas middle grade and young adult readers can handle abstract ideas.

Once you've written several poems, start researching magazine markets. I studied Ladybug, a magazine that publishes poetry, fiction, and short stories. Because Ladybug is for children ages 3-6, poems are short and usually rhyme; the verses are experienced in a literal sense by a child. Poems are accompanied by vivid illustrations, and the poetry is meant to be read aloud. Most importantly, verses reflect children's experiences; the narrators sound young but are not so childish that adults lose interest.

As you craft poetry, study what is currently being published. If you want to be published in a specific magazine, get to know the editors' tastes by reading it. Look at the length and content of the published poems.

In Ladybug, a few poems are two pages long, but most poems take up just a page--about four to eight lines. Here are some other tips:

Write with images. When you write children's poetry, it is important to think about concrete images and themes. Make your poetry accessible and visual at the same time.
Write for children and adults. Be attentive to how your poem will sound to a dual audience of children and parents. While the most important audience is children, you should also think about entertaining the adults who are reading your poems aloud.
Tell a story. These "stories," though, are not as complex as a picture book. They tend to revolve around a single incident. Think about the central event of the poem and create a narrator (preferably a young child). Consider how you can tell the story in an authentically young voice as you begin crafting your poem.
Make a point. It's not enough to join several rhyming lines together; a background story must tie the verse together, leading to an insight that children will understand and a theme that parents will appreciate.
Be daring. Use fresh language and steer away from cliches. Take a new look at old images, sharing vivid details and memorable phrases with young readers.
Read the magazine. As you write, think about the layout of your piece within the magazine. Get an understanding of what kinds of poems have been published lately, and think about if your work will be a suitable match. Before you send your poem in, make sure you proofread and include a SASE.

Writing poetry for children is exciting and exhilarating. You'll discover that the gift of words is challenging to develop but wonderful to share. As a poet, you can give young readers lasting memories: poems that will stay in their hearts forever.

Suzanna Henshon is a reviewer for Children's Literature. This article was previously published in Children's Book Insider: The Newsletter for Children's Writers, http://www.cbiclubhouse.com/.

Themed Reviews: Ramadan

2010-08-11T14:44:00.000-04:00

Ramadan, the Holy Month for Muslims, is celebrated around the world. This year Ramadan begins on August 11 and goes until September 9th. It is a period of prayers, fasting, and charity. There is also a strong emphasis on family.

A major part of Ramadan, fasting from sunrise to sundown, can be difficult for children to do or understand. Generally, Muslim children begin to fast for short periods as early as four or five, then fast for the full time around the age of twelve.

More than ever children of all ages are being exposed to world cultures and religions. The selection of books featured below are a fun way to encourage learning, awareness and tolerance, whether they are board books or young adult novels.

Look at the following sites for more information and creative ideas about Ramadan.
•http://www.soundvision.com/info/ramadan/forkids.asp
•http://pbskids.org/arthur/holiday/scrapbook/eulf1.html
•http://teenink.com/Travel/article/15974/Ramadan
•http://www.worldalmanacforkids.com/WAKI-ViewArticle.aspx?pin=fflf-0000630&article_id=123&chapter_id=2&chapter_title=Birthdays_&_Holidays&article_title=Ramadan

Browse through these titles and those from previous years for some selections to share with your family or students. http://www.childrenslit.com/childrenslit/th_Ramadan.html

