http://www.momsmiami.com/xmlblog.php?u=82 Blog for suecorbett en-us Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:15:00 EST Oct 22 2009 - 11:15:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=2397 There are all kinds of readers in the world and my middle child is a re-reader. Once he falls in love with a book, he commits. This is the child who got hooked on reading via graphic novels and I wonder if the time it takes to translate a story that’s told mostly in pictures, and the depth of the world created by the addition of visuals, have shaped his reading tastes. He doesn’t seek variety. He could be happy on a desert island with a complete set of Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Thus, I... Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:40:00 EST Oct 15 2009 - 10:40:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=2376 I don’t normally like picture books produced by illustrating songs. The lyrics don’t often work as a read aloud, or they suggest you should be singing rather than reading them, a challenge not every parental voice is up to. But For Baby (For Bobbie) , (Dawn Publications, $19.95) a picture book version of the first song the late John Denver ever recorded, overcomes my objections. The sunny illustrations by South Floridian Janeen Mason depict families and animals from around the world, meaningful paired... Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:35:00 EST Sep 18 2009 - 11:35:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=2290 You could close your eyes in a bookstore and find a good Christmas book. But it is very rare to find a worthy book about, say, Rosh Hashanah. So I was very pleased to read this new retelling of the old Isaac Peretz story: Even Higher! adapted by Eric Kimmel and illustrated by Jill Weber. (Holiday House, $16.95, ages 3 to 8). Though this tale about where the rabbi of a Ukranian village really goes in preparation for the Jewish high holy days may be familiar to many children, Kimmel’s version is lively and... Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:40:00 EST Sep 2 2009 - 01:40:00 PM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=2245 Very interesting interview with Suzanne Collins, author of CATCHING FIRE (the second book in the Hunger Games trilogy), which is now in bookstores. Great job of asking questions by some kid readers! http://www.bordersmedia.com/bookclub/collins?cmpid=SL_20090901_REW Mon, 31 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST Aug 31 2009 - 08:00:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=2233 Very interesting essay in the New York Times Book Review yesterday by the novelist Susan Straight, who tried to parse how Renaissance Learning affixes point values to the books in its Accelerated Reader program: A Reading System That Rewards... What? The discrepancies she notes -- a Harry Potter book worth 44 points while much more complex novels worth half as many -- are only part of my problem with AR (I am very much NOT a fan.) But I have definitely noted the trend of picking books to read based on... Thu, 27 Aug 2009 07:50:00 EST Aug 27 2009 - 07:50:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=2224 So is anybody else having the same problem convincing their children that reading through a Wikipedia entry is not actually doing research? My kids do everything but roll their eyes when I try to explain the difference between what's online and what constitutes a fact-checked source. Then I read this really scary article from the Worcester Telegram about a private school in their area that is converting their library into a cybercafe and doing away with all the books!!! Ye Gods. There is a quote from a senior... Tue, 25 Aug 2009 10:45:00 EST Aug 25 2009 - 10:45:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=2214 If you follow these things, you may already know that after many false fits and starts, there is film version of Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are on its way to theaters shortly. (Release date is Oct. 16) Yes, yes, I know. It's practically sacrilege to take one of the most beautifully distilled picture books of the past century and use a bellows to transform it into a feature length film. I'm not hopeful. Actually, I wasn't hopeful to begin with but now that I have read an excerpt from Dave... Fri, 21 Aug 2009 06:20:00 EST Aug 21 2009 - 06:20:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=2200 I try not to recommend books that aren’t actually available to read yet but today I cannot resist because I have to share this “book trailer” designed to promote Libba Bray’s forthcoming novel, Going Bovine. (It goes on sale Sept. 22) Bray is the author of the Gemma Doyle trilogy, thick, Gothic, Victorian-era fantasies with an other-worldly aspect. I adore them. I love Gemma, who has big problems but plenty of derring-do and, best of all, a wicked wit. However, just because you loved Gemma... Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:55:00 EST Aug 18 2009 - 12:55:00 PM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=2185 Here's some good back-to-school news for those in charge of stocking classroom libraries -- bigger discounts at both Borders and Barnes & Noble for those with an educator i.d. Check it out: http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6677221.html?nid=2286&rid=##CustomerId##&source=title Mon, 17 Aug 2009 07:20:00 EST Aug 17 2009 - 07:20:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=2175 Do you have a little one who is experiencing nervousness about going off to kindergarten? Or would you just like a book the two of you can coo over? Panda Kindergarten by Joanne Ryder is the perfect choice. It is beautifully designed and full of interesting facts about an actual “kindergarten class” of 16 baby pandas, cared for from birth at the Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda inside the Wolong Nature Preserve, China. (Pandas often have twins but can only care for one cub at a time,... Fri, 14 Aug 2009 07:55:00 EST Aug 14 2009 - 07:55:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=2171 So my Big Reader niece, Mara, who usually gets a box o' books from me every summer for her August birthday, has crossed the Rubicon and announced that she really loves her mother's Kindle. Arrrrgh! What to do? One of the best gifts I've ever engineered for anybody was the box of autographed books Meg Cabot graciously sent to Mara, self-proclaimed biggest Cabot fan ever. How does one get an autograph on a Kindle? Look at what happens if you try: Normal 0... Thu, 06 Aug 2009 09:35:00 EST Aug 6 2009 - 09:35:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=2143 Because of the 40th anniversary of the moon landing, there are a ton of new books for young readers on the subject of space exploration. The best of these is Moonshot by Brian Floca, which captures both the excitement and the scope of the Apollo 11 crew’s achievement. Floca is a skilled illustrator of non-fiction material – you can see his attention to detail in the precise watercolor (that’s almost an oxymoron, isn’t it?) and line drawings, but this book is also really well thought out... Fri, 31 Jul 2009 07:10:00 EST Jul 31 2009 - 07:10:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=2117 An editor I work for asked me to mine my sources for information on what teens and tweens are actually reading this