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Time away gives you time to think, and one thought in particular which has been dancing around inside my head these last few weeks is how I can create and support a regular community get-together for all of us who love children’s books.
Unfortunately I can’t bring us all physically together, but what I can do is hold a virtual open house… and thinking about this has led me to set up “I’m looking for a book about…“.
This will be a monthly reading/reviewing group bringing together bloggers and readers across the globe to create a topic focused resource that’s fun and useful to parents, teachers and librarians, as well as hopefully providing a stimulus to those of us who love to review books to seek out something new and unusual.
Image: Colin Payson
I’ve always been interested in ways of finding books by subject/theme – that was the idea behind Fantastic Fiction for Kids, and also the topic of this post: “Finding kids’ fiction by subject/theme“. Not only do I believe in enriching literacy through play, I’m also passionate about enriching play through literacy – in other words, finding books on the topics/themes that are of particular interest to my girls, reading stories together that extend their play and introduce new ideas.
Here’s how I hope “I’m looking for a book about…“
will work…
What?A monthly round-up of reviews of books on a specific topic/theme
Why? To create a resource for people wishing to find children’s books on a particular theme/topic, to foster a community here on Playing by the book and amongst those of us who love to read and review children’s books
Who? YOU! Me! Us 
How? Write a review of a children’s book which fits the monthly theme (published well in advance). The book can be a new one, an old one, a picture book or a teen/YA book, a poem, a non-fiction book – anything goes, as long as it is a children’s book that somehow relates closely to the given month’s theme/topic.
When? The 2nd Monday of every month
Where? Publish the review on your blog, then come here to join the monthly link up.
Image: John 'K'
As this is about creating a resource, relevant old reviews are more than welcome (although I
Back in February, I was very touched when Shala at Caterpickles gave me the 7×7 Award.
Thank you, Shala! For those of you who don’t know Caterpickles, it’s a lovely blog about finding answers to tricky questions posed by one curious kid, all with the help of some fabulous books. And the blog is as good as it sounds, so I do hope you’ll check it out
To accept my 7×7 Link Award, I have to indulge in one moment of personal sharing, seven bits of narcissism, and seven acts of paying it forward, so here goes:
One Moment of Sharing
I have a particular fondness for art created through the process of print making, whether that’s wood block printing, intaglio or screen printing. My very favourite print I own is this one, by the Russian artist Ivanov.
Seven Bit of Narcissism
Here are seven posts from Playing by the book which I particularly enjoyed writing, and hope you’ll enjoy (re)discovering:
When is a sofa not a sofa?
Crashing into the New Year
Buckets of imagination
The ability of stories to transport us
When is it ok to teach your kids to kill animals?
Do! Read! Enjoy! Fall in Love!
Some books were harmed in the making of this post
Seven Acts of Paying it Forward
Here are seven bloggers to whom I’d like to give the 7×7 Link Award. These are all blogs I enjoy reading and am confident you will too!
Katie Viggers, who blogs at Books I Like, who you’ll find on Twitter as @katieviggers
Tintin, Johnny Boo and their Mum, who blog at LitLad, who you’ll find on Twitter as @LitLass
Tom at Building a Library, who you’ll find on Twitter as @buildalibrary
Duncan, who blogs at Literature for Lads, who you’ll find on Twitter as
3 Comments on (7 x 7) + 1, last added: 4/9/2012
Today’s theme as part of Book Blogger Appreciation Week is “finding and keeping community”.
For me, finding and keeping community amongst book bloggers faces the same challenges as finding and keeping community in my neighbourhood; time and engagement. I’ve no tips I can share on finding time but in terms of engaging with readers and other bloggers here’s what I try to do:
I try to reply to every comment made on this blog. It sounds obvious now but it took me at least a year to come round to thinking this was a good idea. I don’t know how often commenters return to any given post to see if I’ve replied (do leave a comment on this post to let me know if you do like to see if I’ve replied to any comment), but for me it’s small way of saying I care about you commenting. And I do! I don’t blog because I like to yell at people through a megaphone (though I’ve been known to do this); I blog because I enjoy conversations about children’s literature and play.
