Jen Robinson's Book Page: Sunday Afternoon Visits: April 8

Scaredy Squirrel Makes a Friend: Melanie Watt

Speak: Laurie Halse Anderson

Sunday Afternoon Visits: April 8

April 08, 2007

Happy Easter and Happy Passover! I would say Happy Spring, but I know that a lot of people had snow this weekend, so I'll refrain. It's been a quiet weekend in the Kidlitsophere, between the holidays and various spring breaks. I've been catching up on some book reviews (which I'll be spreading out over the next week or so). But I managed to find a few things for you.

Max Elliot Anderson wrote to me this week about his "action-adventures and mysteries for readers 8 - 13, especially boys... deal(ing) with character issues and ... written from a Christian perspective." I haven't read these books, and they don't sound like quite my thing, but I know that there are people looking for adventure stories for boys and/or for Christian fiction. Therefore, I thought I would bring this series to your attention. You can learn more at Max's website or blog.
New kid lit blogger Lectitans is starting a weekly feature. Every week she'll post a question of the week, inviting other bloggers to respond. This week's question is: "What does it mean to have a thorough knowledge of children's literature?" Elaine M. has already entered a comprehensive response, but I'm sure that Lectitans would love additional feedback.
Jess summarizes some recent salvos in "the lit blog wars", including quotes like this one (from in Chronicle of Higher Education) "the n+1 editors dismiss blogs about books and literature as little more than a publicity tool of the big publishing houses. This broadside has set off a sometimes cranky discussion about the purpose of blogs and the amateurization of literary criticism." This discussion is not specific to kid lit blogs, but may be of interest to those of us who write blog book reviews.
On a much lighter note, check out this post by Bookseller Chick about how she was hit upon by a book-loving three-year-old boy. It's priceless!
I wasn't able to participate in Tracie Zimmer's blog tour for her latest book Reaching for Sun. But I have been enjoying the interviews, by Jo Knowles, MotherReader, Little Willow, Cynthia Lord and Fuse #8.
Tricia linked from The Miss Rumphius Effect to a fascinating speech by Julius Lester. I agree with Tricia that the best part is this: "Only those of us passionately involved with children’s literature seem to understand one simple but profound fact: If we are going to have a nation of literate and articulate people, they have to become avid readers long before they become adults. The child who does not like to read becomes an adult who will not read." The entire speech is well worth reading.
Franki from A Year of Reading asks visitors to share their reading goals.
And, for a diferent sort of sharing, Robin Brande asks visitors to join her in throwing away some mental clutter. What I said was that I'd like to get rid of the mental clutter that I incur by worring ahead of time about things that can't be changed anyway (like upcoming trips).

I am traveling again this week, but I'll get back to you all just as soon as I can. The literacy round-up for the week will probably be late. But, as I mentioned above, I do have some book reviews stored up to post. Wishing you all Spring, soon.

Posted at 12:09 PM in Afternoon Visits | Permalink | Comments (2)

Comments

Max Elliot Anderson wrote to me this week about his "action-adventures and mysteries for readers 8 - 13, especially boys... deal(ing) with character issues and ... written from a Christian perspective." I haven't read these books, and they don't sound like quite my thing, but I know that there are people looking for adventure stories for boys and/or for Christian fiction. Therefore, I thought I would bring this series to your attention. You can learn more at Max's website or blog.
New kid lit blogger Lectitans is starting a weekly feature. Every week she'll post a question of the week, inviting other bloggers to respond. This week's question is: "What does it mean to have a thorough knowledge of children's literature?" Elaine M. has already entered a comprehensive response, but I'm sure that Lectitans would love additional feedback.
Jess summarizes some recent salvos in "the lit blog wars", including quotes like this one (from in Chronicle of Higher Education) "the n+1 editors dismiss blogs about books and literature as little more than a publicity tool of the big publishing houses. This broadside has set off a sometimes cranky discussion about the purpose of blogs and the amateurization of literary criticism." This discussion is not specific to kid lit blogs, but may be of interest to those of us who write blog book reviews.
On a much lighter note, check out this post by Bookseller Chick about how she was hit upon by a book-loving three-year-old boy. It's priceless!
I wasn't able to participate in Tracie Zimmer's blog tour for her latest book Reaching for Sun. But I have been enjoying the interviews, by Jo Knowles, MotherReader, Little Willow, Cynthia Lord and Fuse #8.
Tricia linked from The Miss Rumphius Effect to a fascinating speech by Julius Lester. I agree with Tricia that the best part is this: "Only those of us passionately involved with children’s literature seem to understand one simple but profound fact: If we are going to have a nation of literate and articulate people, they have to become avid readers long before they become adults. The child who does not like to read becomes an adult who will not read." The entire speech is well worth reading.
Franki from A Year of Reading asks visitors to share their reading goals.
And, for a diferent sort of sharing, Robin Brande asks visitors to join her in throwing away some mental clutter. What I said was that I'd like to get rid of the mental clutter that I incur by worring ahead of time about things that can't be changed anyway (like upcoming trips).