A Carnival, and a Bunch of Sidekicks

Mheir and I have just returned from a relaxing weekend of wine-tasting in Napa and Sonoma, with our ever-entertaining friends from Houston. I'm hoping to catch up with what's going on at some of the other blogs, but there are two things that I want to bring to your attention now:

• Sheila Ruth has posted the Seventh Carnival of Children's Literature over at Wands and Worlds. She's chosen a lovely harvest theme, and brings us a healthy crop of posts about children's literature. These carnivals are a great chance to revisit favorite posts from other sites, and to learn about new sites, too. I look forward to diving in further!
• Little Willow over at Bildungsroman has started a new children's literature list (to join the cool girls, cool boys, librarians, cool teachers, wicked women, and great antagonists): Sassy Sidekicks of Children's Literature. The idea is to give some attention to the best friends and siblings and neighbors of the main characters, the ones who support our heroes, and give greater depth to their stories. Head on our to see the list so far (be sure to read the comments) and to suggest your favorite sidekicks. (Incidentally, I do owe you all updated lists of Cool Boys and Cool Girls, to take into account recent suggestions! Hopefully my travel schedule will allow me to do that soon.)

Happy Reading!