I take part in community events such as the Carnival of Children’s Literature, Nonfiction Monday, Interview Wednesday, the yearly Comment Challenge. Sunday night twitter #fedbkgrp conversations and of course BBAW. If you haven’t ever taken part in any of these events, please don’t be afraid to dive right in and try them. Don’t expect them to increase your readers drastically, but they are all great ways to find new book bloggers, and new blogs to enjoy as well as playing an active role in the community. The one event I’ve yet to take part in but would really, really like to do is Bloggiesta. If you’ve any questions about any of these, do ask and I’ll see if I can help.
One aspect of the community I find a little hard is that I’m a book blogger based in Britain, when the vast majority of book bloggers, especially those specialising in picture books are US based.
To that end, I’d like to create a list of everyone we (yes, that includes you!) know who blogs about children’s books in the UK (leaving for another day a list of British authors and illustrators who write blogs).
I’ll get the list rolling with some blogs I regularly read and others I’ve come across in researching this post, but if you know other UK-based bloggers who regularly review children’s literature (especially for the younger crowd) or share news and information about the children’s literature scene in the UK, please add them in the comments and together we’ll be able to make a great list and help build our community.
Blogs with a focus on the youngest readers (especially, but not only, picture books)
Library Mice
5 Minute’s Peace
Children’s Books for Grown-ups
Picture Bookshelf
Lots more Children’s literature (inc YA/Teenager) blogs
Nayu’s Reading Corner (
4 Comments on Book Blogger Appreciation Week – finding and keeping community, last added: 9/13/2011
Hey, do you love children’s books? Looking for a new opportunity to chat with lots of other adults who are passionate about children’s literature? Well, clear your diary for every other Sunday evening from now on…
The (UK-based) Federation of Children’s Book Groups is delighted to announce that it will be starting a children’s book forum using Twitter.
The aim of the forum is for librarians, teachers, bloggers and anyone else interested in children’s books (including YA) the chance to talk about new releases, favourites and anything else of interest surrounding children’s books.
The forum will run every fortnight on a Sunday evening between 8pm and 9pm (UK time. 3pm start time EST, 12midday PST I think, and 10 or 11 hours ahead for Australia/New Zealand) and will be hosted by the Federation @FCBGChair. Using the hashtag #fcbgbkgrp chat will be directed by the participants but at certain times of the year a theme will be suggested inspired by book events throughout the year such as National Share A Story Month in May or National Non Fiction Day in November.
The launch date for the first forum is 20th March 2011 and every other Sunday from then.
Here are some friendly faces you might see there:
@playbythebook (that’s me!)
@NatashaWorswick
@librarymice
@chicklish
@IWantToReadThat
@Rhiana_Reads
@cloverness
@SweetBookshelf
@bookzone
@FCBGChair
Would be great to see some of you on the 20th! If you hope to join in, please live your twitter name in the comments and I’ll add you to the list above to help people find you
Other tweet-meets that might be of interest if you like children’s books include:
#pblitchat where you can discuss all things picture books (Sorry – no middle-grade or YA novels allowed) on the 1st, 3rd & 5th week (if there is a 5th week) #pblitchat on Twitter.
#kidlitchat – used on Tuesdays at 9 PM Eastern/6 PM Pacific/11 PM UK for a weekly chat about all things kidlit, but used sporadically through the week, too.
#YALitChat – used on Wednesday at 9 PM Eastern/6 PM/11 PM UK Pacific for a chat about YA, but also used all week long for YA Lit type topics.
#kidlitart – used on Thursday at 9 PM Eastern/6 PM/11 PM UK Pacific for a weekly chat about the art of picture books. Used some during the week, too.
It’s time for an update as to how I’m getting on with making February a month of special effort to share the love of books, inspired by Jenna’s event over at One Mystake at a Tyme.
During the week I visited a new-to-me, independent bookshop, The Big Green Bookshop, in Wood Green, North London. Unforfortunately too far from home to make it my regular haunt, if you live in North London as The Big Green Bookshop should be somewhere you visit very soon!
It has a tremendous children’s section. Their picture book offerings were a great mix of old classics, books with a multicultural bent, several picture books in translation, and lots I picked up, read and wished I could take home with me!
The Big Green Bookshop's Children's Section
Although it’s a small bookshop in terms of square footage, it’s packed with gems. A comfy chair for children, sofa and tables help you linger, and if you do you’ll no doubt overhear some of the banter from the guys who run the bookshop – whilst I was there they dealt with humour and aplomb with queries ranging from a book about a computing language to a biography of Coleridge.
