My poll results don't have the shock value of the New Hampshire primaries, but they always surprise me, nonetheless. Here are the results of my Printz award poll (the original post is here).

Question: What are your favorite Printz winners and honor books?

Answers:

1^st place (10 votes)

• 2007 honor: An Abundance of Katherines

2^nd place (7 votes each)

• 2007 winner: American Born Chinese
• 2007 honor: The Book Thief
• 2006 winner: Looking for Alaska
• 2004 honor: A Northern Light
• 2000 honor: Speak

3^rd place (6 votes each)

• 2007 honor: The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing
• 2005 winner: how i live now
• 2004 honor: The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things

4^th place (5 votes)

• 2003 honor: The House of the Scorpion

5^th place (4 votes each)

• 2005 honor: Airborn
• 2000 winner: Monster

6^th place (3 votes each)

• 2005 honor: Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
• 2002 honor: True Believer
• 2001 honor: Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging
• 2000 honor: Hard Love

7^th place (2 votes each)

• 2004 winner: The First Part Last
• 2004 honor: Fat Kid Rules the World
• 2003 winner: Postcards from No Man’s Land
• 2003 honor: My Heartbeat
• 2003 honor: Hole in My Life
• 2001 winner: Kit’s Wilderness
• 2000 honor: Skellig

8^th place (1 vote each)

• 2006 honor: I Am the Messenger
• 2006 honor: John Lennon
• 2002 honor: The Ropemaker
• 2001 honor: Many Stones
• 2001 honor: The Body of Christopher Creed

9^th place (0 votes each)

• 2007 honor: Surrender
• 2006 honor: Black Juice
• 2006 honor: A Wreath for Emmett Till
• 2005 honor: Chanda’s Secrets
• 2004 honor: Keesha’s House
• 2002 winner: A Step From Heaven
• 2002 honor: Heart to Heart
• 2002 honor: Freewill
• 2001 honor: Stuck in Neutral

I'm impressed that An Abundance of Katherines won so decisively. It's made me resolve to get me hands on a copy as soon as possible. I heard John Green's acceptance speech for the Printz honor, and the book sounded incredibly cool. I have to give it a try.

On to the next poll...

The new poll question serves to wrap up Wizards Wireless' discussion of American Library Association awards, and asks which ones are your favorites. Forgive the lengthy options... not all the awards are well known, so I thought quick summaries might help.

Incidentally, the poll asking about favorite Newbery medalists is still running. Be sure to vote if you haven't yet. The Giver is currently in the lead, followed by From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler which is in second place. Tied for third are Number the Stars, The Bridge to Terabithia and A Wrinkle in Time.

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Ask me what book I want, more than anything, to win the 2008 Newbery Medal. Go ahead, ask me.

Susan, what book do you want, more than anything, to win the Newbery Medal?

Answer: The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. It's a brilliant fusion of pictures and text. It's a masterful work, full of mystery and intrigue. I think it's a major contribution to the field of children's literature.

Question: Will it win?

Answer: No. Regrettably, tragically... it probably won't win.

Question: Why not?

Answer: Take a look at the Newbery criteria:

"The Medal shall be awarded annually to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children published in English in the United States during the preceding year. There are no limitations as to the character of the book considered except that it be original work."

Let's check Hugo Cabret against the criteria:

• Most distinguished contribution to American literature for children? Yes, in my humble opinion, I think it is.
• Published in English in the United States? Yes.
  
• No limitations as to the character of the book. Excellent. That leaves the door open for any genre to win.
  

We're okay so far. (That is, if you agree with me that the book is the most distinguished, and the majority of mock Newbery committees and Best of the Year lists do agree with me.)

What does distinguished mean? Let's check the criteria again.

"Distinguished" is defined as:

• "marked by eminence and distinction: noted for significant achievement." Yes, it's definitely distinct, eminent and a significant achievement.
  
• "marked by excellence in quality." Absolutely.
  
• "marked by conspicuous excellence or eminence." Yes, the excellence is conspicuous. It pours out of the book.
  
• "individually distinct." Definitely. There's no other book like it.

We're still okay. But then, right at the bottom, is the paragraph that destroys all hope for Hugo Cabret to win the Newbery:

"Each book is to be considered as a contribution to literature. The committee is to make its decision primarily on the text. Other aspects of a book are to be considered only if they distract from the text. Such other aspects might include illustrations, overall design of the book, etc."

And, there we have it. Game over. The Newbery committee judges the text, not the illustrations. Take away all of Hugo Cabret's illustrations, and you're left with a shell of a book. And, alas... that shell isn't strong enough to win the Newbery. The book is, rightfully so, completely dependent on the pictures. That's what makes it so incredible.

But, wait! If the pictures are so amazing (and they are), couldn't Hugo Cabret win the Caldecott? Here you have an award that's all about illustration.

Okay, worth a shot. Traditionally the Caledott goes to a picture book, but the eligible age range is much larger than you'd think. Let's take a look at the Caldecott criteria:

"'A picture book for children' is one for which children are a potential audience. The book displays respect for children's understandings, abilities, and appreciations. Children are defined as persons of ages up to and including fourteen and picture books for this entire age range are to be considered."

