Children’s Lit Fabulosity

Snowflakes Two

Children's Lit Fabulosity / By /

And I stole this more or less whole-cloth from Uma, my fabulous advisor.

This week’s featured artists:

Monday, October 22

Tuesday, October 23

Wednesday, October 24

Thursday, October 25

Friday, October 26

Saturday, October 27

Sunday, October 28

This Blogging for a Cure page at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast has a comprehensive list of snowflake and illustrator features to be updated on a regular basis. Visit the auction here: Robert’s Snow 2007.

Please note that not all the illustrators who contributed snowflakes to the online auction are featured in this blogging effort, because some submissions came in later. Look for additional snowflakes on the Seven Impossible site.

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Reviewing the Review

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So over at SF Site, Paul Kincaid reviewed Pat Murphy’s The Wild Girls, and wasn’t all that impressed. But the fabulous Literaticat has responded to the review ably, point by point, and reached the conclusion that this is actually the best middle grade book of the year.

How had I not heard about this one? Making note to get a copy, stat.

Updated: Niall has further thoughts related to the topic.

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Snowflakes

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This week, please check out the first round of snowflake postings for the Robert’s Snow charity auction. (Props to Jen Robinson for putting together this list and to Jules and Eisha for masterminding the effort. You guys warm the cockles of my cranky black heart.)

Monday, October 15

Tuesday, October 16

Wednesday, October 17

Thursday, October 18

Friday, October 19

Saturday, October 20

Sunday, October 21

Please take time out to visit all of these blogs, and read about these fabulous illustrators. And, if you’re so inclined, think about bidding for a snowflake in the Robert’s Snow auction. Each snowflake makes a unique gift (for yourself or for someone else), and supports an important cause.

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KidList

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So, I’m going to steal a few minutes away from working desperately on le many items in le packet this month (you don’t even want to know — at the moment, it’s an essay on voice giving me fits) to hit the highlights of the First Kidlitosphere Conference, just because it would be tragic not to.

  • First, was meeting everyone, even briefly (and even just putting faces to names on those of you I didn’t get to actually meet). As with all such events, I tended to gravitate toward the people I already knew, but this was a bit different because we all sort of "knew" each other from online. Which made for some fast friendships and meetings that felt like little reunions. More next year in Portland (yay, Portland!), please.
  • I continue to be amazed and inspired by the sense of community among the children’s and YA blogging community, and also the amazing organizational skills. (This conference and the Cybils being cases in point, along with the utterly fabulous Colleen-shepherded events that have been happening for the last six months or so.) I have no doubt that some sort of kidlit blogging association will be formed soon to act as a clearinghouse and reach out to all the readers, teachers and parents who haven’t found out about this scene yet. And if we all don’t love the term kidlit, I think we’re still stuck with it, because, well, it’s short.
  • I already posted this. Ha. But it was pretty funny watching Noah and Christopher attempt to get in trouble at the Airport Hotel in Des Plaines Limbo (the Chicago Marathon ate all the hotels in the city, so this was where we were). At least they didn’t crash any of the THREE weddings going on–seriously, who gets married at the Airport Hotel in Des Plaines Limbo? It was like mini-Vegas. (And we did see Britney Spears on TV in the bar.)
  • The sessions were loose and more like conversations than anything else. In addition to the podcasting intro, there was a fabulous dialogue about the Cybils (which is where the association discussion began) and another on how to boost the profile of the scene in general. A particularly hot topic was the ethics of reviewing and some crunchy talk about "bad" reviews–and a session on how to sharpen reviewing skills generally and the different models that are out there. All this struck me as that much more candid for being in person and not online. People were honest and willing to throw out the first ideas that came to them and so these were particularly valuable starting (and continuing) points for the ongoing conversation about litblogging and its place in the firmament.
  • The fantastic burgers and fries at Paradise Pup, which Ysabeau kindly directed us to in our tiny rental car for lunch on Saturday. And, yes, despite the pup of the name, none of us–Micol, Noah, Christopher, Ysa or I–got  dogs, and we are not repentant.
  • Our table at dinner had loads of fun and Christopher managed to convince illustrator extraordinaire Jim Di Bartolo (husband of the wonderful, beautifully-pink-tressed Laini Taylor) to come along for a first-Bourne-movie-style ride across the street to a Target with a wine aisle. This led to much fun and guzzling and some eventual finger-wagging from the you-deserted-your-post-dude bartender. (Pics of the aftermath here.)
  • The next morning we drove Laini, Jim and Ellen Klages out to Esme’s Bookroom (a private non-circulating library and salon, not to mention the place you dreamed of when you were that bookish kid) for the farewell brunch–I wish I could express how absolutely enchanting this space is. If you ever, ever have the chance to visit, do. I want a Halloween town! My non-camera-havingness will not prevent you from experiencing it vicariously though, because Laini has a post with lots and lots of pics. Esme, you are the hostest with the mostest (or at least share that title with conference organizer Robin Brande). (Updated: Liz Burns has lots of pics as well.)
  • And that was pretty much the weekend. Like I said: It was lovely.

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Meanwhile

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And while Micol and I were attending the conference, the boys visited a nearby Des Plaines gaming store (recommended by a local, natch) that just happened to be holding an elaborate auction. Noah documented the memorable experience on film, and describes it thus: The man, the myth, the passion and the triumph. In a world of demons and demi-gods, one man rose above and succesfully bought a board game….

Possibly my favorite thing that has ever been on YouTube.

