The Kate Greenaway Medal
Shirley Hughes has been awarded the 2003 Kate Greenaway Medal for her book, Ella’s Big Chance. The Greenaway Medal from the UK is awarded for outstanding illustrations in children’s books.

New York Press has a short Q&A with Ned Vizzini, author of the new teen novel, Be More Chill.
You can also visit Ned’s website which is mentioned in the Q&A.

The Observer | Review | Push one off the cliff
A charming piece on author Cornelia Funke, who is releasing Dragon Rider in August here in the U.S.
My favorite quote from the interview comes at the end: “Funke is a champion of reading aloud. She describes words as being like ‘butterflies pressed between the pages – the voice releases them’.”
Via h20boro lib blog.

BBC NEWS | Technology | Science Museum launches games
The London Science Museum is offering five games focusing on different types of science in the hopes of getting children interested in science. The games are for both PC and Mac and more titles are planned for later this year.

NarniaWeb
NarniaWeb offers movie news plus a rumor mill. Today you can head there to see photos of the four lead actors who will play Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy.

The Australian: Children’s fiction spins tale of wise patriarchs
Natasha Giardina has done a thesis on eight children’s novels published between 1900 and 1997. It includes well -known books like The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and examines how adults perceive childhood and how that perception has changed over the years.
“Despite those changes, some relationships between adult and child in fantasy fiction had changed little, even in modern stories such as Harry Potter, she said. “In particular, the figure of the white patriarch — the Merlin, Gandalf, Dumbledore figure — and the associated ideology that children should always trust the guidance of white patriarchs — has changed very little.”
Of the authors she looked at, Roald Dahl used children’s culture – games, rhymes, rituals and anti-adult mentality – “most overtly”, a factor she attributed to his success.
Phillip Pullman’s Northern Lights bucked the trend. She said it destroyed the idea that parents knew best or were always benevolent. It empowered children and showed they could cope on their own.”

Telegraph | News | American beats British writers to child book prize
Jennifer Donnelly has won the Carnegie Medal for children’s literature, beating out two very popular British books for the prize.

Literacy Connections
This site offers information for reading teachers and literacy volunteers. It includes tutoring tips, sight words, readers theater, songs, children’s literature, and reading aloud.

The New York Times — ‘The Trucker’ and Other Children’s Books
The New York Times has reviewed a handful of new books including The Trucker, a book about a little boy dreaming that his toy truck turns into a big rig. I know that our library always needs new truck books to keep those tiny little boys happy.