A Bookshelf Monstrosity

All Things Kid Lit: Zorro Gets an Outfit

2012-09-08T07:21:00.002-05:00

Picture Book Pick of the Week:

Zorro Gets An Outfit

by Carter Goodrich
Simon and Schuster, 2012

From School Library Journal:

As in the first installment, Say Hello to Zorro!, the book is well designed, with ample white space surrounding the all-small-caps font and bright images. Whether shared one-on-one or as part of a dog-themed storytime, this book is sure to please existing fans of Mr. Bud and Zorro and create new admirers of these charming pups.

You might also like these titles:

See Me Run by Paul Meisel
When Jack Goes Out by Pat Schories
Say Hello to Zorro by Carter Goodrich

Back in the saddle again...

2012-07-19T16:43:00.000-05:00

Sorry I haven't been around. After much deliberation, I've taken a new library media position back in my hometown in TN. I'm very excited, but also sad to leave so many great friends.

I've been working on lots of fun stuff for my new (to me) library, and fellow library blogger Jo Nase (Book Bug) has been a lifesaver. She decorates her media center with a different theme each year, and this year's theme is all about Reading like a Rock Star!

Here's a poster I made up on Vistaprint to go along with the theme:

I love how librarians are so into resource sharing! I've learned so much from people I've never even met.

Books By Theme: Fairy Tale-ish Fiction

2012-06-23T17:56:00.001-05:00

"The way to read a fairy tale is to throw yourself in."

-W. H. Auden

Come Fall

by A. C. E. Bauer

Foster kid Salman Page is starting seventh grade in yet another new school when he's assigned a "designated buddy," eighth-grader Lu-Ellen Zimmer. Past experience has made him distrustful, so he tries to avoid Lu at first, but Salman eventually becomes friends with her and another kid on the fringes, Blos Pease. The three of them deal with the ups and downs at Riverfalls Junior High together, little suspecting that the fairy Puck (who narrates many chapters of the book) is meddling in their affairs. Based loosely on Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream, this absorbing mix of realistic fiction and fantasy "makes middle school feel like a trip through a dark and scary forest" (Publishers Weekly), but it has a triumphant, feel-good ending.

Reckless

by Cornelia Funke

After his father goes missing, 12-year-old Jacob discovers that a mirror in his house is a portal to another realm -- the dark and magical Mirrorworld. For many years after discovering the portal, Jacob visits Mirrorworld and retrieves enchanted fairy-tale objects (such as locks of Rapunzel's hair) for profit, but when his younger brother, Will, follows him into the mirror, disaster looms. Reckless is sure to make fans of somewhat sinister, action-packed fantasy adventures (like Chris Wooding's Malice) shiver with glee.

A Tale Dark & Grimm

by Adam Gidwitz

If you think of fairy tales as nice, pretty little stories to bore children to sleep with, A Tale Dark & Grimm will make you think again. Weaving the disturbing bits of several Brothers Grimm tales and plenty of his own mischief into a single story, author Adam Gidwitz tells his own version of the (often gruesome) adventures of Hansel and Gretel. Readers who enjoy wry humor, grisly horror, and interrupting narrators (à la Lemony Snicket) will be thrilled with this book -- and might also like the dark but less bloody stories in Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling's collection Troll's Eye View.

Which fairy tale adaptations are your favorites?

Monstrosity Gazette

2012-06-19T09:29:00.001-05:00

Bookish Quote of the Week:

Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.

-Lemony Snicket

Today in Literary History:

On this day in 1816 the Shelleys, Lord Byron and entourage gathered at the Villa Diodati on Lake Geneva to tell the ghost stories that would trigger Frankenstein. The byways of literature being what they are, this most legendary of storm-tossed evenings has connections backwards to John Milton and forward to the language of computer programming.

For more, visit Today in Literature.

Link of the Week:

30 books everyone should read before turning 30
Emily Temple writes: “Earlier this week, we stumbled across a list at Divine Caroline of 30 books everyone should read before they’re 30. We thought there were some essential reads missing, so we decided to put together a list of our own. We stuck to fiction and chose the books on a variety of criteria, selecting enduring classics, stories that speak specifically or powerfully to younger readers, and books we simply couldn’t imagine reaching 30 without having read.”...
Flavorwire, June 10; Divine Caroline, May 2010

Book I'm Eyeing this Week:

The Chaperone

by Laura Moriarty

Riverhead, June 2012

Summary in a Sentence:

Adolescent, pre-movie-star Louise Brooks, and her thirty-six-year-old chaperone have their lives changed on their visit to New York City in the summer of 1922.

