ANDREW HENRY'S MEADOW (PICTURE BOOK)

PICTURE BOOK
ANDREW HENRY'S MEADOW by Doris Burn (San Juan Publishing)

Andrew Henry's inventive genius goes underappreciated in his home, especially when he takes apart other household items to supply his creative vision. Toolbox in hand, he disappears into a clearing in the woods, where he builds his dream home and settles in to his life of tranquility. But lo! Who comes through the trees but a neighbor girl, whose leanings towards ornithology have no outlet in her father's feather-free home, so up goes a tree house, complete with birdbaths and feeding stations. Enterprising Andrew Henry build a custom casa for each child who follows. Children will love looking at the double-page spread of the makeshift village, and deciding which abode would suit them best: a tipi? Tower? Castle? Luckily, with the help of a lonesome hound dog, worried parents are reunited with the runaways, and Andrew Henry's dreamy nature is granted a newfound respect upon his return. Happily ever after! This book's sketchy black and white art matches the story's homespun, gentle feel, and the tale plays into children's deep desires for freedom and acceptance. Kudos to the publisher on a brilliant reissue; I can't tell you how thrilled I was to discover this classic was back on the shelves, since it was one of my own favorites when I was about seven years old. While it is not brand new, I would be remiss if you and your child missed the chance to shack up with Andrew Henry! (6 and up)

Also of interest:
More utopian visions in the hizzouse! Teachers, share them all and prepare children to reinvent the world.
THE BIG ORANGE SPLOT by D. Manus Pinkwater (Scholastic) "My house is me and I am it. My house is where I want to be, and it looks like all my dreams." Who cares if that includes a palm tree and a live alligator and paintings of a steam shovel and pretty girls? Mr. Plumbean manages to enlighten and inspire his neighbors. Vive la difference! (5 and up)
ROXABOXEN by Alice McLerran, illustrated by Barbara Cooney (HarperTrophy) An old-fashioned tale set in the desert, where children use what they find to create a world of their own. (5 and up)
WESLANDIA by Paul Fleischman, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes (Candlewick) A brilliant and beautiful story (or prediction?) of a nonconformist who designs a civilization around a hybrid crop and bests the neighborhood bullies. Do it yourself, kids! A great classroom discussion and project springboard. (7 and up)

Big news!
The 2008 Sydney Taylor Book Awards have been announced from the Association of Jewish Libraries! I love this award because they have impeccable taste! ;-) This year's gold medals?
Younger Readers category: THE BEDTIME SH'MA: A GOODNIGHT BOOK by Sarah Gershman,illustrated by Kristina Swarner (EKS Publishing)
Older Readers category: THE ENTERTAINER AND THE DYBBUK by Sid Fleischman (Greenwillow)
Teen Readers category: STRANGE RELATIONS by Sonia Levitin (Knopf)
Check out the video announcement on YouTube, and visit the AJL page for more information about the award, including a PDF of all of the current honor books. Mazel Tov to all of the winners! Your excellence gives booklovers such naches (translation from Yiddish: you make us very proud)!

Links are provided for informational use. Don't forget to support your local bookseller.

HOW TO PAINT THE PORTRAIT OF A BIRD (PICTURE BOOK)

PICTURE BOOK
HOW TO PAINT THE PORTRAIT OF A BIRD by Jacques Prévert, illustrated by Mordicai Gerstein (Roaring Brook Press)

"First paint a cage/with an open door...Then take the picture to a garden...or a park...or a forest./...If the bird doesn't come right away, don't be discouraged. Wait./...Wait till the bird enters the cage. Then gently close the door with your brush." Sketchy art follows a boy from sun's rising to sundown, in his serious and ultimately successful pursuit of capturing a bird using color and canvas. Paired with the brilliant and celebrated Prévert (whose work inspired the song "Autumn Leaves" and who influenced the surrealist movement), this little gem at once captures what is best about imagination and then sets it free in the hearts of readers. This book sings with the process and power of an artist's inspiration: the patience, the disappointment, the joy, the renewal. Even in the last pages as the bird takes flight from the painting the little boy has created, we are assured, "tomorrow you can paint another one."

This bird of artistic inspiration is in spirit a Phoenix, and like the bird that comes alive again and again, so does illustrator Gerstein, one of the bravest artists in the world of children's books. From his Caldecott winning THE MAN WHO WALKED BETWEEN THE TOWERS to his contemplative look at the cycle of life in THE MOUNTAINS OF TIBET, to his love story for children CAROLINDA CLATTER to his parable of war THE OLD COUNTRY, to his many thoughtful and unusual picture book biographies or his major contribution to picture book Judaica, he always creates books from a very genuine place of interest and caring and enthusiasm, and this translates loud and clear in every one of his works. I have so often asked the children I have taught, "What is the artist trying to say? What is he trying to share?" More than any other of his books, I believe this most recent title reflects the true essence of Gerstein; he is sharing how much he values creation. Every child will recognize the process of making art in this book, and will be emboldened to create more after hearing the song of the bird. One of the loveliest books of the past year, and deserving of classic status. (4 and up)

Also of interest:
Another great picture book has hatched!
FIRST THE EGG by Laura Vaccaro Seeger (Roaring Brook Press) "First the EGG/then the CHICKEN/First the TADPOLE/Then the FROG/First the SEED/Then the FLOWER.../First the WORD/Then the STORY..." Yaccarino's style of mixed media with thick painterly strokes is striking and deceptively simple. Turn each clever die-cut page to reveal what comes next. This book is full of surprises! Fans of Edward Emberley's GO AWAY, BIG GREEN MONSTER and Lois Ehlert's work in general (HANDS is my favorite, COLOR ZOO more popular) will recognize the technique of cutting pages to reveal clues to what follows , and to maintain and heighten interest. Yaccarino's lastest is a straightforward, perfect concept book for the very young or otherwise very thoughtful. And in case you are wondering which came first, the chicken or the egg, just remove the slipcover and decide for yourself. (3 and up)

Links are provided for informational use. Don't forget to support your local bookseller.

THE JEWEL BOX BALLERINAS (PICTURE BOOK)

PICTURE BOOK
THE JEWEL BOX BALLERINAS by Monique De Varennes, illustrated by Ana Juan (Schwartz & Wade)

When the wealthy Bibi Branchflower encounters a jewel box with two frowning ballerinas inside, she is so enthralled, a perfect addition to her collection of things in pairs! She buys it, ignoring the merchant's warnings: a sorcerer from long ago planted a curse upon the box after having the valuable gift shunned by his two spoiled nieces. "Piffle!" Ms. Branchflower exclaims, but soon finds herself affected by the sorrowful stares of the dancers. What could be a better cure than a little trip around the world? With Auntie Mame-like fortitude and a few hard knocks, Branchflower manages to add a precious pair of friends to her collection of twos. Ana Juan has done some pretty marvelous illustrations in the past (see her treatment of Kelly Cunnane's FOR YOU ARE A KENYAN CHILD), and finally she has a solid narrative storyline that really capitalizes on her broad-faced characterizations, super-saturated, bold palette and double-paged spreads full of clever detail. Children will adore Bibi Branchflower's smiling pair of pugs (gotta love them dressed in parkas and tucked under a heavy blanket as their mistress flies across the tundra on a sled), and listeners will gasp as the two ballerinas are accidentally misplaced amidst the hustle and bustle of an African marketplace. The endpapers of Bibi's collection of dynamic duos already has more eye candy than the whole of an average picture book, and the moral that people who are dear to us are worth more than money is earned through the adventures our eccentric heroine. A perfect example of an author and an illustrator each adding their own strengths to the whole, this is an exciting, original and well-told modern fairy tale illustrated with humor and beauty, and if prizes went to books that kids really enjoy, this title would assuredly be an award-winner. Buy two: one for you and one for a friend. (5 and up)

Also of interest:
Bibi Branchflower isn't the only one who likes things in pairs!
ONE OF EACH by Mary Ann Hoberman, illustrated by Marjorie Priceman (Little, Brown) Told in perfectly metered couplets, a clever cat teaches a stubborn canine that everything is twice as nice when shared with a friend. Jaunty, colorful illustrations make this a jubilant choice for early childhood storytimes. (4 and up)

Links are provided for informational use. Don't forget to support your local bookseller.

A GOLDEN LEGACY (NONFICTION)

NONFICTION

A GOLDEN LEGACY: HOW GOLDEN BOOKS WON CHILDREN'S HEARTS, CHANGED PUBLISHING FOREVER AND BECAME AN AMERICAN ICON ALONG THE WAY by Leonard S. Marcus (Golden Books)

In 1916, Western Printing and Lithography's bindery found itself in a bind. What to do with a cartload of overstock books? From this serendipitous beginning, the company grew to become one of the most profitable publishing endeavors in American history, and one whose recognizable golden spine has a nostalgic stronghold in the hearts of most of our country. Using a talent pool of new immigrants, soured Disney employees and ambitious women, capitalizing on the skyrocketing interest in science propelled by Sputnik and lasso-ing licenses that would impress the biggest of big-wigs, Golden created a brand that, while for a long time snubbed by library services, was still able to make great strides in encouraging a national reading fever and making books for families with an accessible bottom line.

In time for the 65th anniversary of the company, this book by hard-core children's book historian Leonard Marcus is a worthy tribute to the publishing Titan, and a juicy read to boot. The text is as much of a business book as a look back, describing in detail the decisions that were made throughout the company's time line, naming names that will be of interest to anyone in the industry. It is inspiring to read how many problems were turned into opportunities, and how many reputations that are still recognizable got started in this house: Richard Scarry, the Provensens, Margaret Wise Brown, with lots of insider anecdotes. It's interesting to see difference in the finished product as a result of people coming together who really knew something about art and editing and children. But even if you don't earn your bread and butter in the book biz, this beefy, beautifully-produced volume has plenty to recommend it: enchanting full-color blow-ups of breathtaking illustrations, candid shots of authors and illustrators in their homes and at their work tables (oh, look at the head shot of illustrator Corrine Malvern, as glamorous as the women she illustrated; as Marcus deftly described, "Malvern gave their soignée mothers the look of women with places to go and things to do quite apart from raising their children, " or the homey photo of "tartly witty Texan" author Janet Sebring Lowrey,who penned the publisher's most popular POKY LITTLE PUPPY, stirring what looks like cookie dough in her kitchen), reflections by modern authors and illustrators about the influences of Golden's list, and book covers that will have grown-ups sighing and rushing to Ebay to secure a familiar and well-loved read-aloud for the next generation. Full of the warmth of a family scrapbook, this title is both beautiful and readable, a treat for any adult children's book lover, and sure to encourage a revisit with some favorite Golden Book titles with a little listener on the lap.

Also of interest:
I think everyone has a favorite Golden Book. What's yours? I was sad to discover many that topped my list were out of print: THE BLUE BOOK OF FAIRY TALES (Gordon Laite), ANIMAL DADDIES AND MY DADDY (by Barbara Shook Hazen and Ilse-Margret Vogel), CHARLIE (Diane Fox Downs,illustrated by Lilian Obligado), THE THREE BEARS (Feodor Rojankovsky, and may I say I am jealous of the bear's lovely piece of real estate in the woods). I do like to find used Golden Books at garage sales and sometimes use the illustrations to decoupage my crumbling kitchen cabinets (I very much like the pictures of a girl serving cookies to a pig, and children romping through idyllic and voluptuous gardens, thank you, Peggy Parish and Richard Scarry's LITTLE GOLDEN BOOK OF MANNERS and Corrine Malvern's illustrated HEIDI). Still in print are a couple of my favorites: Kathryn Jackson and Corrine Malvern's NURSE NANCY (though alas, you have to supply your own band-aids), Margaret Wise Brown's THE WONDERFUL HOUSE reissued in oversized edition, all the better to see J.P. Miller's jaunty illustrations, and THE MONSTER AT THE END OF THIS BOOK FEATURING GROVER by Jon Stone and Michael Smollin, a shameless Sesame Street vehicle and an absolutely brilliant read-aloud, the kind that gets kids to actually scream and hold their sides (also, see James Stevenson's DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH and Mo Willems' DON'T LET A PIGEON DRIVE THE BUS for a similar storytelling technique).

If you want some Golden Books nowadays (and you will, definitely, after reading Marcus's book, so stock up so you won't be scrambling like me), your best bet is to go with the collection compilations that contain many of the classics: ANIMAL TALES, FARM TALES, and SLEEPYTIME TALES, which all together will contain your Tootle train and Poky Puppy and Color Kittens and Scrawny Tawny Lion and Saggy Baggy Elephant and all of your faves (granted, not quite the same as owning the individual titles and undermines the house's original intent of little books for little hands, but still a good value). Another option is to focus on your favorite artists, like the inspirational, Christian-leaning stories by Eloise Wilkin featuring pudgy-faced cherub children that induce an almost hypnotic cloud of cuteness; the flat, retro stylings of Mary Blair gracing Ruth Krauss's I CAN FLY or the artist's own retrospective, THE ART AND FLAIR OF MARY BLAIR; or check out the subversive, freewheeling work in RICHARD SCARRY'S BEST STORYBOOK EVER, which contains the gorgeous, naturalistic art done for Ole Risom's I AM A BUNNY to his more insane, fill-the-page mania exhibited in BUSY, BUSY WORLD.

Solid Golden!



On a personal note:
Happy New Year! As of the end of December, I have left my full-time teacher-librarian position at a local demonstration school, and my role as Associate Coordinator, which entailed offering professional support and programming for approximately thirty student teachers. It was a wonderful experience all around and I very much look forward to continuing relationships with the families and professionals I have come to know and love at the school. All the same, I am very excited to get cracking on other exciting literacy and literary endeavors I am cooking up, plus doing more school visits and workshops to continue to disseminate the very important work of heroes Jim Trelease and Caroline Feller Bauer. I also expect to get back in a groove of regular postings here at The PlanetEsme Plan. Thanks again for sticking with me and checking back in!

What are your Reading Resolutions? Please share! Check these out and get inspired:
Family Reading Partnership Read-Aloud Resolutions (Thanks, Brigid! And illustrator Aliki does the artwork for Family Reading Partnership! Isn't that cool?)
10 Resolutions for Parents Raising a Reader
Baby Steps to a Better You: Making Your Resolutions Stick This Year by Carol Grannick, a professional and perennial optimist!

Special thanks to Starr LaTronica of the Four County Library System and Sue Bartle of the Erie 2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES. I had a marvelous time meeting with so many fantastic librarians and booklovers from upstate New York throughout the month of November, it was a truly inspiring professional opportunity for me. Although I was a presenter, I learned so much! I look forward to the next time our paths cross!

Links are provided for informational use. Don't forget to support your local bookseller.

ARTIST TO ARTIST (NONFICTION) and KIDLITOSPHERE CONFERENCE RECAP

NON-FICTION

ARTIST TO ARTIST: 23 MAJOR ILLUSTRATORS TALK TO CHILDREN ABOUT THEIR ART, to benefit the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art (Philomel)
"Dear Young Artist," the book begins. Three words against a blank white background. What follows makes for one of the most useful and most inspiring books of the year; a series of letters by twenty three illustrators directly addresses aspiring artists young and old with true pearls of wisdom. The letters express a variety of views, some suggesting that artistic talent is a gift you are born into while others believing it is hard won and still others believe it is in all of us. Some artists encourage academic study while others recall a more autodidactic path. Some voices feel academic while others are more colloquial. The contradictions do well to serve the idea that there is no one way to skin a cat or make a beautiful picture. Each letter is followed by an illustrated self-portrait by the artist, and then a fold-out double-page spread which displays a variety of samples of early work, sketchbook pages and studio photos. A small sampling of some of the wisdom and insight contained in the text:

"Leo would quote a book that he read years ago--'when a painter paints a tree, he becomes a tree.' Whatever we create, he believed, we fill with our own thoughts and feelings...but when Leo said he became a tree, he also thought the tree became him. 'Of course, I am Frederick,' he said...and he was Swimmny when he became the eye of the giant fish. All of his characters were part of his own self, and he thought that was probably true of every children's book author." --Annie Lionni (Leo Lionni's granddaughter)

"If you dare to dream of becoming an artist, you will dare to be different. This will take courage, and your family and friends may not always understand, but to be an artist is to have the gift of seeing the world in a unique way; a gift you can share with the world for the rest of your life. " --Wendell Minor

"You must never illustrate exactly what is written. You must find a space in the text so that the pictures can do the work. Then you must let the words take over where words do it best. It's a funny kind of juggling act."
--Maurice Sendak

"Young children make marvelous pictures. There is nothing they can't draw. They paint and draw from their imaginations and the world around them. And they are not afraid to draw anything." --Alice Provenson

Sometimes esoteric, sometimes direct, each letter is filled with real, usable advice given in a palpable spirit of generosity, an outpouring that suggests this was a letter each artist had been waiting to write. The all-star casting reads like a literary red-carpet walk: Quentin Blake (most famous for his illustrations for Roald Dahl). Steven Kellogg. Mordicai Gerstein. Tomie dePaola. Robert Sabuda. Rosemary Wells. On and on, this book is like getting to hear the secrets from some of the true greats of the past quarter century, and is full of surprises (do you know why THE POLAR EXPRESS is illustrated in pencil?). But beyond these pragmatic offerings, this book goes far to connect children to the idea that there are real people trying to share something behind every book they read, and is a marvel of contemplative appreciation of process. Readers will come away with the understanding that art is a lifelong endeavor with room to change and grow and improve, and children in particular will recognize their own location on the timeline of creativity like a big red dot that reads, "you are here." These letters are a road map to artistic enlightenment in the world of children's literature, and makes for the most instructive book about the illustrative process I have read since Molly Bang's PICTURE THIS: HOW PICTURES WORK. I shared it with a teacher friend in pre-publication form, and she said she literally had dreams about it and had its pub date on her calendar, but the wait is over. Every single member of SCBWI, every art educator, every children' book lover and certainly every child deserves to have this extraordinary book to pore over for years to come. And an added bonus: royalties benefot the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. You just can't beat this book with a stick...or a paintbrush, pen, pencil or marker, for that matter.

Also of interest:
THE DOT by Peter H. Reynolds (Candlewick)
Aggghhh, the empty paper, every artist's bane! What to draw, what to draw? "Just make a mark and see where it takes you," Vashti's teacher advises. When the dot gets kudos in class, Vashti ups her own antie and makes quite a splash at the art show. When another student asks her advice, Vashti knows just what to say. Simple lines of pen and ink, and simple lines of text, but don't be fooled. This unassuming little book is really a splendid tribute to the daring of art, and how much chutzpah it takes for any artist to make his or her mark. An inspiring must-have for any school with an arts program, and a double-must-have for any child who attends a school without one! (6 and up)
Check out more great books for aspiring young authors and illustrators at http://planetesme.com/creative.html! I especially like TALKING WITH ARTISTS series edited by Pat Cummings and Aliki's HOW A BOOK IS MADE, pages of which I just showed on an overhead to the whole second and third grade. Good, solid, informative stuff!