I could have bought many more books but there are the ones I came away with:
The Sea of Tranquility by Mark Haddon
Tuck me In! by Dean Hacohen and Sherry Scharschmidt
Measuring Angels by Lesley Ely, illustrated by Polly Dunbar
The Big Green Bookshop has its own website and blog, and you can also find them on Twitter and find the
As a family we don’t really celebrate Valentine’s day and as a blogger I don’t take part in many challenges or events, and yet when I saw Jenna’s plan to celebrate her love of books by hosting an event that spreads the joy they create, I simply couldn’t resist signing up.
Share the Love of Books 2011 is all about finding creative ways to share your love of books with others throughout the month of February. No sickly sweet pink and sparkly cards. No pressure to buy airfreighted roses. Just lots of joy, fun and the opportunity to make others just a little bit happier.
The key idea is to commit to five actions over the next month that are about sharing books one way or the other. Jenna has lots of great ideas such as taking an elderly neighbour to the library, arranging a book lunch at work, taking a friend to explore an independent bookshop or writing a review for a book you love but which is languishing without recommendation on Amazon.
Here’s what I’m pledging to do this February:
Go through our picture books and select some to donate to our local charity bookshop.
Read a short story to my husband.
Help M’s school source Polish themed / translated books for a special Polish day they are holding later in the Spring.
Create a keepsake of some sort for my girls using material from this new collection of fabric at Libertys, all designed by children’s book illustrators.
Visit an independent bookseller and buy a book from them – this may sound easy but apart from charity bookshops I can’t (currently) think of a single independent bookseller in my entire city.
Jenna, and I, would love it if you also felt inspired to share the love of books this month in a couple of ways that you don’t normally do. Go on, sign up for the event, and let’s have some fun!
Full details can be found at Jenna’s blog One Mystake at a Tyme. I’d love it if you too signed up and shared what you hope to do this month – please use the Mr Linky to link back to this post.
Today, as part of Book Blogger Appreciation Week, writers across the blogosphere are highlighting “a book we wish would get more attention by book bloggers, whether it’s a forgotten classic or under marketed contemporary fiction. This is your chance to tell the community why they should consider reading this book!”
I’m interpreting this slightly more broadly – what I wish to highlight are children’s books, especially picture books, originally published in a language other than English.
Can you imagine a childhood of reading without Pippi Longstocking, The Moomin Family or Tintin, to say nothing of the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen, the delights of Miffy or the wonders of Barbapapa? Wouldn’t our adventures borne of reading be immensely impoverished had these books, all translated from languages other than English, not been published for an English reading audience?
Despite this, the number of children’s books, especially picture books, which are translated into English is shockingly small. Whether in the US or UK, it seems that only about 2-3% of all published books are translated from other languages (this figure is more like 1% if we restrict ourselves to fiction rather than including translations of non-fiction and techincial work!). This despite the fact that 90-95% of the world’s population speak a language other than English as their first language.
You might wish to argue that the US and UK have a particularly flourishing, high quality children’s literature industry that doesn’t need further input. But, given the figures how can it be that we are not missing out on riches from other languages and cultures if we continue to under-represent authors and illustrators whose first language is not English?
What worlds ripe for exploration are we and our children missing out on because more the the best German, Spanish or Japanese books are only rarely translated? Philip Pullman has the following to say about the dearth of translated children’s literature: ‘You never know what will set a child’s imagination on fire…but if we DON’T offer children the experience of literature from other languages, we’re starving them. It’s as simple as that.‘ (Source: foreword to Outside In, Children’s books in translation edited by Deborah Hallford and Edgardo Zaghini, also available online here.)
Why are so few children’s books translated? Arguments I’ve seen put forward include the expense of commissioning a translation, the claim that “what delights the young readers of one nation may have no appeal at all to those of another” and the apparent “instinctive suspicion” English readers have of translations (Source: Children’s Literature in Translation by Anthony Gardner, available online here).
3 Comments on
Book Blogger Appreciation Week – Forgotten Treasure, last added: 9/15/2010
Today’s post is all about trying something new – participants in Book Blogger Appreciation Week have been invited to share a book or genre they’ve tried due to the influence of someone else (blogger or otherwise).
