Jen Robinson's Book Page

Links I Shared on Twitter this Week: May 30

Here are highlights from the links that I shared on Twitter this week @JensBookPage. There are a few links from last week, too, shared from my iPad while I was on vacation in Disney World. Topics this week include authors, book lists and awards, common core, diversity, events, growing bookworms, reading, publishing, schools, libraries, and summer reading.

Authors

Henry Winkler: I love acting but I am proudest of my books - @TelegraphBooks http://ow.ly/xmNSB via @PWKidsBookshelf

12 Charming Tidbits About Beverly Cleary | Mental Floss via @bkshelvesofdoom http://goo.gl/Db5nMs #kidlit

Book Lists and Awards

As Easy as ABC: Awards, Best Sellers, and Critical Thinking by @gregpincus http://goo.gl/UAAJPU

Kirkus Reviews unveils three $50,000 book prizes (for fiction, nonfiction, and #kidlit) http://ow.ly/xoTaovia @bkshelvesofdoom

Ten Dystopian Visions for middle grade readers, some classic some new, at Views From the Tesseract http://ow.ly/xmSqh #kidlit

Damian Dibben's top 10 time travel books | @GuardianBooks via @tashrow http://ow.ly/xjUgM #kidlit

Interesting! Top Ten List: Favorite Postmodern Picture Books by Frank Serafini @nerdybookclub http://goo.gl/c9lTMY #kidlit

Killers in Plain Sight: Five Stories about Assassins in High School @bkshelvesofdoom http://goo.gl/80hEuM #yalit

So You Want To Read Middle Grade: Natalie Aguirre on upper middle grade #kidlit @greenbeanblog http://goo.gl/8WRC6T

YA Gets Nordic: Seven Stories with Roots in Norse Mythology from @bkshelvesofdoom http://goo.gl/O2QRoK #yalit

A Tuesday Ten: London Calling . . . | Speculative #kidlit set in London | Views From the Tesseract http://goo.gl/5TRX3v

3 YA Novels To Help Us Remember Our Nigerian Girls @mitaliperkins http://goo.gl/nXDsp1

15 books that should be the next Percy Jackson from @book_nut http://ow.ly/3kFTAy #kidlit

Common Core

Part One: Developing Your Nonfiction Reading Aptitude by Sue Bartle at The Uncommon Corps http://goo.gl/m4oB5p #commoncore

Beyond the Backmatter: Nonfiction Equivalents of Bonus Features and Director Commentary at The Uncommon Core http://goo.gl/45sIvh

Diversity

30 Diverse YA Titles To Get On Your Radar from @catagator @bookriot http://ow.ly/xoUr1 #WeNeedDiverseBooks #yalit

Thursday Three: Diverse Picture Books suggested by @MotherReader http://goo.gl/A96Hsv

For Armchair BEA, @MsYingling shares a list of books for kids about other cultures http://ow.ly/xoTHk #WeNeedDiverseBooks #kidlit

How To Get People To Care: Anatomy Of A Trending Hashtag, #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign @FastCompany http://ow.ly/xmD0i @PWKidsBookshelf

Where Are All The Fat Girls In Literature? | Mariko Tamaki in @HuffPostBooks http://ow.ly/xkbwt via @PWKidsBookshelf

It's Not Me, It's You: Letting Go of the Status Quo | Zetta Elliott @HuffPostBooks http://ow.ly/xkaUJ via @SheilaRuth #diversity

Diversity in Children's Books: Moving From Outcry to Real, Market-Driven Solutions | Kyle Zimmer @FirstBook @HuffPost http://ow.ly/xjUln

The Great Greene Heist goes on sale today! Have you taken the Great Greeene Challenge? @haleshannon http://ow.ly/xjTwg @varianjohnson

Events, Programs and Research

Activities for Children's Book Week 2014 suggestions from @BookChook http://goo.gl/LjsVS1

Read with your ears! Free SYNC audiobooks this summer, starting now! | @BooksYALove http://ow.ly/xjYKR

It's time for The Sixth Annual Book-a-Day Challenge from @donalynbooks http://goo.gl/PFqkBw #bookaday

Central Ohio Blogger Breakfast to Kick Off to 48 Hour Read and Book-A-Day @FrankiSibberson #bookaday #48hbc http://goo.gl/GuDSL1

Successful Brains, on the behavior differences between successful people and not from @tashrow http://goo.gl/8rK7sd

Growing Bookworms

When Imagination, Story & Creativity Work As One by @TrevorHCairney http://goo.gl/xEFYwm #literacy

Create a reading culture, make sure you are not perpetuating" gender stereotypes, writes Stacy Dillon http://goo.gl/XD4i1t

