2009 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize Finalists

Now that I am reviewing books for my very own list on the best in science from 2008, I'm finding many of the titles nominated for a variety of awards. Today I thought I would bring to your attention the finalists for the 2009 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books. This prize "celebrates outstanding science writing and illustration for children and young adults."

Children's Science Picture Book

Eggs
written by Marilyn Singer and illustrated by Emma Stevenson
(nominee for 2008 Cybils nonfiction picture book)

Sisters and Brothers: Sibling Relationships in the Animal World
written by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page, illustrated by Steve Jenkins
(nominee for 2008 Cybils nonfiction picture book)

Nic Bishop Spiders
written and photographed by Nic Bishop
(Sibert Honor book for 2008)

Wings
written by Sneed B. Collard, III and illustrated by Robin Brickman

The Wolves are Back
written by Jean Craighead George and illustrated by Wendell Minor

Middle Grades Science Book

Cold Light: Creatures, Discoveries, and Inventions that Glow
written by Anita Sitarski

George Washington Carver
written by Tonya Bolden
(nominee for 2008 Cybils nonfiction MG/YA book)

How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate: Scientists and Kids Explore Global Warming
written by Lynne Cherry and Gary Braasch

Life on Earth--and Beyond: an Astrobiologist's Quest
written by Pamela S. Turner

What's Eating You?: Parasites-the Inside Story
written by Nicola Davies and illustrated by Neal Layton
(nominee for 2007 Cybils nonfiction MG/YA book)

Young Adult Science Book
Dinosaurs: The Most Complete- Up-To-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages
Thomas R. Holtz and illustrated by Luis V. Rey

The Scent of Desire: Discovering Our Enigmatic Sense of Smell
written by Rachel Herz

The Telephone Gambit: Chasing Alexander Graham Bell's Secret
written by Seth Shulman

Welcome to Your Brain: Why You Lose Your Car Keys But Never Forget How to Drive and Other Puzzles of Everyday Life
written by Sandra Aamodt and Sam Wang

Hands-on Science Book

Animal Tracks and Signs: Track Over 400 Animals From Big Cats to Backyard Birds

written by Jinny Johnson

The Brook Book
written and illustrated by Jim Arnosky

Sound Projects with a Music Lab You Can Build
written by Robert Gardner

True Green Kids: 100 Things You Can Do to Save the Planet
written by Rior McKay and Jenny Bonnin

The Ultimate Guide to Your Microscope
written by Shar Levine and Leslie Johnstone

There are many terrific titles here, along with a few I haven't seen. While waiting for the winners to be announced, I'll be reading through these and making my best guess about the outcome. Won't you join me?

Poetry Friday - In a Wood

As hard as I tried, I couldn't turn my eyes from the wreck that is Tess of the D'Urbervilles this week. That got me thinking of Hardy, so today I'm sharing a bit of his poetry.

In a Wood
by Thomas Hardy

Pale beech and pine-tree blue,
    Set in one clay,
Bough to bough cannot you
    Bide out your day?
When the rains skim and skip,
Why mar sweet comradeship,
Blighting with poison-drip
    Neighborly spray?

Heart-halt and spirit-lame,
    City-opprest,
Unto this wood I came
    As to a nest;
Dreaming that sylvan peace
Offered the harrowed ease—
Nature a soft release
    From men’s unrest.

But, having entered in,
    Great growths and small
Show them to men akin—
    Combatants all!
Sycamore shoulders oak,
Bines the slim sapling yoke,
Ivy-spun halters choke
    Elms stout and tall.

Touches from ash, O wych,
    Sting you like scorn!
You, too, brave hollies, twitch
    Sidelong from thorn.
Even the rank poplars bear
Illy a rival’s air,
Cankering in black despair
    If overborne.

Since, then, no grace I find
    Taught me of trees,
Turn I back to my kind,
    Worthy as these.
There at least smiles abound,
There discourse trills around,
There, now and then, are found
    Life-loyalties.

The round up this week is being hosted by Anastasia Suen over at Picture Book of the Day. Be sure to visit and take in all the great poetry being shared this week. Before you go, do check out this week's poetry stretch results. Happy poetry Friday, all!

Poetry Stretch Results - My Mother's Kitchen

The challenge this week was to write a poem about your mother's kitchen. There were a few additional pieces suggested, such as including an oven, something green, something dead and a female relation. But as poetry is want to do, the words that come out don't always match the initial requirements. That's alright, since what does come out is usually much more honest. Here's what folks are sharing.