So, according to that, Hugo Cabret would be eligible. It would be a dramatic departure from tradition, and a huge deal if the Caldecott went to a non-picture book. It's happened in the past, but not that recently. So, maybe, just maybe....

Wait a minute. Look at the bottom of the criteria:

"Each book is to be considered as a picture book. The committee is to make its decision primarily on the illustration, but other components of a book are to be considered especially when they make a book less effective as a children's picture book. Such other components might include the written text, the overall design of the book, etc. "

Argh!!! The Caldecott committee judges primarily on illustrations, not the text. If you take the words away from Hugo Cabret, you're left with an empty shell again. Not as empty as if you removed the pictures, but certainly a far less poignant work.

Sigh. So there you have it. A book that is a combination of illustrations and text doesn't really stand a chance for either award. And I think that's too bad, but that's the way the awards are structured. Sorry, Hugo.

Despite all that, if I were Brian Selznick, I'd be waiting by my phone on Monday morning. You never know....

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In anticipation of the American Library Association awards announcement on January 14, Wizards Wireless has been discussing various ALA awards. So far, I've written about the Caldecott, the Newbery and the Printz.

Now, let's talk about the Batchelder. The Mildred L. Batchelder Award is presented to children's books that have been translated into English and published in the United States. The book has to have been previously published in another country and another language. Since 1979, the award has been presented to the publisher... not to the author. Part of the idea is to encourage publishers to translate books from other languages.

I had the pleasure of attending the 2007 Batchelder awards ceremony. Here was the list of winners and honor books:

• Delacorte Press, for The Pull of the Ocean written by Jean-Claude Mourlevat and translated from the French by Y. Maudet.
• Delacorte Press, for The Killer's Tears written by Anne-Laure Bondoux and translated from the French by Y. Maudet.
• Hyperion/Miramax, for The Last Dragon written by Silvana De Mari and translated from the Italian by Shaun Whiteside.

I read both The Pull of the Ocean and The Killer's Tears and was struck by the fact that the same publisher Delacourte Press (and in fact, the same translator, Y. Maudet) received both a Batchelder award and a Batchelder honor. I was also impressed by the effort and skill of the editor (again the same person- although I can't seem to find her name anywhere). She was obviously fluent in French and English and had discovered both The Pull of the Ocean and The Killer's Tears and worked for years to bring them to press in the United States.

I think effective translation is a real art form and I'm delighted that the Batchelder exists. In all honesty, I wouldn't have read either book had it not been for the awards, and I would have been poorer for it.

The Pull of the Ocean is a creative and unique modern retelling of Tom Thumb, and it's one of the best books I read last year. The story is told from a variety of viewpoints, which I think creates a striking and memorable effect. Click here for an excerpt of the book.

The Killer's Tears is the chilling, surprising and eventually breathtaking story about the relationship between a young boy and the murderer of his parents. It stayed with me long after I finished reading it. Click here for an excerpt.

Here's a complete list of the Batchelder award winners and honor books from 1968 to 2007. Stay tuned for the announcement of the 2008 Batchelder Awards on January 14.

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The second list of Cybils (Children's and YA Bloggers' Literary Awards) finalists have just been announced. Click here for an index of all the finalists.

Here are the categories that were announced today:

• Young adult fiction
• Non fiction picture books
• Graphic novels
• Middle grade/young adult non fiction
  

Stay tuned for February 14 to find out which books will win the Cybils and good luck to the judges!

Are you writing about your reactions to these lists on your blog? Or about your predictions for the American Library Association awards? Or about anything else having to do with children's book awards? Submit your post to the January Carnival of Children's Literature, being held right here at Wizards Wireless. See this post for more details.

To submit a post to the carnival, go to Blog Carnival. Or e-mail your post to: wizardwireless [at] gmail [dot] com. The deadline is January 18 and the carnival will be posted on January 21.

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Do you miss Dave Barry's weekly humor columns? Yeah, so do I.

Good news: He's writing daily articles this week in the Miami Herald about the New Hampshire primary. Here's what's been posted on the Herald's website so far:

• Harpootlian to take New Hampshire
• Candidates get their kicks in New Hampshire
• Hot wives remain high interest in N.H.

I highly recommend reading them in order (start with Harpootlian to take New Hampshire), because otherwise they won't make a lot of sense.

And check out Dave Barry's blog, which may well have the most active blog comments section ever.

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Wizards Wireless recently joined Yahoo Answers and and has been having lots of fun with it.

Do you have any Harry Potter questions about things that you're curious about? Not subjective questions ("What's your favorite book?") but questions that have definite answers.

Here are some of the questions I've recently answered:

And I couldn't resist this comic strip question:

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I'm really looking forward to the ALA awards announcement on January 14th, but the stakes are much higher for me this year. As a children's book buyer (for an independent toy and book store), I need to have the winning books available in the store as soon as possible after they are announced. Part of this involves immediately calling distributors and publishers on January 14th at 7:46 am. The other, and more difficult part, is to guess correctly at what the winners might be and to already have copies on hand before the announcement.

