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Posts by Ann
October was certainly an action-packed month for those at Booklights! In addition to Pam making great suggestions of Halloween books, she organized and led an excellent meeting of children's book bloggers gathering in Washington, D.C. It was a pleasure to get to meet colleagues who constantly read and think about how important quality literature is for children and their families.
Susan T. recommended good books for children who have developed a passion for volcanoes. One suggestion was Magic Tree House #13: Vacation Under the Volcano, by Mary Pope Osborne. Parents should also know about Ancient Rome and Pompeii, the non-fiction companion Magic Treehouse Research Guide #14. 
Steven Bush may also want to be sure to share this before heading out with his son in February to see a real volcano!
The non-fiction companions provide fascinating information that supports the travels of Jack and Annie in the Magic Treehouse fantasies. Boys, in particular, love knowing the real facts and I have never failed to learn new, accurate, scientific information when reviewing these guides as well.
Terry's posting Reading from Afar brought back so many fun memories. When my own niece was about three-years-old, she overheard her dad say he needed to be sure to pack a book for a very long international flight. When he went back to finish packing his suitcase, he found that Sarah had placed in his bag her favorite picture book! While Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse was surely not the novel he anticipated reading on the flight, it provided a wonderful thing for him to read to her when he called to check in back home.
It also reminded me of a community service project that one of my college students implemented. While volunteering in a Nashville women's prison, she noticed that incarcerated mothers had very little to talk about with their children after the first few minutes of a visit. She was able to take children's picture books to the prison for the mothers to read and record. Mothers then had a set of books and tapes to give their children during visits, and wonderful topics of conversation for subsequent visits.
Jen ended last week's posting talking about the importance of knowing your child's independent reading level. In addition to being sure your child is able to read the text with around 95% accuracy, also check out comprehension every now and then. And having lots of picture books around helps, as illustration often aids in comprehension.
Finally, Gina asked what readers' opinions have been about the movie Where the Wild Things Are.
She asked if true fans should avoid it or give it a try. I can only report the words of a 10-year-old friend as he left the movie, "Max has anger issues!" Not a movie for young viewers, for sure! But we can all continue to love the book.
Happy Reading.....Ann
As I mentioned at the end of last month's posting, I traveled to Glasgow, Scotland in September to attend an international symposium on picturebook research. What a thought-provoking meeting it was! I want to share some of what I learned as it relates to the September postings on Booklights.
One very interesting presentation dealt with the end papers of picture books. As you are reading to your children, be sure to talk about the entire book....the cover, the title page, but also notice the end papers. More and more frequently, illustrators are using the inside of the front/back covers to tell part of the story.
For example, in Mircea Catusanu's new picture book The Strange Case of the Missing Sheep, Catusanu includes hands for counting sheep.This serves as a preface to the actual story. A book created for children ages three and up, the humorous text and illustrations will also keep the adult reader entertained
You may remember that Susan T. included in her introduction her latest favorite book, The Chicken - Chasing Queen of Lamar County, by Janice N. Harrington, pictures by Shelley Jackson.The end pages of this book cleverly lead the reader to know that feathers will fly as the chickens are being chased.
Another picture book with fabulous end papers is Peter Sis' Madlenka's Dog. Madlenka's neighborhood is "in the universe, on a planet, on a continent, in a country, in a city, in a house on a block where everyone is walking a dog." The end papers start narrowing the story in by showing the view of the universe, with the planet. Sis then zooms in closer on the page opposite the book's title page. So the end papers actually start to establish the book's setting.
When reading this book with your child, also be sure to remove the cover and look at the front and back illustrations. Sis has even used the covers to help describe the setting for Madlenka's search for a dog.
This month's postings have provided many great suggestions for books to read aloud to older children. A book by Brazilian author Ana Maria Machado that would be an ideal read aloud for sixth/seventh graders is From Another World. The book won the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2000. It reminds us all that the horrors of slavery were not limited to the United States. Brazil shared many of the same brutalities toward African slaves that our own history includes.
Finally, I can't help but add a penguin book from South Africa to Pam's September 3rd Thursday Three. Peter, Pamela and Percy in the Big Spill relates the oil slick off of Cape Town that harmed many sea birds in 2000. I think that reader Terry who posted a comment and must enjoy nonfiction will also like this link that supports the story told in picture book format.
Happy Reading, Ann
P.S. It is not only our nation's capitol with a fabulous fall book festival; Nashville has many of the same authors visiting us the weekend of October 9-11. I hope that all of you in the area will come visit us for the Southern Festival of Books! And like Pam, I'd love to host you.
It has been another fun month of reading the many, many suggestions for great books for kids recommended by the Booklights gang. Jen started us off with several delightful fractured fairy tales. These are great for children who already know the original versions, as they best understand the humor in the new versions. 
My personal favorite modern fairy tale is Sleeping Ugly, by Jane Yolen and illustrated by Diane Stanley.
And Susan's suggestion of reading a book for a second time that you loved during the first time you read it got tremendous response! The novels/chapter books that were suggested also provided us with a wonderful list of books to read aloud to children. Just because you have a child who is able to read on his or her own, please don't stop that habit of reading aloud. There is little more reassuring to a child than the time spent with a parent over an engrossing story.
Many of the books that were mentioned have also been recorded on tape or digitally. Check them out from your library for the family to listen to as dinner is being prepared or you drive to school.
I love Gina's new Tuesday feature of Show and Tale. I have been traveling in the Pacific Northwest over the past few weeks and have asked folks all along the way about their favorite children's books. Now, you must realize that my southern accent caused a bit of a snigger when I said "Show and Tale!" But I initiated wonderful conversations with the simple question.