summer. So, spill. Send me a few sentences about the books you’ve read since the school year ended (include your age and school name.) I’m especially interested in the books you loved, but if there was something you had to read for school and you feel the need to vent about it, that’s good, too. If the editor uses your contribution, there will be a prize. It will probably be a... Fri, 17 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EST Jul 17 2009 - 08:00:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=2066 Here is something I almost never do: Re-read a book. There are books I would love to read twice but that luxury is an occupational casualty for the book reviewer who has an obligation to move on. In the past decade, I’ve probably re-read fewer than two dozen books and each time it was only because I was reading it aloud to someone else. I say this in order to convince you that there is something truly extraordinary about When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead, a novel for middle-grade readers that went on sale... Wed, 08 Jul 2009 08:35:00 EST Jul 8 2009 - 08:35:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=2036 During the summer, my rising-fourth-grader's book club meets every other week. That way we catch everybody, eventually, since it's so hard to settle on a date during vacation when everybody's schedules are upended. Two weeks ago, we met (at an Italian Ice stand) to discuss Roddy Doyle's The Giggler Treatment . Perfect attendance (!) and a spirited discussion about whether the book was funny (the fourth graders) or immature (the fifth graders.) Yesterday, we met at a backyard pool to talk about Love,... Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:45:00 EST Jun 29 2009 - 12:45:00 PM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1997 From the American Association for the Advancement of Science comes this list of books aimed at keeping your young scientist's synapses firing while school's out. The books cover a range of topics including archaeology, bioluminescent creatures, ahistory of women in the American space program, a bird watching guide and a book containing tips on how to be "green." The target audience is between the ages of 10 and 14, although many of them could be readby adults to elementary school-age children.... Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:30:00 EST Jun 25 2009 - 12:30:00 PM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1989 If this was Twitter this would be a re-tweet: a hilarious re-mix of scenes from the Twilight movie spliced with scenes from Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZwM3GvaTRM What are all the Twilight fans reading this summer, I wonder? Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EST Jun 19 2009 - 12:00:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1964 Get ready to rock: Books & Books is hosting another Teen Band Jam Night, Friday, June 26, at its Coral Gables location. This time the host is none other than . . . Sarah Dessen, author of a slew of teen-pleasing novels. Her latest, Along for the Ride , just released this week, is perfect summer reading material – an absorbing, funny, poignant story about two teens coming to terms with the hand life has dealt them. The main character is a studious, well-behaved beauty named Auden. She’s one of... Thu, 11 Jun 2009 11:45:00 EST Jun 11 2009 - 11:45:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1943 Anybody who read last year’s The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins will understand the excitement in my household when a package arrived a few weeks ago with a sticker on the front depicting a mockingjay inside a gold circle. All I had to do was flash it at my oldest. His reaction: “Gimmegimmegimmegimmegimme.” He reappeared a few hours later looking for something to eat -- and wondering when book three was coming out. Inside that package was, of course, an advance copy of Catching Fire , the... Wed, 03 Jun 2009 22:30:00 EST Jun 3 2009 - 10:30:00 PM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1917 The cakewrecks blog regularly posts very funny photos of baked goods gone bad but this posting celebrated children's literature. Check it out. I love Peter Rabbit and the Hungry Caterpillar seems actually doable. http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2009/05/sunday-sweets-reading-rocks.html A shout-out to Kate Slater from UC-San Diego for pointing me to this. Thu, 28 May 2009 09:40:00 EST May 28 2009 - 09:40:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1898 A friend occasionally asks me for suggestions for her teenager’s Mother-Daughter Book Club. Here’s the list I recently came up with for them. If anybody had a book club winner – a title that both moms and daughters enjoyed – will you share? These are all 2008 or 2009 books, meaning they are very fresh, but only available in hardcover. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson. Oh, god, this story is scary – a first-person account by a girl more interested in being thin than in... Wed, 20 May 2009 00:25:00 EST May 20 2009 - 12:25:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1875 Sergio, the penguin creation of Hialeah-Miami Lakes High alumni Edel Rodriguez, LOVES soccer. (By way of explaining this, Rodriguez told me last year that though Sergio lives at the South Pole, he considers himself Argentinean.) In Sergio Saves the Game , the follow-up to last year’s droll tale about the diminutive penguin’s fear of swimming, Sergio overcomes his lack of athleticism to play a pivotal role on his soccer squad. The first half of the story will be very close to heartbreaking if you... Fri, 15 May 2009 10:55:00 EST May 15 2009 - 10:55:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1848 I love Eric Carle's collages so I must tell you about this collection from Chronicle Books of poster-sized prints. There are some familiar figures here -- the hungry caterpillar in his upside-U phase, a mixed-up chameleon and the marsupial mother and child from Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother, Too? But there are some less well-known but just as vivid selections, too, including a horizontal poster of colorful numbers and a vertical alphabet of collaged letters. Ready for framing, there are 12 in all -- you... Wed, 13 May 2009 00:40:00 EST May 13 2009 - 12:40:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1847 T-minus 4 days and counting until Rick Riordan, author of The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, appears in South Florida to talk about The Last Olympian , the final volume in the series. Check the momsmiami.com site tomorrow for an interview with Riordan that reveals WHAT HE'S UP TO NEXT! That's all I'm going to say. Okay, I'll also say it's good news for Percy Jackson fans. Before then, however, maybe you'd like to do a little writing yourself. Books & Books is looking for... Fri, 08 May 2009 12:50:00 EST May 8 2009 - 12:50:00 PM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1830 In my never-ending quest to find books you can give at a baby shower that are NOT Goodnight Moon , I can now add Before You Were Here, Mi Amor by Samantha R. Vamos, illustrated by Santiago Cohen (Viking, $15.99, ages 2-6) This lovely, colorful book would also be perfect for a new mother, just in case you want to print out a copy of this blog post and leave it lying around whre