Winter Trees by Carole Gerber, illustrated by Leslie Evans.

The pair who created Leaf Jumpers return with an exploration of seven common types of tree in the winter.  A boy walks with his dog through the forest, discovering the different barks and forms of trees and identifying each one.  Gerber writes with a poetic hand, creating a book that sees beyond the trees themselves and speaks to the experience of a woods in winter.  Evans’ illustrations are strong and bold, capturing each tree and its characteristics with real style. 

Share this one on a wintry evening in front of the fire or in a class looking at trees.  The language of the book is a joy to read aloud and the illustrations will work well with an audience.  It is also a great book for kids who prefer nonfiction and for classrooms looking for winter books rather than holiday ones.  Appropriate for ages 5-7.

Cicada Summer by Andrea Beaty.

Lily finds herself in the middle of her very own Nancy-Drew-like mystery in the small sleepy Illinois town she lives in.  When Tinny arrives, Lily immediately dislikes her.  Lily hasn’t spoken in two years and everyone thinks she is brain damaged, but Tinny discovers that Lily can read when they first meet.  Tinny begins taking over places where Lily felt comfortable, where she was safe and invisible.  Tinny is far from invisible and seems to revel in making Lily feel very uncomfortable.  But Tinny has a lot to hide too, just like Lily.  And Lily is bright as can be, just silent.  Strange details begin to trouble Lily, and she discovers that she is the only one who can save Tinny.

The tone here is golden.  Lily’s viewpoint is very strong and consistent and her inner voice is humorous and endearingly plainspoken.   She is a heroine with great depth who reveals her secrets step by tiny step, creating a dual tension in the novel as both girls’ secrets are slowly revealed to the reader.  Unlike Nancy Drew, there is no car, no clever solutions, there is life.  A lovely view of small-town life that has its own sort of mystery and tragedy.

Highly recommended for lovers of Nancy Drew who are now tweens, kids who enjoy mysteries, and anyone from small Midwestern towns who want to return briefly to their childhood.  Especially those of us who felt just as invisible as Lily.

Today I celebrate my fifth blog-birthday!  And what a marvelous five years it has been. 

A huge thank you to all of my fellow kids lit bloggers who have created a community filled with warmth and acceptance for all.  Rather like our library shelves that way, ain’t it? 

Recently we have heard lots of bloggers (and not only in kid lit land) talk of the ongoing grind of blogging, the pressure of accepting books to review, and the guilt of not being able to do it all.

Here is my advice as one of the ancient blogging aunties:  DO IT FOR YOU.  There is no responsibility to the publishers.  There is no guilt about not liking a book, not being willing to review it, not having the time to even crack the cover.  This is about you.  Your love affair with the written word.  Your joy of discovery.  Your blog.  Your words.  Your passion.  This is your space and it should be free of such worldly worries and fretting.   Write what you want, shout it to the heavens, rant, rave, but be you and do it for you.  That’s all.  No expectations.  Just you.

And so this is just me.  Thank you for reading for all these years.  Thank you for sharing your comments.  Thank you for being part of my passion for children and books and the magic of combining the two.

Off on vacation this week.  Getting lots of reading done while trying out new bread recipes and attempting to use up 10 pounds of blueberries without resorting to freezing them.  It’s the last 2 pounds that I think may just have me beaten.

School Library Journal has announced that Penguin is offering an e-book version of Savvy by Ingrid Law on a variety of tween sites.  You can see my glowing review of Savvy here.  This is one to point tweens to for sure!

Here’s the link to the e-book.

I’m here at ALA enjoying the exhibits and the programs.  People keep asking me what great children’s lit sessions I have been to, but I have been attending library administration sessions mostly.  Today though, I am heading to see Dr. T Berry Brazelton and Sally Ride in their big programs.  Hurrah!  I am also hoping to score the final two ARCs on my very edited list. 

I briefly attended the Kidlit blogging get-together last night.  Very nice to see familiar faces once again and have time to chat. 

My sons got some rocking loot at the exhibits, including monkey shaped sling shots that scream as they fly through the air, dragon eggs, folding rulers, and all sorts of other strange but delightful things.  We head back for more today!

Batman: The Story of the Dark Knight by Ralph Cosentino.

Return to the style and feel of the early Batman comics with this picture book.  It covers all of the basics of who Batman is, how he became a superhero and the many villains he tries to stop.  Cosentino’s text is pure vintage comic book style, simple but explosive.  His art echoes the same, except with more clarity and a child-friendly larger format. 

This is a great book for beginning readers who are reluctant.  There aren’t many comic books that are written at about a 2nd grade level.  This one will fly off the shelves, or use its Batmobile to zoom off them. 

Visit Ralph Cosentino’s website.

According to the Guardian, several British authors spoke out at the Hay Festival about the plans for some publishers to begin labeling books with age ranges.  Mal Peet spoke out for reluctant readers and its impact on them.  He also brought up my main concern:

According to Peet the complicated question of whether the books are suitable for children of a certain age in terms of language or in terms of subject matter is "not being addressed at all."

"Sooner or later this age ranging is going to degenerate into a moral code," he said, "which would be terrible."

It certainly would.  Think of teen novels in particular and the age labeling that could happen not on the basis of reading difficulty but of content.  And who decides what is and is not appropriate?  Another hidden panel like the movie ratings?  So nothing can be done?

We recently had a challenge to a couple of books at our public school.  One "solution" was for the librarians to label books with ages.  And this was not for reading level, but solely for content.  When publishers start thinking along the same lines as censors, there is something wrong.

A fascinating study on books being read to British children (they interviewed 2,207 parents with children under 16) has some pretty obvious findings, but then some more interesting points.

First, it will come as no surprise to parents that lighter funnier books are the most popular.  They were the favorite of 28% of the children, compared to 12% who enjoyed fairy tales the most. 

49% of parents read to their children every day, with 1 in 10 admitting to skipping pages to reach the end faster.  I admit to doing that as well, but only when a book is unexpectedly horrid.

But my favorite part of the study is the fact the 84% of parents who read aloud say that they use different voices for various characters.  Hurrah!