Read the Reviews:

Jenn's Bookshelves | Devourer of Books | Literate Housewife

Beach Reading...

2012-06-09T15:42:00.000-05:00

I'm heading to the beach on Tuesday, so I wanted to put together lots of reading options. Here's what I've come up with so far...

Top row:

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua: A friend I carpooled with recently read this and always teased me with passages read aloud on the way to work. I've wanted to read it myself ever since.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer: I can't believe I haven't read this one yet. Love his other stuff.

Bottom Row:

The History of Love by Nicole Krauss: Just one of those books that's always been on my ginormous to-read list.

Death in the Stocks by Georgette Heyer: I discovered Heyer through other book bloggers; this is one of her mysteries. Gotta love the cover art.

The Innocent Man by John Grisham: Thought I'd throw in some non-fiction.

What are you reading at the beach (or other various vacation-y places) this summer?

What I'm Reading: Laughing Without An Accent

2012-05-25T18:19:00.000-05:00

Laughing Without An Accent
by Firoozeh Dumas
Random House, 2008

Summary in a Sentence:

The author describes her experiences being an Iranian American in both the United States and abroad, and explains cross-cultural issues she has faced, as well as her experiences with motherhood.

Read it if...

you too used to be embarrassed by how crazy your parents were but now simply find their insanity endearing. 4 stars.

Read the Reviews:

Caribousmom | S. Krishna's Books | The Novel World

Books by Theme: Traveling With Friends

2012-05-23T10:36:00.001-05:00

Friendship with oneself is all-important because without it
one cannot be friends with anyone else in the world.

~ Eleanor Roosevelt

The Lost Girls: Three Friends, Four Continents, One Unconventional Detour Around the World

by Jennifer Baggett, Holly C. Corbett, and Amanda Pressner

If you're a 20-something working and living in New York City, you're living the dream -- right? Not if you're Jennifer Baggett, Holly C. Corbett, or Amanda Pressner. The trio of friends -- wondering if the paths they were on were the right ones -- left their apartments, jobs, and boyfriends behind to embark on a year-long adventure around the world, visiting four continents and more than ten countries, including Peru, Kenya, Vietnam, India, and Australia. Though there are difficulties (could you hang out with your two besties for a year without getting on each other's nerves a bit?), there are also a lot of amazing experiences, such as traveling down the Amazon and volunteering at a girls' orphanage in Kenya.

A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail

by Bill Bryson

Bestselling American travel writer Bill Bryson thought hiking the Appalachian Trail (AT) with his friend and former college roommate would be a great idea. After all, he'd been living in England for 20 years, so it'd be nice to reconnect with his native land and an old buddy...but he had no idea what he was getting himself into. The two out-of-shape 40-somethings set off from Georgia in March with plans to walk the entire 2,100 miles to Maine before winter -- but they only made it to Tennessee before they realized that their original plan might be too ambitious. Combined with the pair's amusing adventures and encounters with other hikers are descriptions of nature and a history of the storied AT.

Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven

by Susan Jane Gilman

Some ideas that seem great at 4 a.m. in a pancake house after a night of drinking turn into a nightmare once implemented. For example, in 1986, two soon-to-be Brown University grads who hadn't traveled very much decided to explore the world...starting in newly opened communist China! Just a few months later, Susan Jane Gilman and Claire Van Houten (a pseudonym) were in Mao country armed with the collected works of Nietzsche, an astrology book, and their wits. Before long, they're losing their wits and facing culture shock, illness, military police, and a severe strain on their friendship.