Now, if the Caldecott and the Newbery awards were similar to the Oscars, it would be relatively straightforward. You'd simply order the five nominated books for each award, perhaps getting a few extra copies of the ones that were heavily favored. But it doesn't work like that. The Caldecotts and Newberys (and the other ALA awards) are decided by committees and discussions. There are no nominees. ANY eligible book could win.

How on earth can you guess? You can start by listening to the buzz. You can read all the mock Newbery and mock Caldecott winners. You can look at listservs and blogs and see which books are mentioned the most often. You can read Best of the Year lists produced by newspapers and journals.

But there's one big problem with that method... it doesn't always work. 2007 is an excellent example. If you followed all the buzz about who the winners would be in 2007 (and I did) you'd have heard two titles mentioned over and over for the Caldecott... Flotsam by David Wiesner and Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom, illustrated by Kadir Nelson and written by Carole Boston Weatherford. It turns out that Flotsam won the Caldecott Medal, and Moses won a Caldecott Honor. But, what about the other honor? It went to Gone Wild: An Endangered Animal Alphabet by David McLimans, which I never even heard of until it won the Caldecott honor.

And the 2007 Newbery is an even better example. The book that won, The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron, wasn't on anybody's radar screen. In fact, in her Newbery acceptance speech, Susan Patron mentioned how sad she was that a book she'd poured ten years of her life into wasn't getting any buzz. It won anyway... even without the buzz. And then it was very difficult to find a copy anywhere for weeks (see my review of The Higher Power of Lucky for my struggle to find the book.)

Really, no matter how hard you try, you're never going to be completely right, because you're not sitting in the room with the committees listening to the discussions. And you haven't read every eligible book, like the committees have. But you can at least stock some of the most buzzed-about books... because they probably have a pretty good shot. And, even if they don't win or receive honors... they're still excellent books and deserve to be on the shelves.

In alphabetical order, here are some of the books I'll have on hand at my store on January 14th... just in case. Keep in mind, these are just wild guesses and they are primarily books that have been appearing on multiple lists. Also, in addition to my hunches for the 2008 Caldecott and the Newbery, this list includes some of my guesses for awards such as the Printz, Geisel, Siebert and Odyssey.

• A Good Day by Kevin Henkes
• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
• The Apple Pie That Papa Baked by Lauren Thompson
  
• At Night by Jonathan Bean
• The Bearskinner retold by Laura Schlitz
• The Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamar County by Janice N. Harrington, illustrated by Shelley Jackson
• A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban
  
• Dog and Bear by Laura Vacarro Seeger
  
• Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
• Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson
  
• First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
• Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Schlitz
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling (audio book)
• The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
• Jabberwocky by Christopher Myers
  
• Old Penn Station by William Low
• Pssst! by Adam Rex
• The Secret of Rundoon by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson (audio book)
  
• Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You by Peter Cameron
• The Wall: Growing Up behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sís
• The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt
• Who Was First?: Discovering the Americas by Russell Freedman
• And all the Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems

I'd love to add The Arrival by Shaun Tan to this list... but since it's not eligible for the Caldecott or the Newbery, I just don't know what award it would win.

Are there any books you would add to this list? I'd love to hear what you think. Remember, though... it's not about the books that you want to win (although there are certainly a lot of books on this list that I'd love to see win). It's about the books that you think will win.

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I'm having so much fun writing poems for Poetry Friday. This one is about my son, who really does revel in reading books these days. Last night he got ready for bed very early. Since we had lots of extra time and both of us were having a lot of fun, we read seventeen books (a new record, even for me... usually we read three books per night). When we were finished, he asked for more! Seeing that my throat was hoarse from reading P.D. Eastman, Dr. Seuss, Nancy Tafuri, Marjorie Priceman, Donald Crews, Sandra Boynton (and a few others), I decided it was time for him to go to bed.

The Poetry Friday round-up is at A Year of Reading today.

Changing Interests

When he was a baby
Books didn’t interest him

When he was one
He loved to eat books

When he was two
He loved to play with books

Now that he’s three
He loves to read books

Especially if it
delays
his
bedtime

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Wizards Wireless is proud to feature its first guest post! Thanks to Nancy Arruda of Bees Knees Books for a wonderful profile of the Children's Library in Palo Alto, California. You can find Nancy's blog (that she co-writes with Kim Baise) at Bees Knees Reads.

If you'd be willing to write a post about a library with a great children's department or a terrific independent bookstore that specializes in children's books, I'd love to feature it on my blog. See this post for more details about my search for guest bloggers.


Without further ado, here's Nancy's post:

Today the girls and I met up with my friend, Lisa, and her two children at the Children's Library in Palo Alto, CA. The library was built in the 1940's and has recently undergone extensive retrofitting. They reopened their doors in September 2007 and today we finally drove over for a visit.

