More of my 2008 favorites

More of my Favorites:

Keeping the Night Watch by Anita Hope Smith - It gave me goosebumps and almost made me cry. Great Book. If not a Newbery, then perhaps a CSK?

Graceling by Kristin Cashore - Fantastically entertaining for upper MS and HS. It's nominated for a Morris award, and perhaps may take home a Printz as well?

Cicada Summer by Andrea Beaty - Not much buzz on this one, but it definitely makes my top 10 list and I hope will be a dark horse for the Newbery.

I'm still reading though - look for at least one more post on this topic before the ALA awards!

Favorite Books of 2008: Thus Far

I'm still fairly new at being a children's librarian, so my reading list is a mix of catch-up from when I was a kid and new titles. Here are a few of my favorites from the hundreds that I've read so far this year:

My Favorites from the 'Catch-up' Portion of my 2008 reading list
Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
The Circle of Magic series by Tamora Pierce
Gooney Bird Greene series by Lois Lowry
The Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter
The Magic Shop series by Bruce Coville
Anything and everything by Shannon Hale
The Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins
A Friend at Midnight by Caroline B. Cooney
Enola Holmes mysteries by Nancy Springer

Here's a start to what I hope will be, by January, a Top 10 2008 JF/YA favorite reads. I dare to hope some of these might make the Newbery or Printz platforms. But I'm not holding my breath, as I don't have the best track record picking award winners.
Keeping Score by Linda Sue Park
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Savvy by Ingrid Law
Diamond Willow by Helen Frost
Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
Shooting the Moon by Frances O'Roarke Dowell
The Trouble Begins at 8 by Sid Fleischman
The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall

May not make my personal 'top 2008 favorites' list, but I would still be happy if they were winners, 'cause I thought they were special:
Brooklyn Bridge by Karen Hesse
The Underneath by Kathi Appelt
The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry
Becoming Billie Holiday by Carole Boston Weatherford
Trouble by Gary D. Schmidt
Hate that Cat by Sharon Creech
The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd (British = not Newbery eligible, but great!)


In case anyone's interested, I read a lot of other people & library's short or mock lists for inspiration. And while I get a few titles shipped from elsewhere, mostly I stick with what my library had purchased.


And there's more to come... I've still got a whole shelf of 2008 books to read!

A great day!

I haven't posted in, wow, 10 months? But I just wanted to let cyberspace know that I have had a great day. It started off with staying up WAAAY too late to finish Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games. I love Suzanne Collins. Well, more accurately, I love her books. I haven't met her yet. (emphasis on the yet!) It's only been a few months since I finished the last book in the Underland Chronicles, and already I miss them. And then came The Hunger Games, which is probably the most memorable book of 2008 so far for me. I wish I hadn't already lent my copy to my sister, 'cause one read wasn't enough. If you are over the age of 12: Go. Get. It. Now.


And this morning, I took a very rare morning off to see Helen Oxenbury and Mem Fox on their book tour for Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes. What lovely ladies! What delightful accents! I wish I could have actually heard Mem talk about some of the literacy initiatives she's involved in, but it was enough to meet them and hear them read their books. In case you are interested, Ten Little is all that you would expect of a collaboration of these two masters.


And the drive this morning to meet the FOxenburys (Blame Mem, not me) gave me almost enough time to finish the audio version of Jeanne Birdsall's The Penderwicks on Gardam Street. I'll finish it tonight. Another gem.

What a day!

I can't pick 'em

Boy, was I off on picking this year's Newbery winners! I tried really hard. I read hundreds of juvenile and young adult chapter books last year (not all of them new, of course) but, of the four honor/medal winners, I'd only read all the way through one: honor winner Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson. Up until the awards were announced, I was satisfied just reading the reviews of honor winner The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt. To top it off, I'd actually considered and declined purchasing (@ full-price, I beg you to understand) a copy of the medal winner, Good Masters, Sweet Ladies by Laura Amy Schlitz to have her autograph it a book festival this fall. My coworker will tell of my Rumpelstiltskin-esque fit I threw when I heard of Ms. Schlitz's win and remembered my passing up of the chance to have a first edition autographed. I should have figured it out. Ms. Schlitz's A Drowned Maiden's Hair received a lot of praise from the kidlit bloggers I read (at least one of whom I believe was on the 2007 Newbery committee), and I have to admit, while I'm not comfortable with the subject matter, it was really very well written (Best first line ever of a kids book, I think.).

Since the announcements I've read The Wednesday Wars and really, really, enjoyed it. I'm currently reading Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis. I have to agree, though, with the Cuffies awards, given by PW & children's booksellers, that both books would be a much better 'sell' if they had more interesting covers. I think I'll be able to overcome the boring-ness (I don't care if it's not a word, I'm using it!) of The Wednesday Wars cover to get kids to read it, but am afraid the saving grace of this edition of Elijah of Buxton will be the title's Coretta Scott King Award win, as these are a frequent school assignment.

I'm still upset that Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale was absent from all the ALA awards, but I'm a new fan of The Wednesday Wars, and recognize the merits of the other winners and will forgive the committees.

Better luck next year, right?

Bathtime Storytime Plan

Audience: Families (all ages)

My Standard Opening Song: "What A Miracle" (Hap Palmer, Peek-a-Boo and Other Songs for Young Children)


Read-Aloud Book: Big Smelly Bear by Brita Teckentrup, 2007

Action Song: "Everybody Wash" (Sesame Street Splish Splash Bath Time Fun

Flannel Board: Tiny's Bath by Carl Meister, 1998

Song: "Do De Rubber Duck" (Sesame Street Splish Splash Bath Time Fun)

Read-Aloud: Bath Time by Eileen Spinelli

FingerPlay: Rub A Dub Dub
Rub a dub dub (rub hands together)
Three men in a tub, (hold up three fingers)
And who do you think they be? (Hold hands out in question)
The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker (count them off on your fingers)
And all of them gone out to sea. (make paddling motions)

Lap Theater: Rub-A-Dub-Dub: Who's in the Tub? by Jun Takabatake

Song: "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" (Joanie Bartels, Bathtime Magic)


Read-Aloud: "Take Me Out of the Bathtub", Take Me Out Of The Bathtub and Other Silly Dilly Songs by Alan Katz

Extra Song: "I Took a Bath in a Washing Machine" (Jim Gill Sings the Sneezing Song and Other Contagious Tunes


Extra Fingerplay: Baby's Bath
Baby's ready for her bath.
Here's the baby's tub, (Make circle with arms)
Here's the baby's washcloth, (Hold hand up, palm flat)
See how she can scrub. (Pretend to rub face)
Here's the baby's cake of soap, (Make a fist)
And here's the towel dry, (Hold hands flat, thumbs touching)
And here's the baby's cradle (Make imaginary cradle)
Rock-a-baby bye. (Rock 'cradle' back and forth)

My Standard Closing Song: "So Long Now" (Kidzup Productions, Kindergarten Songs)

(images of book covers are from/linked to Amazon . com, the title of the books/albums are linked to the library)