Before Banned Books Week ends tomorrow, we should note the most-challenged books in 2007. The American Library Association, which publishes the list each year, says the top spot is held for the second straight year by And Tango Makes Three. Two male penguins fall in love and hatch an egg -- a story line that has triggered challenges around the U.S. Others on the list: The Golden Compass (also known as Northern Lights), The Chocolate War and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.    

Philip Pulllman, author of The Golden Compass, told the Guardian that his "immediate and ignoble response was glee. Firstly, I had obviously annoyed a lot of censorious people, and secondly, any ban would provoke interested readers to move from the library, where they couldn't get hold of my novel, to the bookshops, where they could." The Guardian also has a quiz to test your knowledge of banned books.

That raises a question: Should any books be restricted -- if not banned -- for children according to age. Most parents are careful about what young children read (or what movies they see), guarding against topics from monsters to sex. Now British publishers are adding a "recommended for ages ... " mark to their books. Is that helpful, or a step down the slippery slope to censorship?

Continue reading "Banned Books Week" »

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Categories: Children, Whatever
        

I know what the sign says. But I can't stop that little pit from forming in my stomach. Why, you ask. (You always ask that. Couldn't you try something more interesting, like: Why not have a chocolate chip cookie, Dave?)

Just heard that children's author Eoin Colfer has been hired to write a sixth installment of the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy series. The last Hitchhiker book was written by Douglas Adams 16 years ago. He died in 2001 at age 49.

Nothing against Colfer, whose Artemis Fowl series has been a great success. My nephew Matt, a sixth grader and big-time reader, loves the guy.

But can Colfer capture Adams' madcap comic genius? I've always avoided franchise-extenders such as the Civil War novels that followed Michael Shaara's The Killer Angels or the post-Frank Herbert Dune series. Am I missing out on some great books? Or do all followups pale when compared to the book that started a series?   

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Sunday's YOU section offers a look at Legally Dead (Simon & Schuster/359 pages/$26), the latest crime novel by former Miami Herald police reporter Edna Buchanan. She introduces readers to Michael Venturi, a U.S. marshal for the Witness Protection Program. He's charged with relocating an important witness who also happens to be a dangerous pedophile. The assignment tests Venturi, whose focus is the victims of crimes, not the perpetrators.

Also, you'll find capsule reviews of new children's books, including Chester Raccoon and the Big Bad Bully by Audrey Penn Tanglewood, Stanley and the Class Pet by Barney Saltzberg Candlewick, Splat the Cat by Rob Scotton, and Beware of the Frog by William Bee.

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Categories: Children
        

That's what Parenting magazine and audiblekids.com are hoping.

The two have partnered in an effort to turn kids on to books. Parenting will make recommendations and carry promotions in the magazine, audiblekids.com will provide the downloadable books.

On the Web site, you can find books by subject, age and grade level. The site even hopes to provide books that mom might listen to in the rare moments when she is alone.

I hope it works. Anything that inspires kids to read is a good thing. But I am not sure the reading shouldn't come first and then the listening.

Let's hear from teachers. What do you think?

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Categories: Audiobooks, Children
        

Asked to name their favorite writer, Brits came up with a surprising answer. You might think William Shakesperare, Jane Austen or even J.K. Rowling would lead the pack. Nope. No. 1 went to Enid Blyton, who hasn't written a word for more than four decades. (And people say Baltimoreans are too nostalgic!)

Blyton's kiddie-lit characters included the Famous Five, sort of a Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew/Bobbsey Twins combo.

I can understand the reaction from readers, though. Some of my fondest memories of reading come from the stream of Dr. Seuss books that I devoured as a kid. Or from discovering imaginary worlds in Ray Bradbury's science fiction. Even from Batman and Superman comics. I have favorite authors today, but there's a critical aspect to reading now that seems to block the sort of raw, emotional appeal I felt as a kid. So, cheers to Enid and the Five!

Here's the Top 10 from the poll of 2,000 adults for the 2008 Costa Book Awards. according to the Guardian:

Continue reading "Favorite writers" »

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Categories: Children, Whatever
        

Harry Potter devotees, you didn't really think J.K. Rowling was going to retire quietly, did you? She announced today that she will publish a book of wizarding fairy tales and donate millions in proceeds to her charity for children, according to the Associated Press.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard, to be published December 4, is mentioned in the seventh and final Potter book as having been left to Harry's friend Hermione Granger by the headmaster of their school, Hogwarts. Rowling initially only produced seven copies of The Tales, bound in leather and decorated in silver and moonstones. She gave six to people closely connected to the Potter books, and the seventh was bought at auction by Amazon for about $4 million.

