Shame on American television networks who don’t believe that the winners of the most prestigious children’s book awards in the U.S. are newsworthy. This is the second year that the major networks have declined to carry segments with the Caldecott or Newbery Award winners despite ALA’s media staff’s outreach efforts. No wonder reading is on the decline. Kids are being told in all sorts of subtle and not so subtle ways that books, even award-winning books, don’t have value.
Now if every one of you who does value kid’s books and reading were to write to the major television networks to tell them otherwise, there is no telling what might happen…
Young adult author, Karen Rivers will be at the Victoria Children’s Literature Roundtable meeting on Monday January 16th to talk about how she found her “dream job” as a writer. Her books are funny, quirky, sad, and impossible to put down. I’ve never read one I didn’t like.
If you happen to be in the Victoria area, drop by the Nellie McClung Branch Library, 3950 Cedar Hill Road for an awesome program. Doors open at 7 pm & you can browse the bookseller’s table until 7:30 when the program starts.
The VCLR is open to the public. Members free, drop-ins $5, students $4.
The Fault in Our Stars was released yesterday by author John Green and since he’s one of my fav young adult authors, I can’t wait to get my hands on it. To celebrate, he and his brother Hank (a musician,vlogger and fellow nerd) are touring from now until the end of January. The Puppy, Pumas and The Tour de Nerdfighting 2012 could be in a town near you soon, so check out the brothers’ vlog entry below for a map. And yes fellow west coasters, this time they’re coming to Vancouver!
An amazing number of bloggers are book fans, so it wasn’t exactly a surprise when the CYBILS were born (the first CYBILS Awards go back to 2006).
FYI, the 2011 CYBILS Finalists have been posted along with summaries and min-reviews. You can’t beat these folks for dedication and breadth of expertise, not to mention that they are all volunteers!
I’m a huge fan of Michael Morpurgo and was once fortunate enough to host him for a talk as well as tour he and his wife around Victoria. His books tend to be of the universal rather than age-dependent sort which is one of the things I like best about his writing. Dear Ollie remains one of my all-time favorites, but he’s written so many others that I have enjoyed. In fact, I don’t think I’ve read a Morpurgo book that I didn’t like. He recently posted writing tips in The Guardian are well worth checking out. I particularly liked this one.
The most important thing is to live an interesting life. Keep your eyes, ears and heart open. Talk to people and visit interesting places, and don’t forget to ask questions. To be a writer you need to drink in the world around you so it’s always there in your head.
Here are two of my most recent favorite Morpurgo reads.
I watched this video on facebook this afternoon and it made my heart break. Bullying takes a terrible toll.
After I watched Jonah’s video, I read his update. He’s doing better. He’s come out to his family, he’s no longer pretending that everything is ok. He’s taken a stand against bullying. Jonah is an incredibly strong kid. He’s come through this terrible experience. He’s survived. Even though his scars are healed, Jonah will carry them for the rest of his life. No child show have to know such fear, isolation and sadness. And what about those children who don’t have Jonah’s strength? Will they survive being bullied? We must protect our children.
REEL: Children and Poetry by Joel Shapiro is an interview with children that is articulate, inspiring, and truly wonderful. I love the fact that the film maker chose not to include the interviewer, letting the children’s words carry the film. Thank you Joel Shapiro for a most wonderful film.
This little gem of video footage comes by way of a retired teacher friend of mine in Alaska, Barbie Jackson. Back when Barbie and I first met, in Ottawa in the early 1970’s, we were both a little homesick around Xmas time and went to the sing along version of The Messiah. When she sent me this little treasure made in Quinhagak, Alaska yesterday, it brought all those wonderful memories rushing back. Just so you know, Quinhagak is a tiny community of about 500 located about a mile from the Bering Sea near the Aleutian Islands . This video has broken a million views and I won’t be surprised if it doubles that by this Xmas. You can easily see why. It was made last year, just before Xmas, by the students, some community members and a grade five teacher whose students were too embarrassed to perform the Hallelujah Chorus from the Messiah in a Xmas concert. The teacher came up with this idea instead. I love teachers. I love how creative and yet how simple this is. It totally warmed my heart. Thank you Barbie. Friendship is a treasure isn’t it.
This is an incredibly moving video made by non-professionals that will bring a tear to the eye of even the most jaded!
The Fault in Our Stars was released yesterday by author John Green and since he’s one of my fav young adult authors, I can’t wait to get my hands on it. To celebrate, he and his brother Hank (a musician,vlogger and fellow nerd) are touring from now until the end of January. The Puppy, Pumas and The Tour de Nerdfighting 2012 could be in a town near you soon, so check out the brothers’ vlog entry below for a map. And yes fellow west coasters, this time they’re coming to Vancouver!
An amazing number of bloggers are book fans, so it wasn’t exactly a surprise when the CYBILS were born (the first CYBILS Awards go back to 2006).
Sheryl McFarlane 