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Booklist recently announced their list of the Top 10 Graphic Novels for youth, and you have to give them points for originality. While there’s a couple titles on the list you might know (The Unsinkable Walker Bean, Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty), I’m willing to bet my cardigan (well, maybe an item of equal value) that there are a few you weren’t aware of. And really, isn’t that what makes a like this worth it? I’m off to find a copy of Return of the Dapper Men. Click here (or the image below) to read.

As you may have heard, there was a memorable meeting of pop culture and children’s lit this week on NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice. The contestants were tasked with creating a children’s book and boy did it entertain – often for completely unintentional reasons. Click below to watch.

In a beautiful mash-up of the Roald Dahl classic Matilda and the current ebook revolution, author/illustrator Aaron Renier (The Unsinkable Walker Bean) crafts a comic strip that digital dissenters and aficionados alike should take a look at. Excellent stuff.

Click here (or the image above) to read it at Unshelved.

In the past few weeks I’ve started following some new blogs, some of which might be of interest to you…

e is for book

Have I mentioned that 2011 is the year ebooks explode? It’s time to start figuring these things out (so says the reluctant librarian). The group blog e is for book should prove pretty helpful in this pursuit, with a bevy of authors talking about the transition to the brave new eworld.

Sample Post: It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel…?

The Scop

Author blogs can be a dicey proposition. The best of them go beyond self-promotion and interact with the children’s lit world as a whole. Jonathan Auxier, author of the forthcoming Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes takes this wide-angle view, highlighting interesting topics and sharing personal knowledge. Plus, there’s funny drawings.

Sample Post: Huckleberry Finn and Literary Alteration

Klickitat

Klickitat is the brainchild of librarian Julie Judkins, and even though she’s just 9 posts in, I’m digging what I see – a nice mix of reviews, link round-ups, and discussion starters. It also don’t hurt one bit that Judkins is a fellow Michigander.

Sample Post: Should Authors Rate Their Own Books in Social Media?

Reads for Keeps

Started by a pair of children’s lit hobbyists, Reads for Keeps has all the reviews, book lists, and rambling editorials you could hope for. Bonus points for a cool header as well.

Sample Post: Top 5 Most Depressing Children’s Books

AASL Advocacy Tip of the Day

This one’s on the list for all the school librarians out there, but it may have some solid public library use as well. AASL Advocacy Tip of the Day is as straightforward as a blog can be – one post per day about how to generate support and spread good news about your school library. Brief, to the point, and useful.

Sample Post: Advocacy Tip #54

Dang, just when I feel like I’m easing into this 2011 thing, 2012 pops up on the radar. The excellent Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog has the lowdown on a batch of books that may be contenders for the 2012 award. Click the image below to check them out.

Few author interviews go deeper than the typical “tell us about your book” surface. Teacher, reviewer, and ALSC Notable Books committee member Ed Spicer routinely cuts through the standard chatter in his author interviews, which he posts at his website, Spicy Reads. Ed recently sat down with Gary Paulsen (as Paulsen was in the midst of recording audio versions of some of his books), and the results give rare insight into the iconic author’s life and work.

Really, who doesn’t want to know if Paulsen has ever peed on an electric fence?

I just realized that Yoda missed his calling. It turns out that he really should have been a Dr. Seuss character.

Cartoonist Adam Watson is working on a project that Seuss-ifies the Star Wars universe, and the results are fun to see.

Click the image of “Seuss” Jabba the Hut below to check it out.

(Thanks to Not only, but also for the link)

If you’re a librarian, a children’s lit fan, or just some dude who has a thing for best-of lists, you’ll be well served to check out the 2010 edition of School Library Journal’s Best Books of the Year. So many great picks. Click the image below to read:

On the more commercial side of things, Amazon has also named their favorite children’s books of the year in two categories: picture books and middle readers. Worth a look. Click the images below to read:

Picture Books:

Middle Readers:

I couldn’t decide which link to go with today, so here are all the contenders presented in a hastily thrown together list:

Great Literature Retitled to Boost Website Traffic

If you spend time on the internet, you’ve probably noticed that there are certain writing gimmicks used to draw attention. This list from McSweeney’s applies these ticks to book titles, with humorous results.

The Huffington Post: Best Picture Books 2010

I think Us Weekly could put out a “Best Picture Books of the Year” list and I’d be willing to give it a look. On second thought, no – I would draw the line at Us Weekly.

