Top Shelf

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

Stephen’s Lighthouse featured an article from globeandmail.com describing recent research that shows people who read fiction have better social skills.

At the Blue Skunk Blog, Doug Johnson explored the issue further with his post about building the capacity for empathy.

The AASL blog reports back on the Library of Congress Primary Sources workshop that was held a couple of weeks ago at NECC. The post includes links to handouts and other great resources.

The YALSA blog invites us to complete the free registration for Teen Read Week 2009 to get incentives and win prizes.

YALSA also provides a link to mp3s of the speeches given by Geraldine McCaughrean and other Printz award winners at ALA’s annual conference in June.