Recommended Links

This Week’s Tweets, Pins and Tumbls

| Tasha

Here are the links I shared on my Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr accounts this week that I think are cool:

Thomas Jefferson

BOOKS

A BBQ Book That You Can LITERALLY Barbecue With «TwistedSifter http://buff.ly/1swVogh

The reason every book about Africa has the same cover—and it’s not pretty – Quartz http://buff.ly/1iGhQhs

Why Books Stink: A GIF Response | BOOK RIOT http://buff.ly/1swXMUl

Wonderful books for a day at the beach or lake!

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

An Expanded Cultural Diversity Booklist: SLJ Readers Respond | School Library Journal http://buff.ly/1ojmTw3

Fifty Great Books to Read With Kids http://buff.ly/1jfL2Se

Jen Robinson’s Book Page: Announcing the 8th Annual Kidlitosphere Conference! http://buff.ly/1stDB9B

Top Ten Books to Get Kids Moving by Annie Orsini and Kendra Limback | Nerdy Book Club http://buff.ly/1jCYcIo

What Are Kids Reading in School? See the Most-Read Books in Each Grade – US News http://buff.ly/1uV443T

Women in STEM – The Horn Book http://buff.ly/1jH2y14

EBOOKS

Much at Stake in Amazon-HBG Fight http://buff.ly/1nJwpWS

LIBRARIES

Chicago public library offers robot rentals | Northwest Herald http://buff.ly/1jCXpXJ

College libraries should keep their books in the stacks. http://buff.ly/1uVWy96

Missoula Public Library opens new bike station http://buff.ly/1uV0zKT

“Stack attack”? The NYPL controversy and the future of public libraries | Pew Internet Libraries http://buff.ly/1stGxmE

YA LIT

John Green and his Nerdfighters Are Upending the Summer Blockbuster Model http://buff.ly/1swVmVB

Stacked: Get Genrefied: Historical Fantasy http://buff.ly/1jGV26g

What are the best LGBT books for children, teenagers and YAs? | Children’s books http://buff.ly/1jIN10S

YA books on death: is young adult fiction becoming too dark? | Children’s books http://buff.ly/1jCY9vZ

This Week’s Tweets, Pins and Tumbls

| Tasha

Here are the links I shared on my Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr accounts this week that I think are pretty cool:

Embedded image permalink

CHILDREN’S LIT

12 Irrefutable, Amazing Reasons We Need More Diversity In Books http://buff.ly/1nYx74W #kidlit

Children’s Books. Still an All-White World? | School Library Journal http://buff.ly/1mvy4lI #kidlit

Our kids’ grey matter is neither pink nor blue – when will book publishers realise this? – The Independent http://buff.ly/1mvA6Cm #kidlit

Pioneers in Pigtails: Remembering the First Heroines Who Made Us Mighty| Megan Jean Sovern | http://buff.ly/1myuuCU #kidlit

EBOOKS

Take Your Bookshelf Anywhere: BitLit Gives Readers an eBook Version of a Book They Already Own | BetaKit http://buff.ly/1s2uA7t #ebooks

TEEN READS

Disabled Characters in YA Literature | School Library Journal http://buff.ly/SF7uta #yalit

‘The Fault in Our Stars’ Author John Green on Fandom and His Favorite YA Romances – The Wire http://buff.ly/1qfApma #yalit

What’s Old is New: Recent YA Books with Allusions to Classic Lit | SLJ Spotlight | School Library Journal http://buff.ly/1mvAVv0 #yalit

YA LGBTQ Novels Where the Focus Isn’t Coming Out – Small Avalanches http://buff.ly/1nT5PwD #LGBTQ #yalit

roald dahl

This Week’s Tweets, Pins and Tumbls

| Tasha

Here are the links I shared on my Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr accounts this week that I think are pretty cool:

Our Favorite Spring Themed Children's Books~ Buggy and Buddy

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

Children’s Books: A Shifting Market http://buff.ly/1hMHm8F

Eight Favorite Books Starring Interesting, Exciting, Daring, Adventurous Girls!| Lori Day | http://buff.ly/1hWHLWc

How to keep kids reading through the summer – http://buff.ly/1hJ1KHG

Juicy As a Pear: Wanda Gag’s Delectable Books for Children : The New Yorker http://buff.ly/1nXaBGw

Jump into the #WeNeedDiverseBooks Campaign, Help Change the World | BOOK RIOT http://buff.ly/1rJnGUt #diversity #reading #books

Notable novels in verse – The Horn Book http://buff.ly/1nXfyzf

Resources and Kid Lit About American Indians | Focus On | School Library Journal http://buff.ly/1mdULGr

Top 10 life-affirming reads | Children’s books http://buff.ly/1hMGiSe

Wimpy Kid and Family to Hit the Road in ‘The Long Haul’ http://buff.ly/1iwSt6i

33 Reasons Why You’re Addicted To Books!

EBOOKS

Harper Lee agrees to ebook version of To Kill a Mockingbird | Books http://buff.ly/1hJ74uH