Although the kids were hungry and restless, we sat down by a fireplace, with a real fire (one of those easy burn logs) in little kid's size craftsmen chairs- so cozy because it's stormy out today. Alas, it was only for a minute because they were off to a side wing where all the fiction picture books are shelved. There we read M is for Music by Kathleen Krull and illustrated Stacy Innerst and Seven for a Secret by Laurence Anholt and Jim Coplestone. The latter is a new personal favorite. And that's exactly what is best about going to the library, DISCOVERY!

I've been told that the new library in Mountain View, a neighboring city, has an extensive collection of foreign language kid's books and it's supposed to be pretty awesome. But I'll bet it can't match the charm of the Children's Library in Palo Alto. Of course I forgot my camera but included are a few photos from my friend Maria Calais Pedro.

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As mentioned in my new year's resolutions for this blog, I'm starting a new series of posts with in-depth looks at particular passages in the Harry Potter books. I love how rich and multi layered the text is. I've read the books many, many times, and have gradually discovered wonderful subtle clues to the plot that Rowling has hidden throughout the series. Here's one from the Chamber of Secrets.

Two things: this post contains spoilers for Harry Potter 2. And all quotes referred to in this post are from the Scholastic hardcover edition of Harry Potter and the Chambers of Secrets.

A
bit
of
spoiler
space

So you've read Book 2 and you know that there is a Basilisk (giant snake) in the Chamber of Secrets. According to the library book Hermione found: "the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it." (page 290). So, obviously, whoever is opening the Chamber of Secrets wants to get roosters out of the way so that the Basilisk can't be killed. How is this accomplished and how does Rowling bury the clues? Take a look:

'What did Lockhart want with you, Hagrid?' Harry asked, scratching Fang's ears.

'Givin' me advice on gettin' kelpies out of a well' growled Hagrid, moving a half-plucked rooster off of his scrubbed table and setting down the teapot." (page 115)

Since the rooster is half plucked, that means it was probably killed recently, such as the day before. If it had been dead longer than that, the rooster would have been fully plucked.

A few pages later, Hermione compliments Hagrid's enormous pumpkins and tells him that he's 'done a good job on them.'

'That's what your little sister said,' said Hagrid, nodding at Ron. 'Met her jus' yesterday.' Hagrid looked sideways at Harry, his beard twitching. 'Said she was jus' lookin' round the grounds, but I reckon she was hopin' she might run inter someone else at my house.' He winked at Harry." (page 118)

This is actually a bit of misdirection. Ginny wasn't at Hagrid's house hoping to see Harry... she was there (although she didn't realize it) to kill Hagrid's rooster.

Later that evening, Harry hears the basilisk while serving detention in Gilderoy Lockhart's office. Why does Harry hear the basilisk that particular night? Because the rooster has been just been killed and can't pose a threat to the basilisk.

In the next chapter, Ginny sees the school nurse.

"Madam Pomfrey, the nurse, was kept busy by a sudden spate of colds among the staff ans students. Her Pepperup potion worked instantly, though it left the drinker smoking at the ears for several hours afterward. Ginny Weasley, who had been looking pale, was bullied into taking some by Percy." (page 122)

Why does Ginny look pale? Because she strangled the rooster and released the basilisk. She doesn't know that she did either of those things, but she is aware that she doesn't know where she was during those periods of time.

Interesting, isn't it?

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Time. That's what the majority of Wizards Wireless would like. I wish I could help you. I could use some time myself.

Here are the results of the poll about the best object from the Harry Potter books.

Question: If you could receive one object from the Harry Potter books as a gift, what would it be?

Answers:

• 40%: A time turner
• 18%: An invisibility cloak
• 13%: A magic wand
• 13%: A firebolt
• 4%: A butterbeer
• 4%: A sorcerer's stone
• 4%: Another object
• 0%: A deluminator
• 0%: A Marauder's Map
• 0%: The Elder Wand
• 0%: A coin from Dumbledore's Army
• 0%: Gryffindor's sword

I love conducting polls because I'm always surprised by the results. For example, on this one, I would have predicted that the Sorcerer's Stone would be the winner: unlimited money and life.

There's good news for those who said they'd like a butterbeer... it's the only one on this list that's actually attainable! See this post for details.

I've got two other polls currently running: favorite Newbery medalists and favorite Printz winners and honor books. Be sure to vote!

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Wizards Wireless tends to review far more picture books than young adult (YA) books. But, as the American Library Association awards draw closer (they'll be announced on January 14th), I thought I'd highlight a few of the major awards. Also, it's a great way to prepare for the January Carnival of Children's Literature which is all about children's and young adult book awards. (See this post for more information and how to submit).

I've already talked about the Caldecott and the Newbery, so today I'm focusing on the Printz award. What is that, you ask? The Michael L. Printz Award is given to a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature. And one of the most intriguing things about it is that there is no residency requirement stating that the author must live in the United States (like there is for the Caldecott and the Newbery). This opens the Printz Award to an intriguing and diverse group of candidates.

