Sequential Tart’s “What’s the Best Comic Starting Point is a very helpful article for libraries building comic or graphic novel collections. The focus on what books will stimulate people to read more of the genre is a perfect match for us. Best of all, Sequential Tart asked some of the top names in comics what ones they would recommend. Beware, some of the graphic novels have adult content, but all of them are great reads.
Girls and Gaming
Teacher Librarian Magazine has a great article about girls and gaming. The article covers six issues: the computer gaming gender rift, negative representations of females in computer games, gaming and academic achievement, the negative effects of violent games, girls’ preferences in computer game content, and girls’ preferences in computer game design. For each issue, there are three sections: what the research says, implications, and practical suggestions. This structure makes the article very readable and useful for librarians.
Guji Guji
Guji Guji by Chih-Yuan Chen is a newish book that I used for the first time with a story time this week. It is the tale of a crocodile, named Guji Guji, who is raised by a family of ducks. He is surprised to be told by three other crocodiles that he should be eating ducks, not living with them. The crocodiles tell him to bring his duck family to the bridge and have them dive into the crocodiles’ mouths. But Guji Guji comes up with a plan to save the ducks.
I shared this book with two classes of kids: four year olds and Kindergarteners. Both classes adored it. Often at this young age, books with complete stories in them are too wordy, but Guji Guji moves along at a brisk rate that is just perfect for kids this age. My own toddler son shared it with his grandma and couldn’t wait to tell me all about the wonderful story.
This one is highly recommended and goes on my list of great read alouds for this age group.
No Flying, No Tights Update
no flying, no tights is a great site for graphic novel reviews. I have mentioned them before here. Now they have just completed a major update with new reviews, new sections, and lots to look at.
BBYA Nominees
YALSA has the list of the first batch of Titles Nominated for the 2006 Best Books for Young Adults list.
Overbooked Kids' Stars
Overbooked has a handy list of Youth All Stars 2004. These are the books that got at least three starred reviews last year from one of the following journals: Booklist, The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, School Library Journal, Kirkus, Publisher’s Weekly, or Horn Book. Overbooked also keeps an ongoing list of current starred reviews, but so far this year it has not been updated.
2005 Ezra Jack Keats Awards
The 2005 Ezra Jack Keats Awards have been announced!
Winner of the New Writer Award is Janice N. Harrington for her picture book, Going North.
Winner of the New Illustrator Award is Ana Juan for the picture book, The Night Eater.
CCBC's Graphic Novel Site
The CCBC (Cooperative Children’s Book Center) now has a page dedicated to Graphic Novels. It offers a list of journals that review graphic novels, websites for reviews, resources, vendors, publishers and listservs. A great way for librarians to find their way into collecting graphic novels!
2005 Charlotte Zolotow Award
Kevin Henkes has won the 2005 Charlotte Zolotow Award for Kitten’s First Full Moon. The award is given annually by the CCBC for the picture book with the best text. Kevin Henkes and Kitten’s First Full Moon also won the Caldecott this year for the best illustrations in a picture book.
Three Honor Books were also chosen:
Coming on Home Soon by Jacqueline Woodson
Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems
Polar Bear Night by Lauren Thompson
Waking Brain Cells 