Friends Like These: My Worldwide Quest to Find My Best Childhood Friends, Knock on Their Doors, and Ask Them to Come Out and Play

by Danny Wallace

British humorist and TV host Danny Wallace had a bit of a crisis as his 30th birthday approached. He realized that he'd become something of an adult (i.e. he ate healthily and had throw pillows on his couch) -- and was shocked by the idea. At the same time, Danny's parents sent him a box of his childhood things, including an old address book. The aging Danny then had a brilliantly quirky idea: he'd track down long-ago childhood friends, no matter where on earth they were, and hang out with them. Though this isn't your traditional travelogue, armchair travelers -- especially those approaching a milestone birthday, such as 30 or 40 -- will enjoy this trip around the world and into the 1980s (like, totally!).

What I'm Reading: You Know When The Men Are Gone

2012-05-21T19:45:00.000-05:00

You Know When The Men Are Gone
by Siobhan Fallon
Amy Einhorn Books, 2011

Summary in a Sentence:

A collection of loosely-connected short stories that describe the lives of military wives at Fort Hood, Texas, and relate their experiences of life when the men are deployed.

Read it if...

you are not usually a fan of short stories (like me), or if you want to read about the Iraq war and its effects on the homefront from an unsentimental perspective. 4.5 stars.

Read the Reviews:

Everyday I Write the Book | Devourer of Books | The Book Lady's Blog

Libraries in the News

2012-05-13T10:11:00.000-05:00

Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.

-Albert Einstein

10 ways Maurice Sendak defined your childhood
Josh Wolk writes: “The brilliant and hauntingly mischievous works of Maurice Sendak, who died May 8 at 83, are as universal a staple of early childhood as a pacifier or a tantrum. One of our great intergenerational commonalities is the sense memory of sitting either on a parent’s lap or paging through the illustrations on a bedroom floor, both mesmerized and giddily unnerved by Sendak’s naughty protagonists. Herewith, our tribute to a man who never patronized children with worlds with sanded-off corners or reductively callow lessons.”...
Vulture, May 8

D.C. officials feel the heat over school library cuts
A spring proposal by District of Columbia officials to eliminate more than 50 school librarian jobs for the next academic year has triggered a public relations nightmare for the city council, where the proposal originated. Members of the Capitol Hill Public Schools Parent Organization are determined to fight a spring decision by schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson to defund school librarian posts at schools with less than 300 students and let principals of larger schools decide whether to reallocate their librarians’ salaries. “If this situation were to remain unchanged, 58 schools would have no librarian,” grassroots activist Peter MacPherson said....
American Libraries news, May 4

Petition seeks return of Dirty Cowboy
More than 230 people have signed an online petition that seeks to have the children’s book The Dirty Cowboy by Amy Timberlake returned to the shelves of the Annville-Cleona (Pa.) School District. The school board voted unanimously in April to remove the book based on the objection of one student’s parents. Illustrator Adam Rex uses various items, such as birds, a boot, and a cloud of dust, to cover the cowboy’s private parts while he is bathing and then while he is attempting to put his clothes back on....
Lebanon (Pa.) Daily News, May 7

What I'm Reading: Because of Winn-Dixie

2012-04-08T09:32:00.000-05:00

Because of Winn-Dixie
by Kate DiCamillo
Candlewick Press, 2000

“It's hard not to immediately fall in love with a dog who has a good sense of humor.”

Summary in a Sentence:

Ten-year-old India Opal Buloni describes her first summer in the town of Naomi, Florida, and all the good things that happen to her because of her big ugly dog Winn-Dixie.

Read it if...

you're in need of something homey and comforting, or if you want to read a great 'dog' book that doesn't end sadly! 5 stars.

Read The Reviews:

Maw Books | The Novel World | Reading Rants

Mini Reviews: Kitchen Counter Cooking School, Ramona Forever, and The Kitchen House

2012-04-06T12:54:00.003-05:00

The Kitchen Counter Cooking School
by Kathleen Flinn
Viking, 2011

Summary in a Sentence:

Writer Kathleen Flinn, who graduated from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, shares stories and lessons to inspire home cooks.

Read it if...

you like to cook but often don't due to lack of confidence or lack of knowledge about which knife to use. 5 stars.

Ramona Forever
by Beverly Cleary
HarperCollins, 1984

Summary in a Sentence:

A lot happens during Ramona's year in third grade, highlighted by the arrival of Howie's rich uncle, a change in her after-school situation, a surprise wedding, a death and a new arrival in the family, and her father's getting a job.