Audio Clip: Chicken Big on NPR

Daniel Pinkwater visits weekend edition to recommend Chicken Big, an effort I second.

Are you in the process of writing a book called “Neil Gaiman is a Cool Guy“? Oh, good – you’ll want to use this recent Twitter conversation between Gaiman and a confused Neil Patrick Harris fan. Click here (or the image below) to head over to BuzzFeed and read the whole thing.

In a weird way, the two links I’m bringing to the table today sum up 100 Scope Notes as well as anything I’ve posted. One part serious, one part absurd. First up, the serious:

Fellow school librarians take note! ShelfTalker has a wonderfully useful post about managing a successful author visit. Whatever you do, don’t underestimate the treats. Click here to read.

Now, for the absurd:

BuzzFeed again brings the children’s lit-related noise with this post on HP ink. Hey, if you’re gonna get a Harry Potter tat, why not have it cover your entire back? Click here to see ‘em all.

Forget the bestseller list, forget the billions, forget Oprah, when it comes down to it, J.K. Rowling is an author writing a book. Click the image below to see a Harry Potter outline.

(Thanks to BuzzFeed for the link)

I like sports. I watch ESPN at levels the American Library Association has deemed medically unsafe for any librarian.

So this brings about a question.

Why is it that I always seem to miss great sports books for kids?

Thankfully, Booklist is willing to help me out with their recently-released Top 10 Sports Books for Youth. I’ve heard of a few (Black Jack: The Ballad of Jack Johnson, The Cardturner) but there’s a bunch here that completely flew under my radar. Glad to see folks out there giving the best books the attention they deserve.

Click here to view the list.

Words to live by. Create your own at Keep Calm-o-Matic.

(Thanks to School Library Monthly Blog for the link)

The links, they tend to accrue. We got a mess of them today, so let’s see how many I can whip through before running out of steam…

The Berenstain Bears Play Lacrosse – real title or made up? Mental_floss challenges you to spot the fake. I came in at a respectable 75% correct.

The recent (and outstanding) graphic novel Smile was written and illustrated by one Raina Telgemeier. She’s married to cartoonist Dave Roman. With all that artistic talent floating around, how do you suppose they tell the story of how they got engaged? A cartoon love story.

Do you often fall asleep when reading? This product will help you cut to the chase.

Know any libraries that need saving? Use this to help rally some support. (via Elizabeth O. Dulemba)

Artwork with a suitably bookish vibe. (via Matt Hinrichs)

Attention: Children’s book related t-shirt design of the week.

Forgive me while I check my calendar. The Indie Children’s Illustrated Bestsellers this week have a decidedly old-school feel. Take a look at the top five, and click the image to view the entire list.

Well folks, I don’t know how it happened, but we’ve got a bunch of links here. I’ll show ‘em, you decide which is right for you.

(Click the images to read)

Make bridge gripping reading for youngsters – not an easy task. If you’ve been curious to learn more about Louis Sachar’s latest book, The Cardturner, you will fulfill that curiosity by checking out the above LA Times article.

I am a fan of book-related indoor flora. I liked it in the Canton Public Library, and I like it here (although, from the info on Flickr, I can’t figure out where this book tree resides).

Look, I don’t ask questions. I’m a librarian. I see a list of best books. I post it. Certainly some nice choices in this group. Click the image above to see which books Puffin thinks are best.

Cullen – coming to a birth certificate near you. Gawker reveals how Twilight has changed the course of popular baby names.

Drew Barrymore’s New Tell-All Coloring Book Hits Shelves

Try as I might, there comes a point when you have to say, “I can’t add anything here”. I can’t add anything here.

Occasionally, I like to chat book covers in these here pages. BoingBoing recently pointed the way to Good Show Sir, a blog dedicated to covers. Namely, bad sci-fi and fantasy covers. Here’s a taste:

Awesomely. Bad.

Click here to visit BoingBoing and check out the site.

Children’s lit, it done changed. Indy Week has a nice interview with Lois Lowry, where she talks about how books for young people have changed since the 70’s. Click here to read.

Read a book online. A book is donated to someone in need. Penguin Group is making this happen. Click here to read.

