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New Books for Kids
I recently traveled to California to attend the American Library Association's Annual Conference. This event is a big deal for librarians across the country - over 22,000 people attended this year. One of the most exciting parts of the conference is getting to spend hours in the exhibits hall, looking at displays from vendors and publishers and picking up free books. Hundreds of authors also attend this annual event, and I stood in lines to get autographed copies of books from some of my recent favorites.
"The Underneath," written by Kathi Appelt and illustrated by David Small, is already one of my picks for best books of 2008.
This is a remarkable, beautifully written story of a pregnant, abandoned cat that makes a family with a chained-up hound dog underneath the front porch of the house of an abusive drunk named Gar Face. It's also the story of the Texas bayou where they live, with elements right out of a legend or folk tale ... a giant alligator king, a mysterious creature imprisoned in a clay jar and the wise old trees themselves. It's a medium-length novel, with black and white illustrations by David Small. The depth of the novel and the brutal realities faced by the animals probably make it better suited for ages 9 and up. The language is so lyrical that it would make a great read-aloud for older children.
I also had the amazing opportunity to meet authors of several of this year's award-winning children's books, including "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Brian Selznick, which won the 2008 Caldecott medal for children’s book illustration. This is no picture book. It’s a hefty, 500-page novel that tells the story of an orphaned Parisian boy living in a train station at the turn of the century through an innovative combination of text and many pages of wordless illustrations. If you haven’t had a chance to pick this one up yet, you’re in for a real treat.
The other wonderful part about the exhibits at ALA is picking up “advance” copies of books that will be published in the upcoming months. Two that I am really excited about are "Hate that Cat" by Sharon Creech and "Inkdeath" by Cornelia Funke.
"Hate that Cat" is a companion to "Love that Dog" and continues the story of Jack, a school-age boy who is recovering from the death of his pet dog, and expresses himself in free-verse poetry. It will be released on Sept. 23.
"Inkdeath" is the conclusion to the Inkheart trilogy, an extremely popular set of fantasy novels by German author Cornelia Funke. The series follows a girl named Meggie who, along with her father, has the ability to pull characters out of books by reading aloud. The final book in the trilogy will be out on Oct. 7. The movie version of "Inkheart" is coming in January 2009.
Every weekend, a rotating group of writers offer new ways to relax with your kids. Karin Michel is head of youth services for the Chapel Hill Public Library, which always has lots of great events and activities for kids.
Check out our other daily themes at TriangleMom2Mom:
MONDAY: Meet!
TUESDAY: Ask!
WEDNESDAY: Eat!
THURSDAY: Play!
FRIDAY: Out!
WEEKEND: Relax!
Submitted by KarinCHPL on Jul. 12, 2008, 12:00 am
I recently traveled to California to attend the American Library Association's Annual Conference. This event is a big deal for librarians across the country - over 22,000 people attended this year. One of the most exciting parts of the conference is getting to spend hours in the exhibits hall, looking at displays from vendors and publishers and picking up free books. Hundreds of authors also attend this annual event, and I stood in lines to get autographed copies of books from some of my recent favorites.
"The Underneath," written by Kathi Appelt and illustrated by David Small, is already one of my picks for best books of 2008.
This is a remarkable, beautifully written story of a pregnant, abandoned cat that makes a family with a chained-up hound dog underneath the front porch of the house of an abusive drunk named Gar Face. It's also the story of the Texas bayou where they live, with elements right out of a legend or folk tale ... a giant alligator king, a mysterious creature imprisoned in a clay jar and the wise old trees themselves. It's a medium-length novel, with black and white illustrations by David Small. The depth of the novel and the brutal realities faced by the animals probably make it better suited for ages 9 and up. The language is so lyrical that it would make a great read-aloud for older children.
I also had the amazing opportunity to meet authors of several of this year's award-winning children's books, including "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Brian Selznick, which won the 2008 Caldecott medal for children’s book illustration. This is no picture book. It’s a hefty, 500-page novel that tells the story of an orphaned Parisian boy living in a train station at the turn of the century through an innovative combination of text and many pages of wordless illustrations. If you haven’t had a chance to pick this one up yet, you’re in for a real treat.
The other wonderful part about the exhibits at ALA is picking up “advance” copies of books that will be published in the upcoming months. Two that I am really excited about are "Hate that Cat" by Sharon Creech and "Inkdeath" by Cornelia Funke.
"Hate that Cat" is a companion to "Love that Dog" and continues the story of Jack, a school-age boy who is recovering from the death of his pet dog, and expresses himself in free-verse poetry. It will be released on Sept. 23.
"Inkdeath" is the conclusion to the Inkheart trilogy, an extremely popular set of fantasy novels by German author Cornelia Funke. The series follows a girl named Meggie who, along with her father, has the ability to pull characters out of books by reading aloud. The final book in the trilogy will be out on Oct. 7. The movie version of "Inkheart" is coming in January 2009.
Every weekend, a rotating group of writers offer new ways to relax with your kids. Karin Michel is head of youth services for the Chapel Hill Public Library, which always has lots of great events and activities for kids.
Check out our other daily themes at TriangleMom2Mom:
MONDAY: Meet!
TUESDAY: Ask!
WEDNESDAY: Eat!
THURSDAY: Play!
FRIDAY: Out!
WEEKEND: Relax!