Good advice! Chris Evans: parents must read to their children, in @TelegraphArts http://ow.ly/xoM7F via @librareanne

The progression of her sons as readers by @katsok and how to create the next generation of @NerdyBookClub members http://ow.ly/xmwtR

"The best thing we can do to ensure our boys are reading ... is to get to know each child" @katsok on boys + reading http://ow.ly/xjTJm

On building a reading culture | We’re All In This Together by Emily Meixner @NerdyBookClub http://goo.gl/vUn4y1

Kidlitosphere

RT @RosemondCates Check out the fabulous @JensBookPage on http://www.bighairandbooks.blogspot.com  #spotlightsaturday

On Reading, Writing, and Publishing

"why do we keep judging readers who don’t have the privilege of buying ... books from a (physical) store?" @catagator http://ow.ly/xoUWM

At The Uncommon Corps, Marc Aronson explores the question of what we mean by "pleasure reading" http://ow.ly/xmvh1

Define "Reading", @catagator responds to recent studies about people reading less, questions definition of readinghttp://ow.ly/xjYEs

Fun! Putting Your Book in Your Book — @100scopenotes (on illustrators including call-backs to their own work) http://ow.ly/xmw26

A refreshing primer from @tlt16 | Dear Media, Let me help you write that article on #YAlit http://ow.ly/xkbiY via @PWKidsBookshelf

MAKING OUR OWN MARKET: Why I Leaped into Print-on-Demand and Ebook Publishing by Carole Boston Weatherford | http://ow.ly/xmvH8

On ‘The John Green Effect,’ Contemporary Realism, and Form as a Political Act by Anne Ursu http://goo.gl/Tkt2UK via @bkshelvesofdoom

Schools and Libraries

Can teachers read books only for pleasure or do they think about teaching? Both. by Amanda Jaksetic @nerdybookclub http://goo.gl/pEDT0U

Another sigh! School Librarians Get No Love in Allentown School District (1 librarian for 15 elem dists) | @sljournal http://ow.ly/xmDgH

Sigh! California’s Modesto City Schools To End Library Instruction for Elementary Schools | @sljournal http://ow.ly/xk5Fa

Summer Reading

IndieBound has released recommended#SummerReading #kidlit. @tashrow shares the top ten, w/ links to more http://ow.ly/xoSS8

#SummerReading List: Books, Resources and Programs by @momandkiddo http://goo.gl/UJI80R

© 2014 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved. You can also follow me @JensBookPage or at my Growing Bookworms page on Facebook.

The Big Book of Slumber: Giovanna Zoboli & Simona Mulazzani

Book: The Big Book of Slumber
Author: Giovanna Zoboli
Illustrator: Simona Mulazzani
Pages: 26
Age Range:3-6

The Big Book of Slumber is as advertised. It's an over-size picture book sure to make any young listener feel cozily sleepy. Giovanna Zoboli's rhyming text, translated from Italian by Antony Shugaar, is soothing and full of whimsey, while Simona Mulazzani's detailed illustrations will reward repeat readings. The premise of The Big Book of Slumber is that a wide range of animals are going to sleep. Most of them are tucked into human-like beds, with blankets and pillows, though a few remain in their natural habitats. Like this:

"Dolphin and tuna have turned out the light.
Nanny goat's tucking kids in for the night.

Rooster and hen are already sleeping --
so why are those baby chicks still up and cheeping?"

The page spread shows the dolphin and tuna underwater, eyes closed. A nanny goat tucks eight baby goats into separate beds, neatly lined up on a lawn. A chicken and rooster nod inside a hen house next door, while a dozen yellow chicks roam about the page. 

On another page, several puppies are tucked into bed together, while two camels lie in bunk-beds, with "a moonlit oasis right over their heads",complete with sand and palm trees, right there on the top bunk. There is definitely a surreal feel to the book. But Mulazzani's illustrations are not fuzzy and dream-like, they are clearly defined, despite their quirky content. 

This will be a fun book for kids, I think, with lots of animals, big and small, to look for on each page (most but not all referenced in the text). I found the text to be rhythmic without being sing-songy, positively calling out to be read aloud. As an adult, I prefer books that have more plot than this one (which is basically a series of collections of sleeping animals, no narrative). But I think that it will make my daughter laugh, while also helping her to calm down for sleep. And that's a winning combination. This one is going in our bedtime reading pile for sure. 

Publisher: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers (@EBYR)
Publication Date: April 18 2014
Source of Book: Review copy from the publisher

FTC Required Disclosure:

This site is an Amazon affiliate, and purchases made through Amazon links (including linked book covers) may result in my receiving a small commission (at no additional cost to you).

© 2014 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved. You can also follow me @JensBookPage or at my Growing Bookworms page on Facebook. 

