Here we are in the glory of spring. With all the beauty just ah-popping outdoors, what better time to sequester ourselves inside to watch mad videos about children’s literature related affairs?
So first and foremost, you may have seen me make mention of the fact that I had a podcasting-related Children’s Literary Salon last weekend. My Lit Salons are monthly gatherings of children’s literature enthusiasts who come to the main branch of NYPL to watch me finagle different topics out of incredibly interesting people. People often ask me to record these, but at this time there is no place online for such talks to live. Happily, that problem was solved recently when Katie Davis (Brain Burps About Books) , John Sellers (PW KidsCast), and Matthew Winner (Let’s Get Busy) came over and Matthew recorded the whole dang thing. This is, insofar as I know, the very FIRST time a moderated event has covered this particular topic (children’s literature podcasts). With that in mind, enjoy!
“John Newbery ate every single book he ever read”. That was going to be my subtitle for today’s blog post. I may still have to use it at some point because it’s one of the highlights of this James Kennedy / Libba Bray interaction at the recent 90-Second Newbery show here in NYC. For years, I’ve been sitting on my laurels with my Randolph Caldecott music video. Now I’ve been royally trumped and it’s all thanks to the song “What Would John Newbery Do?” I can’t top this.
And now, with the approach of the Children’s Book Week Awards, time to break out the big guns. And these, ladies and gents, are some SERIOUSLY big guns!
Turns out the CBC collected a whole CHUNK of these videos and they’re just out there! Like this one starring two of my favorite author/illustrators, Amy Ignatow and Brian Biggs. You must be SURE to stick around for the ghost of David Wiesner. And it backs up my theory that every person in my generation has one rap song memorized. Mine’s “Shoop”.
Nice use of “Rock Lobster” too.
We’re about three days away from El día del niño, otherwise known as the day of the child. Unfamiliar with Dia? Not anymore. Here’s a quickie recap for those of you who are curious:
Día means “day” in Spanish. In 1996, author Pat Mora learned about the Mexican tradition of celebrating April 30th as El día del niño, the day of the child. Pat thought, “We have Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Yes! We need kids’ day too, but I want to connect all children with bookjoy, the pleasure of reading.” Pat was enthusiastically assisted to start this community-based, family literacy initiative by REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library & Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking. El día de los niños, El día de los libros/Children’s Day, Book Day, also known as Día, is a daily commitment to link all children to books, languages and cultures, day by day, día por día. Many resources and an annual registry are available at the Association for Library Services to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). Every year, across the country, libraries, schools, and community organizations, etc. plan culminating book fiestas creating April Children’s Day, Book Day celebrations that unite communities.
Join us!
Interested in participating? It’s not too late. Best of all, here’s a video from previous years of what folks have done in their libraries. Viva Dia!
We’ve sort of an embarrassment of riches this year in terms of trans boy picture books (see the 7-Imp recap of this very thing here). Now one of those books, Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress, has a book trailer that hits on the tone about right. Let’s put it up on the big board!
Thanks to Fred Horler for the link.
This next one is a fictional tie-in to a nonfiction subject. Which is to say, a CCSS dream. I’m not usually on board with rhyming picture books, but this one actually gets away with it!
And for the off-topic video of the day, we all love Neil deGrasse Tyson. This is the video of him slowed down ever so slightly. He loves it. Shows it at his talks sometimes.
And for fun, you can watch the original here:
