Childrens Books

Although it might not feel like it, spring is here. One of my favorite springtime stories to share is Fran’s Flower. In this story, a little girl finds a plant and decides she wants to make it grow. Unfortunately, she decides it needs food and feeds it a piece of cheeseburger, some spaghetti, ice cream and even a chocolate chip cookie. Of course, this doesn’t help the plant grow and fed up with the flower she throws it out the door. Once outside, the flower gets all the things it needs, and it grows! The colorful illustrations add to the fun. Before you start planting, share this one along with The Carrot Seed by Krauss. Posted by: Liz

While I can’t show you Robert Byrd‘s gorgeous interior art for Africa is My Home, I can show you the cover in the following book trailer. (And if you are at BEA, do stop by the Candlewick Press booth for a more comprehensive look or, even better, come to my Thursday 3:30 signing of F&Gs of the complete 64 page book.)

Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} Last week I had the good fortune to be on the panel that Deborah Heiligman wrote about Tuesday. Preplanning conversations and postmortem drinks at the very literary Algonquin Hotel gave Deb, Marfe’ Ferguson Delano, and me plenty of time to talk about the writing process. These conversations got me thinking about “voice.” Finding the right voice for a nonfiction book fits somewhere in the scheme of things between the research and final draft. You know how writers of fiction and deranged people – that may be an oxymoron – say, “It’s the voices … it’s the voices that made me do it?” That makes perfect sense to me. My books, primarily based on interviews with young people, absolutely must be true to the people featured. So after an interview, I transcribe and replay their tapes over and over again as a way to get their voices into my ears. My journey to understanding “voice” in writing began as an act of embarrassment and humility. My Confession: Once upon a time, long, long ago, after photographing four children’s books, I decided to try my hand at writing as well as illustrating. My first, full book contract was about a thirteen-year-old foster boy who spent a year socializing and loving a puppy that would later become a guide dog for the blind. What made the boy unusual was that he himself was slowly going blind. The book was called Mine for a Year. After the usual gazillion drafts, the manuscript was ready to meet its editor. At that time I knew very few children’s authors and needed a critical read. A magazine editor-cum-good friend, a brilliant writer himself, said he’d take a look at it. Before he could change his mind I was sitting in his office with my beautiful, perfect, gorgeously written first book. He turned to the first page. “WHAT IS THIS CRAP?” He didn’t say crap. “I’m not going to read this! There’s nothing happening here. There’s no voice! It’s not you. It’s not the kid.” I grabbed the pages and flew out of the office. I was devastated, furious, and very embarrassed. Once home I spent weeks trying to figure out how to make this boy read real. What could I do differently? Why didn’t the photographs alone create the boy’s character? And what is this thing called “voice” anyway? A week or so later an Aha moment arrived. Since it was the boy’s story, why not let him tell it? I rewrote everything in the first person, and interviewed the boy again to add material and to make sure what was written matched the way he spoke. We collaborated. We made changes together. After more than a few more drafts, it was back to the mag editor for round two. Wit

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When the fickle finger of fate causes three pig siblings to lose their jobs, the farmer, retiring to Florida, gives them severance pay and sends them out to seek their fortunes."LET'S BUY POTATO CHIPS," SAID THE FIRST PIG. "LET'S BUY SODY-POP," SAID THE SECOND PIG. "LET'S BUY BUILDING SUPPLIES," SAID THE THIRD PIG.The third sibling, a rather prissy and practical girl pig, is obviously focused on long-term goals, while her lazy brothers just want to feed their faces.The three pigs part company to follow their bliss. The practical pig heads for the home improvement store and spends her money on bricks and other durable building materials and soon is busy with bricklaying and gardening chores. The other two pigs settle for the fairy tale version of shacks, building their domiciles from dirt-cheap straw and sticks. Everybody's happy, until a somewhat bad and very hungry wolf blows into town. Denied service at Do-Nut Dan's, Hot Dog Hal's, and Pete's Pizza Parlor, Wolfie decides he'll have to find food on the hoof, er, trotter. The two lazy sods scarfing down chips and soda look like easy marks, so he does the Huff 'n' Puff thing on their down-market dwellings. It's instant domicile devastation!"I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT WORKS!" THE WOLF SAID.But when the two pigs flee to their more provident sister's house,the now very, very hungry wolf follows to the third piggy-scented house. This one is solid and somewhat intimidating, even to a wolf of proven windiness. He decides to try their doorbell first, but when they refuse to answer, he falls back on huffing and puffing--all to no avail on this up-scale residence."DO YOU THINK HE'S STILL THERE?" SAID ONE PIG. THE THEE PIGS LOOKED OUT THE WINDOW AND SAW THE WOLF COLLAPSED ON THE LAWN. "LOOK AT THE POOR GUY," SAID THE LAZY PIGS. "MAYBE HE NEEDS SOME POTATO CHIPS," SAID THE FIRST PIG. "MAYBE HE NEEDS SOME SODY POP," SAID THE SECOND PIG. "NEVER MIND THAT STUFF," SAID THE THIRD PIG. "DINNER IS ALMOST READY."There's more than one way to win over a wolf in Mark Teague's new fractured fairy tale version of the classic, titled The Three Little Pigs and the Somewhat Bad Wolf (Orchard Books, 2013).His tongue-in-cheek text is set off perfectly with Teague's trademark comic illustrations, with plenty of clever visual jokes for the sharp-eyed reader, including the farmer's cat, duck, and goose who are also squatters at the practical pig's house. Teague's frequent shifts in perspective keep the familiar story line moving along in this twist on the old tale in which the wolf becomes a well-fed member of the pig household, happy and no longer hungry ever after.An "entertaining and refreshing adaptation of the classic tale," says Publishers Weekly. But if kids still haven't gotten their fill of fractured fare, add a side dish of Lane Smith's award-winning The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and Eugene Trivizas' The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig for a trio of tasty rib-sticking, rib-tickling spoofs of the classics.