What You Need to Know Before Letting Your Kids Read E-Books http://buff.ly/1nX6jPG

Why the Smart Reading Device of the Future May Be … Paper | Science | WIRED http://buff.ly/1hWGRce

vintage librarian photos

LIBRARIES

How libraries are responding to the second digital divide http://buff.ly/R0vKVp

TEEN READS

Blindingly White: BookCon, John Green, and Knowing When It’s Time to Speak Up | BOOK RIOT http://buff.ly/1iwRinp

Should white people write about people of color? – Malinda Lo http://buff.ly/1hJc7eK

This Week’s Tweets, Pins and Tumbls

| Tasha

Here are the links I shared on my Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr accounts this week that I think are pretty cool:

8 Books About Rockets from LibraryAdventure.com

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

10 Steps to Raising a Lifelong Reader | HarperCollins Children’s Books http://buff.ly/1fu8uVv #reading #kidlit

Cliff McNish’s top 10 dogs in children’s books | Children’s books http://buff.ly/1lu6DUh #kidlit

Disney Partners with Bestselling Children’s Authors for New Star Wars Adaptations http://buff.ly/1lu5QTt #kidlit #starwars

Horn Book has some great recommended reading for Earth Day! http://buff.ly/1k1e5XM #kidlit

LIBRARIES

As Researchers Turn to Google, Libraries Navigate the Messy World of Discovery Tools – Chronicle of Higher Education http://buff.ly/1ii0gpp

The future of the library: How they’ll evolve for the digital age. http://buff.ly/1mIfPZx #libraries

Use videos to advocate for libraries http://buff.ly/1lJmOgS #libraries

READING

Actually, online skimming probably hasn’t affected serious reading after all http://buff.ly/1mwgm0n #ebooks #reading

Children Who Visit Museums Have Higher Achievement in Reading, Math, and Science | UpNext: The IMLS Blog http://buff.ly/1jGi1LE

"Where do you buy these?" – The Horn Book http://buff.ly/1jjtqRu #reading #libraries

TEEN READS

Sherman Alexie novel given out in Idaho school district that banned it http://buff.ly/1ihWUCJ #yalit

YA Adaptations Are Now Turning to Male Leads http://buff.ly/1mAUAc2 #yalit

YA Historical Fiction for Downton Abbey Fans| Lisa Parkin | http://buff.ly/1fu6OLX #yalit

Boys, Reading and Misogynistic Crap

| Tasha

child-315049_1280Children’s book author Jonathan Emmett says that “boys are being deterred from reading because the ‘gatekeepers’ to children’s literature are mostly women.”  The gatekeepers are editors, publishers, librarians, judges and reviewers of children’s books. 

According to an article in The Times of London that is summarized on a more accessible page at Publishing Perspectives, he believes that there isn’t enough boy-friendly elements in children’s books.  I’m honestly not sure what books he’s been looking at because he then goes on to name some pretty big themes in children’s titles:  “battling pirate ships” and “technical details about spaceships.” 

He does have some support from a couple of female authors who incongruously to the very claim of the author write very boy-friendly titles.  And he has done his research.  Out of 400 reviews in five British newspapers, less than 20% of the picture book reviews were written by men and less than a third of the fiction reviews.  That compares to 47% of the picture books being written by men and 41% of the children’s books.

Now wait.  So the claim is that the powerful cadre of women who control publishing, like LIBRARIANS as an example, are using the reviews that they write to weed out the boy friendly titles?  Or is the claim that the female publishers are controlling the writing of the male authors and making sure that they are not filled with swords, battles, dragons, pirates, etc. 

As a children’s librarian, I worked hard to get titles children love into the right hands.  If a boy or girl, because this is even more of that gender-focus that doesn’t help anything in our culture, comes in and asks for pirate books, I merrily get them those books.  Books into hands.  That’s all I want to manage. 

But perhaps the most disgusting part of logical extension of the author’s claim is that we as women are out to emasculate male children by withholding books they would prefer to read.  Producing books that reflect a softened, feminized version of our world, no battling pirates, no technical information, no baddies smoking, few if any baddies at all.  What misogynistic crap!

Gregor the Overlander (Underland Chronicles, #1) The Real Boy Salt: A Story of Friendship in a Time of War

Women are writing some of the most captivating and violent books for children and teens. 

Women are the ones in the low-paying jobs of teacher and librarian who get books into the hands of children. 

Women are the ones who take the time to listen to the small voices of children and pick those marvelous Captain Underpants books off the shelves for them among many others.

Women are worried about the gender gap in reading and are having conversations about how best to collect books in our libraries that boys (and non-reading girls) will enjoy.