somebody who hasn’t yet finished shopping could find it. The text is written mostly in English, with Spanish words... Fri, 01 May 2009 07:50:00 EST May 1 2009 - 07:50:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1798 My sixth-grader came home from school the other day bitterly complaining of – stab me in the heart – poetry. “I can’t wait until April’s over,” he said. April is National Poetry month. I love poetry. I subscribe to all those e-letters that offer to send you a poem a day. Liam’s outburst disturbed me deeply (stop snickering), so I probed. The culprit was Edgar Allen Poe’s Annabel Lee . Liam did not get it. He came away from hearing it convinced that poor Annabel... Tue, 21 Apr 2009 11:00:00 EST Apr 21 2009 - 11:00:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1765 Baseball season is upon us but I guess everybody in South Florida knows that, what with Los Marlins holding the BEST RECORD in the major leagues. (Grrr, says the fan of the 6-6 New York Mets.) My team was off yesterday (good news: they didn’t lose!) so I fed my baseball addiction by re-reading this incredibly good new picture book biography by Jonah Winter: You’ve Never Heard of Sandy Koufax?! The artwork, beginning with the lenticular cover image – overlaid images of Koufax on the mound that... Wed, 15 Apr 2009 11:50:00 EST Apr 15 2009 - 11:50:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1742 My nine-year-old’s princess phrase ended, without fanfare, sometime in the past year or two but before it did she was most definitely the target audience for the Fancy Nancy books, written by Jane O’Connor, deliciously illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser. Fancy Nancy herself shows absolutely no sign of abating. The slightly pudgy doyenne of all things debonair is no longer a book character but a franchise. A quick check online reveals more than 50 items for sale under the FN banner –... Fri, 10 Apr 2009 09:25:00 EST Apr 10 2009 - 09:25:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1726 Joyce Sweeney’s novels for teens are predictable in the very finest way – they never disappoint. There’s always an interesting, exciting, sometimes funny story, crafted in such a way that before you know it, you’re at The End. She’s a whiz at hooking the reader on her line, and reeling them in. Her latest, The Guardian , ( Henry Holt, $16.95) teeters on the edge of magic realism for a story about surviving various forms of abuse. Hunter LaSalle, 13,... Fri, 03 Apr 2009 10:10:00 EST Apr 3 2009 - 10:10:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1703 One of my favorite things to do when I speak to very young readers is to introduce a fifty-cent vocabulary word and have the whole class memorize it. I encourage them to repeat it to their parents who will hopefully ask where they learned a word like, say, “schadenfreude,” so the kids can say it was during a discussion of Captain Underpants . So when I read Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld (Chronicle Books, $16.99, ages 3-up) my first thought was, “What a... Thu, 02 Apr 2009 09:20:00 EST Apr 2 2009 - 09:20:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1700 Big news for fans of Greg Heffley. Book Four in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series now has a publication date – Oct. 12, 2009 . No title yet but author Jeff Kinney says, “ I’ll be taking Greg out of the school setting for the first time and into the summer, which opens up lots of exciting possibilities.” I’m guessing Greg is not a star on the swim team. Meanwhile, a movie based on the series is currently in the works .Surprisingly, it is not animation; it is... Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:00:00 EST Mar 27 2009 - 12:00:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1678 I rarely stay up to watch the Oscars but this year, amazingly, was still cognizant when they handed out the statuette for best documentary to Man on Wire , a film about Phillipe Petit’s 1974 tightrope walk between the still under-construction twin towers of Manhattan’s World Trade Center. I was a girl in New York in 1974, but my familiarity with this mind-boggling event comes from Mordicai Gerstein’s 2004 Caldecott Medal-winning The Man Who Walked Between the Towers which not only... Fri, 20 Mar 2009 07:15:00 EST Mar 20 2009 - 07:15:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1655 The lifespan of a caterpillar is between two weeks and a month, which is even shorter than the shelflife of a children’s picture book, most of which are on their way to being out of print a year after they are published. So "impressive" barely begins to describe Eric Carle’s chubby green caterpillar, which turns 40 this year – an incredible feat for a caterpillar, yes, but nearly as astonishing a record for a children’s book. Since its debut in 1969, 29 million copies... Thu, 12 Mar 2009 16:25:00 EST Mar 12 2009 - 04:25:00 PM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1626 Last Saturday I took the kids to New York's Carnegie Hall to hear The Orchestra of St. Luke’s perform The Composer is Dead , a picture book-cum-police procedural that uses a murder investigation to introduce classical music to children. The work was composed by Nathaniel Stookey, who is very much alive, and narrated by . . . Lemony Snicket. This is not your father’s Peter and the Wolf . It was achingly funny – and when was the last time you heard that word to describe a piece for... Thu, 05 Mar 2009 07:30:00 EST Mar 5 2009 - 07:30:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1591 Here is a fascinating picture book based on a true story from the U.S. Civil War, a book that produced in me one of those “who knew?” reactions. Approximately 10,000 of the soldiers who fought in America ’s Civil War were Jewish. The great majority of them – an estimated 6,000 to 9,000 fought for the union -- but about 2,000 Jews fought for the south. Elka Weber, a New Jersey writer and history teacher, has fictionalized an incident involving one of them, a corporal with... Sun, 01 Mar 2009 06:15:00 EST Mar 1 2009 - 06:15:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1573 the new mystery by Laura Lippman, titled Life Sentences. (For parents, definitely not kids) Stayed up late to read it and the plot is still making circles in my head this morning. It comes out March 10th. A great book club choice! Fri, 27 Feb 2009 07:45:00 EST Feb 27 2009 - 07:45:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1570 If you, like me, have an elementary school age child, I’ll bet one birthday you’ve been reminded about this week is Dr. Seuss’s. Theodore S. Geisel, were he still alive, would turn 105 on March 2. Brigit’s school is celebrating today and the kids are supposed to dress up like their favorite Dr. Seuss character which I’m predicting is going to mean a lot of tall striped hats on the boys and girls pretending to be Little Cindy Lou Who. Creating costumes for Seussian characters is not... Tue, 24 Feb 2009 14:05:00 EST Feb 24 2009 - 02:05:00 PM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1557 Continuing with my theme of multi-talented people who can afford to quit their day jobs because they are so very good at their hobbies, check out this blog entry from bookseller Alison Morris on the PW site. http://www.publishersweekly.com/blog/660000266/post/1360041136.html I wish she would mass produce them. I