On a personal note:
THE KIDLITOSPHERE CONFERENCE

This past weekend was the awesome booklover blowout, the First hopefully Annual Kidlitosphere conference which by some very happy accident ended up being held in Rosemont, Illinois, right outside of my-kind-of-town, Chicago-is! Initiated by Robin Brande (author of the funny and brave teen fiction EVOLUTION, ME AND OTHER FREAKS OF NATURE), it was supposed to be a dinner party for a few on-line friends but blossomed into a pow-wow of over 60 cyberspace superstars to determine the best ways to disseminate information, to hone the fine art of book-sharing, and to put real friendly faces together with cyberspace personas. Sessions about the business side of blogging, promotion, the many reasons authors blog, how to hone our on-line voices and the ethics of writing reviews were just a few of the many hot topics shared in tight, rapid-fire sessions done largely in a round-table forum that allowed for so much participation. A few highlights for me:
- Podcasting 101, led by the very knowledgable Mark Blevis. He also compiled an amazing photo album of the conference, with a slide show that allows me to keep enjoying the day that I wished would never end, and through which you can attend the conference vicariously. My favorite part of his presentation, though, was learning that I could subscribe to his children's literature podcast...and so can you!
- The author signing at the end of Saturday, in which attendees each got a limited edition linoleum block print poster done by my husband Jim Pollock. The poster featured John "Appleseed" Chapman who planted a seed every day and changed the landscape of our nation. Reading aloud every day and sharing a book every day can change the landscape of our nation, too! Woo-hoo! Attendees then visited with over 20 local and national authors who signed the poster and talked about their books, and shared some of them as juicy door prizes, ooooo, including a great surprisr gift bag from Three Silly Chicks that included a chicken gun (!) and a copy of Andrea Beaty's latest picture book, IGGY PECK, ARCHITECT. I was excited to learn about Micol Ostow's work in progress, THE GITTLEMAN STAR, a hilarious graphic novel for intermediate readers that will knock your socks off! It was also a thrill to meet P.J. Haarsma, author of THE SOFTWIRE: VIRUS ON ORBUS I who I have long admired; hey, it's plenty hard to find a good science-fiction pick for kids 9-12 and this one does the trick! I was crazy psyched that illustrator Matthew Cordell (THE MOON IS LA LUNA: SILLY RHYMES IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH) and Julie Halpern, author of the young adult novel GET WELL SOON made it, because their books are so brand-spanking new and their talent is so sparkling, it made me feel very cutting-edge that they were there...I also loved Julie's frowny-face cookies to match her book cover. And goody, I scored a copy of Sara Lewis Holmes' LETTERS FROM RAPUNZEL, a book of fairy-tale correspondence that I can't wait to climb into my tower and read. It was also so great so to see so many of my Illinois SCBWI brethren, including ; we do have the most amazing chapter, just check out our newsletter, The Prairie Wind, and see for yourself. Special thanks to Ruth Spiro for her list of Illinois authors with upcoming books which was so helpful in organizing this event.
- Laini Taylor's hair, which was the most gorgeous shade of pink, I could totally not stop staring at it and even made her hold it against my head in the bathroom so I could see what it would look like on me (alas, a far cry). She attended with her lovely husband Jim, the illustrator of her wildly popular young adult fantasy, THE FAERIES OF DREAMDARK. Her description of the conference on her really beautiful blog also captured the spirit of the thing and gives a pretty good description of what the "kidlitosphere" is all about.

See, isn't it the best hair ever?
Her book is every bit as wonderful.

- The thrill of meeting bloggers in person, like Kelly Herold of Big A Little A and the real live MotherReader, whose blogs I frequent. I also learned about the importance of community (I am more of a lurker than a commenter and that is naughty), chatting with the very friendly Jenny Schwartzberg of the Newbery library in Chicago (who knew they had a collection of thousands of rare children's books?) and was newly inspired to try to figure out how to create a blogroll of links to the kidlit universe on this blog (coming soon)! It was also great to get to know the very kind school librarian Camille Powell, a Texas soul-sister, and the extraordinarily inventive bookseller Faith Hochhalter from Changing Hands Bookstore in Arizona. Not everyone there was a blogger, but everyone there sure was a booklover!

poster given to conference attendees as a PlanetEsme.com present

- Lunch at Steak and Shake, and while that double cheeeburger was pretty delicious it not as good as sitting across the table from premier writing coach Esther Hershenhorn, whose skills are often imitated in the industry but never ever duplicated.
- The ride home with Laura Montenegro, author of A BIRD ABOUT TO SING, a really sensitive story about a girl who is shy to present in front of people that has encouraged many of my early childhood students. The car seemed to float instead of drive as we relegated our everyday to-do lists to the back seat and shared dreams of exploding the world of book-loving like a beautiful pinata, dreams that I'm afraid we will have to make come true sooner rather than later...
- And finally, the off-site blogger's brunch at the PlanetEsme Gingerbread apartment. I was actually very nervous about this as it was the first unveiling of the new space since moving from the Bookroom, and I had three separate nightmares the night before about various surreal ways I was being kept from preparing a decent breakfast for my guests, but luckily the sun rose and none of them were true. And so after a long hot summer of unpacking 12,000 books and trying to undo some of the decorating heinousness of the prior owners (do closets really need green carpeting?), it was with a sigh of relief that people seemed to enjoy the new space and filled it with the good spirit that makes a place special more than any paint or bookshelves or Halloween decorations ever could. I am so grateful to have the space graced by such esteemed guests. Thanks to all who attended!

Thanks to Mark Blevis for the photo.
Thanks to my husband and son for my special gift from fruitflowers.com.

