Sunday Afternoon Visits: June 24

It's been a fairly quiet weekend in the Kidlitosphere, because a lot of people are in Washington at ALA. And I took yesterday off from the blog, because this weekend is the 20th anniversary of Mheir's and my first date (we were very young - teenagers even), and we've been celebrating and reminiscing. However, I've been saving up posts of interest all week, and I have a bunch of links for you.

• ScholarlyBrio interviews the Readergirlz divas. Besides background questions about Readergirlz, the interview also includes a general soundtrack for Readergirlz.
• Robin Brande announces the date for her real-world Kidlitosphere potluck, to be held in Chicago on October 6th. Robin also suggests that people try to live naturally, as inspired by a 3 1/2 year old girl, asking "Don’t you ever wonder what it would be like to return to your roots as a 3 1/2-year-old and have chocolate milk and naptime and a few fish sticks if that’s what takes your fancy?" Her post inspired Jason Kotecki to write about this topic at Escape Adulthood, where he gives us all permission to act like kids, and eat fish sticks.
• And, while we're on the subject of Escape Adulthood, check out Kim Kotecki's post about a prescription for reducing stress. It's very simple: get enough sleep and exercise regularly. I'm working on that, myself, and I agree that it helps.
• Jennifer has started a Read Together mission for summer at Snapshot, which she would like to be "an encouragement to those of you who are looking to connect with your kids. Reading a book together is a wonderful way to open the door to discussions, to find out what makes them laugh, what makes them angry, or what they don't quite understand." She's chosen a topic that's near and dear to my heart (see my post from last year on this topic here). I think that Jennifer's Read Together mission is a great thing, and I hope that tons of people will participate. See also her list of recommended books to read together. You can use auto-links to sign up here.
• Sherry shares her 10-year-old son's summer reading list at Semicolon. It's quite diverse, from The Mouse and the Motorcycle to Stormbreaker. Sherry also lists some summer reading programs.
• Shrinking Violet Promotions has a conference survival guide for introverts (which writers often are). They note: "writer’s conferences are hundreds of writers getting together and pretending they’re extroverts. All that pretending and socializing depletes our energy meters way fast. If we’re not careful, we can find ourselves running on empty by the end of the first day of a four day conference."
• Over at Big A little a, Kelly has an important announcement, and a bit of a feminist rant, about an upcoming companion book to The Dangerous Book for Boys. This one is called The Daring Book for Girls, to include "chapters on 'Five karate moves every girl should know' and 'Famous women spies.'" I personally will accept "Daring" instead of "Dangerous", because, after all, most girls are smart enough to know the difference. And I wish Kelly a great blog vacation for the next week or so.
• YA Authors Cafe has an interesting discussion going on, inspired by a question from our own Little Willow, asking "Why do you read? Do you look for books that are similar to YOUR life or vastly different?" Personally, I read because I love stories, in any and all forms.
• The Carnegie and Kate Greenway Medals were just awarded in the UK (these are like our Newbery and Caldecott awards). Meg Rosoff won the Carnegie for Just in Case. Mini Grey won the Kate Greenway for The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon. I haven't read either, but I've heard great things. Also, Philip Pullman won the Carnegie of Carnegies, the Great Book award, for Northern Lights (published as The Golden Compass in the US), named the best children's book published in 70 years. (Via Big A little a, and others)
• And, for a more cynical perspective on an award-winning author, check out Anne's post at Book Buds about Children's Poet Laureate Jack Prelutsky. She notes: "My husband figures the guy's close to retiring and is building his bank account. I'd rather finger our whole branding culture that, sadly, has nothing to do with hot irons and everything to do with the stupifying -- and stupid-making -- effects of mass marketing." I also wish Anne a great vacation from blogging this week.
• Via the Orlando Sentinel Parenting Blog (and with thanks to Sandra Pedicini), "Cheerios invites previously unpublished adult authors to submit their story for a children's book", aimed at four to eight year olds. Winners will receive prizes, and a chance for publication by Simon & Schuster.
• Via Tasha from Kids Lit, I learned of a mother who came up with the Anti-Princess Reading List, "a collection of picture books that feature strong girls in lead roles. Her site also offers books that feature working mothers and book for babies."
• Congratulations to Mitali Perkins and SparrowBlog for dramatically increased traffic this week. It seems that Elizabeth Edwards commented on a post that Sparrow made about a joke by Presidential candidate-daughter Emma Claire, prompting attention by the mainstream press.
• In case you missed it before, HipWriterMama recaps her favorite post, about the struggles of her younger sister, who has "a rare inflammatory muscle disease called dermatomyositis." It's sad, but also inspirational.

And that's enough for one day, though I haven't caught up on all the weekend posts. I'll be back with more early in the week. I also got four picture book reviews written today, which will be forthcoming this week. I'm going to try to get on a more regular schedule for writing reviews. I love writing them, but when I fall behind, and have, say, 10 that I need to write, I get a bit stressed out. But I hope to stay more on top of them in the future. A happy week to all!