PW on Multi-platform Books

You kids today. In my time, we had to read books by hand. Using our fingers to turn the pages. Video? Audio? Pah! We made video and audio in our heads! Sometimes we got a stuffed animal with the book, and ya know what? We were happy! You're just spoiled, the lot of you. Get off my dang lawn!

All old-fartness aside, there does seem to be a rise in the number of books that have multimedia components--not merely tie-ins, but necessary elements to understanding and following the story.

Scholastic's 39 Clues series was in the nature of an experiment, but it's an experiment that a number of other publishers are trying as well. Check out this story on multimedia publishing over at Publisher's Weekly for more.

What think'st thou? Of course, it's all about the almighty dollar, but are publishers pandering to increasingly fleeting juvenile attention, or are they capitalizing on the new literacy?

A Letter From the Audience

Publisher's Weekly had a great article in their November 10th issue from an 8th grade boy, telling us all in no uncertain terms what he wants in a book. No sparkly vampires, no high-falutin' language, and no condescension. But read the article anyway, because it's concise, witty, and right to the point. Good going, Max.

It's good for publishers to hear, and it's also good for us librarian types. Of all people, we're going to know the books they're looking for.

Mixing It Up

An article from the Chicago Tribune about schools shifting away from all-classics in the classroom and toward a mix of classics and contemporary. Which I can't help but approve of. However, go read the article and tell me what you notice.

Back already?

No contemporary YA titles were mentioned. Not a one. It was all adult literary-type novels.

Now this may be bad reporting, the paper focusing on novels that their readership will recognize. And I fully understand that many teens choose to read a mix of adult novels and teen. But all the same, I do hope that schools are taking note of the amazing things being offered in the YA section.

Teachers out there, can you comment?

I'm Not the Only One

A friend sent me this opinion piece from the LA Times about the different reading level systems at work in California.

I deal with this every day, and the ones that drive me craziest are the kids or parents who refuse to read anything that's not numbered, leveled, and assessed within an inch of its life. It's as if a book has no value beyond the value of the quizzes one can take after reading it.

Scieszka in Scouting Magazine

My dad, who's been a Scoutmaster for fifteen years and thus has worked with more teenage boys than you can shake a stick at, sent me this article from Scouting Magazine.

For most booky people, the article contains nothing really new. What I liked about it enough to post is that Scieszka's succeeding in his Ambassadorial goal--that is, getting the word out, not just to educators and librarians, but to the people who work with kids outside of schools and libraries. If these people absorb and transmit the message that reading is a) fun and b) part of life even when you're not getting graded on it, than maybe it has a better chance of sinking in for the kids themselves.

Jon Sciezska is Overqualified

Check out this article, entitled "Craziness Required", from the LA Times about Jon Sciezska, Guys Read, literacy of all kinds, and the perks of being the first national ambassador for children's literature.

My favorite quote:

"There's this thing happening with testing in every school that's just killing kids' -- and teachers' -- interest in reading. When I was teaching, we could follow a passion. If I wanted to read 'The Phantom Tollbooth,' we'd do it. We didn't have to be in lock-step with Week 23 of The Curriculum. I've seen the results of letting kids pursue what they love. It's much better than giving rules; if kids are inspired, they can do crazy things."

Salaam, Ambassador!

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.

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

International Children's Book Day

Hey everyone, it's International Children's Book Day! So go read a book to an international child!

Uh . . . wait . . .

Seriously, it's a day put on by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) that coincides with Hans Christian Andersen's birthday. This year's theme is "Books Enlighten: Knowledge Delights" and the featured artist is a guy from Thailand whose name I have no hope of pronouncing (Chakrabhand Posayakrit), but I lovelovelove that poster.

Check out some of the messages from previous years too. Margaret Mahy was 2007.

Thanks to Little Willow over at Bildungsroman for the link.

Jen Robinson at PBS!

Fellow blogger Jen Robinson got a sweet gig with PBSParents, talking about kids' books, reading, and her passion for same. Check out her intro and don't stop at the end.

There's a couple of questions in the comments from parents of reluctant and struggling readers (not necessarily the same thing) and Jen's reply is basically an article all by itself. In fact, she cross-posted it to her blog.

Congrats and keep up the good work, Jen!

I Thought He Already Was a Reading Ambassador

Popular Children's Author Named Reading Ambassador

Jon Scieszka was named the first National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. ("Young People" again. I need my bobby sox and my McCarthyism now.) This is an effort by the Library of Congress and the Children's Book Association to bring attention to children's literature and the state of literacy these days. (These kids with their iPods and their Harry Potter and their PSPs. In my day, we stared at the wall and we liked it. *thumps cane*)

I'm not sure Scieszka needed a formal title, since he's basically been evangelizing for literacy for years with his website Guys Read and the crazyfun anthology of the same name that he edited. However, monster kudos to Scieszka, the LoC, and the CBA for calling attention to the issue, and I hope this program continues.

Thanks to Susan of Wizard's Wireless for passing it on via the Kidlitosphere Yahoogroup.

But My Child is Sooooo Advanced!

YA author Alix Flinn just put up a great post about parents of advanced readers who have rude awakenings when they bump into books that are (surprise!) too mature for their child.

Key quotes:

I am then faced with the unpleasant task of explaining that my books aren't really for 10-year-olds.

