Technology in the Picture Book

Check out this rather neatokeen little slide show over at Slate.com, about the portrayal of technology in picture books. I went in expecting a diatribe on how picture-book authors are all nostalgia chasers, stuck in the past and it's time to move into the 21st century. But the commentary makes some valid points for why, in some books, telephones steadfastly have cords and earphones are still gigantic. At the same time, she points out a couple of books that realistically portray technology as an everyday part of a young child's life.

Thanks to Gail over at Original Content for the link.

Book Review: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

I've been sitting on this review for a little while, mostly because it just needed a couple of tugs and tweaks to be postable. I named this book my Teen Standout for March and promised a review, so finally here it is!

Book: Thirteen Reasons Why
Author: Jay Asher
Published: 2007

It's been two weeks since Hannah Baker's suicide, and just like everyone else who knew her, Clay Jensen still doesn't understand why. Then he gets an unusual package in the mail. Seven audiotapes, with Hannah's voice on them. Each side contains one story, about somebody in her life who contributed to her descent into darkness. Thirteen stories, and one blank side. Not coincidentally, these thirteen people are also the only ones who will receive this package, one after the other, and learn how their actions, or inactions, affected Hannah's decision to end her life.

Over the course of one night, Clay will listen to Hannah's taped voice and follow the map she left in his locker, seeing through her eyes and hearing her story. The question is, at the end of it, will he understand her choice any better than he did when he started?

And will he understand what he could have done to save her life?

This could have been just another angsty suicide novel, but Jay Asher did something intriguing when he brought in the idea of the taped stories. It makes Hannah's voice one of two in the story. Clay's perspective allows us to realize that as much as she believed she had no choice but to take her own life, Hannah had a number of chances to reach out to another person. At the same time, we can see that other peoples' choices and actions affected Hannah deeply, and often in a way that those people probably never could have anticipated.

Along with Clay, we have an exceptional chance to hear someone's personal story, and to understand that every story has at least two sides, and often many more.

News and Links!

My Google Alert spit out a few articles worthy of linking, so I'm sharing the joy.

First up? A short Q&A with Diary of a Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney, including news of a third book (although no title yet, bah!)

Then an article about prison-bound parents who have found a way to read to their children on the outside.

Finally, Columbia Pictures has gotten their mitts on the rights to the Goosebumps series. Considering how popular this series has always been, I'm hopeful that Scholastic and Stine were holding out for quality before signing over. We'll see what happens.

Happy Birthday Paddington!

Paddington Bear is 50!

To tell you guys the truth, Paddington always struck me as being somewhere in his forties, a dear middle-aged duffer with questionable fashion sense, gently earnest outlook, and comfortable in his own skin.

Check out the link for an article about Paddington Bear, his writer, and his illustrator(s). Also, there will be a new Paddington book in June in the UK, so hopefully soon after in the US!

Thanks to Trisha at Kids Lit for the link.

Doom! Doooooooom!

Apparently the Picture Book is Dying. Don't tell the people who come flooding to my library to check out metric tons of the things, or the writers and publishers who keep putting out delicious picture books that I thrust upon those self-same parents with a manic glint in my eye. (Current favorite: Big and Little. Read it to 50 under-4s this morning and kept their attention throughout. Holy Hannah.)

Or maybe it's only in the UK?

Really, I think the only thing affecting the picture book is the same thing that affects every other sector of the publishing world: People buy what they know. So that's what libraries are for.

Thanks to Fuse #8 for the link.

We're in on the Secret

Not that Secret. The other Secret. The Secret of YA, how it's the coolest and most innovative place in the bookstore these days.

Dare I say, duh.

Check out this article at BoingBoing.net. Don't forget to read the comments, which range from echoing my sentiments above to "Yeah, yeah, whatever" to "Make sure you bring a kid along to the bookstore or people will look at you like you're a pedophile."

Also have a look at Scott Westerfeld's post on this article.

Sunday Funny!

Ever wondered why you had to find Waldo?



Also? Wicked cool PSA from the UK. I want them to make one with all kids' books, although this one does include Peter Pan and some unidentified picture book.