Read it if...

you're a lifelong Ramona fan like me! I'm revisiting all the Ramona books this year and hoping to introduce Ramona to a great many of my students at the library. 4 stars.

The Kitchen House
by Kathleen Grissom
Touchstone, 2010

Summary in a Sentence:

After seven-year-old Lavinia is orphaned on the journey from Ireland to the United States, she begins work in the kitchen house of a tobacco plantation and bonds with the slaves who become her adopted family, but when Lavinia is accepted into the big house, her loyalties are challenged.

Read it if...

you enjoy historical fiction mingled with a little too much tragedy and histrionics. It was a veritable soap opera of disaster. Please remember I am in the minority on this opinion. Most reviews were glowing. Me, not so much. 2.5 stars.

Libraries in the News

2012-04-01T06:00:00.002-05:00

When I read about the way in which library funds are being cut and cut, I can only think that American society has found one more way to destroy itself.

-Isaac Asimov

Librarian Twitter Bingo

Joe Hardenbrook writes: “You ever think, ‘Wow those librarians are always tweeting about the same thing’? Well, now you can play a game: It’s called Librarian Twitter Bingo. Every time you see a librarian tweet about one of these topics (right), cross it off. When you get a whole row, yell ‘Bingo!’ P.S. I myself could probably cross off at least 13 of these boxes with my own tweets.”...

Mr. Library Dude, Mar. 22

Why ebooks need libraries
Beverly Goldberg writes: “About a week ago, an ALA colleague popped into my office with an epiphany. ‘Libraries will never die out. You know why? If they didn’t exist, people would be inventing them.’ As you might imagine, that got us to talking and finding examples—and it certainly wasn’t hard. Little Free Libraries, anyone? When you think about it, as AL’s Librarian’s Library columnist Karen Muller has, the Occupy libraries movement sprung from the same human need to share ideas, and often there’s no better vehicle for that than the written word.”...
AL: Inside Scoop, Mar. 28

You can buy Harry Potter ebooks now
The Pottermore ebookstore is open earlier than expected, with all the Harry Potter ebooks and digital audiobooks available (not DRM-free) for sale for the first time March 27. Wait until you see what they worked out with Amazon’s Kindle. While the interactive community portion of Pottermore is still in beta and set to open to a general audience in April, the bookstore is open now. It looks as though Pottermore has done a great job making the ebooks available across every possible device....
The Digital Reader, Mar. 27

Mini Reviews: Confederates in the Attic, A Thousand Lives, and Malaria Dreams

2012-03-25T22:26:00.004-05:00

Confederates in the Attic
by Tony Horwitz
Vintage, 1998
Non-Fiction (History)

Summary in a Sentence:

Tony Horwitz, a former war correspondent, tells of his journeys to Civil War battlefields and the colorful people he meets along the way.

Read it if...

you've ever noticed that the 'War Between the States' continues to live in so many issues still with us, or if you're simply a fan of good narrative non-fiction. 5 stars.

A Thousand Lives
by Julia Scheeres
Free Press, 2011
Non-Fiction (Religion)

Summary in a Sentence:

Presents an account of how Jim Jones' followers who started out seeking a Utopian dream, soon found themselves trapped in a work camp run by a madman, and ended in the mass murder-suicide of 914 members in November 1978.

Read it if...

you remember what happened at Jonestown or have ever heard the phrase "don't drink the Kool-Aid" and were curious about its derivation. 3 stars.

Malaria Dreams
by Stuart Stevens
Atlantic Monthly Press, 1989
Non-Fiction (Travel Writing)

Summary in a Sentence:

Recounts an adventure, by Stevens and a companion, across the wildest part of Africa that includes Cameroon, Lake Chad, Niger, Timbuktu, the Sahara, and ends at the shores of the Mediterranean.

Read it if...

you love armchair travel with hints of hilarity, or if you'd like to really know what Africa was like in the late 1980s. 5 stars.

Evil Question...

2012-03-24T13:04:00.000-05:00

I'm shamelessly stealing this question from Barnes and Noble because it made me so angry...

If you could only read one author for the rest of your life, who would it be?

Let the games begin.

