Like the wind! Faster than lightning! Lots of news and no time to tell it. In brief . . .
Oh, how cool! This is not to be missed. For those of you with an interest in children’s literature around the globe, the blog Playing by the Book offers this fantastic view of children’s literary destinations in Denmark. That Little Mermaid statue is worth the price of the flight alone.
Travis Jonker of 100 Scope Notes was kind enough to stop by my library the other week to say howdy. He recounts his time near the library lions in the post Fuse Live! Cheers, mate!
I was pleased to see James Kennedy post a new entry for the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival that will be held at New York Public Library this November. Of course we need more, people. MORE! If you know any creative kids who would be interested in distilling a Newbery winning book down to 90 seconds, please do not hesitate to read the rules here and have them submit. We must have more!
- Shocking news! Old children’s books used to contain more male characters than female! Well, maybe not all that shocking. Thanks to Abigail Gobel for the link.
- A similar article pointed out that the number of characters with disabilities as portrayed in Newbery books is not equal to the number of children in the real world who “attend special education classes”. The report appears to look at the whole of Newebery winners from the past to today. It does acknowledge that things have gotten better, though, so I’m a bit confused about the point of it all. If books today do a much better job than books in the past, isn’t that the point?
- In other news, the picture book is not dead. Nor is it about to be supplanted by apps or anything with spangles and whizzbangs. Allyn Johnston and Marla Frazee explain more.
- The Detroit Public Library recently came under fire for its new renovation. The concern is how much was spent on a single library wing ($2.3 million) while neighborhood branches close. More info here. Thanks to Aunt Judy for the link.
- Children’s Book Week just ended. Were you aware of the winners of the Children’s Choice Book Awards? If not, here they be:
Author of the Year: Rick Riordan for The Lost Hero
Illustrator of the Year: David Wiesner for Art & Max
K-2nd Grade Book of the Year: Little Pink Pup by Johanna Kerby
3-4th Grade Book of the Year: Lunch Lady and the Summer Camp Shakedown by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
5-6th Grade Book of the Year: The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan
Teen Choice Book of
Aah Peter and the Wolf! I reviewed several picture book versions here: http://www.playingbythebook.net/2010/03/18/peter-and-the-wolf/ I can’t recommend Susie Templeton’s animated version of Peter and the Wolf enough (http://www.peterandthewolffilm.co.uk/). It completely revived the piece of music for me. Thanks for linking to Playing by the book – have you seen my “visits” to the other Nordic countries?
Nay, but I will now. A collected list would be superb. It’s all theoretical for most of us here in the States, but for those who travel it might prove invaluable. Cheers!
Funny. that’s the exact cover on my copy of “Starring Sally J. Freeman As Herself.”
Karen, mine too! (And it took me till I was an adult to notice/get the Jewishness of the whole Freedman family. Sometimes we white Midwesterners are slow.)
That’s the cover I had too. And I liked this because this was about as contemporary as a Jewish family got in the books I had growing up (compared to All-of-a-Kind Family) and the family sounded like people I knew.
As Karen and EM says, that’s the cover that was on my copy of Sally J. Freedman too! I think mine even has the same wrinkles.
Thanks for putting up the entry I received for “Where the Mountain Meets the Moon”! (In fact, just today I received ANOTHER entry for Grace Lin’s book — done entirely with shadow puppets — I’ll share it soon!)
Today I put up 2 more 90-Second Newbery entries I’ve received — a really great “Witch of Blackbird Pond” and another rendition of “A Wrinkle in Time.” I’m getting really excited for this festival!
http://jameskennedy.com/2011/05/09/90-second-newbery-the-witch-of-blackbird-pond-1959-and-a-wrinkle-in-time-1963/