Laurie Halse Anderson BB Week

It is hump day during Banned Book Week and I thought I'd spotlight Laurie Halse Anderson's (Author of Speak, Catalyst, Prom, and Twisted) blog. This week she's been documenting cases of her book being banned in schools from CA to PA, each case becoming progressively worse. Thankfully though, the cases haven't won, and the books remain in the library.

http://halseanderson.livejournal.com/

The National Book Festival

The morning broke and slipped into a cold, wet, dripping haze that fell over the National Mall. However, this did not deter bibliophiles, their pets, and children from coming out in droves to meet their favorite authors.

• 11:15 am
  
• Nelson, Alicia, and I tumble out of the crowded Metro onto the National Mall, elbowing our way past the crowd to the Target tent where we spotted the Target Dog, a French bulldog with a bullseye painted over its eye. A very well trained puppy, he/she didn't have having his/her picture taken.
• 11:20 am
  
• Find the PBS Kids tent to hear that last bit of Mo Willems' reading of Dr. Seuss' Sneeches on the Beaches
• 11:30 am - 12:30 pm
• Wait in the ever growing line with Alicia for Mo Willems' autograph while Nelson waits for Lee Child's autograph. I had fun speaking with the women in front of me in line who had split up all of their books among four people who were deftly making their way through as many lines as possible. We even helped the lady in front of us by taking a few of her books and getting them autographed by Mo since they'd reduced the number of books he could autograph to 1. I was able to get a few things autographed as well as snag a few pictures of Mo. Sadly I was too shy to say much of anything.
  
• Afternoon
  
• We visit the Digital Bookmobile where the pitch is that you can download digital copies of books to your MP3 player directly from your library. I have to say that I've used this before to read Laurell K. Hamilton's A Kiss of Shadows and I loved the medium as well as the method. You don't have to keep track of CDs, or become frustrated when they skip.
• Stand in line with the PBS mascots in full furry costume. We got to visit Curious George and Clifford. Nelson was fascinated by the T-Rex from "Dinosaur Train" but he went on break before we could get in his line.
  
• I left the line while Nelson and Alicia went to get in line for Arthur. I wandered over to the Teens/Children tent to hear the middle half of Jacqueline Woodson's lecture. She is a wonderful and poignant speaker who kept the audiencenraptured as she spoke about her older books (If You Come Softly) and her more recent books of poetry.
  
• Here I find my old professor, Joan, and we go back to the Children's tent to hear Megan McDonald speak about the Judy Moddy series. She read an excerpt from her latest book and explained how much Judy and Stink mirror stories from her own childhood growing up with her sisters. She confirmed that there will be a Judy Moody movie where J.M will be portrayed a little older than in the books. Her defence was that Ramona stayed in the third grade for at least 15 years so she had time to make Judy grow up.
• Afternoon con.
• Following Megan McDonald were Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi promoting their collaboration, The Spiderwick Chronicles. Holly Black told a fable of how a man had accidentaly built his house on a fairy path. At the request of a "fairy expert" he shaved off the side of his house. More was to be said about the inspirations and influences for the characters in The Spiderwick Chornicles as well as Tony randomly sketching a Rat King, a Wyrm King, a Gremlin, and Holly's Cats. Tony gave away his sketches to whichever child in the audience
  
• Mo Willems
• Mo was very animated and loud as he greeted the audience. He read aloud from his new book, Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed, and had his daughter, wife, and another girl read from Elephant and Piggie's I Can Fly! He also announced that there would be a third and final installment to the Knufflebunny series as well as a Knufflebunny: A Cautionary Musical to premiere at the Kennedy Center in May. "One entire song," he said, "is to be sung in gibberish." To close he himself read from the latest Elephant and Piggie book, Pigs Make Me Sneeze. Mo, I learned, is a very vocal reader and the fact that he did stand up comedy really shines through during his reading.
• Conclusion
• There were so many authors I wish I could have seen that day: Jon Schieska, Nicholas Spark, Jodi Picoult, John Grisham, Judy Blume, Lois Lowry. Sadly you have to be about four people at once to be able to take in the wonder and talent that the National Book Festival has to offer.