One of the things that was brought up was compiling a list of teacher-friendly blogs for sharing, and on my lunch break today I compiled a few faves for the grade-school set, so you educators out there can cut and paste for your parent newsletters:

Mother Reader
http://www.motherreader.com/
Big A Little A
http://kidslitinformation.blogspot.com/
Just One More Book
http://www.justonemorebook.com
Jen Robinson’s Book Page
http://jkrbooks.typepad.com
What Adrienne Thinks About That
http://www.watat.com
A Chair, A Fireplace and a Tea Cozy
http://yzocaet.blogspot.com/
Book Buds
http://dadtalk.typepad.com
Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
http://blaine.org/sevenimpossiblethings/
Wizards Wireless
http://wizardswireless.blogspot.com/
A Year of Reading
http://readingyear.blogspot.com/
The Edge of the Forest
http://www.theedgeoftheforest.com/
Booktopia
http://booktopia.blogspot.com/
Tweendom
http://tweendom.blogspot.com/
The Miss Rumphius Effect
http://missrumphiuseffect.blogspot.com/
A Fuse #8 Production
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/1790000379.html
PixiePalace.com
http://www.pixiepalace.com/
Jacket Flap
http://jacketflap.com/
Three Silly Chicks
http://threesillychicks.com/
Chicken Spaghetti
http://chickenspaghetti.typepad.com
Purled Pouches and Things Unstrung
http://purledpouches.blogspot.com
The PlanetEsme Plan
www.planetesme.blogspot.com

As a school librarian I am going to send my list home with teachers and parents with a packet of instant hot chocolate or maybe some ginger-peach tea attached, to remind grown-ups to take their time and really explore the resources out there, not to rush through, relax and seek out a reviewer and a resource you can really trust and will suit the tastes of the young readers you know and the collection you are trying to build. Keep in mind, my list reflects my k-6 leanings but there are tons of great young adult resources to be discovered as well; check out Cynthia Smith's Cynsations for a springboard into that world, and feel free to post your own faves in the comments section. It's fine and dandy when folks ask the librarian what their children to read, but I've said it before (wait! wait! Let me drag the soapbox out of the closet), in order to become true supporting characters in our children's reading life stories, we've got to be active participants and do all we can to widen our own girth of knowledge so we can individualize instruction using children's lit.

And speaking of widening our girth. Here is the much requested recipe from the brunch at the PlanetEsme Gingerbread Apartment:

Blintz Souffle Recipe (adapted from the King Kold website)

2 packs frozen blintzes (any flavor)
1/4 lb. butter
5 eggs, well beaten
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon Orange Juice (optional)

Melt butter in 2 quart casserole and place blintzes over butter in one layer. Blend other ingredients with well beaten eggs and pour over blintzes. Bake for 45 minutes in 350 degree oven or until the tops start to brown. Serve with powdered sugar, jam or sour cream.

Serving Suggestion: use both cheese blintzes and fruit filled blintzes. When placing the blintzes in the casserole, alternate the cheese blintzes with the fruit blintzes for a unique variety!

Enjoy! And hope to see you next year at the blogger's jubilee in Portland, Oregon!

Links are provided for informational use. Don't forget to support your local bookseller.

WHERE I LIVE (FICTION), HALF A WORLD AWAY (PICTURE BOOK) and BOOKROOM TRIBUTE

FICTION

WHERE I LIVE by Eileen Spinelli, illustrated by Matt Phelan (Dial)
The good news: Diana won a contest with her poem about the sun and is going to get to go to a workshop with a real, live author; her best friend Diana lets her borrow her fetching purple flopple (sometimes); and mom is coming home soon after taking care of Grandpa Joe, who broke his arm. The bad news: all the whispering Diana has overheard has been about the job Dad has lost, and now the family is going to have to move in with Grandpa Joe. How can Diana ever leave her beloved yellow house, or find a friend as fun and loyal as Rose? Will she still get to meet the author? A middle-class American child's common dilemmas get a sympathetic treatment here, and are given gravity and immediacy. With no shortage of issues, the author manages to bring it around believably and naturally, lest we forget that from a child's POV ups and downs really do seem to happen at a rapid-fire pace. First person prose is given a line-by-line poetic format and adds to its readability. I appreciated the illustrator's depiction of Diana's best friend Rose as an African-American, a refreshing inclusion in the suburban setting. This book is an excellent choice for kids who are looking for a book about "a kid like me." (7 and up)

And "moving" right along...
HALF A WORLD AWAY by Libby Gleeson, illustrated by Freya Blackwood (Scholastic) Exceptionally beautiful watercolors grace of this story of two great friends separated half a world away by a move. "If I call Amy really loudly, she'll hear me, won't she?" "Maybe," says grandma. "You can only try." The boy's call covers wordless double-page spreads across the country and into the distant city in the form of clouds, a dream that is felt and recognized by his dear friend so far away. This book so gracefully acknowledges both the real pain children experience when a friend moves away as well as affirms the power children have to continue to love. Moving and beautiful, when I read it to a group of early childhood teachers, there was a lot of damp eyes and a choke in my own throat. As far as books that deal with childhood issues, this sensitive, hopeful and powerful title deserves to be a classic about moving the way Judith Viorst's THE TENTH GOOD THING ABOUT BARNEY marks the passing of a pet. (4 and up)

