The Picnic Basket--Review

I have joined the ranks of reviewers at the new review blog site, The Picnic Basket. You can read my review of the trio of Jane Yolen Hippo Board book, here.

Gurus at war--the battle over Stuart Little

Here is a fascinating article about the ideological battle between Anne Carol Moore, the extremely influential librarian/children's book critic/expert who is credited with single-handedly inventing children's librarianship, and Katherine White, wife of E.B. White and children's book editor for the New Yorker. The touchstone of their battle--the publication of Mr. White's odd little book, Stuart Little. There is much to admire and despise about Moore, a woman who was clearly ahead of her time in terms of service provision but believed too much of her own press. As for Stuart Little itself, I was underwhelmed by it as a child, but there is no denying its place in the canon, despite what Moore thought of its suitability (not sure what either of them would think of the fact, though, that a Google image search of Stuart Little brings up pages of movie images, long before any of Garth William's wonderful illustrations.)

Just goes to show you, children's literature isn't for wimps!

Reviewing Picture Books

I came across this fascinating article about reviewing picture books in the Web Extras section of the Horn Book Guide website. As a reviewer of picture books myself, I was interested in author Karla Kuskin's observations about the difficulty involved in writing a lengthy, intelligent critique of a book which is often shorter than the review itself. I was also impressed with her impassioned defense of the picture book as art, an opinion I hold as well.

The role of the Book Reviewer has been on the wane for awhile now, with high-profile periodicals choosing to do away with review sections. And the influence of the blogosphere (to which I of course happily contribute) cannot be underestimated. If everyone is a critic, many of them are choosing to put their opinion on-line for all the world to see. And let's face it, not everyone wants to read a wordy, high-falootin break down of Nobunny is Perfect. They just want to know if their three year old will want to read it ten times a night. The Washington Post book reviews may not have insight on this, but joreads, a mom, TX, on Amazon.com, will.

While not quite fan mail.......

It's highly gratifying to know that something I wrote has brought such pleasure to someone else. While I would love it if there was such an enthusiastic response to one of my stories, it's nice to know that my critical writing is being used for good! So yes, I will print this out and keep it safe with the fan letters I got when "The Golden Lion" appeared in Cricket.

But I think it's safe to say that there will be no appreciative missives from Joyce Carol Oates, after what I wrote about her book. I always try to review from a position of honesty, and if a book is rubbish, I try to offer concrete evidence as to why I think is belongs in the bin rather than the stacks. The same with a favorable review. If I'm going to gush, I gush responsibly!

Thank You Bear wins Zolotow Award

Well now, I'm starting to pop up everywhere. Kind of like a ghostwriter--you read my writing, you just don't know it's me! School Library Journal reports that Greg Foley's Thank You Bear is the 2008 winner of the Charlotte Zolotow award. I gave that book a starred review way back when--a point that is mentioned in the article, and quoted.

But enough about me. Thank You Bear is a thoroughly deserving book and wonderfully represents the style and tone of Ms. Zolotow's writing. I think of titles like The Hating Book, My Friend John, and A Father Like That, where she writes about the sensitive, reflective side of childhood. She near enough spoke their language. And so does Bear. Look out for the new Bear book, Don't Worry Bear, due for release in 2008.

I should also mention that some of the runners-up were favorites in this house, too, including At Night (Jonathan Bean), A Good Day (Kevin Henkes), and Pictures From our Vacation (Lynn Rae Perkins.)

I've been published!

Well, no I haven't. But my review has been blurbed on the back cover of the paperback edition of Sue Corbett's Free Baseball And although I will not receive any royalties, I will still insert a shameless plug, because I have become friends with Sue--buy the book! And buy it through this website! (there, now I feel profitable.) You can read my original review here.