They like me! They really like me!

I have long neglected my blogging duties. Mainly it has been because I have been busy. Very busy. A new job, a new state, too much responsibility for too little money. However, it's also been because I've been trying to figure out the future direction of this blog. I've been batting around a few ideas, so stay posted for a new and improved Pigeons 'n Pigs. In the meantime, a few bits from the kiddy lit world.

It's literary awards season! Well almost. The big ones won't be chosen until MidWinter in Denver in January, but all the "Best of" lists are starting to come out.

The New York Times has released their "Best Illustrated Children's Books of 2008" list. I was happy to see The Black Book of Colors on the list, but also struck by how kid un-friendly most of them are. While I love most of the books chosen, they are the books that never get checked out. No kid, 20 years from now is going to remember A is for Art as their favorite book from their childhood. A beautiful book, but it just doesn't resonate with most kids. Such is the world of kiddy lit. Very few books find that happy medium of being beautiful/original/interesting yet also being kid-friendly without being trite and sickly-sweet-cute-obnoxious.

Amazon has also released their "Best Children's Picture Books of 2008" list.

LinkSalad (with dressing on the side)

• Now you too can make your own story of violence, magic, and objectification of women with the Fairy Tale Generator!
  
• Sometimes I just wonder. Walking Paper blogs about old school attitudes in libraries. Sometimes I wonder why people got into working in the libraries in the first place if they don't like the public.
• Video games help us with our critical thinking skills. It's proven because The Shifted Librarian blogged about it.
  

Muppets!!

Who knew that this gem existed? Well, someone did obviously, but it wasn't me. There is a Muppet Wiki. Yes, you can go there for all of your Jim Henson and Muppet Information needs. You can also contribute your own Muppet knowledge.

LinkSalad (with dressing on the side)

• The stairs of my dreams - It completely supports my ideas that good design feeds directly into good information seeking behavior and practices.
• An oldish post from Librarian.net about a parent complaint about King and King and the subsequent Supreme Court ruling.
• Geekdad reignites my love of old television shows. I didn't even know there was a Hardy Boys show! Count me in. That reminds me. I didn't ever see the new Nancy Drew movie. Consider it added to the Netflix list.
  

Horton Hears a Who!

Twoish weeks until Horton Hears a Who! hits the big screen. While usually I cringe at yet another sure thing children's book knock off movie, the previews show promise, and it's made by the guys that did Ice Age. So maybe it'll be genuinely funny. Yeah yeah, it's Jim Carrey and Steve Carell doing the main voices. Typical. But you've also got Will Arnett, Isla Fisher, and Jonah Hill. Intriguing.

ALA GLBT-RT Rainbow List 2008 (More acronyms for you!)

ALA's Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Transgender Round Table put out their Rainbow List at the end of January. It includes their recommendations for GLBT books published between 2004 and 2007. It's now my new reading list. I've read a few...Tango Makes Three, Freakshow, to name a few. But mainly it's uncharted territory for me. I'm a bit appalled at the general lack of GLBT books being published for kids, and judging from the first two on the list I've started reading I'm a bit appalled at the literary quality of the list so far. Get writing folks! I'll keep you posted though. The first few chapters have been bleak in Far from Xanadu (girl associates as a male which means cursing and lifting weights - very flat and predictable character and plot development) but perhaps it's just a slow beginning.

Meanwhile, check out the list and let me know what you've read and can recommend.

A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly

I loved Ann of Green Gables, Emily Star, and Pippi Longstocking. I thought it was glamorous to be an orphan. They always had the best adventures.

I anticipated Jennifer Donnelly's A Northern Light to be in the same vein. It felt similar in the beginning. Girl's mother dies, father is distant, must raise her siblings but she's too smart to be a farm girl. A benevolent teacher shows her opportunity, and you think you know where the book is going. It's nostalgic and comforting, a familiar story. You know she'll struggle between staying with her family and going out into the wide world, but ultimately she'll choose to write or move to the big city or both. But about 1/3 of the way through I realized this story had some interesting twists.

There's a mystery. A dead girl with a mysterious past. It's a plot device that drives the otherwise character centric story, but it doesn't feel like a gimmick. You want to find out what happened to this dead girl, but the whole time you know that it isn't really about this girl, it's about the Matty (the protagonist).

