Jen Robinson's Book Page: Thursday Afternoon Visits: Pre-Vacation Edition

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Thursday Afternoon Visits: Pre-Vacation Edition

July 24, 2008

So last week I did this whole post about how I needed to scale the blog back a bit. Everyone was very supportive. And then, as Charlotte astutely pointed out, I proceeded to post MORE than usual. Partly that was because I already had some of the reviews stored up. And partly because there's just a lot of good energy and discussion going on in the Kidlitosphere this week, and I wanted to be part of it.

But after this post, I'll be taking a blog vacation until August 4th. I'm going to try reading books instead of blogs for a week or so, if I can keep myself out of my Google Reader. I hope to come back recharged and ready for fresh discussions. Meanwhile, here are some links to keep you occupied:

This week, Colleen Mondor suggested that people step onto their various soapboxes and discuss issues related to children's and young adult literature. There have been far too many interesting posts for me to list them all here, but Colleen is keeping track in this post at Chasing Ray. There is seriously a week's worth of reading linked in that one post. See also Terry's post about The Literacy Competition at The Reading Tub's blog, What Happens Next (and while you're there, check out Terry's latest Reading News post).
One issue that I did want to address here was reported by Liz B. at Tea Cozy, Carlie at Librarilly Blonde, and Sarah from The Reading Zone. Apparently, Anne of Green Gables scholar Trinna Frever said (this is an abridgment - click through for the full quote): "The literary smart girl is still showing up in literature, but she's often the sidekick... It is a reflection of a culture that's placing less value on intelligence, and also treating intelligence as a stigmatized quality." Which is just ridiculous - there are tons of smart, spunky girls in modern literature. You can find many on my Cool Girls of Children's Literature list (where you'll also find Anne, of course). That list hasn't been updated since 2006, and is clearly due for some additions.
There were a few nice book lists published this week. Camille has a list of saying goodnight books at BookMoot. Els shares various mouse books (and why she thinks they appeal) at Librarian Mom. Kiera shares historical fiction that doesn't seem like historical fiction at Library Voice. And finally, Cynthia Leitich Smith recently published a list of children's and YA science fiction novels.
Jenny at Read. Imagine. Talk. offers a defense of television. She concludes: "I understand why television would be harmful if it was the entertainment all of the time, if kids watched t.v. to the exclusion of doing anything else. But I'm okay with the way we watch in our house... whether the studies say I should be or not."
Becky from Becky's Book Reviews has turned her online book discussion group into a Google Group. You can find the details here.
Via Michele from Scholar's Blog, there's a nice post on helping children learn to read at Suite 101. The article, by Tamar Wyschogrod concludes "If you take the time to share the reading experience, you'll raise a child who loves to read -- and the quality time you'll spend in the process is its own reward."
Jone shares KidLit Conference Jeopardy at Check It Out. Go read. It will make you want to go to the conference even more than you already do.
Jill Tullo from The Well-Read Child was recently interviewed at 5 Minutes for Mom. Which I think is great for Jill, and also great in the interest of helping more people from outside of the Kidlitosphere learn about some of the KidLit blogs.
To close out, here are a couple of children's literacy links. Macy's and RIF have launched a 2008 children's literacy campaign. JumpStart has announced their upcoming Read for the Record on October 2nd (via the International Reading Association blog). PBS has a new television show called Toddling Toward Reading (also via the IRA blog and Reading Rockets) that sounds fun. And toddler literacy has sparked a controversy in Great Britain. More details are available in the Times.

And that's it for today. I wish you all well over the next week or so, and I'll be back on the 4th.

Posted at 09:57 PM in Afternoon Visits, Newsletter | Permalink | Comments (8)

Comments

This week, Colleen Mondor suggested that people step onto their various soapboxes and discuss issues related to children's and young adult literature. There have been far too many interesting posts for me to list them all here, but Colleen is keeping track in this post at Chasing Ray. There is seriously a week's worth of reading linked in that one post. See also Terry's post about The Literacy Competition at The Reading Tub's blog, What Happens Next (and while you're there, check out Terry's latest Reading News post).
One issue that I did want to address here was reported by Liz B. at Tea Cozy, Carlie at Librarilly Blonde, and Sarah from The Reading Zone. Apparently, Anne of Green Gables scholar Trinna Frever said (this is an abridgment - click through for the full quote): "The literary smart girl is still showing up in literature, but she's often the sidekick... It is a reflection of a culture that's placing less value on intelligence, and also treating intelligence as a stigmatized quality." Which is just ridiculous - there are tons of smart, spunky girls in modern literature. You can find many on my Cool Girls of Children's Literature list (where you'll also find Anne, of course). That list hasn't been updated since 2006, and is clearly due for some additions.
There were a few nice book lists published this week. Camille has a list of saying goodnight books at BookMoot. Els shares various mouse books (and why she thinks they appeal) at Librarian Mom. Kiera shares historical fiction that doesn't seem like historical fiction at Library Voice. And finally, Cynthia Leitich Smith recently published a list of children's and YA science fiction novels.
Jenny at Read. Imagine. Talk. offers a defense of television. She concludes: "I understand why television would be harmful if it was the entertainment all of the time, if kids watched t.v. to the exclusion of doing anything else. But I'm okay with the way we watch in our house... whether the studies say I should be or not."
Becky from Becky's Book Reviews has turned her online book discussion group into a Google Group. You can find the details here.
Via Michele from Scholar's Blog, there's a nice post on helping children learn to read at Suite 101. The article, by Tamar Wyschogrod concludes "If you take the time to share the reading experience, you'll raise a child who loves to read -- and the quality time you'll spend in the process is its own reward."
Jone shares KidLit Conference Jeopardy at Check It Out. Go read. It will make you want to go to the conference even more than you already do.
Jill Tullo from The Well-Read Child was recently interviewed at 5 Minutes for Mom. Which I think is great for Jill, and also great in the interest of helping more people from outside of the Kidlitosphere learn about some of the KidLit blogs.
To close out, here are a couple of children's literacy links. Macy's and RIF have launched a 2008 children's literacy campaign. JumpStart has announced their upcoming Read for the Record on October 2nd (via the International Reading Association blog). PBS has a new television show called Toddling Toward Reading (also via the IRA blog and Reading Rockets) that sounds fun. And toddler literacy has sparked a controversy in Great Britain. More details are available in the Times.

And that's it for today. I wish you all well over the next week or so, and I'll be back on the 4th.