Today is the third anniversary of the day that I started my blog. I decided to throw a carnival to celebrate. The photo to the left is from morgueFile, by artist Gary Houston. It's called Carnival Birthday Cake, so it seemed fitting to use.
In the theme of anniversary, I asked Carnival participants to share their best or favorite post of the year relating to children's literature. What I've received is an outpouring of links to amazing posts from the past 12 months.
Please note that certain submissions completely unrelated to the carnival theme, or that seemed to be more about promoting a particular, outside agenda than about children's literature, have been excluded. But don't worry. There is still enough reading material here to last the rest of the year. Enjoy!
Encouraging Young Readers
In this section, we start with another morgueFile photo, this one by Virginia Coccaro from Argentina (I really like this site). Isn't that little reader beautiful? We then move on to some lovely articles about raising readers.
Tony Chen presents Literary tykes posted at Savvy Daddy, saying, "Some tips from a dad for dads about making book time more memorable for your kids."
Fin Keegan presents No Second Carnegie posted at Fin Keegan, about "the paucity of books in over 10% of Irish homes" and the importance of reading to children.
TZT presents How to Read a Book without Words (Out Loud) posted at Children's Books: What, When & How to Read Them, saying, "Picture books without words are often beautifully illustrated stories that prove difficult to read out loud to kids. Here are a few great wordless books and ideas on how to get the most out of reading them - out loud!"
Jill at The Well-Read Child presents Reaching Out to Reluctant Readers with Nonfiction posted at The Well-Read Child.
My own favorite post of the year also falls into this category. It's the one from January about helping kids learn to enjoy reading. This post contributed directly to my involvement in the upcoming PBS Parents Children's Book Blog, and I think that it's a useful resource in its own right. Like many of the posts mentioned above, this one was the result of a joint effort, with contributions from many other bloggers.
Book Reviews:
This picture shows a few of my many review books from ALA Anaheim. Here are a few book reviews from other bloggers.
Megan Germano presents Greetings From Nowhere by Barbara O'Connor posted at Read, Read, Read.
Nancy Arruda presents Boogers posted at Bees Knees Reads, a review of a book from the My Body Science series.
Rani presents My Little Golden Book about God posted at Christ's Bridge.
Aline Pereira reviews The Brighter Side of the Road posted at PaperTigers Blog.
Mommy's Favorite Children's Books presents Color Surprises - a pop-up book posted at Mommy's Favorite Children's Books, saying, "pop up books are so special I had to share!"
Becky Laney presents The Composer Is Dead posted at Young Readers.
Ali presents Zorgamazoo--Robert Paul Weston (Book review) posted at worducopia.
Anastasia Suen presents Nonfiction Monday: Real Life Situations posted at Kid Lit Kit, saying, "I love to find books that can help kids cope with real life - and this first book has fictional middle school situations illustrated in graphic novel style followed by practical advice from an advisor and real teens. Dynamite!"
cloudscome presents Review: The Three Little Wolves posted at a wrung sponge.
Z-Dad from Bookie Wookie submitted a review of Wave, by Suzy Lee, consisting of a discussion with his children Gracie (8), Isaac (10), and Lily (5).
Melissa Wiley shares Picture Book Spotlight: Jumpy Jack & Googily at Here in the Bonny Glen.
Book Lists:
This section features book lists of all sorts, as well as a photo of a few kidlit bloggers (Betsy Bird, me, Jay Asher, and Greg Pincus) at ALA Anaheim.
Elizabeth Bird presents Most Shameful Non-Reads posted at A Fuse #8 Production.
Susan Thomsen presents Multicultural Fantasy: A List of Books posted at Chicken Spaghetti, saying, "Some of my favorite posts have been those created in collaboration with other children's literature enthusiasts. This one, a list of multicultural fantasy books, was compiled by Craig Svonkin, a literature professor."
Amy Smith presents Favorite Christmas Books posted at Kids Love Learning.
Sarah presents 2007-2008 Class Book Lists posted at The Reading Zone.
