NPR : Families Wrestle with Concerns on TV Indecency
An interesting piece on parents worrying about what their children are being exposed to on television, including sex and violence. Nicely, no one is talking censorship of the programming, but trying to make appropriate choices for their children.

About Todd Parr is a great colorful website for a colorful picture book author. His books are zany and the humor is perfect for small children.

Animation Insider – Best Selling Manga of 2004 is a list of the best selling manga of last year. As someone who knows almost nothing about the top manga titles, it was helpful for me to decide what kids may be looking for in our collection.
I am always trying to learn more, so are there other manga titles that are must-buys for a public library?

NPR : Manga, Anime and Japanese Culture in America was featured on Talk of the Nation yesterday. There is a lot of discussion about how much kids, especially girls, are enjoying manga. You can listen to it online by following the link.

TheLifestyles and Entertainment section of Floridy Today has an article on the new popularity of “little sister” magazines for teen girls. These include Teen People, CosmoGirl, ElleGirl and Teen Vogue. But the best part of the article is the nice but short list of magazines that offer something different to teens: Blackgirl, Girls’ Life, New Moon, and Teen Voices.

A New York Post article says that another of the American Girl characters is going to be featured in a film. This time Felicity, the girl from 1774 Williamsburg will be the star. Samantha was already a hit for the WB network.

Seeing Past Z: Nurturing the Imagination in a Fast-Forward World by Beth Kephart. (0-393-05882-4)
This is not children’s literature, but an amazing series of essays on Kephart raising her son to be a reader and a dreamer, intentionally removing him from the race to improve his high school resume as a child. The reader gets to watch as her son reluctantly starts to read on his own for pleasure and eventually turns into a force of creativity all his own. This book will do any librarian’s heart good. It is a celebration of what language, reading, and imagination can do to transform somone’s life. A must read!

eSchool News online is carrying the story of Spellings, the new education secretary, denouncing PBS for spending public money on an episode of Postcards from Buster that features a lesbian couple. The episode does not focus on the couple but on their maple sugaring in Vermont. What a sad statement when conservatism like this is allowed to determine what families have access to. It certainly tells gay and lesbian parents exactly where they stand in the new secretary’s eyes.

it’s sharyn dot org! is a site by Sharyn November that offers a large collection of links to children’s and teen book authors and related resource links.