Courtesy of Bookshelves of Doom

In Author We Trust

So yesterday I was catching up on my emails from adbooks and Child_Lit, two listservs that collectively generate about 2,568,034 emails per day. Some people were chatting about the books they're looking forward to, and I broke out my Blue Journal of Stuff I Gotta Read Before I Die and started copying down names.

I paused and thought, Why am I putting these titles down? In some cases, it was just a list of titles--no synopses, nothing. I don't know anything about their subject, their tone, or even their age level. But some author names I saw and went, "Oo, okay!"

I realized that I just trust the author that much. No matter what they've written (and sometimes the style and content vary wildly), it's well-done and absorbing. That's quite a thing, to gain the trust of your reader in that fashion.

Author trust is different than following a series. I'll request the latest Enola Holmes or the next Cronus Chronicles because I want to find out what happens next, but I'll have to hear a little bit about any title the author writes outside of that series before it does down in my Blue Journal.

The deepest author trust is when you hear the synopsis and go, ". . . Huh. I dunno about that one. If another author were writing it, I'd pass it over, but it's X. So I'll give it a whirl."

Sometimes it's style-related. I know what I'm getting from Meg Cabot, for instance--a fun, funny girl-centric story. There've been disappointments, sure, but not enough to destroy my trust. Sometimes it's just the characters. Catherine Gilbert Murdock, for instance, can be counted on for kick-ass girls, no matter if they play football or wear crowns.

But sometimes author trust is just there because the quality has been consistent on practically every page.

Here's a few more of my most trusted authors:
Lisa Yee
Diane Wynne-Jones
Meg Cabot
Eva Ibbotson
John Green
Mo Willems
Maureen Johnson
Emily Gravett

I'm sure there's more, but from flipping through my Blue Journal and noting the titles I wrote down without any need to hear a synopsis, that's my preliminary list.

Who are the authors you most trust?

Reading Roundup April 2008

Yes, I'm still alive! I haven't been blogging much because for the past couple of weeks I've hit a patch of not-very-interesting books. Luckily, there were just enough way-cool ones to keep my head above water. Here's what I liked.

By the Numbers
Total Number Read: 75
Teen: 17
Tween: 11
Children: 21
Preschool: 40

Standouts
Teen: Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George
Tween: The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex
Children: Aggie and Ben: Three Stories by Lori Ries
Preschool: Thank You Bear by Greg Foley

Because I Want To Awards

Worth the Wait: Into the Wild by Sarah Beth Durst
Made My Mouth Water: Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet by Sherri L. Smith
Prompted the Loudest, Girliest Squeals: Nic Bishop Spiders by Nic Bishop
Trippiest Structure: Black and White by David Macauley
Most Reassuring: It's Okay to Be Different by Todd Parr
Passed It Around to All the New Grandmas Working At My Library to Watch Them Cry, Because I’m Like That: You Were Loved Before You Were Born by Eve Bunting

Thank You, Bear

Book: Thank You Bear
Author: Greg Foley
Published: 2007

One day, Bear finds the greatest thing ever, something his friend Mouse will love. He finds a box.

But as he takes it around, showing it to the other animals on his way, none of them agree. It’s just a box, nothing special, and besides, he isn’t even holding it right. Poor Bear! He thinks it’s wonderful, but nobody else does. What will his friend Mouse think?

Okay, apparently I am a late convert to this title. I’ve had the sequel (Don’t Worry Bear) in my Blue Journal for a few weeks now, but I just got Thank You Bear today.

The spare art style and gentle story have put this on my list of All-Time Fave Storytime Books (along with Antoinette Portis’s Not a Box). I also love that Bear immediately thinks of giving the box to his friend, reflecting the sporadic (and seemingly illogical) generosity of young children. Any kid who has ever had their latest treasure disparaged by others will feel vindicated by the end of this book. Try it as a read-aloud or a read-together, because you'll want to cuddle by the end of it.

Are You Ready to Read?

If you aren't now, you'd better be by the first weekend in June! MotherReader has set her Third Annual 48-hour Book Challenge for that weekend. The challenge: to read, and blog, for 48 straight hours somewhere between Friday and Monday. Click the link for more details.