April 2009
Search Tip of the Month
This Month's Features
Author Booking Service
Spreading the News
Oh, to be a poem now that April's here!
April and poetry are perfectly paired. The outdoor world is bursting forth with spring buds and flowers, beckoning one and all to escape from the indoor winter air. Throw open those windows! Get yourself outside! Immerse yourself in the poetry of a beautiful, colorful day. With a subscription to the Children's Literature Comprehensive Database (CLCD) you can get your work done and still have time to enjoy spring. In a way, the CLCD is like a great poem. Just as poems allow us to look at everyday objects and events in a whole new way, the breadth and depth of the CLCD sheds a whole new light on children's and young adult media.
Whatever kinds of poetry books you are searching for, whether it be for particular ages, stages or subjects, or even novels in verse, the CLCD makes your search quick and easy. For example, April is a month bursting with special days. Arbor Day is April 24th. You might think about planting a tree near your library or school. If you want to have a planting ceremony, the CLCD can help you locate poems about trees.
"Listen my children and you shall hear/ Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,/ On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five..." Thus begins one of the most well-known poems about the beginning of the American Revolution: "Paul Revere's Ride" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Get your students excited about history. Several illustrated single editions of this poem are listed in the CLCD. What a great way to introduce the Battle of Lexington and Concord.
There are still more special days this month. We have selected three of them for our features this month: Passover, Easter and Earth Day. We have selected picture books, informational titles, novels, and even craft books to help you create your displays or to suggest in your reader's advisory role.
Another special feature this month is the 2009 Science Books and Films Prizes for Excellence in Science Books. You won't want to miss these titles which have been vetted by scientists for accuracy and read by librarians, teachers and other literature specialists for quality of writing and appeal to young readers.
Quote of the Month
"By using CLCD, I just prepared a list of fantasy books with some connection to cats for a ten-year-old-girl reading just above grade level. Including the searching, selection, looking at some suggested links, copying and pasting into a Word document, arranging the titles, cleaning up the fonts, and individualizing the annotations for the student, it took about twenty-five minutes!"
Barbara Ripp Safford, "Don't Judge a Database by Its Search Screen,"
School Library Media Activities Monthly, Vol. XXII, Number 2
Did you know that CLCD and your OPAC can be linked. Librarians are really excited about what we can do to make their jobs even easier. If you would like more information just e-mail marilyn@childrenslit.com or call our Help Desk personnel toll free at (1 800 469 2070).
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Earth Day is April 22. Teachers, parents and children, will find plenty to think about after reading the titles in this update. One book that I am particularly excited about sharing is Love Every Leaf: The Life of Landscape Architect Cornelia Hahn Oberlander by Kathy Stinson. "Sustainable development" and "green buildings" are big buzz words today. In fact, Hahn Oberlander was designing with these concepts in mind long before the general public was concerned with the environment. Read about her fascinating life in this biography.
Easter Sunday is April 12. Our feature includes books about spring as well as some religious titles. What happens when the Easter Bunny has the flu? Young readers will find out in Easter Bunny Blues by Carol Wallace and illustrated by Steve Bjorkman, a story that will be popular with beginning chapter book readers.
The first day of Passover is April 9th. Among the titles listed in this feature is Nachshon, Who Was Afraid to Swim: A Passover Story by Deborah Bodin Cohen and illustrated by Jago, in which "the story of one boy represents the struggles for both freedom and courage of many."
We do not want you to forget that "April showers bring May flowers" so we are featuring some titles about Showers/Rain. What is it like to experience months without rain? We have included a story set in Kenya. What happens when it rains on your parade? Jazmin, in The Rain Stomper by Addie K. Boswell and illustrated by Eric Velasquez, knows just what to do in this foot-stompin' read aloud.