If you read Stacey’s interview with me yesterday, you’ll know now that I’m not a great reader when it comes to reading books for grown ups. I wish I did read more, but with 2 small children I’ve found it really hard to carve out time (and have energy spare) to read purely for my own pleasure. So when 2010 arrived I decided that this was to be the year I read more and I even had a plan to help me succeed in this!
I decided to ask 12 friends and family members to suggest one of their very favourite books for me to read. I wanted books that I might not otherwise have picked up, and books that would give me reasons to chat / argue / laugh (preferably lingering over coffee or wine) with people I care about. This plan hasn’t worked quite as well as I had hoped, in that I haven’t manage to read a book every month, but it has been a success in that much of what I’ve read I probably wouldn’t have read had it not been for the recommendations.
Two books in particular stand out: I didn’t do it for you by Michela Wrong and The Big Nowhere by James Ellroy.
I didn’t do it for you tells the astonishing, shocking modern history of Eritrea. It’s a fascinating read, an eye opener, and has lead me to dream of visiting Asmara. If you can’t place Eritrea on a map you should definitely read this book – you’ll discover how it has played a major role in geopolitics, one that we all ought to know about. Definitely a book I’d recommend if someone asked for something a little unusual.
Photo: ctsnow
White Jazz was a crazy read – not at all my usual sort of thing, and probably not something I would have stuck with had it not been for my project to read more this year. It’s occasionally funny, often brutal, and a window on a seedy, violent world that didn’t leave me desperate to read more by Ellroy (although I then heard an amazing interview with him on Desert Island Disks where Ellroy came across as a fascinating, thoughtful, complex person, an interview that did make me want to try something else by Ellroy). Can any of you suggest what I should try next by Ellroy?
Welcome to Book Blogger Appreciation Week!
BBAW was started by Amy Riley of My Friend Amy in an effort “to recognize the hard work and contribution of book bloggers to the promotion and preservation of a literate culture actively engaged in discussing books, authors, and a lifestyle of reading“.
This is the third year of BBAW, a week that spotlights and celebrates the work of active book bloggers through guest posts, awards, giveaways, and community activities. This time last year I had only recently started blogging and I found BBAW a fantastic way to discover new bloggers – and I hope this year you too will discover some new delights, new treasure and great sources of interesting reviews.
Every day this week I’ll be posting something different about books and book blogs and along the way there will be a few giveaways too!
Today’s post is all about “First Treasure” – sharing not only a great new book blog I’ve recently discovered but also the very first book blog I enjoyed.
Last month I discovered Annie and Aunt, a really fantastic book blog in which “Annie (high school teacher, mother of two small girls) and her aunt Deborah (children’s bookseller, mother of two college-age girls) discuss children’s books and come up with annotated lists.”
Annie and Aunt is terrific book blog. First there’s the format – Each blog post takes the form of a letter either from Annie to her Aunt or vice versa. This is instantly engaging because it is a real dialogue between real people with a passion and detailed knowledge of books, and as such you can’t help continuing their conversation, even if it is only in your own head. The epistolary format allows for a real exchange of ideas and thoughts and frees up Annie and her Aunt to do much more than “just” review books.
Here are some of my favourite posts from Annie and Aunt:
In Appreciation of Mother Bear
Performing Board Books
Frog, Toad and one more Dinosaur
Now, the first book blog I enjoyed? Well, actually I’m going to share with you the two blogs that played a major role in inspiring me to “Play by the book”.
First up is the Crafty Crow. In 2007 Cassi wrote a fantastic series linking books with activities for advent/the run up to Christmas – it was an amazing project and from it has sprung
It is with the greatest of pleasure that I present to you today the July 2010 Carnival of Children’s Literature!
This week I’ve been celebrating Playing by the book reaching its 1st birthday, and I can’t think of a better way of celebrating than showcasing the wonderful community that Playing by the book is part of. So let’s get partying!
Susan, aka the Book Chook presents How Do Kids Write a Book Review? “Some kids love to read, but struggle when it comes to writing a book review. I’ve come up with one review plan I hope is simple enough for elementary school students to follow.” I’ll certainly be trying out Susan’s approach with M later this week as we’re taking part in our library’s summer reading challenge, which includes writing reviews of the books that M has enjoyed.