P.S. Mine's a tie between Roald Dahl and Jane Austen.

Attention School Librarians!

2012-03-21T10:12:00.001-05:00

In honor of School Library Month, Matthew over at Busy Librarian has issued a fun shelf challenge. Check it out over at his blog.

The Monstrosity Gazette: A Weekly Smattering of All Things Literary...

2012-03-18T06:00:00.004-05:00

Bookish Quote of the Week:

The free access to information is not a privilege, but a necessity for any free society. … One of my favorite things to do as a young man was wander through the stacks of my hometown library.

-Ed Asner

Today in Literary History:

On this day in 1932 John Updike was born. In a writing career of almost fifty years and as many books, the five Rabbit novels (counting the 2000 novella, Rabbit Remembered) stand out as a bell tolling, at decade intervals, for Harry Angstrom and America. Two of them won Pulitzers; one of them was reviewed as a book "that one can set beside the work of Dickens, Thackeray, George Eliot, Joyce and not feel the draft."

For more, visit Today in Literature.

Bizarre Link of the Week:

Former library president admits stealing nearly $100K
The former president of Blue Mountain Community Library in Pen Argyl, Pennsylvania, admitted March 9 to stealing nearly $100,000, in a plea agreement under which his wife will be allowed to enter into a first-offender program. Over nine years, Richard Leidich used the public library’s funds to support himself, his wife, and his various business interests, pilfering $99,212 from it before he was caught....
Allentown (Pa.) Morning Call, Mar. 9

Book I'm Eyeing this Week:

Gillespie and I
by Jane Harris
Harper Perennial (January 31, 2012)

Summary in a Sentence:

From the Orange Prize-nominated author of "The Observations" comes a sweeping literary novel of one young woman's friendship with a volatile artist and the controversy that consumes him.

read the reviews:

Savidge Reads | nomadreader

Mini Reviews: Charlotte's Web, The Marriage Plot, Mornings in Jenin, and Friday Night Lights

2012-03-17T09:25:00.003-05:00

Title: Charlotte's Web
Author: E.B. White
Publisher: Harper Collins, 1952

Summary in a Sentence: Wilbur, the pig, is desolate when he discovers that he is destined to be the farmer's Christmas dinner until his spider friend, Charlotte, decides to help him.

My Thoughts:

Ah, where do I start? This book was a life-shaping force in the early years of my life. So many memories flooded back to me as I re-read it for the first time in almost 20 years. I actually re-read the exact copy I first opened in fourth grade, and was tickled to see all the underlined words that I looked up for vocabulary activities at school. All I can say is that if you've somehow gotten this far in life without reading this book, fix it. Now.

Title: The Marriage Plot
Author: Jeffrey Eugenides
Publisher: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2011

Summary in a Sentence: English major Madeleine Hanna must choose between two suitors while working on her senior thesis on the marriage plot that lies at the heart of the greatest English novels.

My Thoughts:

The Marriage Plot is a coming-of-age tale, a travel narrative, and a story of dealing with mental illness, with some literary criticism and 80s pop-culture references thrown in for good measure. Most of all, it's an enjoyable, readable, character-driven, multi-layered novel that will satisfy those looking for a good story as well as those who want to read a little deeper. Recommended for fans of literary fiction, Jonathan Franzen in particular. For an in-depth review, check out Things Mean a Lot.

Title: Mornings in Jenin
Author: Susan Abulhawa
Publisher: Bloomsbury, 2010

Summary in a Sentence: Four generations of a Palestinian family struggle to survive during more than sixty years of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, finding themselves on both sides of the fighting.

My Thoughts:

I started this book knowing embarrassingly little about the history of Palestine and Israel. At first, I was a little intimidated, especially when I opened the book to see a diagram of characters to keep them straight. Nevertheless, Nancy Pearl suggested it, and Nancy Pearl is my rockstar librarian hero, so I left any doubts in the dust and read on. It was an intense, sometimes hard to read novel that planted a seed of curiosity about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict within me. I definitely want to read more on the subject, preferably non-fiction next time for balance.Check out Aarti's review over at BookLust.

