Thursday Afternoon Visits: January 7

From Jen Robinson’s Book Page

I’ll tell you - leave the computer behind for a few days, and hundreds of posts pile up in the reader. But I found digging out to be a good excuse to also spend some time weeding out inactive feeds. Anyway, here are a few highlights from the Kidlitosphere of late:

Terry Doherty just published this month’s roundup of new resources for literacy and reading at The Reading Tub. This monthly series is an offshoot of the weekly Children’s Literacy Roundups that Terry and I do together, one that Terry has largely taken responsibility for. This month, she focuses on several resources related to literacy and reading, including a new service for recording books for your kids.

MotherReader has provided a FAQ for the upcoming 2010 Comment Challenge (co-hosted with Lee Wind, and which I previously described here). You can sign up tomorrow (Friday) with either MotherReader or Lee Wind.

This weekend is also Bloggiesta, hosted by Natasha from Maw Books. As MotherReader put it, “It’s a chance to spend some time improving your blog, catching up on your reviews, and taming your Google Reader.” I don’t know that I’ll be formally participating in this one, since I’ve been catching up on my blog quite a bit this week already (and because I really MUST do some reading this weekend). But I’ll be there in spirit.

The deadline is approaching to submit titles for the ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year Awards. You can find more information at the ForeWord website. “ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year Awards were established to bring increased attention to librarians and booksellers of the literary and graphic achievements of independent publishers and their authors.”

It’s also time to submit titles for Betsy Bird’s Top 100 Children’s Fiction Chapter Books poll at A Fuse #8 Production. This is a follow-on to the previous Top 100 Picture Books list that Betsy compiled. Readers have until January 31st, 2010 to submit their top 10 middle grade fiction titles of all time (NOT just 2009 titles). No early readers, no young adult books. This poll is focused squarely on middle grade fiction. You can find more details here. There’s also a young adult poll brewing at Diane Chen’s School Library Journal blog, Practically Paradise. Diane says “These are the titles that appeal to teens including young adult novels, nonfiction, and picture books for teens (ages 13-19)”.

John Green has an interesting article in School Library Journal about the future of reading. It’s quite long, but well worth the time to read. For instance, in regards to the future of book distribution, he says: “Just this: if, in the future, most books are sold either online or in big box stores like Costco and Wal-Mart, you (librarians) will become even more important to American literature. How you choose to build your collection, whom you buy from, and how you discover the works you want to share with your patrons will shape what Americans—whether or not they ever visit libraries—will read and how they will read it.” And “There’s no question … that librarians are to thank for the astonishing growth of YA fiction over the last decade.“ Oh, just read the whole thing. I found this link at The Miss Rumphius Effect.

As previously mentioned, the Cybils shortlists are now available, and the Cybils judges (myself included) are reading away. For those in need of more reading suggestions, however, Cybils Deputy Editor Sarah Stevenson has a compilation of recommended reading lists from Cybils panelists. She notes that they are “not predictions, DEFINITELY not hints, and probably not prophecies, but certainly a great source of reading material if your TBR pile is getting low.” Now, this is not a problem I ever expect to have again in my life. But still, they’re nice lists. Elaine Magliaro also has a roundup of some more “official” best-of lists at Wild Rose Reader. And Sherry Early has a roundup of reader-submitted year-end booklists at Semicolon, 138 and counting. And last, but definitely not least, Betsy Bird has a scaled back version of her must-read Golden Fuse Awards (including such helpful categories as Best Swag of the Year).

Speaking of the Cybils, in response to the previously mentioned discussions about lack of diversity in the Cybils shortlists (more a symptom of a larger issue than any criticism of the panelists themselves), Colleen Mondor calls upon readers to demand diversity in publishing. She says: “We have to make this a big deal. No more holding a diversity challenge and thinking that is enough. No more having an event where we look at books by POC or with diverse protagonists. No more making diversity something we look at on special days or for special reasons.” See also Doret’s take at TheHappyNappyBookseller. What do you all think?

On a lighter note, Laini Taylor today described a Reader’s Retreat in New Hampshire, organized by Elizabeth MacCrellish, that sounds (and looks - she has photos) wonderful. Here’s the gist: “Reading reading reading, a juicy stack of wonderful books, and taking breaks for yummy meals prepared for you, in the company of other lovely kindred spirits who have also been living inside books all day?” This event, a Squam Arts Workshops (SAW) session scheduled for September 1-5, sounds amazing to me. Perhaps someday…

Quick hits:

• The Readergirlz spotlight title of the month is The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart. Little Willow has all the details.
• Last week’s Poetry Friday roundup was at A Year of Reading. Tomorrow’s is scheduled for The Miss Rumphius Effect. This week’s Nonfiction Monday roundup was at Picture Book of the Day. Next week’s will be at All About Children’s Books.
• If you’re looking for weighty topics to post about, check out Liz B’s “terribly important to post about list” at Tea Cozy. I look forward to reading her eventual posts on all of these topics.
• Jules has a simply mind-boggling 2009 retrospective post at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.
• At Everyday Reading, Janssen shares her techniques for fitting reading time into her regular life. There are some additional suggestions from readers in the comments, too. I agree with Janssen and commenters that audiobooks are a great way to eke out some extra reading time. I listen while I’m cooking, folding laundry, and when I’m driving anywhere.
• And if that’s not enough linkage for you, Betsy Bird has a huge new edition of Fusenews at A Fuse #8 Production. Really, it’s well worth a look.

© 2010 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson’s Book Page. All rights reserved.
You can also find me on Twitter and at Booklights from PBS Parents.
All Amazon links in this post are affiliate links, and may result in my receiving a small commission (with no additional cost to you).

Friday Afternoon Visits: Halloween Eve

From Jen Robinson’s Book Page

There’s been nonstop action around the Kidlitosphere this week. Here are a few highlights.

Halloween-themed posts abound this week. I, of course, liked this one from Joyce Grant at Getting Kids Reading: Hallowe’en Literacy: Some ideas for working literacy into your Hallowe’en festivities. Like “Do a Hallowe’en recipe together. A perfect combination of math, reading and - yum!” Also, via a link from Katie B’s First Book’s Odds and Bookends column, bookish Halloween costume ideas from Laura Nathan. And Roberta Gibson at Wrapped in Foil is mulling giving out books for Halloween, inspired by a Books for Treats promotion in the comic strip Luann. And Pam Coughlan profiles three books about monsters at Booklights.

I found an interesting article about adults reading young adult fiction via @DonalynBooks and @TheReadingZone on Twitter. The Courier-Journal.com article by Erin Keane says “Young adult fiction’s appeal has grown way beyond the school library. What was once considered entertainment for kids has become big business for adults, who are increasingly turning to the children’s section for their own reading pleasure, according to publishing experts.”

As for what teens themselves enjoy reading, Publisher’s Weekly recently published the results of a TeenReads.com survey about teens’ reading habits. See Carol Fitzgerald’s article for details. Roger Sutton comments at Read Roger that “The most interesting statistic of this teen reading survey concerns who responded to it: “while we purposely marketed the survey to attract male readers, females are the vast majority (96%) of responders.”“

In other news about teen readers, Becky Levine shares a lovely story about boys excited for a book signing by Eoin Colfer. She says: “I hear SO much about boys not liking books, about losing boys from reading as they get into their teens. I watch my son and, too often, see him as the exception–myself as the lucky parent who gets to keep sharing this with her son. Last night, I realized he’s not the exception and neither am I. Write for the boys, folks. They’re here, and they’re starving for more books to read, more books that show them why theywant to write, too.”

My blog was included in recent lists of 101 Book Blogs You Need to Read and 100 Best Book Blogs for Kids, Tweens, and Teens by Online Universities. I especially liked the second list, because lots of my blogging friends are on it, too. Both lists are diverse, classified, and annotated. Although, as you know, I’m not a huge fan of “bests” in reference to blogs, I am happy to be in such good company.

Speaking of bests, Susan Thomsen has started her annual list of lists of best children’s books of 2009 at Chicken Spaghetti. She explains: “Last year I started compiling all the year-end “best of” lists in newspapers, magazines, and other sources. I added in many of the various children’s literature prizes throughout the year, too. (You can peruse “The Best of the Best: Kids’ Books ‘08” right here.) A person who chooses titles from these lists will read—and give and recommend to children—many good books.”

Still speaking of bests, Amazon is counting down their 100 best books of the year at Omnivoracious. You can find books 20 to 11 here, with links to the previous lists. I’ve been particularly happy to see The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate (#83), Shiver (#62), Catching Fire (#42), The Last Olympian (#29), and When You Reach Me (#21). That’s some representation for children’s and young adult literature in the overall list. I mean, I’d like to see more, but I agree with the titles that they did include.

If you’re going to be around New York City next Saturday, November 7th, there’s an excellent Cybils-themed Literary Cafe being hosted by Betsy Bird at the new Children’s Center at 42nd St. You can find details in this post/news release at A Fuse #8 Production. Panelists will include Pam Coughlan, Elizabeth Burns, Susan Thomsen, and Anne Boles Levy. I’ll tell you - this is one of those rare occasions when I wish I still lived in the Northeast.

Speaking of Betsy Bird and of Amazon, Betsy provoked quite a controversy recently when she asked some pointed questions about Amazon’s Vine reviewer program. She said things like “the Vine reviewers are sometimes not the best representative readers for books that are a little different” and “The difference being that you can rely on a professional reviewer to give insightful commentary and acknowledge a book’s intended audience, and you can determine whether or not a blog reviewer is the kind of person you want looking over your product. And you don’t even have to pay us. The Vine folks, by contrast, are not professional reviewers and yet they enjoy a newfound #1 status of sorts.” The comments about “professional reviewers” vs. not seem to have caused the most sting for people. Me, I tried the Vine program very briefly, and didn’t like it. I didn’t like the idea of having to review books I was lukewarm about in order to receive more books (though I can see that requiring a certain number of reviews is necessary for this type of program). But I think that Betsy raises some issues worth thinking about. See also Kate Messner’s take.

Colleen Mondor took on this Vine controversy at Chasing Ray, tied it in with two other recent conflicts, and noted one alarming overall issue that connects the three. She says: “I wanted to point this all out to emphasize the many small ways in which book choice is constantly under attack. It’s not just banning that is a problem, in some ways that is the least of our problems because at least it is obvious. We know who to fight and when. The removal of choice in places big and small is insidious however and it’s easy to lose sight of but we need to be thinking about it and doing what we can to combat it all the time.” The comments there, though not as extensive as the ones at Betsy’s, are similarly mixed.

Liz B points out at Tea Cozy one more must-read article about the FTC Guidelines for Bloggers. Olgy Gary typed up a detailed transcript of Mary Engle’s session at KidLitCon, and then sent it to Mary for editing/approval. The result is an sanctioned transcript of the discussion - well worth your time. You can find it at Olgy’s Children Come First website. Olgy, a first-time attendee to KidLitCon, is clearly going to be an asset to the Kidlitosphere. Also at Tea Cozy, Liz highlights Cynthia Leitich Smith’s blog, Cynsations, in the latest of her Kidlitosphere profile features.

I’d like to offer a fond blogging farewell to Eisha from Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast. After co-founding 7-Imp with Jules (who will still be blogging there), Eisha has decided to move on to pursue other interests. I’m glad that she’s found other things to interest her, but she’ll certainly be missed in the Kidlitosphere. See also Tanita Davis’ farewell to Eisha at Finding Wonderland.

Quick hits:

• This week’s Poetry Friday round-up is hosted by Jennie at Biblio File. In other poetry news, Tricia introduced a new math-based form of poetry from J. Patrick Lewis at The Miss Rumphius Effect, the Zeno.
• My Friend Amy has declared the week of November 9-13 Baby-sitters Club Week.
• The Spectacle is having a roundtable discussion about Favorite Villains from speculative fiction. You can find many villains in Part 1 and Part 2.
• Maureen links from Confessions of a Bibliovore to an interesting post at MiG Writers about middle grade and young adult books, and the sometimes blurry borders between then.  
• Mitali Perkins describes her recent visit to Orchard House (where Louisa May Alcott lived, and wrote Little Women).
• For more Kidlitosphere links, see Abby (the) Librarian’s Around the Interwebs post from earlier today. I enjoy these posts even more than I used to, now that I finally met Abby at KidLitCon. Wishing Abby a happy 2 year blogiversary, too. Happy Blogiversary also to Sherry from Semicolon, who has been blogging for SIX years.

And that’s all for today. I’ll be catching up on some literacy news this weekend for Monday’s roundup. Wishing you all a festive and freakish Halloween.

© 2009 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson’s Book Page. All rights reserved.
You can also find me on Twitter and at Booklights from PBS Parents.
All Amazon links in this post are affiliate links, and may result in my receiving a small commission (with no additional cost to you).