Growing Bookworms Newsletter: January 11

Today I will be sending out the new issue of the Growing Bookworms email newsletter. (If you would like to subscribe, you can find a sign-up form here.) The Growing Bookworms newsletter contains content from my blog focused on children's and young adult books and raising readers. There are 1636 subscribers. Currently I am sending the newsletter out once every three weeks (though it's four this time because of the holidays).

Newsletter Update: In this issue I am including three book reviews (one early reader and two adult nonfiction titles about raising readers). I also have one post with the mid-December Children's Literacy Roundup, a post about my seven year blogging anniversary, and two posts with links that I shared on Twitter.

I also posted ten picture book reviews over the past four weeks. Since this seemed like too many to include, I am listing them here. You can use the following links to view them if you are interested. I'll have more middle grade and young adult reviews coming soon. 

• Santa on the Loose: A Seek and Solve Mystery by Bruce Hale & Dave Garbot
• The Christmas Quiet Book by Deborah Underwood and Renata Liwska
• The Fox in the Dark by Alison Green & Deborah Allwright
• Hide and Seek by Il Sung Na
• Lemonade in Winter by Emily Jenkins & G. Brian Karas
• Who Pushed Humpty Dumpty? by David Levinthal & John Nickle
• Splat Says Thank You (Splat the Cat) by Rob Scotton
• The Man from the Land of Fandango by Margaret Mahy and Polly Dunbar
• Oh No, George! by Chris Haughton
• Small Bunny's Blue Blanket by Tatyana Feeney

Also not included in the newsletter as separate posts, but important to mention, are two things:

1. The Cybils shortlists were announced on January 1st. These fabulous lists of kid-friendly, well-written books, available in 10 categories, are one of the best resources the Kidlitosphere has to offer. I'm a second round judge in Fiction Picture Books, and already know that we have our work cut out for us identifying the "best" of the seven fine titles on the shortlist. 
2. The end of 2012 Children's Literacy and Reading News Roundup was posted by Carol Rasco at Quietly last week. I didn't have a chance to pull highlights for you, but I do hope that you'll click through to see the many stories that Carol found to wrap up the year. Terry Doherty will be back with the mid-January roundup soon at The Family Bookshelf. 

Reading Update: In the past 4 weeks, I finished 3 novels for middle grade readers, 11 novels for young adults, and 2 novels for adults. I read:  

• Robin Brande: Replay. Young Adult. Ryer Publishing. 
• John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle: Let It Snow.  Reviewed (previously) here.
• Janet Evanovich: Notorious Nineteen (A Stephanie Plum novel). Bantam Adult. Completed December 5, 2012, on MP3.
• Ransom Riggs: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. Middle Grade. Quirk.
• Patricia Reilly Giff: Gingersnap. Middle Grade. Wendy Lamb Books.
• Jennifer L. Holm and Matt Holm: Babymouse #17: Extreme Babymouse. Middle Grade. Random House.
• Lin Oliver and Theo Baker: Sound Bender #2: The Shadow Mask. Young Adult. Scholastic. 
• Caroline B. Cooney: Janie Face to Face (Janie Johnson). Young Adult. Delacorte Press. 
• Caroline B. Cooney: What Janie Found (Janie Johnson). Young Adult. Random House. 
• Caroline B. Cooney: The Voice on the Radio (Janie Johnson). Young Adult. Random House. 
• T. Jefferson Parker: Storm Runners. Adult. Harper.
• Caroline B. Cooney: Whatever Happened to Janie? (Janie Johnson). Young Adult. Random House. 
• Saundra Mitchell: Shadowed Summer. Young Adult. Delacorte Press. 
• Diana Peterfreund: For Darkness Shows the Stars. Young Adult. Balzer + Bray.
• Ally Carter: Heist Society. Young Adult. Hyperion.
• Caroline B. Cooney: The Face on the Milk Carton (Janie Johnson). Young Adult. Random House.

Several of the above were vacation reads, and I don't plan to review them. Reviews for others will be coming over the next few weeks. I'm recovering from pneumonia, and my ability to write new reviews has taken a bit of a hit. But, as you can see, I have gotten in a fair bit of reading time :-)

I'm currently reading Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. I'm still listening to The Black Box by Michael Connelly (a Harry Bosch novel), but expect to finish it tonight and start the third Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place book by Maryrose Wood. 

And of course I'm still reading books to Baby Bookworm. She's currently in love with Barbara Lehman's Trainstop (reviewed previously here) and Tatyana Feeney's Small Bunny's Blue Blanket. She likes to "read" Goodnight Gorilla to herself, and say all of the "Goodnights" aloud. We had a recent plane trip, and made quite a few references to Mo Willems' Knuffle Bunny Free. We're also continuing to dabble in Willems' Elephant & Piggie books.

How about you? What have you and your kids been reading and enjoying? Did you receive any good books as holiday gifts?

Thanks for reading the newsletter, and for growing bookworms. I hope that you are all off to a fabulous 2013.

© 2013 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved.