Top Shelf

Jane Claes and Janet Hilbun have been doing research about state book awards and shared their findings with us.

Did you know that 49 states have a state book award? Mississippi is the only one that doesn’t and they are considering it.

Why are state book awards so important? They get kids to read and think critically about literature in order to make their selection. The book lists of nominees are also great collection development tools.

The Pacific Northwest Young Reader’s award is the oldest of the state book awards, first given in 1940. Only 11 of the awards were chosen exclusively (nominated and selected) by children. In most cases, the books are nominated by adults and children, then voted on by children.

Nomination criteria vary, but in most cases there is a publication date, whether or not the book is still in print, and the author is living. Some states say that books that have won a Newbery or Caldecott are not eligible.

Generally, students must read a certain number of books to vote and librarians handle the voting in school and public libraries.

The major difference between state and national book awards is that children participate in the selection of the winner.

Big recent winners are:

Eragon by Christopher Paolini – 21 awards

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer – 16 awards

Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo – 15 awards

In the past four years, the top 5 winners have all been considered fantasy or science fiction or magical realism and all of these winners have had movies in production.

It is interesting to note that the top authors who have won state book awards have never won a national book award, such as the Newbery or Caldecott. Some of these authors are Peg Kehret, Andrew Clements, and Dan Gutman.

There are 27 books about dogs that won 47 awards. Five books with the word “ghost” in the title won 11 awards and 16 series books won 21 awards. Ten sequels won 70 awards.

What does this mean for collection development? Taken as a whole, state book awards show clearly what students like and want to read. These books have already been through a rigorous selection process. Looking at these lists also help you keep up with trends in student reading. It is an existing tool that many librarians are not using.

Janet and Jane have a book on this topic coming out this fall: Coast to Coast: Exploring State Book Awards from Libraries Unlimited. Another resource is H.W. Wilson’s Core Collection of state book awards.

A really great and untapped resource for collection development!

Have you read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins? If you haven’t, put it at the top of your summer reading list! It’s the best book I’ve read in a long time and I’m dying to get my hands on the sequel, Catching Fire. It won’t be out officially until September, which is why I can really relate to the guy in the cartoon below. I’d do almost anything to get my hands on an Advanced Reader Copy!

The Hunger Games official web site

Memorial Day, freedom and this post from my RSS reader all seem to fit together somehow. [Thanks to librarian.net for the link.]

Image citation: american flags by woodleywonderworks

PBS Parents has launched a new blog that focuses on “spreading the fun and love of children’s books,” Booklights. The blog’s contributors (Susan, Pam and Jen) have started off by listing their 10 favorite picture books. I loved reading their lists, so I was inspired to try and do the same. Easier said than done! After thinking about it, I discovered that my favorites tend to either be books that I loved reading aloud to students as an elementary librarian (many years ago!) or ones that I have fond memories of sharing with my niece and nephew, who are now 15 and 16.

Here is my list (in no particular order):

1. George and Martha by James Marshall

2. King Bidgood’s in the Bathtub by Don and Audrey Wood

3. Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss

4. Verdi by Janelle Cannon

5. Humbug Witch by Lorna Balian

6. Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes

7. Rumplestiltskin by Paul O. Zelinsky

8. Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathman

9. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

10. Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing by Judi and Ron Barrett

What are your favorite picture books?

Have you seen the trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince? Looks like lots of special effects and action. The movie comes out July 15. I’ll be there – will you?

I got an Amazon Kindle 2 at the end of February and absolutely love the ability to take a whole heap of books with me anywhere I go! I also love being able to look up a word without ever leaving the page that I am reading, and those are only a couple of the cool features of this little device. If you want to know more, here’s a review that has great pictures and all the details about Amazon’s latest e-book reader.

The Kindle 2 is not, however, ready for school or library use. Kindle’s proprietary design requires the user to have an Amazon account with a credit card attached in order to purchase and download books, which would really wreak havoc on a school district’s purchasing and inventory process. Books purchased for the Kindle actually live in the buyer’s Amazon account, so it is not possible to buy Kindle books for the school with a personal credit card and be reimbursed with district funds.

Rumor is that Amazon is in the development phase of an educational Kindle that will allow it to be used in a school setting. Until then, get one for yourself, but not your library.

Image source: Steinbeck on Kindle 2 by TreyDanger.

The winner of the 2009 Texas Bluebonnet Award is:

One Potato, Two Potato by Cynthia DeFelice, illustrated by Andrea U’Ren. From the 151,963 votes cast by Texas 3rd-6th graders, this book emerged as the favorite.

Author and illustrator will both be on hand to receive the award at the Bluebonnet luncheon in Houston on April 2.

If you are attending TLA, be sure and purchase a ticket for this event with your registration. During the luncheon you will meet the ten extraordinary children that proudly represent each TLA district. The children will introduce and present the 2009 TBA to the winning author and illustrator. This presentation is always one of the highlights of the conference.

