Farewell Ambassador Scieszka!

A Year of Reading is hosting a virtual party for Jon Scieszka, who will be ending his reign as the first Ambassador of Children's Literature.

Here's a few words I wrote about Scieszka in my review of the 2009 L.A. Festival of Books.

"I also really wanted to see, speaking at the same time on the opposite side of the festival, Jon Scieszka of Stinky Cheese Man fame, so I wended my way over to the Target Children's Stage. Scieszka (say it, "SHESH-ka") was very entertaining. He read aloud a few things from The Stinky Cheese Man, as well as a short story or two from his autobiographical book Knucklehead. Mainly, his stories were about growing up among five brothers in Michigan and were pretty scatological, which all the kids in the audience seemed to enjoy."

Gosh, I'm surprised I didn't say more. He was a total hoot. We were all baking in the summer sun, and the children's stage at the book festival was particularly warm, but he wasn't fazed by this at all. He jumped about the stage with boundless energy, and had the audience repeating the correct pronunciation of his name over and over again, SHESH-ka, SHESH-ka, SHESH-ka! I remember the children's stage had an enormous oversized throne, which he sat at briefly, before popping up again, with another funny story to share. He talked a lot about his experience as a teacher and how that inspired him to write for kids. It was a great presentation, I highly enjoyed it. He's leaving some mighty big shoes to fill!

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Read-a-likes

Lately, it seems like everyone in the world has Diary of a Wimpy Kid fever. Every book in this hilariously funny series by Jeff Kinney are always checked out at my library. Rather than sending kids away empty-handed, I've been recommending these books instead. They all feature plenty of illustrations and quite a bit of humor.

Mercy Watson (series)

by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Chris Van Dusen

Candlewick

2005

Lots of full color pictures in this series about an irrepressible pig. The author of the award-winning Tale of Despereaux shares tales of this “porcine wonder” and Mercy’s endless quest for the better things in life, especially toast.

My Weird School (series)

by Dan Gutman, illustrated by Jim Paillot

Harper Collins

2004

A.J.’s school is very weird, no doubt about it. Each of his teachers at Ella Mentry School is more wacka-doodle than the next! Can he survive at his crazy school? There is a spin-off series, My Weird School Daze.

Prince of Underwhere

by Bruce Hale, illustrated by Shane Hillman

Harper Collins

2008

In this new fast-paced, silly and fun new series, Zeke manages to cope with school, annoying siblings, zombies and people who wear underwear on their heads.

Horrible Harry (series)

by Suzy Kline, illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz

Viking

1988

Don't forget this classic series. Good-kid Doug is constantly amazed and surprised by the unbelievable pranks his best friend “Horrible” Harry always seems to be getting away with in Miss Mackle’s second grade class.

Regarding the Fountain (series)

by Kate Klise, illustrated by M. Sarah Klise

Avon Books

1998

What starts out as a simple project to replace a broken fountain, quickly gets out of hand in this epistolary novel composed of faxes, letters and drawings. There are more in the series, although none quite so enjoyable as the first.

Toothpaste Millionaire

by Jean Merrill

Bank Street

1972

Not a series, but this is still a terrific, stand-alone book. Rufus Mayflower’s head for business has landed him a million dollars. Learn the secrets of his financial success and find out how he decides to spend his money.

Amelia’s Notebooks (series)

by Marissa Moss

Tricycle Press

1995

Get a sneak peek into Amelia’s life by reading her handwritten diaries. Whether it’s about her friends, her school or her family, Amelia doesn’t hold back. Her notebook drawings and doodles leave plenty for readers to pore over.

Clementine (series)

by Sara Pennypacker, illustrated by Marla Frazee

Hyperion

2006

Creative and funny Clementine doesn’t mean to be a troublemaker! Expressive ink drawings by Marla Frazee keep the action humming right along. Similar to the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary and also appropriate for Junie B. Jones graduates.

Captain Underpants (series)

by Dav Pilkey

Blue Sky Press

1997

The one. The only. The original. Read the book that helped inspire Diary of a Wimpy Kid! Action, adventure, humor, cartoons, laughs; this series has it all. Fans of Captain Underpants will probably also enjoy all of Pilkey's books, including the Super Diaper Baby books and Ricky Ricotta's Giant Robot series.

