Jean de Brunhoff: The Story of Babar
Reader Submission: Title by Kendra Leonard
"Ms. Barnes offers reassurance that adult interest in YA is not the result of a crisis in the collective level of literacy in the United States. Rather, it’s indicative of the quality and enduring themes addressed by young adult. “The fluid demographic barrier speaks to the emotional turmoil that makes contemporary young adult literature unique,” she says. “Every decision feels life-changing, and every choice in these books can seem life-or-death. The emotions are no more or less valid than what one might experience at 30, but it’s the first time, and thus very powerful."
— How Young Adult Fiction Came of Age - D.B. Grady - The Atlantic
(via For the Home / Design*Sponge)
i love teh alphabet :)
"Reaction to Today’s decision is mixed among book publishing industry publicists. One publicist, who wished to remain anonymous, told PW, “It makes me sick as a children’s book person, that the Newbery and Caldecott Medal winners [Vanderpool and Stead] segment was scrapped, and Snooki got on [instead]. But as a publicist, I understand — Snooki equals ratings.” Another pointed out, “The media love to write that people aren’t reading any more, but when they overlook Newbery and Caldecott winners and interview Snooki, what do they expect?"
— Publisher’s Weekly: No ‘Today Show’ for Vanderpool or Stead
“In summary: he would have been an expert in the field of fisheries, but [Ugandan man] Oscar Katumwa felt he could be of better use to his society if he used his creativity to fight some of the evils like child sacrifice, writes Dennis D. Muhumuza.”
From the middle:
Research conducted in over 200 schools in Jinja and Mukono revealed that over 80 per cent of the pupils interviewed believed child sacrifice, and not hard work, is the secret to riches. “It’s alarming that children have been made to believe that the sacrifice of children brings wealth so we use the story of little Viola to change that mindset,” says Katumwa. “The book exposes the harm that child sacrifice causes and contains key facts about child sacrifice and questions to aid recollection and strengthen the child’s understanding of the story. During the reading sessions, we engage children in a discussion that stimulates critical thinking in them. Six schools in Jinja have benefited from this project, and 36 schools more are being targeted before the program is made national.”
A reading child, as I see it, does not see the world from inside the head of anyone, does not care who is hurt, or who succeeds or fails, because that child, and the adult they will become, knows perfectly well how the story will turn out. The good will be justified and prosper. The evil will come to a bad end, often a gruesome bad end: crushed by a millstone falling from the sky, trundled into the sea in a barrel pierced with nails. There is an (unreal) order of things, which always holds steady. Within that order, the terrible and the extravagant can be admitted.
Jim Henson and the early Muppets, including the cast of “Sam and Friends”, his first TV show…
(via jimmywhacked)
A great to-the-point point!
How did I not know about this until now?! Well, I guess because I’ve never had HBO. Thank you, Emmy people! I’m excited to check this out…
Normally I’m not a huge fan of books being marketed for the “lessons” they contain, but this is NPR, so the “lessons” are things like diversity, bullying, death, and cliques… sounds solid to me.
Wordless picture books are of course an art because the whole story must be conveyed convincingly in the illustrations. They are very important in education for prompting children to learn how to interpret stories and also to recognise a beginning, middle and end in story telling. Wordless books are great at home as well; younger children can enjoy explaining what is happening in the illustrations and older children can take it further by imagining alternate endings and additional plot lines. Wordless picture books are rewarding.