Also of interest:
Putting down prose in a lineated form is also employed by the popular young adult author Sonya Sones in many of her titles, including ONE OF THOSE HIDEOUS BOOKS WHERE THE MOTHER DIES (that is the actual title, not an editorial comment). But this stylistic choice is not the sole property of the teenage set. WHERE I LIVE immediately brought to mind my yellowing copy of Vivan L. Thompson and Lilian Obligado's SAD DAY GLAD DAY, also about a girl who has to move (in 1970, I'd say Thompson was way ahead of her time). The increasingly popular form also begs mentioning a couple of other poignant picks for point-of-view:
LOVE THAT DOG by Sharon Creech (Harper Trophy) Jack's opinion of poetry changes after connecting with author Walter Dean Myers. Is poetry just for girls, or does it spill out with the depth of Jack's feelings? Love that book. (8 and up)
AMBER WAS BRAVE, ESSIE WAS SMART by Vera Williams (HarperTrophy) Two savvy sisters navigate their urban setting and find fun under trying circumstances in this honest but hopeful portrait that every city kid will recognize and every suburban kid should know about. (7 and up).
SKETCHES FROM A SPY TREE by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer, illustrated by Andrew Glass (Clarion) This very rich collection allows the reader to spend a season looking out from the boughs of a tree with a reflective friend. This volume will inspire journaling as well as poetry writing! (7 and up) This author is also a name to know when looking for fresh lineated prose; she used it in her latest novel, REACHING FOR SUN, which has already received many accolades for its masterful meshing of poetry and prose to get inside the head of the likable narrator Josie, who has cerebral palsy connects her own experience to her love of plants and things that grow. (12 and up).

On a personal note:
A PLANETESME BOOKROOM TRIBUTE

We are involved in a big move and change here...will you indulge me in a little goodbye (and maybe a hello, too?)

The PlanetEsme Bookroom started in 2004 as a physical manifestation of my website. It was a private, non-circulating library and literary salon geared toward parents and elementary school teachers, dedicated to the principles found in my book,HOW TO GET YOUR CHILD TO LOVE READING: FOR RAVENOUS AND RELUCTANT READERS ALIKE. Among them: Reading is more than a skill; it's a lifestyle. You can be your child's best teacher using children's literature. And no child is a lost cause when it comes to books any more than someone is a lost cause when it comes to falling in love; it's all about making the right connections. I was inspired by a visit to a Christian Science Reading Room that was at a bus stop where I often waited, but I had never ventured inside because it was not my faith. One day it occured to me that reading children's books and making sure people knew about the literature were a huge part of my faith, at least in humanity and the future of my country, so I went in and asked the very obliging librarian about the model and framework of the place, which was very simple, straightforward and welcoming. My husband, son and I then moved my collection of 12,000 children's books garnered over 18 years into a vacant appliance reconditioning shop, and transformed the place into Chicago's literary living room.

My husband built shelves as fast as I could fill them, and friends came bearing gifts: a hand-painted chair, a garbage can, light bulbs, a new lock for the door, a poem, a painting of a mermaid, golden promises by authors and illustrators to star in events. My uncle christened the joint with a noisy but handsome pipe organ, our famous "glonkenshponkel" which doubled as a burglar alarm. Besides special family events open to the community (like the Johnny Appleseed Anniversary party, magical convention, spring cleaning storytime, Hans Christian Andersen unbirthday party, Anansi shadow puppet show, Curious George camp, presidential picks complete with stump speeches by kids, literary love-in celebrating the best authors/illustrators you never heard of, Hannukah hoedown, holiday cookie swap), the space was used by many groups, including homeschoolers, college professors who brought their classes and my local chapter of SCBWI. I loved our monthly public "Wish List Wednesdays" in which I threw down the best of the best to consumers hungry for quality; I was so happy to talk to teachers-in-training about how children's trade literature can free them up to be the educators they wanted to be, and veterans who were invigorated by the possibilities that the titles brought to the planbook. I was excited to see parents write down recommendations for new books, and to read aloud to children every day.

A great reader makes her audience laugh!

We had an embarassment of riches when it came to visiting authors and illustrators. The events were free, with the expectation that everyone who attended bought a book in support of our guest artists. Some guests drew crowds that filled the room from wall-to-wall, though one of my very favorites was the cozy and mesmerizing show given by W. Nikola Lisa, telling his stories and the stories of others one rainy afternoon, making an hour pass like a few minutes. Or maybe it was watching a room full of folks illustrate on their own drawing boards while Matthew Cordell and Julie Halpern led the way. Or Caroline Crimi leading a monster mash in a green witchy wig, or Tom Lichtenheld in pirate regalia teaching children to say "aaaargh." Kathleen Krull and Paul Brewer sharing childhood sketchbooks, Michael Buckley fielding hard questions from the audience about the difference between wonder tales and fairy tales. Mordicai Gerstein crumpling paper and imagining what the first drawing might look like. Bobbi Katz sharing poetry over melted brie and strawberry jam. Mem Fox down on the floor reading aloud to preschoolers, Cheryl Coon at the podium, talking about bibliotherapy with a room full of rapt parents and educators. Brian Selznick cracking up a standing-room only crowd, and Laura Ruby, Carmela Martino, and Brenda Ferber on a panel representing some of the Great Women of Fiction. All of these folks did wonders to empower the people who visited the Bookroom with the sense of possibility that comes with literacy, and the amazing revelation that there are real, vibrant people behind the books that we love.

