Month: April 2005

Misrule

| Tasha

The Misrule Blog is written by Judith Ridge, who posts about children’s literature from an Australian perspective.

Purple Crayon

| Tasha

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The Purple Crayon offers information on creating children’s books, including writing, illustration and publishing. It provides news, a collection of links, recommended books, and interesting articles.

2005 Amelia Bloomer List

| Tasha

The Amelia Bloomer Project has their 2005 List of Recommended Feminist Books for Youth available online. The books were selected based on their:
Significant feminist content
Excellence in writing
Appealing format
Age appropriateness for young readers
Books range from picture book to teen levels and include fiction and nonfiction.

KidSpeak

| Tasha

kidSPEAK! :. Where Kids Speak Out for Free Speech! started to give kids a way to speak out against the censoring of Harry Potter across the nation but has burgeoned into a website offering information on the first amendment and tangible examples of how kids and teens are fighting for their rights. This is especially important in view of the study that came out showing that almost have the kids surveyed did NOT believe that newspapers should be able to publish stories WITHOUT government approval! Amazing, frightening, and very sad.

Runny Babbit

| Tasha

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Runny Babbit is a new book from my favorite children’s poet, Shel Silverstein. The entire concept is an exchange of letters from one word in a line to another. I know that if I had just sat down and read this myself, I would have tired of the concept quickly. But luckily, I have a poetry-loving eight year old to share books with. We shared this one over the course of several bedtimes, decoding the real meaning of the poems after happily reading the mixed-up versions aloud.
So our final verdict? A perfectly billy sook perfect to kare with shids who whether they pove loetry or not.

Eclipse

| Tasha

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Eclipse offers several online pieces for children’s literature study. This site from Rutgers University has information on Mother Goose rhymes and a section on the creation of Petra Mathers’ Kisses from Rose, a picture book, from conception through revisions.

Book Moot

| Tasha

Book Moot is a blog that doesn’t declare itself as being all about children’s lit, but it is! Just take a look at the author links, reading lists, and her postings. Another great children’s lit blog added to my blogroll.

Forever Banned in Pasadena

| Tasha

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Forever by Judy Blume has been banned within the Pasadena Independent School District, removed from both intermediate and high school libraries. Sadly, the reconsideration committee advised that the book be retained in the high schools, but the superintendent decided to remove it entirely.
Now surely Forever can’t still be the big news in young adult novels! I mean, please, Forever was the big news when I was a teen. It was the book that wasn’t in our school library and that we had to head to the public library to read. The one that one kid brought to school that was passed around from kid to kid.
I am continually amazed at what is being targeted by parents in school districts. Let’s all take a deep breath and remember exactly what we were reading as teens. In most cases, it was probably this book!

Boy Proof

| Tasha

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Boy Proof by Cecil Castellucci is one of my favorite books of the year. Egg is a geeky girl who adores the science fiction movie Terminal Earth so much that she has modeled herself on the main character. She has shaved her head, wears a cloak, and insists on being called Egg, the same name as the main character. Egg is a prickly person, unable to let others close to her.
This books is a character study that all teens who have felt separate and strange can see themselves reflected. Egg truly comes to life on the pages in all of her complexity. Her conflicting emotions, her strange obsessions, and her clarity all meld together to form a fascinating girl. This is a book that needed to be written for all of the girls who are not interested in being with the popular clique at school, but are finding it difficult enough just to make a few friends. Top it all off with the fantastic cover art (I used a large image so that you could really see it) and this is a perfect package. Gorgeous and necessary.