Fred & Anthony (series)

by Elise Primavera

Hyperion

2007

Read about the hijinks of two best friends, interspersed with plenty of cartoons and humor. Scary and funny, these stories will keep you on the edge of your seat!

Time Warp Trio (series)

by Jon Scieszka & Lane Smith

Viking

1991

Joe, Sam and Fred use their magic book to travel through time, having wacky madcap adventures all the way. The author of The Stinky Cheese Man does not disappoint with this wonderful chapter book series. The books have also been released as graphic novels.

Ellie McDoodle (series)

by Ruth McNally Barshaw

Bloomsbury Children's Books

2007

Similar to the Amelia's Notebooks series, but geared for perhaps, just a bit of an older audience, this series features snarky, funny pre-teen Ellie, who in her first adventure is forced to go camping with her relatives in Michigan.

Dragonbreath (series)

by Ursula Vernon

Dial Books

2009

Danny is an underachieving dragon who can't breath fire. He and his best friend Wendell (an iguana) attempt to avoid bullies and get their research for an acceptable school paper on sea life done. With green and black illustrations, this series seems visually similar to Babymouse by Jennifer and Matthew Holm.

Holiday Dove Craft

One of my colleagues created this wonderful dove pattern, cut out of a single paper plate. I hosted an after school craft program at our library last week, and here are the results.

Here's the sample that I made. It turned out so nice, I used it as a tree-topper.

And a close-up of the sample.

Here's one made by a seven year old. She decided to give her dove a pink scarf.

And this one, made by a three year old. I think it's cute!

Happy Holidays!

I like these blogs!

A few blogs I've run across recently, that I like the looks of.

Hey Rabbit! by new author Sergio Ruzzier. Independent bookstores, classic kidslit, and plenty of sketches and behind-the-scenes look at his own work. I like it!

Ready for a bit of snark? Especially with Kirkus out of the way, we've got to get our negative reviews from somewhere.

I point to Books that Fail to fill the void.

Fellow blogspotter and proud Angeleno Ellen Bloom visits the Central Library in downtown L.A.

Saying No

In the Library with the Lead Pipe recently posted an entry about how to say no. It's a timely piece I think. With budgets growing tighter and workloads increasing it does seem impossible to say no these days.

In my case, my problem is that I so greatly enjoy what I'm doing, it's easy for me to end up taking on too much. Opening our new branch has actually worn me out a bit more than I anticipated. I'm doing a weekly storytime, a weekly craft project for older kids, visiting schools and hosting school visits, computer classes for grade schoolers, writing professional book reviews. I'm also selecting new books to purchase, and soliciting book donations to try and keep our shelves from looking so empty. There's nothing on my list of things to do that I'd want to eliminate, it's simply that there aren't enough hours in the day!

I recently found out that I haven't been selected for any committees in ALA this year. On one hand, I'm bummed. But, perhaps it is a blessing in disguise. Right now, I'm working at max capacity. My only fear is that my current numbers will be seen as some kind of "baseline" that should be increased. As tired as I am, the idea of doing still more is tempting. If I could, I'd add a second weekly storytime, so I could do one exclusively for babies, and another for toddlers. I'd add a monthly book club for 3rd through 5th graders. I'd review even more books than I already am and I'd blog more. I worry though, about conserving my energy for the long haul. If training for marathons has taught me anything, it's the wisdom of pacing oneself. For now, I'm sticking with my current already-busy schedule.

By the end of the day, with shortened hours of daylight, it's already dark out and I find myself ready to just hibernate. Consequently, I've been doing a lot of reading and not as much blogging this past week. There's nothing that passes a winter evening so well, as reading in a comfy chair, in front of a crackling fire. I've raced through the whole Gemma Doyle trilogy by Libba Bray. Read the entire Babymouse series (why did I put this off? They are so wonderful!) Read Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman, Dragonbreath by Ursula Vernon, Ever and Blue Moon by Alyson Noel and Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. Friday after work, I was feeling completely wiped, but after a weekend of solid R&R I'm feeling ready to (cautiously) jump back in the fray.