Nabeel's New Pants: An Eid Tale

Retold by Fawzia Gilani-Williams

Illustrated by Proiti Roy

On the day before the celebration of the Muslim holiday of Eid when Ramadan has ended, Nebeel the shoemaker has been busy selling new shoes for the holiday. Now he finally has time to buy special clothes for his family. He needs new pants as well, but all he can find is a pair that is too long. The family is pleased with what he has bought, but no one has time to shorten his pants. So he does it himself, then goes out to visit the sick and poor. Meanwhile his wife, his mother, and his daughter all feel ashamed. He is so good that they should shorten his pants for him. Each in turn does, without telling the others. Of course when he puts them on next day, they only reach his knees. After laughing, they all work together to sew the pieces back so they can go to the mosque together. Black India ink drawings and intensely colored gouache paints provide crisp, stylized images of local places and clothing. The illustrations, chiefly single pages and vignettes, are a light-hearted but not comic accompaniment to the folk tale. A glossary is included. 2010, Marshall Cavendish Children's Books, Ages 4 to 8, $15.99. Reviewers: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 0-7614-5629-5
ISBN: 978-0-7614-5629-2

Leap into Blogging by Mary Bowman-Kruhm and Wendie Old

2010-08-03T12:07:00.000-04:00

Leap into Blogging and Social Media

Social Media: What are they?

(from Amber Keyser)

E-mail is direct, one-to-one communication.
In contrast, Facebook is one to many. You post an update and your friends see it. But you've selected these friends and agreed to the relationship.
Twitter is also one to many, but people can follow you without your consent so it's less personal but more immediate. And you can follow others that you don't know personally. There are live time conversations happening in Twitter between industry professionals that you can participate in. Go to Greg Pincus, guru of social media, for basic Twitter terms.
MySpace has more in common with Facebook than Twitter but I don't use it and can't say more. (Note from W.O. & MBK: We don’t use it either.)
A blog is like an auditorium where you're giving a talk. People have to make a choice to come in and have a seat for the show.

To blog or not to blog?

Explore and check it out: Will a blog be (a) useful or (b) suck your time and energy. Don’t start a blog because you think (or someone said) you should. Start it because you believe it will be useful to build your platform, because a post seems like a good writing prompt to defeat writer’s block, or because you want a forum to express your passion.

A blogger is a public figure. Decide on a single persona you will be on your blog. People read blogs. And what you write is out there…forever.
Choose an avatar. Use the same distinctive avatar for any footprint you make on the web.
Decide on your goal and audience. Why are you blogging? Who do you want to read your posts? Do you want your blog to become a networking tool? What do you have to share? Goal and audience may evolve as you post over a span of time, but stick to your basic decisions. (You can always start a new blog with a different focus.)
Set a blogging schedule. Greg Pincus uses the rule of three: “If I try writing a post three times in a day and each time fails, I put it aside for another day.”
Read and comment on blogs of interest to you. Comment on others’ blogs but don’t be disappointed if few people comment on yours.
Read how others suggest developing a readable blog. Check out Kodak’s free Social Media Tips guide. The Happy Accident blog gives daily help with social media.
Keep readers returning! At Writer Unboxed, Jane Friedman lists and explains five things that make her stop reading a website or blog:

Sites with black backgrounds.
Sites that play music upon entering; sites that take forever to load because of multimedia or Flash; links that automatically take me to a download with no explanation.
Links that go to a general homepage rather than specific site content.
Content without subheads, paragraph breaks, or breathing room.
Poorly designed sites (i.e., too busy, fonts difficult to read with multiple styles and colors, least important information at top, etc.).

Periodically evaluate. Is your blog helping you reach your long-term writing goals? Are you honoring your mission (i.e., goal)? If not, change what you are doing—sign off, start a new blog, set a new course. Just write! And write some more! And keep writing!

Mary Bowman-Kruhm
http://www.childrenslit.com/bookingservice/bowmankruhm-mary.html
http://marybk.blogspot.com/

Wendie Old
http://www.childrenslit.com/bookingservice/old-wendie.html
http://wendieold.blogspot.com/

Themed Reviews: Tall Tales

2010-07-28T13:01:00.000-04:00

Tall Tales have long been a staple of American folk literature, often featuring stories of legendary figures such as Johnny Appleseed, Pecos Bill, Daniel Boone, Paul Bunyan, Davy Crockett, and John Henry. These stories, told as if they are factual, all have unbelievable elements. While some are exaggerations of actual events or persons, many are fictional tales. Also popular today are Original Tall Tales, most often set in contemporary settings but maintaining the same structure as a traditional tall tale.