With the recent release (in the US) of the movie “Ramona and Beezus” in mind, Aaron from Children’s Books and Reviews presents a review of Beverly Cleary’s classic juvenile fiction chapter book Beezus and Ramona. Having read Aaron’s review I’m off to the library to track down a copy – I think it will be perfect to read to my eldest, who will no doubt empathize with the big sister in this fun story.
Emily presents a review of The Maze Runner by James Dashner posted at Homespun Light. Emily adds, “If you like The Hunger Games, check out this other great book: The Maze Runner by James Dashner!“. There are several summer mazes near us and this could be the perfect book to pair with a visit to a maze!
Mary Ann presents a selection of picture books about storytelling posted at Reading, Writing and Recipes. I think Mary Ann’s selection of books would work brilliantly in encouraging your kids to write and illustrate their own stories. If you want some inspiration about making little books with your kids for them to fill with storie
Today Playing by the book is featured in the series “When I was young” over at Danielle’s lovely blog There’s a book. If you head on over there you can find out what language I speak other than Dutch and English, what books I loved as a child and some clues as to what career I could have followed instead of being a book loving stay-at-home mum!
**If you haven’t yet entered the international giveaway for a signed copy of Wake Up! by Katie Cleminson, there’s still time to do so! Just click here and leave a comment **
On July 28th 2009 I took leap in to the unknown and started Playing by the book. I didn’t know how it would evolve, or even if I would still be here a year on. But very nearly 52 weeks later I am still here, and can’t really imagine my life without this little space of mine, where I come to play and connect and challenge myself.
So in this birthday week I’ve got a few fun posts lined up that I’ll hope you’ll enjoy, but I wanted to start the week with some thankyous.
Thanks also go to
The Book Maven for also
awarding me the Versatile Blogger Award.
Both these awards share the same “rules”, which are these:
1. Thanks the person who gave you the award
2. Share 7 things about you!
3. Pass the award to 15 bloggers you’ve recently discovered and think are FABULOUS!
I’m afraid I’m going to break the rules a little but here you go…
Some things you may not have known about me:
I’m currently reading Cannery Row by John Steinbeck, having recently read The Grapes of Wrath for the first time. If you haven’t read The Grapes of Wrath please treat yourself and find a copy. If you’re interested in humanity and can bear not a little heartache this book is essential reading. It made me want to re-read If not now, when? by Primo Levi.
The most recent book I bought was the audiobook of The Secret Garden – ready to give to M when we finish reading it at bedtime.
The two most recently added books on my wish list are Cave Baby by Julia Donaldson and Emily Gravett, and
4 Comments on A year on and a heartful of thankyous, last added: 7/26/2010
A date for your diaries! Book Blogger Appreciation Week, which spotlights and celebrates the work of active book bloggers through guest posts, awards, giveaways, and community activities, will be happening this year September 13-17
Last year I had been blogging only about 6 weeks when the week-long book blogging celebration was held and it was a fantastic way for me to discover lots of new book blogs. I was inspired by so many of the blogs I came across – both from a book point of view and from a blogging point of view – and so I’m already looking forward to this year’s festival.
As part of the partying, awards are made for the best blog in different book-related categories. Previous winners of the Best Kidlit Blog include:
Jen Robinson’s Book Page
Well Read Child
Maw Books Blog
This year, I’m registering Playing by the book for consideration in the Best Kidlit category and as part of this process I’ve had to select 5 past posts to highlight for the award judges. So, after some umm-ing and aah-ing here are my favourite 5 posts:
Sounds of the seashore
Fantastic Fiction for Kids – Death and Grief
What journeys led you here?
Laughter and a lot of it
Going to the Library
Is there a post of mine you think I’ve missed but should have included?
Sandhya made a great suggestion in the comments on my previous post – to put up a list of all the countries from where we had families participating in the postcard swap. That would have been too easy (!) so in addition to the list of countries, I’ve added a link or two to interesting bits and pieces about children’s literature or individual books for each country. These are not meant to be representative of children’s literature in the given country – it’s more of a pot pourri sort of approach – hopefully you’ll discover some new gems and have your appetite whetted for some world literature!