Title: Friday Night Lights
Author: H.G. Bissinger
Publisher: Addison-Wesley, 1990

Summary in a Sentence: Follows the 1988 season of the Permian Panthers, a high school football team in Odessa, Texas, exploring the lives of the players and the impact of the championship team on the small town.

My Thoughts:

Bissinger is a genius. Why, you may ask? Because, dear readers, I have absolutely no interest in football whatsoever. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Despite this severe lack of interest, I couldn't stop reading this book! To say it is a book about a high school football team is very misleading; it is so much more. It also deals with economic diversity, race, and tradition. For example, Permian High, one of the main high schools in Odessa, TX, and the focus of Bissinger's work, was integrated just 8 years before the book was written in 1990. Bissinger's book is a character study of the citizens of Odessa, as well as a commentary on the history and interpersonal relations of this small town.

Books by Theme: If you liked The Hunger Games

2012-03-13T14:47:00.013-05:00

"And may the odds be ever in your favor!"

~ from Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games

I thought a Hunger Games-esque post would be just the ticket in light of the upcoming movie. I know pretty much everyone and their brother has already read the trilogy. If you read it, liked it, and need more of it, check out the books below.

Enclave

by Ann Aguirre

Feiwel & Friends, 2011

In the aftermath of war and plague, most of New York City's survivors have moved underground, establishing enclaves where they eke out an existence and hide from zombie-like Freaks. After 15-year-old Deuce, an enclave-dweller, earns the rank of Huntress, she is paired with a mysterious outsider named Fade...and the two of them discover a secret that could destroy their precarious society. While there are hints of a possible romance between Deuce and Fade, this violent, gritty, and suspenseful read will appeal most to those who like the world-building and pulse-pounding action of the Hunger Games books.

Ashes

by Ilsa Bick

Edgmont, 2011(Thanks for the suggestion, Sandra!)

Seventeen-year-old Alex is on a solo camping trip in the woods (and playing hooky from her seemingly pointless chemo treatments) when a series of electromagnetic pulses renders all technology useless, kills most of Earth's population, and turns many of those left alive into ravenous, bloodthirsty cannibals. But Alex isn't entirely alone; she teams up with an eight-year-old girl and a young soldier on leave who, like her, weren't transformed by the pulses, and the three of them fight together for survival. Terrifying and exhilarating, this rather gruesome read is one that fans of the darker bits of The Hunger Games (or similar blends of world-building and action, such as James Dashner's The Maze Runner) will devour.

The Unidentified

by Rae Mariz

Balzer & Bray, 2010

Hunger Games fans who are fascinated by the culture of Capitol residents will be drawn in by this thought-provoking novel, in which schools of the future are taken over by corporations and housed in shopping malls. With no interest in being "branded" like the popular kids, whose every move is observed and tallied by advertisers as market research, nonconformist teen Katey "Kid" Dade looks for -- and finds -- others like her who want to buck the system. But can she really trust them? Suspenseful and full of great characters, The Unidentified will keep you turning the pages right up to its end.

Divergent

by Veronica Roth

Katherine Tegen Books, 2011 (thanks mom!)

In this book's far-future, post-apocalyptic Chicago, everyone belongs to one of five factions, each named for the virtue that its members devote their lives to cultivating: Candor (honesty), Abnegation (selflessness), Dauntless (bravery), Amity (peacefulness), and Erudite (intelligence). At 16, all citizens choose their permanent factions, and Beatrice Prior has just shocked her family by rejecting Abnegation to become Dauntless. But in order to join the ranks of the bold and brave, she'll first have to survive their brutal initiation...and keep a secret that could cost her life. Combining thrills, action, and violence with heady romance, Divergent is a great pick for fans of the Hunger Games trilogy.

Books by Theme was inspired by both Melissa at One Librarians Book Reviews's feature Listless Monday and Court at Once Upon a Bookshelf's Listed feature. Be sure to check out their lists!

Libraries in the News

2012-03-06T17:13:00.001-06:00

“I saw in the news about Penguin pulling ebooks. Why are publishers such poopyheads to you guys?”

-Los Angeles librarian Shayera Tangri relaying in a tweet an actual statement by a patron, Feb. 13.