Literacy Milestone: Making Up Stories

My daughter had a new little literacy milestone last night. I was reading to her in bed when she rejected the pile of available books. She instead pretended to hand me an invisible book, and said that I could read it by looking at the shadow of the words. I was a bit taken aback, but I started with "Once upon a time," and paused. She then chimed in with her idea for a story (involving two sisters who were serially kidnapped by a witch, and then had to rescue one another).

I would take over when she seemed to run dry, and then she would pick the narrative up again when I next paused. The story bore certain elements of Moldylocks and the Three Beards, as well as the movie Frozen (seemingly ubiquitous in homes with preschoolers these days). Other ideas, well, I'm not sure where they came from. I wish I had the whole thing on video, but I was caught off guard, and didn't have a chance. 

I am sure that there will be other opportunities, because my daughter, who turned four in April, was positively giddy with the fun of making up her own stories. I eventually had to steer her back towards the printed books (the non-invisible ones), because she was getting too wound up to be able to sleep. What I loved most about the whole thing was that the storytelling was completely instigated and led by her - I was just going with the flow. Definitely a fun stop on our pathway to literacy.

© 2014 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved. You can also follow me @JensBookPage or at my Growing Bookworms page on Facebook. This site is an Amazon affiliate.

Growing Bookworms Newsletter: May 28

Today I will be sending out a 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. I usually send the newsletter out every two weeks. However, I've just returned from vacation, and so have a three week interval this time. 

Newsletter Update: In this issue I have seven book reviews (picture book and young adult) and three posts with links that I shared on Twitter recently (including a separate roundup dedicated to the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign). Not included in the newsletter, I posted:

• A news release about the 2014 Eric Carle Honors selections; and
• An announcement about the 8th Annual Kidlitosphere Conference.

Reading Update: In the last three weeks I read one middle grade, one young adult and five adult books. This is not my typical reading breakdown, but as I was on a computer-free vacation, I wanted to read books that I would not feel obligated to review (and that were available on Kindle). I read:

• P. J. Hoover: Tut: The Story of My Immortal Life. Starscape. Middle Grade. Completed May 10, 2014 (printed ARC). Review to come, closer to publication.
• William Campbell Powell: Expiration Day. Tor Teen. Young Adult. Completed May 10, 2014, on Kindle. My review.
• Daniel Suarez: Influx. Dutton. Adult Fiction. Completed May 11, 2014, on MP3. This is an interesting near-future thriller about a secret government organization that hides (and steals) technological innovations. 
• Meg Cabot: Size 12 Is Not Fat. William Morrow. Adult Mystery. Completed May 16, 2014, on Kindle (library copy). This is the first book in Cabot's Heather Wells series, adult mysteries featuring a former teen pop star who is the size of the average woman. 
• Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner: Think Like a Freak. William Morrow. Adult Nonfiction. Completed May 24, 2014, on Kindle. This is a follow-on book to Freakonomics and Superfreakonomics. Instead of giving interesting examples of data-driven conclusions, however, Think Like A Freak is about teaching the reader to think in an experimental manner. 
• Sue Grafton: V is for Vengeance. Putnam. Adult Mystery. Completed May 24, 2014, on Kindle (library copy).
• Maeve Binchy: Chestnut Street. Knopf. Adult Fiction. Completed May 27, 2014, on MP3. This is truly Binchy's last book, a collection of short stories that she wrote over the years, all featuring people who live on the same Dublin Street. Her husband gathered them for publication after her death. I am not generally a fan of short stories (I need long, complex plots and extended time with characters to hold my attention), but I enjoyed listening to these. 

I'm currently reading The Great Greene Heist by Varian Johnson in print and All Joy and No Fun by Jennifer Senior on Kindle. I'm listening to Any Other Name by Craig Johnson (a Walt Longmire mystery).

We haven't been reading to Baby Bookworm as much as I would have liked these days. We took books on our trip, of course, but we've had a lot of long days (we were in Disney World), and she has conked out early on several nights. As you might imagine, I was thrilled when the first thing she asked to do with her babysitter yesterday (our first day back in our regular routine) was read a book. I also found Moldylocks and the Three Beards extremely helpful in keeping myself calm during an interminable wait at Hertz.  

What are you and your family reading these days? Thanks for reading the newsletter, and for growing bookworms. 

© 2014 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved. You can also follow me @JensBookPage or at my Growing Bookworms page on Facebook. 

