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It would be easy to fill up a list with titles by Shel Silverstein, Jack Prelutsky, Eugene Field, Edward Lear and Robert Louis Stevenson.

But since many of us already know about these amazing authors and their books, I've come up with a list of six others that aren't as well-known, but are sure to make "toenails twinkle" just the same.*

Fold Me a Poem

By Kristine O'Connell George and illustrated by Lauren Stringer

Harcourt Children's Books, 2005

$16, ages 4-8, 56 pages

A boy folds and plays with origami animals in this imaginative collection of 32 brief poems. Stringer's acrylic paintings are magical. On one page, an origami elephant emerges from a crumpled lunch bag and on another a floral-paper frog takes the place of a water lily on a floating leaf.

The Underwear Salesman and Other Jobs for Better or Verse

By J. Patrick Lewis, illustrated by Serge Bloch

Simon & Schuster, 2009

$16.99, ages 9-12, 64 pages

In this hilarious collection of poems, Lewis explores almost every job imaginable, from exterminator to paleontologist to bubble bath tester, while Bloch's ink cartoons leap around the page and delight with whimsical touches of collage. My favorite: th

The Cybils have been announced, and This Is Just to Say, by Joyce Sidman, won for poetry. Yea! This is one of my top two favorite poetry books of 2007 (and now both have won major awards, hint, hint). It was fun being on the nominating committee for the Cybils, and I'm so pleased that this book won the top honor!



This book is phenomenal. If you haven't read it yet, order it from a bookseller and prepare yourself for a real treat. You can read reviews of the book here.

Congratulations, Joyce! And to all the other winners and finalists, too!

According to the New York Times, Harper Collins is launching an on-line initiative where readers can view the full content of select books for free on-line. They have equated it with flipping through a book at a shop or the library before deciding to take it home. Most of the titles on offer are adult, but Erin Hunter's enormously popular Into the Wild, Vol. 1 of the Warriors series, is one of the titles available. And speaking of Erin Hunter, it looks as if she is branching away from cats and on to bears. The Seekers Vol. 1: The Quest Begins is due for release in May.

Well now, I'm starting to pop up everywhere. Kind of like a ghostwriter--you read my writing, you just don't know it's me! School Library Journal reports that Greg Foley's Thank You Bear is the 2008 winner of the Charlotte Zolotow award. I gave that book a starred review way back when--a point that is mentioned in the article, and quoted.

But enough about me. Thank You Bear is a thoroughly deserving book and wonderfully represents the style and tone of Ms. Zolotow's writing. I think of titles like The Hating Book, My Friend John, and A Father Like That, where she writes about the sensitive, reflective side of childhood. She near enough spoke their language. And so does Bear. Look out for the new Bear book, Don't Worry Bear, due for release in 2008.

I should also mention that some of the runners-up were favorites in this house, too, including At Night (Jonathan Bean), A Good Day (Kevin Henkes), and Pictures From our Vacation (Lynn Rae Perkins.)

For the biggest "awww, ain't she (or possibly he) cute" factor, check out "Snowflake" (or, in German, "Flocke"). She was born at the Nuremberg Zoo but was taken from her mother since zoo officials feared the mother would harm or kill the 4-week old cub. She's on her way to becoming a celebrity like Knut, the cub who made headlines and magazine covers (and a ton of money for the Berlin Zoo). She even has her own website, with photos and videos, and a naming contest. It just makes you want a cute and cuddly polar bear for your very own.

Which is the point, of course, of publicizing her/him. With the polar bears' environment changing so quickly and dramatically, there is a real possibility of extinction - and although polar bears are not, in fact, cute and cuddly in their natural environment but pretty determined carnivores who deserve respect and a wide berth - any publicity they get helps. (Knut, by the way, also has a web presence).

Two questions I have are: do polar bear mothers routinely reject their cubs in the wild, or is this something found more in captivity? Both Knut and Flocke were rejected by their mothers.

Is somehow "humanizing" animals the only way to get humans to respect them? With bears (of all kinds) especially, we seem to veer between the "cute and cuddly" version and the "fierce man-eating monster" version.

With the bears in my book, I've tried to make them characters readers can sympathize with while also being themselves - bears, not humans in bear suits. Obviously, there are some fantastical elements involved, and I am in fact constantly evolving the "rules" of how that works. But I've tried to keep it as real as possible in terms of actual bear biology and behavior.

And who knows? Maybe I'll do something with polar bears next... Read the rest of this post

Don't forget to sign up for the Monthly Drawing! The winner will be selected manana!

Oops, accidentally posted these SMALL!

My blog is now featured on the Jacketflap blog reader! I'm very happy since more people will see (and hopefully comment on) this blog.

Book update: I am currently doing a massive reworking of the timeline of my novel. I realized that the middle was too episodic - this happened, then that happened, but it didn't really move the story forward. I'm still including some of it, but working it in in a different way. I always knew the second half of the book would need reworking, but I feel like I'm getting a little closer with each rewrite. It's getting harder, though, since I am going into my own hibernation mode - eating too much and wanting to sleep all the time. This will last until spring. Maybe I am part bear.

In the news recently: a bear mauled a boy scout on a camping trip - broke into his tent and shook him up a bit, but the kid was generally unhurt except for a few cuts and bruises. This is very strange behavior for a bear. Was there food in the tent? Did the kid's clothes smell of the cookfire? Are bears learning that tents mean people and people mean food? He claimed that he played dead and the bear went away - probably the bear didn't find anything edible and so therefore left. Generally playing dead is not the way to get black bears to go away, but now that's what's out there in public, yet again.

Red Sox update: looking grim. Down 3 games to 1 in the ALCS. Can Beckett save us on Thursday? Stay tuned... Read the rest of this post

I'm really glad I was asked to make these, because a really had no bear art planned for my immediate future. But now, I'm really enjoying them. Plus I have about a zillion more ideas that involve this mother/daughter duo. Don't worry, I won't post them all here. :)

Bear Hug
and
Bearing Gifts