Women, professionally and as moms and grandmothers, are powerful, I agree with Mr. Emmett about that.  It is our power that will help solve this issue, not perpetuate it.

This Week’s Tweets, Pins and Tumbls

| Tasha

Here are the links I shared on my Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr accounts this week that I think are pretty cool:

11 Children’s Books About Nature

CHILDREN’S BOOK

Heather Tomlinson – Blog – Continuing the "diversity" conversation http://buff.ly/1imBCCy #kidlit

Hogwarts Is Here is like a MOOC for Harry Potter fans, and you can enroll online for free. http://buff.ly/1p6IRUq #kidlit

Katherine Rundell: ‘wouldn’t it be fantastic if people actually did live up here on rooftops and nobody knows?’s http://buff.ly/1p6LmG7

We Need Bigger Megaphones for Diversity in Kid Lit | BOOK RIOT http://buff.ly/1imBa7e #kidlit

EBOOKS

It’s an Ebook World for Young Readers 13 and Under Says PlayCollective Report | SLJ http://buff.ly/1m7EHJI #ebooks

Credible

LIBRARIES

YA LIT

8 Young Adult Books That Should Be Movies (And Who Should Star in Them) http://buff.ly/OP81Gi #yalit

Are Teen Girls Seeing Themselves Reflected in What They Read? http://buff.ly/1l1NOHO #kidlit

James Patterson wins the 2014 Chicago Tribune Young Adult Literary Award. http://buff.ly/1l1S0Yk #kidlit

Read This, Then That: TALKER 25 and Other Fantastic YA Dragon Tales | BOOK RIOT http://buff.ly/OP8pVd #yalit

Stacked: Revisiting YA Verse Novels: A 2014 Guide to the Format http://buff.ly/1oTiGjT #yalit

Veronica Roth: YA Novels Aren’t Frivolous Teen Fiction | Neon Tommy http://buff.ly/1p6Lt4E #yalit

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt–25th Anniversary

| Tasha

201126

The Guardian has shared a video celebrating the 25th anniversary of the beloved We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury.  In the video, the two sit down and discuss the origins of the story and the impact of the art work.

American Library Association’s Most Challenged Books of 2013

| Tasha

It’s National Library Week this week and ALA has released their annual list of the most challenged books of last year.  As always, the list is filled with books for children and teens, though And Tango Makes Three is not on the list this year!

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl Bless Me, Ultima

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl by Tanya Lee Stone

Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya

The Bluest Eye Bone Complete Set, Volumes 1 9: Out From Boneville, The Great Cow Race, Eyes Of The Storm, The Dragonslayer, Rock Jaw, Old Man's Cave, Ghost Circles, Treasure Hunters, And Crown Of Horns The Adventures of Captain Underpants (Captain Underpants, #1)

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Bone (series) by Jeff Smith

Captain Underpants (series) by Dav Pilkey

Fifty Shades of Grey (Fifty Shades, #1) The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)

Fifty Shades of Grey by EL James

The Hunger Games by  Suzanne Collins

Looking for Alaska The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Looking for Alaska by John Green

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

This Week’s Tweets, Pins and Tumbls

| Tasha

Here are the links I shared on my Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr accounts this week that I think are pretty cool:

List of 1960s children's book. Have you read these classics? Click through for the entire list.

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

HarperCollins to publish new Paddington Bear book | The Bookseller http://buff.ly/1lIIwCx #kidlit

Illustrator Becomes First Latin American to Win Highest Children’s Lit Honor | Vocativ http://bit.ly/1e8wVgh #kidlit

Should celebrities stop writing children’s books? | Comment is free | The Observer http://bit.ly/1g0ORV4 #kidlit

PUBLISHING

Tom Weldon: ‘Some say publishing is in trouble. They are completely wrong’ | The Observer http://bit.ly/1g0P8r5 #books #publishing

READING

Serious reading takes a hit from online scanning and skimming, researchers say – The Washington Post http://buff.ly/1qkngTN #reading

TECHNOLOGY

Science says using social media makes you depressed | Science http://buff.ly/1lKcUfL (Yes, I’m sharing it on social media. Enjoy the irony!)

Search Engine DuckDuckGo Is Taking On Google By Doing The One Thing They Won’t Do – Business Insider http://bit.ly/OkOBbZ

YA LIT

8 Great YA Novels Featuring South Asian Protagonists :: Paste http://bit.ly/1g0Pqyl #yalit

15 years of SPEAK: An Interview with Laurie Halse Anderson | BOOK RIOT http://buff.ly/PM31mE #yalit

Ann Brashares talks dystopia and her new YA novel ‘The Here and Now’ http://buff.ly/1koonV3 #yalit

Hunger Games to Divergent: Get ready for the next teen revolution | Mail Online http://bit.ly/1e8td6j #yalit

Idaho school district bans award-winning book for being racy, racist and anti-Jesus http://bit.ly/1g0Pk9W #censorship #yalit