Yeti, Turn Out the Light! Greg Long, Chris Edmundson & Wednesday Kirwan

Book: Yeti, Turn Out the Light!
Author: Greg Long & Chris Edmundson
Illustrator: Wednesday Kirwan
Pages: 36
Age Range: 3-5

Yeti, Turn Out the Light! gives a very light touch to the issue of kids who are afraid of shadows in their rooms. Yeti is sleepy. He gets ready for bed, but once in bed he tosses and turns because he is frightened of odd shadows in his room. The odd shadows are each shown, in various page spreads, to be something completely harmless (but odd enough to generate a suspicious shadow). Three bunnies, a deer with three birds on its antlers, an owl sitting on a bear's head, drinking some tea. I each case, the shadow is quite frightening, while the reality is quirky but not at all scary. In the end, Yeti is able to send all of his shadow-generating friends home, and get a good night of sleep. 

The rhyming text of Yeti, Turn Out the Light! is catchy and also demonstrates apt vocabulary. This is a book that I can imagine happily reading to my daughter over and over again. Here are a couple of examples:

"So Yeti heads home, eats his dinner, and flosses.
Then he snuggles into bed, but he turns and he tosses."

"Why?" you may ask.
Well I'll tell you, my dear.
Yeti sees shadows 
dart rightfully near."

I love a book that can use "dart." Another example uses "wary" to rhyme with "scary." Well-done, I say. 

Kirwan's digitally generated images feature a not-so-attractive blue and white Yeti figure. The various animal creatures that Yeti discovers in his house have huge, jewel-like eyes, and an exaggerated sweetness that provides contrast with the homely Yeti. The shadows are masterful, managing to look menacing, despite fitting in well with their ordinary shadow-generators.

The whole story is contrived, of course. Why would there be a deer with three birds on its antlers sneaking into Yeti's house in the middle of the night? But it's that very absurdity that I think will make this book work with shadow-leery preschoolers. Yeti, Turn Out the Light! is the opposite of a didactic book that tells kids not to be scared of shadows. Instead, Yeti shows kids, repeatedly and humorously, that the shadows might well be something benign. I am looking forward to trying this book out on my own preschooler. I expect it to find a place in our regular night-time picture book rotation. Recommended for home and library use. 

Publisher: Chronicle Books 
Publication Date: August 27, 2013
Source of Book: Review copy from the publisher

FTC Required Disclosure:

This site is an Amazon affiliate, and purchases made through Amazon links (including linked book covers) may result in my receiving a small commission (at no additional cost to you).

© 2014 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved. You can also follow me @JensBookPage or at my Growing Bookworms page on Facebook. 

Socks! Tania Sohn

Book: Socks!
Author: Tania Sohn
Pages: 36
Age Range: 3-7 (small format picture book)

Socks! is a charming little picture book by Tania Sohn about the joy that young children take in their their socks. Socks! features a young Korean girl and her gray cat. On each page, with minimal text, the girl celebrates a different kind of socks. Like this:

"I love socks!
Socks with polka dots,

and socks with stripes.

Green socks so I can hop...

... and yellow socks so I can play."

The above text spans three page spreads. In each, the girl dances about with her cat, and wears a different pair of socks. The "so I can play" accompanies a picture of a bunch of soccer players, each shown from the stomach down. The cat pokes between what we suspect are the protagonist's legs. 

The final pair of socks are "Beoseon! Treaditional Korean socks, from Grandma." Up until that point, though the girl is Korean in her features, the book could be set anywhere.

Sohn's illustrations are what make the book. The girl's joy in her various pairs of socks leaps from the page. We see the texture of the cat, and of the girl's hair, and of the various backgrounds, like the grass of the soccer field. My favorite illustration is one where the girl peeks through a doorway at "Christmas socks!" (stockings). We only see her from behind here, but her posture conveys her giddy excitement. 

Socks! is a quick read, but one that preschoolers everywhere (especially girls) will appreciate. Socks! is an import from South Korea. It is available from Usborne Books, but is not available on Amazon. I do hope that libraries find it, however, because it is a tiny gem of a book. I can't wait to share it with my daughter, who gleefully showed off her new socks to me earlier today. 

 

Publisher:  Kane Miller
Publication Date: 2014
Source of Book: Review copy from the publisher

FTC Required Disclosure:

This site is an Amazon affiliate, and purchases made through Amazon links (including linked book covers) may result in my receiving a small commission (at no additional cost to you).

© 2014 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved. You can also follow me @JensBookPage or at my Growing Bookworms page on Facebook. 

Secrets of the Apple Tree: Carron Brown & Alyssa Nassner

Book: Secrets of the Apple Tree: A Shine-A-Light Book
Authors: Carron Brown & Alyssa Nassner
Pages: 36
Age Range: 4-8

Secrets of the Apple Tree is an informational text that uses the "Shine-A-Light" technology to make learning fun for kids. It starts out by showing an apple tree in the summer. When you shine a light behind the page (or hold it up to the light), you can see the image of the apple tree in winter, with bare branches. On the other side of the page, this inside view is shown in black and white, with some explanatory text. This pattern continues throughout the book, as the reader see mushrooms growing on a branch, a squirrel nesting inside the tree, a bug caught in a spider web, etc. 