Jacqueline Leach Dove left her poem in the comments. She found her way here as many often do, through some kind of serendipitous search. Welcome, Jacqueline!

My Mother’s Kitchen
My mother’s kitchen has an ant farm
And confusing tins with tea.
A territorial cockatoo who struts about,
Causing unsuspecting toes alarm.

My mother’s kitchen is eclectic
More artist’s lair then cooks abode.
The pots upon the stove quite hectic,
Declaring with gusto their mother load.

My mother’s kitchen is at times
Heavy with unspoken words
As duty wrestles with desire
Amongst the whey and curds.

My mother’s kitchen is the place,
Visitors first spy as they arrive.
Flowers, art, bead work embrace
All with eyes to absorb it’s grace.

Hark, who is this whose skipping in,
Joanna clasping fresh-picked flowers
The daughter of the next-of-kin,
She who is destined for her own kitchen?

Marianne Nielsen from Doing the Write Thing! shares a poem entitled The Kitchen.

sister AE of Having Writ shares a poem called The New Kitchen.

On her FaceBook page, Jane Yolen wrote about her mother's cooking in My Mother's Kitchen.

D. Dina Friedman left this poem in the comments.

Kitchen
It is an airless place.
The walls are green.
On a dark table, meat
drips blood onto wax paper

There are bones, soup, smells,
dirt on the floor, dog hair
chopped meat in a gleaming silver bowl
where I must go in an add

bread crumbs, tomato, egg
and form flesh into perfect shapes.
It is a place of flesh,
of women’s voices and old pots,
family carcasses framed on the yellow refrigerator
the shells of ourselves. My wild brother sneaks in
and steals cookies.

Elaine from Wild Rose Reader shares a poem about her grandmother called A Home for the Seasons. She also shares five more memoir poems about her maternal grandparents.

I didn't exactly follow the rules this week either. Here's my poem.

Scenes From a Kitchen
I close my eyes and remember

Pegboard cupboards and uncovered baseboards
Gramma mixing German potato salad in the tulip bowl
Five of us at the kitchen table

Me in my mother's lap, mourning the loss of a grandmother
Cookies--sour cream, cut-outs and chocolate chip
Four of us at the kitchen table

Mom with her back against the oven on cold winter days
Spaghetti and meatballs every Saturday night
Three of us at the kitchen table

Chocolate molds hanging on the wall
Porcelain elephant holding Mom's rings on its trunk
Two of them at the kitchen table

Much too quiet now

It's not too late if you still want to play. Leave me a comment about your poem and I'll add it to the list.

First Poetry Sretch of 2009 - Your Mother's Kitchen

I've been reading The Practice of Poetry: Writing Exercises From Poets Who Teach for some time now, jotting ideas in the small journal I keep in my purse and trying them when I can steal a minute or two in the day. Last night I wrote a few words while waiting in line at the grocery store. This week I want to try an exercise from this book entitled Your Mother's Kitchen. Here's what Rita Dove writes:

Write a poem about your mother's kitchen. (It helps if you actually draw the kitchen first, with crayons!) Put the oven in it, and also something green, and something dead. You are not in this poem, but some female relation—aunt, sister, close friend—must walk into the kitchen during the course of the poem.

While I haven't drawn a picture of the room, I have pulled out several photos of my mother and grandmother in it. I'm going to let them inspire me. Will you join me in writing about your mother's kitchen? Leave me a comment about your poem and I'll post the results here later this week.

Yes, I'm Here

William has gone back to school and I have gone back to work, yet the lethargy of winter break still tugs at me. I need a vacation from my vacation. I did not read as much as I wanted, wrote even less (though I did get those cards out after the holiday), and accomplished little. I suppose there is something to be said for good old-fashioned "down time."

I'll be back soon (perhaps even today!) with more book reviews, thematic lists, poetry stretches and the like. Stay tuned ...

Poetry Friday - Ring Out, Wild Bells

Originally titled "The Way of the Soul," the poem In Memoriam A.H.H. by Lord Alfred Tennyson took more than 17 years to write. The section below is particularly appropriate this time of year.

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light;
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind,
For those that here we see no more,
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out thy mournful rhymes,
But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease,
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.

The first two stanzas and the last can be found in the hymn Ring Out, Wild Bells. You can see and hear it at the interactive music player from the LDS Church.

You can learn more about the poem at Wikipedia.

