Childrens Book Club

Maybe it’s my age, but lately I’ve getting nostalgic for the books I read as a kid.  One of the books I remember from the sixth grade was Island of the Blue Dolphins.

It’s based on the true story about a twelve year-old girl who is left behind on an island off the California coast, by herself for eighteen years.  On the island she learns to fend for herself and to co-exist with the wildlife she once feared, specifically the wild dogs that killed her little brother.

Karana, the main character, is courages and clever.  She is able to take care of herself in total isolation.  It’s unnerving to think about a little girl left alone on an island.  But it’s an important lesson about perseverance and will.  I think it’s also an empowering story for girls.

Does anyone remember reading The Thirteen Clocks by James Thurber?

The Thirteen Clocks written cleverly by James Thurber, and illustrated by Marc Simont is one of those books that stays with long after you’ve read it.  The first time I read it I was ten years-old and it instantly became my favorite.  James Thurber, who was also a cartoonist, was unable to draw the illustrations for this book because he had become blind, but Marc Simont captures the whimsy of the story with his colorful and simple style.

The book tells the story of a Prince who must complete a series of seemingly impossible tasks in order to win the hand of the beautiful Princess Saralinda, and rescue her from the clutches of an evil Duke.

Thurber uses intricate and clever wordplay, that works best when read aloud.  It also contains some witty riddles and lots of sharp observations about human nature.  It’s one of the best books ever written as far as I’m concerned.

The 2008 Back to School Book Donation will be giving away 300,000 new Random House books to schools, libraries, and literacy organizations serving low-income youths all across the country. Random House is working with a non-profit organization called First Book, whose mission is to give children from low-income families the chance to read and own their first new books.

“Reading is a gift that sparks the imagination and opens new doors for children of all ages,” said Chip Gibson, president of Random House Children’s Books. “Random House is proud to be part of the 2008 Back to School Book donation to help make a lifetime of difference to children in need.”

The company’s website, www.randomhouse.com/kids offers an array of materials and activities free of charge for children, teens, parents and educators.

For more information on the U.S. Department of Education and First Book’s book donation campaign, visit: www.ed.gov/about/inits/ed/bookcampaign/index.html

Barack Obama and John McCain want your children to know who they are and where they came from.  Check out this article in the New York Times that gives a run-down on the new trend in political literature aimed at kids.  I don’t want to go so far as to call it propaganda, but there is something fishy about the timing of the release of these books.

Take for instance “My Dad, John McCain” written by Meghan McCain, in which the candidate’s daughter tells her readers why she thinks her father should be the next president.  It tells the story of John McCain’s early life, his experience as a POW and his rise in the Republican Party.  It’s clear that this is a book written very lovingly by a devoted daughter, but it makes no sense that this book should be targeted at readers who are not old enough to vote.  Read more here:

“There are a few things you need to know about my dad, and one of them is that if he is elected, he would make a great president. But to know what makes him great, you have to hear his story first.”

It seems a bit transparent, don’t you think?

McCain is not alone, Barack Obama is hip to the trend, though the new children’s books about his life were not written by his daughter, the new children’s books about his life aim to give young readers a picture of a benevolent Obama and his humble beginings.

“Barack” written by Jonah Winter and “Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child Hope” written by Nikki Grimes, are books that glorify and lionize the presidential candidate.  There is something a little creepy about the way these books treat Mr. Obama as if he were the next Messiah.  You can read a couple of reviews here and here.

There’s no doubt that McCain and Obama want to reach everyone, but I have to wonder if children’s literature is the appropriate medium for campaigning.  Neither of these two men has become president yet, there is no historical relevance.  As the writer in the New York Times stated:

“Let’s perform a brief thought experiment. Let’s imagine the same saucer-eyed prose being written about Michael Dukakis, John Kerry or Al Gore — or for that matter, either George Bush. Nope. Doesn’t quite translate.”

Here are a few wonderful sites that I have come across while looking for fellow children’s book enthusiasts. Pay them a visit - it’s well worth it!

• All About Children’s Books
• American Indians In Children’s Literature
• Children’s Picturebook Collecting
• Chronicle Books Blog
• Collecting Children’s Books
• Feed Your Mind
• Just One More Book!!
• Nummy Books
• Shen’s Books
• The Children’s Literature Book Club
• The PlanetEsme Plan: The Best New Children’s Books from Esme’s Shelf

There’s a series of novels for teen girls called The Clique by Lisi Harrison. The books are getting the attention of ABC News, read more here. There’s some questionable content in the books, mostly because it tells the story of a group of shallow, popular girls who are obsessed with material things and their weight. I found it curious that the author, Lisi Harrison claims the books are satyrical, and intended to shed light on what being in the “in-crowd” is all about.

“It’s fantasy. It’s aspirational. I, being the person that never got to wear designer clothes growing up, as most girls in the country can’t,” Harrison said. “It’s ‘Oh, my God. What would it feel like to do that?’ Dare to dream. It’s like, you know, saying ‘Harry Potter is not real, but wouldn’t we all love to be magic and be able to do magic?’ It’s that same thing.”