I think that the gimmick of shining a light to see through the page will please preschoolers. My daughter was charmed by this, certainly, though she got a bit bored as the facts continued to mount from page to page. The text is designed for interactive reading with kids. Like this:

"Many animals live
around the tree.

Can you see who
the bird is about
to grab?"

(on the next page)

"Slithering, wriggling worms push
through the soil around the roots.

A tree's roots grow long and deep.
The roots soak up water from rain,
which helps to keep the tree alive." 

Every page has a question for kids to answer by shining a light on the page. At the end there's a little glossary of sorts, with more information about the creatures found in and around the tree. The authors encourage further exploration with:

"There's more...

When you find a tree, look all around it and see who you can find.
Remember to look up as well as down." 

The see-through illustrations (on the right-hand side of each page spread) are in color, using a palette of woodsy greens, browns, and grays. The left-facing pages are silhouettes, white images against black backgrounds. While neither style is incredibly detailed, the overall impression is pleasing, and the whimsy of the see-through illustrations works well. 

Secrets of the Apple Tree does a nice job of encouraging kids to pay attention to nature, to look closely, and see what hidden life they can find. And it's fun, too. I think it would make a nice addition to a classroom library for first or second graders, particularly in apple tree country. Recommended!

Publisher: Kane Miller Book Publishers 
Publication Date: January 1, 2014 (first American edition)
Source of Book: Review copy from the publisher

FTC Required Disclosure:

This site is an Amazon affiliate, and purchases made through Amazon links (including linked book covers) may result in my receiving a small commission (at no additional cost to you).

© 2014 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved. You can also follow me @JensBookPage or at my Growing Bookworms page on Facebook. 

Expiration Day: William Campbell Powell

Book: Expiration Day
Author: William Campbell Powell
Pages: 336
Age Range: 12 and up

Expiration Day is set in a dystopian near-future England a generation after fertility levels have dropped precipitously world-wide. Hardly any babies are born anymore, though most people don't realize how bad the situation is, because they parents are able to purchase uncannily lifelike robotic children. These children don't even know (unless some incident occurs) whether they are human or not.

Expiration Day is related primarily as the diary of a girl named Tania, who lives with her parents just outside of London. Tania's diary has somehow been discovered, "encrypted and forgotten, but surviving through uncounted millennia" by someone from a future alien race. His comments and responses to Tania's story are included as brief "intervals" throughout the story. The title refers to the fact that the robot children must be returned to their manufacturer on their 18th birthday - the parents have them only lease. 

The world in Expiration Day is reminiscent in tone to that of P.D. James' Children of Men. In Willam Campbell Powell's world, however, the artificial children serve to keep society under control, filling an innate need that people have to form families and pass things along to a future generation (even if that generation expires at age 18). 

I found the philosophical underpinnings of Expiration Day thought-provoking. And I quite liked Tania as a character. Parts of the book, which begins when Tania is only 11, drag a little bit, plot-wise. But my concern for Tania's fate kept me reading. The end includes a couple of twists (one of which I'm still trying to wrap my head around), which will keep readers guessing. 

One thing that I really liked about Expiration Day was the importance of Tania's father as a character. Not a placeholder, or someone to be rescued, as is a common convention in books, but an intelligent, caring man who puts everything on the line in support of his daughter. 

Here are a couple of snippets, to give you a feel for Tania's voice:

"There's a word for legs like mine. Gangly. I count my knees, sometimes, and I know I have just two, one on each leg. But dressed like that, I felt like it was more--a lot more, with different numbers on each leg." (Page 18)

"I love words, though, and I wish I could control them better. Like Humpty Dumpty, to have them line up and do my bidding. So I read, as I said, from Chaucer and Shakespeare, via Dylan Thomas and Rupert Brooke, to Ray Bradbury and Roger Zelazny, and try to see how they get their words to behave." (Page 182)

"Nobody truly dies who shapes another person. Does that make sense, Mister Zog?" (page 227)

Fans of speculative and dystopian fiction, particularly that which questions what makes someone human in the presence of advanced technology (like The Adoration of Jenna Fox), won't want to miss Expiration Day. Tania's participation in a band, and her issues with dating and growing up, are also addressed, and make the book accessible to those who prefer more realistic coming-of-age fiction. For those who need to know, there are discussions about having sex (including a boy who wants to), but no real action to speak of in Expiration Day. This is a book that will stay with me, and made me think. I learned about it from this review at Ms. Yingling Reads. 

