Children's Books discussion

Welcome back! Feel free to look at the previous reader chat thread, and respond here. We needed a fresh start because GoodReads sometimes glitches on long threads.

I wanted to let you all know that Newbery, Caldecott, and other prizes were awarded today. Interestingly, I've already enjoyed three of the Caldecotts.

http://www.ala.org/news/press-release...

Here's a summary:

John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children's literature:

The Crossover by Kwame AlexanderKwame Alexander, is the 2015 Newbery Medal winner.

Two Newbery Honor Books also were named:

El Deafo by Cece BellCece Bell, illustrated by Cece Bell.

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson.

Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children:

The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat, is the 2015 Caldecott Medal winner.

Six Caldecott Honor Books also were named:

Nana in the City by Lauren Castillo.

The Noisy Paint Box: The Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky's Abstract Art illustrated by Mary GrandPré and written by Barb Rosenstock.

Sam and Dave Dig a Hole illustrated by Jon Klassen and written by Mac Barnett.

Viva Frida by Yuyi Morales.

The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus illustrated by Melissa Sweet and written by Jen Bryant

This One Summer illustrated by Jillian Tamaki and written by Mariko Tamaki.

I haven't commented on the old thread for a while...I guess this is a fresh start. ;)

Reading one of my childhood favorites, A Night in Terror Tower. It's really predictable, and when I was nine or so, I though that was a GOOD thing. Now I wish the author had made it less obvious....

:giggle: - we do want different things from our books at different ages!

I watched the entire awards show as, though it was a longshot, our book was sent in. It was like the "oscars" for kids' books. I could hardly get my library holds in fast enough, in fact, they won't let me put any more requests in until I get some in. I loved the fact that there was so much diversity in the books chosen, but I think I was most pleased that the Caldecott Medal went to a book that looks to be just for fun! As an author of both a book just for fun and a book that is an "issue" book, I was happy to see that both were covered. But secretly (not so secretly I guess!) I am thrilled that a book just for fun won. As it is the just for fun books that I think get our kids interested in reading first!

I agree! Too many award-winners in all categories are educational, or solemn. I avoided books that had the gold or silver emblem, when I was a kid.

I gotta say, though, that I found that The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend is not only fun, and beautiful, but also a thoughtful fable. I loved it.

Re-reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

I'll be rereading that series at some point. Right now I'm watching the movies with my 18 yo son. We've actually just finished Part I of DH - beautifully filmed.

I really liked The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend as well. A couple of the other winners have been on my radar, but I look forward to reading each of them in the upcoming months.

I'm so behind on the new picture books these days but I'm excited about several of the Caldecott books and hope to read them soon.

This year's ALA winners and honours were great! I always love following the awards.

Thank you so much for compiling the list! I can't wait to get my hands on a few, so much so that I've purchased them so they can arrive on my doorstep (my work hrs make library trips difficult). It would be difficult to say which I'm most excited about but since I have a passion for picture books I think The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend will be first on my list.
P.S. Is there an easy way to make the book title a link? I'm kindof new to this....

I plan to start re-reading Great Bear Lake soon.

Denise, it's easy if you're on a PC (I think it's still impossible on mobile). Just above the comment box that we type in is a small link, towards the right side, that says "add book/author." It's clickable, and then self-explanatory.

Re-reading my battered, old copy of Fire and Ice. These Erin Hunter books are okay, but they're not exactly holding up well as my former favorites. :)

I'm reading two things: The Quest Begins (again with the Erin Hunter books!!!) and Unhinged.

I'm new to this, also, as well as behind with my reading, but am excited to have found this discussion! Thanks for the shares, everybody!

My favorite recent reads are in the metafiction category:No Bears, Z Is for Moose, No Monkeys, No Chocolate(love Melissa Stewart), There Are Cats in This Book, and more.

One of the flags that got me started on metafiction was a recent article in The Reading Teacher. (I'm a reading specialist.) Kids are not only learning to read on a variety of devices/media; they are also experiencing big changes in fiction. (Or maybe they don't seem like big changes to the kids--just normal!)