The round up is being hosted by Franki and Mary Lee over at A Year of Reading. Do stop by and take in all the poetry being shared in the first days of this new year. Happy poetry Friday, all!

And the Finalists Are ... Cybils Nonfiction Picture Books

After weeks of reading and reviewing books, the shortlist for nonfiction picture books is in. HURRAY! I am so pleased to have been a part of this process. Working with Becky (In the Pages), David (Adventures at Wilder Farm), Jone (Check It Out), and Debbie (Readerbuzz), was a wonderful experience. I also can't forget to mention our fearless leader, author and blogger extraordinaire, Fiona Bayrock of Books and 'Rocks. Thanks to all!

This year we had the difficult task of selecting 7 finalists from a pool of 59 very worthy titles. We are thrilled to hand this list off to the judging panel, confident that they will have much to discuss in the days ahead. The folks who will work together to make the final decision are:

• Fiona Bayrock at Books and 'Rocks
• Andrea Beaty at Three Silly Chicks
• Emily Mitchell at Emily Reads
• Candice Ransom at Ellsworth's Journal and Books!Books!
  
• Andrea Ross at Just One More Book

Without further ado, here are the finalists in the Cybils nonfiction picture book category.

Astronaut Handbook
written and illustrated by Meghan McCarthy

Duel! Burr and Hamilton's Deadly War of Words
written by Dennis Brindell Fradin and illustrated by Larry Day

Fabulous Fishes
written and illustrated by Susan Stockdale

Nic Bishop Frogs
written and photographed by Nic Bishop

A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams
written by Jen Bryant and illustrated by Melissa Sweet

Wanda Gág: The Girl Who Lived to Draw
written and illustrated by Deborah Kogan Ray
Wangari's Trees of Peace: A True Story from Africa
written and illustrated by Jeanette Winter

Now that you've seen one list, do head on over to the Cybils and check out all of the finalists.

Books as Art - Breathing Books

Edith Kollath exhibited a breathing book show (yes, you read that correctly) at the Dam, Stuhltrager Gallery in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn from mid-November to mid-December.

Here is a short video of the show.
  Things - Edith Kollath Creates Books that Breathe from Bre Pettis on Vimeo.

For some reason I couldn't help but think about Harry Potter and The Monster Book of Monsters while watching the video. At least these books don't bite! Technology in the hands of an artist is an amazing thing, isn't it?

When Buying a Book Means Making a Difference

Way back in November, the amazing Sara Lewis Holmes floated a proposal to put books in the hands of some very deserving kids. Inspired by her niece Emily, an amazing young woman in her own right who's been battling cancer for over two years now, Sara suggested starting a library of camp and horse related books for Flying Horse Farms. Here's a bit of information about FHF.

Flying Horse Farms is a nonprofit organization committed to building a summer camp and year-round retreat center that inspires children with serious illnesses to reach beyond their diseases and embrace the healing power of unbridled fun!

This special place is located in the heart of the Midwest, Mount Gilead, Ohio. Situated on nearly 200 acres of gently rolling hills, lakes, woods, trails, meadows, and wetlands, Flying Horse Farms promises to help children and their families trade the restraints of hospital visits, blood transfusions, chemotherapy treatments, overwhelming stress, worry and fear with days of swimming, fishing, horseback riding, and nights of campfires and singing! All camp activities are designed to allow campers to experience success no matter what their disease or disability. The camp will focus not only on activities but also on building self-confidence, friendships and, of course, providing good old-fashioned fun... at no cost to the campers or their families.

You can participate and help breathe life into this dream by purchasing a book or two for Flying Horse Farms. Here are several ways you can contribute.

• Sara set up a wish list on Amazon. You can choose a book and donate it directly from there. The list is small now, but it will grow as the campers and counselors and the director add new requests to it.

• You may also buy from that list at your local independent bookstore and have them ship to the address below.
  Flying Horse Farms
  225 Green Meadows Drive South, Suite A
  Lewis Center, Ohio 43035

• You can blog about your favorite camp or horse related book. Sara will round up those posts and forward them to the director and consult them in expanding the Wish List.

• If you're an author or illustrator or publisher or blogger with a camp or horse related book, you can donate directly to the camp, but please remember that the camp serves kids ages 7-15 and your donation should reflect the needs of the camp. (Please, in all cases, only NEW books.)

In our house, stories with horses generally revolve around multicultural titles and folktales. Here are some of our favorites.