would take one of each. Fri, 20 Feb 2009 07:50:00 EST Feb 20 2009 - 07:50:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1540 Why does it always seem that a Monday holiday results in a discombobulated week? I feel like it takes all week to recover from having that one day off. I started a lot of stuff this week but didn’t actually get anything done. Frustrating. Anyway, mostly what I did was read, beginning with an adorable new chapter book which I read mostly going up a mountain on a ski lift. There is a lot of time to read on ski lifts and a book small enough to keep in the pocket of your down vest is perfect. Especially if it is... Fri, 13 Feb 2009 09:30:00 EST Feb 13 2009 - 09:30:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1509 A friend of mine (thank you Joan Kindig!) sent me a link to this hilarious short film done by illustrator Jarrett Krosoczka, whose picture book Punk Farm is just about as much fun as you can have reading aloud to kids. The film is about writer’s block and features cameos by Mo Willems, Jon Scieszka, Tony DiTerlizzi, Tomi de Paola, Jeanne Birdsall, Jane Yolen and others. No wonder he was struggling with a book idea – all his creativity went into making this film! Very, very funny. But the... Fri, 06 Feb 2009 06:25:00 EST Feb 6 2009 - 06:25:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1472 I was all set to recommend some new books, including the one with this incredible painting of Coretta Scott King on the cover, when I got an e-mail about a terrific resource for book buyers and classroom teachers: The Brown Bookshelf (at www.thebrownbookshelf.com ) The Brown Bookshelf is a Web site devoted to highlighting books for young readers written and illustrated by African Americans. During the month of February, they are running a series of interviews called “28 Days Later.” Each... Fri, 30 Jan 2009 06:55:00 EST Jan 30 2009 - 06:55:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1446 Herald columnist Carl Hiaasen's latest book for teens is as much fun as his first two, Hoot and Flush -- perfect for Florida kids who need some laughs while they're reading about how development is destroying the place they call home. As he did for the tiny burrowing ground owls in Hoot , Hiaasen turns a sympathetic spotlight on the plight of Florida Panther in Scat . The hero is Nick Waters, who has a lot on his mind. He’s worried about his father, a National Guardsman... Mon, 26 Jan 2009 10:45:00 EST Jan 26 2009 - 10:45:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1426 As promised, here are the winners of the 2009 Newbery and Caldecott Awards: Newbery Medal: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman Newbery Honors: Savvy by Ingrid Law The Underneath by Kathi Appelt The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom by Margarita Engle After Tupac and D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson Caldecott Medal: The House in the Night, illustrated by Beth Krommes, written by Susan Marie Swanson Caldecott Honors: A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever by Marla Frazee A River of... Fri, 23 Jan 2009 12:55:00 EST Jan 23 2009 - 12:55:00 PM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1418 It’s award season in children’s lit land. Monday, beginning at 7:45 a.m. Mountain Standard Time (the American Library Association’s Midwinter Conference is in Denver this year), librarians will announce the 2009 winners of the Newbery Medal, the Caldecott Medal, the Printz Award, the Coretta Scott King Award, and awards given in honor of a bunch of great ladies: Laura Ingalls Wilder, Margaret Edwards, May Hill Arbuthnot, Mildred Bachelor, Pura Belpre – the list is nearly endless. I have... Fri, 16 Jan 2009 07:05:00 EST Jan 16 2009 - 07:05:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1376 My brother lives in northern Virginia and we briefly contemplated making the trek to D.C. for Tuesday’s awesome moment in American history. My kids have been so jazzed about Obama’s election. It seemed like a great opportunity to capitalize on that. Alas and alack, we have been scared off by the crowd estimates, the weather forecast (possibility of snow in Virginia on Sunday and Monday – Virginia does do not do snow well), and reassured by teachers that everyone at school will get to... Thu, 08 Jan 2009 22:15:00 EST Jan 8 2009 - 10:15:00 PM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1345 Now we reach the end of Mia Thermopolis’s reign on the bestseller lists which began, 10 books ago, when the gawky, geeky 14-year-old learned she was heir to the throne of a small European principality. I loved the original Princess Diaries book but admit to not be able to keep up with Meg Cabot’s output. Meg writes books faster than I can read them. In the past decade, she’s published – this is not a misprint – 50-something books: historical romances, the Mediator series, the... Fri, 02 Jan 2009 08:45:00 EST Jan 2 2009 - 08:45:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1318 A decade ago, I wrote a story about a heroic volunteer at a Red Cross shelter in Fort Lauderdale who while helping hurricane victims had been victimized himself – his wallet, and the money it contained to take his family to Disneyworld – robbed during a long, chaotic night riding out a storm. The man’s story (I have therapeutically forgotten his name) was so moving that a Fort Lauderdale City Commissioner called me after the article ran for information on how to track the guy down... Wed, 24 Dec 2008 09:20:00 EST Dec 24 2008 - 09:20:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1299 How do people find time to blog during the holidays? I can barely keep my head above water! It’s not a good idea to get married on Dec. 19, thereby ensuring that every year there is a wedding anniversary to celebrate when you really need to be writing Christmas cards, nor is it practical to have a baby on Dec. 20 th , who grows up to insist that her birthday be celebrated each and every year. This Dec. 20 th, the baby turned nine so in a bit of combining business with pleasure, we took her and seven of... Tue, 16 Dec 2008 12:20:00 EST Dec 16 2008 - 12:20:00 PM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1277 Hardcover picture books generally cost $16-$17 a piece. Not a lot of money but enough that you want them to be something that a child will read more than once. They are not disposable, like greeting cards. They ought to have enough heft that you can reread them several times and get something new out of each rereading. So if that’s the standard, A River of Words (Eerdmans, ages 7 and up) exceeds it by about a factor of ten. Here is a picture book biography so beautifully crafted I have read... Sat, 13 Dec 2008 14:20:00 EST Dec 13 2008 - 02:20:00 PM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1267 Owney was a real dog that wandered into a post office in Albany , New York in 1888. Befriended by the workers, he took up residence there until, one day, he hopped aboard a train that was carrying outbound mail. The despondent workers thought they’d seen the last of their beloved pooch, but, no! Owney came back. Repeatedly. That’s right – for nearly a decade, Owney rode mail trains all over the country, “guarding” the mail, and collecting metal tags (affixed to his collar)... Thu, 11 Dec 2008 10:25:00 EST Dec 11 2008 - 10:25:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1260 