To which they say, "But (s)he's a very advanced reader." (Yes, every single one of them. Apparently every single child within a 10 mile radius of my home -- including my own children, I should say -- reads above grade level. This does make me question the concept of "grade level," but it wouldn't be the first time).

Hehe! I see this a lot at work: the parents who diss Charlotte's Web because their seven-year-old's reading levels mean s/he should be reading War and Peace. Then I bite my lip until it bleeds to stop myself saying, "Have you ever read War and Peace?"

I know whereof I speak. I was one of those supremely annoying precocious children, and during Easter break of my fourth-grade year, I decided the time was ripe for me to read Gone With the Wind. I hated it. I still hate it. If I'd read it at a time when I was emotionally ready for this story, I might have felt differently. (Maybe not, though. That Scarlett was a pain in the ass.)

As Alix writes, there's a difference between sentence structure and vocabulary that a kid is capable of unraveling, and the actual content of the book. My horror story about this concerns Annette Curtis Klause's The Silver Kiss. Amazing book, but very definitely for 12-up. Maybe even 15-up. But according to Accelerated Reader, it's suitable for a fourth-grader.

I wonder how many parents of "advanced readers" ever read for the joy of it. Maybe if they had, they'd understand that reading is not a racetrack, but a map to an undiscovered country.

Thanks to Liz B over at A Chair, a Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy for pointing me at Alix's post.

P.S. In a fun bit of synchronicity, I'm currently reading Alix Flinn's Beastly. This book is unputdownable. Would I give it to a fourth-grader? Hell, no.

Jamie Lee Curtis

I got to see Jamie Lee Curtis talk about her books and her life at the California Library Association's Annual Conference this past weekend. Now we all know how MotherReader feels about celebrity authors, and on the whole I agree with her, but I do like Jamie Lee Curtis.

The stupendous part of this piece of luck was this: she read her brand-new manuscript to us, one that's not even in the hands of the artist yet. I didn't record it or anything, which would have been unethical and plus a pain to transcribe. But it's called Big Words for Little People, and it glories in words like "Stupendous! Absurd! Intelligence! Consequences!"

I love language, especially big words, which are often expunged from children's books on the basis that they're too big. Pfft. Try singing Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious with a four-year-old and you learn that no word is too big for them to pronounce. And the beef with words being too big for them to understand . . . well, that's what context is for. Seriously, ferreting out the meaning of words from context clues is a skill they're going to need as they go into school. Let's have more big words, shall we?

News Flash - Teens Still Read!

Good thing too, or a lot of cool people would be out of a job.

Check out the article over at the Roanoke Times.

Books are Healthy!

I ran across an article in Madison, WI's Capital Times about a pediatrician/librarian (yes, you read that right) who stresses literacy in checkups as much as physical indicators of child health.

Key quote:

If the patient shows interest and curiosity, he can tell if books are a natural part of their life. At a certain age, if the child holds the book right-side up, opens it and turns the pages, the doctor gets a quick read on motor skills.

And if children begin talking about what they see in the book, Navsaria can see if they are building social skills.

"This is part of the tools we use to assess children's health."

The article goes on to talk about his efforts to encourage literacy in hospitals and among the parents of his patients.

I love it! Can we get this to spread, please?

Teen Read Week

It's Teen Read Week! Yay! In honor of this once-a-year event, here's a meme for y'all:

What were your three favorite books as a teenager? Doesn't need to be a teen book necessarily, just what you read between the ages of 12 and 18ish. I'll start.

3) The Blue Sword - Robin McKinley
The danger! The romance! The horses! The sword(s)! How can any teenage girl not eat this book up?

2) A Ring of Endless Light - Madeleine L'Engle
My love for this book has been documented elsewhere in this blog. Vicky's confusion abut the Big Questions certainly spoke to my lost and floundering teenage mind, and helped me explore some wounds that had been raw and open for years.

1) Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
I'm counting this because I was eighteen when I first read it all the way through, and I still read it today. Sly, funny, dry, so veddy veddy British, and most of all? To quote Bridget Jones: Mr Darcy. Phwoar.

Hmmm. Interesting. Between the ages of 12 and 18, my reading matter was almost 100% romance novels, yet when pressed I come up with three non-romance novels. Don't get me wrong, I still love 'em, but no romance novel that I read at that age comes to mind anymore.

Okay, I'm tagging 2nd gen librarian and Wizard's Wireless. This is revenge for the picture book meme, which I still haven't finished. Go to!

Mo Willems on Reading With Your Kids . . .

. . . like that guy knows anything about it.

Susan over at Wizard's Wireless caught this article by Mo "Don't Let the Knuffle Monster Have a Hot Dog" Willems. In it, he suggests a few simple ways to turn your kids on to reading. I like the insto-book report idea he throws out (although I can see it being abused by overenthusiastic parents). Still, here's a valid point about its benefit for the parent:

Often the book my kid has chosen to read is more exciting than mine, particularly if mine is another one of those reports by the Institute, laboriously pointing to reams of statistics about kids who (just like me when I was young) don't like reading. They call these children "Reluctant Readers." (Back when I was a kid, they were called "boys.")

I'm doing parenting workshops at my library right now, and this is totally getting printed out and forced upon my hapless victims--uh, I mean, parents.