Stopped reading Unhinged a while ago, but I finished a lot of the Seekers novels; I skipped the second-to-last one in the first arc because I don't own it, and I'm onto Island of Shadows. I also need to start reading Libriomancer (my book club meeting is tomorrow and I've only skimmed the first few pages. D:)

I am currently reading The Doll Graveyard: A Hauntings Novel.

By metafiction, Ann, do you also mean stuff like Chester and Help! We Need A Title!? I love books like those, and will definitely check out the ones you mention.

Oooh! Thanks, Cheryl! I can't wait to red those. They look hilarious. Yes, that's what I mean by metafiction. Patricia Toht describes it well: http://groggorg.blogspot.com/2015/01/....
I think of it as fiction that plays with fiction, steps outside of the normal conventions. Be sure to watch the wonderful video of BJ Novak reading The Book with No Pictures to a group of kids. I've watched it three times, but still laugh out loud when I see it. Another Patricia mentions is This Book Just Ate My Dog!. The library calls me!

Thanks!

Ann,

thanks for your list of metafiction picture books. I ave only recently had my ears perked up about this from SCBWI mag and the NESCBWI conference has a workshop session on this I am attending. Curious to see what all the fuss is about.

And the rest mentioned here, thanks Cheryl. Homework for this week. :)

I won't post on the thread for a while, as I'm just focusing on more Erin Hunter books (I'm a little tired of bears and cats, but I'm determined to finish this!).

After I get through the Seekers series, I'll be re-reading a slightly more classic work of xenofiction--some random member of my book club chose The Wind in the Willows as our March book.

Oh that's a lovely book. I tried to read it when I was a kid, and couldn't get into it, but I read it for a group a couple of years ago and loved it.

Starting a metafiction thread, please help fill it!

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I finished (most of) the Seekers series, along with TWitW and several other books...now I'm reading Ramona and Her Mother. A pretty good book, though I'm not usually one for average-family novels...

Just finished Sammy Keyes and the Kiss Goodbye. So sad to say goodbye to one of my favorite book series!

I just read Swear to Howdy by the same author, Wendelin Van Draanen and was mightily impressed. I'll have to check out Sammy Keyes.

My daughters have discovered Asterix. They are not really appreciating the more adult humour or the Roman Empire, but in general enjoying the pictures and some of the more obvious humour. Cacofonix getting hit over the head is for some reason especially funny!

I downloaded a whole pile of free e-books from this list this afternoon. I find it is useful to have some e-books on my iPad when we have to wait for some event or another. Will have to see which ones hit the spot but Leon Chameleon P.I. and the Case of the Kidnapped Mouse has been on the TBR list for a while. http://segordon.blogspot.com/2015/03/...

I'm currently reading You Can't Scare Me! out loud to my family.

Oh yay for being able to share children's books with loved ones!

My Grade 1 daughter had to make a bicarb/vinegar volcano for a science experiment at school and I found How to Dig a Hole to the Other Side of the World to be really useful. Somebody recommended it to me in this group and I am really glad I bought it. It introduces the various components of the earth in a scientific but child friendly manner. Good non-fiction read for us.

I also read Cream Cape and the Case of the Missing Hamster which was a nice introduction to the mystery genre for 8-10 year olds. I like how the two sisters use their wits and brains to find the missing class hamster.

Since I am one of those who felt a world had ended when Terry Pratchett died two weeks ago, I had to read something by him. I am reading Only You Can Save Mankind which is the first in his Johnny Maxwell series. This series is a good mix of sci-fi and fantasy for children of about 9 years and older. It's also a very good series for boys and as usual, Pratchett's humour, is excellent. In this book, the aliens in a popular computer game do not want to keep fighting, but would like to go home and escape the constant battles with humans and Johnny has been selected to help them get there.

