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January 2010
Adult Books for Kids / Reissues of Note
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Upcoming Events for Children's Librarians
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January 2010Adult Books for Kids / Reissues of Note MARK YOUR CALENDAR Upcoming Events for Children's Librarians |
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Time to Renew Your ACL Membership:
January 1, 2010, is the official due date for renewal of memberships. Please go to "Membership" on our web site and print out the application, to be filled in and submitted with dues.
K.T. Horning Scheduled for Arbuthnot Lecture at UC Riverside:
" Can Children's Books Save the World?" is the title of K.T. Horning's upcoming Arbuthnot Lecture, which will be held at UC Riverside. Registration opens March 1, and will be available online: www.rivlib.net/Arbuthnot . The event will be held on March 13, 2010 at 7pm. Horning is the author of From Cover To Cover, the popular manual on reviewing children's books.
Katherine Paterson Named National Ambassador for Young People's Literature:
Newbery Medalist Katherine Paterson (Bridge to Terabithia, Jacob Have I Loved) has been named the new Ambassador for Young People's Literature by the Library of Congress. She replaces the outgoing ambassador Jon Scieszka (author of The Stinky Cheese Man and several other books).
BayNews needs you! BayNews welcomes any articles, news, ideas on storytime or programs, etc. Just send any articles as a Word attachment to email, to Penny Peck at baynews@bayviews.org. Thanks!
The Toon Treasury of Classic Children's Comics, edited by Art Spiegelman and Francoise Mouly. Abrams, 2009. $40. ISBN 9780810957305.
At $40, this is probably aimed more at the adult audience than children, but both groups will enjoy the collection of color comic book stories. Classic characters such as Dennis the Menace, Little Lulu, Donald Duck, and others may only be familiar to Baby Boomers, but kids will appreciate them just as comic books.
The introduction by Jon Scieszka, author of several humorous picture books, points out that these comics are funny - no superheroes are included. He was surprised that Scrooge McDuck, the Disney character, turned out to be the selection he enjoyed the most.
The editors also present an introduction, pointing out that comics were often banned. But they also note that currently, some of the biggest supporters of comics are librarians, who stock graphic novels and other forms of cartoon books.
The collection is broken down into chapters, grouping the comics by type: "Hey, Kids!" features characters such as Dennis the Menace and Little Lulu, "Funny Animals" includes Pogo and Uncle Wiggily, "Fantasyland" includes several fairy tale spoofs, "Storytime" features the genius satire of Captain Marvel in the land of Surrealism, and "Weird and Wacky," a wealth of the unusual which concludes with Dr. Seuss's "Gerald McBoing Boing."
Just like animated cartoons of the mid-1940's, there are a few illustrations that seem stereotypical. For example, in one of the Scrooge McDuck selections, he is in China. Those ducks are a deep yellow, with slanted eyes, but they don't use a dialect so that is a saving grace. Some of the adult characters are shown smoking cigarettes, but many young people who read old comics realize these outdated images are representative of the time period.
The book concludes with an index, a list of other comic collections in print, and a section with short bios on the cartoonists included in the collection. Although most libraries will catalog this in the adult 741.5 area, you can lead kids to it for a satisfying dip into the pool of retro comics.
Mordacai Richler's "Jacob Two-Two" character stars in a new animated television series that originally aired in Canada, and is now seen on NBC. So you may have some kids interested in the "Jacob Two-Two" books. The three original books by Richler were first published in 1975, 1987, and 1995 (see below), and have been reissued with cartoon ink illustrations by Dusan Petricic. A fourth book, written by Cary Fagan, has the same characters and continues the series, using stories from the television show. Richler died in 2001.
Published by Tundra Books, these humorous transitional fiction chapter books are perfect for third and fourth graders, who enjoy funny adventure stories. Jacob is the youngest of five siblings and is constantly getting into trouble. The Canadian setting is refreshing, and Jacob befriends the Library Ninjas - librarians by day, ninjas by night, which certainly paints libraries in a positive light!
Submitted by : Penny Peck, San Leandro Public Library
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