Coffee Talk, 1.8.09
The Seuss heirs must have hooked up with Pottery Barn Kids, but I have to say: I want that shower curtain!
Onto more serious matters:
Winners of the Sydney Taylor Book Awards for Jewish children's literature were announced yesterday. You know Sydney Taylor. She wrote All-of-a-Kind Family.
Other prizes in the news: the Costa category winners, in the UK.
Author Esme Raji Codell, guru of reading recommendations, waxes poetic about a number of new picture book biographies.
One of the more interesting year-end "best of" lists: Smithsonian Magazine's Notable Children's Books 2008.
More Newbery controversy: Liz B. at the blog A Chair, A Fireplace, and A Tea Cozy sums it up.
As President of the Pocket Protector Society of Geeky Bloggers , I would like to shout out announce that NPR's "Science Friday" has a blog, and a Twitter account: twitter.com/scifri.
Book Links, an American Library Association magazine, cited thirty 2008 picture books in its "Lasting Connections" list.
Poetry for grown-ups department: Mark Doty on "the reader you don't want."
"Scissors and Glue and Glitter, Oh No!" at YourTeacherLinks.com (via the Carnival of Education). Resources for children's projects in the classroom. (Many would work fine at home, too.)
This just in: the 2009 Charlotte Zolotow Award (for outstanding picture-book writing) goes to Bob Graham for How to Heal a Broken Wing. More books snagged honors, too. See the Cooperative Children's Book Center's Charlotte Zolotow Award web site. News via The Joy of Children's Literature blog.
LA Times "Word Play" columnist Sonja Bolle muscles into familiar territory when she considers picture books about chickens. She wonders if chickens follow a person around. They do, they do—especially when you're going to get their food.
(oooh! I want that shower curtain, too!!!)
I'd not heard of the Sydney Taylor Award! Cool.
I got to "play" with the chickens this holiday -- and yes, they do indeed follow you. Mainly because ours are just nosy...!
Posted by: TadMack | January 09, 2009 at 11:44 AM
Chickens are so much fun, TadMack. I'm glad you got to see yours! There's a really fun new book, Tillie Lays an Egg, by Terry Golson, which I hope to review soon. Great for preschoolers. The chickens in the book are the author's real chickens. Cool!
Posted by: Susan (Chicken Spaghetti) | January 09, 2009 at 12:06 PM
That shower curtain is too cute. I wonder if Dr Seuss ever drew any chickenlike birds? He must have, surely, at some point.
Posted by: Casey | January 09, 2009 at 10:12 PM
I guess I am happy that the Suess heirs are cashing in because we can get very fun stuff like this.
Posted by: BookMoot | January 10, 2009 at 02:06 AM
Casey, I don't know about Dr. S and chicken-like birds. You'd think so, right? Seems like an idea worthy of some research. I love that curtain!
BookMoot, I know!
Posted by: Susan Thomsen | January 11, 2009 at 05:17 PM