Publisher: Tor Teen (@TorTeen)
Publication Date: April 22, 2014
Source of Book: Review copy from the publisher

FTC Required Disclosure:

This site is an Amazon affiliate, and purchases made through Amazon links (including linked book covers) may result in my receiving a small commission (at no additional cost to you).

© 2014 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved. You can also follow me @JensBookPage or at my Growing Bookworms page on Facebook. 

Links I Shared on Twitter this Week: May 16

Here are highlights from the links that I shared on Twitter this week @JensBookPage. There are lots of book lists this week, as well as several links that reflect the continuation of the #WeNeedDiverseBooks conversation. 

Book Lists and Awards

Some fine titles: 2014 YALSA Teens’ Top Ten Nominees @tashrow http://ow.ly/wReZE #yalit

New Stacked #booklist: Get Genrefied: Historical Fantasy http://ow.ly/wRf90 #yalit @catagator

So You Want To Read Middle Grade: More 2014 Titles to Look Forward To from @greenbeanblog #kidlit http://ow.ly/wOg7s

Fun! Top Ten Books to Get Kids Moving by Annie Orsini and Kendra Limback | @NerdyBookClub http://ow.ly/wLy3s #booklist

Nonfiction Summer Reading List from @momandkiddo http://ow.ly/wLwMn #booklist

May 12: International Nurses' Day, three book suggestions from @bkshelvesofdoom http://ow.ly/wLv3x

10 to Note: Summer #kidlit Preview 2014 — @100scopenotes http://ow.ly/wGofZ

Stacked: A Look at YA Horror in 2014 #yalit @catagator http://ow.ly/wGo7U

For Mother's Day, 5 Awesome Moms in #KidLit {Friday’s Five} @5M4B http://ow.ly/wGn7i

The 2014 Locus Awards Finalists have been announced #yalit #kidlit http://ow.ly/wGnRz @bkshelvesofdoom

From Jewish (Muslim) to Ms. Marvel: A Brief Survey of YA with Muslim Characters @yahighway http://ow.ly/wGnIp via @CynLeitichSmith

UK Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize 2014 Shortlist (for #kidlit that communicates science) @tashrow http://ow.ly/wGmXa

Great Kid Books: #CommonCore IRL: In Real Libraries -- Baseball LineUp (ages 5-13) @MaryAnnScheuer http://ow.ly/wLxRD #kidlit

Diversity

The #48HBC is Nigh! and a Sobering Realization on the challenge of finding #diverse books from @mosylu http://ow.ly/wOh0w

How reading Cross-Racial Scenes in Picture Books Build Acceptance as kids play together | @sljournal http://ow.ly/wOjyh

An Expanded Cultural #Diversity Booklist: SLJ Readers Respond | @sljournal http://ow.ly/wOj93 #kidlit

Great stuff! @FirstBook Pledges to Buy #Diverse Books reports @PublishersWkly http://ow.ly/wOhs0

A Little Bit More on Diversity, link roundup and reading plans from Becky Levine http://ow.ly/wOgFY #WeNeedDiverseBooks

MAKING OUR OWN MARKET, new series at The Brown Bookshelf: Creating Our Own Publishing Houses | http://ow.ly/wLxKK #WeNeedDiverseBooks

Important post | We Need #Diverse Books . . . But Are We Willing to Discuss Them With Our Kids? — @fuseeight http://ow.ly/wLxs6

Talking #Diversity With Young Children | @medinger responds to @FuseEight post, from a teacher's perspective http://ow.ly/wLxAV

The timely theme for #KidLitCon14 is Blogging #Diversity in Young Adult and Children’s Lit: What’s Next? http://www.kidlitosphere.org/kidlitcon/

Events

2014 Children's Book Week Celebrations Begin Today! Are you a children's book champion? @randomlyreading http://ow.ly/wLuIP

Celebrate children's books and reading with @CBCBook May 12-18, 2014! http://bookweekonline.com #CBW14

Growing Bookworms

Read, Kids, Read! Strong op-ed by Frank Brunl in @NYTimes about the benefits of reading http://ow.ly/wOi0L via @PWKidsBookshelf

I could relate to Being a Mom of Growing Readers @growingbbb http://ow.ly/wIHKf | Happy Mother's Day, all!

