The Books Section of the Christian Science Monitor has several articles about children’s books right now. They include authors Kate DiCamillo, Kevin Henkes, Megan Whalen Turner, and Tim Egan.

As I drove to a meeting late yesterday afternoon, I caught Here On Earth on Wisconsin Public Radio. They were talking about video games with emphasis on how developers are creating video games to help solve global issues. A lot of the program focused on the fact that video games are not harmful to the children who play them, which is music to my ears, since I play video games, my children play video games, and none of us want to stop! As librarians, educators and parents who struggle with the issue of video games and their impact, this is a good glimpse into what video games are becoming and their effect on today’s children and teens.

Scroll down to page 14 of the Kirkus Autumn & Winter 2006 Preview and you will find the listings for children’s books. Some of them look great, though I am just judging them by their covers and authors at this point.
Saint Iggy by KL Going is already on my to-read list. As is London Calling by Edward Bloor, oh and the new David Levithan is a must read for me. The picture book that looks wondrous is Up by Jim LaMarche. The cover alone will have that one flying off the shelves. And for some reason, I hadn’t heard that Philip Reeve has a new title coming out. It is described as “Part Star Wars, part Alice in Wonderland — and all comic adventure.” Well, I just gotta add that to my ever-growing list as well!

It’s been awhile since I recommended a children’s lit blog, so here is my latest pick: Confessions of a Bibliovore It is the blog of “a recovering English major and brand-new librarian.” She reviews books and talks librarianship. Sweet!

School Library Journal has an interesting article about the middle grade novel: Disappearing Children’s Books.  Writer Vicky Smith speaks eloquently on the current situation where middle grade novels are growing more and more endangered as teen novels grow in number and children’s picture books increase their share of the market.  As a lover of the true middle grade novel, I tend to agree.  But they are out there and some of them are just as wonderful as the books of our childhood.  It just makes being a librarian who deals with children who are beyond easy readers and before angst novels even more challenging.  Don’t you love a good treasure hunt though?

Teen reading: Read for fun or for future? is a newspaper article saying that college professors are saying that students are less likely to have read the classics before going to college. As an English major, I have read my share of the classics and now I read almost entirely children’s and teen books.
Yes, classics are important. Having a grounding in them is an important way to judge modern fiction. But isn’t the burden less on teens and more on the schools they attend? I had a good grounding in classical literature because I took those classes in high school. Then I added on to that with additional classes in college.
Even if that is not happening in high schools, teens can still choose to remedy any lacking reading themselves. There are many websites and reading lists for college teens. Just take a look and see if you have read ANY of them.
Hmmm. Maybe I am putting it back on the teens themselves afterall. My final word is READ! Just READ!

The eBay Bookseller Blog has an interesting post on the Top Ten Children’s Books sold on eBay this June.  The ten books include the modern Eragon which was the #1 book of the month.  A signed 1st edition sold for over $9,000.  I’m not so interested in that one, but the others are all classics that make this book-lover drool.  From Tale to Peter Rabbit, to Little Black Sambo (one of my childhood faves and my mother’s too) to Green Eggs and Ham and Winnie the Pooh.  Sigh.  Lovely lovely things.

Midwestern Lodestar is the blogger that read the most books during a challenge 48 hours of reading recently. Since then, her blog has continued to grow as she spends each weekend reading away. It is a nice blog with succinct takes on children’s books that are only updated once a week, making it easy to keep up with the amazing amount of reading she does.

A big thank-you to my new colleague, Marge, who shared this fascinating new study with me. Marge is Head of Children’s Services Extraordinaire here at Menasha Public Library. The Kids and Family Reading Report is interesting reading for anyone teaching children or serving them. It offers amazing statistics that show that children who read more have higher perceptions of themselves. Hurrah! My theory is that children use books both to understand that they are not alone in their own situations and feelings and that they also use books to better understand that others out there are different from them. Both very powerful things to comprehend as a child.
I was also fascinated to see that the number one reason kids cite for not reading more is that they can’t find books they enjoy! Librarians and teachers take note! This a huge opportunity for us! Step up, rally the troops, and both listen to the children about what they like to read and then get those perfect books that fill our shelves right into their hands.
There are many more points made by the survey. It is definitely worth reading on your own to see how it can inspire you as a parent, teacher, librarian. Oh, it is a pdf document so make sure you have Adobe loaded and remember that they work best on a fast Internet connection or with lots of patience.