Carnival of Children's Literature No. 14: The Fiesta Edition

Let's start the week with a fiesta! This carnival's theme is multicultural literature, and we have a number of posts on that subject and on multinational lit, plus a grand mix of other topics, too. Muchas gracias to everyone for the wonderful submissions.

The Chicken Spaghetti fiesta takes place in the Lone Star State. Get aboard the party train, y'all. This fiesta is rrrolling.

On with the Books! Reading! Writing! First stop is San Antonio's Fiesta, a ten-day celebration and "the biggest party and greatest community benefit in the state of Texas."

HipWriterMama was about to attend author Grace Lin's birthday party, and HWM's Vivian reminds all of us about Robert's Snow. I know I speak for everyone here when I say, "Full speed ahead, Robert! We are wishing you well." (Grace's husband, Robert, is starting a new clinical trial treatment for cancer.)

Lots of reading beckons at the website  PaperTigers: Grace Lin's "The Extra Adjective: How I Came To Terms with Being a Multicultural Book Author," interviews with Kimchi & Calamari's Rose Kent and Weedflower's Cynthia Kadohata, and much more.

Mitali's Fire Escape spreads the good news about an award for Kahani, a literary magazine for South Asian kids in the U.S.

Don't miss Pixiepalace's thoughtful essay on multicultural literature and the need for "fantasies...with black and Asian and Hispanic and generally non-white heroes."

Devas T. Rants and Raves! extols the picture book We!, "the story of mankind. It's our story — all of us! — from our birth in Africa to where we live presently, all over the world." (Congratulations to Devas T.'s proprietor, Don Tate, on his own book deal, too!)

"I hate the way 'multiculturalism' is taken up, most of the time," says Ask Amy, who hopes for further discussion.

A Wrung Sponge is delighted when she reads Julius Lester's Tales of Uncle Remus.

Say hey to the three librarians of the Ya Ya Yas, one of whom was inspired by Parker Posey in the movie "Party Girl" (don't ya love it!), when you read their post "What Do You Want to See in Books with an Asian American Protagonist?"

Book Nut's review of Caddie Woodlawn launched a thought-provoking conversation.

The bilingual picture book Poems to Dream Together/Poemas Para Soñar Juntos gets the nod from MotherReader, who says, "Every public and school library should own it."

Check It Out shares her ideas for great reading with a post on folktales from around the world.

The protagonist in Crissa-Jean Chappell's Total Constant Order struggles with mental-health issues; Jen Robinson's Book Page previews the upcoming young-adult novel.

  The fiesta travels on. Grab a soft drink in Waco, home of the Dr. Pepper Museum and the city where both Dr. Pepper and Big Red (America's #1 red soda) were invented.

Scholar's Blog recommends a fantasy novel originally written in German and "beautifully translated into English" : The Wave Runners, by Kai Meyers.

You'll find thoughts about Cinco de Mayo as well as a book recommendation at Tales from the Rushmore Kid.

Speaking of fiestas, author Sam Riddleburger presents "Five Great Parties in Kids Books."

In honor of Justine Larbalestier's winning the Andre Norton award (for science fiction and fantasy), Not Your Mother's Book Club sends along an interview with the Aussie novelist.

Kids Lit reads and recommends Hiromi's Hands, the picture-book story of a young sushi chef.

AmoxCalli is running a series called Classics of Kidlit, and Rosemary Sutcliff's Mark of the Horse Lord, about a gladiator in second-century Britain, is "non-stop action," according to Liz B.

How 'bout a tale? Stories from Papi shares an original work, "Problem with Grackle."

Book Book Book attends "an incredible children's literature conference" where one of the highlights was a double presentation by the author Cornelia Funke and Anthea Bell, who translates Funke's novels from German into English.

My Domestic Church enjoys the Scottish setting of The Far Side of the Loch, which was written by kid lit carnival founder Melissa Wiley.

What hath Shrek! wrought? Bartography wonders.

Another big Texas party is the State Fair in Dallas. (Isn't that ferris wheel awesome?)

Adaptations of classics featuring only one-syllable words? Kidding, right? Nope. The Millions explains.

Hoo, boy, things get explosive when Bookwink talks about volcanoes.

 Upper Fort Stewart considers the "transformative effect" of children's books, squeezing in a mention of Harold Bloom.

"Ever wish for an intelligent take on 'Valley Girl'?" asks Becky's Book Reviews. She's got a YA novel for you.

Liz In Ink is thinking poems. "What is poetry anyway?"

Saints and Spinners makes us laugh with Revenge of the Carrot Seed.

Head over to  Library Stew for some resources for summer reading. (And discover what she thinks of Watership Down.)

Miss Erin interviews Sarah Beth Durst, whose first novel was published this year.

The Poisoned Crown, the concluding novel in Amanda Hemingway's Sangreal fantasy trilogy, surprised A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy with its "wow" of a conclusion.

Book banning and censorship are the topics of Bildungsroman's post "The Bermudez Triangle: Too Cool for School?"