Christopher asks that I add: What’s going on at the end is that there were TWO copies of the game available, and that the second one had "box damage" but went for just three bucks less than what I paid for the mint condition one.

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Kidlit Love

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What a lovely weekend. I intend a more substantial post later, but, wow, it was great to meet everybody and I wish I’d had a lot more time to talk to everyone who was there. Y’all rock.

And the incredibly well-spoken Liz Burns has a big post with links to reports and photos from various attendees.

Here’s a group shot* courtesy of Andrea and Mark Blevis (of Just One More Book fame — Mark gave a great talk on podcasting). Over at Flickr, you can even see the attendees mapped by site (& a whole bunch of other photos).

Photo
*not pictured Micol, who went off premiering, and Ysabeau, who’d already taken off for the evening.

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Bradbury Season: Vamp-riffic

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Bradbury

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, I think — October, leading up to All Hallow’s Eve. There is something richer about fall after the thin heat of summer; it feels like a time particularly suited to stories.

And, of course, to vampires. Now, sure vampires are overdone. There’s a tiredness to the whole business that is only overcome by sheer force of will. Usually, it requires something new to accomplish this — something like Scott’s scientific rationale and parasite love, or mixing it up with a fantasy vampire-themed restaurant like Cynthia’s Sanguini’s.
Nos_2
But today, I want to talk classics. I want to talk scary vampires that crawl out of graves and have bad hygiene and menace superstitious villages. Think Nosferatu minus the suit and you’re in the right ballpark.

I leave up to you the order in which you choose to read the following two books, but they are a perfect pairing for Bradbury Season. Both these books return to the roots of the vampire, the things that made them so interesting and scary and potent to begin with, in a fine gothic style.

Vampires_2The first is Paul Barber’s Vampires, Burial, and Death: Folklore and Reality. This is an absolutely delicious, fairly academic book from Yale University Press. Barber dissects centuries of burial traditions and superstitions and the like surrounding the vampire, while also getting at the larger issues of why the idea of such a creature exists and why it has inspired so many outrageously interesting practices.

I’ll give you a transitional paragraph picked at random from the chapter "Some Theories of the Vampire" to convince you:

Clearly we must begin by determining whether our informants–who show a remarkable unanimity–are telling us even part of the truth. Do bodies swell, change color, bleed at the lips? People who have exhumed buried bodies know more about such bodies than people who have not done so: the Serbian peasant has an edge on the folklorist. And the forensic pathologist, it would seem, has an edge on both of them and will be our constant companion for the next chapters.

If you can resist a book like this, you and I may be in danger if we’re ever stuck making cocktail conversation. 

That covers the academic side, the history and folklore, so how about a new book that takes those original traditions and makes aSwordhand beautifully successful, wonderfully scary gothic out of them? Marcus Sedgwick‘s My Swordhand is Singing is on the cusp of release here in the U.S., having won the shadow Carnegie last year in England. (Sidenote: Isn’t that the best title you’ve encountered in ages?)

I was skeptical when it showed up in the mail, for the reasons in the paragraph above about vampires =ing tired. But that title. It overpowered me. I’m so glad.

I won’t say much to spoil it, but Sedgwick does a remarkable job conjuring a remote seventeenth century village and the complicated dynamics between a boy and his father, um, vampire-hunting together. The writing is rhythmic and lovely. A taste:

Away, across one of the river’s arms, something watched the hut. It stirred. The figure of shadow moved slowly from cover and then sped like daybreak into the trees.

It’s a spare book, a quick one and oh so satisfying. The perfect read for Bradbury Season.

Check out what my compadres are recommending for their creepy October reads over at Chasing Ray (full list at the bottom of Coll’s post).

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Shutterbug

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Click_3NPR Morning Edition had a charming discussion with Linda Sue Park, Ruth Ozeki and Arthur Levine about the newly-released Click, a novel written by ten authors. Not just any ten authors, either — in addition to Park and Ozeki, we’re talking Nick Hornby, Roddy Doyle, Gregory Maguire, David Almond, Tim Wynne-Jones (yay!), Deborah Ellis, Margo Lanagan and Eoin Colfer. Each author gets a chapter and the result, rather than being a train wreck, is delightful. At least so far–I’m just finishing up reading it now.

The NPR interviewer noted at one point that the result is a bit lumpy (though she seemed to mean this in a not entirely bad way) and Arthur Levine agreed, saying that life is lumpy too, and "in many ways this book is a construction of a life. It’s a life seen from many different angles and with many different people’s perspectives, and that’s just how anyone’s life is."

Proceeds from the book go to Amnesty International. It’s definitely worth checking out.

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Radar Love

Books, Children's Lit Fabulosity / By /

And today’s Radar recs are:

A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy: The Vietnam books by Ellen Emerson White
Big A, little a: The Deep by Helen Dunmore
Bildungsroman: The May Bird Trilogy by Jodi Lynn Anderson
Finding Wonderland: The Avion My Uncle Flew by Cyrus Fisher
Not Your Mother’s Bookclub: A look at some recently revised classics
Fusenumber 8: Stoneflight by George McHarque
lectitans: Gentle’s Holler and Louisiana Song both by Kerry Madden
Chasing Ray: Kipling’s Choice by Geert Spillebeen
Interactive Reader: A Plague of Sorcerers by Mary Frances Zambreno
The YA YA YAs: Resurrection Men by TK Welsh
7 Impossible Things Before Breakfast: Such a Pretty Face: Short Stories About Beauty edited by Ann Angel

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