Fritz and the Beautiful Horses
written and illustrated by Jan Brett

Horse Song: The Naadam of Mongolia
written and illustrated by Ted and Betsy Lewin

The Magic Horse of Han Gan
written and illustrated by Chen Jiang Hong

The Lost Horse: A Chinese Folktale
written and illustrated by Ed young

We have purchased two of William's favorites, Fritz and the Beautiful Horses and The Magic Horse of Han Gan, for Flying Horse Farms. Won't you join us in sharing the gift of a book?

Thoughts on the Cybils

The list of nonfiction picture finalists has been signed, sealed and delivered to our intrepid organizer. It will be published on January 1st, along with the finalists in the seven other categories. I can't wait to see how the other groups of panelists have whittled down their lists.

Here are some of my initial thoughts about the Cybils in general and more specifically about working through the nonfiction picture book titles this year.

1. Where Does It Belong?
The organizers for all the categories worked behind the scenes as nominations rolled in to determine the eligibility of titles and to ensure proper placement of books. This required a lot of hard work and some intense discussion. In some cases, where a book belongs isn't evident until a panelist sees it first hand. One of our books was moved to fiction picture books because the note in the back of the book explained the book was "based on a true story." The cataloging information just wasn't enough go on when deciding where to place the book.

2. Is It Nonfiction?
During the nomination stage, a few titles were moved to the fiction picture book category. While they were clearly "informational" books, they weren't strictly nonfiction. I tend to think of these books as "faction"--a nice blend of fact and fiction. One example of this was Boycott Blues: How Rosa Parks Inspired a Nation, written by by Andrea Davis Pinkney and illustrated by Brian Pinkney. Narrated by a guitar-playing hound dog, it's a beautiful, blues-inspired account of the Montgomery bus boycott. Another example can be found in Fartiste, written by Kathleen Krull and illustrated by Paul Brewer. This biography of Joseph Pujol, a Frenchman who built a stage career using fart effects, reads on the cover, "an explosively funny, mostly true story." It's unfortunate this disclaimer appears so boldly from the outset, as it seems designed only to let readers know that the title relies on fact as well as legend in telling Pujol's life story.

There are always so many titles in the category of fiction picture books that I fear some of these more "information-oriented" books may get lost in milieu of more traditional stories.

3. First Person Narratives?
I was surprised by the number of titles that used first person in the writing. In some cases, the author included extensive notes that lent veracity to their use. However, in other cases there was no such information. How then, is a reader to take this information? Keep Your Eye on the Kid: The Early Years of Buster Keaton, written and illustrated by Catherine Brighton, is a fantastic biography of Keaton's early years, but it is written entirely in the first person. The author's note provides sources for further reading, as well as some Keaton films that are currently available on DVD, but she never explains the first person use.

4. Common Themes
Biographies abounded in the list of nominees this year. At least 25 titles were accounts of important events in the lives of historical figures or works that recounted a large portion of their life stories. Two very different biographies on Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Mathaai were included in this number. In addition to these, one title provided a biographical look at the Statue of Liberty!

Always popular, books about animals made a strong showing. Two of these animal titles were inspired by events following hurricane Katrina. There were also 2 books about bears, 2 about frogs, and 2 about ocean life.

I found it interesting that a number of the nominees contained photographic illustrations. These tended to be books on science (animal) topics.

5. Publisher Participation
Nearly one third of the nominated titles in our category were not sent to the panelists. (One panelist informed us that two titles arrived on her doorstep yesterday!) Fortunately, most of use were able to wrangle books through local libraries or interlibrary loan. In the end, there were only 2 books we never saw. I must say that I'm a bit puzzled by the lack of participation. Members of our panel highlighted nominees on their blogs. The titles got face-time at the Cybils site and even more publicity from the Cybils widget. Based on the strength of many of these titles, I purchased some for my own collection. I also took books into local schools and read them with kids. While there I made recommendations to classroom teachers and school librarians.

The positive press generated by the Cybils should not be underestimated. I'm not sure how we get more publishers to participate, but I would think that this kind of free advertising is worth giving away a book or two.

That's all for now. I still have more book reviews to post, so don't forget to come back and look for them in the new year.

Holiday Recap - Wandering Through the Days

On Christmas eve day we decided to start a new family tradition and went bowling. At 10:30 am we had the alley entirely to ourselves. We bowled two games each and had quite a bit of fun. We came home for lunch, watched some Animal Planet videos together, and then headed out for the chaos that is the "children's mass" on Christmas eve. The church was standing room only and so hot it was unbearable. (I learned today that the A.C. was even turned on, but you wouldn't have known it.) Dinner and the quiet that followed were terrific. We visited the NORAD web site to track Santa and then headed off to bed.