Argentina
A selection of Argentinian books from Travel for Kids
On hunting for genuine Argentinian kids’ books by DadWagon
A brief biography of Argentinian illustrator, author and Singer, Isol
Australia (we had participants from New South Wales, Norther Territory, Victoria, South Australia, Australian Capital Territory, Queensland, Western Australia)
The Book Chook – a fantabulous kids’ books’ site from an Australian author passionate about literacy
A brief history of Australian children’s books from the Australian Government
Children’s Book Council of Australia
Bahamas
The House in the Sky: A Bahamian Folktale
Bermuda
An extensive list of books about Bermuda, including non fiction, books for adults, cookery books and more
Brunei
An article about a recent book fair in Brunei
Bulgaria
Yet another source of inspiration for me when it comes to children’s books and activities are various social networking sites. This is an area that’s very new to me, so if you have experience of these sites please do share any tips you have for making the most of them. Thanks!
JacketFlap
http://www.jacketflap.com/index.asp
JacketFlap is probably the world’s most comprehensive children’s book resource and social networking web site for people in the children’s book industry. The blog reader on
JacketFlap is a great way to find new book blogs or catch up with blogs you don’t have in your reader for whatever reason. There’s also a very useful search function for finding books, blogs or even authors on a specific topic.
Book blog ning
http://bookblogs.ning.com/
Book blog ning has a special group dedicated to
Children’s books and this is a useful place to find out what other bloggers are posting about. I haven’t found it terribly useful in terms of more general kidlit advice or suggestions – it seems to be more of a place to promote your blog than to really interact with other book bloggers, but maybe I just haven’t found the right group. If you’ve used the
Book blog ning please do let me know how you’ve found it and what you think it is most useful for.
We Teach
http://weteach.ning.com/
We Teach is “for anyone and everyone who teaches–no matter the classroom”. It has loads of useful groups – people interested specifically in reading, maths, science, crafts, music and many more, and I’ve found it to be a very friendly sphere, more about helping each other other than simply promoting one’s own blog.
About.com has an interesting article about even more book social networks, including Shelfari, Library Thing and Goodreads, but I’ve only just dipped the very top of my toes into these and don’t feel I can yet comment on how useful they are as a source of inspiration. If you use any of these sites, please do share your thoughts on them!
So, this week I looked at all different
If I’m stuck for ideas whether book or play related I’ll often turn to one or more the of bulletin boards, mailing lists or email groups I subscribe to. On posting a query you normally get a very quick response and people are keen to help. Here are some of the mailing lists and groups I’ve found particularly helpful.
Yahoo group nfmon · Nonfiction Monday
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nfmon/
This is an email list for readers, writers and reviewers of nonfiction books for kids. There are lots of nonfiction authors in the group and there’s also very useful automatic reminders for upcoming Nonfiction Monday events and Children’s Literature Carnivals.
Yahoo group EcoLit
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EcolIt/
“This is a discussion group for children’s and YA librarians, children’s lit specialists, teachers, and other educators to share information on text, digital, and multimedia resources that help enlighten young people, birth to age 18, about a wide range of environmental-related issues.” Lots of enthusiastic people on this list, and a great resource.
Yahoo groups Kids activities
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kidsactivities/
“We share indoor and outdoor activities, ideas and tips for kid’s games, science projects, history journals, arts crafts, scrapbook ideas, book making, lap book ideas, note booking, projects, easy recipes, lesson plans, tips, gifts, links, wacky snacks, circle time activities, file folder games, felt board stories, geography, educational scrapbooks, creativity, music activities, board games, party ideas and a wide variety of educational activities. The ideas here come from childcare providers, home educators, home school, librarians, teachers, authors, daycare providers, writers, artists, moms, grandparents, etc.” I’ve picked up lots of good ideas from this group, though sometimes messages can be off topic.
AllCrafts.net forums
http://forums.allcrafts.net/index.php
There are many different crafty forums at AllCrafts.net – useful if you’re looking for something particular eg an activity with polymer clay or knitting. There’s a separate kids’ craft board, although many kids’ crafts are interspersed throughout all the other boards. There’s also a board dedicated to highlighting your blog if you blog about crafty things. You’ll need to register to be able to post.