Just finished Centaur Rising. I enjoyed it very much. Good simple fantasy for about 4th grade and older.

After finishing way too many books to remember or list (I wish I'd posted them here), I'm re-reading The Reptile Room. Maybe this summer I'll finish the last third of False Memory, and maybe after that I'll go back to struggling my way through Gone with the Wind--not that it's bad, it's just incredibly hard. lol.

Y'know, I've never read the Series of Unfortunate Events. Do they transcend to the universal - that is to say, do you think folks that aren't particularly interested would like them, if they'd only try?

Cheryl wrote: "Y'know, I've never read the Series of Unfortunate Events. Do they transcend to the universal - that is to say, do you think folks that aren't particularly interested would like them, if they'd onl..."

I have them on my to-read list. My niece is badly dyslexic and really struggled with reading until around the age of 12 by which time she'd nailed down her study techniques, but she devoured all of the Unfortunate Events books at a young age, so I tell myself there must be something to them.

I did try them with my son a few months ago. He found them a bit too gruesome and we decided to save them for later (he's still 6), but I rather liked them, three chapters in. I'm not sure how the writing style holds up through multiple books though, it's quite exaggerated and I suppose it could wear on you.

Cheryl wrote: "Y'know, I've never read the Series of Unfortunate Events. Do they transcend to the universal - that is to say, do you think folks that aren't particularly interested would like them, if they'd onl..."

The end (called, oddly, The End) is a let-down--not spoiling anything--, but the other books are pretty good. I think they would work for the group you describe.

Ok, I'll give 'em a shot. Thanks!

My all time favorite is Pride and Prejudice. I have about 3 copies around the house. Then there was a stage where I went through Barbara Cartlend novels, which reinforced my love for historical novels.

I am reading Dragon Boyz with my son, he is loving it because he is intimately linked to it. Also my daughter is fixated with anything Peppa Pig.

So there is a lot of reading occurring in my home... and that is a good thing.

It is a good thing. :)

Finished the ASOUE book, White Fang (an easier version that I've owned for a while), and The Shattering

I'm reading After (for my book club) and Tentacles (for my own enjoyment).

Has anyone read Night? Apparently it's summer reading for upcoming 9th graders (such as myself).

Ow, no, too intense for me...

I recently finished reading Eric Berlin's The Puzzler's Mansion and Diana Wynne Jones The Islands of Chaldea. The Berlin book is a nifty mystery with lots of fun puzzles to solve. The Jones book was an enjoyable fantasy, which was finished by her sister after Diana passed away.

This really has nothing to do with children's literature, but I saw a great linguistic joke on a bathroom wall at the University of Leiden, in the Netherlands (attending and presenting at a conference there).

What do the French call a really, really bad Thursday?
A Tra-jeudi.

I have no clue what that means...

But I'm glad to hear from you. Hope the conference is going well, want to hear all about your trip when you get back and have time! :)

Cheryl wrote: "I have no clue what that means...

But I'm glad to hear from you. Hope the conference is going well, want to hear all about your trip when you get back and have time! :)"

Jeudi is French for Thursday, so a tra-jeudi is a constructed pun that sounds a bit like "tragedy"

The one conference in Leiden is finished, the other one, 40 km away in Amsterdam, is starting today, Monday (both are on metaphors and how to translate these). Very interesting talks so far, although for someone like myself, who primarily approaches these topics from a literarture point of view, many of the topics seem to be too linguistically and too computer generated data based (but that is likely also because I am not all that familiar with the latter, I had to do some basic linguistics for my comprehensive exams, and that's the extent of my knowledge, and computer generated language and language acquisition is a bit like the proverbial book with seven seals for me). However, my own presentation was more literature based than linguistic and it went over rather well, so I do not think literary and sylistic analyses are totally out of the window.

Gundula wrote: "This really has nothing to do with children's literature, but I saw a great linguistic joke on a bathroom wall at the University of Leiden, in the Netherlands (attending and presenting at a confere..."

Chuckles.