Christmas day was lovely and quiet. We spent it building and read lots and lots of books. While the overwhelming majority of them were nonfiction, the two picture books were huge hits. If you haven't seen these yet, you need to check them out.

Skunkdog, written by Emily Jenkins and illustrated by Pierre Pratt (You can see some excerpts and learn more about the book at Emily Jenkins' web site.)

Tadpole Rex, written and illustrated by Kurt Cyrus (You can preview some of the pages at Google Book Search.)

Here are a few pictures of the boy with some of his favorite gifts.

Today was filled with making art, constructing a LEGO fire station, and building more marble-run arrangements than we can count. This is one of our favorites so far.

Here are two of the projects we worked on. One used old toilet paper tubes while the other made good use of leftover tissue paper. The results were fairly nice and we had great fun making them. The directions were very easy to follow and are linked below.

3-D Snowflake Craft

3-D Designs

Unlike the folks in the Northeast, Midwest, and Northwest, we have no snow. It was nearly 60 degrees on Christmas, though it was much cooler today. We've been housebound (by choice!) for two days now. Perhaps we'll actually get outside before the week is out!

That's all for now. I hope everyone is enjoying the break as much as we are.

Poetry Friday - December 26th

Welcome to Poetry Friday on this beautiful day. Today I'm sharing a bit of Frost. This one comes from the collection North of Boston.

Good Hours
by Robert Frost

I had for my winter evening walk—
No one at all with whom to talk,
But I had the cottages in a row
Up to their shining eyes in snow.

And I thought I had the folk within:
I had the sound of a violin;
I had a glimpse through curtain laces
Of youthful forms and youthful faces.

I had such company outward bound.
I went till there were no cottages found.
I turned and repented, but coming back
I saw no window but that was black.

Over the snow my creaking feet
Disturbed the slumbering village street
Like profanation, by your leave,
At ten o’clock of a winter eve.

Here's what folks are sharing today.

Books and Reviews

Sally from Paper Tigers shares some thoughts on poetry for parents.

John Mutford of The Book Mine Set reviews his year of reading poetry and ranks his favorites.

Carol of Carol's Corner shares a haiku from Pat Mora's book Yum! Mmmm! Mmmm! Qué Rico!.

Marietta from The Bookworm's Booklist reviews some Mother Goose and Mommy & Me CD's.

Sylvia Vardell from Poetry for Children shares her thoughts on the best poetry of 2008.

Original Poems

Tiel Aisha Ansari from Knocking from Inside gives us a poem entitled A Winter's Discontent.

Elaine of Wild Rose Reader has an original rhyming acrostic poem entitled Chameleon.

David Elzey, writing at Fomagrams, recaps his year of blogging with a found poem of his own posts. This is very cool!

Author Amok (Laura) and her daughter wrote a parody entitled We Wish it Was a 'Winter Wonderland'.

Laura Purdie Salas rounds up all the original poems from her 15 words or less challenge.

Lorie Ann Grover of On Point shares an original haiku entitled Melting.

Over at DeoWriter, Jone also shares a few seasonal haiku.

Julie Larios from The Drift Record shares her poem entitled Months of the Year.

Poetry of Others

Over at Blue Rose Girls, Elaine shares the Naomi Shihab Nye poem Snow.

Barbara from The Write Sisters shares a Christmas classic.

Jill Corcoran gives us The Christmas Cactus by Liz Rosenberg.

Mary Lee over at A Year of Reading shares Oliver Wendell Holme's Contentment.

Over at Into the Wardrobe, Tarie gives us the T.S. Eliot poem The Journey of the Magi.

Lisa Chellman of Under the Covers shares an epigraph written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge entitled What If You Slept?.

Laura Purdie Salas shares the poem The Snake from David Elliott's book On the Farm.

Douglas Florian from the Florian Cafe is in today with two poems on mortality.

Stacey from Two Writing Teachers shares an excerpt from the Maya Angelou poem Amazing Peace.

Over at readertotz, Lorie Ann Grover has posted the nursery rhyme Come to the Window.

Erin of Miss Erin is sharing the poem she found in her Christmas stocking, Mary's Song by Luci Shaw.

Suzanne from Adventures in Daily Living is also sharing Luci Shaw's powerful poem.