Sheila Ruth from Wands and Worlds submitted Books with Bite: Teen Read Week booklists, saying "Teen Read Week is over, but I still think they're great booklists for teens."
Charlotte suggests that readers Give the gift of a very different New York at Charlotte's Library, suggesting several titles that look at the city in different ways.
Other Reactions to Books:
There are, of course, a wide range of personal reactions to books, starting with an early Christmas photo of me reacting the way I usually do to books - completely engrossed.
Joan presents Saving Santa posted at Mothers on the Brink, saying, "We love the Betsy-Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace. Little did my young children and I know that the fourth book in the series spills the beans on Santa ..."
Eva Mitnick presents Eva's Book Addiction: Forever Rose by Hilary McKay - and some musings on Capital Letters posted at Book Addiction.
Jennifer Schultz presents Dogs in Space posted at The Kiddosphere @ Fauquier, saying, "I never expected Laika to affect me as much as it did. Out of all the books I read this year, it was my most (emotionally) surprising read."
Corinne Robson presents Books at Bedtime: Silly Mammo - an Ethiopian folktale posted at PaperTigers Blog.
caribookscoops presents Rapunzel?s Revenge (all Hale breaks loose) by Shannon and Dean Hale illustrated by Nathan Hale posted at Book Scoops.
Jenny Schwartzberg presents A Childhood Treasure Expanded and the Trail of Three Interesting Women posted at Jenny's Wonderland of Books, a detailed post about the history behind a reissue of a childhood favorite, and the women involved with the book's publication.
Farida Dowler presents Our family's letters from Father Christmas posted at Saints and Spinners, saying, "My favorite book related post of the year wasn't even written by me! This link leads you to the three letters my mother wrote for my brothers and me based on J.R.R. Tolkein's Letters from Father Christmas. That book was an integral part of our family's Christmas stories. I suppose the letters my mom wrote could be filed under "fan fiction.""
Sarah presents Observing Personality with Magic Tree House at In Need of Chocolate (one of my favorite blog names).
Marietta from The Bookworm's Booklist submitted A is for Art ~ An Abstract Alphabet by Stephen T. Johnson, complete with gift-giving ideas.
Author Interviews and Experiences:
I've had lots of great experiences meeting authors in person this year. To the left, me with Jon Scieszka at Hicklebee's. Now, some meetings and discussions by other bloggers:
Lynn E. Hazen presents Imaginary Blog: Looking "Underneath" the Imagination Process of Kathi Appelt, Author of THE UNDERNEATH posted at Imaginary Blog, saying, "One of my favorite things to blog about involves interviewing authors & illustrators I admire about their imagination process, as well as creative and craft techniques for writing."
Children's book illustrator Elizabeth O. Dulemba presents My First Virtual School Visit! posted at dulemba.com.
Tarie presents Book Review and Author Interview: Courage in Patience by Beth Fehlbaum posted at Into the Wardrobe.
Jama Rattigan presents SOUP'S ON: Grace Lin in the Kitchen Interview! posted at jama rattigan's alphabet soup.
Shelly Burns presents You Think It’s Easy Being the Tooth Fairy? - Review and Interview posted at Write for a Reader.
Sarah (a. fortis) and Tanita (TadMack) presents Guest Blogger: Sherri L. Smith!! posted at Finding Wonderland: The WritingYA Weblog, saying, "We thought we'd submit one of our jointly written posts--we loved working on this one!"
Sara Lewis Holmes shares her experience of meeting Leonard Marcus, who changed her life, at Read Write Believe.
Fun Blog Features:
There's no post about it, but MotherReader's 48 Hour Book Challenge was certainly a highlight of the year for many people. Some other fun new blog features are highlighted here.
Pam Coughlan presents ABC Storytime posted at MotherReader, saying, "I wanted to highlight my one new feature this year, ABC Storytime, where I share storytime programs based on the letters of the alphabet."
Mary Lee and Franki from A Year of Reading submitted Trading (our favorite) Spaces Round-Up of "great spaces that people create in their classrooms and libraries".
