I am way, way behind, but here is the amazing MotherReader and her huge list of the compiled Best Books of 2007.  Get your scroll button warmed up and your fingers cracked, you are in for quite a list!

TeachingBooks.net has one of the handiest guides for us children’s lit types.  Especially if you ever have to talk to people aloud about authors!  It is the Author Name Pronunciation Guide which has the authors saying their own names aloud. 

Here’s the one I went to immediately:  Jon Scieszka.  Rhymes with Fresca! 

Mercy Watson: Princess in Disguise by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Chris Van Dusen.

I should not get as giddy as I do when a new Mercy Watson book appears, but goodness they are fun!  Frankly, if Kate DiCamillo had only done Mercy Watson books, I would adore her just as much.  The fact that she also wrote such incredible books for older readers as Because of Winn-Dixie and The Tale of Despereaux is amazing!  Alright enough gushing!

In this fourth Mercy Watson book, the Watsons decide that Mercy should celebrate Halloween.  They mention treats to Mercy and Mercy immediately agrees to join in the fun, picturing stacks of buttery toast as her treats.  Mrs. Watson creates a very pink, very flouncy princess dress for Mercy while Mr. Watson finds her a tiara.  Mercy has no interest in the costume itself, but the temptation of treats convince her to step into the dress.  But when Mercy finds that there is no toast involved in trick-or-treating she is quite disappointed, until she discovers a buttery candy and then there is no stopping the cavorting and rampaging that starts.  As always the book ends with a stack of buttery toast, but not until after quite a bit of wild romping.

If you haven’t enjoyed any of the other Mercy Watson books, run right out and get the first three.  Van Dusen’s art starts at the very cover and carries through with lush colors, a fifties feel, and great design down to the page numbers.  Take a few moments to admire the Halloween decor at the Watson’s house.  The detail is flawlessly funny.  DiCamillo has managed to create a series that can be read aloud to the picture book crowd but is also welcoming for young readers to tackle.

Highly recommended to read aloud to ages 3-6 and as a solo read for slightly older children or precocious readers.  The content is very child-friendly and appropriate for all ages.

Having a pretty crazed start to the week around here!  So please understand that this is being posted in a rush before my next meeting.  🙂  Tomorrow looks to be a little more calm and I plan to post reviews of some of my patiently-waiting pile.

Anyway, a quick link to fascinating news from Science Daily on the reading process which is entirely different than anyone ever thought!  Cool stuff!

The Guardian has an article that says a British study has shown that Roald Dahl is the most popular children’s author among young adults.  Interestingly, Rowling is number 4! 

Here’s the top 10:

1. Roald Dahl
2. CS Lewis
3. JM Barrie
4. JK Rowling
5. Anthony Horowitz
6. Jacqueline Wilson
7. Dr Seuss
8. Philip Pullman
9. Francesca Simon
10. Enid Blyton

I wonder what the results would be in the U.S.?

An article praising Jenna Bush’s teen novel caught my eye.  I haven’t had a chance to see the book yet, but I hope that it is as well done as this Associated Press article says.  Bush based the book on a real person whom she met in Latin America while working for UNICEF.  Ana’s life of poverty has been further complicated by HIV, so this is a book with the potential to educate about not one but two of our world’s epidemics.  Anyone gotten to actually read it yet?

MotherReader has suggested we all post our Best Books of 2007 (So Far)

Here are mine:

Toddlers:

Fish, Swish! Splash, Dash! by Suse MacDonald
Orange Pear Apple Bear by Emily Gravett

Preschool:

At Night by Jonathan Bean
The Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamar County by Janice N. Harrington
Edwardo: the horriblest boy in the whole wide world by John Burningham
The Incredible Book Eating Boy by Oliver Jeffers
Mary and the Mouse, the Mouse and Mary by Beverly Donofrio
The Pink Refrigerator by Tim Egan
A Seed Is Sleepy by Dianna Hutts Aston
What Happens on Wednesdays by Emily Jenkins

Elementary:

Comets, Stars, the Moon and Mars by Douglas Florian
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
The Magic Horse of Han Gan by Jiang Hong Chen
Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little by Peggy Gifford
The Talented Clementine by Sara Pennypacker
The Navigator by Eoin McNamee

Tweens:

Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree by Lauren Tarshis
Reaching for Sun by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer
The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
Skullduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy

Teens:

Epic by Conor Kostick
The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci
A Swift Pure Cry by Siobhan Dowd
Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson
Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier

Looking forward to everyone’s lists!

Our planet just tilted a little and hole has been left behind.

Madeleine L’Engle, author of so many incredible books, has died at the age of 89.  She is best known for my favorite of her books, A Wrinkle in Time, which won the Newbery Award in 1963. 

She introduced so many children in the 1960s and 1970s to the wonder of science fiction.  Wrinkle in Time forever colored the way I saw the universe and our world.   Her art was in the blending of scientific detail, great characters and wonderful prose.  If you haven’t read Wrinkle in Time, take this time to read it in honor of its incredible author.

Jennifer Dobbs, an assistant professor of developmental studies in Purdue’s Department of Child Development and Family Studies, has an interesting perspective on bedtime reading:

“There’s nothing wrong
with a bedtime story,” Dobbs said. “Kids thrive on routines and
rituals, but it would be too bad if the only experience a child had of
being read to was when they’re expected to drift off to sleep.”

Instead, she advocates using dialogic reading techniques with children, interjecting questions and pointing out details in the pictures to start a conversation.  Well, perhaps I’m just strange but that is the way I always read aloud, even at bedtime.  🙂   I’ve always felt that reading aloud is a place where we can talk and interact, sometimes to the point that as the minutes tick by I have to stop the conversation and get back to the story!  But then I do the full set of funny voices with stories as well…

Anyone else here read using dialogic techniques without even knowing it?