Using Mentor Texts to Lift the Level of Writing in My Classroom is a fascinating blog. An anonymous NYC teacher uses mentoring texts to help her students write better. I enjoy her enthusiasm as she talks about each of her students, her reactions to her student teacher, and her recommendations for books. This is a unique look at using books to inspire, educate and teach the teacher.

LiveScience.com offers news about innovative and interesting science. There are sections on animals, health, nature, the environment, technology, and history. Make sure you scroll down to check out their video collection, reader favorites, view photo galleries, and take part in their polls.

BBC News has an article: Call for boys’ own bookshelves that quotes British Education Secretary Alan Johnson has saying that “We need a boys’ bookshelf in every secondary school library in the country, containing positive, modern, relevant role models for working class boys.” Um, or you could just hire a librarian who would happily build a collection that would not have to be labeled and distinct because he/she could also be there to fit the best book to that particular child. Sounds like collection development is needed not a special boy shelf. And what happens when the boys read through those boy books? As we would all want them to. Are they then shunted to the pink and glittery shelf of girls’ books? How about we just build great school libraries that will speak to both boys and girls of all social classes. There are so many books out there that will capture children heart, line and sinker. I know that boys are falling behind, that reading is looked on as being somehow not masculine enough, and that there are books that boys will appreciate, but segregating them on a separate shelf is not the answer. I have no problem with recommended lists or websites full of great boy reads. But we have to keep our libraries equal and accessible to all.

Looking for an article with good news for libraries and reading? Don’t think such a thing actually exists? Well then head to: Teens buying books at fastest rate in decades which is an article that talks about the new glory of teen literature as well as the teen readers themselves. Hurrah!

Yahoo!  has a fascinating buzz log that shows what people are searching for.  The latest buzz log is the Top 50 Children’s Books being searched for. 

Some that you would expect are there:  Harry Potter, Blood & Chocolate, Captain Underpants, and Charlotte’s Web.  But there are so many classic books!  It is a joy to see The Snowy Day, Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, The Secret Garden, Winnie the Pooh, and Little Women.  Does a librarian’s heart good.

Thanks to Neat New Stuff for the link.

American Indians in Children’s Literature is a superb blog. Blogger Debbie Reese wrote yesterday about VOYA’s new list of Native American books for teens. Seems that they really missed the mark with some of their recommendations. Nicely, Reese shares some reviews by Beverly Slapin on two of the recommended books.
I wish there were other multicultural blogs like this taking a critical look at how their culture is being portrayed for children. If you know of any, please let me know!

I’m a Reading Fool is a blog I just discovered. It is done by a teen librarian in Connecticut who rates books according to the VOYA scale for both quality and popularity. Sweet!

The Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) has a great new book list : Never Too Old: Picture Books to Share with Older Children and Teens.
The books are grouped into different categories that make me want to run out and gather up piles to read:
Visualize This: Books about the Arts
Notes on a Page: Books about Music
Into the Past: Books about History
Theories and Revelations: Books about Math and Science
Challenges and Change: Stories of Politics, Identity and Understanding
Seriously Surreal: Tales of (Im)possibility
Over-the-Top: Sly and Sophisticated Humor
All Cracked Up: Fractured Fairy Tales and Fables
Those last three categories really speak to me! They are the ones that have me making lists of new books to try. But I love the depth to the lists, making them useful not only to librarians but to teachers as well.

I have found an incredible resource for reading lists for kids that feature lists by genre, read alikes, recommended read alouds for all ages, themed lists, and much much more. atn-reading-lists simply rocks! They are now a wiki, so that everyone can help contribute to and update the reading lists. This is definitely a place to have bookmarked if you are creating your own lists for your library. What a resource!