Round One Is Done

Today marks the final match of Round One of The Battle of the Kids' Books.  Whew!  This has been a wild ride.  Today's judge, Julius Lester, had to choose between Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan and When Your Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. Tan's book is a wonder of short stories and illustration.  Stead's book is an intriguing puzzle and sometimes a little creepy.  Lester explains clearly how a reader's experience and preferences color the reading experience.

The final winner of Round One is.....Tales from Outer Surburbia.    Half of the Parkland Community Library's YS staff was right in predicting today's winner.

Tomorrow, Round Two begins.  It is the Battle of the Evolutions!  Charles and Emma :The Darwins' Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman clashes with The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly.  May the best book win!

Graphics rule!

The books in today's Battle of the Kids' Books' match are both visually striking.  Sweethearts of Rhythm is illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, one of the supreme beings of illustration.  Every painting is a treat.  Marilyn Nelson's poems tell the story of the first all-female swing band by letting the band instruments speak.  The Storm in the Barn by Matt Phelan is a graphic fairy tale about dust storms during the Depression and one boy's struggles with finding his place in a time of worry.  Done in grays and browns, this book gives the reader a lot to see and ponder.

Anita Silvey, the judge for today's match, points out that both books describe America's history in different almost equally appealing ways.  She chose The Storm in the Barn  to go on to Round 2.  Read her explanation.  And then, read both books to see if you agree.

Tomorrow's match between Shaun Tan's Tales from Outer Suburbia and Rebecca Stead's When You Reach Me is the final match in Round 1.  The Parkland Community Library YS staff is split between these great books.  Stay tuned!

As April approaches, the YS staff is preparing for National Poetry Month and National Kite Month with the Fly a Poem activity.  Check the Children's area for more information.

The Battle is Joined Again

Peace, Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson went up against A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck this morning.  Cynthia Kadohata, author of Weedflower  and A Million Shades of Gray, had the difficult job of deciding which book will move on to the next round.  She describes her decision-making process on the BOKB website.

The Battle of the Kids' Books is a great way to make sure that books that deserve more attention are getting it.  Both of these titles are sequels to other books.  Peace, Locomotion is the second book about Lonnie, a foster child who is separated from his younger sister.  A Season of Gifts brings back the inimitable Mrs. Dowdel from A Long Way from Chicago and A Year down Yonder.   The Battle will send readers to discover the other books in these series and to other books by these talented authors.

So what book moved ahead today?  A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck will get to flex its muscles in round two.

April - Fly a Poem!

April is National Poetry Month!  It is also National Kite Month!  So visit the Parkland Community Library during April and place a poem in the Poem Box.  The Youth Services Staff will put that poem on a kite and fly it from the ceiling in the Children's area.  Fly a Poem in April!

The poem can be a favorite poem written by someone else, or an original poem written by the person submitting the poem.  But the poet's name must be clearly and truthfully written on each poem.

Visit Poets.org to sign up for a Poem-a-Day and to read poems by great American poets, present and past.

The Family Education site lists ideas for ways to involve families in poetry fun.  This site has corporate sponsors so expect some advertisements.

Gomber Kites has interesting links on its National Kite Month page.  Click on Five People Who Flew Kites...to read how kites have aided with scientific research.  Further down the page are instructions on running kite workshops with some easy-to-make kite plans.

Get ready for April.  Find books on kites - and poetry - at the Parkland Community Library.

Today's winner

Marcelo in the Real World was up against Marching for Freedom in The Battle of the Kids' Books today.  These two books have very little in common, except the first four letters of each title.  One book deals with a fictional autistic teen's struggles to enter the "real" world, deal with father-son conflict, betrayal and love.  The other book describes the struggles of real black teens who stood up for Civil Rights in the eight months that led to the march on Selma. 

Struggling teens - that must be the other common thread in these two books.

So which book did Gary Schmidt, the judge du jour, pick to go to the next round in this contest?  And who came up with this match-up, anyway?  The winner is.....Marching for Freedom by Elizabeth Partridge.  Schmidt's reason is elegantly simple.  Read his opinion of both books here.http://sljbattleofthebooks.com

We get the weekend off, which is just time enough for everyone to read the next contestants, Peace, Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson and A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck.  Fiction against fiction on Monday.   Both books are worth reading and I will be happy with either title moving on to the next round.

BOKB - the battle rages on

Each day is a surprise in the contest that is "The Battle of the Kid's Books".  (No more annoying parentheses, except my own!)

The edgy collaboration of graphics and supernatural romance that is Lips Touch: three times by Laini Taylor was unseated by a dense and involving fantasy by Frances Hardinge, The Lost Conspiracy.  The judge for this round, Helen Frost, writes a very original explanation of her choice on the BOKB website today.  Read it.  It will make you want to read BOTH books as quickly as ever you can.  Christina Rossetti makes an extended appearance is Frost's apologia, making Frost's explanation even more enjoyable.  (I have wanted to use the word "apologia" all week!)

I am actually glad that my prediction was wrong, yesterday.  On to the next round!

BO(K)B cont.

In this blogger's humble opinion,  Nancy Farmer made the better choice yesterday in moving The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate on to the next round in The Battle of the (Kids') Books.  (What is with those parentheses?)  (Already?)

Today the choice is between The Frog Scientist and The Last Olympian.  Candace Fleming chose our good friend, Percy Jackson, over the frogs.  The frogs are very attraction, though, and who doesn't enjoy learning more about nature?  Read both of these books and make your own decision.

Tomorrow,  Lips Touch is up against The Lost Conspiracy.   Supernatural kissing vs tribal politics and survival.  Hmmmm.  This is an interesting match.