There's a hot boy who wants to feel Matty's boobs and marry her. However, he's not nice. He's sort of charming, but mainly he's dumb. Matty kind of likes him, but she kind of doesn't. And the brilliant part? The part that I respect is that she kind of likes it when he touches her boobs. She is a bit appalled, but she also likes it. And while you're pretty certain how this relationship will turn out, you wonder sometimes.

She is best friends with a guy who is black and it doesn't turn into an interracial romance. there are didactic moments in the book, and her relationship with her best friend is an opportunity to show the racism and violence of the times. But, mainly their relationship is real and smart. They both love words and literature, and their banter is one of the highlights of the book.

While it's certainly not a perfect book, it's a smart next read for young (and oldish) readers who love the orphan sagas; lonely, tough, smart girls with a dangerous need for adventure.

Babies all growed up!

Marla Frazee is a busy lady, but she needs to get busier. It's rare these days that I see the combo of quirky-funny writing and it-doesn't-have-to-look-like-an-oil-painting-to-be-good style of illustrations that I so love. In fact, I haven't really loved a picture book since Frazee's Walk On!.

However, her latest, A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever, adds some more words, an actual story, but stays true to the gentle humor of her earlier works. Two boys go to (more imagination than real) nature camp while staying with their grandparents and find that adventure is more hard work than is worth it. In an awfully depressing world of Fancy Nancy, it's worth a gander. (You don't even get a link for Fancy Nancy. That's just how sad it makes me.)

Anarchy in the library

I'm a card carrying member of the equal-access-means-equal-representation school of thought in libraries. Not every boy likes sports. Not every girl likes boys and heels. So I'm always excited when I come across a book that represents different types of kids. However, as the following two books demonstrate, the problem is that it still represents types. These books fall just as short as, oh let's say Gossip Girl, because they don't tell stories of characters but rather revolve around character types. They read painfully like adults trying too hard to sound like kids, and in the case of these two books, too much like adults who grew up listening to Debbie Reynolds trying to sound like punk rock kids. Case in point:

Gordan Korman's Born to Rock - Conservative teenager learns that his dad was previously a punk rock star. The book has some definite laughs but not much punk rock cred.

That being said, it would be a good reluctant reader recommendation for those non-sport boys or non-fashionista girls who don't tend to read a lot. There are enough pop culture references and laughs to keep them all engaged.


Another book missing its punk rock cred though it tries a bit harder than Born to Rock is Beige by Queen of Cool author, Cecil Castaliucci. The book follows a Canadian girl spending the summer in L.A. with her aging California rocker dad. Anyone familiar with the scene will recognize all of the music/fashion/trend references. Each chapter is named after a different punk/rockabilly anthem, and it's not a bad selection. The Boy played each one for me as I was reading the book, and strangely enough each chapter takes about as long to read as it does to listen to the song. However, that's where the authenticity seems to end. While the book is about an insider looking in to a different culture, her understanding and the overall appreciation of the culture seems superficial. Her obnoxious dislike for everything California and punk is solely based on fashion and the music. Cecil tried to make something meaningful and inclusive but did so with what appeared to be only a superficial understanding of the culture and no concept of the culture and history behind the scene. It would perhaps be entertaining for a kid like Cecil, an outsider looking in, but wouldn't read well for anyone with a functioning understanding and appreciation of punk music and culture.

Storytime books of past weeks (because I'm lazy)

Picture books I've blogged about previously...


Little Red by Lynn Roberts



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The Mighty Asparagus by Vladamir Radunsky

Sorry. It's all the brain power I can muster.

I'm sick but also dreadfully behind on my blogging. So here are some things I've read recently that you should as well. The abridged version...

The Specials by Scott Westerfeld

The third in the series. I wasn't as impressed with this as a finale. The characters were a bit tired and there wasn't enough of a new twist to keep my attention. I think this is where Westerfeld's lack of character development caught up with him. A quirky set and plot weren't enough to carry him through three longish novels.

Devilish by Maureen Johnson

Fun, snarky fantasy novel for teens. A girl sells her soul to the devil, and her friend tries to save her by banding with a priest, 300 year old 14 year old, and selling her own soul. Genuinely funny and a good cross-over novel for the kids who aren't quite into the extreme fantasy/science fiction genre.

Eggs by Jerry Spinelli

Look at me! I'm reading something for kids and not teens! Hurrah for me. I can't tell you enough that you should read this novel. Two kids from difficult home lives deal with it with a healthy fantasy life and a good dose of adventure. I love quirky kids, and the bittersweet humor of this book makes it a lovely read.