Kelly Fineman of Writing and Ruminating shares my love of Frost with the sigh-inducing To Earthward.

Little Willow of Bildungsroman shares the first stanza from The Night-Piece: To Julia by Robert Herrick.

Enjoy this marvelous feast of poetry, and if I haven't said it before now, happy holidays.

Poetry Stretch Results - Terza Rima

The challenge last week was to write a terza rima. Terza rima (an Italian phrase meaning "third rhyme") consists of a series of three-line stanzas (tercets) with the rhyme scheme aba bcb cdc ded and so on. It can go on as long as the poet wishes. Here are the results.

Tiel Aisha Ansari from Knocking From Inside shares a poem entitled Faust in the Industrial Age.

Kim Kasch left this poem in the comments.

SNOW DAY

See the flakes dancing in the air-
White, fluffy, like cotton candy
Look around – they’re everywhere.

Floating slowly they hit the ground
Squishing as they hit their landing
They do it all without making a sound.

Now, run and build a snowman – quick!
Don’t wait for later in the day
Hurry, do it, lickity-split.
Or the snow might melt away.

So, go outside, now, run and play!

Julie Larios from The Drift Record shares a poem called The Doctor Says, "He Has Meningitis”.

lirone from Words that sing shares a poem entitled What Remains.

Jane Yolen left her poem in the comments of Julie's post. It is called Cheney Confesses.

Laura Purdie Salas shares a poem entitled Tarnished Silver.

sister AE from Having Writ gives us Hunting Season.

Libby from Lessons from the Tortoise wrote a terza rima about advent.

I tried to write a poem for my sister's birthday, but given that I didn't finish my grades until 2 am on Friday, I had a lot of trouble focusing on writing. I'll keep at it and post something soon.

Poetry Friday - Winter Hues

William and I are not only reading chapter and picture books at bedtime, but also a fair amount of poetry. We've read a ton of Florian as a complement to the stacks of nonfiction books about animals. Last night we started reading Winter Eyes. Here's one of my favorite poems in this volume.

Winter Hues
by Douglas Florian

Winter has to pick and choose.
The clothes she wears
Are few in hues:
A raw sienna,
A dark burnt umber,
Some yellow ochres
Scant in number,
Steel gray day,
Navy night,
And winter white
And winter white.

The round up this week is being hosted by Author Amok. Do stop by and take in all the great poetry being shared. Happy poetry Friday, all!

KIND Children's Book Award

While doing some research to follow-up on the post I wrote about great children's books about animals, I came across a new-to-me book award and list. It's really lovely, so I thought I would share it. Here's an excerpt from the introduction.

Story is a powerful tool for teaching humane concepts like compassion, responsibility, and respect. Good books provide context, create empathy, and give children characters to identify with, care about, and learn from. Stories can even inspire moral action and good citizenship.

Each year, Humane Society Youth recognizes an exceptional children's book with a humane focus on animals or the environment with the KIND Children's Book Award.

The 2008 winner was Before You Were Mine (2007), written by Maribeth Boelts and illustrated by David Walker.

Honor books for 2008 were:

• The Tale of Pale Male: A True Story, written and illustrated by Jeanette Winter
• Max Talks to Me, written by Claire Buchwald and illustrated by Karen Ritz
• Dogku, written by Andrew Clements and illustrated by Tim Bowers
• Luck, written by Jean Craighead George and illustrated by Wendell Minor
• White Owl, Barn Owl, written by Nicola Davies and illustrated by Michael Foreman
• Fred Stays with Me!, written by Nancy Coffelt and illustrated by Tricia Tusa
• Champ, written by Marcia Thornton Jones

For more information on these titles you should read the entire annotated list for 2008. You can also view the list of winners and honor books from previous years (1995-2007) for some outstanding choices.

In the meantime, perhaps we can try to predict some of the titles that will appear on the 2009 list. My suggestions include poetry, nonfiction and a picture book.

• Two Bobbies: A True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship, and Survival, written Kirby Larson and Mary Nethery and illustrated by Jean Cassels
• Stella Unleashed: Notes From the Doghouse, written by Linda Ashman and illustrated by Paul Meisel
• The Dog Who Belonged to No One, written by Amy Hest and illustrated by Amy Bates
  

Will you play along with me? What was your favorite book published in 2008 with a "humane focus on animals or the environment"?

Have You Met Señor Calavera?

I should be grading, but right now I'm doing a bit of procrastinating, thanks to Yuyi Morales.

