The National Book Award Finalists are announced and Samantha retires

This Wednesday the National Book Award Finalists were announced. The books are:

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

The Underneath by Kathi Appelt

What I Saw and how I lied by Judy Blundell

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks By E. Lockhart

The Spectacular Now by Tom Tharp.

I have, alas, only read and reviewed one of these titles, The Underneath, which I thought was quite remarkable. If you have read any of these books please let me know what you thought of them. The winner will be announced on November 19 at the National Book Awards in New York City. For more information about the National Book Awards please visit the National Book Foundation website.

Another piece of news that I would like to share with you is that American Girl's Samantha is officially retiring. Her books will still be available but that doll that has charmed doll lovers of all ages since 1986 will no longer be for sale in the American Girl stores and on the American Girl website. American Girl has put a "Share your Samantha Memories" page on their website for everyone who has enjoyed having Samantha in their lives.

“As one of American Girl’s most beloved characters, Samantha has been a friend and role model for millions of girls since her debut in 1986,” says Ellen L. Brothers, president of American Girl. “Moving Samantha to the American Girl Archives allows us to preserve her honored place in American Girl’s history and make it possible for us to introduce new characters and product offerings for our customers to enjoy.”

"Samantha, a kindhearted girl of privilege living with her wealthy grandmother in 1904, has captured girls’ imaginations with her compelling story of compassion and friendship in turn-of-the-century America. Although Samantha will be moved to the American Girl Archives, she retains her place within American Girl’s family of historical characters—nine-year-old heroines that give girls today a glimpse of what life was like growing up during important times in America’s past."

Vote to make a difference

Show your children that their vote can make a difference in the lives of others. Visit the Little Brown America Your Vote Counts Page and help you children vote on a number of issues. For every ten votes cast, Little Brown will give First Book a book to give to a child in need.

This initiative by Little Brown was "inspired" by their new book America: The Making of a Nation.

A New Book by Holly Hobbie

Holly Hobbie has long been admired for the little girl character that she created many years ago. Her images of the child with the big bonnet has appeared on everything from lunchboxes to summer dresses. Then she brought us Toot and Puddle, a wonderful pair of little pigs whose stories reminded us of how important the simple things in life are. Now Holly has a new character to share with us. Meet Fanny on Through the Looking Glass Book Review

Little Brown publishing has created some wonderful Fanny activity pages for your children.

· Fill-In the Story
· Maze
· Paper Doll
· Word Search

You can find out more about Holly Hobbie on the profile page that I have created for her.

Student Contest: President for the day

Peachtree Publishers is hosting a contest for school children. Teachers and librarians can ask their students to answer the question "If I were president of the United states for the day I would..." Three winners will be "selected to receive a complete library of Peachtree's 2008 picture books for their classroom. Contest winners will be announced November 4, 2008."

For more information about this terrific contest please visit the publisher's website. The contest information is at the bottom of the page.

Calling all readers - It's time to nominate books for the Cybils

For the last two years bloggers all over the world have come together once a year to choose the books from that year that they liked the most. The books they have been chosen have then been given Cybil Awards. The process begins with members of the public nominating their favorite books in several categories. These are: Fantasy and Science Fiction, Fiction Picture Books, Non-Fiction Picture Books, Graphic Novels, Easy Readers, Middle Grade Fiction, Young Adult Novels, Non-Fiction (Middle Grade and YA), Poetry. Once the nomination period is closed, a collection of knowledgeable bloggers get together to read the nominated books and to decide which of the nominated titles are the winners.

The nomination period is now open, so if you are a reader of children's literature, or if you read a lot to your child or children and remember the books that you liked, take the plunge and submit the names of your favorite books that were published in 2008.

To find out more about the Cybil awards and this process please visit the main Cybils Awards webpage. To nominate a book or books in the categories please visit the nomination webpage. Have fun!

David Macaulay Webcast

If you are a fan of David Macaulay's books then you might like to register for his live webcast which is taking place on Tuesday October 7th at 10:00am (EST). The plan is to talk to him about his new book The way we work, to see him talk to students, and to ask him questions, all in real time. To find out more about David Macaulay please visit his website.