Tall Tale Checklist:

•The story has many exaggerations in it.
•The main character has a problem to solve.
•The main character is bigger than life and has super-human abilities.
•The plot of the story is funny and impossible.
•In the end, the main character solves a problem, overcomes an obstacle and/or defeats a “bad guy.”
•The story includes lots of action.

(Taken from http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/content/2267)

Browse through these titles and those from previous years for some selections to share with your family or students. http://www.childrenslit.com/childrenslit/th_talltales.html

The Tall Tales of Paul Bunyan: The Graphic Novel

Martin Powell

Illustrated by Aaron Blecha

The tall tale of Paul Bunyan is hilariously retold in graphic novel format, giving new life to the story of the biggest woodsmen who ever lived. In this retelling, Paul wears wagon wheels for shirt buttons, hires seven assistant woodsmen, all named Elmer, and pulls his companion, Babe, the blue ox, out of a frozen pond. He nurses Babe back to health and the two enormous pals make their way across the United States. Paul and Babe walk through Minnesota, and the footprints they leave become the state's famous ten thousand lakes. In the Tennessee hills, Paul stops to smoke his pipe, and the hills become known as the Smoky Mountains. In the far south, Paul and Babe help the residents rid themselves of “bee-skeeters,” which create the giant southern bayous. Finally, the two visit the desert, start roughhousing, and make the Grand Canyon. On their way back home, Paul wrestles with Old Man Winter, who has Minnesota completely buried in snow. Paul holds up Old Man Winter closer to the sun, where Old Man Winter melts and becomes Lake Superior. This loony depiction of the quintessential American tall tale is fun, funny, and likely to get the most reluctant reader more interested in both American history and geography. Also included in the book are a glossary, writing prompts, and discussion questions. It is recommended for ages 8 and up. 2010, Capstone Publishing Company, Ages 8 up, $22.65. Reviewer: Lauri Berkenkamp (Children's Literature).

ISBN: 9781434218971
ISBN: 9781434222688

What Makes a Good Book (Part 6) by Marilyn Courtot

2010-07-15T12:52:00.000-04:00

The following is the final part in a six part series written by CLCD President Marilyn Courtot. Aimed at reviewers and writers, we ran a new part every month.

Types of Books

Characterization

When you read a children’s book, pay attention to the characters. In a good book, they will be well developed with multifaceted personalities. It is important for children to see the good and bad in the characters, and to avoid stereotypes. Individuals are rarely totally good or completely evil.

Think about characters from books that you read. Did Jo March of Little Women or Philip in The Cay seem real to you? Did you share their worries, joys, and everyday experiences? I know that I did. These characters were well defined and they did things that kids can understand. Books, more than any other medium, allow children to understand the thinking process. They afford an opportunity to put oneself safely into a situation and allow the reader to relate to the way the character responds to situations. To be believable, the character must respond in a logical or realistic way, and the character should learn or grow during the story.

In a picture book, the format doesn’t lend itself to much character development, but it can be done. Patricia Polacco has successfully created memorable characters in her picture books as have Mem Fox and David McPhail. In chapter books, more characterization is needed and writers like Patricia Giff, James Howe, and Elizabeth Levy are skilled at providing three dimensional characters.

For young adults, realistic and believable characters are essential. They can provide solace through shared experiences and answers to the trauma and angst of the teen years. Books by authors such as Bruce Brooks, Betsy Byars, Katherine Paterson, and Paul Zindel, to name a few, exhibit fine characterization in their novels.