Google groups rec.arts.books.childrens
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.books.childrens?hl=en
A group for all aspects of children’s literature. Particularly good at anniversaries, birthdays and obituaries for children’s authors.
Child Lit email group at Rutgers
https://email.rutgers.edu/mailman/listinfo/child_lit
“Child_Lit is an unmoderated discussion group convened for the express purpose of examining the theory and criticism of literature for children and young adults. The list exists for anyone interested in discussing aspects of these broad fields, including authorship, illustration, publication, promotion, readership, reception, critici
Another great way to meet new bloggers and find inspiration is by visiting a carnival. Carnivals often take place less frequently than the weekly memes I talked about yesterday and on Monday (typically once a month) and they are a rather more like magazines with a greater variety of posts, although still unified by some theme. Here are some carnivals I like visiting (and taking part in!):
Carnival of Children’s Literature
This is a monthly round-up of blog posts about children’s literature, with contributions from children’s book authors, illustrators and reviewers as well as parents, educators and librarians. In March the carnival was hosted by The Miss Rumphius Effect (click here to visit the Carnival), and on April 30th Kathy from forwordsbook will be hosting. If you’d like to submit an post to be included in the next carnival visit the Blog Carnival Widget and click on Submit an article.
I can read
A round up of reviews of easy readers and/or short chapter books. In February this was hosted by Anastasia at 5 Great Books, whilst later this month Jennifer at the Jean Little Library will be hosting. To participate just contact Jennifer via her blog and let her have the link to your post on easy readers and/or short chapter books.
Kids’ Picks
The THIRD Tuesday of each month is Kids’ Picks at 5 Minutes for Books – a chance to share what your children have loved reading in the past month — whether the child is two or twelve or seventeen. Kids’ Picks for March can be read here, and if you want to submit for the April carnival, head on over to 5 Minutes for Books on April 20th.
Book review blog carnival
This carnival doesn’t feature a great deal of children’s literature but is happy to receive kidlit submissions.
Audiosynced
On the first day of every month, Kelly at Stacked or
4 Comments on On finding new inspiration – Carnivals and Challenges, last added: 4/14/2010
I’m always on the look out for wonderful new (kids’) books and delightful ideas for play and exploration. Of course, the comments you leave me are one important source of inspiration, but I also enjoy learning from others in various online communities or groupings.
As all of you are either interested in kids’ books or play or both I thought I’d share my findings with you – throughout this week (in an change to normal service at Playing by the book) I’ll be sharing with you what I’ve discovered so far about the kidlit and play communities online and how they inspire me and could inspire you!
I’ve found it really helpful to start participating in memes. In this context what I mean by meme is a roundup of blog posts on a given theme or with some sort of unifying principle, where that round up is facilitated by a host – either through creating a new blog post linking back to all the participating blogs, through their comments system or by using a tool such as Mister Linky.
This last couple of weeks I’ve been on the look out for new memes to participate in, hoping to find some new great blogs to enjoy, new books or play ideas, and also (hopefully) some new readers for Playing by the book.
Today I bring you a list of (kids’) book memes. These are either specifically for children’s books or regularly feature children’s books
Nonfiction Monday
Bloggers from across the kidlitosphere celebrate Nonfiction Monday by writing posts about nonfiction books for kids every Monday.
Click here for more information and the current schedule.
Read Aloud Thursday
Every Thursday participants in this meme write a round up of the books they’ve been reading aloud to their kids in the past week. Some participant review just a single book, others write up 5 or 6 books. To get involved visit
Hope is the Word on any Thursday and leave a link to your post.
Poetry Friday
Every Friday lovers of poetry link up and share poems they’ve discovered or enjoyed recently. Poetry Friday roundups typically include excerpts of poems (respecting copyright), the text of poems in their entirety (for those out of copyright), reviews of poetry books, poems written by bloggers themselves. This meme is is for both adult and children’s poetry, and the
current list of hosts can be found here.
3 Comments on On finding new inspiration – weekly book memes, last added: 4/12/2010
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Look forward to it!
Lovely idea Zoe! Will think about it after 4th May when my life becomes my own again ;0)
Hope you had a nice week-end?
Library Mice recently posted..Goldilocks and Just the One Bear
Hi Zoe, sounds excellent. I’d love to take part. Lovely idea. Well done you. x