Mock Newbery Madness

The end of the year approaches and Newbery fever has taken hold! What will win the top prize in kid lit this year? Here are my personal favorites:

1. The Kneebone Boy by Ellen Potter
2. Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes
3. The Water Seeker by Kimberly Willis Holt
4. Countdown by Deborah Wiles

Unlike last year, when I was so sure what the winner would be, I'm prepared to be completely surprised this year. We'll see what our young King County patrons think when our You Choose the Next Newbery discussions get underway!

Best Books for Babies

You're never too young to enjoy a good book. Here's my list of the top tomes for tiny tots.

Electronic Picture Books

I was recently in Washington D.C. for the American Library Association's Annual Conference. One program about Early Readers used Adobe's After Effects software to share a picture book with a large crowd. It was way cool because the animation made it look like a real book: you could see the pages turning and the die-cuts falling into place. The experience made me wonder how electronic readers are handling picture books, so I did a little googling and here are some interesting article/sites to check out:

The Digital Revolution in Children's Publishing (PW article)

The iPad Meets the Children's Book (PW article)

readeo (website for sharing books over the internet)

Tumblebooks (one of the children's e-book products we offer at the library)

iStoryTime (a place to buy kids' books for Apple products)

Dr. Seuss apps from Oceanhouse Media (another example of the above)

Survival Stories

There is a group of boys at my library who love survival stories. They started out with Hatchet by Gary Paulsen and now they're addicted. I can totally see why. One of my favorite books of recent years is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, which is essentially about surviving a televised death match. There is a great sense of urgency and purpose in survival stories, which, I think, is what makes them compelling. And lucky for us, from Robinson Crusoe to Castaway, there is a long tradition of great tales of survival.

So, as a reference to me when the survival boys come calling, here is a list of middle-grade (i.e. good for 9- to 12-year-olds) fiction that features stories of survival:

1. Hatchet by Gary Paulsen (and Brian's Saga sequels)
2. A Girl Named Disaster by Nancy Farmer
3. Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
4. Call of the Wild by Jack London
5. White Fang by Jack London
6. My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
7. The Incredible Journey by Sheila Every Burnford
8. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
9. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
10. The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare
11. Call It Courage by Armstrong Sperry
12. Abel's Island by William Steig
13. The Cay by Theodore Taylor
14. Nim's Island by Wendy Orr
15. The Underneath by Kathi Appelt
16. Mr. Tucket by Gary Paulsen (and sequels)
17. A Dog's Life: The Autobiography of a Stray by Ann M. Martin
18. The Cats of Roxville Station by Jean Craighead George

Titles in black have male protagonists. Purple have female protagonists. Red have animal protagonists.