The end of the school year is just a couple weeks away and it’s time to reminisce. So with an appropriately wistful faraway stare and slight smile, I bring you the most popular books of the year in my K-2 school library. If you’re up for more looking back, click here to relive last year’s favorites. 10. Disney Princess: A Read-Aloud Storybook It’s fair to say I’m not a princess fan. My students respectfully disagree with my stance on the matter. 9. Brave New Pond (Squish, Book 2) by Jennifer L. Holm; illustrated by Matthew Holm In 2013 we welcome Squish to the list of most circulated. I added the series at the beginning of the year and it has become a favorite. 8. Bad Dog, Marley! by John Grogan; illustrated by Richard Cowdrey The K-2 crowd still has Marley Fever. Even though this book came out a couple years ago now, checkouts are still strong. 7. Should I Share My Ice Cream? by Mo Willems After a lot of careful consideration about what more I can say about Mo Willems’s beginning reader series, I’ll settle for this: the Elephant and Piggie books are outstanding in every way. That includes popularity, too – the mess of them go out nonstop. 6. Bad Kitty vs. Uncle Murray by Nick Bruel During election season, we had a Bad Kitty vs. Babymouse election. It was close, but Bad Kitty won out. It’s a series that continues to gain steam. 5. Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin; illustrated by James Dean Speaking of gaining steam, Pete the Cat is on top of the world right now. The books are well-written and the musical hook draws even more fans. It will be interesting to see where the series goes now that it appears Eric Litwin is out of the picture, but for now it’s tough to mess with Pete. 4. Bad Kitty Meets the Baby by Nick Bruel Our second Bad Kitty appearance. Bruel’s mix of illustrations and, I think, naughty behavior has proven to be an appealing combination. 3. Star Wars: Clone Troopers in Action by Clare Hibbert There are certain students who always have the same library routine – check for any Star Wars books first, then, if they are out, look for a different book. That explains why this one is at number three. 2. Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes by Eric Litwin; illustrated by James Dean Reading Pete the Cat is like creating an instant party – especially if you play the accompanying song available on the Pete the Cat website. 1. Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Return of Tippy Tinkletrousers by Dav Pilkey Somehow, this was a slight surprise for me. I take the extreme popularity of Captain Underpants as a given these days – information placed off in the corner of my mind labeled “Things I Know for Sure”. The fact that this book bested all the rest reminds me of just how popular this series is. Elementary schools everywhere are awash in devoted Pilkey fans. Check out previous 2013 top 10s 3rd-4th Grade

This week the National Rifle Association’s American Rifleman website featured an unsigned list of its top ten “Coolest Gun Movies.” It’s an interesting window into how people in the organization think.To begin with, this list has little or no praise for gun design or marksmanship. It doesn’t include Winchester 73 or Sgt. York, for instance. Nor is there any regard for gun-collecting, supposedly the reason people need to be able to buy a dozen guns at once. Even Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels has more regard for that hobby than this article.Instead, the list’s main impetus is fantasizing about social breakdown. Of the ten films listed, five take place in some horrible future that the writer enjoys imagining and presumes his audience will, too. Thus, the writer praises The Road Warrior despite the fact that, as he admits, “There are very few firearms featured…as well as very, very little ammunition.” But lots of desperate violence.The article’s emphasis on dystopic futures is particularly odd given its claim that “Many of these movies also take us back to simpler times.” We can hope the writer means that he saw most of these movies in high school—which seems about right for the maturity and values expressed. (You’ll note that I’m assuming the author is male.)Another common element of the list’s choices is an emphasis on amoral power and destruction. Only one film features a police officer as hero, and John McClain in Die Hard is supposed to be off-duty. There’s no room for Dirty Harry, Lethal Weapon, or High Noon, films that show lawmen carrying guns to protect society against criminals.Instead, the writer celebrates gun-toting criminality. Of The Godfather’s murderous crime boss, he says, “Who has not dreamed of having the power and respect of Michael Corleone? That he built his empire through violence is only that much more alluring.”As Talking Points Memo pointed out, earlier this year NRA consigliere Wayne LaPierre responded to the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre by complaining about how Hollywood sells, and sows, violence against its own people. Isn’t fantasizing about killing people as a way to get your kicks really the filthiest form of pornography?But “fantasizing about killing people” is precisely what LaPierre’s colleague did as he wrote this list.That must be a fun workplace.