A book killer is on the loose at Big A, little a, and, aw, doesn't he have the most innocent face?

The best-kept secret in American education? Tune in to the new blog A Picture Perfect Education to see what it is.

I'm hungry. Are you? I'm making a bee line for the Westfest in West, "the Czech Heritage Capital of Texas." We'll dance the polka and dine on kolaches, the delicious Czech pastries.

Community art takes center stage at Zee Says, with "Teen Program Idea: Library Art Trading Cards," which was inspired by the ever-popular Post Secret.

 Kat's Eye muses about the insights she gained after attending her daughters' spring art and music show in her post "Wild About Art and Music."

Ooh, scary. Wands and Worlds rounds up daemons.

A celebration of spring poetry is happening at Wild Rose Reader, where you'll find oodles of ideas to celebrate the season in a verse-ful way.

Help GottaBook solve a mystery: was a poem on the blog plagiarized? Why? Whodunnit?

You'll encounter "Epidemic, Pandemic, Plague, and Disease in Children's Books" at Semicolon.

A two for one deal: Seven Impossible Things talks with the blogger behind The Excelsior File.

Before cooling off at Austin's Barton Springs, I'll wrap up this fiesta with a recommendation for an art-filled bilingual book about a Mexican American family in South Texas. It's here at Chicken Spaghetti.

Bye, y'all! Adios! Hope you had fun! Next month's carnival is at A Year of Reading.

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Thank you to the Fiesta San Antonio Commission for the poster image, Surachit for the Big Red bottle image (Creative Commons attribution-sharealike 2.5 license), RadicalBender for the ferris wheel photo (GNU Free Documentation License), and the Westfest Polka Festival for its photo.

Comments

[Laurel Snyder]

Just stumbled on your blog, wandering around and trying to see what kinds of children's book reviews are out there. Great site!

xoLaurel
http://kidliterary.blogspot.com/

[Susan]

Thanks, and enjoy the carnival!

[Little Willow]

Thanks for putting together this carnival! :)

[Vivian]

What a great Carnival Fiesta! Thank you so much for organizing this and getting me in. I so appreciate it!

[Melissa Wiley]

Wonderful work, Susan. Thanks so much!

[Alkelda]

Thanks for assembling and presenting the carnival, Susan!

[Anne]

Fun stuff! Sorry I couldn't get my act together in time. Thanks for compiling all these wonderful links.

[Liz]

Wowza. Great job!

[Chris Barton]

Nice work, Susan! And a big ol' Texas-sized "thank you" for encouraging folks to check out these Lone Star destinations -- we need more traffic on I-35!

[MotherReader]

I haven't had time to explore yet, but great job pulling this Carnival together. I appreciate the multicultural theme and am looking forward to seeing what everyone wrote.

[cloudscome]

What fun! Thanks for putting on such a great carnival!

[Tabatha]

Wow! What a grand assemblage of treats!
Thanks.

[Cay in La.]

This is such a fun fiesta.
Thank you for a wonderful time, Susan. :)

[Elaine Magliaro]

Susan,

Thanks for putting the 14th Carnival together for us here at Chicken Spaghetti! I know I'll be returning again and again for the links to some great blog posts.

[Kathy]

Great Fiesta - Thanks for doing it!

[Rose]

Three cheers for Texas! Three cheers for Multicult! Three cheers for Chicken Spaghetti!

[Michele]

Nice job Susan ! You posted this after I'd gone off to the land of Nod, so I missed seeing it until now !

[Sheila Ruth]

Lovely carnival, Susan! You've done a wonderful job with it. I love the additional links for color. It looks like the biggest one yet!

[Susan]

Thanks, everyone. Glad you enjoyed the zig-zagging trip around Texas.

[jules]

Great job! Thanks for doing that . . .

[Erin]

Thanks for the great carnival!!

[eisha]

Woo! I've got that too-much-cotton-candy-before-the-tilt-a-whirl feeling. What a great carnival! Thanks, Susan!

[Susan]

Jules, Erin, Eisha--I'm mighty glad y'all stopped by. I'm staying off the swaying Pirate Ship at the State Fair. That's for sure. That one has done me in more than once.

[Mary Lee]

Awesome job! Love the Texas spin (ha-ha...SPIN) on the Fiesta! Very creative.

[Susan]

Thanks, Mary Lee. The truth is that I would be way too chicken to get on that huge ferris wheel. Even the Tea Cups make me dizzy. The last time I rode them with Junior, I had to ask him not to spin them. (And it was a kiddie ride!)

[a. fortis]

Fantastic carnival, Susan! :)

[Camille]

You are so creative. What a great idea you had for formatting this carnival.

[Susan]

Thanks a. fortis and Camille! I had fun putting together the carnival and taking a trip down memory lane (or I-35!). I've long wanted to go to Fiesta and the Texas State Fair; I have lots of relatives in Texas. Love those kolaches in West. Yum.