Marilyn Courtot
Publisher and Editor
CLCD

50% OFF BOOK SALE

2010-07-09T11:04:00.000-04:00

How to Place Your Order:

Children's Literature

7513 Shadywood Rd

Bethesda MD 20817

Shipping Charges:

Shipping charges will be calculated based on the dollar value of the order (discounted prices). A basic charge of $4.50 for shipping will be made for orders up to $30. The shipping charge for $31 to $100 worth of books is $7.50, and over that it is 5% of the dollar value.

Sales Tax:

If you are a Maryland resident, please add 6% sales tax.

This is a new service and comments or suggestions are welcome.

Marilyn Courtot, Proprietor

Children's Literature

marilyn@childrenslit.com

Themed Reviews: Fourth of July

2010-07-02T10:55:00.000-04:00

A long, hot day spent outside at the pool, enjoying a barbecue feast, watching a parade, and listening to patriotic tunes, as fireworks explode in the sky--nothing quite says summer like the Fourth of July. Every year Americans gather with friends and family to celebrate our nation’s independence from Great Britain in 1776.
Did you know? In July 1776, the estimated number of people living in the newly independent nation was 2.5 million. On July 4, 2008, the nation's population was 304 million. (Taken from http://www.history.com/topics/fourth-of-july-facts)

The selections found in the feature can help in showing children the exciting activities and traditions associated with the Fourth of July, as well as the history behind this day of independence. Browse through the titles and those from previous years for some selections to share with your family or students. http://www.childrenslit.com/childrenslit/th_fourthofjuly.html

Pippa at the Parade

Karen Roosa

Illustrated Julie Fortenberry

Pippa stands on the curb with her parents as she watches the parade. She taps her toes and claps her hands to the beat of the marching band. Some of the instruments featured include drums, trumpets, and trombones. Pippa marvels at gymnasts’ flips, the tall man on stilts, and a red balloon sailing into the blue sky. She eats pizza, popcorn, and a candy apple. Afterward Pippa goes to a carnival and wins a stuffed animal when she throws a ball threw a hoop. She and her parents watch fireworks flare in the evening air. At the close of her exciting day, her dad carries her home and tucks her into bed. The snappy text written in verse will engage listeners when the book is read aloud. Colorful illustrations add movement and joy as they show a loving family enjoying a special day together. 2009, Boyds Mills Press, $16.95. Ages 2 to 6. Reviewer: Phyllis Kennemer, Ph.D. (Children's Literature).

ISBN: 9781590785676
ISBN: 1590785673

Uma Krishnaswami

2010-06-27T09:00:00.000-04:00

Uma Krishnaswami is the author of over a dozen books for children. Uma's poems and short stories from pre-school to YA have been published in Highlights for Children and magazines of the Cricket group. Her books have been picked for CCBC Choices, Parent's Choice, IRA Notable Books for a Global Society and other honors. In addition to her writing and speaking, she reviews children's books for CLCD.

Her newest book, Out of the Way! Out of the Way!, is available from Tulika Books. I interviewed Uma recently in preparation for her blog tour.

Tell us about how Out of the Way! Out of the Way! came to be? How did the tree, the boy, and the road develop? How long was the process from idea to publication?

I've described the development of the story in some detail in my interviews with Through the Tollbooth: http://community.livejournal.com/thru_the_booth/185982.html and Asia in the Heart: http://asiaintheheart.blogspot.com/2010/06/author-interview-uma-krishnaswami.html. It has many layers, and came from many places. As for how long, I'm slow. This story, less than 500 words, got whittled down to its present shape over the course of five years or so. I looked up my files, and the first journal notes I have about it are from back in 2005.

Does having a multicultural, and lingual, audience change the “voice” of the story? Are you conscious of this as you write?

I was too conscious of it in earlier versions. I think in part that's why it took so long to find its form. If I were to do it over, I'd pay closer attention to where the story wanted to go, and I'd probably trust my own judgment more than I did in the beginning.

How and when did you get into writing? Could you tell us a bit about your educational and/or professional background?