The author goes on to say that these books help expose the hollow lives of these material tweens by painting an exaggerated picture of a glamorous life. I remember when I was a tween all the girls were reading about the Wakefield twins in the Sweet Valley Twins series. If anyone recalls, the twins Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield embodied All-American perfection, it was sometimes offensive and racist, no satire there.

Is the Clique an updated version of this idealized adolescence where the heroines are popular, beautiful, wealthy and white? The author makes the claim that these books help girls understand, what exactly, it’s hard to say. Girls have enough pressures from everywhere and about everything, why not address these issues head-on rather than disguising them with superficiality.

When all my friend’s were reading about the Wakefield twins, I preferred the books by Judy Blume. I know, I always bring her up, but it seems to me that the authors of girls literature these days are more focused on the denial of the real core issues girls are facing today. Why not write about girls who are not afraid to different? Or about girls who make a positive impact on their friends? Does anyone remember role models? These books are aimed at preparing girls for the next tier in this type of literature: the trashy romance novel.

I asked my ten year-old if she’d heard of these books and she confirmed that these books are indeed favorites of her friends’, but she prefers Harry Potter.

One of the best children’s books ever written, in my opinion, has been made into a movie!

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, has been made into a full length motion picture. But apparently it hasn’t been without controversy. The director Spike Jonez has had to re-shoot the movie in order to get it released by Warner Bros. by October 2009. Check out this blog dedicated entirely to Where the Wild Things Are.

Where to even begin with this one….?

For anyone who has ever read the book, you know it contains exactly twenty pages of text, in which there is approximately one sentence per page… does anyone see where I’m going with this? How are they going to stretch this one out? The same way they have done with every beloved kid’s book, remember The Cat in the Hat and the Grinch movie?

I have a feeling that this will, sadly, be another case of Hollywood destroying something beautiful and pure in order to make a quick buck, by people who can’t create something of their own. What is really disgusting is that this is Hollywood at its finest: Rob people of their own imagination, let us do the visualizing for you, and then let us sell you a bunch of cheaply-made crap. Because as you’ll recall from the movie Spaceballs, the real money in movies is merchandising.

Hollywood needs to keep their grubby, greedy hands off of well-written literature period.

I guess that in capitalism nothing is sacred, not even our fond childhood memories.

Don’t hold your breath for that Harry Potter Lexicon.

A judge ruled in favor of JK Rowling in her copyright infringement lawsuit against Steven Vander Ark, a fan and website operator who wrote an unauthorized encyclopedia called the Harry Potter Lexicon.

To say that Mr. Vander Ark ‘wrote’ the book is a bit of a stretch. It is precisely the reason why the judge ruled against him. According to Rowling, the encyclopedia basically plagiarized her work, and didn’t have much to add of it’s own. PDR books the publisher of the unauthorized Lexicon has been ordered to pay $6,750 in damages to Rowling.

It seems like everyone wants a piece of Harry Potter. Check out this story about a Bollywood film titled Hari Puttar: A Comedy of Terror. Looks like another lawsuit is brewing up for Harry Potter.

Alright, these aren’t exactly books for kids, but I thought I’d include this story in here for fans of the illustrated book. For adults the graphic novel is the acceptable form of illustrated fiction books to read. I love graphic novels myself, but sometimes I want to read something that has the charm and length of a children’s book but an aesthetic and sense of humor an adult can appreciate.

I did some reading on the previous posts publisher and found this fantastic web site. The publisher is Baby Tattoo, and smaller publishing house that is committed to printing books by pop artists. The web site itself is beautifully done, it made me want to read everyone of the books they offer. I think it’s great that these artists, whose work can be difficult to classify, have found a venue for their imaginations. The publisher has also opened a museum in Riverside dedicated to pop surrealism. Very cool stuff.

Has anyone had a chance to visit Baby Tattoosville?

Gris Grimly is one of my favorite kid’s book author and illustrator. Grimly’s style is creepy, dark and humorous. I have a couple of his books and they are at the top of my favorites list.

I came upon his books while shopping for my daughter’s eighth birthday a few years ago. Every birthday she gets a couple of really nice hardback books, usually classics with beautiful illustrations, that year she requested that I refrain from buying cutesy, girly books. So after digging through all the books with bunnies, and fairies, and princesses I finally struck gold with Gris Grimly’s Wicked Nursery Rhymes. The following year I got Edgar Allen Poe’s Tales of Mystery and Madness illustrated by Grimly.

Grimly’s style is reminiscent of Edward Gorey with a touch of Tim Burton. His color palette is subdued, mostly earthy tones on sharp, dramatic black line; but the characters he creates evoke a creepy feeling in the reader. Grimly’s make believe world is a dark one for sure. The book is recommended for kids ten and older due to the dark humor. But could it be too dark for the little ones? I don’t think so, has anyone else read these books?