Kids in Mesquite agreed with the state. Our voting was as follows:

1st – One Potato, Two Potato

2nd – How to Steal a Dog by Barbara O’Connor

3rd – The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

According to Computerworld, e-book sales are about to ignite and be totally mainstream by this time next year. Why? Author Mike Elgan gives six reasons:

1. The economy. The economy is in the tank, and people are looking to cut costs any way they can. An Amazon Kindle pays for itself after the purchase of 20 or 30 books, then starts paying dividends. You save big on books, magazines and newspapers. These savings will grow even more attractive as the recession deepens.

2. The environment. Interest in protecting the environment just keeps growing and growing. The idea of getting a daily newspaper or a weekly or monthly magazine on paper seems incredibly wasteful to the point of decadence. Environmental consciousness will drive e-book acceptance.

3. A publishing revolution. The book publishing industry is one of the most backward, musty, obsolete businesses in our economy. While every other kind of information moves at the speed of light, the process of publishing a book is like something from the Middle Ages.

4. The rise in aggressive e-book marketing. Like the move from silent pictures to “talkies,” the transition to electronic publishing will prove fatal to laggards. Those aggressively pursuing and developing e-books will rise to take control of the publishing industry. Part of this revolution will happen in e-book marketing.

5. A rise in books written for electronic reading. The shift from print to electronic will change the nature of the book itself. Many books will be shorter. They’ll be more timely and culturally relevant. They’ll be more colorfully and engagingly written. And they’ll go after young readers like nothing before.

6. The decline of the newspaper industry. And, finally, the newspaper industry is dying. The old method of physically delivering blog entries on dead tree pulp is obsolete. It’s very simple. Newspapers that embrace e-books will survive. Those that don’t, won’t.

Read the full article here.

What does this mean for school libraries? We are committed to providing materials to students in all formats. The Kindle, with its open internet access, can’t currently be used with students, but Elgan’s article says that Amazon plans to offer Kindle books on cell phones. The Google Book Search blog stated last week that its 1.5 miliion public domain books will also soon be available on mobile devices. How long will it be before we are able to provide electronic books to our students on their ever-present (but currently banned) cell phones?

Leave a comment with your thoughts.

(Thanks to Joyce Valenza for the link.)

The American Library Association (ALA) announced the top books, videos and audiobooks for children and young adults – including the Caldecott, King, Newbery, Schneider Family and Printz awards – at its Midwinter Meeting in Denver yesterday.

Newbery Medal – The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Newbery Honor Books:

The Underneath by Kathi Appelt

The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba’s Struggle for Freedom by Margarita Engle

Savvy by Ingrid Law

After Tupac & D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson

Caldecott Medal – Beth Krommes, illustrator of The House in the Night by Susan Marie Swanson

Caldecott Honor Books:

A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever written and illustrated by Marla Frazee

How I Learned Geography written and illustrated by Uri Shulevitz

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

Printz Award – Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

Printz Honor Books:

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II, The Kingdom on the Waves by M.T. Anderson

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

Nation by Terry Pratchett

Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan

Coretta Scott King Author Award – We Are the Ship: The Story of the Negro League Baseball written and illustrated by Kadir Nelson

Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award – The Blacker the Berry illustrated by Floyd Cooper, written by Joyce Carol Thomas

Read the rest of the list here.

The Bookworm’s Booklist blog is mounting a chapter book challenge for this year. Here are the details:

Read one chapter book per month!

You can join this challenge at any time during the year!

Either you read the book with your children or your child reads the book by himself.

At the end of the month, report the following information to me in the form of a comment on my blog!
First name and age of reader/readers:
Book Title:
Author:
Illustrator (if there is one):
Rate the book on a scale from 1-10 with 10 being the best.
Give the book 1-5 stars with 5 being the best.
One sentence (or more) of what you liked about the book.
One sentence (or more) of what you didn’t like about the book.

Here’s what a sample report will look like:
First name of reader/readers: Marietta (Mommy), J.P.(8) and Will (6)
Book Title: My Father’s Dragon
Author: Ruth Stiles Gannett
Illustrator: Gannett
Marietta-9, J.P.- 10., Will-10
Marietta-*****, J.P. *****, Will-*****
Marietta: I loved the unique storyline and how my boys were completely enthralled with this book! J.P.- The adventure! Will- That Elmer saved the dragon.
Marietta: Some of the animals were really mean. J.P.-I liked everything about the book. Will: I did too!

I hear lots of folks talk about wishing they had time to read more children’s literature. Maybe taking this challenge would motivate us to read more. I can also see the challenge being used with a small group of students as a book club activity.

If you are interested in participating, you can sign up by leaving a comment here.

Thanks to Diane Chen at Practically Paradise for the tip.

Image citation: upstairs display bookworm uploaded on May 28, 2008 by Rapid City Public Library.