Let's give three cheers for libraries this month as we celebrate National Library Week April 11th to the 17th. This year's theme is: "Communities thrive." Libraries are information centers for their communities. New friendships are formed as mothers, fathers, and caregivers bring their children to storyhour, or children attend summer programs, or adults join a reading club. Indeed, patrons and librarians become friends as they share book titles and work together on community events.

Our features this month will help you as you build that bond with your community. Little League baseball and softball leagues begin, or continue, this month. Update your baseball book collection with the titles in our feature. Have a poetry reading this month and display copies of books from our poetry feature. Later in the month, April 22nd marks the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. By having available a list of local Earth Day programs you can help the community and your patrons. As an extra bonus, incorporate the titles in our feature with your display.

Our features are just a drop in the bucket of titles and information available to you in the Children's Literature Comprehensive Database (CLCD). You can rely on CLCD for all your youth literature needs. Our subscribers say it over and over: A subscription to CLCD is one-stop "shopping" and they rely on it every day. At such an economical price, shouldn't you be a wise "shopper," too?

To subscribe to CLCD, go to www.childrenslit.com today.

Sad News:

Sid Fleischman, author of the Newbery Award winner The Whipping Boy, died on March 17, one day after his 90th birthday. I fondly recall my days as a young librarian reading aloud the McBroom stories to 7 and 8 year olds, and booktalking The Ghost on Saturday Night which was always a surefire hit with my audience. What a treat it was to hear Sid and his son Paul present a "conversation between the two" at a library conference oh-so-many-years ago. For the past thirty-five years, I have looked forward to and delighted in reading Sid's books. A quote from his official web site presents his thoughts on writing for children: "The books we enjoy as children stay with us forever -- they have a special impact. Paragraph after paragraph and page after page, the author must deliver his or her best work." Deliver he did! What a rich, magical treasure he has given to us! Sid Fleischman will be deeply missed.

Twitter

If you were receiving our tweets this past month, you would have been among the first to learn about a link to the trailer for the new "Ramona and Beezus" film; an article from LATIMESBOOKS concerning the wide-ranging audience for Young Adult literature; and the announcement of the Children's Choice Book Award finalists for 2010.

Our Blog

Interesting perspectives, keen insights, and practical applications are what you will discover on our blog. We continue with more writing tips from Steve Watkins, author of the 2009 Golden Kite Award winner Down Sand Mountain; a "dramatic time in our country's history is perfect material for Reader's Theater," says Jacqueline Jules, author of Unite or Die: How Thirteen States Became a Nation; and Marilyn Courtot continues her series on What Makes a Good Book.

Quote of the Month

"Because my students don't always have access to print copies of review journals, I recommend that they use the online reviews available through the TWU library's databases. I recommend that they try CLCD because it is a one-stop "shop." They find reviews from reliable sources (as opposed to personal reviews posted to Amazon and other "fan" sites) but they also find other information about the book, such as awards won. I also like CLCD because students discover that the comprehensive features of the database go beyond the reviews and can lead them to teaching tools and discussion guides and help them compile lists based on additional search qualifiers. This helps future teachers and librarians become excited about books and use newer and higher quality books in their classrooms and libraries."
Jeanette Larson
Larson Library Consulting
Adjunct Instructor
Texas Woman's University

Now you can search the CLCD database and limit your results to books that have won awards. For example, I decided to try recycling because of Earth Day and then I set the qualifier to award winners. The result was 39 items and one of them is perfect for April which is also poetry month--Each Living Thing by Joanne Ryder. So, please make use of this new ability to further qualify your searches and find the very best books for k-12 readers.

Monthly Features

Our features present selected titles. For a more comprehensive and complete list of published titles with multiple reviews, use the CLCD.

Celebrate the beginning of the new season with our Baseball feature update. Poems, the National Negro Baseball League, a long-awaited prequel, and a book about Sandy Koufax, are among those in our feature. Baseball great Ted Williams said he could see the seams of the baseball as the pitch came toward him. Learn more about his incredible skills in No Easy Way: the Story of Ted Williams and the Last .400 Season by the talented writer and baseball fanatic Fred Bowen with illustrations by Charles S. Pyle.

Earth Day is April 22. Let us help you create a display and meet the informational needs of your young readers with books that cover a range of topics including living green, sustainability, and how global warming is impacting certain animals. In Bag in the Wind by Ted Kooser and illustrated by Barry Root the reader learns a lesson on recycling as "a 'perfectly good' plastic bag blown from a landfill goes on a series of adventures."

April is National Poetry Month so be sure to take a look at our update. Baseball, birds and habitats, and poems just-for-fun are all part of this feature. Introduce your young readers to Emma Lazarus in Emma's Poem: The Voice of the Statue of Liberty by Linda Glaser, with paintings by Claire A. Nivola.

Author Features

Brian Floca author of the Sibert Honor book, Moonshot, began his career as an illustrator when he was chosen by Avi in 1993 to illustrate his book, City of Light, City of Dark. Brian looks back at those early days, discusses his Sibert Honor book and reveals what he loves most about bookmaking in this feature.

Valerie O. Patterson has just published her first novel, The Other Side of Blue, which deals with mother-daughter relationships. In this interview she talks about what surprised her most about the process of writing and publishing a YA novel.

Reminder: if you missed a newsletter or want to check on a previous feature, please note that all the newsletters are posted for your convenience here.

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

Author and illustrator Henry Cole was raised on a farm in Purcellville, Virginia. Henry is a self-taught artist. He studied forestry at Virginia Tech where his close observation of nature inspired many detailed drawings. He has also taught elementary level science. His recent book releases include A Nest for Celeste, his first novel, Trudy, and Katy Duck is a Caterpillar. Also in the last year he was the illustrator for Mouse was Mad, Chicken Butt, Big Chickens Go To Town, and Princess Pigtoria and the Pea. For more information about Henry, please visit http://www.childrenslit.com/bookingservice/edwards-cole.html.

Pamela Duncan Edwards

Born in Liverpool, England, Pamela Duncan Edwards has been living in the United States for over twenty-five years. Pamela taught preschool in the UK, became a children's librarian after moving to the US. Her newest books are Dinosaur Starts School and While the World is Sleeping. Her most recent collaboration with Henry Cole, Princess Pigtoria and the Pea, is a lively story full of words featuring the letter P. "This will be a lively read-aloud for a wide audience range as well as providing heaps of curricular use, from phonics lessons to units on fractured fairy tales" (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, March 2010 (Vol. 63, No. 7)). For more information about Pamela, please visit http://www.childrenslit.com/bookingservice/edwards-cole.html.

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.