Is it next year yet?

Updates forthcoming, for now I give you Shrek!

During our presentations for class today I learned that Shrek is actually a children's book that was published in 1993 by William Steig, author of Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. I had no idea! That leaves about 8 years between the creation of the book and the film "Shrek" with the death of Steig two years later. There are some discrepancies between the two but I have to say overall that I'm pleased with how the movie turned out, even if the writer and editors took liberties with expanding the story.

I will update on the National Book Festival soon. I was able to acquire insight and laughs from seeing Jacqueline Woodson, Holly Black, Tony DiTerlizzi, Megan McDonald, & Mo Willems, and even came away with a signed book and a great conversation with my former professor and dear friend, Joan Kindig.

Celebrate Banned Books week by supporting authors such as Laurie Halse Anderson (Speak) and all the other authors affected by this phenomenon.

And it begins

In honor of the upcoming Banned Books Week beginning on September 26th, I bring to you an author who is already feeling the heat. I've read most of Ellen Hopkins poetry lexicon and they are phenomenal. I would highly encourage middle school readers to read her works and enjoy the way she uses poetry to tell a compelling "close-to-true" story about a girl with a serious drug addiction, one that interferes with her well being as well as her baby's.

From the ALA newsletter:

Author talk canceled until school reviews her book
A visit by a best-selling author to Whittier Middle School in Norman, Oklahoma, was canceled after a parent questioned the content of one of the author’s books. Author Ellen Hopkins was scheduled to speak to 8th-graders September 22 about her career, writing process, and books. But she was notified that her visit was canceled because a parent at the school requested a review of her book Glass, the second in a series about a teen dealing with drug addiction. Hopkins said it's ironic her visit was canceled this week because the ALA's Banned Books Week begins September 26....
Oklahoma City Oklahoman, Sept. 22

Annotated Tuesday

Today I bring you an annotation of a popular children's book (something I'll try to do every week). Today's book was read to me by a former professor, Joan Kindig, in another children's literature class.

Sherry, Kevin. I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean. Illus. by Author. United States: Dial, 2007. Print.

Sherry’s tri-layered illustrations are uniquely varied and separated by a pane of glass according to the book’s end page explanation. The bottom layer is watercolor using various shades of blue and green to make up the ocean floor as well as the red innards of a whale. The second layer is cut paper, creating the realistic shapes of the ocean dwelling characters which represent an accurate portrait of ocean life: turtles, puffer fish, octopus, sharks, shrimp, clams, crabs, jellyfish, and whales. The third layer is heavily inked, bringing to life the voice of the narrator squid: from the small, faint words as he whispers when a shark is nearby to large curved words demonstrating the squid’s boisterous personality as well as the illustrator’s playfulness. The mood of the book is very calm and tranquil but offset by the garish, invasive voice and personality of the squid.

Sherry experiments very heavily with proportion throughout the book, portraying the squid in several sizes and spacing him erratically on the page which also adds variety; sometimes taking up a small portion on one page, to focusing solely on his eyes and mouth which take up an entire page and spill over the center onto the following page. This placement not only indicates the squid’s exaggerated, physical size on the page in proportion to the other sea creatures, but also shows the squid’s perception of his superiority over the other creatures based solely on his size. This can reflect a child’s developmental stage where their world is as self-centered as the squid’s as well as how they view themselves among others in the world. The squid’s loud opinion of his worth among his friends makes the book’s mood very funny and the tone very loud. His personality leaps off of the page and is sure to relate to young readers.

2010 Caldecott Nominations

For fun I kept track of the suggested nominations for the 2010 Caldecott Award discussed in class today. In a few months I'll check back and see if any of us were on the money.

