Expatica’s German news in English: The man behind the caterpillar
His target group are those children starting school at a time which Carle describes as the “leap from home and security, from the world of play and the senses to the world of the mind, abstraction, order and discipline.”

Margo Lanagan, author of Black Juice, has been blogging as the Writer in Residence at Inside a Dog.  Yes, I am just discovering this now and her month as Writer in Residence is almost finished!  But her writing is superb in both her books and on the blog.  A new author will be in residence in July.  This is one that you will have to travel to, there is no RSS feed that I can find.

Independent Online Edition has an article on some of the top-selling children’s book authors in Britain (and around the world.) The names are all familiar, or if the names are not, then the characters they have created are. What is nice is that each author has a nice series of paragraphs about their background and how they became such a success. The authors include Lucy Cousins, Katherine Holabird, Judith Kerr, and Lauren Child.
Speaking of Lauren Child, I have now seen the Charlie and Lola show and recommend it heartily. It takes the graphics of the books and creates a living world. Charlie and Lola are just as charming and wonderful as they are in the books and if it leads more children back to the book series and Clarice Bean as well, then it is doing a great job.

Dr. Frank’s What’s-it is Frank Portman’s blog. Portman is author of the very hot King Dork, which is on my list to read. His blog is witty and great fun and filled with pictures of all types of people reading King Dork.

Pat Mora’s website is a bright, sunny place filled with information on her many books, news and herself.  I enjoy that the information on each book is accompanied by reviews as well as a synopsis.  Very handy. 

The Library of Congress has Webcasts that focus on poetry and literature. Some of the featured authors are children’s book authors! They include Mary Pope Osborne, Neil Gaiman, R. L. Stine, Meg Cabot, Sharon Creech, Patricia Reilly Giff, Walter Dean Myers, Pat Mora, Jack Gantos, and Jerry Pinkney. Hours and hours of webcast pleasure for you to enjoy!

Yahoo News has an article: Mo Willems draws on the funny side of failure. It is a sweet and funny article on Willems, author of Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and Knuffle Bunny, two of my all-time favorite children’s books. Willems captures exactly what children love, pure fun and humor with an ironic twist. They are books that beg to be read again and again and books that simply MUST be shared aloud.

The Wisconsin State Journal has a warm and appreciative article on Kevin Henkes and his marvelous new book, Lily’s Big Day. I am a real Henkes fan from his wonderful mouse characters to Olive’s Ocean. He has a remarkable talent and from what I read here in this article and see in his books a real affinity for children.

An interesting letter from Patricia Polacco describing why her appearance at the International Reading Association Conference in Chicago last week was cancelled.  It appears that the all-powerful McGraw-Hill of textbook and test fame was interested in keeping Polacco from speaking out about her concerns over the No Child Left Behind program.  Polacco refused to adhere to their conditions that her speech be “upbeat, non-controversial, and non-political.”