One of my favorites was the visit with author Jean Davies Okimoto. She talked about The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes, by Dubose Heyward and illustrated by Marjorie Flack (who later won a Caldecott Honor).
Although first published in 1939, this is a very progressive book. Jeanie remembers how she knew this was a tale with a truly feminist perspective. She noticed the ranges of bunny colors and the inclusiveness of the story.
And if you check out Jeanie's favorite children's book, also check out the latest book she wrote, Winston of Churchill: One Bear's Battle Against Global Warming, written by Jean Davis Okimoto and illustrated by Jeremiah Trammell.
The book brings forward concerns for the environment in an interesting way for children and their parents.
Next week, I head to Glasgow, Scotland to attend the symposium "Beyond Borders: Art, narrative and culture in picturebooks." I hope to return home with lots of new insights into picturebooks and to be able to introduce some international favorites.
Happy Reading, Ann
Susan's July postings about her participation in the annual Caldecott and Newbery dinner reminded me how excited we ALL become when we meet authors of books we love. Children are no different from grown-ups. 
Even my college students find great pleasure in getting to know authors and illustrators, evidenced by this photo of my fabulous student Kelly talking to last year's Newbery Medalist Laura Amy Schlitz. Next year's Caldecott/Newbery dinner will be in late June in Washington, D.C., so make plans if you live in the area!
Susan's thoughts about awardees prompts the reminder that the jurists have to make comparisons across a wide range of books, genres, and intended audiences. As Jane Langton said: "These books are apples and oranges, pianos and prunes, washtubs and weasels."
I want to add to Pam's July 9 posting my favorite new book that would fit well with her others about animals. AFRICAN ACROSTICS, by Avis Harley, photographs by Deborah Noyes, is a nice "multi-genre" picture book of poetry and lots of information.
One of the many fun acrostic poems is "Hornbill's Hot Day."
And what child would not delight in 
seeing the photograph of a hornbill?
Pam has continued to give us great recommendations on filling those book bags. I heard from my chum Whitney who said, "Sometimes it feels silly to schlep around a bag of books without knowing yet if we'll like them once they're at our house, but the kids really love picking out books and then pouring over them once we're back in the living room."
Happy Reading! Ann
I am delighted to join the Booklights bloggers Jen, Pam, and Susan. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading their posts....what wonderful resources they are for parents, teachers, and children's booklovers everywhere! My role will be to provide an end-of-the-month summary, reaction, and share the ideas that Jen, Pam, and Susan have prompted. To quote E.B. White, "A once a month column gives three weeks of off time to devote to a sustained project like shingling a barn or sandpapering an old idea." While I do not plan to shingle a barn, I will be spending this next year sandpapering a lot of old ideas as I will be on sabbatical from my work at Vanderbilt University.
Jen's latest post about the power of social reading reminds me of the research done in the early 1970s on how children make their choices of what books to read. And while these findings were taken from studying children who likely now have little readers of their own, it may still be relevant to our discussion. It turns out that when making the decision of what book to choose, children rely on the recommendations of others, the availability of books, and returning to the same author or illustrator whose work they have enjoyed in the past. Sounds a lot like adult readers, doesn't it?
So Jen's suggestions of parent-child book clubs and encouraging kids to talk to each other about the books they are reading are great. Teachers are also very valuable resources for making book recommendations. And the lists of favorites that were provided in May make fabulous suggestions of picture books that will be enjoyed by readers of every age. Many of you will want to grab a book bag and go to your local library to check out their favorites:
Pam (May 7)
Susan (April 27 and May 6)
Jen (April 24)
As I read their lists, I felt compelled to mention my own "Top Ten".....for this moment in time, anyway!
1. Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge, by Mem Fox (ill. Julie Vivas)
2. I'm in Charge of Celebrations, by Byrd Baylor (ill. Peter Parnell)
3. The Library, by Sarah Stewart (ill. David Small)
4. The Very Hungry Caterpillar (pop-up version), by Eric Carle
5. Owl Moon, by Jane Yolen (ill.
6. Miss Rumphius, by Barbara Cooney
7. Time for Bed, by Mem Fox (ill. Jane Dyer)
8. Truman's Aunt Farm, by Jama Kim Rattigan (ill. Brian Karas)
9. Pink and Say, by Patricia Palacco
10. Animalia, by Graeme Base
The second finding from the research I mentioned above is about availability of books to read. On June 11, Pam talked about bringing home books. The second most frequent memories of early reading my university students have is that of bringing bags full of books home from the public library (the first most popular memory is that of their family reading time at night before bedtime).
It is particularly important that children have lots of books available to them in the summer. By the way, I think that summer is the perfect time for reading LESS challenging books! Try new genres of literature. Check out the latest nonfiction picture books. Take the time to look very closely at the illustrations.
And on June 10th, Susan provided us with a very nice example of how to discuss the illustrations of Where the Wild Things Are (by the way, the movie based on this book is scheduled to come out on October 16). It has been said that a child's first introduction to fine art is through the picture book. Spend time this summer talking about the art that you and your child will enjoy together in many of the picture books we have recommended.
Please, please do not encourage children to stop reading picture books too early. Show your children how much you enjoy the art of the picture book. As Susan mentioned, Brian Selznick's Caldecott winning book The Invention of Hugo Cabret is a picture book with a much longer format....544 pages rather than the usual 32! While it may seem daunting at first, 9-12 year olds will quickly discover the illustrations must be read just as carefully as the text in order for the book to be understood.
The professor in me loves Arthur Rackham's belief about illustration: "The most fascinating form of illustration consists of the expression by the artist of an individual sense of delight or emotion aroused by the accompanying passage of literature."
Looking forward to another month of wonderful posts....Ann
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