tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-379761772024-03-05T21:54:00.026-08:00wide-mouthed blogexploring children's literatureAnna Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15005414479589095981noreply@blogger.comBlogger113125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37976177.post-27378621378568382562011-11-13T12:06:00.000-08:002011-11-26T11:52:09.839-08:00I want my hat backThis is perhaps the best picture book I've seen all year. And I don't say that lightly - a LOT of picture books come across my desk. But occasionally there's a gem that reminds me why I love children's literature so much.The plot is deceptively simple - Bear is looking for his little red pointy hat and talks to many animals in his search - but the text is masterful, pitch-perfect, and laugh out Anna Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15005414479589095981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37976177.post-55598997504559124512011-06-26T14:46:00.000-07:002011-06-26T14:51:29.836-07:00The Red TreeTan, Shaun. The Red Tree. Vancouver, BC: Simply Read Books.Thought about this book again recently when buying a present for a friend of mine who was graduating from her program in counseling psychology.I don't say this often but I'll say it now: This man is a genius. I couldn't have been happier when I found out earlier this year that he'd won the Astrid Lindgren Prize (see the article in the Anna Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15005414479589095981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37976177.post-88453258977174009592011-06-24T23:36:00.000-07:002011-06-24T23:51:01.864-07:00Patrick Ness wins the CarnegieFresh from The Guardian's section on childeren's books: Patrick Ness accepts Carnegie medal with fierce defence of libraries. He wins for Monsters of Men (Walker Books, 2010), the third in his dystopian Chaos Walking series, all of which have been nominated for the Carnegie. No small feat. I love everything about the title of this article. Oh, except the part about the libraries in the UK gettingAnna Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15005414479589095981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37976177.post-19782824961961340082011-06-24T20:06:00.000-07:002011-06-24T20:45:45.255-07:00Press Here!In France, Herve Tullet is know as the King of Preschool. Press Here (Chronicle Books, 2011) is his latest picture book - and what a hoot! At first the series of coloured circles and written instructions (press the yellow dot, shake the book, clap twice, etc.), might not seem like much, but add kids to the mix and watch the magic happen. I could keep describing, but wouldn't you rather watch kidsAnna Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15005414479589095981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37976177.post-91555783344757591572011-06-23T20:04:00.000-07:002011-06-23T20:57:21.499-07:00Book reviews for the Early Childhood EducatorMy latest book review column is out in the Early Childhood Educator journal. Unfortunately current content for the journal isn't available online, but you now see older articles including one of my earlier book review columns called: Let Children Take the Lead with Wordless Books.This month's theme is Aboriginal childcare, and my column features some of my favorite Aboriginal pictures books Anna Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15005414479589095981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37976177.post-15053377429274952472011-01-16T08:53:00.001-08:002011-01-16T10:05:43.355-08:00Technology, ethics, and some damn good readsA friend asked me recently to suggest a book for a high school class - something off the beaten curriculum, something with teeth-sink-into-able issues, something with the appeal of The Hunger Games that hadn't been read out yet and, most importantly, something NOT ANCIENT (but maybe available in paperback).Immediately, my mind jumped to Little Brother. I really do not understand why this book is Anna Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15005414479589095981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37976177.post-49950156284446569082010-09-11T21:03:00.000-07:002011-01-16T10:06:03.364-08:00MockingjayWhen I got a concussion last year, I was advised not to try to read for a while. The problem was, I was 50 pages from the end of Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games. Seriously, folks, just try not finishing that one. So I'd read for 10 minutes (my max) and then lie in the dark for half an hour waiting for my brain to recover and then read again for ten minutes. And if I read for more than 10 minutes Anna Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15005414479589095981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37976177.post-90510552018485024132009-11-08T13:45:00.000-08:002009-11-08T14:08:36.139-08:00Just when you need some rocket-powered unicorns to make it through the day...An Awesome Book by Dallas ClaytonAnd it really is! This self-published gem came to my attention last year at the BCLA conference, courtesy of a fellow children's librarian. The story is all about dreaming big, and it's perfectly lovely, but the illustrations are what blow the roof off my popsicle stand.The spread of pink rocket-powered unicorns (variously wearing basketball jerseys, scuba gear, Anna Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15005414479589095981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37976177.post-59129834403256775722009-10-25T13:35:00.000-07:002009-10-25T14:12:33.048-07:00Another great audiobookEnder's Game by Orson Scott Card, read by Stefan Rudnicki and a full castNot surprisingly, when I look up the reviews for the next great audiobook I listened to, it's also an AudioFile Earphones award winner. Check out the review here, and listen to a short clip.Ender's game is the story of Andrew ("Ender") Wiggins, a child genius who is recruited by the military at age five to fight in the Anna Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15005414479589095981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37976177.post-60876523051657130922009-10-25T11:59:00.000-07:002009-10-25T12:58:33.753-07:00hooray for audiobooks!Okay, so I've recently been recovering from a concussion. I don't suggest it, really. Especially if you're also daylighting as a librarian. But while I've been unable to read any books over about 15 pages recently, I've been listening to audiobooks. Thank you universe for audiobooks. Without which I might seriously have lost it.I'll try to share a few of my favourites. To begin:The Absolutely Anna Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15005414479589095981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37976177.post-46162975797807132792009-02-14T15:44:00.001-08:002009-02-14T15:48:15.772-08:00A Kick in the HeadJaneczko, Paul. A Kick in the Head: An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms. Illus. by Chris Raschka. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick, 2005.I just got a new job and a lovely co-worker just surprised me with this beautiful book as a going away (though not very far – I’ll just be at a different branch) kind of present. Wow. It’s simply stunning. The book covers 29 different forms of poetry, with examples and Anna Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15005414479589095981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37976177.post-40845673546123641762009-02-14T14:22:00.000-08:002009-02-14T15:04:20.287-08:00GracelingCashore, Kristin. Graceling. Orlando, FL : Harcourt, 2008. I’m assembling a mental list for my adult friends who have read all of Tamora Pierce’s teen fantasy novels, and are looking for other great books to turn when they want to spend an indulgent winter day in that comfortable chair by the window entranced by another world.Most of these stories feature a fiercely strong female lead in a Anna Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15005414479589095981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37976177.post-43971961521956953312009-02-14T14:15:00.000-08:002009-02-14T14:21:02.641-08:00Penguin and the CupcakePenguins and cupcakes - could there be a more charming combination?Read my review in the latest edition of CM Magazine...Anna Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15005414479589095981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37976177.post-66227207778477978772008-09-01T11:02:00.000-07:002008-09-01T11:41:50.675-07:00Mrs. Chicken and the Hungry CrocodilePay, Won-Ldy and Margaret Lippert. Mrs. Chicken and the Hungry Crocodile. Illus. by Julie Paschkis. Henry Holt and Co., 2003.When vain Mrs. Chicken strays a little too close to the river while trying to look at her reflection, she gets snapped up by a hungry crocodile. Held captive on an island in the river, she uses her wits to convince the crocodile that they are sisters. And sisters don't eat Anna Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15005414479589095981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37976177.post-53240697989085317512008-09-01T10:56:00.000-07:002008-09-01T11:38:04.585-07:00Time TwisterMy review for Frank Asch's Time Twister, the latest in his Journals of a Cardboard Genius series, is up at CM Magazine. A humorous, quirky, action-packed, time-travelling science fiction adventure with great read-aloud potential. Check it out...Anna Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15005414479589095981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37976177.post-21174938913711958262008-06-02T19:30:00.000-07:002008-06-02T19:53:12.469-07:00A new review at CMI'm still here. Really! I've just been laying low as I started an excellent new job as a children's librarian. I hope to resurface soon.<!