LBSC 645 Children's Literature and Materials - Fall 2009, Dr. Maria Salvadore

1. Tsunami - by Kimiko Kajikawa, illustrated by Ed Young
2. No! - by David McPhail
3. Hansel and Gretel - written and illustrated by Rachel Isadora
4. All of Me - written and illustrated by Molly Bang
5. One Red Apple - by Harriet Siefer, illustrated by Karla Gudeon
6. All in One Day - written by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Nikki McClure
7. Big George - by Anne F. Rockwell, illustrated by Matt Phelan
8. Fletcher and the Sprintime Blossoms - by Julia Rawlinson, illustrated by Tiphanie Beeke
9. Jeremy Draws a Monster - by Peter McCarty
10. Chicken Little - by Rebecca Emberly, illustrated by Ed Emberly
11. Little Chick - by Amy Hest, illustrated by Anita Jeram
12. Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed - written and illustrated by Mo Willems
13. The Negro Speaks of Rivers - by Langston Hughes, illustrated by E. B. Lewis
14. The Longest Night - by Marion Dane Bauer, illustrated by Ted LWein
15. The Lion & the Mouse - written and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
    

MANGA Recommendation

Those of us who find ourselves humming the music to "Underground" or pointing fingers at our friends and shouting, "You remind me of the babe!" will enjoy this new literary addition to the Labyrinth universe. Jim Henson's Return to Labyrinth is told across four volumes, the fourth one still slated to be released. The 1st Volume chronicles Toby's return to the Labyrinth (hence the title), ten years after the events of the 1986 film, to become Jareth's successor as Goblin King. However, there are others also eying the throne, a queen and the mayor of Goblin City, who don't take kindly to the news of Toby's nomination for ruler. The 2nd volume chronicles Toby's misadventures in Goblin City as the newly appointed ruler, as well as Jareth reappearance into the normal world to pay a visit to an old "friend", Sarah (Toby's sister). I have yet to read the third volume but I highly recommend this original English manga to any librarian, young adult, or avid Bowie fanatic. The new storyline is fresh while still paying homage to the film (including reintroducing old characters) and the artwork is stunning and richly detailed.

Get well soon!

Rosalyn Schanzer was scheduled to appear at the Hyattsville Library (down the street from me) to discuss her new book, What Darwin Saw, this book also comes out around the time of the 200th anniversary of the voyage of the Beagle. Rosalyn was a guest lecturer for my Advanced Children's Seminar class last semester. Not only was she a pleasure to talk to but she also informed us about the long, arduous process of getting a book like this published (apparently books about Darwinism and evolution are hot topics) and the research and design that goes into creating a children's book. Alas, because of an injury to her back she wasn't able to make it to this lecture. They're setting to reschedule her sometime for October or November.

On another related note, The National Book Festival is coming up this weekend on the National Mall. Practically every important children's author will be present (except R. L. Stine and Neil Gaiman who were present last year). I highly encourage everyone to go and witness the awesome gathering of good literature! Among the guest list are:

• Kate DiCamillo, Shannon Hale, Craig Hatkoff, Nikki Grimes, Steven Kellogg, Lois Lowry, Megan McDonald, Charles Santore (illustrator of the festival poster), Jon Scieszka and David Shannon, and Mo Willems;
• Teens & Children authors Judy Blume, Pat Carman, Sharon Creech, Paula Deen, Carmen Agra Deedy and Wilson Kimeli Naiyomah, Shannon Hale, Liz Kessler, Jeff Kinney, James Patterson, Jerry Pinkney, Rick Riordan, Sharon Robinson and Kadir Nelson, James L. Swanson and Jacqueline Woodson

It will be especially neat to meet Mo Willems, whom I am doing an author study on. Hopefully I can afford one of his books and get it signed for a friend for Christmas, and possibly snag a picture.

Debut

This is the debut of my brand-spanking new professional blog about my adventures in the library world. Though I am a student now I hope to work in a Public Library either in Children or Young Adult Services. I'm considering jobs in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia.

As of now I'm working as a Graduate Student Assistant at the University of Maryland's McKeldin Library. I love the variety that my job offers so whenever I come in I never know if I'm going to be in the basement unpacking boxes, grabbing books off the shelf, or ordering new books for the Humanities Department. It's pretty exhilarating and my classes at the iSchool keep me on my toes learning new skills. I'll blog more about each of those classes soon.

Here you'll find my thoughts on the latest literature I've read and other biblio and library related news.