Reading and the Second Grade

Two weeks on, and the second grade has been a real transition for my daughter. I remember my time in second grade as unpleasant, but that is because I had a rather mean teacher (she had issues--but not my fault.) But my daughter, as far as I can tell, likes her teachers. She's friendly with most of the children in her class and is happy to see them, and they her. But she is daunted--with a capital D--at the thought of homework. Twenty minutes a night, two nights a week, is like torture--water torture, to be exact. And sadly, lumped into that hell that is known as homework, is reading.

I suspect that my daughter is already a reluctant reader (how can that be?! I'm a guru!) And this misery over homework is not helping the matter. My daughter and I have a set reading routine which has been in place since I started reading to her regularly at bedtime. She loves it. Threatening to take away stories at night is a legitimate punishment and wields mighty power. She could be read to all day. But she seems reluctant to do it herself. A few notable exceptions: non-fiction, American Girl catalogs, and picture books.

All this rambling is to lead up to a rather excellent essay in this month's Horn Book about helping parents chose books for their second graders. It was a good refresher read because it reinforced many things I have noticed in my experience with children at the library: the love of series fiction, the appeal of underpants, and the fear of long books. The author of the essay, teacher Robin Smith, even puts in a plug for picture books. Thank you! I cannot stress how often I have seen parents turn their noses up at picture books, never mind the kids. If we all remember that "picture book" is a term used to describe a format, not a level, the world would run much better. I'm convinced of that!

Remembering September 11th

I blogged about this last year. But I think it's still worth mentioning.

David Almond's Skellig headed for the silver screen

While trawling through my sadly neglected Google Reader (these late running Sox games are killing me!) I came across this piece from the BBC. For me, the draw is the appearance of John Simms (also known as The Master, for those of you who are not Whovians) as the dad.

I know I've said this before, but I am so leery of book to film adaptations. It seems that there is less and less of a relation between the original source and the end product. I recently watched The Water Horse, which is radically different from the book. And the trailer I saw for Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, with a plot development that never happened in the book, completely put me off watching the film. I've not read Skellig (so many books, so little time,) so this might be the film for me.

Getting a Clue (the first of 39)

Well, after the all the handwringing at work yesterday about whether or not to circulate The Maze of Bones with the cards (wish I'd known about the cardless library edition in advance,) both copies are still sat on the shelf. So much for Buzz.

Publisher's Weekly does a good job of explaining the scope and ambition of this new series which, I must admit, sounds like a lot of fun. And I love the stable of authors they've got lined up to pen the future titles (bring on Gordon Korman!) But I hated reading about how the series was a property that needed to be "branded". How very corporate 21st century! Forget the threat from the Kindle--the biggest hurdle for books today is lack of brandability. What could The Westing Game have achieved with such a campaign (mind you, it did win the Newbery Medal, so it didn't exactly go unnoticed.)

Hitty Hang-ups

While reshuffling our Series section in the Children's Room, I came across a Ready-for-Chapters series called "Hitty's Travels". It is a four volume series based on Rachel Field's Newbery Award winning book Hitty Her First Hundred Years. Hitty is a wooden doll that travels from girl to girl over a span of time, and she recounts her adventures with those girls. The "Hitty's Travels" books circulated as recently as this past May. The original Hitty has not gone out since 2005. That's just not right!

I hate it when dumbed down impersonations supersede the original source. The series of "Great Illustrated Classics" is a prime example. I grind my teeth in anger each time I come across one on our shelves. I firmly believe that if a reader is not yet ready for full force gale Jane Eyre, then wait until they are--don't hand them some lame-o imitation and leave them with the impression that they've read the masterpiece. (And if the issue is remedial reading, then find something original at the appropriate level. There is so much great stuff out there!) Other examples of "divide and dumb down" are the "Portraits of Little Women" series and the cottage industry that has become the Little House books. It seems that every female relative of Laura Ingalls Wilder is entitled to a book.

I think the most over used phrase in Children's publishing today is "now available for today's youngest readers". For instance, it is used to justify the transformation of picture books into board books--two formats that at times are incompatible. Does today's youngest reader really need a board book version of The Snowy Day, written for pre-schoolers, when they will gain so much more from Bow Wow Orders Lunch, which was written specifically for that age bracket (and works better as a board book to boot?) Today's youngest reader doesn't need warmed-over, abridged Hitty. They need original books written just for them, to tie them over until they are ready to meet Hitty in all her 207 page glory.

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.

Michael Rosen--he's no twit

British children's writer Michael Rosen weighs in on the Jacqueline Wilson naughty word controversy.

WTF? Dame Wilson can't swear

Or at least her characters aren't allowed to. The BBC reports that the second printing of Dame Jacqueline Wilson's latest novel, My Sister Jodie, will be reprinted after the publisher, Random House, received three complaints and a message from ASDA supermarket mega-chain (which happens to be owned by WalMart,) that they will not sell editions of the book with the offending word. This is an issue that many authors have had to contend with (remember the scrotum brouhaha?) and frankly it's tiresome. Authors never do anything by accident, and if a character uses vulgar language, it's probably because they are, well, vulgar, and the author would like to make that clear. I am by no means an advocate for naughty language in children's books, and whenever I review a book in which swears or other profanities are included, I mention the fact--particularly if they seem unnecessary. That's just me doing my job for librarians and media specialists who are reading the reviews and wondering if the books are suitable for their collections. But I have never said, "Don't buy this book--there's swearing!" Nor would I ever assume that I was doing the world a favor by demanding the withdrawal or reprinting of a book which had language I objected to. If I discovered that my daughter read a book with bad words, that I thought were inappropriate for her, I would use it as a platform to discuss with her why profanity is not for us. Chances are my daughter will someday read a book with bad language and I'll never know about it because she'll have the sense not to tell me or use the language herself. And I'm fine with that, because it shows that she can deal with media that is less than savory without being fundamentally altered as a person.

What a pity that Ms. Wilson--a Dame, no less--felt the need to capitulate. She needs backbone lessons from Judy Blume. I will be interested to see how the book is released here. And considering the British-specificness of the vulgar word in question, would an America audience notice it anyway?

Was Bob Marley inspired by the Banana Splits?

The BBC puts forward a compelling case. Read and listen here. You be the judge!

Graphic Novels continue to make their mark

ICv2 reports that Nickelodean Magazine is including for the first time a Best Kids Graphic Novel Award in its annual comics issue. It's just another indication of mainstream visibility for graphic novels both within pop culture and children's literature. Amen!