--*************the bibliographic info. follow the formatting****************-->My latest review is up at CM Magazine for Colors! ¡Colores! It's a quiet but truly beautiful bilingual picture book that reads like poetry - in a good way. And that's something I Anna Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15005414479589095981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37976177.post-65922307513153278972008-03-11T11:08:00.000-07:002008-03-13T15:11:13.587-07:00Smash! Crash!Scieszka, Jon. Smash!Crash! Illus. by David Shannon, Loren Long and David Gordon. Simon & Schuster, 2008.I've been stashing this book in the bottom of my storytime box with the same way one might hide a stash of tiny bills in their shoe during a serious game of monopoly. And yesterday, on an antsy rainy day, when over half of the kids brought their pet trucks to storytime, I knew its time hadAnna Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15005414479589095981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37976177.post-28480129204098283282008-03-09T14:07:00.000-07:002008-03-12T11:53:28.269-07:00ShortcomingsTomin, Adrian. Shortcomings. London: Faber and Faber, 2007. [Published in Canada and the US by Drawn & Quarterly, 2007.]Hey. Adult reading treat alert. And by “adult” I don’t mean that it’s too graphic or sexual for teens, but that the grad school humour probably just isn’t all that funny if you’re seventeen. It’s the first graphic novel I’ve read by Adrian Tomine, but I’ll probably look for Anna Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15005414479589095981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37976177.post-86347672316493868372008-03-06T11:48:00.000-08:002008-03-07T13:59:20.347-08:00Another book from the Serendipity Conference...Einarson, Earl. The Moccasins. Illus. by Julie Flett. Theytus Books Ltd., 2005.There is no lack of picture books about unconditional love (Mama Do You Love Me? and Love you Forever jump to mind) but, done well, it isn't something I get tired of seeing. How often, though, do we get stories of unconditional love set in a foster family? Luckily this is not only a book the world needs, it is also a Anna Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15005414479589095981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37976177.post-40732803265023505792008-03-05T19:42:00.001-08:002008-03-05T20:01:58.998-08:00This one's for you Mom....With Passover on the horizon, our thoughts naturally turn to gefilte fish. And how, you may ask, do we introduce children to this profound and central icon of our cultural identity? Look no further...Thanks to MotherReader for introducing me to this book as part of the 2008 Weird-Ass Picture Book Awards.Horowitz, Dave. Five Little Gefiltes. Putnam, 2007.Anna Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15005414479589095981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37976177.post-888843141423160582008-02-29T18:56:00.000-08:002008-03-01T08:35:25.119-08:00I Miss You Every DayTaback, Simms. I Miss You Every Day. New York: Viking, 2007.When the sun is shining bright / or when it's wet and gray / I think about you all the time / I miss you every day.From the creator of the Caldecott-winning Joseph had a Little Overcoat, comes a story for anyone who has ever missed someone so much that they dreamed of making themselves into a human pretzel and stowing away in a friend’s Anna Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15005414479589095981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37976177.post-24731724763697460672008-02-28T23:09:00.000-08:002008-02-28T23:33:31.992-08:00Naming the Baby: The Best of the Claremont ReviewI haven't even seen the book yet and I'm excited about it! This anthology features the best of young adult (13-19) writing published in the Clarement Review over the past 16 years. Check the CM Magazine review for a more complete description. A fabulous resource for inspiring young writers with the work of other people their age.If you don't know The Claremont Review, do yourself a favour and Anna Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15005414479589095981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37976177.post-45166900381468049842008-02-24T11:59:00.000-08:002008-02-24T14:04:04.925-08:00Shi-shi-etkoCampbell, Nicola. Shi-shi-etko. Illus. Kim LaFave. Toronto: Groundwood Books, 2005."One, two, three, four mornings left until I go to school." So begins the story of Shi-shi-etko, a young aboriginal girl who is soon to be taken from her family and sent to a residential school. In her last four days with her family, Shi-shi-etko gathers together memories of her home to hold with her until she can Anna Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15005414479589095981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37976177.post-56465100273978547062008-02-24T08:28:00.000-08:002008-03-12T18:23:35.384-07:00Serendipity Children's Lit Conference"Our people will sleep for a hundred years and when they awaken it will be the artists that give them back their spirit." - Louis RielAs a person with a profound belief in the power of story, I love the way these words shine a light on the importance of art and story as acts of creation, survival, healing, connection and delight. And what better place to hear them than smack in the middle of a Anna Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15005414479589095981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37976177.post-76496026759471191842008-02-06T15:32:00.000-08:002008-02-06T15:54:28.626-08:00Persepolis - the movie!If you loved Marjane Satrapi's two autobiograhical graphic novels about growing up in Iran during the time of the Islamic Revolution, you won't be disappointed by this movie. It's been a long time since I saw a movie that so faithfully brought a book to life, while going beyond the original to add new bits of brilliance. It was so fabulously good that it seemed almost as if Satrapi herself helpedAnna Swansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15005414479589095981noreply@blogger.com0