I wrote and read at a ferocious pace when I was a child growing up in India, but it never occurred to me that I could be a writer. Honestly, I thought I'd have to be English and dead, as that pretty much described the writers I was reading. So when it was time to think about college and work I went in a very different direction. I have Master's degrees in Social Work and Rehabilitation Counseling, and I worked as a counselor for over ten years, and after that at the University of Maryland coordinating a grant program related to Special Education teacher training. And all that time, I'd volunteer to do all kinds of writing--grants, reports, journal articles, proposals. I cranked them all out, and I think I also learned to listen to people's stories. It was all good, and in hindsight it was all training for what I do now.

You are member of the Children’s Book Guild; do you belong to any other organizations or writing communities? What impact, if any, does this have on your writing?

I'm a member of SCBWI, and have been for years, ever since I first began writing seriously for the children's market. At that time, I also frequented the Writer's Center in Bethesda, Maryland. The first class I took was with Judy Morris there. It was terrific--it felt as if I'd come home, to a place where people talked seriously about stories and young readers. And the Children's Book Guild of course was a gift to me when I was newly published and eager to connect with those whose work I knew and admired: Mary Downing Hahn, Lulu Delacre, and Susan Roth who is a dear friend now, were all so very kind and welcoming. At this time I'd have to say my primary writing community is the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults. I teach there, and the residencies in January and July feed my writing needs every bit as much as they support and inform students. There is no question that I'm driven to stretch as a writer because of my students and my fellow faculty at VCFA. More locally, I belong to a writing group in New Mexico: http://umakrishnaswami.blogspot.com/2010/05/lucys-table-celebration.html These women are dear to me as friends and as important, necessary critics of my work in progress. We've grown together as writers and human beings.

You were one of the first writers to mentor using the internet. How and when did that start?

I began offering classes on the Internet through writers.com in 1997. We were moving to New Mexico, and I felt I knew enough about the craft of writing that I had something to say to others who wanted to learn it. I'm very grateful to Mark Dalhby, who runs writers.com, for letting me float my first class online. And to all the students who took those classes over the 12 years I taught there. Everything I know about teaching, everything that allowed me to move on to VCFA, I learned from them. And here's a wonderful footnote. When I was hired at VCFA I knew I couldn't keep teaching online as well. There weren't enough hours in the day! I didn't want to just shut those classes down, either, so I was fortunate to find wonderful people (VCFA alums Sarah Aronson and Debby Edwardson) who have taken them over, transformed them, and made them their own work.

You have been reviewing for Children’s Literature for many years now, what role does this play in your own writing? Is it helpful to keep your finger on the pulse of children’s literature?

It's enormously helpful to both writing and teaching. I've told Marilyn [Courtot] that the best thing she can do for me as a writer is to send me a variety of books that push my reading beyond its customary limits. Reviewing challenges me to be thoughtful and generous and balanced about the books I read. That doesn't mean I end up liking all of them, but really, it's not even about whether I like them or not. Reviewing pushes me to judge a book not by what I would want it to be, but by the extent to which it seems to have realized its writer's intent. That in turn helps me to better recognize my own intent for work in progress.

Do you find it hard to read for pleasure?

Not at all. My secret addiction for which I try to set aside time in the summer, is the murder mystery. This week, in case you want to know, I'm reading The Feng Shui Detective by Nury Vittachi. Some years ago my local library shut down for a couple of weeks in the summer for a big move, and I was distraught. I think I went there just before they closed and cleaned out the mystery shelves in case I got stuck without a good read.

What books that you have reviewed have captured your attention lately?

Oh I would very much like to talk about two books, both of which I read on planes in the last few days, and both of which grabbed me in different ways.

One is Diane Stanley's Saving Sky. It's a near-future story set in northern New Mexico, with a premise that comes right out of our present-day world in which security and human rights are going head to head. Diane makes these perfect writing choices, pans the camera out in just the right way. I think I made the person next to me on the plane a little nervous, because I kept exclaiming in delight or apprehension as I read about young Sky, her choices and understandings about herself, her changing world, and the real danger her friend Kareem is in.