The first Printz Award was bestowed in 2000, so the list of winners isn't nearly as long as some of the other awards. Here's my list of favorite Printz winners and honor books (keeping in mind that I don't read a lot of young adult books):

• 2007 winner: American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
• 2005 winner: how i live now by Meg Rosoff
• 2005 honor: Airborn by Kenneth Oppel
• 2004 honor: A Northen Light by Jennifer Donnelly
• 2000 winner: Monster by Walter Dean Myers

If you're interested the Printz Awards, here's where you can find out more. And here's a list of all the winners and honor books. Tune in on January 14th to find out which book will win this year.

Congratulations to kidlit blogger Liz Burns of A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy, who's on the 2009 Printz committee!

And here's a short story about the generosity of librarians. I was privileged enough to be able to attend the 2007 Newbery/ Caldecott/ Wilder Award Banquet at the American Library Association conference in Washington D.C. I was chatting with the librarians sitting at my table during dinner, and one of them turned to me and asked if I was going to attend the Printz Award ceremony (which was the following evening). I said no... the event was sold out. She handed me her ticket, and said she had to leave town early to catch a plane.

So, that's how I ended up going to the Printz Awards.

And I'm very, very glad I did because a cool thing about the Printz awards is that all the authors who have been honored get to talk, not just the winner. I got to hear some of the great current young adult writers in the field speak, including: M.T. Anderson, John Green, Sonya Hartnett, and Markus Zuzak. Also I got to hear Gene Yang's acceptance speech for American Born Chinese, which was quite a thrill. I had just finished writing a very long paper (40 pages!) for library school about Chinese American children's and young adult books, and American Born Chinese was a central part of my thesis. It was wonderful to be able to hear Yang's perspective about a book I had read so many times. The Printz Awards were inspiring and made me resolve to read more young adult literature (which I will, I promise!)

Do you have any favorite books that have won a Printz? See the new poll in the sidebar of this blog (which includes both winners and honor books) or write about them in the comments.

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Happy new year! I've been doing some thinking about this blog recently and the direction I want to take it in. I've rounded up some of my favorite posts... and I've thought a lot about the topics I'd like to write more about.

Here are my blog resolutions for 2008:

• To start writing profiles about wonderful independent bookstores that specialize in children's books and terrific libraries with great children's departments. My first profile was about Powells bookstore in Portland, Oregon, but there are many more libraries and bookstores I'd like to write about. I'm also seeking guest bloggers... see this post if you're interested in writing a profile.

• To wrap up the series of posts that are currently in progress; particularly the chapter by chapter analysis I've been writing about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and the clues about the entire series that are hidden in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
  

• To write more in-depth glimpses about clues and motifs scattered throughout the Harry Potter books, such as this post about the vanishing cabinet and this one about the barmen at the Hogshead and his goats. Both of those posts were written before Book 7 was published, so I'd like to write some new ones.

• To write more reviews of my favorite children's books, such as this review of The Man Who Walked Between the Towers and this review of Knuffle Bunny. And nothing gives me a bigger thrill than hearing from the authors whose books I've reviewed. That's been one of the most rewarding (and most behind the scenes) aspects of blogging.

• To write more about comic strips. I have a few profiles up about comic strips so far, such as this one about Unshelved and this one about Doonesbury, but I'd like to write a lot more about the comics. I'd also like to start reviewing comic strip book collections.

• To try to create comic strips myself. I discovered a wonderful web tool called ToonDoo that allows even the artistically challenged (such as myself) to make their own comic strips. I've written two strips (this one and this one), but I want to do much more with it.
  

• To become more involved in the Kidlitosphere (the group of bloggers who write about children's literature). I've been reading and commenting on many wonderful kidlit blogs and I'd like to do much more of that. I've started submitting posts to Poetry Friday, which has been great fun, and I've written three original poems so far: A Good Mom, Freedom and Book of Memories. I'm also hosting the January Carnival of Children's Literature and am enjoying seeing the submissions come in and discovering new blogs.
  

• To continue conducting polls. The results always surprise me, such as this poll about dreadful dinner guests from the Harry Potter books or this one about favorite Caldecott winners.
  

• To share lessons I've learned such as this post with advice for beginning bloggers or this one about how to buy a book for a baby.

• To write more about the back stories of children's books that I love such as this post about Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel. There are so many books that have fascinating histories such as Curious George and The Little Engine that Could and I'd like to write more about them.

• To start providing links to Book Sense, Powells and independent bookstores instead of (or in addition to) links to Amazon. See my next resolution for an example.
  

• To write about my favorite books about books such as Anita Silvey's 100 Best Books for Children or K.T. Horning's From Cover to Cover.
  

• To continue blogging, to continue connecting with wonderful people in the kidlit community, to continue to talk about children's books, comic strips and Harry Potter and to continue to have fun sharing my thoughts.

As for personal resolutions, I like the ones that Adrienne posted at What Adrienne Thinks About That. Particularly resolutions #5 and #8. Now, those are goals that I'll have no trouble achieving.

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The Cybils (Children's and YA Bloggers' Literary Awards) finalists have just been announced in the following four categories:

• Science fiction and fantasy
• Fiction picture books
• Poetry
• Middle grade fiction

Stay tuned for January 7 when the finalists in the following categories will be announced: non-fiction picture books, non-fiction middle grade/young adult, graphic novels, and young adult fiction.