Jumpstart's Read for the Record campaign is a huge success

On October 3rd children all over the United States participated in Jumpstart's Read for the Record campaign. Now in its third year, this campaign helps to raise money for the Jumpstart early education programs, and it also puts free books into the hands of children who do not have many books in their lives. So far the campaign has raised $1.5 million through the reading efforts of children, and 200,000 copies of Coduroy - the campaign's official book - will be donated to children in need. For more information about how this event went take a look at this Marketwatch article.

Bookish Happenings in October

October is a great month for book lovers. In the United States October is National Book Month and I hope you will take this opportunity to read, discuss, share and enjoy books with the young people in your lives. Do visit the National Book Foundation website to get ideas about what you can do to make this a really bookish month.


October is also the month when we in the United States celebrate Teen Read Week. The week is from October 12th to October 18th and the theme for 2008, Books with Bite, is sure to provide teen readers with lots of entertaining possibilites. For more information visit the ALA Teen Read Week website.


The UK also has a book celebration during October. From October 6th to October 12th libraries, schools, and book shops will be participating in Book Week festivities. To find out more about this event visit the Book Trusted website. This years theme is Rhythm and Rhyme and I am sure you will be able to find all kinds of creative ways to make this week special.

Jumpstart's Read for the Record Challenge

Don't forget that October 2nd is Jumpstart's Read for the Record Day. Here is some information about this very worthwhile event.

WHAT:
Jumpstart’s Read for the Record is a national campaign to encourage hundreds of thousands of children and adults to read the same book, Corduroy, on the same day, October 2, 2008. The expansive shared reading experience will raise public awareness about the early education gap that exists between income levels, as well as raise money to support Jumpstart’s national early education programs.

WHY:
Each year, one third of America’s children arrive at their first day of school developmentally behind their peers and without the skills necessary to succeed at grade level. When children begin behind their peers, catching up, especially without additional assistance, is difficult and unlikely. Children who miss out on key cognitive, social and emotional experiences are more likely to repeat grades, drop out of school, and engage in criminal activity. To help children from lower-income communities advance academically in pace with their classmates, Jumpstart recruits and trains adult mentors to work one to one with the children and help build their reading, language and social skills. Last year, Jumpstart’s Read for the Record raised more than $1,000,000 to finance the organization’s early education work in low-income communities.

WHEN:
Jumpstart’s Read for the Record day is October 2, 2008.

HOW:
The campaign will generate public awareness by creating the largest shared reading experience ever and by breaking the record set on September 20, 2007, when 258,000 people read the same book across the country as part of Jumpstart’s Read for the Record 2007campaign. Participants can purchase this year’s official campaign book, Corduroy, at Hanna Andersson’s retail locations, through their clothing catalog, or online at www.readfortherecord.org/books. Jumpstart will receive 100 percent of all the money raised through the sale of these special edition books, which will be available for purchase beginning this summer. Reading activities on October 2, 2008 can range from personal sessions between an adult and a child to big group events with hundreds of people gathering together for a large community reading session. For more information about getting involved, visit http://www.readfortherecord.org/.

WHERE:
One of the best things about reading is that it can take place anywhere and everywhere. Group reading events will be held in schools, libraries, hotels, playgrounds, offices, and homes. Jumpstart’s Read for the Record is not limited to large events. Any child and adult can participate just by sitting down to read.

WHO:
Parents, teachers, community members, college students, and children of all ages.

Banned Books Week - September 27 to October 4

I know this is little late, but I wanted to remind you that this is banned books week. I don't know about you, but the idea of banning any book appalls me. If we all work together we can make sure that this blatant attack on our right to read is thwarted.

You might be thinking that banning books can't be that bad a thing to do. Think again. These are just a few of the books that people have wanted to remove from libraries over the years:

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The Harry Potter series
Bridge to Terabithia
The Goosebumps series
A Wrinkle in Time
To Kill a Mockingbird
James and the Giant Peach
Where's Waldo?

You can see a more comprehensive list on the American Library Association website , and I think you will be surprised to see what is on this list.

Random house has created a fantastic website, their First Amendment First Aid Kit. On this site you will find out how truly frightening book banning is, and you will also find out what you can do to make sure that out First Amendment right is honored and that our books, and our right to read what we wish, are protected.

For more information about Banned Books Week take a look at these other websites and web pages:

The Banned Books Week website
The Info Please "Books Under Fire" article
What you need to klnow about Banned Books Week on about.com
2008 Banned Books Week Report on about.com

“[I]t’s not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. As always, young readers will be the real losers.”
—Judy Blume