People Just Love Talking About Books

I'm off on a short trip, but I leave you with these links of potential interest, and some picture book reviews that will post over the next few days.

• J. L. Bell has a post about The Bounds of Fantasy over at Oz and Ends. He proposes a broader definition of fantasy, with four sub-groupings, and examples for each. I found this interesting because I have a strong preference for two of the categories that he lists relative to the other two. I prefer either "Protagonist travels from our familiar world to a separate fantastic world " or "Protagonist learns that the familiar world holds hidden dimensions and depths", but the other two don't interest me as much. What about you? How do you like your fantasy?
• Congratulations to Annette Simon for Mocking Birdies being named an ABC 2006 Best Book for Children by the Association of Booksellers for Children. According to Anne at Book Buds, Annette credited the kidlitosphere for their support in obtaining this nomination. I completely agree with Anne that "Annette earned that honor all by her clever self, and I'm happy I got a peek at her work before the rest of the world caught on." But I am very happy for her!
• Colleen Mondor has a new column up over at Bookslut. This month she discusses books about war aimed at teens. She starts with some comments about why teens in particular, today, need books about war, and proceeds with several insightful reviews. Don't miss it! Thanks to Kelly at Big A little a for the link.
• The Ninth Carnival of Children's Literature will be held at A Readable Feast. Anne-Marie has chosen for her theme a question: "What are you thankful for in children's literature?" Submissions are due November 20th, and the Carnival will be held Thanksgiving Day. Isn't that a great idea? Personally, I'm thankful for the mere existence of children's literature. But I'm sure I can think of something more to say about it.
• Along similar lines, MsMac over at Check It Out asks "Which books would make your thankful list?" (books that you are thankful for). I told her that I thought it would be easier to make a list of books I'm not thankful for. But I named three.
• LitLove offers a love in over at Tales from the Reading Room. Specifically, for book bloggers who are feeling out of sorts for one reason or another, she offers "a reminder of some of the fine life strategies that excessive pleasure gained from reading can provide you with."
• Nancy lists her comfort books over at Journey Woman (inspired by The Magic of Books post that I mentioned on Sunday).
• On a more contrary note, Betsy at A Fuse #8 Production has started a new discussion topic. She asks: "Were there books you knew of as a kid that just didn't do anything for you, in spite of your fellow preschool brethern's adoration?" There is much feedback in the comments. bookshelves of doom and Big A little a have also taken up the topic, and expanded it from preschool books to include other classics.

Boy, we kidlitosphere types can talk about books all day, can't we? Books we love, books we don't love, why we love them, and how reading the books affects us. Isn't it great? Have an excellent weekend!