Are you writing a reaction post to these lists? Or a post about your experience as a Cybils judge? (only the things you're allowed to talk about, of course =). They would both make great entries in the January Carnival of Children's Literature, being held right here at Wizards Wireless. The topic is children's book awards. See this post for more details.

To submit a post to the carnival, go to Blog Carnival. Or e-mail your post to: wizardwireless [at] gmail [dot] com. The deadline is January 18 and the carnival will be posted on January 21.

And congratulations to all the Cybils finalists! It looks like the hardworking judges came up with a great list.

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Wouldn't a nice butterbeer be the perfect thing to ring in the new year? Author Brian Mandabach has provided a multitude of butterbeer recipes on his blog. They include one for pyromaniacs (that has flames and everything), one that features a dose of butterscotch schnapps, a lovely non-alcoholic version appropriate for house elves (and kids) and an ice cold version. Check them out, they sound delicious.

Happy new year!

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J.K. Rowling has posted a family tree on her website with the full names of the children and spouses of introduced in the epilogue of Book 7. To access it, go to her official website and click on the eraser. When you get to the Room of Requirement, click on the door handle, then on the paper on the desk.

Spoiler
space
if
you
haven't
finished
the
7th
Harry
Potter
book.

My thoughts about what was revealed in the family tree:

Bill and Fleur have three kids. I can see that.

Charlie never got married? That's surprising. He seems like such a nice guy.

George married Angelina? Is it Angelina Johnson? Interesting, because Fred is the one who took Angelina to the Yule Ball. Their son is named Fred... which makes complete sense.

I don't recognize the woman Percy married. It's touching that he named his daughter after his mother- it shows that they really reconciled.

I don't recognize the woman Draco married. Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy- that's a rough name for a kid.

The names of Luna's kids seem appropriately dreamy and Shakespearean.

I love the middle names of Harry's kids:
James Sirius- it's lovely that Harry honored them both. What an appropriate name for that kid. He seems like a mix of James and Sirius.

Albus Severus: we already knew about from the epilogue, but I like that both Snape and Dumbledore are honored together.

Lily Luna: How nice that they named their daughter after Luna. That really shows the strength of Harry and Ginny's relationship with her.

What do you think?

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Wizards Wireless is starting a new series of profiles highlighting wonderful independent bookstores and terrific libraries. I'm a big fan of both and I'm always looking for new ones to visit and to tell people about. If you have a favorite, and you're willing to write a guest post about it, I'd love to feature it on my blog.

Here's what I'm looking for:

• Independent bookstores (locally owned) that either specialize in children's books or have large children's book sections.
  
• Libraries with wonderful children's departments. It can either be a specific branch or a large system. It can be a new library, a remodeled library or one that's been around forever.
  
• What do you like about the library or bookstore? What do they do well? What impresses you? Do you like their website? If you've been there several times, why do you keep coming back?
  

The libraries and bookstores can be located anywhere in the world, as long as they focus on children's books. They can be places you've visited once or places you go every week.

I have lots of bookstore resources posted on the sidebar and a long list of independent bookstores. For an example of a bookstore profile, here's one I just posted about Powells in Portland, Oregon.

If you'd be willing to write a guest post, you can e-mail me at wizardwireless [at] gmail [dot] com or leave a note in the comments.

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I recently had the pleasure of visiting one of the legendary independent bookstores in the United States: Powells in Portland, Oregon.

All I have to say is: Wow. Wow. Wow. What an amazing place. This may well be one of the most incredible bookstores I've ever been in. Powells covers a full city block and has four floors filled with books. There are rows and rows of books on every subject imaginable. It's easy to get lost here and never come out.

And the children's section (where I spent most of my time) is particularly extraordinary. For example, there was a whole section just dedicated to Newbery books. Practically every book that had every won the Newbery Medal or received a Newbery honor was sitting there, in the same place. Also, since Powells interfiles used books with new books, I was able to find out of print and rare editions of books I love.

As I was walking through Powells, I overheard a lot of people talking on their cell phones. But they weren't have long conversations... they were just trying to FIND each other because the place is so big. For example: "I'm in Row 628, where are you?" or "I'm in the Purple Room... I'll meet you in the Green Room."

I highly recommend their fantastic website, which provides the same services as Amazon. They offer deep discounts, fast shipping, excellent customer service, and customer reviews. It's really wonderful. Check it out and support an independent bookstore.

If you love books and you're ever in Portland... or on the west coast... or in the United States, Powells is well worth a visit.

Have you ever been to Powells? What did you think?

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There's a plot development over at For Better or For Worse today. Warning: this storyline contains a large degree of Liz and Anthony mushiness.

Two comments:
Doesn't Anthony look odd in the fourth panel?

Why do so many important scenes with Elizabeth seem to happen in the car?

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Wizards Wireless is proud to host the January Carnival of Children's Literature! What's a carnival? It's a group of blog posts on a specific theme. The theme of this month's carnival is: Children's Book Awards.