If you have some time, go meet Señor Calavera yourself!

Great Children's Books About Animals

Have you ever read something written that so totally described you that you wondered if the author had read your secret diary? I have. Here it is.

One of my mother's favorite stories about my childhood is the time she heard me sobbing in my bedroom, and came in to see what was wrong.

"Christie, what is it?" she asked from the doorway. "Why are you crying like that?"

I looked at her, my face a swollen mess. "I'm crying because Charlotte died, and she saved Wilbur's life!"

"Who are Charlotte and Wilbur?" she said, sounding somewhat alarmed.

I swallowed a sob. "Charlotte's a spider, and Wilbur's a pig."

That's when she realized I was clutching a book in my hands . . .

Is there anyone in this world that hasn't cried while reading Charlotte's Web? I have to wonder how classroom teachers get through read aloud with it, because I still cry.

In her article From "Black Beauty" to "The Underneath": 132 years of great children's books about animals, Christie Keith talks about the beauty and importance of children's books, particularly those with animals as the characters or focus of the story. Not only does she talk about the value of these books, but Keith has created two annotated lists: classic children's books and books that haven't necessarily earned that status yet.

The Classics are books published until the mid-60s and the Not-quite Classics come after that. The mid-60s were a clear watershed moment in American culture. Themes in children's books changed along with the music, films, and books written for adults, becoming more sophisticated, more about urban settings, more psychological and less overtly sentimental.

. . .

I included suggested reading levels with each description, based on the sometimes conflicting information given by publishers, librarians, and children's book reviewers. These are meant to be suggestions only. I read most of these books when I was quite a bit younger than the given age ranges, and some of them I still enjoy as an adult. Let the reading level of the individual child be your guide.

Here are the lists, without annotations. They are listed in order of publication date.

Classics

• Black Beauty (1877) By Anna Sewell
• Beautiful Joe (1893) By Margaret Marshall Saunders (writing as Marshall Saunders)
• The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1902) By Beatrix Potter
• The Wind in the Willows (1908) By Kenneth Grahame
• The Secret Garden (1909) By Frances Hodgson Burnett
• The Velveteen Rabbit (1922) By Margery Williams
• National Velvet (1935) By Enid Bagnold
• Lassie Come-Home (1940) By Eric Knight
• The Black Stallion (1941) By Walt Farley
• My Friend Flicka (1941) By Mary O'Hara
• Gobbolino, the Witch's Cat (1942) By Ursula Moray Williams
• Big Red (1945) By Jim Kjelgaard
• Misty of Chincoteague (1947), King of the Wind: The Story of the Godolphin Arabian (1949), Mustang: Wild Spirit of the West (1966) By Marguerite Henry
• Charlotte's Web (1952) By E.B. White
• Goodbye, My Lady (1954) By James H. Street
  
• Old Yeller (1956) By Fred Gipson
• My Side of the Mountain (1959) By Jean Craighead George
• Where the Red Fern Grows (1961) By Wilson Rawls
• Rascal (1963) By Sterling North
  

Newer Books (Not Classic YET)

• J.T. (1969) By Jane Wagner
• The Tenth Good Thing About Barney (1971) By Judith Viorst
• Julie of the Wolves (1972) By Jean Craighead George
• The Harper Hall Trilogy: Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, and Dragondrums (1979) by Anne McCaffery
• Babe the Gallant Pig (1983) By Dick King-Smith
• Dogsong (1985) By Gary Paulsen
• Rosalie (1987) By Joan Hewett
• I'll Always Love You (1988) By Hans Wilhelm
• Two Travelers (1990) By Christopher Manson
• Shiloh (1991) By Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
• Dogteam (1993) By Gary Paulsen and Ruth Wright Paulsen
• Protecting Marie (1995) By Kevin Henkes
• The Wolf's Chicken Stew (1996) By Keiko Kasza
• Olive, the Other Reindeer (1997) By Vivian Walsh
• Fire, Bed, and Bone (1998) By Henrietta Branford
• The Grannyman (1999) By Judy Schachner
• Because of Winn-Dixie (2000) By Kate DiCamillo
• A Day in the Life of Murphy (2003) By Alice Provensen
• Breakfast for Jack (2004) By Pat Schories
• Martha (2005) By Gennady Spirin
• Nora's Ark (2005) By Natalie Kinsey-Warnock
• The Underneath (2007) By Kathi Appelt

This is not only a very smart article, but the annotations provide some real perspective on the choices. Do take some time to read it. Once you've finished, please come back and comment on the lists. Did you find any surprises? Do you have a real favorite that's missing? Let's chat, shall we?

