The New York Times has a wonderful article about the new type of books for teen girls: Young Adult Fiction: Wild Things. Naomi Wolf critiques (justly and decisively) the Gossip Girl, A-List and Clique series. This is a must-read article for librarians who have these books in their collections. I am not saying that we should pull the books from our shelves, I certainly am not. But we should know what we are offering children and why their parents may have objections beyond the sexual content. That said, teens are reading and if they weren’t reading this type of trash then they would be reading adult trash novels. I definitely did as a teen.
Month: March 2006
Yuck! Stuck in the Muck
Yuck! Stuck in the Muck by Corinne Demas, illustrated by Laura Rader.
Released in May 2006.
This is an beginning reader that has a nice sense of humor as well as a good plotline that is easy for early readers to follow. It is the story of a dog that chases a duck into the swamp and gets caught in the mud. One after another, animals and people try to save the dog, but each one ends up getting stuck too. They are finally all saved by a helicopter that hoists them out.
I actually enjoyed the unexpected arrival of the helicopter. It broke the rhyming pattern of the book, which is good for young readers, and it added some high tech interest. The ending where the duck nests in the stuck truck is satisfying as well.
Superhero ABC
Superhero ABC by Bob McLeod is an alphabet book perfect for kids who watch cartoons filled with superheros or those kids who play superhero all day long, in other words, most kids. Author McLeod is a comic book artist who has worked on Superman and Spiderman comics. This gives the book the feel of a real graphic novel or comic, not just a book paying homage. Each letter of the alphabet gets a superhero that starts with that letter and then the page contains other comments about the hero that feature that letter. It is cleverly done with lots of humor and even some gross moments that are perfect for the audience.
This is not one to share with a crowd, because kids will want to savor the heroes, discuss their powers and evaluate them. So have this on your library shelves just waiting for the kid who doesn’t want a saccharine ABC book. This one fits a perfect niche in every collection.
Bibliography of Children's Books about Libraries and Librarians
OK, what librarian could pass up a bibliography like this? Papertigers has a bibliography of children’s books about libraries and librarians. Just scrolling down through the titles will show you many favorites and a wide range of librarians and libraries. Enjoy!
Faith Ringgold Article
Essence: You gotta have faith: a children’s book author delves into her girlhood in a masterful memoir is a nearly poetic article on Faith Ringgold. This is an article that demonstrates the impact one children’s book author can have.
Here is my favorite line:
“Ringgold says that although she seeks to explain some of the disturbing elements of slavery and prejudice through some of her children’s books–a dozen in all–these stories have always been more about the importance of instilling in our youth the belief that they can change the world.”
Carnegie Long List
The CILIP Carnegie Medal has released its long list of nominees. This will later be amended to a short list, but it is always fun to see what British books are catching the eye of award panels. This set of books are for the 2005 award which is awarded in 2006. Some of the titles will be familiar to American readers, but others are complete surprises.
2005 Most Challenged Books
“It’s Perfectly Normal” tops ALA’s 2005 list of most challenged books
Here are the top challenged books this last year:
“It’s Perfectly Normal” for homosexuality, nudity, sex education, religious viewpoint, abortion and being unsuited to age group;
“Forever” by Judy Blume for sexual content and offensive language;
“The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger for sexual content, offensive language and being unsuited to age group;
“The Chocolate War” by Robert Cormier for sexual content and offensive language;
“Whale Talk” by Chris Crutcher for racism and offensive language;
“Detour for Emmy” by Marilyn Reynolds for sexual content;
“What My Mother Doesn’t Know” by Sonya Sones for sexual content and being unsuited to age group;
Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey for anti-family content, being unsuited to age group and violence;
“Crazy Lady!” by Jane Leslie Conly for offensive language; and
“It’s So Amazing! A Book about Eggs, Sperm, Birth, Babies, and Families” by Robie H. Harris for sex education and sexual content.
Boy, these folks need to read some new books! Some of these titles have been under attack for years and years. Let’s give them a break and find some new books to question.
Seriously, the good news is that some of the old guard have fallen off the list like Huckleberry Finn, Of Mice and Men, and the Alice series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.
The Wildest Brother
The Wildest Brother by Cornelia Funke, illustrated by Kerstin Meyer.
Due out in May 2006.
Ben is a boy who sometimes wakes up as a knight, or a wolf, or a monster. When he is a monster, he paints scars on his body with his older sister’s makeup. Though you expect her to be furious, she gets revenge by tickling him. He sometimes has to protect her from a man-eating monster. She has to hide in the wardrobe without giggling, so that he can save her. Ben fights all sorts of fearsome creatures throughout the day, protecting his sister. But guess who is his protector when he is scared at night!
This is a charming story of a brother and sister relationship. Best of all is the twist at the end where the sister is the strong and brave one. The illustrations are cartoon-like and add to the fun, showing Ben’s vivid imagination at work. Funke’s text is just the right length for the audience of preschoolers and kindergarteners who have vivid imaginations of their own. Put this one on your list for both sibling storytimes and ones on imaginations.
Where's My Sock?
Where’s My Sock? by Joyce Dunbar, illustrated by Sanja Rescek.
This bright-colored and vibrant book captures the frantic search for a lost piece of clothing, in this case a yellow sock with clocks on it. Pippin can’t find his sock, so his friend Tog helps him look. They try all sorts of drawers, baskets, pockets, shoes, and find a huge pile of socks, but when they are sorted into pairs, there is no yellow sock with clocks on it. When Pippin finally decides to wear mismatched socks, they discover the yellow sock in the one place they didn’t look. The pictures in this book are done in bright tutti-fruity colors that add to the fun, fresh feeling of the text. A large part of the book are the wild color combinations and patterns of the many socks that are found. This is a perfect book for preschool storytimes with the right kind of humor, a familiar situation taken to the extreme, and exactly the right amount of text on each page. Add this one to your clothing storytime or shoes and socks storytime.
Waking Brain Cells 