Kirkus Best Children's Books

Kirkus Reviews presents their The Best Children’s Books of 2005 list. I’m happy to see so many of my personal favorites on their list. And happy to see some new titles to explore.

Frontline on Teens

Frontline has done another incredible program, this time looking inside the teenage brain. It is a program that those of us working with teens should watch, and best of all the Frontline programs are available online in their entirety.

Penderwicks Wins

Publishing’s ‘Oscars’ go to Vollmann, Didion and to Jeanne Birdsall for The Penderwicks, winning the National Book Award for young people’s literature.

Goodnight Moon Controversy

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Harper Collins has created a controversy by editing the photograph of Clement Hurd, author of Goodnight Moon in the new edition. The editing removed the cigarette from Hurd’s hand. Goodnight Reality is a site where you can vote about whether you approve of the change or not. Personally, I don’t see any reason to remove a cigarette from the hand of an author. How does removing a cigarette help children? I think we need to protect children, yes, but this is not how it should be done. Sanitizing the world doesn’t help our children understand the world they live in nor does it make them any more safe.

Governor General's Award

Farm tale wins GG award has the news that Pamela Porter has won the Governor General’s award for children’s literature for her book, The Crazy Man, written in poetry.

Tony DiTerlizzi

Tony DiTerlizzi’s IMAGINOPOLIS is the new official site for this author of the Spiderwick Chronicles and my favorite, Ted. It has news, information about Tony, shop, and FAQ. But best of all it has a glimpse into his art process and a books section where you too can download Ted wallpaper for your computer.

Julie Hearn

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Julie Hearn, author of The Merrybegot or The Minister’s Daughter in the US, has a site with information on her books, a FAQ, her writing, and appearances.

Bags and Boards

Bags and Boards is a blog from Variety that follows the comic book industry.

Japanese Sound Effects

Japanese Sound effects and what they mean is exactly that, an alphabetical list of Japanese sound effects that you will find in manga. Great fun!