Harry Potter ebooks coming to schools, libraries
Opening up the Harry Potter books for a new generation of readers, OverDrive announced February 27 that it has worked out a deal with J. K. Rowling’s Pottermore to bring the series to e-readers in school and public libraries. The books will be available on Kindle readers, any e-reader that uses the ePub format, and OverDrive apps for Android, iOS, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone....
Washington Post, Feb. 27; OverDrive, Feb. 27

The Mad Men reading list
Billy Parrott writes: “In preparation for the long-awaited return of Mad Men, I’d like to present the revised Mad Men reading list, which will be updated as books appear in new episodes. Details on literary references will continue in the comments field. As mentioned in my original blog post, some of the books on the list are featured more prominently in the series than others but all are a great way to gain insight into the episodes and the social and cultural times in which the series is set.”...
NYPL Blogs, Feb. 27

Calling all superhero librarians
Gale, part of Cengage Learning, has launched the second annual “Are You a Librarian Superhero?” contest to recognize the efforts put forth by librarians around the country. Looking to build on the success of last year’s contest, during which more than 800 nominations were received, Gale is again calling on fellow librarians, library patrons, students, and school administrators to nominate a superhero librarian who is making a real difference for their library and community....
Cengage Learning, Feb. 27

Celebrate Seuss

2012-03-04T10:21:00.001-06:00

I'm still alive, I promise!

Here are some highlights from our school's Seuss door decorating contest for his birthday celebration on March 2nd...

That would be me modeling my Thing hat...

All Things Kid Lit: Binky Under Pressure

2011-11-05T16:45:00.002-05:00

Pick of the Week:

Binky Under Pressure
by Ashley Spires
Kids Can Press
Grades 2-6
64 pages

Binky faces off against an intruder: Gracie, the new foster cat. He must defend his turf and his humans, and find a way to get her out of his space station.

From School Library Journal:

Another winning entry in the series. In this installment, a new character enters Binky’s well-regulated space station. While Gracie poses as a foster cat competing for his humans’ affections, Binky soon realizes that she is in fact a captain in F.U.R.S.T. (Felines of the Universe Ready for Space Travel), and she has come to evaluate the performance of his space-cat duties. The story is cinematically told; Spires pulls into close-ups at key moments and shifts fluidly between the vantage points of her two main characters. Pages are well laid out; while the placement and shape of panels vary, they always guide readers’ eyes easily through the action, and flashback and fantasy are easily distinguished from real-time events through the use of wavy panel boundaries. As always, the story is infused with laugh-out-loud moments aimed both at kids (Binky’s recurring bouts of space gas) and at adults (annoyed at Gracie, Binky thinks, “If this is what girls are like, he’s glad he’s fixed”).

You might also like:

Binky the Space Cat by Ashley Spires
Binky to the Rescue by Ashley Spires
Lunch Lady and the League of Librarians by Jarrett Krosoczka

Kid Lit News:

'The Phantom Tollbooth' Turns 50: Celebrating Timeless Illustrations

The Atlantic

October 31, 2011

The Phantom Tollbooth isn't merely one of the most celebrated children's books of all time, it's also one of those rare children's books with timeless philosophy for grown-ups, its map of The Kingdom of Wisdom a profound metaphor for curiosity and the human condition. This month marks the 50th anniversary of the beloved classic and there's hardly a better celebration than The Phantom Tollbooth 50th Anniversary Edition.

It's Almost That Time

2011-10-02T15:53:00.001-05:00

My official wedding checklist, which was a beast by the way at 124 to-dos, says I have seven days...I can make it!

Crossing over to the dark side...

2011-09-17T11:31:00.001-05:00

Yep. I have a Kindle. (Best wedding present ever!!!)

Regale me with your thoughts, tips, etc.

Libraries in the News

2011-09-14T20:45:00.001-05:00

Recognizing the impact of Ezra Jack Keats

Rocco Staino writes: “In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Ezra Jack Keats’s groundbreaking picture book The Snowy Day (Penguin, 1962), the Jewish Museum has created the first major United States exhibition for the Caldecott-winning illustrator. ‘The Snowy Day and the Art of Ezra Jack Keats’ show features over 80 original works, from preliminary sketches to final paintings and collages, and will remain at the New York City museum until January 29, 2012.”...

