I was away this weekend, attending a lovely wedding down in Los Angeles, and I'm still catching back up (I think it's a sign of being over-committed when taking a couple of days away from the computer completely throws things completely out of kilter). But there has been plenty going on around the Kidlitosphere.
Jill posted the October Carnival of Children's Literature at The Well-Read Child, suggesting that readers "grab a cup of hot apple cider, a warm blanket, and join me in a look at some great snuggle-worthy children's literature from around the blogosphere." She has tons of well-organized and interesting posts for your reading pleasure.
Charlotte from Charlotte's Library just announced a lovely tribute that she's organizing in honor of Amanda Snow's son Jacob, who died much, much too young. The talented Katie Davis has designed a downloadable bookplate. If you would like to honor Jacob's life, you can download the bookplate here, print out copies, and put them in books that you donate. Amanda suggests in particular that people donate books to Ronald McDonald House. As Charlotte explains "the children's book blogging community has come together to give books away to places where they will bring happiness to other children and their parents." But anyone is welcome to participate. You can find more details here. I'm planning to take some books up to the Ronald McDonald House in Palo Alto.
Terry Doherty has a comprehensive October 27th reading round-up at the Reading Tub's blog, filled with children's literacy and reading news. I found this tidbit especially interesting: "The National Literacy trust just issued Literacy Changes Lives: An Advocacy Resource, a report about the relationship between a child's literacy ability and their success later in life." I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but Terry promises "Lots of great snippets to reinforce the need to read." I also really liked this: "Randy Astle, who is not associated with PBS Kids, wrote a very detailed post about how PBS Kids is raising readers." It's a great post.
Lots of bloggers from around the Kidlitosphere are banding together to encourage readers to vote next week. Even the organization is a group effort. Lee Wind and Gregory K both have the scoop. The master list of participants will be maintained by Colleen Mondor at Chasing Ray. Sarah Stevenson developed the neat graphic. Personally, I voted late last week (I'm a permanent vote by mail person in California). I don't like to talk politics on my blog, but I will say that I wanted to get my vote in before heading out to the lovely wedding that I mentioned, the wedding of two dear friends who both happen to be male. I would not have missed it for anything.
5 Minutes for Books recently had their Kids' Picks Carnival for October. Seventeen participants chimed in with posts about what books their kids have enjoyed. I love this idea by site editor Jennifer Donovan, and enjoy checking out the posts each month.
In author news, Cynthia Lord shares some tips for librarians about "Including and Serving Patrons with Autism and Asperger's Syndrome at Your Library." There's also a nice interview with Rick Riordan in Texas Monthly. And via Bookshelves of Doom, I learned that Holly Black has the coolest hidden library ever. Yes, the door is a bookshelf. Someday...
On a non-book-related note, I enjoyed this post by Robin from The Disco Mermaids about finding your special "spot", someplace outdoors where you can go and think and clear your head. I have had spots like that in my life, though I don't have one now that's near to where I live. But what I LOVED about the post are Robin's pictures of her son enjoying nature. There's one of him skipping down a path in the woods that is positively magical. Seriously, if you could use a little pick-me-up, just click through to the post, and scroll down.
And last, but definitely not least, Deanna H, on a new blog called Once Upon A Time, writes about reasons for adults to read children's literature. She dug up quotes from David Almond and Jonathan Stroud about the power of the narrative in children's books - and I do think this is a big part of why I've always enjoyed kids' books so much.
That's all for today - I expect to be back with more news and reviews over the weekend.
What a fabulous graphic. Leave it to Sarah!
Posted by: Jules | October 30, 2008 at 06:24 AM
Sarah rocks!
Posted by: Jen Robinson | October 30, 2008 at 10:55 AM
Thanks for the nod to Kids' Picks! I love that we got a few more participants this month.
Posted by: Jennifer, Snapshot | October 30, 2008 at 03:16 PM
And thanks for the shout out about Jacob's Books!
Posted by: Charlotte | October 31, 2008 at 03:37 AM
You are both very welcome, Jennifer and Charlotte. Thank you both for doing such great things! Charlotte, my full page stickers just came in the mail (for the book plates).
Posted by: Jen Robinson | October 31, 2008 at 09:03 AM