Wondering What Your Kids Should Be Reading?

Beth Carswell has blogged about The 25 Books Every Kid Should Have on Their Bookshelf for AbeBooks Reading Copy (AbeBooks blog).

This month is the 70th anniversary of masterpiece The Little Prince, written by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. which merits number one on the list created by Flavorwire.

What titles did they miss? Comment below and we could create our own list! 

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (1972)

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was the antidote to miserable news and online bickering. I retreated to my comfy chair and read a charming Christmas story that reinforces the goodness that we all share.

It is definitely a classic and every kid (and adult) should know it. I read parts out loud just to explain what was making me laugh.

What a wonderful way to reach my goal of reading 40 books this year! Merry Christmas 2012 to everyone, even the Herdmans in our lives.

View all my reviews

Save Queen of Sheba (1981)

Save Queen of Sheba by Louise Moeri
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Years ago I was the sole librarian at a small, rural branch. Deciding it was my duty to know the collection, I chose random titles regardless of recommended ages.

Save Queen of Sheba, an adventure story for young reluctant readers, caught my attention from the opening lines when King David becomes conscious after an Indian attack on their wagon train and realizes he has been partially scalped.

King David, who is twelve, and his spoiled little sister Queen of Sheba, who is six, are the only survivors of the vicious attack. With luck he might save himself, but does he need the burden of his little sister?

This story is a gem. The ending is perfect. And unlike other books I have reread years later, Save Queen of Sheba still has the power to affect me deeply.

View all my reviews

FOOT NOTE: You can buy this slight paperback through Amazon for $999.99 from several sellers or a used copy for $515.92. I am NOT kidding. Click HERE.

Maurice Sendak RIP

1928 - 2012

Read the article in the THE NEW YORK TIMES.

Did you know it's D.E.A.R. Day?

I didn't until I saw a post on Facebook from a friend. Check it out HERE. 

P.S. It stands for Drop Everything and Read, a fabulous idea!

An Amazing Discovery of Fairytales

Spinning a yarn … King Golden Hair, one of the newly-discovered fairytales. Illustration: Barbara Stefan

"A whole new world of magic animals, brave young princes and evil witches has come to light with the discovery of 500 new fairytales, which were locked away in an archive in Regensburg, Germany for over 150 years. The tales are part of a collection of myths, legends and fairytales, gathered by the local historian Franz Xaver von Schönwerth (1810–1886) in the Bavarian region of Oberpfalz at about the same time as the Grimm brothers were collecting the fairytales that have since charmed adults and children around the world."

Read more about this fascinating discovery HERE.

School Library Journal Posts Best Books for Kids 2011

Thanks to a friend, I was directed to the list of 65 books School Library Journal has chosen as the best of 2011. Categories begin with picture books and continue with fiction, non-fiction, and adult books for teens. If you are looking for holiday presents or just titles to encourage your child to love reading, check out this list, which includes Michigan author Shutta Crum's picture book!

You'll also find books I've recommended here on the list for teens.

CRUM, Shutta. Mine! illus. by Patrice Barton. Knopf/Borzoi. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-375-86711-8.
PreS-Gr 2–As an intrepid toddler struggles to take possession of a passel of playthings, he is keenly observed by a frolicsome pup and a winsome infant who is preparing to make her move. The characters’ spot-on body language and facial expressions create a virtuoso visual portrayal of nascent social skills. (June)

SHAME ON THE TODAY SHOW

"It’s become a tradition. The Tuesday after the Newbery/Caldecott Awards are announced, the winners, along with the YALSA or ALA president, are guests on the Today Show."

Would you believe that the Today show said they turned down the segment this year because of a a “lack of interest and scheduling problems”?

And then they had the gall to feature Jersey Shores' Snooki's book A Shore Thing. Eww.

Read more about it HERE and HERE.

Erin Stead of Ann Arbor, Michigan won the Caldecott Award  A Sick Day for Amos McGee (Roaring Brook, 2010) while the Newbery went to Clare Vanderpool for Moon over Manifest (Delacorte, 2010) from Wichita, KS. Both are debut titles and the publishers found they had no copies of Moon over Manifest to fill the orders that started flooding in.

Illustrations from Childhood

If you remember reading Golden Books as a child, the illustrations of Gustaf Tenggren will feel very familiar to you.

"Immediately after publishing this book [Tenggren's Tell It Again Book ], Tenggren produced The Poky Little Puppy, the book that was the model for the hundreds of Little Golden Books that followed over the next seventy years. By going back to his roots and synthesizing his Swedish cultural upbringing, Tenggren invented a style that now seems to us to be quintessentially American." (ASIFA Hollywood Animation Archive to see his artwork. )

Other well known illustrators who worked for Golden Books included Richard Scarry, Garth Williams, and Martin Provenson.

Ballet Shoes (2008 the movie) (1936 the book)

I remember reading and loving Noel Streatfeild's wonderful tale about Pauline, Posey, and Petrova Fossil. Their story, Ballet Shoes, as well as Movie Shoes (also called The Painted Garden) and Theater Shoes (also called Curtains Up), enthralled me as a young reader. So for a holiday treat I had my local library get me the 2008 BBC movie version with Emma Watson (Hermione in the Harry Potter movies).

If you've read the book, you will find the story has been altered for modern audiences and sensibilities. The children come off as far more selfish and a love interest has been added. That being said, it is a charming film by today's standards and, as many reviewers point out, something that mothers and daughters can experience and enjoy together.

See the trailer by clicking here.

And you can read more about the author here.