Kneon presents Music of the Spheres | a fantasy webcomic, saying, "Author Ben Avery has started a new webcomic with illustrator Kneon Transitt."
Other Interesting Discussions:
This section begins with a morgueFile photo by Gracey from Ontario, of a child keeping up with current events. The bloggers certainly keep up with current events, and discuss a wide array of topics related to children and books.
Libby Gruner presents Again with the literacy debates! posted at Lessons from the Tortoise, a response to debates about teaching the "canon" of literature in high school.
Janet Brown presents Children and Books in Times of War and Conflict posted at PaperTigers Blog.
Becky Laney presents The Sunday Salon: Finding Yourself in Books posted at Becky's Book Reviews.
Wendy Betts presents through the eyes of a child posted at Blog from the Windowsill, about the "connections between voting and children's books".
Susan Kusel presents Context is everything posted at Wizards Wireless, about the ways that the context in which a book is read can affect the reader's perception of the book.
Lee Wind presents Donating Gay (&LBTQ) books to a Junior High School Library? How to Honor the Memory of Larry (Lawrence) King. A Negotiated Solution... posted at I'm Here. I'm Queer. What the Hell do I read?, saying, "I really liked this post on how I tried to donate books with gay characters and content to the junior high school library where a student had been murdered for being effeminate and gay."
Terry Doherty writes about National Adoption Month at Scrub-a-Dub-Tub: The Reading Tub blog, in a post that includes statistics about the shortage of adoption-related children's books in community libraries.
Christine Burt from The Book Bench contributes Reading T-shirts, a post about the lack of children's books with information about breast cancer, and the education to be found in reading t-shirts at a race for the cure.
Clare Bell writes about a book, idealism, and a children's book-related charitable auction in The 6th Ratha Tale and Brightspirit at The Scratching Log.
Laurel Snyder shares Further ranting on the snobs who diss kidlit at bewilderblog.
Gregory K. from GottaBook shares his detailed recap of the 2008 Kidlitosphere Conference.
Speaking of the Kidlitosphere Conference, Jone Rush MacCulloch from Check It Out shares A Poem Regarding My Absence at a Book Challenge Hearing (in the spirit of National Poetry Month and in the interest of supporting a colleague and a challenged book).
Sheila from Greenridge Chronicles discusses the sharing of story in the context of Taking the kids to the movies.
Cybils:
And last, in a category by itself, we have Anne Levy's thank you post at the Cybils blog: A big, fat shout-out with pom-poms and megaphone to our panelists. In case you didn't find enough links in this Carnival, Anne has some others.
That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of children's literature using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.
Happy reading, and thanks for another great year of blogging!
UPDATE: The January Carnival will be hosted by Lisa Chellman of Under the Covers. Submissions are due on Jan 28th and the carnival will go up on the 30th. As always, the BlogCarnival submission form is the best link to use: http://blogcarnival.com/bc/submit_209.html
Happy 3rd Blogiversary, Jen! Can't imagine the kidlit world without you! Thank you for all you do and for hosting this fabulous carnival :)!
Posted by: jama | December 17, 2008 at 05:43 AM
This is terrific, Jen. What a fabulous way to recap the year. I spent some time going through posts, but every time came to the same conclusion, "How do I pick one that folks will want to read again?"
Posted by: Tricia | December 17, 2008 at 06:05 AM
And P.S. - Happy blogiversary!
Posted by: Tricia | December 17, 2008 at 06:06 AM
Absolutely amazing carnival!
And Happy Blogiversary!
Posted by: MotherReader | December 17, 2008 at 06:14 AM
What an amazing carnival! Happy anniversary, Jen!
-Susan
Posted by: Wizards Wireless | December 17, 2008 at 06:16 AM
Happy third anniversary to Jen Robinson's Book Page! Yay for Jen.
An amazing carnival here. I can't wait to read it all. Thank you for including me!
Posted by: Susan_Thomsen | December 17, 2008 at 06:18 AM
This carnival is packed! I am so glad to be a part of it!
Posted by: Megan Germano | December 17, 2008 at 07:13 AM
Happy Blogoversary, Jen, and thanks for hosting the (huuuuuge) carnival!