If you haven’t tried spine poetry yet, you gotta give it a shot. The Somers Library in Somers, NY tried it. Click here to check out their lovely-looking Flickr gallery.

It appears I’m late on the butterfly bandwagon. I recently covered monarchs on book covers, but winged insects have been previously spotted by Jacket Whys and Pop Culture Junkie.

I have a special place in my cardigan for websites aimed at grown-ups that dip into children’s lit. I’ve linked to children’s lit-related mental_floss posts before (like the recent Judy Blume Quiz), but I didn’t know they had a page collecting all their kid’s book commentary. Click here to read.

What’s with the bad grammar in this headline?

Abby (the) Librarian recently wrote about The Library of Congress acquiring the Twitter archive (click here to read more at MSNBC). This deal means that the LOC will be preserving every tweet ever written until, most likely, the end of time.

I use Twitter to share such inanities as children’s lit-themes tatoos and other foolishness…

…and the idea that these comments will be preserved certainly makes me think twice about how they will be perceived in the future. In order to make my children’s children’s children think I was an important person and serious academic, I will take the following steps:

1. I no longer use the term “retweet” (or RT) when I pass along another person’s tweet – I will use “vis-à-vis”.

2. I will grow a beard for my profile picture.

3. All my tweets will begin with the phrase, “We hold these truths to be self-evident…”.

Thanks for supporting these changes.

Attention folks interested in 2009 children’s book sales figures: they’re out.

Publishers Weekly has broken down which titles moved the most units in aught nine. My notes are as follows:

• Dang, Golden Books are still sellin’ by the truckload.
• Wimpy Kid took #1 and #2 in the hardcover frontlist category?
• If you slap Twilight on anything rectangular it will sell.
• The same goes for Fancy Nancy.
• Series books are where it’s at. Barely a stand-alone to be found at the top of the lists.

Click here to head over to Publishers Weekly and check out the figures for yourself.

(Thanks to Educating Alice for the link)

Top Image: ‘cash register keys‘ http://www.flickr.com/photos/54289096@N00/3154132

The CEO of Penguin recently presented some of their in-development book concepts for the iPad (including children’s and YA titles), and I recommend you take a look. With the Kindle in my mind as the ebook standard, I underestimated the interactivity of the iPad, which is on full display in the video below.

As I never see black and white, only gray (such is my curse), my feelings are predictably conflicted. The cardigan-wearing traditionalist in me says “They’re turning books into video games. Video games bad!” (my technology-fearing caveman side also came out there). The to0-cool-for-school futurist in me says “Chill – this is the way we’ll all be reading soon. And take off that lame tie”

What do you think?

(Thanks to The Huffington Post for the link)

On Wednesday I posted the trailer for Harriet the Spy: Blog Wars, a TV movie update of the classic children’s book. Website Jezebel decided to update some other kids books for the 21st century. Some titles don’t need changing (The Twits), some actually exist (Little Blog on the Prairie), and some just had to be done (Wikipedia Brown). Click here (or the image below) to read all about it.

Similar to the Zack/Jessie vs. Slater/Kelly showdown in the “Dancing to the Max” episode of Saved by the Bell, this whole print vs. ebook debate just gets more and more intriguing doesn’t it? The New York Times recently addressed the topic, asking “Do School Libraries Need Books?”, and inviting five interested parties to state their beliefs.

Click here to read the article.

The overall opinion re: the bookless library? Not so fast.

While there is certainly support for the printed word, the most interesting (and the most pro ebook) comments may come from James Tracy, Headmaster of Cushing Academy, a 9-12th grade Massachusetts institution that recently (and famously) went the ereader route. Tracy asserts that “traditional libraries must be reimagined to remain vital.”

While they seem to be doing innovative things in the space cleared by removing all those pesky books…

I have a hard time believing that 70 Kindles are sufficiently doing the job of a full library collection.

Working in four elementary schools that serve students in grades K-6, I’m trying to sort out how this will effect children’s books.

For elementary school libraries, it seems to me that the ebook movement won’t have much of an affect (for the time being). The convenience and durability of printed books makes much more sense for young readers.

What do you think?

(Thanks to Blue Skunk Blog for the link)

Really, nobody said it better than Dvice, who called the Performance Book Caddy “a cheap way to kill yourself”. Hey, I’m all for reading, but this is not a good purchase. Click the image to view.

(Thanks to Neatorama for the link)