Sep 1st, 2010
by Aaron Mead.
Here’s the next installment in my series of children’s books blogger interviews. Today I report on my interview with Melissa Fox (pictured to the right, abbreviated “MF” below), who blogs at Book Nut. Melissa’s blog focuses on children’s book reviews, though she reviews some adult books too. She is also an active member of the online children’s literature community (the “kidlitosphere”), as you will see from the interview. The point of these interviews, of course, is to help connect readers of Children’s Books and Reviews to some of the many other excellent websites focused on children’s books. So, after reading the interview, I encourage you to check out Melissa’s blog (link above), and the other kidlit resources she points to. Thanks Melissa!
Q: How and when did you become interested in thinking/writing about children’s books?
MF: Back in about 1995, a friend of mine was appalled that I had never read Beauty
by Robin McKinley. She insisted that I read it, and I was hooked: I loved the story, I loved the writing, I loved the idea that, as an adult, I could experience books that I’d missed as a kid. But then, over time, I realized that there was just so much more good writing and story telling going on for children, more so than for adults, and that’s what appeals to me most. So, that’s what I read. Continue reading →
Posted in: Blogger Interviews.
Tagged: Blog · Book Nut · Children's Books · Interview · Kidlitosphere · Melissa Fox
Aug 26th, 2010
by Aaron Mead.
Here’s another post in my series of children’s books blogger interviews. Today I report on my interview with Jen Robinson (abbreviated “JR” below), who blogs at Jen Robinson’s Book Page. Along with excellent children’s book reviews, Jen’s blog has a particular focus on child literacy. She is also a leader in the online children’s literature community (the “kidlitosphere” as it is sometimes called), as you will see from the interview. The point of these interviews, of course, is to help connect readers of Children’s Books and Reviews to some of the many other excellent websites focused on children’s books. So, after reading the interview, I encourage you to check out Jen’s blog (link above), as well as the many excellent resources she mentions in the interview. Thanks Jen!
Q: How and when did you become interested in thinking/writing about children’s books?
JR: I never stopped reading children’s books, just because I enjoyed them so much. I was also always an advocate of people helping kids to grow up to love books. I think that the whole growing bookworms concept [AMM: hence the bookworm graphic above] resonated with me because I loved books SO SO much as a child. And my love of books enriched my life, both subjectively (countless hours of pleasure) and objectively (high SAT scores, admission to my dream college, etc.). I was a grassroots advocate for literacy for years, long before there were blogs, but I always wished that I could do more. Blogging gave me a platform to work in an area that I was already passionate about. Continue reading →
Posted in: Blogger Interviews.
Tagged: Blog · Children's Books · Interview · Jen Robinson · Jen Robinson's Book Page · Kidlitosphere
Aug 21st, 2010
by Aaron Mead.
What makes for good children’s books? In this series of articles I have suggested that choice-worthy children’s books have both subjective appeal, and developmental value. In other words, good kids’ books are appealing to a child, and help her grow.
One characteristic that can affect the developmental value of a kids’ book is the complexity of the book’s story. In this article I will explain what I mean by “story complexity,” and what I see as the connection between story complexity and emotional and intellectual development in children. I will draw on prominent examples of recent juvenile and young adult fiction to illustrate my points: J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series
, and Rebecca Stead’s Newbery Medal winner When You Reach Me
. While what I have to say will apply mostly to older children, I will also try to give some rough guidance on choosing complex stories for younger children.
If you would like to read from the first article in this series, “Children’s Books: How to Choose Them, Part 1 – Introduction,” click here.
Children’s Books and Complex Characters
Viewed one way, the basic elements of a story are characters and plots. Both of these elements may contribute to the complexity of a story. First, I will discuss how the characters in a story may contribute to its complexity. A complex character is one whose mental, emotional, and behavioral activity is developed by the author to such a degree that she seems deeply true to life. Continue reading →
Posted in: Articles, Newbery.
Tagged: Children's Books · Developmental Value · Harry Potter · How to choose children's books · Story Complexity · When You Reach Me
Aug 10th, 2010
by Aaron Mead.
Title: Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes
Author: Mem Fox, (illustrations: Helen Oxenbury)
Genre: Baby Board Books
Age Category: Infant to 5 years
Our Rating (out of 5 stars): 
Baby’s toes are one of nature’s wonderful features. When I catch a glimpse of them I can’t help but marvel a bit. The toe pads are almost perfectly circular. And the skin is so fresh and pure-looking. As parents know, they are also great for tickling and nibbling on…okay, okay, I’ll stop now. Suffice it to say, for all you fellow baby-toe-lovers out there, here is a gem that’s sure to make you and your baby smile. It was first published in 2008, but has recently been released in a baby board book edition.
Baby Board Book Summary
Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes opens with the following lines:
“There was one little baby who was born far away,
and another who was born on the very next day.
And both of these babies—as everyone knows—
had ten little fingers and ten little toes.” Continue reading →
Posted in: 3 to 5 years, Book Reviews, Infant to 2 years.