The other is a picture book, Coppernickel, the Invention by Wouter van Reek, a translation from the Dutch. I'm in love with translated books these days, you can imagine why. This one's got a really cool twist that makes you sit up and pay attention and wonder if you quite got what the story was about until that point. It's funny and ingenious, and then it segues from that into a lovely ending about friendship. But that little torque to the story is quite unusual, both visually and in terms of plot.

Is there anything you would go back and change in your career? Things you would do differently in hindsight?

I think I'd worry less and trust myself a bit more. Maybe listen more carefully, read those rejection letters with a more positive frame of mind. Recognize that this may be the only business in the world in which long, lasting friendships and professional relationships are built upon rejection.

Lastly, can you tell us about any future projects?

Happily. I have a middle grade novel due out next year from Atheneum. The title is still to be decided upon but it will be great, whatever it is. I can tell you that the story is about a star-struck pair of friends on opposite sides of the world from each other, united by a common obsession. There is a host of eccentric characters, as well as goats, monkeys, a flower that blooms only every twelve years, and chocolate. Oh, and there is dancing.

I should warn you that it also contains trees (one in particular) and a road. I just can't seem to shake those off.

Thank you Uma! This post marks the final day of the blog tour for Out of the Way Out of the Way! For other stops on the tour visit Uma's blog Writing with a Broken Tusk and for information about Uma's speaking engagements visit http://www.childrenslit.com/bookingservice/krishnaswami-uma.html.

Emily Griffin

CLCD

Brian Floca

2010-06-22T17:00:00.000-04:00

Now that he has more than two dozen books to his credit, Brian spoke at the Children's Book Guild of Washington DC about how he got his start and his latest book Moonshot which won a Sibert Medal in 2009. He, like many of us, got his start purely by chance. Brain was at The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) taking a class with David Macaulay. His teacher happened to be talking to Avi who had a new idea for a book and needed an illustrator, "Did Macaulay know any student who might be interested?" Yes, he did, and Avi and Brian became collaborators and the result was City of Light City of Dark which garnered a star in Publishers Weekly.
After that fortuitous and successful start Brian has never looked back. He told us that ever since early childhood in Texas that he had been encouraged to draw, especially by his mother who was a teacher. His father ran a soft drink bottling company and brought scrap paper home for him to draw on, so Brian always had a ready supply of materials. His fascination with vehicles showed up early and he had some slides to prove it. He drew other pictures including the characters that he saw on TV and would make his own books featuring characters like Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street. He loved dinosaurs and his favorite book was The Rise and Fall of Dinosaurs by Anthony Ravielli who ironically was really known for his golf illustrations not dinosaurs. Brain also loved books by Richard Scarry and Tolkien. In the latter, he was drawn to the maps and strategies that Tolkien presents to his readers. It appealed to that part of the brain that absorbs facts.

During his undergraduate years at Brown University, Brain created a comic strip. As an art major, he really loved telling stories through pictures and it wasn't until he went to RISD and started taking classes with great children's artists like David Macaulay that he found himself truly in his element. For him, discovering Harold and the Purple Crayon was an AHA! moment. As mentioned previously, when he met Avi, Brian did look at the manuscript, because at that time he was focused on midterms. Fortunately, thanks to David Macaulay, he was able to work on illustrations for the manuscript as a class project. His work with Avi did not end there as he then became the illustrator for the "Poppy" series.

As early as 1995 Brian was thinking about space program, and in particular the Apollo flights. He had a great job at the Office of Career services at Harvard where he worked part time answering phones and checking IDs. This left him time to read books about the Apollo missions and he spent time watching films, documentaries and just about anything he could find relating to the Apollo program. The program pulled at him - he found a sense of beauty, mystery and adventure about traveling into space. In essence, these astronauts were flying on a controlled bomb - going and doing things in a place where they had never been done before. He harkened back to Whitman's poem the Learn'd Astronomer. The mystical part really appealed to Brain and he signed up for an astronomy class. He summed up the Apollo program as "the best funded piece of performance art ever."

