13th Carnival of Children's Literature

Step right up! Don't be shy. I'm pleased to welcome you (just a couple of hours early) to the Thirteenth Carnival of Children's Literature. The children's literature carnivals were started by, and continue to be organized and promoted by, author and blogger Melissa Wiley. Susan Thomsen also wrote a very helpful introduction to blog carnivals at Chicken Spaghetti. And special thanks to Alkelda from Saints and Spinners for designing and sending me the following graphic:

As you can see below, blog carnivals highlight the tremendous diversity of the Kidlitosphere. Here we'll start with the kiddie rides/picture books, and move on to more sophisticated fare.

Kiddie Rides (Picture Book Reviews)

• Julee Huy presents Roadsigns (A Harey Race with a Tortoise) posted at Homeschool Daze. As you might expect, this is a review of a picture book about road signs.
• Jennifer, at Snapshot, reviews Goodnight, Sweet Pig while applauding the help that picture books authors give parents as they are trying to convince their children to sleep.

The Ferris Wheel (Middle Grade Reviews)

• DeputyHeadmistress presents Blue Mystery posted at The Common Room. This is a review of an older book written for early middle grade kids.
• Elena LaVictoire presents Little House in the Highlands - A review posted at My Domestic Church. This is a review of one of Melissa Wiley's titles. Elena compares it favorably to Farmer Boy.
• Michelle presents Classic Tales posted at Tonic Gifts. It's more a discussion of The Velveteen Rabbit than an actual review.
• Freelance editor Becky Levine reviews That Girl Lucy Moon, by Amy Timberlake, starting with the always promising sentence: "I loved this book."
• Erin presents Lisa Yee's Millicent Min, Girl Genius at Miss Erin, saying: "Funny, smart, and completely engaging, Millicent Min, Girl Genius is an intriguing coming-of-age story with a unique idea."
• Emily presents Rules by Cynthia Lord posted at Deliciously Clean Reads, a new blog dedicated to wonderful books that happen to be "clean" (free of profanity, etc.). About Rules, Emily says "Cynthia Lord has done an incredible job tackling a heavy topic. The book is laced with both humor and tenderness."
• Henry Cate presents a book review of an early middle grade science fiction title, Tom Swift and His Airship, posted at Why Homeschool. Henry enjoyed the book, despite finding that "this is clearly dated. The science is weak."

The Roller Coaster (Young Adult Reviews)

• Kelly presents a review of Cecil Castellucci's upcoming graphic novel The Plain Janes at Big A little a, saying "I hope that The Plain Janes will put to rest the endless (and fruitless) debate about whether or not graphic novels can be or are as good as "regular books.""
• Becky Laney presents a review of What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones at Becky's Book Reviews, calling the protagonist "an honest and vulnerable narrator whose voice resonates with readers.
• Alyssa F. presents Review: Emma Vol. 1 at The Shady Glade, with a review of a historical graphic novel by Kaoru Mori. She notes that "It really reads more like literature than a graphic novel, and it presents a fairly accurate presentation of Victorian London."
• Gina Ruiz presents a review of Feels Like Home by e. E. Charlton Trujillo at AmoxCalli, calling the story "an interesting and deeply engrossing one with a lot going on."
• Michele reviews Catherine Webb's book The Obsidian Dagger: Being the Further Adventures of Horatio Lyle at Scholar's Blog, calling this sequel "a much darker book than "Horatio Lyle"."

The Merry-Go-Round (Booklists)

• ZG presents Otherness at Midwestern Lodestar. This is a booklist with short reviews, centered around kids who feel like that sense of otherness/disconnectedness.
• Just in time for spring, Jennifer Schultz from The Kiddosphere at Fauquier presents a timely collection of baseball-related books and links.
• Little Willow presents an updated version of her excellent booklist Sleuths and Spies at Bildungsroman. It's a relatively short list of her absolute favorites.
• Els presents The Thump Factor posted at book, book, book, with a short list of books that have both strong plot and emotional impact, adding "I'd love to hear other people's nominations for Thump and non-Thump books."

The Calliope (Poetry)

• In honor of National Poetry Month, and as part of her quest to post something poetry-related every day in April, Kelly Fineman presents a review of HEY YOU!, a poetry collection edited by Paul Janeczko.
• As another poetry-related undertaking, Anne Boles Levy from Book Buds describes a recent poetry reading by Jack Prelutsky, noting the author's "huge repertoire of silly voices."
• Posting at Blue Rose Girls, Elaine Magliaro offers a review of Valerie Worth's new book ANIMAL POEMS and a look at/tribute to Ms. Worth's style of poetry writing. On her own blog, Wild Rose Reader, Elaine submits her Poem a Day #4 Dear Lion, a brief look at two children's poetry books that contain letter poems, and a classroom connection for teachers on writing letter poems with their students. She also has an interview with poet Douglas Florian.
• Author Mitali Perkins writes about "poetry and permissions and the public domain" at Mitali's Fire Escape, in the hopes that some of her research on the topic will be helpful to other bloggers.
• And, in honor of Poetry Friday the 13th, Gregory K. brings us a school poem called Diary of a Bad Week at Gotta Book.