Posted by: Gregory K. | December 17, 2008 at 07:14 AM
Loving the picture of you as an "early reader." This whole post is fitting for your third anniversary: organized, comprehensive and fun, just like you and your blog.
Posted by: Sara | December 17, 2008 at 07:21 AM
Happy Anniversary, Jen! I've really enjoyed reading your blog - you've given me some great pauses for thought here.
And what an action-packed carnival!
Posted by: Sheila | December 17, 2008 at 07:43 AM
What an amazing list of posts - and congratulations on your 3rd Blogging Birthday!
Happy Holidays,
Lee
Posted by: Lee Wind | December 17, 2008 at 07:49 AM
Thank you for including my review of Laika. Congratulations on three awesome years, and happy holidays!
Posted by: Jennifer Schultz | December 17, 2008 at 08:13 AM
What great way to celebrate your blog's 3rd birthday, Jen! This is a FANTASTIC carnival...
Now make a wish and blow out the candles!
Posted by: Anastasia | December 17, 2008 at 08:41 AM
This looks fabulous! I'll save it for tonight and spend hours reading through everything. Thanks for including my post. Happy blogversary!
Posted by: Jenny Schwartzberg | December 17, 2008 at 08:58 AM
Happy Anniversary, Jen!!!!
Posted by: Cynthia Lord | December 17, 2008 at 09:01 AM
Happy Blog-o-versary, Jen.
What a wonderful edition of the Carnival--a great way to celebrate children's literature & the creative folks involved.
Well done!
Posted by: Lynn E. Hazen | December 17, 2008 at 10:15 AM
This is a good-looking carnival, Jen. Thanks so much for putting it together. It's going to be my computer reading material for the rest of the week. My first stop is going to be Mothers on the Brink's post about "Saving Santa," as I'm currently reading the Betsy-Tacy books to my 5 1/2 year old daughter.
--Farida
Posted by: Saints and Spinners | December 17, 2008 at 10:33 AM
Happy Blog Anniversary, Jen! What an amazing compilation!
Posted by: MaryP | December 17, 2008 at 10:34 AM
This is amazing! You truly must have super powers, Jen.
Happy Anniversary!
Posted by: Deanna H | December 17, 2008 at 12:35 PM
Happy Blogiversary Jen!!! I've been looking forward to reading all the wonderful posts!! Thank you contributors and happy holidays!
Posted by: Karen | December 17, 2008 at 02:18 PM
Thanks SO much for all of your comments and good wishes!! It's been a lovely blog birthday, and I hope to spend many more with you.
Posted by: Jen Robinson | December 17, 2008 at 02:26 PM
Congratulations on your third year. I'm going to bookmark this page and spend some time over the holidays perusing the posts.
Thanks for this gift!
Posted by: Patty | December 17, 2008 at 03:57 PM
Congratulations! I like this site and I'm going to bookmark this page too. Reading is really important habit for kids and parents.
It helps children's brain development.
Posted by: Cana | December 17, 2008 at 04:28 PM
Holy cow, Jen! I'm mega impressed by this mega list. And speaking of impressive, happy blogoversary! Three years is amazing; well done!
Posted by: Lisa Chellman | December 17, 2008 at 04:47 PM
This is great. Thank you
Happy blogoversary. Happy Holidays
Posted by: Doret | December 17, 2008 at 05:45 PM
Thank you Jen for including me in your special blog carnival. I am grateful for all of the kindness that has been extended my way from so many in the Kidlitosphere. Happy 3 years of book blogging, Jen! What a special way to celebrate! I am honored to be a part of it. I look forward to getting to know you more through your blog!
Sincerely,
Marietta
Posted by: Marietta | December 17, 2008 at 10:30 PM
Happy - One!
Happy - Two!!
Happy - Three!!!
Posted by: Lisa Yee | December 17, 2008 at 11:36 PM
Too much information - I don't know where to start! Thanks so much for this. Happy Holidays.