American Libraries news, Sept. 14

Edinburgh’s mysterious book sculptor strikes again

They have been described as the work of a “mystery book sculptor with a heart of gold.” Yet another miniature model fashioned out of a book has been left at one of Edinburgh’s cultural locations, and though the latest offering takes the form of a magnifying glass, there is still no clue as to who is behind them. The latest sculpture, found sitting on a bookshelf at Edinburgh Central Library, brings the tally discovered since March to seven. Edinburgh photographer Chris Scott has a roundup of photos, locations, and sources....
Edinburgh (U.K.) Evening News, Aug. 30; Central Station Blog, Aug. 31

More selections added to Great Web Sites for Kids
ALSC has added five more informative and engaging websites to Great Web Sites for Kids, its online resource containing hundreds of links to exceptional websites for children. Members of the ALSC GWS Committee review potential sites for inclusion and vote on the sites to be included....
ALSC, Sept. 13

This Librarian's Quick Picks: Elementary Edition

2011-09-02T17:45:00.001-05:00

Blackout

by John Rocco
Disney/Hyperion 2011

Summary:

Neighbors gather on the roof after the power goes out on a hot night in the city and start having so much fun not everyone is happy when the lights go back on.

Why You'll Love It:

Rocco’s lustrous, animation-quality artwork somehow manages to get richer the darker it gets, and features one of the silkiest skies since Van Gogh's Starry Night.
Page composition effectively intermingles boxed pages and panels with double-page spreads, generating action. Brilliantly designed, with comic bits such as a portrait of Edison on a wall and the cat running from a hand shadow of a dog.
In the most poignant spread, the family sits on the stoop, eating ice cream: "And no one was busy at all." It's a rare event these days.

Time to Sleep

by Steve Jenkins
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2011

Summary:

Illustrations and text show the sleeping habits of various animals.

Why You'll Love It:

The illustrations are rendered in torn- and cut-paper collage, with each animal is set against a white background.
Fascinating behaviors are detailed with explanations, such as the "white stork sleeps in flight.by taking a series of naps that last just a few seconds each."

Aggie Gets Lost

by Lori Ries
Charlesbridge 2011

Summary:

Ben is heartbroken when his puppy Aggie goes missing while the two are playing fetch in the park, but he is determined to find his lost pet.

Why You'll Love It:

With clear and simple language, three short chapters, and abundant artwork that details the action, Aggie and Ben’s latest adventure is sure to be a favorite among beginning readers.
The short, succinct sentences are easy to understand, while they also reveal Ben’s emotions: “Did I pet her enough? Did I tell Aggie she was a good dog? I cannot sleep. I am too sad to sleep.”
Frank W. Dormer’s charming, stylized artwork authentically captures the lively jaunts to the park as well as Ben’s sorrow while Aggie is missing.
Careful observers will enjoy noticing the skunk in the illustrations well before he makes his mark on the story and will giggle all the more to see everyone holding their noses after Aggie is found.

Lost! A Dog Called Bear

by Wendy Orr
Henry Holt 2011

Summary:

When Logan's dog runs away as he and his mother are moving to a new home after his parents separate, a girl named Hannah, who longs for a dog of her own, finds him.

Why You'll Love It:

A warm tale that is filled with kid appeal. The main characters’ parallel stories pleasingly intertwine, and it is gratifying that the story ends happily for all involved.
Wendy Orr’s ability to convey emotions simply makes the story rich and satisfying. Logan feels “like the turkey’s wishbone being pulled apart after Thanksgiving dinner” as he deals with his parents’ separation. And Hannah’s feelings are often reflected in her ponytail, which “flips” and “quivers” when she’s happy, and “mopes” when she’s upset.
Short chapters and frequent illustrations make this early chapter book a perfect choice for newly independent readers.

Fractions = Trouble

by Claudia Mills
Farrar Straus Giroux

Summary:

Wilson Williams does not want anyone to know his parents have hired a tutor to help him with his math, but the secret could spell disaster for his friendship with Josh.

Why You'll Love It:

Familiar school concerns, nicely resolved, make this another excellent selection for early chapter-book readers.
The short chapters have believable dialogue and plenty of reader appeal.
Karas' scratchy grayscale drawings, one to a chapter, support the story.