The event also included storytelling and puppet shows. What a fun way for the university to reach out to the community!

Difficult? A picture book? O, ye of little knowledge. To remind you: a picture book is usually 32 and occasionally 40 pages long. Half or more of it is pictorial. The trick of writing one--so far as there is a trick--is to be a prose writer with a poet's sensibility. Or a poet who is comfortable with story. Furthermore, an historical picture book needs to be able to boil down a biography or a part of a biography into a followable line with illustrate-able pages.

And the rest of the post is just as interesting. If you're an aspiring author or a fan of Yolen, this is one post you won't want to miss!

[via the ever-fabulous Fuse #8]

First up is the New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Books 2008, a slideshow featuring interior views of some beautifully illustrated new books. Among them is We Are the Ship, written and illustrated by the amazing Kadir Nelson. We recently tried to get Nelson as an illustrator for one of our upcoming titles, A Home Run for Bunny, but sadly he is booked with projects for the next four years. I'm not surprised, though; the man is supremely talented.

Amazon.com also has a list of recommendations for the Best Children's Picture Books of 2008. Their list is split into two categories of Editors' Picks and Customers' Picks.

Any of these books would make a wonderful addition to your child's bookshelf.

[via School Library Journal]

Congratulations to God's Promise and its creators!

THE BUSINESS OF CHILDREN'S PUBLISHING

"I've got the idea, now what do I do with it?" Many people involved with children and books feel they could publish a children's book. But it is a long journey from idea to bound book. How to make the journey?

The Center for Children's Literature at Carthage College, Kenosha, WI., is sponsoring a conference that will present eight speakers currently involved in children's book publishing. Authors Gary D. Schmidt and Jan Greenberg will talk about their journeys. Illustrator Timothy Basil Ering will describe his.

In addition, a publisher, a marketing manager, an editor, an art director and an agent will also describe their roles in the process of making a book. Large group presentations, question/answer sessions and optional box lunches with the speakers in small groups will make up the schedule.

Friday, October 17 (beginning at 9 am) and Saturday, October 18 (finishing at 3 pm) in Hedberg Library on the campus, aspiring authors and illustrators, teachers, librarians, and parents can interact with the speakers, on either, or both of the days. Registration information is available by calling (262)552-5480 or going to www.carthage.edu/childliterature.

[via Fuse #8]

What Kids Think: Simply stated, kids love this book! The illustrations are vibrant and entertaining. The scariness of being lost is a feeling to which many children could relate. In settings composed of first- to fourth-graders, not one child had a negative word to say!

It's great to see this charming little bee get some attention!

Artifacts of Childhood features such treasures as: the first illustrated edition of Aesop's Fables (1485); the first edition of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865); a nineteenth-century collectible story, La Fille de L'Exile, that is similar in format to Pokemon cards; and ABCs from 1544 to 1992.

Admission to the library and its exhibits is free. If I were heading to Chicago any time soon, this is something I would not want to miss!

[via Educating Alice]

... the reading we do as children may be more serious than any reading we'll ever do again. Books for children and young people are unashamedly prescriptive: They're written, at least in part, to teach us what the world is like, how people are, and how we should behave--as my colleague Megan Kelso (The Squirrel Mother) puts it, "How to be a human being."

In the past, I've posted about And Tango Makes Three, a picture book about two male penguins who raise a chick together. However, other than that, I've never heard much about picture books being banned.

Color me surprised when a quick Google search brought up this list of frequently challenged children's books, which includes several picture books--and their reasons for being challenged.

Did you know that Where's Waldo has been challenged because one of the (tiny) women in an illustration is laying face down sunbathing without a bathing suit top? Or that Robert Munsch's I Have to Go has been challenged for including the word "pee"?

It's always fascinating to find out what books people have tried to ban, and why. I, for one, will try to check out several of these books before Banned Book Week next month.

This week's book is Am I a Color Too?, written by mother-daughter team Nancy Vogl and Heidi Cole. Accomapanied by the stunning illustrations of Gerald Purnell, Am I a Color Too? tells the story of Tyler, a young interracial boy who wonders at the labels of race. He says,

My dad, my mom, and me...
Black, White, and ...
am I a color too?

I think I'm a person,
A person just like you.

He also notices that color has no bearing on how a person sings, feels, dances, or dreams. This is a wonderful book for introducing children to the concept of race. It may be especially helpful for an interracial child, who may be struggling, just like Tyler, with how to identify himself.