Your post can be about anything at all on the subject, but here are a couple of questions about awards to get you started:

• What awards do you like the best?
• What are your predictions for this year?
• What are your favorite winners from previous years?
• What books do you wish had won in years past?
• Is there a lesser known award that you think should get more publicity?
• Are there any awards that you'd like to change the rules for?
• What award would you like to create?
  

For authors, illustrators, editors and publishers:

• If you've had the experience of winning an award, what was it like?
  
• What awards have your books won that have meant the most to you?
• What award would you most like to win?
  

For those that have been on award committees:

• What was the experience like? (just the parts you can tell us about, of course)
• What did you enjoy? What were your favorite parts?
• What did you like the least?
• Would you do it again?
  

There's no need to limit posts to national awards. They can be about student choice awards, state library association awards, awards given by publications, etc. Anything goes, as long as it applies to children's and young adult literature.

For an excellent listing of children's book awards, I highly recommend the Database of Award-Winning Children's Literature, compiled by librarian Lisa Bartle.

The finalists for the Cybils (Children's and YA Bloggers' Literary Awards) are being announced starting January 1. The American Library Awards (including the Newbery, the Caldecott and the first ever Odyssey, oh my) are being announced on January 14th.

The deadline for this carnival is on January 18 so that if you want to write about your reactions to this year's Cybils finalists or ALA award winners, you'll have plenty of time. The carnival will be posted on January 21. Posts don't have to be written in January... feel free to submit an older post if it's related to the theme.

To submit a post to the carnival (and I really hope you do, especially if it's your first carnival), go to Blog Carnival. Or e-mail your post to: wizardwireless [at] gmail [dot] com

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In the comments of this post about Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, Anamaria of Books Together mentioned The 20th Century Children's Book Treasury: Celebrated Picture Books and Stories to Read Aloud, edited and compiled by Janet Schulman.

It's one of my favorite books. I can't believe I left it out of my post about books to give to babies, because I give it as a baby gift all the time.

It's a compilation of picture books, which doesn't seem very extraordinary. After all, there are a lot of compilations. But what makes this one so special is the books that are included. Just about every classic picture book is in this book, including: Good Night Moon, Where the Wild Things Are, Curious George, Madeline, The Story of Ferdinand, The Snowy Day and Make Way for Ducklings. And the more recent books are in there too, like Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and The Stinky Cheese Man. Plus, the book includes early readers like Frog and Toad and Amelia Bedelia, and books for babies such as Freight Train, and Ten, Nine, Eight. All together, there are forty four books in one (relatively small) volume. It's just terrific.

Why does this particular collection contain so many crown jewels of children's literature? Well, I have a theory about that... and it has to do with the editor. The name of the woman who put this book together is Janet Schulman. She's a giant in the children's publishing industry and was the Editor in Chief at Random House for a number of years. Plus, she was Dr. Seuss' last editor. I think that she had the muscle and the connections to pull a book like this together and to get the rights to all the classics in a way that no one else could. Or at least, that's my theory.

Now, if you check out the reviews on Amazon's page for this book, you'll find that lots of people love it, while others don't care for it. The main complaint is that the book compresses too much. And that's true. None of the text is abridged, but pictures are jammed in next to each other to conserve space. For example, the entire text and the illustrations of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day appear on two pages. That's it. Just two pages.

So, purists may not enjoy it. But, I think the book is great for other reasons and that's why I give it as a gift. It's a terrific resource to help parents remember classics from when they were little.... and to introduce them and their kids to new books they may not know. If there's a book you or your kids fall in love with, you can always purchase the original, un-edited version.

Also, it's wonderful to travel with. Think about it... you can pack forty four individual picture books, or just one book that contains them all. One more advantage to this book: it contains an age index. There are recommendations for all age levels, which makes it easy to select an appropriate story. And, there are terrific bios of all the authors and illustrators in the back of the book.

For more about the book and to see samples, head over to Random House's website about The 20th Century Children's Book Treasury.

And, if you're curious, here's a list of all the picture books (listed alphabetical by title) contained in this fantastic compilation:

• Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good,Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst, illustrated by Ray Cruz
• Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish, illustrated by Fritz Siebel
• Bedtime for Frances by Russell Hoban, illustrated by Garth Williams
• The Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree by Stan and Jan Berenstain
• A Boy, a Dog and a Frog by Mercer Mayer
• "The Cat Club" by Esther Averill
• A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. Williams
• Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr., and John Archambault, illustrated by Lois Ehlert
• Curious George by H. A. Rey
• D.W. the Picky Eater by Marc Brown
• "The Elves in the Shelves" by Joan Aiken, illustrated by Jan Pienkowski
• First Tomato by Rosemary Wells
• Freight Train by Donald Crews
• Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann
• Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Clement Hurd
• Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney, illustrated by Anita Jeram
• Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion, illustrated by Margaret Bloy Graham
• I Am a Bunny by Ole Risom, illustrated by Richard Scarry
• I Hear, I See, and I Touch by Helen Oxenbury
• "In Which Pooh Goes Visiting..." by A. A. Milne, illustrated by Ernest H. Shepard
• "The Letter" by Arnold Lobel
• Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
• Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
• Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton
• A Million Fish...More or Less by Patricia C. McKissack, illustrated by Dena Schutzer
• Millions of Cats by Wanda Gág
• Miss Nelson Is Missing! by Harry Allard, illustrated by James Marshall
• Owen by Kevin Henkes
• Petunia by Roger Duvoisin
• "The Sneetches" by Dr. Seuss
• The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf, illustrated by Robert Lawson
• The Story of Little Babaji by Helen Bannerman, illustrated by Fred Marcellino
• The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
• Stellaluna by Janell Cannon
• Stevie by John Steptoe
• "The Stinky Cheese Man" by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Lane Smith
• The Story of Babar by Jean de Brunhoff
• Swimmy by Leo Lionni
• Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
• Ten, Nine, Eight by Molly Bang
• Titch by Pat Hutchins
• The Tub People by Pam Conrad, illustrated by Richard Egielski
• Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
• Whose Mouse Are You? by Robert Kraus, illustrated by Jose Aruego

Go check it out. And give it a look the next time you need a book for a baby (or for yourself).

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Wizards Wireless is proud to feature its very first guest review. This one comes from my dad, who listened in as a book was being read to his grandson, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I think this is the first time my dad has ever given me his opinion about a book, so I felt the occasion was special enough to blog about it.

Here's his review of How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman:

This imaginative book shows children that if one door is closed, they can explore different options. It allows a kid to imagine what it would be like to travel the world. It lets them take a trip on an ocean liner, learn how to speak another language, see how cultures function around the world... all by gathering the necessary ingredients to make a pie. It has a tongue in cheek approach throughout the book, especially at the end.

I agree with my dad. This is a humorous, creative and beautifully illustrated picture book... and the end always makes me laugh. I'd recommend it for ages 3 and up. Give it a try if you don't know it.

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I wish you a merry Christmas today.

And if you're a a Harry Potter fan:

Wizards Wireless is honoring the occasion by playing "A Cauldron Full of Hot Strong Love" by Celestina Warbeck all day.

Your presents will appear magically at the foot of your bed (I hope you don't receive any from Kreacher, Lavender Brown or the Dursleys.)

Mrs. Weasley knitted you a lovely sweater and baked you a dozen homemade pies.

Hagrid made you a big box of treacle fudge, which you should warm up in front of the fire before eating.

Don't eat chocolate cakes left in the Entrance Hall as they may be filled with a sleeping draft.

Dinner will be served in the Great Hall, and you don't have to sit next to Professor Trelawney unless you want to.

Make sure to pull a wizard cracker during dinner.

Remember that the mistletoe is probably full of knargles.

Don't forget to visit your relatives at St. Mungo's.

You should feel free to pelt Percy with mashed potatoes if he shows up at your house uninvited.

Have a lovely day (and you get bonus points if you recognized what Harry Potter book the title of this post comes from.)

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My children's literature professor in library school said: "If you learn only one thing from this class, let it be this: Newbery is spelled with one R."

I learned much more from the class than that. But I certainly did take away the fact that the Newbery Medal is named after the British publisher John Newbery, who spelled his last name with one R, not two. And since then, I cringe every time I see the Newberry Medal mentioned. Talking about the books that have won the Newbery Medal is far more interesting than learning how to spell it, but I couldn't resist slipping that in.

I just finished up a poll about favorite Caldecott books, so it's only natural that now I'm switching to favorite Newbery books. To find out more about the Newbery medal, click here. Here's a list of all the Newbery medalists, and here's a list of all the winners and honor books.

I just added an extremely lengthy poll to this blog... even longer than the Caldecott poll, because the Newbery has been around longer. What are your favorite books that won the Newbery Medal?

Here's mine:

• 2007: The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron
• 1999: Holes by Louis Sachar
• 1984: Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary
• 1979: The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
• 1978: Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
• 1972: Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien
• 1968: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
• 1949: King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry
• 1944: Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes

And here are my favorite Newbery honor books:

• 2007: Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson
• 2007: Rules by Cynthia Lord
• 2000: Our Only May Amelia by Jennifer L. Holm
• 1996: The Great Fire by Jim Murphy
• 1982: Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary
• 1979: The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
• 1978: Ramona and Her Father by Beverly Cleary
• 1976: Dragonwings by Laurence Yep
• 1973: Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel
• 1953: Charlotte's Web by E. B. White
• 1948: Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry
• 1944: These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• 1942: Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• 1941: The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• 1940: By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• 1939: Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard & Florence Atwater
• 1938: On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• 1929: Millions of Cats by Wanda Gág

Please vote, I'd love to see your opinion. The results from my Caldecott poll were fascinating. You can pick as many of your favorite Newbery medal winners as you like (sorry, I didn't include honor books for sanity's sake.)

And if you learn only one thing from this post, let it be this: Newbery is spelled with one R.

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Here's the second part of the Leaky Cauldron's podcast with J.K. Rowling. Be sure to check it out.

There's more about it in this post. Here's the first part of the podcast, in case you missed it.

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