Get ready for the 2012 SLJ Battle of the Kids Books!

Who says February is a bummer? Imagine my joy this morning when my sleepy eyes spied the announcement in my Twitter feed that the 2012 BoB contenders had been announced! I adore the Bob's (also known more formally as the School Library Journal Battle of the Kids Books.) I love the guest judges. I love the monkey wrench of the Undead contender. I love the debate and conversation and second-guessing. I love that the BoBs is the metaphorical kick in the rear to my To Be Read pile. It's one final attempt to get to grips with the gems of the previous year before turning my attention to all the great new stuff ahead. I am particularly pleased to see that this year I have read no less than eight of the sixteen nominated titles (which, after the ignominy of a mere one last year, is heartening.) This is the first year where I will have already read at least one book in each of the brackets. And I still have at least a month to tackle the rest.

In terms of predictions.......going by the books I have read, I'm pulling for A Monster Calls, by Patrick Ness, based on an idea by the late Siobhan Dowd, which is hands down the finest book I've read in the last twelve months.

Feel free to weep tears of joy--the SLJ Battle of the Kids' Books is back!

At the risk of effusing, it is with great delight that I announce the return of the School Library Journal Battle of the Kids' Books. Not that I have anything to actually do with it, per se, except act as cheerleader and generally gush about it to my readers (who are hopefully following it themselves.) This is the tournament's third year, and it is still early days over at the Command Center. But Team BoB has presented its list of 16 finalists which will go head to head until there is but one remaining title. The one thing that really strikes me about this year's list is this: I have only read a single title from it! The shame........

Still, it's early days, with the website still under construction, so there's plenty of time for me to catch up. And I am curious to see if they raise the ante even further. Last year they introduced the Undead Round. What surprises do they have in store this year? Go to the aforementioned web site for links to last year's tournament, if you missed out on the fun and want to see what it's all about. You can also follow the BoB on twitter.

Hold on to your hats, folks! This should be fun.

Catching up with BoB

As I've already mentioned, vacation is well and truly over, and it's time to get down to business. Top of my agenda was catching up with School Library Journal's Battle of the Kids' Books, and this afternoon I devoted a chunk of time to the job. I had 8 first round and 2 second round matches to digest, and what fun reading it made! Handbags were at the ready as some favorites toppled early: fan favorite Marcello in the Real World, Newbery Winner When You Reach Me, and Claudette Colvin in a National Book Award rematch with Charles and Emma (my fave)--all gone. I'm so glad I didn't give in to March Madness and try to fill any brackets, because judging by the considerable amount of hand wringing in the comments following each round--no one's doing very well in terms of prediction. I've got nothing at stake and am free to be amazed and amused.

A couple of observations: I was surprised by the number of instances where a book was eliminated either because of an admitted bias on the part of the judges (Julius Lester doesn't like time-travel stories, so When You Reach Me was disadvantaged there,) or because of content (both Nancy Farmer and Helen Frost objected to mature themes finding their way into the hands of young readers.) I found such open criticism by authors of authors strange and unexpected. I guess I thought of authors as one big mutual appreciation society, but I guess they can be swayed by tastes and opinions as easily as....well....I can.

On the flip side, there were some absolutely eloquent, nearly scholarly analysis on the part of some judges. Both Gary Schmidt and M.T. Anderson delivered lengthy, constructive, and downright thrilling reviews which not only analyzed and compared their assigned books, but displayed admiration for the craft of their fellow writers and enthralled this humble(d) reader. I got the impression that it really pained Schmidt to choose one book over the other; his multiple use of the word "dang" made that perfectly clear! And while Anderson did not seem to suffer any qualms about his selection, it was not delivered until after the "loser" (seriously though, there are no losers here) was duly praised for all that was wonderful about it. Perhaps Anderson's thorough treatment of the books stems from having been on the other side of the battle last year, and so agonizingly close to victory. Or maybe it's just that he's so damn good, that he couldn't write a shopping list without making it sound entertaining, intelligent, and persuasive.

Okay, putting aside my superlatives and starry-eyed admiration for this competition, I am now caught up and in position to proceed with BoB through the final rounds. Bring it!

My personal Top Ten Picture Books

Way back in March, librarian and School Library Journal blogger Elizabeth Bird put out a call for nominations for a list of the 100 best picture books. On 2 April she started listing the results in order from 100, with the number one selection announced last week. Between her well-researched, informative poll results and the Battle of the Kids Books, which was taking place at the same time, SLJ has been compulsory reading (which it generally is. But in this case I'm talking first-thing-in-the-morning-right-after-checking-your-email viewing.) I guess my guru status could be called into question, because only two of my top ten made the list, and I'm not even a fan of the book that was chosen as numero uno. And I'm distinctly underwhelmed by the Top Ten in general (can you say canon?) However, it was a highly entertaining and thought-provoking exercise, and I sincerely hope she at some point undertakes to organize a Top 100 Easy Reader poll (easy readers were not eligible for inclusion in this poll.)

Here is my personal Top Ten, with links to the only selections that made the ultimate list:

1) Hey Al By Arthur Yorinks My all-time favorite picture book and I never read it until I was an adult. Infinite wisdom at under 500 words.

2) Grandfather's Journey by Alan Say. I have been an ex-pat myself and then returned home. I have never read anything which expresses the desire for two homes as well as this book does.

3) Jenny's Birthday Book by Esther Averill. Here by default, because The Fire Cat wasn't eligible!

4) Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion. One of the few picture books I remember reading as a child. I think one thing that attracted me was the cover with the two dogs, black and white opposites of each other.

5) Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day by Judith Voirst. I first had this book read to me when I was in the sixth grade, and I was convinced that it had been written for me.

6) Mr. Gumpy's Outing by John Burningham. Another adult discovery and one of my favorite storytime books.

7) Terrific by Jon Agee. Because it gives me a chance to do my parrot impression!

8) Mole Music by David McPhail. Yet another adult discovery--I don't have many memories of picture books, mainly early readers (so I am eagerly looking forward to THAT poll.) I love the gentle wisdom of this book.

9) Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes by Dubose Heyward. I loved the pink cover, the gorgeous illustrations, and it was a gift one Easter, when I got chicken pox, so it was the only nice thing that happened to me that Easter!

10) The Tooth Fairy by Peter Collington. I love the idea of the industrious tooth fairy collecting teeth and actually putting them to good use.

Series Made Simple

School Library Journal has published it's second Series Made Simple Supplement. Aimed at facilitating the task of fording the streams of overwhelming series selections directed at Youth Services and School librarians everyday, the supplement is due to be released with the April issue of SLJ. But it is already on-line, and you can read it here. And in a blatant act of Shameless Self-Promotion (although, really, is it any more shameless than building an entire blog around my own opinion?) you can read my contribution to the supplement here.

School Library Journal--Battle of the Books

Well this sounds fun--and in time for National Library Week, too. School Library Journal is hosting its first annual (so huzzah! there will be more) Battle of the Books. They have lined up an impressive list of last year's choice titles, as well as an all-star panel of judges. You can follow the progrss of the battle at their BotB Blog. I've read enough of the books on the list to be able to follow the battle with a certain level of competance. My choice from the selection I've read: Here Lies Arthur, by Phillip Reeve.