I am a big Bob Graham fan. (The Australian illustrator, not the Florida politician, though I like him, too.) Graham has written and illustrated some of my favorite picture books – Benny (about a travelin’ dog), Max to the Rescue (about the son of superheroes who is a late bloomer in the superpowers department), Oscar’s Half Birthday – I could go on and on. His latest book, How to Heal a Broken Wing , is full of his trademark talents – lovely illustrations made with... Tue, 09 Dec 2008 22:40:00 EST Dec 9 2008 - 10:40:00 PM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1254 We will be driving to Tampa to see grandma at Christmas so I've got the audiobook version of A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett wrapped up as a gift and ready. The kids and I listened to the first book in this series -- The Wee Free Men -- over the summer and when they found out there were sequels, they immediately demanded to hear them. (The narrator, Stephen Briggs, is great.) If you like wacky British humor, this comic fantasy about witch-in-training Tiffany Aching and her magical friends will make any... Sun, 07 Dec 2008 21:10:00 EST Dec 7 2008 - 09:10:00 PM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1236 We are big baseball fans here, and read all the small-ball fiction that comes our way. This book, Six Innings by James Preller, was my favorite middle-grade baseball novel of the year. The plot revolves around a championship game that introduces the lineup player by player, so we learn all their backstories, over the course of this six-inning nail-biter. As baseball stories go, this one's a diamond. Sat, 06 Dec 2008 19:45:00 EST Dec 6 2008 - 07:45:00 PM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1233 (Hey! How about those Gators??) Let’s face it. Books are pretty low-tech and the engineering behind them hasn’t changed much in a couple hundred years. Yeah, in the 1970s, advanced printing methods allowed illustrators full use of their palette, but other than that . . . Until last year’s Gallop! by Rufus Butler Seder, a nifty volume which deploys a technique called “scanimation” to provide pictures that actually move. If you haven’t seen this, you must. It is way... Thu, 04 Dec 2008 22:30:00 EST Dec 4 2008 - 10:30:00 PM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1230 So, ding-dong, the doorbell rang at 9:20 this morning with Kenny, my exceedingly handsome UPS driver, bringing me a review copy of J.K. Rowling's The Tales of Beedle the Bard . I immediately went to the couch and read the whole thing straight through which, despite this being written by Rowling, was actually not that significant a feat. Finally, a children's book from Rowling that is children's book length. I enjoyed it very much. It sent me clambering upstairs for my copy of Harry... Wed, 03 Dec 2008 22:00:00 EST Dec 3 2008 - 10:00:00 PM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1227 If I had a baby in my life to buy a book for this year, this would be the one I’d give, a heartfelt paean to the beauty of all kinds of babies by the Australian writer Mem Fox, with illustrations by the legendary Helen Oxenbury. It could easily become the book your kids give their own kids, or we all give our (theoretical or actual -- you pick) grandkids. You can read the whole story behind the creation of this book here: http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&tag=512... Tue, 02 Dec 2008 09:25:00 EST Dec 2 2008 - 09:25:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1216 Bog Child , Siobhan Dowd’s latest and perhaps last, novel is a masterfully told tale, set on the border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic in 1981. I have a particular love of Irish literature so I was a ready audience for this. It might be a challenge for younger teens, because it reaches across both time (centuries, even) and continents in the telling. It is well worth the effort though. The hero is Fergus McCann, 18, who regularly crosses the border from his home in... Mon, 01 Dec 2008 09:30:00 EST Dec 1 2008 - 09:30:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1208 In this political year, my favorite White House-themed book was this one by Barbara Kerley, What To Do About Alice ? , a spirited picture book biography of Alice Roosevelt, who gave even her adventurous dad Teddy a run for his money. Talk about your mavericks! Alice began life on a very sad note – her mother died as a result of Alice ’s birth – and decided early on to lead a life in opposition to that, all gaiety and exuberance and derring-do. Kerley’s text makes it... Sun, 30 Nov 2008 05:00:00 EST Nov 30 2008 - 05:00:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1204 So the only problem I see with Kadir Nelson winning the Caldecott Medal (the awards are announced in January) is that it will mean yet another year that Marlee Frazee doesn't win. And she is due. Overdue. Big time. Like if she was a library book, they’d have her jailed by now. But I will not be surprised to see her latest book – A Couple of Boys Have The Best Week Ever -- on the list of runners-up. (Harcourt, $16, ages 3 to 7) The two lollipop-headed boys of the title, James and Eamon,... Sat, 29 Nov 2008 06:15:00 EST Nov 29 2008 - 06:15:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1203 it would go to Kadir Nelson’s glorious history of Negro League baseball, We Are the Ship . (I will be SHOCKED if this doesn’t win, and will eat my reporter’s notebook if it doesn’t at least get a Caldecott Honor, so go ahead and look smart to your baseball-loving kid and get the book for him now. It’s probably too late to get a first edition, but you could try.) I think the publisher lists this as 10-up, but adults will get as much or more out of it as kids. It's a sumptuous... Fri, 28 Nov 2008 08:10:00 EST Nov 28 2008 - 08:10:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1201 Hmm. I must admit to disappointment in the number of responses I’ve received to my quest for book titles that would make kids go wild. Here they are, in toto: The Kindred by Octavia Butler (Haven’t read this one myself, but I do love Butler – I’d say it’s teens-up just based on the sophistication of other books by her that I have read.) A writer friend recommended Vampyre: The Terrifying Lost Journal of Dr. Cornelius Van Helsing by Mary Jane Knight (ages 9-12)... Fri, 21 Nov 2008 07:50:00 EST Nov 21 2008 - 07:50:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1169 Now that our kids are beyond the toy stage (except for our third-grader, who still becomes nearly delirious at the arrival of the American Girl catalog), gift-giving at the holidays becomes more of a challenge. We are deliberately spending less as the college years approach, and we don’t want to give a trip (last year’s gift) because, frankly, just the idea of planning it is exhausting. So, there will be some books. We have a lot of them here already. But I love to have a gift-wrapped rectangle... Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:30:00 EST Nov 19 2008 - 08:30:00 PM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1164 The winner of the National Book Award in the Young People's Literature category is . . . What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell! Man, do I look smart, or what? (See last Friday's blog!) I LOVE this book. Fri, 14 Nov 2008 07:40:00 EST Nov 14 2008 - 07:40:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1141 Next week the National Book Foundation will announce the winners of the National Book Awards at a fancy-schmancy dinner in Manhattan . There are four categories – fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and the one I’m most invested in, young people’s literature. Despite the category’s title, the nominees are rarely from the young end of the children’s literature spectrum. Without looking it up, I’m pretty sure no picture book has ever won the NBA, although some longer,... Thu, 06 Nov 2008 10:20:00 EST Nov 6 2008 - 10:20:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1094 Lemony Snicket, the man who brought us books so full of despair the word “unfortunate” appeared in every title, is coming to Miami Tuesday. No, it is not a new adventure about the plucky but unlucky Baudelaire orphans – their story is done, much to Snicket’s (a.k.a. Daniel Handler) regret. ( Snicket’s Regret sounds like a book Snicket would write.) “I miss them,” Handler said of Violet, Klaus and Sunny, whose story ended with the 13 th volume, released on... Thu, 30 Oct 2008 11:35:00 EST Oct 30 2008 - 11:35:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1070 Tales from the Crypt puts the would-be veep on the cover, brandishing a hockey stick. The stories inside are pretty scary, too. (Conor, 14, decreed them off-limits for brother Liam, 11, but I think this is paternalism. If your kids' tastes run to ghoulish, nothing here will give them nightmares.) A back-page editorial insists Tales' staff is NOT endorsing any particular candidate. Governor Palin gets the cover girl spot because of her alleged attempts at book-banning back when she was mayor of Wasilla. The... Tue, 28 Oct 2008 15:25:00 EST Oct 28 2008 - 03:25:00 PM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1064 South Florida author Debbie Reed Fischer will be waving her pom-poms at Books & Books in Bal Harbour tomorrow night to celebrate the release of her second young-adult novel, Swimming with the Sharks (Flux, $9.95, ages 12-up). The heroine, Peyton Grady, thinks she’s got it made when she makes the varsity cheerleading squad at exclusive Beachwood Prep. She doesn’t realize there’s more to being on the Beachwood squad than splits and C-jumps. (Basically if the Head Cheerleader says cartwheel,... Thu, 23 Oct 2008 06:35:00 EST Oct 23 2008 - 06:35:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1043 My mother called last week to make sure I was worried about the stock market which, naturally, I was not. She wanted to know if my husband and I were taking money out of Wall Street but naturally my ultra-cool, what-me-worry? husband had decided it was good time to put more in. “Buy low, Mom,” I told her. Since I was not sufficiently panicked (my mother lives to worry), she then included a note with my birthday card which read in its entirely: “I am terribly worried about your finances.... Tue, 14 Oct 2008 13:55:00 EST Oct 14 2008 - 01:55:00 PM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=1003 I always give books as new baby gifts but NEVER give Goodnight Moon . I actually love Goodnight Moon (have you seen the parody -- Goodnight Goon ? Perfect for Boo! babies) but I gave it once and my copy was the third one unwrapped. So: I'm always on the hunt for great new books for expectant parents that are not Goodnight Moon . The reason I bring this up is that Kristen McClean, who is the ultra-hip, uber knowledgeable executive director of the Association of Booksellers for Children, will be... Fri, 10 Oct 2008 07:15:00 EST Oct 10 2008 - 07:15:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=991 We read a lot of graphic novels in my house, (a sentence that truly surprises me since I was never a comic book reader as a kid myself), and the book that started this craze was American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang, which Liam read two years ago and has re-read about a dozen times since. (I try mightily to resist telling my kids they should move on from books they can recite word for word because I think there must be a reason they need to do this. It might be comfort food for their busy brains.) Yang,... Fri, 03 Oct 2008 09:50:00 EST Oct 3 2008 - 09:50:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=968 Recently I had an assignment for another publication to review all of the books published this year about politics and presidential candidates aimed at kids. I was not paid enough. No, kidding. Actually, I was a political science major in college. I love this stuff. But it got me thinking about what kids are interested in when it comes to politics, and when and how much you want to tell them (disillusion them?) about the imperfect political system that governs our great nation. We have already had... Sat, 27 Sep 2008 08:25:00 EST Sep 27 2008 - 08:25:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=934 Correct! It is Christopher Paolini, author of Eragon , Eldest and now, Brisingr (which could use another vowel -- Vanna?) After finishing the first draft of his latest installment in the Inheritance Cycle, he and and his sister took the executive protection/defensive driving class, practicing forward and reverse 180s, and other evasive tactics while people shot paintballs at them. This does not sound like fun to me but Christopher assures me it was a blast! Rick, are you a really good guesser, or do you know... Thu, 25 Sep 2008 21:25:00 EST Sep 25 2008 - 09:25:00 PM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=931 The photo above was taken at the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving near Phoenix , Arizona , a facility that trains race car drivers, bodyguards, and celebrity chauffeurs. The driver in this photo is taking the Executive Protection/Anti-Kidnapping class, (4 days, $5,925, according to the Bondurant website – www.bondurant.com ) “designed to prepare executives, their families, staff and chauffeurs and special military operations personnel to detect, deter or avoid potential... Fri, 19 Sep 2008 08:55:00 EST Sep 19 2008 - 08:55:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=900 My high school freshman somehow found time in his incredibly busy day to not only start but finish Gordon Korman’s new book, The Juvie 3 , fewer than 24 hours after I handed it to him. (I have a mental image of Conor sneaking in a paragraph or two while he’s supposed to be following what Senora Cowley is explaining in rapid-fire Spanish.) “You HAVE to read it, Mom,” was his response. Then he left again for his daily school/marching band/baseball marathon. I’m guessing... Thu, 11 Sep 2008 06:45:00 EST Sep 11 2008 - 06:45:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=863 So many times when you hear a lot of buzz about a forthcoming book it turns out to be a big dud. Sizzle over substance. Not so with The 39 Clues by Rick Riordan ($12.99, ages 8-12), the first installment in a projected 10-volume series, for which the publisher, Scholastic, has pulled out all the stops. The book is supported by trading cards, a Web site, and a contest with $100,000 in prizes. Gimmicky? You betcha. But the book delivers. The heroes are two orphans, Amy and Dan Cahill, whose... Fri, 05 Sep 2008 10:25:00 EST Sep 5 2008 - 10:25:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=828 In my never-ending battle to make reading as attractive as, say, Total Drama Island (which I made