Lately, I can’t stop talking about an adult galley I just read, Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things. Turns out I’m not the only fascinated by it. Last night, the authors, Randy Frost and Gail Steketee were featured on NPR’s Fresh Air. The book is now rising on Amazon and libraries are showing significant holds in libraries.

No wonder; it’s truly a compulsive read. Frost and Steketee write about people who collect stuff to the extent that it interferes with normal everyday living…no livable space due to piles and piles of things most people feel no need to collect, whole rooms filled, tunnels formed between dangerously tottering layers of clothing, books, newspapers and trash.

Frost and Steketee begin their examination of this psychological condition with by looking at one  of the most well-known case, the Collyer brothers of New York who died trapped in their piles of junk (they were the protagonists in E.L. Doctorow’s novel Homer and Langely).

These are not dry case studies but rather an empathetic exploration of theories and observations of why a person might become a hoarder. The book helps us examine our own hoarding tendencies and the triggers that may cause it. In addition to working with the individuals who are suffering, the authors devote a chapter to the effect excessive collecting has on relationships, especially with hoarders’ children who must learn to survive living with a parent who cannot stop creating chaos in the home.

Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things Randy O. Frost, Gail Steketee Retail Price: $27.00 Hardcover: 304 pages Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt – (2010-04-20) ISBN / EAN: 015101423X / 9780151014231

After weeks of waiting for the results to be e-mailed and phoned in, I am thrilled to announce that Robot Zot! by Jon Scieszka and illustrated by David Shannon, has won the 2010 Irma Simonton Black and James H. Black Award for Excellence in Children’s Literature.

Robot Zot! Jon Scieszka Retail Price: $17.99 Hardcover: 40 pages Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing – (2009-09-22) ISBN / EAN: 1416963944 / 9781416963943

Three books received honors:

A Penguin Story Antoinette Portis Retail Price: $17.99 Hardcover: 40 pages Publisher: HarperCollins – (2009-01-01) ISBN / EAN: 0061456888 / 9780061456886

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Billy Twitters and His Blue Whale Problem Mac Barnett Retail Price: $16.99 Hardcover: 48 pages Publisher: Hyperion Book CH – (2009-06-23) ISBN / EAN: 0786849584 / 9780786849581

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Sergio Saves the Game Edel Rodriguez Retail Price: $15.99 Hardcover: 40 pages Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers – (2009-05-01) ISBN / EAN: 0316066176 / 9780316066174

The Black Award will be presented on Thursday, May 13th at 8:30 am at the Bank Street College of Education. NY. The keynote speaker will be Carmen Deedy, who won a Black Honor in 2007 for Martina The Beautiful Cockroach, Peachtree Press.

Martina the Beautiful Cockroach Carmen Agra Deedy Retail Price: $19.95 Hardcover: 32 pages Publisher: Peachtree Publishers – (2008-09-01) ISBN / EAN: 1561454680 / 9781561454686

Librarians who want to attend may RSVP by email to Linda Reing or by phone, 212.961.3332.

Irma Simonton Black was a writer and editor of children’s books and a founding member (in the 1930s) of the Bank Street Writers Laboratory, which included such stars of children’s literature as Margaret Wise Brown and Maurice Sendak.

The Black Award (for short), which commemorates Irma’s achievements, has been presented annually since 1973 by Bank Street College of Education. (The Award was presented in Irma’s name only until 1992, when James Black’s name was added in recognition of his ardent support of the Award.) The Award goes to an outstanding book for young children — a book in which text and illustrations are inseparable, each enhancing and enlarging on the other to produce a singular whole.

The Award is unusual in that children are the final judges of the winning book. The process is as follows:

Your fearless, tireless librarian/ friend, Lisa Von Drasek reads all of the picture books published in the year. We develop a short list of about 75 titles that meet our criteria of what is an excellent children’s picture book (my personal criteria is a little more basic; can I stand reading aloud this title over and over and over again? Will I hang my head in shame if the kids pick it as best of the year?)

Then a group of librarians and educators choose approximately twenty to twenty-five books that they consider the best candidates for the Award. These books are then sent (in four sets) to the four 8-9’s and 9-10’s classrooms at the Bank Street School for Children. Over the course of five weeks the children read and discuss all of the books before selecting four finalists. These four–called the Black Honor Books–are placed in classrooms or libraries in schools, in New York and elsewhere.

Over 2,000 children voted this year.

For collection development librarians who are looking for a list of great read aloud, The Black winners are surefire hits. More information and a list of previous winners is available at the Bank Street College Children’s Library site.

For their upcoming fall title, Guys Read: Funny Business, the editor John Scieszka and  fellow contributors tell a joke about telling jokes.

I’ve just read the incomplete galley. It’s not only laugh-aloud funny, it’s high interest reading for the guys and girls.  It has the usual suspects; gross, slimy, disgusting interspersed with truly witty fun. Don’t miss it!

Among the titles that have been on the NYT kids best seller lists for weeks and weeks (Gallop! is STILL on after 112 weeks) are some new titles that I’m happy to see  break on to the lists.

The EARTH Book Todd Parr Retail Price: $9.99 Hardcover: 40 pages Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers – (2010-03-17) ISBN / EAN: 031604265X / 9780316042659

Todd Parr’s new book debuts on the Picture Books list this week. He’s a genius when speaking to the young child. His bright colors and direct language can be jarring to grown-ups but trust me, kids just want to grab on and not let go. Best Earth Day advice – put your underwear in the freezer to cool off instead of air conditioning.

The Time Pirate: A Nick McIver Time Adventure Ted Bell Retail Price: $17.99 Hardcover: 464 pages Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin – (2010-04-13) ISBN / EAN: 0312578105 / 9780312578107

Macmillan Audio; UNABR; 9781427208828; $29.99

On the Chapter Books list for the second week, now at #6, is the second in the Nick McIver Time Adventure series. I am a sucker  for time/travel tales. This one is a big fat novel for the kids who have graduated from Jack and Annie and the kids waiting for this week’s release of the Red Pyramid.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson John Green, David Levithan Retail Price: $17.99 Hardcover: 304 pages Publisher: Dutton Juvenile – (2010-04-06) ISBN / EAN: 0525421580 / 9780525421580

Brilliance Audio; UNABR

7 CD’s; 9781441842602; $71.97
MP3-CD; 97814418426-6 $39.97

OverDrive WMA Audiobook

On the Chapter Books list at #8 after three weeks, this is my number one pick for YA this spring. Great deep read that reflects the very real lives of teens. Got kids who are obsessed by Glee? This is for them.

I’m delighted that Miss Brooks Loves Books (And I Don’t) arrives on the NYT Children’s Picture Books Best Seller list this week.

Miss Brooks Loves Books (And I Don’t) Barbara Bottner Retail Price: $17.99 Hardcover: 32 pages Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers – (2010-03-09) ISBN / EAN: 0375846824 / 9780375846823

Seriously, this is my favorite read aloud so far this year. The gender-neutral protagonist is plagued by an over-enthusiastic school librarian. My students were rolling on the floor with the giggles claiming they knew someone just like that (personally, I don’t see the resemblance). Then it’s Book Week! oh no. Our hero just can’t seem to find a book to love and share.

The deadpan humor and expressively comic drawings make this one a book to read again and again. Of course it is a bestseller!

I love this video created by Dorling Kindersley in the UK.

Trust me, watch the whole thing.

Whoo hoo!!!! (or, should I say, Tra-la-laaaaaa!)

Scholastic just announced a new Dav Pilkey series. The first, The Adventures of Ook and Gluk, Kung-Fu Cavemen from the Future, is coming August 10 with a first printing of a million copies.

The publisher describes it this way,

…the sensational saga of two silly caveboys named Ook and Gluk. Ook and Gluk have a pretty awesome life growing up together in Caveland, Ohio, in 500,001 BC—even though they’re always getting in trouble with their nasty leader, Big Chief Goppernopper. But Ook and Gluk’s idyllic life takes a turn for the terrible when an evil corporation from the future invades their quiet, prehistoric town. When Ook, Gluk, and their little dinosaur pal, Lily, are pulled through a time portal to the year 2222 AD, they discover that the world of the future is even worse than the devastated one they came from. Fortunately, they find a friend in Master Wong, a martial arts instructor who trains them in the ways of kung fu, so that they may one day return home and make things right again. And, like the other Captain Underpants books, The Adventures of Ook and Gluk, Kung-Fu Cavemen from the Future features the world’s cheesiest animation technology, “Flip-O-Rama,” in every chapter.

I am going in big.

The Adventures of Ook and Gluk, Kung-Fu Cavemen from the Future
By Dav Pilkey
The Blue Sky Press / Scholastic
August 10, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-17530-2
$9.99 hardcover
Ages 7-10

A school librarian wrote on LM_NET, the listserv for teacher/librarians, that she was experiencing picture book burnout. I felt pretty sad for her but then I thought we must help her get out of that rut…so I wrote back…

I am so sorry that you are burned out on picture books. My suspicion is that picture book burnout occurs when we have stopped having fun reading aloud, when you are looking at the same old books over and over and when you are having trouble finding the right book for the right class.