Sugar gliders welcome at the Bookroom

The Bookroom did not recieve federal funding and I did not apply for not-for-profit status. I charged no membership fees and all of our events were free. I think people often stop themselves from doing things because they are daunted by a percieved lack of resources and preponderance of paperwork...I know this sometimes feels like a roadblock to me, too. I wanted to practice what I preached, "potato pedagogy," in How to Get Your Child to Love Reading and see what could be done with what I had. I used the advance I got for that book to start the space, and I did regular keynotes and speaking engagements every month to keep it afloat. People close (and not so close) suggested I might be a little bit crazy, and that I should save the money I was making for my own family or charge a fee, but I did not want to charge a fee because when people pay money they often feel entitled, and because of my speaking and writing schedule I could not acommodate those feelings. Besides, Albert Camus said:
"Insane generosity is the generosity of rebellion, which unhesitatingly gives the strength of its love and without a moment's delay refutes injustice. Its merit lies in making no calculations, distributing everything it possesses to life and to living men. It is thus that it is prodigal in its gifts to men to come. Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present."

Thanks to Andy Laties for introducing me to this quote. I think this is a very important value and a necessary paradigm shift for our country (if I may say so).

In the freezing Chicago February of this year, a pipe burst and flooded into the Bookroom. Thanks to a conscientious neighbor who noticed through a window that the floor looked "shiny," the water was stopped before serious damage to the collection could be done. It was a miracle! But the carpet and basement was badly damaged, and there was concern about mold. With the building going up for sale and my lease about to end, coupled with difficulties I had juggling my new full-time responsibilities as a school librarian, it was clear that the time had come to think about closing that location. I looked into buying the property, but the investment would have taken half a million dollars. I really didn't know if I had the heart to start again, but then as I was packing I came across a pamphlet I had written, "How to Start a Bookroom": "if you want a Bookroom, the equation is books + room + people + enthusiasm. You don’t need a lot to begin...the more you do with what you have, the more you will make people feel like they can do it, too, and that what they have to contribute is enough." (Incidentally, if you want a copy of the pamphlet, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to PlanetEsme.com, P.O. Box 6225, Evanston, IL 60204).

I am glad about the Bookroom because it really did exist in the real world exactly, exactly as I imagined it inside my mind, and every time I walked into it, it was like walking into the best and most cheerful part of my brain. It was so wonderful to imagine building something and then working hard to have it manifest itself in the real world that I can only recommend you do the same, whatever it is that you dream. I am so happy that my son could see it happen, so he knows it can be done; that knowledge, to me, is beyond anything he could have been promised in college (though I still hope he goes someday). I guess Camus was right, even if he was a little crazy. I learned a lot about how to grow the concept in the next round, and indeed, it is a concept that can blossom into something much bigger. I am glad for the social experiment aspect of it and for beginning that way, it was incredibly valuable. I am also very proud because a wonderful person named Julia Martin came to the Bookroom and reinvented the concept for her own not-for-profit, Bread for the Head, which has set up numerous Bookrooms in projects and economically challenged areas in and around Chicago, and I am delighted to serve on her board.

I write this like an obituary, but in fact there is plenty of reason to celebrate, as The PlanetEsme Gingerbread Apartment will be the new manifestation of PlanetEsme outside of cyberspace. The first gathering there will be a breakfast for the first annual Kidlitosphere blogger's convention, and then I look forward to having more people bring the best of themselves into the space as we create fresh and happy magic. Though the new space will dictate some new purpose, I am as excited as anyone else to discover what that will be, and meanwhile I continue to plan based on what I have learned. It was, as they say, a dream come true, and the only terrible side effect was that it has lured me into dreaming bigger, and feeling impatient about it.

Here is a poorly compressed video tour of the old Bookroom!
What do you think the new one should be like?

I am so grateful to so many, but here are just a few special thanks from the Bookroom:
THANK YOU to the rockin' reading people at the Patterson Pageturner Awards for their amazing prize! What an honor!
THANK YOU to Thomas Cray for his help with logos and wepage design!
THANK YOU to Liza Tursky for our garden, our candy mosaic, and your always outstretched helping hand!
THANK YOU to Karen Tipp for her very fairy-godmother-like donation of a copy machine to the PlanetEsme Bookroom!
THANK YOU to the Evanston Homeschooling Network for their continuing support through napkins, utensils and home-baked goodies!
THANK YOU to Alice Revelski for the various garden delights that continually decorated the room!
THANK YOU to Liz Moore at The Bookstall for the invaluable business partnership!
THANK YOU to Betty Sitbon and Maureen Breen for paintings and poetry!
THANK YOU to Sandra Soss for volunteering as my assistant!
THANK YOU to Veronica DiCapria for her loyalty and dedication to publicity!
THANK YOU to Pamela Dell, Diane Wood, Jesse Semeyn and The Foos for their special help and moral support during the move!
THANK YOU to Uncle Dave Newman for always being the fix-it-go-to-guy and for the loan of the glonkenshponkel, and all-around amazingness!
THANK YOU to my husband Jim for building the shelves and my dreams!
THANK YOU to my son for not wrestling in the space!
THANK YOU to Illinois SCBWI for continual cheerleading and participation in my programming!
THANK YOU to everyone who has offered their kind and generous support in so many ways!
THANK YOU to everyone who came and read and shared and taught and laughed and ate and gave the place an energy that will be hard to recreate or outdo...but it'll be fun to try!

Links are provided for informational use. Don't forget to support your local bookseller.