Bloomsbury Publishing will now publish editions with an introduction by Rowling, selling for $12.99. Amazon will produce as many as 100,000 collector's edition copies, which will aim to replicate the look and feel of the original book and sell for $100.

Continue reading "J.K. Rowling is back" »

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Categories: Children
        

A battle is brewing in Great Britain over publishers' plans to label children's books with "appropriate" age ratings, and opponents have been joined by a formidable author, J.K. Rowling. She signed an online petition of the No to Age Banding campaign, according to a story in the Guardian.

The petition argues that imposing such age recommendations is "ill-conceived, damaging to the interests of young readers and highly unlikely to make the slightest difference to sales." But publishers cite research suggesting that most consumers want the recommendations. Beginning this fall, book covers of participating publishers will bear a logo indicating they are suitable for readers aged 5+, 7+, 9+, 11+ and 13+/teen.

Some companies are exempt, and others are seeking guidance from their authors, the article says. Rowling's publisher, Bloomsbury, has no plans to introduce the labels, but has not ruled out the idea. What's next, R and PG-13?  

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Categories: Children
        

Fellow Sun blogger Kate Shatzkin at Charm City Moms raises an interesting question -- one sparked by the upcoming DVD release of Beverly Cleary's The Mouse and the Motorcycle. As more and more classic stories are presented as DVDs, she wonders about the impact on young readers. Will the animated tales make them read less, as they gravitate to televised and computerized fare? Or will they become more interested in reading the book, too?

I think it's tough for a book to win out over a great DVD or movie. Millions have watched Disney's Cinderella, but how many have read the fairy tale? Did the Harry Potter movies whet young readers' appetites for the next book -- or for the next movie? Then again, I just came from the amazing Iron Man movie, and I'm psyched to read some of the old comic books.

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Categories: Children
        

Cheers for Maggie Tighe! The 11th-grader at Gov. Thomas Johnson High School in Frederick was named this week as one of six national winners in the Letters About Literature contest. She directed a $10,000 grant from co-sponsor Target to the Monocacy Middle School Library. (She also pocketed a $500 Target giftcard.)

The contest asks students to write a letter to an author who has inspired them. Maggie wrote to Aldous Huxley, saying her friends had been spoiled by a Wikipedia-fueled intellectual laziness. An excerpt: "My generation is learning to take the easy way out. To me, it feels as if it is only a matter of time until society disintegrates into what your novel, Brave New World, presented — a mass of soulless bodies that have become lethargic and who are disinterested in individuality, spirituality, or progress." Here's the entire letter, (click on the Level III winner). 

Her letter was one of nearly 60,000 in the annual contest, co-sponsored by the Maryland Center for the Book at the Maryland Humanities Council, the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress, and Target Stores.               

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 5:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Children, Whatever
        

Lately, newspapers have been filled with recommendations for new children's books. The Sun highlighted Mommy, Do You Love Me? by Jeanne Willis, A Visitor for Bear by Bonnie Becker, The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall and The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry. 

From the N.Y. Times Children's Book Section: Books about boxer Muhammad Ali and the environment, Harlem hoopsters and adventurous girls. Sequels, including More!” from Antoinette Portis, the author of Not a Box, And a rave ("masterpiece" to be exact) for How I Learned Geography, an autobiographical, Holocaust-era tale by Uri Shulevitz (shown above).

From the Washington Post: Stories about all sorts of critters and picture books on Fred Astaire, a re-imagined Lewis Carroll poem and a young boxer. Tales about the baseball's Negro Leagues, jazz pianist Art Tatum and a deaf/blind girl whose education paved the way for Helen Keller's success. In young adult fiction, raves for The Book of Jude, about a 19th-century teenager who joins a Mormon community.

The Times and Post gave less-than-enthusastic reviews to Read All Aboout It!, by First Lady Laura Bush and daughter Jenna. A Times skewer: "The point is laboriously made, the teachers’ names are dorky, the plot is hectic and the suspense and dialogue are artificial." Yes, but didn't you like the color of the cover?

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Categories: Children