2009 Science Books and Films Prizes for Excellence in Science Books honor works that further the understanding and appreciation of science in books for children in kindergarten through high school. We list the 19 finalists and provide reviews of the four winners in this special feature. (They are flagged with **). Reviews of all the books can be found in the CLCD database as well as in Science Books and Films, and AAAS members can read these reviews on the Web. Marilyn Courtot, Editor of Children's Literature and President of the CLCD Company served as one of the judges in the contest (excluding the Young Adult section.) How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate: Scientists and Kids Explore Global Warming by Lynne Cherry and Gary Braasch is the winning book for Middle Grades.
Author Features
Kim McKay, and co-author Jenny Bonnin wrote True Green Kids: 100 Things You Can Do to Save the Planet. It is a 2009 Science Books and Films Prize winner. Learn about Ms. McKay's involvement in the green movement and why she stresses the importance of local awareness in conservation practices.
Liz Murphy, who illustrated Broadway Barks by Bernadette Peters as well as A Dictionary of Dance explains the differences in illustrating these two books. She also tells us where she would go if she were galloping on a beautiful stallion. Incidentally, be sure to read our Children's Literature review of A Dictionary of Dance to learn how this book can be used for preschoolers and then again in a completely different way with older elementary school students.
Janette Rallison, author of All's Fair in Love, War, and High School discusses her newest romantic comedy, My Fair Godmother. Among other topics, she also talks about the difficulty of finding the balance between comedy and tragedy when writing her novels.
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Children's Literature currently assists schools, museums, conferences and other organizations in identifying authors and illustrators for speaking engagements. Authors and illustrators provide valuable insight into their craft and connect their audience with the world of literature. In each issue we will highlight several of our booking service participants. To learn more about this service, please go to http://www.childrenslit.com/bookingservice/bs-home.html
Henry Cole
If you're seeking an author-illustrator who's talented, funny, personable and well-loved by audiences of children and adults as well... look no more. The youngest in a big, loving family in a farmhouse in Virginia, Henry led a charmed childhood. Doodling and drawing from a young age, and always fascinated with animals, Henry combined his interests and ended up illustrating children's books written by Julie Andrews, Marion Dane Bauer and Roland Smith, among others. His most frequent collaborator is Pamela Duncan Edwards, with whom he often visits schools to debate the burning question: Who is more important, the author or the illustrator? Be sure to check out his latest books, Chicken Butt, written by Erica Perl (certain to be loved and laughed at by kids and parents alike), and Trudy, a sweet, warm-hearted story about a little girl and her pet goat, written and illustrated by Henry.
Candice Ransom
Do you like picture books? Middle readers? Young adult? Do you enjoy historic fiction? Fantasy? Mystery? Fiction or non-fiction? Whatever your preference, chances are Candice Ransom has written the book for you. From her popular 10-book "Time Spies" fantasy series, to historical biographies including Robert E. Lee, Clara Barton and Daniel Boone; from picture books about big rigs and tractors, to emotional, award-winning books like Finding Day's Bottom, it's hard to find an age group, or a genre, that Candice hasn't explored - then again, she's written over a hundred of them! Listening to her mom's anecdotes of life in the Shenandoah Valley was the perfect beginning for this natural-born storyteller (who still lives in Virginia). When she's not hard at work on another great book, Candice is most likely either teaching about Children's Literature at Hollins University, or visiting elementary school kids and teaching them about the joys of writing books. New to our booking service, we're very excited to have Candice on board!
CLCD Newsletter Editor, Sharon Salluzzo serves as a library and education consultant to CLCD. In addition, Sharon is a book reviewer, a storyteller who often performs with The Genesee Storytellers, and a member of The Children's Book Guild of Washington, DC. Sharon earned her MLS at SUNY Geneseo.
About the Children's Literature Comprehensive Database
Our monthly newsletter is now available to everyone within an organization, not just the primary contact. A new feature at www.childrenslit.com will provide you with a form allowing you to sign up for just the electronic newsletter. The Children's Literature Comprehensive Database, updated mid-month, is your most complete source of information about children's books. Indeed, it is the next best thing to having the book in hand, and the best tool for leading you to the best books. All at a most affordable price. To subscribe to the CLCD or contact us, go to www.childrenslit.com.