The Horn Book has a FAQ about Graphic Novels.  If you have questions about graphic novels and manga this is the place to go.  They even correct common misconceptions about graphic novels. 

Nutmeg and Barley: a Budding Friendship by Janie Bynum. 

Nutmeg is a chatty, active squirrel who happens to live next to Barley, a shy and quiet mouse.  They make some little steps toward friendship, but many of them go awry.  It isn’t until Barley gets very ill and Nutmeg worries that she hasn’t seen him that the friendship is firmly started.  The illustrations of this story are wonderful.  They beautifully capture the world that these two animals live in.  The story is also the perfect length to share with children in a story time. 

Add this one to your list of great friendship books!

The Valley of the Wolves by Laura Gallego Garcia is an intriguing fantasy novel.  When Dana was a young girl she met Kai, a boy, who soon became her best friend.  She found that others could not see him and wondered if he was a figment of her imagination.  But then the Maestro, a magician, took Dana as his pupil in a far away tower.  There is only one other student at the tower, a strange elf who is far more advanced than Dana in his studies.  Her life is solitary and filled with her studies, though she does befriend Maritta the dwarf who works in the kitchen.  Eventually Dana is forced because of her ability to see Kai, to face what has happened in the tower and what the strange wolves that surround the tower really mean.

Recommend this one to those who enjoy fantasy sprinkled with werewolves and mystery.  Readers are drawn into the strangeness of the story, carried by the simple prose, and will be rewarded by a satisfying ending. 

HarperCollins and TokyoPop have made a deal that will have HarperCollins doing the North American distribution for TokyoPop and a new collection of  manga that will debut in 2007. 

For You Are a Kenyan Child by Kelly Cunnane, illustrated by Ana Juan. 

This is one of those barrier-crashing books that make reading picture books to children so very, very rewarding.  It will take American children straight into Kenya directly from a child’s perspective.  Through the poetic language and vivid illustrations, children get to really experience Africa.  The author includes colors, smells, food, animals, sounds, and language. 

Take this one to your storytimes filled with children who have never heard of Africa, and they will be experience it with you.  This will make a great start to conversations about different countries and regions of the world.  It also is just the perfect window to share with children.  Open this window for them, it is one that they will thoroughly enjoy!

The Road of the Dead by Kevin Brooks is a dark, violent story.   It is the story of Ruben, a teen boy who is half Traveler or gypsy.  He has special mental powers, so when his sister is murdered, he knows immediately.  His brother Cole decides to travel to the remote village where their sister was killed to help find the killer and get his sister’s body returned to the family faster.  The two brothers travel from London out onto the moors together, discovering a village where there are secrets everywhere and people who are not afraid to kill to protect them. 

The book is very violent, filled with a grim quality from the beginning, the book ends awash in blood.  But the violence is written with a kind of poetic style that lends it a strange beauty as well.  So here we have a gorgeously written book that is impossible to put down, but it is amazingly dark.  I believe that many teen boys will enjoy this book.  It captures the fear and uncertainty of their age and combines it with the explosive anger that many teens carry. 

ChildrensPictureBooks.info is a site that offers recommendations of picture books.  They also offer information on how to select picture books for your child and helping your child learn to read. They also have lists of picture books with an emphasis on math, science, social studies, art, holidays, religion, and fairy tales.  

Ruth McNally Barshaw makes Sketches of Famous Authors when she attends session and booksignings of authors and illustrators of children’s literature.  Best of all, she not only sketches the authors, but adds some of their comments on the side, so that you discover how they write as well.  This is definitely a site worth visiting!

I just had to share the Jemima Puddle-Duck’s e-Cards!  They use Beatrix Potter’s illustrations as online greeting cards.  Lovely for sharing notes with other children’s lit fans.  They even have a page with cards for upcoming holidays where the images have been combined with wording already.  Enjoy!