Changing Views on Reading

Reading vs. digital literacy. The debate continues as Christine Rosen presents an interesting perspective regarding the future of reading. Here is an excerpt.

We have already taken the first steps on our journey to a new form of literacy—“digital literacy.” The fact that we must now distinguish among different types of literacy hints at how far we have moved away from traditional notions of reading. The screen mediates everything from our most private communications to our enjoyment of writing, drama, and games. It is the busiest port of entry for popular culture and requires navigation skills different from those that helped us master print literacy.

Enthusiasts and self-appointed experts assure us that this new digital literacy represents an advance for mankind; the book is evolving, progressing, improving, they argue, and every improvement demands an uneasy period of adjustment. Sophisticated forms of collaborative “information foraging” will replace solitary deep reading; the connected screen will replace the disconnected book. Perhaps, eons from now, our love affair with the printed word will be remembered as but a brief episode in our cultural maturation, and the book as a once-beloved technology we’ve outgrown.

My favorite quote, and the one I'm thinking quite a bit about, actually comes from historian David Bell.

As he tried to train himself to screen-read—and mastering such reading does require new skills—Bell made an important observation, one often overlooked in the debate over digital texts: the computer screen was not intended to replace the book. Screen reading allows you to read in a “strategic, targeted manner,” searching for particular pieces of information, he notes. And although this style of reading is admittedly empowering, Bell cautions, “You are the master, not some dead author. And that is precisely where the greatest dangers lie, because when reading, you should not be the master”; you should be the student. “Surrendering to the organizing logic of a book is, after all, the way one learns,” he observes.

Read the entire article, entitled People of the Screen. Once you do, please come back so we can discuss.

Monday Poetry Stretch - Terza Rima

I've been sonnet writing lately, so I have iambic pentameter on the brain. I need, however, to try a different form, so this week I've chosen terza rima. The Handbook of Poetic Forms defines it in this fashion.

Terza rima is a tumbling, interlocking rhyme scheme that was invented by the thirteenth-century Italian poet Dante for the creation of his long poem, The Divine Comedy.

Terza rima (an Italian phrase meaning "third rhyme") consists of a series of three-line stanzas (tercets) with the rhyme scheme aba bcb cdc ded and so on. It can go on as long as the poet wishes. At the end of the poem an extra line is often added to complete the structure: yzy z.

You can read more on this form at Poets.org. Generally, terza rima is written in iambic pentameter, though you will find exceptions. One notable one is this terza rima by William Carlos Williams. You'll notice a lot of near rhyme and then ... not so much.

The Yachts

contend in a sea which the land partly encloses
shielding them from the too-heavy blows
of an ungoverned ocean which when it chooses

tortures the biggest hulls, the best man knows
to pit against its beatings, and sinks them pitilessly.
Mothlike in mists, scintillant in the minute

brilliance of cloudless days, with broad bellying sails
they glide to the wind tossing green water
from their sharp prows while over them the crew crawls

Read the poem in its entirety.

Here is a clearer example of the form.

Ode to the West Wind
Percy Bysshe Shelley

O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn's being
Thou from whose unseen presence the leaves dead
Are driven like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing,

Yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red,
Pestilence-stricken multitudes! O thou
Who chariotest to their dark wintry bed

The wingèd seeds, where they lie cold and low,
Each like a corpse within its grave, until
Thine azure sister of the Spring shall blow

Read the poem in its entirety.

Will you join me in writing a terza rima? Leave me a comment about your poem and I'll post the results later this week.

The Wonder of Children's Books

FINALLY! Someone gets it right when talking about children's literature and YA books. Here are a few excerpts.

"A self-styled literary snob, I began buying titles in the children's and young-adult section of the bookstore. I became an addict, and what's worse, I started to act like one. "

"I realized that what drew me was not just the superb storytelling but the speed with which I could get through the texts. It was a rhythmic experience I was encountering every time I opened a book."

"In other words, the texts I was reading told their stories in an economical and exact style, without the unnecessary burden of digression or overexplication."

"The literature I was reading was every bit as complicated and thought-provoking as the texts I included on my syllabi."

"It would be a mistake to say that these texts are simplistic. They contain all the complexities we look for in any well-written narrative. "

Go now and read the entire article, Wonder Rediscovered in Children's Books, by Andrew Martino.