Brigit turn off last night in order for us to read a bedtime story, with much grumbling on her end), I have scored another victory. Brigit’s BFF Olivia, who previously had declared “reading is boring,” has joined our book club. On the walk to school yesterday she reported, with obvious pride, that she was almost done with this month’s book (and we don’t meet until the 24th!) The... Fri, 29 Aug 2008 09:35:00 EST Aug 29 2008 - 09:35:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=808 When my kids were little, I remember those last few weeks of summer vacation seemed interminable. How I wished for school to start so I could hang up my Camp Mommy whistle for another nine months. I actually looked forward to picking up the toy litter in the family room and having it remain neat, at least until 4 o’clock . No more. With a high school freshman, a sixth grader and a third grader, the school year has become an endless loop of homework, tests, music lessons,... Thu, 21 Aug 2008 10:35:00 EST Aug 21 2008 - 10:35:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=778 My family is on vacation this week which normally means a lot of poolside reading for me. But the Olympics are on and I am hooked, as usual. (Shawn Johnson for President! Wouldn’t you be proud to be her mother??? What a class act.) I’ve only finished one YA novel – Paper Towns by John Green (and it was very entertaining. More on that soon.) But one book I made time to read before vacation was The Night Olympic Games by Caroline Hatton (Boyds Mills Press, $17.95, ages 10-up), a... Thu, 14 Aug 2008 12:55:00 EST Aug 14 2008 - 12:55:00 PM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=738 Who said publishing is a staid industry? I see a fertile field, where cross-pollination keeps creating new ways of retelling familiar stories. Case in point: A new graphic novel, Rapunzel’s Revenge by David and Shannon Hale (she of Princess Academy and Goose Girl fame), illustrated by (no relation) Nathan Hale ( Bloomsbury , $14.99, ages 8 and up). This muscular retelling of the old fairy tale about the girl in the tower with the really, really long hair is so spirited I had no reservations about... Fri, 08 Aug 2008 09:15:00 EST Aug 8 2008 - 09:15:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=717 I may be one of the last mothers in America still driving a sedan but it’s looking like a smart choice this summer with a lot of road trips and gas costing between $3.75 and $4.29 a gallon at various spots up and down the East Coast. ($52 to fill up a Honda Accord in Philly this week – who would have believed it?) However, if you have a small car, there’s no muffling the whining or squabbling by putting the current LCC (Least Cooperative Child) in the third row. I have found that an... Thu, 31 Jul 2008 14:05:00 EST Jul 31 2008 - 02:05:00 PM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=694 Okay, so I've already found out that I'm not going to get my wish, outlined in my previous blog post. Wedding chimes ring in Breaking Dawn . You can read all about it here -- http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20215228,00.html – but don’t click through if you aren’t ready to have the plot spoiled a bit. I now officially give up on Bella. However, I have one more thing to say on the subject and it is: Graceling . This is the title of the best book I've read this summer, a... Thu, 24 Jul 2008 21:55:00 EST Jul 24 2008 - 09:55:00 PM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=662 Recently, I found myself in the awkward position of being the interviewee rather than the interviewer, when a reporter writing a story about the Stephenie Meyer phenomenon called to ask me my opinion of the Twilight series. In case you live a teenage girl-free existence, these books are about a high school senior named Bella Swan who has two “boys” in love with her – the drop-dead gorgeous Edward Cullen, who is a vampire, and the hirsute hunk, Jacob Black, who transforms into a... Fri, 18 Jul 2008 08:40:00 EST Jul 18 2008 - 08:40:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=640 One of the great things about modern picture books is the broad variety of subject matters they cover. I’m constantly astonished by how much I learn from reading books targeted at eight year olds. Forget being smarter than a fifth grader. Kids well versed in contemporary picture books could hold their own on Jeopardy . Case in point: Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman , written by Marc Tyler Nobleman, illustrated by Ross MacDonald (Knopf, $16.99, ages 8-up). This excellent picture... Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:05:00 EST Jul 10 2008 - 12:05:00 PM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=608 If you are going to hear the Irish author Eoin Colfer speak, I highly recommend you wear loose-fitting clothing. This is because you will laugh so hard so could wind up splitting the seams of something tight. I issue this warning because Colfer, who lives in Wexford on Ireland ’s east coast, is on his way to the U.S. to promote the release of the sixth volume in his wildly popular (nine million copies sold) series about Artemis Fowl, the juvenile (and I do mean juvenile) criminal mastermind. The... Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:40:00 EST Jul 3 2008 - 01:40:00 PM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=580 Earlier this week, the winners of the 2008 Newbery and Caldecott medals picked up their awards at a fancy-schmancy banquet during the American Library Association’s annual conference, in Anaheim , CA. Brian Selznick, Caldecott winner for The Invention of Hugo Cabret , reportedly gave a speech that was as magical as the book itself – quite a feat. Then it was Laura Amy Schlitz’s turn to speak. One might think that Schlitz, a Baltimore school librarian, would be a bit cowed by... Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:45:00 EST Jun 26 2008 - 11:45:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=543 One of the most fun events I attended at Book Expo last month (this is an annual bookseller convention where publishers flaunt their forthcoming Big Titles) was a preview with producers Gary Ross and Allison Thomas of their upcoming film adaptation of Kate DiCamillo’s Newbery Medal-winning novel, A Tale of Despereaux . Ross and Thomas, a husband-and-wife team, showed us clips and talked about the process of converting a beloved book to Hollywood blockbuster. The short segments we saw were... Fri, 20 Jun 2008 07:35:00 EST Jun 20 2008 - 07:35:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=506 Okay, so I gave out the summer reading list to my book club at our last meeting and let’s just say nobody did any spontaneous cartwheels. This is one of the problems of trying to pick books from the Accelerated Reader list (has everybody else become handcuffed to what’s on the AR list, or is it just our neighborhood elementary?) The AR books tend to be, shall we say, less than au courant. The great new books I’ve just read, and can’t wait to share, don’t have AR tests written for them... Thu, 12 Jun 2008 11:55:00 EST Jun 12 2008 - 11:55:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=468 When my daughter was in first grade she rejected chapter books. Sort of like my middle child at the same age. Both kids were so comfortable sitting on mom and dad’s lap for a picture book, they lacked motivation