PaperTigers.org has added a couple of articles to celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.  The articles offer list of favorite Asian Pacific American picture books and a reading list of Asian American literature for children and teens. 

The West Bloomfield Township Public Library has a fantastic online resource that encourages parents to create an environment for their children that will get them reading.  They have ideas for babies through first grade.  The tips they give are easily achieved and very important.  This is quite simply an inspiring site.

School Library Journal has an interesting article about how to deal with award winners like Criss Cross that bridge the levels between library collections for teens and children.  What do you do in your library?  Do you buy two copies and place them in both sections?  If not, how do you decide where to place them?
In our tiny library, we don’t have enough money to purchase two copies, so we place them as best we can, often agonizing over the choice.  We currently have Criss Cross in the children’s department, though I have wondered over the months if it is the best place for it.  It seems to be circulating well, or I would definitely have moved it to the teen area.  I think it is most troubling when teens would enjoy the sophistication of some of the titles more than younger children, yet the book has been marketed to children.  That is when reader’s advisory comes in, though teens may refuse books you pull from the children’s section even with a lot of pushing. 

The Kalamazoo Gazette has a great article: Juvenile Home residents find `diversions’ in book discussions. It is an example of a public library getting involved in a community of readers (kids in juvenile detention) who may otherwise never be reached. Their book discussion program and read-aloud program bring young women in touch with books that will interest them. What an amazing outreach program!

The Association for Library Service to Children has announced a new campaign as part of the @ your library series.  The site is just starting out right now, so several areas are not ready yet.  Look for their theme song sung by Bill Harley to be available on the site in June. 

Children’s Poetry Archive is a site dedicated to poetry and getting children in touch with it. The site is a colorful place that lets kids search by peom or poet. You can also browse the collection by themes, poetic forms or view a complete list of poets. This is a well-done, accessible, child-friendly poetry site. Who could ask for more?

Jen Robinson’s Book Page has been on my list of children’s lit blogs to share for a long time. Jen has a dual focus to her blog: “Promoting the love of books by children, and the continued reading of children’s books by adults.” Lovely. I enjoy the layout of her blog as well, with all of the book covers neatly categorized along the sides. But her content is what really shines. Add this one to your RSS feedreader or make sure to visit it often.

I just discovered this new children’s lit blog: Outside of a Cat. Which is done by (gasp) a man! He posts reviews of children’s and teen books he has read, including many classic favorites. This one is worth checking out.

The International Herald Tribune has an interesting article: Teen-lit ‘packages’: Forget the young writer in a garret. It covers the “book packaging” industry responsible for books by the biggest names in teen novels: Cecily von Ziegesar, Ann Brashares and, of course, Kaavya Viswanathan. This is an interesting peek into the latest way to package and sell novels to teenage girls.