So, short of beaming you to my two-day Bank Street course, “Selecting and Evaluating New Children’s Books,” (even though we focus on just the best of the year, it’s still a challenge to fit them all in), here are a few suggestions.

Give yourself a break… a poetry break. Get a head-start on poetry month. Of course, there are dozens of old favorites I could recommend, but let’s just focus on a few new titles:

You could undo burnout with any of Lee Bennett Hopkins’s many titles, including last year’s City I Love:

City I Love Lee Bennett Hopkins Retail Price: $16.95 Hardcover: 32 pages Publisher: Abrams Books for Young Readers – (2009-04-01) ISBN / EAN: 0810983273 / 9780810983274

Joyce Sidman; Grab her new book,

Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors Joyce Sidman Retail Price: $16.00 Hardcover: 32 pages Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children – (2009-04-06) ISBN / EAN: 0547014945 / 9780547014944

Marilyn Singer- the brand new Mirror Mirror

Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse Marilyn Singer Retail Price: $16.99 Hardcover: 32 pages Publisher: Dutton Juvenile – (2010-03-04) ISBN / EAN: 0525479015 / 9780525479017

Here are a few instant class or program ideas for Poetry Month:

You don’t have to read aloud a whole book… read a few poems and plan a writing or drawing response lesson.

Provide paper (we use clipboards) markers or crayons or colored pencils (I keep these supplies in our Writing Boxes corralled in zip bags). Have the children create their own concrete poems. You can use this as an example:

A Poke in the I: A Collection of Concrete Poems Retail Price: $7.99 Paperback: 48 pages Publisher: Candlewick – (2005-03-03) ISBN / EAN: 0763623768 / 9780763623760

Write colors paired with verbs and illustrate.

Break into groups to practice, then read aloud the favorite poems (3rd and 4th grade).

Break into groups and memorize a short poem. The following are great sources:

Here’s A Little Poem: A Very First Book of Poetry Retail Price: $21.99 Hardcover: 112 pages Publisher: Candlewick – (2007-02-13) ISBN / EAN: 0763631418 / 9780763631413

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mammalabilia Douglas Florian Retail Price: $7.00 Paperback: 48 pages Publisher: Sandpiper – (2004-04-01) ISBN / EAN: 0152050248 / 9780152050245

Don’t forget non-fiction that reads like poetry.

My hands-down favorite nonfiction picture books this year are Andrea and Brian Pinkney’s Sit-In; fine for 3rd grade and up. It sparks amazing conversations about civil rights.

Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down Andrea Pinkney, Brian Pinkney Retail Price: $16.99 Hardcover: 40 pages Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers – (2010-02-03) ISBN / EAN: 0316070165 / 9780316070164

Moonshot is a delight to read aloud.

Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 (Richard Jackson Books (Atheneum Hardcover)) Brian Floca Retail Price: $17.99 Hardcover: 48 pages Publisher: Atheneum/Richard Jackson Books – (2009-04-07) ISBN / EAN: 141695046X / 9781416950462

If you are in New York City on Thursday March 18th, please join us.

The Children’s Book Committee at Bank Street is being dragged kicking and screaming into the age of technology. For the first time in its 101 years of reviewing, selecting and annotating children’s books, the Best Books of the Year list will be available electronically.

The Children’s Book Committee
Bank Street College of Education

Cordially invites you to attend a breakfast celebrating the presentation of

The 2010 Children’s Book Awards to the authors and illustrators

Thursday, March 18, 2010
9:30 to 11:30 a.m.

Bank Street College of Education
The Evelyn Rome Tabas and Daniel Tabas Auditorium
610 West 112th Street
New York, NY 10025-1898

RSVP to bookcom@bankstreet.edu

The Josette Frank Award for fiction:

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate Jacqueline Kelly Retail Price: $16.99 Hardcover: 352 pages Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) – (2009-05-12) ISBN / EAN: 0805088415 / 9780805088410

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Where the Mountain Meets the Moon Grace Lin Retail Price: $16.99 Hardcover: 288 pages Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers – (2009-07-01) ISBN / EAN: 0316114278 / 9780316114271

The Flora Stieglitz Straus Award for nonfiction:

Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream Tanya Lee Stone Retail Price: $24.99 Hardcover: 144 pages Publisher: Candlewick – (2009-02-24) ISBN / EAN: 0763636118 / 9780763636111

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Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 (Richard Jackson Books (Atheneum Hardcover)) Brian Floca Retail Price: $17.99 Hardcover: 48 pages Publisher: Atheneum/Richard Jackson Books – (2009-04-07) ISBN / EAN: 141695046X / 9781416950462

The Claudia Lewis Award for poetry:

Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors Joyce Sidman Retail Price: $16.00 Hardcover: 32 pages Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children – (2009-04-06) ISBN / EAN: 0547014945 / 9780547014944

For more information: 212.875.4540

The Children’s Book Committee is an affiliate of the Bank Street Center for Children’s Literature.

The title of the third and final volume in Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games series is announced in the current issue of USA Today.

It’s not The Victors, but Mockingjay and it will be published on Aug. 24th. USA Today explains,

In the series, mockingjays are offspring of mockingbirds and jabberjays, a government-bred mutant designed to spy on rebels. Mockingjays become symbols of resistance.

Collins is at work on the screenplay for The Hunger Games (Lionsgate bought the rights last year; no cast or director announced yet).

On the Scholastic blog, Scholastic Executive Director David Levithan spills the beans on…what’s NOT in the book.

The Hunger Games: Book 3 Suzanne Collins Retail Price: $17.99 Hardcover: 400 pages Publisher: Scholastic Press – (2010-08-24) ISBN / EAN: 0439023513 / 9780439023511

I was going to do a round-up of great titles for Black History Month, but school librarian Judy Freeman over at James Patterson’s Read Kiddo Read has done it for me with 76 Unforgettable Books for Black History Month. Of course, there are tons of other lists out there, but this one is the most comprehensive.

My pick of the list is Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Pinkney new book Sit-In; lyrically written and historically accurate, with sweeping paintings evocative of the time.

The Pinkneys talk about the book and the story it explores in the following video:

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Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down Andrea Pinkney, Brian Pinkney Retail Price: $16.99 Hardcover: 40 pages Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers – (2010-02-03) ISBN / EAN: 0316070165 / 9780316070164

The only H1N1 novel for the Wimpy Kid crowd. Writing and drawing in his English assignment journal, the snarky narrator observes the over-reaction of his family to the announced pandemic.

Finn Reeder, Flu Fighter: How I Survived a Worldwide Pandemic, the School Bully, and the Craziest Game of Dodge Ball Ever Eric Stevens Retail Price: $9.99 Hardcover: 80 pages Publisher: Stone Arch Books – (2010-01-15) ISBN / EAN: 1434225623 / 9781434225627

This Sunday, Jan. 24th, I’ll be conducting a live interview with the always engaging and hilarious John Scieszka (author of The Time Warp Trio series and the modern classic The Stinky Cheese Man) at Symphony Space in NYC. The event includes a discussion with the audience, a creative writing project, and a book signing. Click here for tickets.

Also coming up is my online course, Children’s Book Publishing 101, offered through the Bank Street School. It runs January 29th through February 12th. Deadline for registration is today.

Fox’s high school musical comedy Glee just won a Golden Globe for best TV musical or comedy series. I just learned that Little Brown Books for Young Readers will be publishing Glee books in the fall; original stories featuring our show favorites. Whoo, hooo!

Also coming is a Ghost Hunters series for middle grade readers, based on the Syfy series.

No bibliographic information yet; we’ll let you know when it’s available.

Eighty-nine 5th and 6th graders from Bank Street School discussed the candidates and  voted!

Here’s the results:

Short list

• Magician’s Elephant
• When you Reach Me
• The Cats of Roxville Station
• Strawberry Hill
• The Year the Swallows Came Early
• The Blue Shoe
• Al Capone Shines My Shoes

Extra credit

• The Dragon of Trellian
• 11 Birthdays
• Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
• When the Whistle Blows

The Winner

When You Reach Me Rebecca Stead Retail Price: $15.99 Hardcover: 208 pages Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books – (2009-07-14) ISBN / EAN: 0385737424 / 9780385737425

Honor Books

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon Grace Lin Retail Price: $16.99 Hardcover: 288 pages Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers – (2009-07-01) ISBN / EAN: 0316114278 / 9780316114271

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11 Birthdays Wendy Mass Retail Price: $6.99 Mass Market Paperback: 272 pages Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks – (2010-01-01) ISBN / EAN: 0545052408 / 9780545052405

They’re anxiously waiting to see how their results stack up against the professionals.