Tagged: Baby Board Books · Helen Oxenbury · Mem Fox · Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes · Toddlers
Aug 6th, 2010
by Aaron Mead.
Title: Pippo Gets Lost
Author: Helen Oxenbury
Genre: Baby Board Books
Age Category: Infant to 2 years
Our Rating (out of 5):
In my view, Helen Oxenbury’s old-school baby board books set the gold standard for children’s books in the infant-to-2-years age category. Here I review a board book from her delightful series about Tom and Pippo. For my review of Oxenbury’s equally delightful baby board book Clap Hands, click here.
Baby Board Book Summary
Tom is a toddler with a favorite toy monkey named Pippo. On the first page of the board book—the page with the publication details, before the story begins—there is a picture of Pippo wedged between two books on a bookcase. As the title suggests, Pippo is lost, and this first illustration shows us where he is hiding.
When Tom discovers that Pippo is lost, he begins looking for him. The board book’s opening line, “Sometimes Pippo gets lost…,” suggests that Pippo has been lost before (does this bring to mind any toddlers you know?). Continue reading →
Posted in: Book Reviews, Infant to 2 years.
Tagged: Baby Board Books · Children's Books · Helen Oxenbury · Pippo Gets Lost · Toddlers
Jul 31st, 2010
by Aaron Mead.
There is sometimes a difference between good children’s books, and books that children like. But what is that difference? I think it is summed up in the term “developmental value”: good children’s books are books that both appeal to kids, and help them to develop.
In the previous article in this series—“Children’s Books: How to Choose Them, Part 7 – Developmental Value”—I explained the notion of “developmental value” and its importance as a criterion for choosing kids’ books. In this article, I will begin to explain the specific qualities that might make a book developmentally valuable, focusing on the characteristic I call “edifying language.” Edifying language is language that contributes in some way to a child’s development. Here I will explain how edifying language does this, and how to identify it in kids’ books.
This article is the eighth in a series on how to choose children’s books. If you would like to read from the beginning, click on “Children’s Books: How to Choose Them, Part 1 – Introduction.” Continue reading →
Posted in: Articles.
Tagged: Children's Books · Developmental Value · Edifying Language · How to choose children's books
Jul 23rd, 2010
by Aaron Mead.
This article is the seventh in a series on how to choose children’s books. If you would like to read from the beginning, click on “Children’s Books: How to Choose Them, Part 1 – Introduction.” In this article, I will explain the concept of “developmental value,” and its importance in choosing kids’ books. I will also give a brief roadmap for the next several articles in this series, which will focus on the particular considerations that give children’s books developmental value.
Children’s Books: Criteria for Choosing Them
As I see it, there are two main criteria that should govern the selection of kids’ books. First, adults should choose children’s books that have what I call “subjective appeal”. In other words, adults should choose books with qualities that make them attractive to children. The subjective appeal of a children’s book might consist in any number of considerations, such as an interesting theme, attractive illustrations, a good story, or humor. To this point in my series on how to choose children’s books, I have focused on this criterion of subjective appeal, and I have written articles on each of the considerations just noted.
However, there is a second general criterion that should guide adults in choosing kids’ books, which I call “developmental value.” A children’s book has developmental value if it has qualities that allow the book to contribute to a child’s cognitive, emotional, moral, or even spiritual development. Continue reading →
Posted in: Articles.
Tagged: Children's Books · Developmental Value · How to choose children's books · Subjective Appeal
Jul 10th, 2010
by Aaron Mead.
For some time I’ve wanted to help connect readers of Children’s Books and Reviews to some of the many other excellent websites focused on children’s books. With that intention, over the next little while I plan to interview some bloggers and online writers who focus their work on children’s books. I will then post the interviews in brief transcript form, with links to their excellent websites. So, today I’m posting the first of these interviews. Marya Jansen-Gruber (abreviated “MJG” below), editor of Through the Looking Glass Children’s Book Review, graciously agreed to be my first interviewee. After reading the interview I encourage you to check out her website and her related blog (click here for Marya’s blog).
Q: How and when did you become interested in children’s books?
MJG: I was living in Washington DC in 1992 and I was walking home one evening when I saw this large stone lion statue on a bridge. I found myself wondering what could happen if it came to life. I began writing a story about the lion soon after. I have been involved in the world of children’s book in some way ever since. Continue reading →
Posted in: Blogger Interviews.
Tagged: Blog · Children's Books · Interview · Marya Jansen-Gruber · Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Review
Jul 8th, 2010
by Aaron Mead.
Title: The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Author: Eric Carle
Genre: Baby Board Books
Age Category: Infant to 2 years
Our Rating (out of 5): 
Baby Board Book Summary
Eric Carle’s classic baby board book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, begins with a small white egg resting on a leaf by moonlight. When the sun comes up the next morning—on Sunday—the little egg hatches and a tiny, very hungry caterpillar pops out.
The caterpillar goes searching for food over the course of the week. It finds and eats holes through several kinds of fruit, food that you might expect a caterpillar to like. For example, on Monday he eats through an apple, on Tuesday two pears, on Wednesday three plums, and so on. However, after eating five oranges on Friday he is still hungry (he is a very hungry caterpillar!), so on Saturday Continue reading →
Posted in: Book Reviews, Infant to 2 years.