His interest finally became a book and in 2000, Brian wrote about Apollo 18. For those who may not remember that is the flight where they lost contact with Mission Control when they were the first to see the back of the Moon and then they showed the Earth on Christmas Day and read from Genesis in the Bible. His problem was that he had too much text. It was the same when he wrote Dinosaur at the Ends of the Earth which is really a picture book for older readers. He knew it was a problem, but really didn't take it into consideration in his book. Even though he had purchased a copy of a book detailing the exploits of the expedition, he did not include a reference in his source notes.

Luckily, his thesis advisor, another well known author illustrator, Emily McCully, worked with him and Brian began the process of narrowing down his text. He still had his great interest in the Apollo program and had a dream that he had missed the window for submitting a manuscript to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Moon landing. So he woke up and started doing more research. He offered an interesting bit of advice to nonfiction writers - after undertaking all the reading and research, wait five years and what you remember will be the main points worthy of inclusion in your book.

How does Brian work? He starts with his text, then scrawls and next builds sketches - really he has two different books - the drawings and the text. He has learned all about his subject matter and now he is ready to make a book. He sent a dummy of Moonshot to his editor and was given the green light to go ahead. Back Brian went into research - he wanted his artwork to be more original and to tell the story through his pictures that would be different that what previous author and illustrators had produced. Brian had everything from a Buzz Aldrin action figure on his shelf to trips to see Saturn rockets and the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM). The latter is one strange ship. NASA had put photographs and information up on the Internet and there was an incredible wealth of information to draw upon. For Brian little things became important, like getting the shadows right by using models and looking at NASA photographs. The decision of where to land on the Moon and when was a big issue because you want the Sun at your back. It was also important to figure out the page turns in his 48 page book. Through his art, Brian was able to introduce information that never appeared in the text such as a picture of the astronauts families.

For him, the most complicated part of explaining the mission was the transitioning. How the rocket separates and reassembles. His editor said of this section "it just doesn't sing." Time for revisions. Finally, Moonshot was finished and Brian got the first page proofs - his dream had become reality. He finally produced a nonfiction book that does indeed sing. His favorite part of the book is the lift off sequence. The real challenge was developing the cover. He showed his audience at least twenty variations. Brian said that he really had to fight to keep the back cover the way he envisioned it. The cover tells the story of what the book is about, but the publishers want to use the back to promote other books. Brian wanted it to be an integral part of the story and he won that battle.

Although Brian has quenched his thirst to produce a book about the Apollo program, but he is blogging about the other missions. Last year at the request of Neal Porter, he and Jan Greenberg combined their talents on a book about Appalachian Spring - a Ballet for Martha. In this case the text was prepared by someone else, but he had to make the pacing decisions. His research included sitting in and watching the Martha Graham dancers and taking photographs for future reference. One very interesting fact for me was learning that the dance premiered at the Library of Congress in the Coolidge Auditorium. This book is due out in the fall of 2010.

In Moonshot, Brain's choice of media was ink and watercolor with the black in acrylic and the stars were created in guash on hot press watercolor paper. He remarked on the process among the trio (editor, graphic designer) and his comment was "I want the director to be a fan," which is a direct quote from Tom Hanks which Brain feels is also applicable to creating a book. He is able to listen to the art director and take advice as he feels appropriate, but the author/illustrator usually has the last word. For example, in Moonshot, it was keeping the back cover the way Brian wanted it.

Brian is still working hard on nonfiction books and his next one will be about steam locomotives - who did what and facts including information about the transcontinental railroad.

Marilyn Courtot
Publisher and Editor
CLCD