The Last Academy, by Anne Applegate (2013, Point, a Scholastic Imprint, younger YA)Sometimes one can rely on cold, hard facts to judge one's reaction to a book. Fact--I started reading The Last Academy at 4:40pm, waiting for my bus ride home. Fact--when I came home, instead of getting a snack, tidying the house, spending time with the family, I kept reading. Fact--I read straight on through, finishing ten minutes ago (c. 6:10), and still feel somewhat teary and shaken. I guess that I can say of The Last Academy that it was "gripping." "Moving." "Memorable."I was not without doubts at first--it starts with two best friends, fourteen years old, falling out. The beautiful one is mean to our heroine, Camden. Not so interesting.Then Camden is on her way to boarding school, in California--I knew it was a boarding school book, so I wasn't surprised; I like school stories, so I kept reading. A sinister dude shows up on her airplane. Turns out his last name is Charon. Turns out the school is called Lethe Academy. I began to expect that Camden would start manifesting Greekly mythological wonderfulness. My doubts continued.The appearance of a Handsome Dude and subsequent insta-crush intensified them.But then...it became clear that I was all wrong about the direction the story would take. I began to care about the characters--even the new bitchy beautiful girl character and the Handsome Dude. And I realized, still pretty early on in the book (I take no credit for this--it's spelled out pretty clearly, and I think we're supposed to guess) that things were not all sunshine and roses at Lethe Academy.And I was teary at the end. I hugged the nearest child, but it wasn't really what I wanted...I think I would like to call my own mother, but she is currently birdwatching in Kazakhstan. This isn't one I'd give to a reader who is grieving. It would be too close to home. But it's one I can imagine being intensely appealing to the teen girl readers out there who want an emotional punch packaged inside lightly paranormal romance/generic teen angst wrappings.True, it is not subtle. True, it is possibly a tad manipulative in its emotional knife twistings. True, since the clues were all there, the characters really should have figured things out a lot more briskly...But it worked for me.Be warned--not every one loved this one. Here are some reviews much less favorable than mine:Katie's Book BlogBirth of a New WitchThe YA SisterhoodDear Restless ReaderSupernatural Snark One thing that seems to have been off-putting is how young Camden is; I barely registered this, maybe since I read more middle grade than Young Adult, and so I was unbothered...So in light of that, I'll revise my recommendation--give this to a twelve-year old girl. Not to a committed reader of YA. disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

The day we’ve all been waiting for is finally upon us—the Scholastic Writers of Tomorrow program’s fourth annual culmination event and party. Tonight, Scholastic will host 80 newly published authors and their parents for a very special evening. I can’t wait to see all the new authors dressed to the nines and get my books signed by them! I’m also looking forward to the island-themed after party—rumor has it that there will be a surprise guest DJ…I wonder who that could be? In the meantime I’ve been watching these hilarious book trailers made by Book Clubs staffers. Check them out! Author Bio: Allister Edwards is an administrative coordinator for Scholastic Book Clubs.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” “Absolutely.” Thus begins Gary Paulsen’s newest book, Road Trip, an unforgettably wacky adventure. Written with Paulsen’s own son, Jim, this book follows a father-son duo on a race to rescue a border collie puppy in desperate need of a home. Ben and his father have two days to reach Texas in time to save a border collie from the pound. In their beat-up old truck. Along with their dog, Atticus, who notices everything and doesn’t want a new puppy. And Ben’s friend Theo, who has a bad reputation and is keeping an even worse secret. What could possibly go wrong? When the truck breaks down it will take an old school bus and a host of quirky characters to get Ben and his dad out of trouble and back in the fast lane. Road Trip is the perfect read for Gary Paulsen fans ready to start their own summer vacations. It can be found in Arrow and TAB May. Also, we’d like to wish a great big (slightly belated) “happy birthday” to Gary Paulsen, who was born on May 17. Celebrate with dollar books Tracker (TAB May) or The Voyage of the Frog (TAB June), or any of his other titles such as Lawn Boy and Masters of Disaster (Arrow May). Author Bio: Kristin Standley is the editorial assistant for the Arrow, TAB, Teens, and BookBeat.