Lovely! Heartwarming Story of the Day: Book 'Em Cops and Kids #Literacy Initiative from @bkshelvesofdoom http://ow.ly/wOgl7

Kidlitosphere

RT @MitaliPerkins I get to talk about kids on the margins, books, *and* blogs? How fun. MT @JensBookPage Announcing #KidLitCon14 http://bit.ly/1iL7gKg

Leila @bkshelvesofdoom is in for Kidlitosphere Conference 2014 in Sacramento. Are you? http://ow.ly/wO3qc #kidlitcon14

Ninth Annual 48 Hour Book Challenge FAQ's @MotherReader http://ow.ly/wLufR #diversity #48hbc

On Reading, Writing, and Publishing

Pioneers in Pigtails: Remembering the First Heroines Who Made Us Mighty @MeganJeanSovern @HuffPostBooks http://ow.ly/wGnnM via @tashrow

Take Some Cues from Gilligan: Build a Nation of Readers, Not an Island by Naomi @yabooksandmore @NerdyBookClub http://ow.ly/wGo2v

Research

It’s an #Ebook World for Young Readers 13 and Under Says PlayCollective Report | @sljournal http://ow.ly/wRe4e

This is depressing! Teen Reading Declining & Racial Reading Gaps Continue | @tashrow at Waking Brain Cells http://ow.ly/wLu9x

Schools and Libraries

I do love these: Little Free Libraries take off in the East Bay - Oakland Magazine http://ow.ly/wOk6avia Sharon Levin

Summer Reading

Nice resource: 2014 #SummerReading Recommendations, organized lists from picture book through YA from @HornBook http://ow.ly/wOjKo

Invitations to Imagination | #SummerReading ideas for K-3 | Jennifer M. Brown @sljournal http://ow.ly/wOiW9 #kidlit

Creep around Graveyards, Search for Spies | #SummerReading for Grades 4-8 | Elisabeth G. Marrocolla @sljournal http://ow.ly/wOiPi

Classics are Cool, But… | #SummerReading suggestions for Grades 9-12 | Jennifer Hubert Swan @sljournal http://ow.ly/wOiET

© 2014 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved. You can also follow me @JensBookPage or at my Growing Bookworms page on Facebook.

Build, Dogs, Build: A Tall Tail: James Horvath

Book: Build, Dogs, Build: A Tall Tail
Author: James Horvath
Pages: 40
Age Range: 4-8

In Build, Dogs, Build: A Tall Tail, a six-dog construction crew gets a job to tear down an old building and build a new skyscraper, all in one day. The adult engineer in me is a bit annoyed at the presentation of the entire construction of a tall building as a one day project. But I do appreciate the thoroughness of the construction details, from clearing away rubble to digging trenches for pipes to pouring concrete to (eventually) painting the interior rooms. There's much here to please construction-obsessed preschoolers. There's also a dash of whimsey added by the dogs (at one point there's a ball-chasing break). 

Horvath's rhyming text is accessible for the youngest of listeners, with a fair bit of construction-specific vocabulary. Like this:

"This building is bare,
with strong steel for bones.
We'll need mortar and bricks,
concrete and stones.

"The beams go up fast,
building room upon room.
As the pumper pumps
liquid cement through its boom." 

The digitally-generated illustrations are bright and stay mainly focused on the construction site, but there are a few whimsical touches. For example, the one female dog is pink in color, which I'll bet it will be a kid-pleaser in this age range. The scene at the end of the book, when the dogs all swim in the penthouse swimming pool, is the very picture of fun. The illustrations are in general detailed regarding the construction equipment, and engaging in the dogs' expressions. 

Fans of the first book, Dig, Dogs, Dig: A Construction Tail, are sure to enjoy this one, too. Recommended for any kid who is interested in dogs or trucks and buildings, boys or girls, in the preschool age range. 

Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date: December 31, 2013
Source of Book: Review copy from the publisher

FTC Required Disclosure:

This site is an Amazon affiliate, and purchases made through Amazon links (including linked book covers) may result in my receiving a small commission (at no additional cost to you).

© 2014 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved. You can also follow me @JensBookPage or at my Growing Bookworms page on Facebook. 

The Baby Tree: Sophie Blackall

Book: The Baby Tree
Author: Sophie Blackall
Pages: 40
Age Range: 4-8

The Baby Tree by Sophie Blackall is a very well-done picture book about a boy's quest to understand where babies come from. After a boy's parents tell him that a new baby will be joining their family, he asks various people in his life if they can tell him where babies come from. They give him answers like "you plant a seed and it grows into a baby tree" and "a stork brings your baby in the night." Finally, when the boy is thoroughly confused, his parents explain it to him properly. The explanation is age appropriate in level of detail and content, I thought: "a seed from their dad ... planted in an egg inside their mom", etc. An afterword suggests sample text for answering other questions that kids may have. That text mentions body parts by name, but this terminology is not in the main text. 

This book does so many things right. First of all, the illustrations are hilarious. The "baby tree" is shown on the cover. Even better is a picture of a hospital chock-full of babies, with a line of swaddled babies (basically heads atop blankets) somehow upright and making their way out the front door. Other aspects of the illustrations are more subtle, but also pleasing. The babies are a multi-cultural rainbow, also bearing a diverse assortment of blankets. The expressions on the faces of the people the boy asks about babies are priceless. The mailman looks positively sheepish as he scratches his head and says something about eggs. (And oh, the baby face peeking out of a bird's egg is adorable.) 

