New York Daily News – Kids face third try in 3rd grade
“A whopping 20% of third-graders who already had been held back flunked crucial exams this year, which may mean they have to sit through the grade a third time, the Daily News has learned.
Of the 5,000 third-graders repeating the grade this year, nearly 1,000 failed city English and math exams this April, according to Education Department statistics obtained by The News.”

BBC — Pupils ‘not taught to love books’
According to author Michael Morpurgo, “We are giving teachers really an impossible brief: we say you have to teach the children literacy, but what we are not doing is teaching the teachers to love reading in the first place.” A list of ten recommended books to inspire kids to love books is appended to the end of the article.

Time Stops for No Mouse
The official Hermux Tantamoq website with information on the author, Michael Hoeye, and online games. Very nice for Hermux fans. The third book in the series, No Time Like Show Time, is coming out soon.

CJAD 800 : News
CLA announced the winners of the 2004 Book of the Year for Children and also for young adults.
Winner for Children is Boy O’Boy by Brian Doyle.
Winner for YA is The Canning Season by Polly Horvath.

Sonya Sones official website home page
Site for the author of the new book, One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies.

Basilisk by N. M. Browne (1-58234-876-6)
This is one of THOSE books. One that grabs you and won’t let you go. One that reminds you why you read books. One that takes you to another world and lets you live there for awhile. One that you can’t put down and yet don’t want to end.
This is the story of Donna, who lives in a decaying society where all people must be plain and humble and no one has enough to eat or stay warm. It is the story of Rej, who lives in the combes below the ground, and dreams of seeing the sun. And it is the story of the dreams of flying as golden dragons that they share. But it is also the story of darkness, torture, hatred, and the basilisk.
This is a dark story that should not be given to little children. It has sexuality, evil and death. But for teens of the right age, it will be a gripping read that they will long remember.
Now I am off to find more of N. M. Browne’s books!

Boston Globe — Childish things
An article on Phillip Pullman and his books from a writer that really gets it!

VH1.com : Mariah Carey Plans To Pen Series Of Children’s Books
“The book series would focus on a biracial orphan girl who goes on a journey of “self-discovery, navigating difficulties and misunderstandings, making the world a better place,” a source close to the singer said.”

Why we adore Harry
“Harry Potter steals the soul of most people who pick up one of the books. Rowling’s novels are terrific page-turners and, like the Sherlock Holmes stories, they proved themselves to be an extraordinary captivation long before the first one was made into a film.”