Renewing my (blogger's) vows

I read this interesting post yesterday on the Presenting Lenore blog, about the Do's and Don't of polite blogging, and--even more specifically--about interacting with authors. The post was particularly directed towards YA book bloggers, but they were tips that are certainly applicable to all. For me personally, the post was enlightening, because it showed me just how naive I am about my own blogging. It has never crossed my mind to actually approach an author in the hopes of drawing readers to my blog. I've never run any sort of competition. In fact, other than cross-posting to a few social networking sites, I do pretty much zilch in the way of promoting my blog. While I'd love for Team NJFK to take off, I'm admittedly relying on the "write it and they will come" philosophy. And my mom, of course.

That post got me thinking about my own blogging behavior. When I started this blog back on 3 August 2007 it was done mainly because I couldn't afford to return to graduate school, but I wanted to join the conversation about great books for kids. I was also trying to bring an adult reader's perspective: these are great books for kids, but grown-ups will find a lot to appreciate, too.  From the start I've been an inconsistent blogger (sigh,) and I post far more reviews than I ever intended, mainly because I've realized that reviews and recommendations are what the random browsers--those readers I've hoped to catch in my world wide web (ha ha)--are looking for.

Anyway, the point is, I'm sure I've made some mistakes as a blogger, and I will never have a readership of millions (hundreds?) because I'm catch-as-catch-canning it here at Not Just for Kids. But all the same, this is a good time to reiterate what you can expect to find here:

--my commentary and opinion (let me repeat: MINE. Not my employees or anyone else's) about books, trends, controversies, and news in the world of childrens literature;
--positive book reviews. If I didn't like a book I won't blog it. Plain and simple. If I have something negative to say about a book, I'll do it at goodreads.com, and it will be short and (not so) sweet. This space is for the stuff I love;
--lots of spelling mistakes. I can't spell for you-know-what, and I can't get the spell check on the new format Blogger to work;
--vigorous campaigning for the rerelease of the Church Mice books!
--booklists (note to self: post more booklists)
--shameless adoration for M.T. Anderson.

There. I think that just about covers it. Comments are always welcome. Unless you are a bot of some sort, of course.

Am I Famous?!

I've made the Encyclopedia Britannica! While Googling myself (always an interesting experience) I found a reference to "The Golden Lion", my folktale retelling that Cricket published in 2006. Evidently it has been used as a source in an entry about Sicilian people. I find that curious. It is, after all, a folktale and not a factual representation of Sicilians by any means. I tried to access the link, but I don't have access to EB online. Can I demand royalties? No, no, probably not. But wow--I'm a source! Not bad, considering my family comes from the other end of Italy.

A New Project

I stand before you--the Children's Literature Guru! Well, maybe only in my own mind. But the fact remains that I know an awful lot about Children's Literature. And I have reached a point in my career where I would like to be recognized as a guru. And until someone will pay me to pontificate about Children's Literature, I'll do it for free.

My Guru qualifications: I am a Children's Librarian. I am a reviewer of Children's books for School Library Journal (I even had a short stint with The Horn Book Guide.) I write for children. I am a candidate for a Masters of Arts in Children's Literature. I read more kids books than you can shake a stick at. I'm a mom (that pretty much qualifies you for everything!)

I don't plan to post many reviews here, although one may slip through every now and then. But I'd love to introduce some of my favorite titles and present a forum for the general appreciation of books written for children.

Enjoy!