Performance Artists (posts about authors, including interviews and visits, and about writing)

• Mary Lee and Franki from A Year of Reading interview Rose Kent, author of Kimchi and Calamari. Ms. Kent says that the "inspiration (for the book) came wrapped in a diaper and drinking a bottle of soymilk, all the way from South Korea."
• At Chasing Ray, Colleen defends Mary Shelley against accusations that she was "was basically too stupid to have written such a significant book" as Frankenstein, offering a vigorous, point-by-point defense of the Gothic author.
• At Check It Out, Jone (aka MsMac) describes an author visit by Laini Taylor to her school in Lunch with Laini. She includes a shortlist of messages taken home by the fourth and fifth grade students.
• Cynthia Leitich Smith presents Author Interview: Linda Joy Singleton on The Seer series posted at cynsations. Among other things, the post includes background about the Linda Joy Singleton, and her early pen pal/mentorship relationship with the author of the Judy Bolton series.
• Jules & Eisha presents the 19th entry in their Seven Impossible Interviews series, featuring John Green - Printz Winner, Nerd Fighter,WorldSuck Decreaser posted at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast. Be sure to check out the entire series.
• cloudscome presents Jacqueline Woodson on Writing and Home posted at a wrung sponge, drawing parallels between Woodson's reasons for writing, and cloudscome's reasons for (and joy from) blogging, writing haiku and taking pictures of flowers.
• For a critique of some less impressive writing, see what Melissa Wiley has to say about a television show with "seriously dangerous implications for the human race" in Deconstructing Cyberchase at Here in the Bonny Glen.
• And finally, in a post about a different kind of performance, Susan from Chicken Spaghetti presents a guest column by Julie Danielson (aka Jules from 7-Imp) about a children's theater for the deaf in Knoxville, TN.

Fried Dough, Cotton Candy, and Sno Cones (an assortment of KidLit-related fare)

• Michelle presents More Tips for Improving Your Child's Literacy at scribbit, with lots of great suggestions.
• Alkelda from Saints and Spinners presents the first of a new series: Children's Books that Never Were. She's asking other members of the Kidlitosphere to participate, too.
• Wendy has a highly entertaining story about the Kidlitosphere over at Blog from the Windowsill. It's a creative spoof on the Little House books, as well as an introduction to several of the blogs in this area. It's well worth checking out.
• Sam Riddleburger presents The Wizard of Oz Syndrome posted at Sam Riddleburger, in which he fits books to a Wizard of Oz pattern.
• Nancy presents Tripping over Tropes and Pinning down Patterns at Journey Woman. She explores violence in children's books, and other patterns related to the development of heroines.
• Tricia submitted the first part of her Exploring the Natural World series from The Miss Rumphius Effect. She introduces it thus: "In an effort to encourage more teachers and parents to get outside with their kids, I would like to share some of my favorite outdoor explorations with connections to books and indoor extensions." Though she didn't submit it, Part 2 is here.
• Elizabeth Bird presents Hangin' with Carroll's Buds posted at A Fuse #8 Production, in which Betsy describes a meeting with the Lewis Carroll Society of North America.
• Liz B. presents What does it mean to have a "thorough knowledge of children's literature"? at A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy, addressing a question posted at Lectitans.
• alfaking presents When angels break posted at Alfa King Memories, expressing concern about schools, and how they are different now from in the 60s.
• Allen Holman presents the classic song Bingo posted at Classic Kid's Games and Party Games.

The Midway (about Prizes and Awards)

• Heidi Estrin presents The Book of Life, All Shiny and New posted at The Book of Life, saying "This is the January 2007 episode of my podcast, The Book of Life. This show focused on the Sydney Taylor Book Awards for children's literature with Jewish themes and also includes an interview with picture book author Ann Redisch Stampler."
• Alvaro Fernandez presents Brain Essay Contest for High School Students posted at Brain Fitness.
• Liz Garton Scanlon presents Outta the Mouths of Kindergartners posted at Liz In Ink, in which she describes a recent school visit, including the amusing response of one kindergarten boy to her book's award nomination.

And, last but definitely not least, the Entertainers (Humor)

• Pam Coughlan presents The Dinner Preparation Theory posted at MotherReader. Here MotherReader quotes her daughters and their theory on the relationship between her mood and what she prepares for dinner.
• Jay presents Penguin Pride! posted at The Disco Mermaids (Robin - Jay - Eve), saying "Being a Disco Mermaid is a lot of fun...unless you lose a bet. Robin and Eve dared me to spend a day in a penguin suit since I'm always telling them the virtues of being a Penguin author."

And that's enough fun and excitement for one day. I hope that you've enjoyed your stay at the 13th Carnival of Children's Literature. The next carnival will be held at Chicken Spaghetti on Monday, May 21. The deadline for submissions is Thursday,  May 17. The June carnival will be held at A Year of Reading. Be sure to tell your friends.