September is Hispanic Heritage Month so I am barely squeeking out this list in time to celebrate Latino/Latina and Hispanic culture in children’s literature. Por favor, disfrutar de. (I think I said please enjoy!).
Category: Best Books for Kids
Best picture books, chapter books, young adult books, graphic novels and non fiction for kids.
Predicting Newbery and Caldecott Winners
Ok. So these are not really the list of Caldecott and Newbery candidates for 2011 but School Library Journal Blog’s best guess… but I have feeling that they know what they are talking about. We shall see when the awards come out next year, but I’m betting they got quite a few correct.
Children’s Book Authors Who Never Disappoint
You know how there are authors that your children always wait impatiently for the next new book? And maybe they do a great series which isn’t that much of a stretch. But then there are other authors that either 1) write in a wide range of genres from picture books to easy chapter books to YA fiction and EVERYTHING they write is amazing? Or 2) maybe it’s just that they never jave a dud even though everyone is allowed a dud when they are a prolific author. Or 3) their work is crazy imaginative! How do they DO that?!
Book Club, Activity and Interview with Karen Day
My oldest choose No Cream Puffs by Karen Day for the first book club of the year. They are in 5th grade now and have been meeting for book club since 2nd grade. My daughter played soccer with the author’s daughter this past spring, but she had no idea that the mother is an author, though we (the moms) have all heard of Karen Day and knew of her books here in Newton, MA. What I didn’t know was that KAREN was a really great baseball player and the book is loosely based on her own childhood story! (see interview below)
Massachusetts Children’s Book Award 2011 (ages 7-16)
Our school librarian at our elementary school always has a shelf dedicated to these books and there is a challenge to the the 5th Graders to read the entire list. The reviews are from the Acton Memorial Library.
FREE eBooks: Classic Children’s Literature
There are not a ton of free children’s classics for Kindle, but there are some good ones. I suppose the common theme here is copyright has expired. Here’s a sampling and here’s the link.
Clementine is the new Ramona
One of our favorite literary characters for my 8-year-old middle daughter and me is Clementine. She’s a cross between Ramona (of Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary) and Junie B. Jones by Barbara Park.