The other thing that I like about this book is that even though it's about something (where babies come from), there are lots of other details that are simply true to the life of a preschooler. I know that my daughter is going to laugh when she reads about the boy waking up Dad, then eventually waking up Dad again. And she'll relate to when the boy uses his parents' excitement about the baby to finagle a second bowl of cocopops. Kids have priorities, you know. There are a few tidbits in here for parents, too, as when the teacher gives the briefest possible answer to the boy's question, and then immediately says: "Boys and girls, it's time to wash our brushes." The adult reader can practically hear her thinking: "Because I don't want to get into this discussion here at school." 

The fact that the boy's parents tell him their news at a time when they have to rush off, leaving him to ask all of these other people, is a tiny bit contrived. But I will cheerfully forgive Sophie Blackall for that. Because this book is wonderful. In the end, it answers children's questions about where babies come from, simply and honestly. But along the way, it provides delightful, whimsical pictures set against realistic depictions of the life of a preschooler. This is a must-purchase for parents expecting another baby, and for libraries. Highly recommended. 

Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books (@PenguinKids) 
Publication Date: May 1, 2014
Source of Book: Review copy from the publisher

FTC Required Disclosure:

This site is an Amazon affiliate, and purchases made through Amazon links (including linked book covers) may result in my receiving a small commission (at no additional cost to you).

© 2014 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved. You can also follow me @JensBookPage or at my Growing Bookworms page on Facebook. 

Announcing the 8th Annual Kidlitosphere Conference!

The 8th annual Kidlitosphere Conference, aka KidLitCon, will be held October 10th and 11th at the Tsakopoulos Library Galleria in Sacramento, CA. 

KidLitCon is a gathering of people who blog about children’s and young adult books, including librarians, authors, teachers, parents, booksellers, publishers, and readers. Attendees share a love of children’s books, as well as a determination to get the right books into young readers’ hands. People attend KidLitCon to talk about issues like the publisher/blogger relationship, the benefits and pitfalls of writing critical reviews, and overcoming blogger burnout. People also attend KidLitCon for the chance to spend time face to face with kindred spirits, other adults who care passionately for children’s and YA literature. 

This year’s theme for KidLitCon is: Blogging Diversity in Young Adult and Children’s Lit: What’s Next?

Members of the Kidlitosphere have been talking about the need for more diversity in children’s books for several years now, starting back when Paper Tigers launched with a view of discussing multicultural children’s literature. There was outrage within the community when the cover of Justine Larbalestier’s LIAR was whitewashed, and discussions of other books followed. More recently, children’s and young adult authors have used blogs, Tumblr, and Twitter to make a much louder demand for more diversity in publishing, through the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign. Other bloggers are listening and responding. Pam Coughlan just announced that the focus of this year’s 48-Hour Book Challenge at MotherReader will be on reading diverse books. The Cybils organization has been combing through past shortlists, to come up with lists of diverse titles. The pictures and posts on this topic are too many to count. And that’s a fine thing.

What we would like to do with this year’s KidLitCon (along with our usual goals) is discuss what book bloggers can do to make a meaningful difference in increasing diversity in children’s and young adult literature. This year’s keynote speaker will be Mitali Perkins, an author whose focus has long been on “books between cultures for young readers". Among other things, Mitali will talk about how bloggers can be agents of change in the conversation about diversity in children’s and young adult literature. Shannon Hale, who has written eloquently on the need for writing non-neutral characters, and who helped launch the Great Green Heist Challenge, is also expected to participate in the conference via Skype.

We will talk about other issues of interest to children’s and YA book bloggers, too. But it is also our hope to make a bit of noise on behalf of diversity in children’s literature. It is past time for that. 

The Tsakopoulos Library Galleria is a beautiful meeting space, located in California’s State Capitol. We are finalizing details on a room block at a nearby hotel. Registration information and a call for session proposals will be published soon. While we do not have the final schedule yet, we are planning to have sessions starting mid-morning on Friday and going through Saturday, with evening events Friday and Saturday nights. 

We hope that you will mark October 10th and 11th on your calendar, and start thinking about how you would like to contribute to the conversation on children’s and young adult book blogging. Please help us to spread the word. Thank you!

Tanita Davis and Sarah Stevenson, Finding Wonderland
Jen Robinson, Jen Robinson’s Book Page

Please help by spreading the word! Be a fan on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter! This announcement is also posted at the Kidlitosphere Central website, where we will be sharing the registration form and call for papers soon.