Tagged: Baby Board Books · Children's Books · Eric Carle · The Very Hungry Caterpillar · Toddlers
Jul 1st, 2010
by Aaron Mead.
Title: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6)
Author: J.K. Rowling
Age Category: 14 to 19 years +
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Our Rating (out of five):
I plan to review the seventh and last of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books—the young adult fiction offering, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7)
—before the release of the seventh Harry Potter movie in November, 2010. But, I can’t review the seventh book before I review the sixth, right? So, here’s my take on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6). While I will not divulge here any important plot twists or outcomes of this book, I will talk about the plot of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Book 5)
, so if you are worried about spoiling that book, stop reading!
Young Adult Fiction: Plot Synopsis
In the last book—Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Book 5)—Voldemort and his minions tried to steal a prophecy (i.e., a crystal ball that preserves prophetic words previously spoken) about Harry and the Dark Lord, to help them in their wicked bid for power over the wizarding world. With help from members of the Order of the Phoenix—a secret society formed to counter Voldemort’s forces—Harry and his friends foiled the plot in dramatic “shoot-em-up” style. (For my review of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, click here.) Continue reading →
Posted in: 14 to 19 years +, Book Reviews.
Tagged: Book Review · Children's Books · Harry Potter · J.K. Rowling · The Half-Blood Prince · YA Fiction · Young Adult Fiction
Jun 23rd, 2010
by Aaron Mead.
This post is part 6 in a series on how to choose children’s books. “Children’s Books: How to Choose Them, Part 1” is the first in the series if you would like to read from the beginning. Last time, in “Children’s Books: How to Choose Them, Part 5,” I discussed stories in children’s books, and how to choose stories that are attractive to kids of various ages. In this post I will discuss the role of humor in rendering kids’ books appealing, and I will give some suggestions for how to choose funny books for kids.
Children’s Books: The Powerful Draw of Humor
My eldest daughter, Isabella, loves the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip; she thinks Calvin is hilarious. In second grade her teacher had a small classroom library of books that the kids could take home for a few days at a time. The definitive three-volume collection of Calvin and Hobbes, The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
, was Isabella’s favorite item in that library. Continue reading →
Posted in: Articles.
Tagged: Children's Books · How to choose children's books · Humor · Subjective Appeal
Jun 2nd, 2010
by Aaron Mead.
This is the fifth in a series of posts on how to choose children’s books. “Children’s Books: How to Choose Them, Part 1” is the first in the series if you would like to read from the beginning. Last time, in “Children’s Books: How to Choose Them, Part 4,” I discussed how to choose books with illustrations that are attractive to kids of various ages. In this post I will discuss the place of a story in rendering children’s books appealing to kids, and what to look for in a good kids’ story.
Now, it will soon be clear that I am a big fan of good stories in children’s books. However, it is important to emphasize that not every subjectively appealing children’s book must have a story. For example, a good ABC book might simply march through the ABCs without a story at all. However, if a children’s book does not have a story, parents need to make sure the book is appealing to the child in other ways (e.g., via themes, illustrations, humor, etc.). Continue reading →
Posted in: Articles.
Tagged: Children's Books · How to choose children's books · Stories · Subjective Appeal
May 15th, 2010
by Aaron Mead.
Title: Are You My Mother?
Author: P.D. Eastman
Age Category: 3 to 5 years
Genre: Picture Books (Beginner Books / Easy Readers)
Our Rating (out of five):
Well, I’m a bit late with this—Mother’s Day was last Sunday—but I couldn’t resist. This is one of my favorite Beginner Books / Easy Reader picture books. A classic. I still remember reading it with my mom when I was about four…
Picture Book Synopsis
Are You My Mother? opens with a mother bird sitting on a big yellow egg in her nest. The egg starts to jump and shake, so the mother bird decides she had better go and find some food to feed her baby bird, who is about to arrive. Soon after she flies away, the egg hatches, and the baby bird asks, “Where is my mother?”
Since the baby bird can’t see his mother anywhere, he decides to go looking for her. He steps out of the nest, falls to the ground (can’t fly yet!), and sets off on an adventure to find his mother. He encounters a series of things—a kitten, a hen, a dog, a cow, a steamboat, an airplane, and a large steam shovel that he calls a “snort” (because it snorts!)—and asks each in turn whether it is his mother.
Finally, as the baby bird is puzzling over the snort, the huge machine Continue reading →
Posted in: 3 to 5 years, Book Reviews.
Tagged: Are You My Mother? · Beginner Books · Children's Books · Easy Readers · P.D. Eastman · Picture Books
, and Newbery Honors for 
, and 
.) While the trailer for the movie (embedded at the bottom of this post) suggests that the movie tries to capture the entire Ramona series—and thus may not be a straight translation of this children’s book into film—the movie’s title does resemble the book title (with the names in reverse order), so I’m sure there are points of connection between movie and book.