Starred review

I'm very excited that a book I reviewed recently received a star from the School Library Journal. Whether or not a book gets a star is an editorial decision, but I was really rooting for this particular book to get that recognition and I'm so glad that it did!


ZIEFERT, Harriet, with Brian Stokes Mitchell. Lights on Broadway: A Theatrical Tour from A to Z. illus. by Elliot Kreloff. unpaged. w/CD. Blue Apple. 2009. Tr $19.99. ISBN 978-1-934706-68-8. LC number unavailable.

K-Gr 5—A love letter to Broadway written with genuine warmth and professional-theater knowledge, this alphabet book features crisp, retro-style cartoon characters confidently racing about onstage and behind the scenes. Pleasantly busy pages capture the excitement of live theater and offer multiple entries for each letter. For example, "A" is for "audition," "actor," "audience," and "applause." "S" stands for "stage," "scenery," "set," and "script." Multiple sidebars offer further kid-friendly definitions. Plenty of star power is lent with quotes from luminaries such as Whoopi Goldberg, Liza Minelli, Steven Sondheim, Bernadette Peters, Carol Channing, and Kevin Kline. A CD single written by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty performed by Mitchell is also included. A must for all collections, this book will be treasured by theater aficionados for years to come.—Madigan McGillicuddy, Los Angeles Public Library

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher.

Books about libraries

To celebrate our new library, I put together a display of books that feature libraries, books or reading.

Here's a partial listing of titles I selected.

Three Stories You Can Read to Your Cat

by Sara Miller, illustrated by True Kelley

Houghton Mifflin

1997

Not about "books" per se, but I love the conceit. Sly, very humorous and probably the best use of notoriously difficult second person narration that I've ever seen.

Amelia Bedelia, Bookworm

by Herman Parish, illustrated by Lynn Sweat

Greenwillow

2003

Literal-minded Amelia Bedelia helps out at her local library and as can be expected, gets into tons of trouble by doing everything "by the book."

What Do Authors Do?

by Eileen Christelow

Clarion

1995

In cartoon format, demystifies the writing and publishing process for young readers.

That Book Woman

by Helen Henson, illustrated by David Small

Atheneum

2008

Inspired by a traveling librarian, a young Appalachian boy in the 1930's learns to read.

Born to Read

by Judy Sierra, illustrated by Marc Brown

Knopf

2008

Sam is addicted to reading.

My Librarian is a Camel

Margriet Ruurs

Boyd Mills Press

2005

This non-fiction title features full-color photos of kids around the world, eager to get books however they can.

The Library Dragon

by Carmen Agra Deedy, illustrated by Michael P. White

Peachtree Publishers

1994

Mrs. Lotta Scales, the new, suspiciously scaly librarian can get quite fired up when her books aren't treated right.

Johann Gutenberg and the Amazing Printing Press

by Bruce Kosceilniak

Houghton Mifflin

2003

The true story of how the printing press was invented, with background information about the origins of written language.

Maisy Goes to the Library

by Lucy Cousins

Candlewick

2005

Another solid addition to the very popular Maisy series. The bold outline pictures and the simple story line encourages print motivation as Maisy finds a book, and enjoys a storytime at the library.

You Read to Me, I'll Read to You

by Mary Ann Hoberman, illustrated by Michael Emberly

Little Brown

2001

Poetry for two voices, designed for adults to share with emerging readers.

The Wednesday Surprise

by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Donald Carrick

Clarion Books

1989

A child teaches her immigrant grandmother to read.

Wild About Books

by Judy Sierra, illustrated by Marc Brown

Knopf

2003

Zoo animals go wild over the bookmobile that comes to visit them.

Library Mouse

by Daniel Kirk

Abrams Books

2007

A shy mouse sneaks out at night to gift the library with his literary creations.

Book! Book! Book!

by Deborah Bruss, illustrated by Tiphanie Beeke

Arthur A. Levine Books

2001

Animals at the farm demand a library storytime.

Library Lion

by Michelle Knudsen, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes

Candlewick

2006

A lion is welcome to stay in the library... as long as he doesn't break any rules.