to read on their own or – heaven forfend – tackle a book without pictures! An Intervention was required. Graphic novels turned Liam into a reader, but I sensed that wasn't going to work with Brigit, who is my social butterfly. The solution was to make reading a group... Thu, 05 Jun 2008 22:30:00 EST Jun 5 2008 - 10:30:00 PM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=431 Does this sound strange? I love a book that makes me cry. But Mem Fox, the prolific Australian picture book writer, made me cry in PUBLIC (embarrassing!) when she read her newest book, Ten Little Fingers, Ten Little Toes , aloud last week at Book Expo in Los Angeles. A paean to the beauty of all kinds of babies, its heartfelt and universal appeal ought to guarantee it an audience for, oh, let’s say, the next millennium or so. It doesn’t hurt that the sublime illustrations are by Helen Oxenbury,... Thu, 29 May 2008 21:35:00 EST May 29 2008 - 09:35:00 PM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=392 Greetings from Los Angeles, day two of Book Expo America, publishing’s biggest trade show of the year. These conventions are exhausting – it’s like trying to fit a gallon’s worth of information, networking and socializing into a quart-size container, but I always come away re-energized, in part, because you get to hear from the authors directly, and learn about the stories that led them to writing. A case in point: Cecilia Galante’s first novel, The Patron Saint of... Thu, 22 May 2008 12:45:00 EST May 22 2008 - 12:45:00 PM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=357 It’s a terribly heavy thing to hang a milestone on a picture book but Uncle Bobby’s Wedding by Sarah S. Brannen (Putnam, $15.99) wears its oh-so-lightly. The straightforward story involves a little guinea pig named Chloe’s fear that her Uncle Bobby’s affection for her, and the amount of time they spend together, will change now that he’s announced he is getting married. Getting to know his fiance soothes this fear – perhaps even too abruptly – as Jamie charms her in... Fri, 16 May 2008 08:05:00 EST May 16 2008 - 08:05:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=325 I could be really elitist and wonder aloud, “Jerry Springer fans read?,” but my darling sister is a Stanford PhD, an avid TV soaps fan, and devours People magazine – there’s all the evidence I need. So here is a book, marketed to teens, which will appeal to anybody who’s ever indulged their voyeuristic instincts and watched an hour of debauchery emceed by Springer and his ilk: Fancy White Trash by Marjetta Geerling, whose day job, last time I checked, was parochial... Fri, 09 May 2008 09:15:00 EST May 9 2008 - 09:15:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=278 This week I read the latest installment in Miami author Laurie Friedman’s books about Mallory McDonald, a winsome character who perfectly embodies all the emotions, fears and joys of your average third-grader. Campfire Mallory (Carolrhoda Books, $15.95, ages 7 to 10) begins with the end of school, a day traditionally associated with overwhelming happiness (on the part of the teachers, anyway) but which in Mallory’s case only heightens her anxiety. The bus leaves for two weeks of sleep-away camp in two... Fri, 02 May 2008 09:05:00 EST May 2 2008 - 09:05:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=244 I avoid books written by celebrities for reasons that can be pretty much summed up by “life is short,” but this week I read the latest book by The Fonz. If you’re my age (child of the ‘70s), The Fonz was always good for a few laughs, usually at his own expense, when he rode his hog onto the set of Happy Days . If you’re the age of my kids, The Fonz is Henry Winkler, a guy who writes books about the underachieving Hank Zipzer. My expectations for the Hank Zipzer books... Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:45:00 EST Apr 25 2008 - 01:45:00 PM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=211 I didn’t learn about the viral popularity of The Warriors series, which debuted quietly in 2003, from seeing the books on various bestseller lists, although they are there, or from a pitch by a publicist, or even – shocking – by reading one myself and loving it. Oh no. I figured it out when the books began disappearing from my home. Babysitters who hadn’t finished by the time their night shift ended tucked them into their purse. Friends (mostly girl friends) of my sons snuck them... Fri, 18 Apr 2008 10:15:00 EST Apr 18 2008 - 10:15:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=176 There are myriad reasons to study poetry – it encourages careful observation of the world, it’s a healthy outlet for emotions, it builds vocabulary, it teaches rhythm and cadence, it inspires the imagination. But Jack Prelutsky, America ’s first-ever children’s poet laureate has done a better job than possibly anyone at persuading children that poetry is worth their while. How? By making it fun. Prelutsky, 67, comes to South Florida next week to tickle the funny... Fri, 11 Apr 2008 09:50:00 EST Apr 11 2008 - 09:50:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=147 Sequels are tricky things. Sequels to beloved books are trickiest. One of my favorite books of all time is Belle Prater’s Boy by Ruth White, which was a Newbery Honor book in 1997. The follow-up, titled The Search for Belle Prater , appeared in 2005, and was a dreadful disappointment, nearly spoiling the magic of the first book, a novel with a perfectly satisfying ending. Now I can almost see how this happened. Kids beg for sequels. They like a book and they want to stay with... Fri, 04 Apr 2008 11:00:00 EST Apr 4 2008 - 11:00:00 AM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=125 One of the highest honors a Latino/Latina author or illustrator can receive is the Pura Belpré Award, presented by the American Library Association to those whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in a work of literature for children. So just who is this Pura Belpré, anyway? Luc í a Gonz á lez, best known in South Florida as the lively librarian who now heads the Broward County Library’s Children’s Services... Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:55:00 EST Mar 26 2008 - 12:55:00 PM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=82 There’s a special pleasure to reading a novel set in a real place you know well, and one of the things I loved about Dorian Cirrone’s new book, Prom Kings and Drama Queens , (HarperTeen, $16.99, ages 12-up) was matching local landmarks to their thinly veiled counterparts in her fictional Fort Lauderdale. The chapter titles are written as headlines, tracking the progress of Hurricane Emily, who shares a name with the main character. A tourist-y cruise boat wends its way up the New River , where the... Mon, 17 Mar 2008 12:45:00 EST Mar 17 2008 - 12:45:00 PM EST http://www.momsmiami.com/?a=profile&u=82&t=blog&blog_id=49 One sure-fire strategy to get my electronics-obsessed kids to read is to find a book with irresistible subject matter. Baseball is big with my boys, so during the long months of winter, we stoke our hot stove league discussions with novels and nonfiction about America ’s Favorite Pastime. This year we discovered two new books that stand heads and shoulders above the usual sports fare. Kadir Nelson has already established himself as an outstanding illustrator – in January, he won a...