Posted by: Richard Hanks | December 18, 2008 at 06:56 AM
What a stupendous carnial! thanks so much, and happy anniversery!
Posted by: Charlotte | December 18, 2008 at 06:59 AM
Happy happy blogiversary, Jen! And thank you so much for doing a great job organizing this month's carnival. :o)
Posted by: Tarie | December 18, 2008 at 08:03 AM
Thanks everyone, for this amazing show of support. It's heartening to hear from so many people who care about connecting kids with books.
I had a particularly trying day at work yesterday (and spilling over into today), and these comments dropping in at intervals have really helped keep me going. Thank you all!
Posted by: Jen Robinson | December 18, 2008 at 09:14 AM
Happy Blogversary! And a great carnival. WIll provide much of my holiday reading:-)
Posted by: Franki | December 18, 2008 at 11:51 AM
It is a great achievement. I have to admit that I only just started reading your blogs, but I have found that I have enjoyed the ones that I have read.
Tony Peters
Kids on a Case: The Case of the Ten Grand Kidnapping
www.eloquentbooks.com/KidsOnACase.html
Posted by: Tony Peters | December 18, 2008 at 11:57 AM
Happy Blogiversary, Jen! What a great idea. I can't wait to make myself some hot cocoa and read the carnival roundup!
Posted by: Holly Cupala | December 18, 2008 at 02:53 PM
Happy Birthday, Jen! I'm so sorry I've been absent and missed the entries, but the ones you got are fabulous!
I will now have much to read over my holiday break! Great way to celebrate your birthday!!
Posted by: Karen | December 18, 2008 at 08:19 PM
Oh my goodness! Jen, this is a fantastic carnival! I can't believe you've only been blogging for three years--you are such an icon of the kidlit and reading world!
Happy Blog Birthday!
Posted by: Vivian | December 18, 2008 at 08:36 PM
The work you put into this—the work all the featured bloggers put into their sites—is such an affirmation of minds and hearts at work.
Thank you and happy blog birthday!
Posted by: beth kephart | December 19, 2008 at 03:23 AM
Happy blogiversary to you,
Happy blogiversary to you,
Happy blogiversary, dear Jen,
Happy blogiversary to you!
Posted by: Little Willow | December 19, 2008 at 08:22 AM
Happy blogoversary, Jen! I'm happy to be able to virtually celebrate with you. :)
Fabulous carnival--It's going to be so much fun looking over all these great posts over the holidays. Thanks for hosting!
Posted by: aquafortis | December 19, 2008 at 11:22 AM
I'm a little late to the party, what with the last week of school before the holiday break and a sinus infection and all, but I just had to stop by for one more toast to the marvelous Jen Robinson and her fantastic blog and an amazing carnival! HUZZAH!
Posted by: Mary Lee | December 21, 2008 at 06:26 AM
Happy Blogiversary!
Posted by: Lauren Baratz-Logsted | December 21, 2008 at 08:53 AM
I love your blog. I have been searching for a great Children's Literature Blog and now I have found it. I am starting my own blog but I have a long way to go. Congratulations on your anniversary. http://love2readchildrensbooks.blogspot.com/
Posted by: Kifi Kanagy | December 24, 2008 at 07:11 PM
Finally have time to look at this. Amazing. Great job. Thanks for doing this.
Posted by: Jules | December 28, 2008 at 05:58 AM
Like Jules, I finally had some time to spend going through this. What an amazing job you've done, and so many interesting posts! A belated Happy Blogiversary, as well!
Posted by: Sheila Ruth | December 28, 2008 at 08:48 PM
What a feast! I've finally made it and can really enjoy tucking in now - thank you for pulling all this together. And Happy 3rd Blogiversary - here's to the next three years and beyond!
Posted by: Marjorie | December 30, 2008 at 04:13 AM
Thanks so much for the comments (and the contributions of posts in the first place), all. I'm catching back up after 9 days of travel, and your comments make it extra-wonderful to be back.
Happy Happy New Year!! I look forward to another year of talking children's books and reading with you all.
Posted by: Jen Robinson | December 30, 2008 at 12:00 PM