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Has anyone seen The Invention of Hugo Cabret?

Posted by Jennifer Ironside, 17 months ago

Has anyone seen the movie adaptation of "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" movie? I am wondering if it is worth watching. For those of you who haven't read the book, below is an summary from my blog about children's books: www. nonesuchorphans.blogspot.com).

"The Invention of Hugo Cabret" (ages 9+) by Brian Selznick is about a twelve-year-old orphan named Hugo, who secretly lives in a Paris train station. Shortly before he died, Hugo's father showed him the broken clockwork man he found in the museum where he worked. With his father's notebooks to guide him, Hugo hopes to fix the automaton and discover its secrets. However, things get complicated when a local toymaker catches Hugo stealing a toy mouse, and confiscates his priceless notebooks.

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"Wimpy Kid" Author Weighs in on Kid-Lit Debate

Posted by Tamye Machina, 2 years ago

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I came across this essay written for Time Magazine by "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" author, Jeff Kinney, on the debate over what really constitutes "legitimate reading" for kids and found his opinion very interesting. Again, I think the basic, underlying idea is that if it gets kids to read, then it should be considered "ligitimate". Right?

Here is the article:

A few years ago, I was asked to speak at a conference for librarians in Brooklyn. The topic was how to reach "reluctant readers" (whom I've since come to know by the more concise term boys), and the librarian who organized the discussion, a progressive woman in her 60s, framed the issue like this: boys are interested in reading about video games and sharks, but they're being handed books like Little Women and Anne of Green Gables.

I know I should be disappointed that boys are not taking to the classics, but upon hearing her assessment, I felt a thrill. My Diary of a Wimpy Kid books are full of references to video games, and there is even the occasional shark. Still, her point was understood. Kids and adults have a difference of opinion when it comes to what constitutes legitimate reading. Adults often push books that they loved as children, which, ironically, were often books that their parents weren't particularly keen on. Many of Judy Blume's books — which I devoured when I was growing up and where I found characters that were believable because they were a lot like me — caused considerable consternation when they were first published, but now they're widely accepted as an essential part of the children's literary canon. The same is true of The Catcher in the Rye and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Even J.K. Rowling's venerated Harry Potter series caused hand-wringing over the fear that it might turn kids on to witchcraft.
(See the books that 23 authors are reading this summer.)

As we move into the summer reading season, we shouldn't forget that what constitutes a classic is a bit of a moving target. It seems that when anything aimed at kids catches on, it causes the collective antennae of the older set to go up. As Diary of a Wimpy Kid gathered steam, I braced myself for the inevitable backlash. I consider my books to be harmless fun and wholesome entertainment, but somehow I ended up in the position of defending my writing to Barbara Walters. Later, a nationally televised news program ran a segment titled "'Wimpy Kid' with a Foul Mouth." (My inclusion of the word dork didn't sit well with them.) But eventually the clouds passed — or perhaps just moved on to settle over The Hunger Games trilogy, the dark, dystopian novels that are lighting up best-seller lists.

The truth is, I didn't set out to write for kids. I fancied my book as an epic coming-of-age story aimed squarely at adults who were feeling nostalgic for their middle-school days. But when I pitched my 1,300-page brick of a manuscript to a publisher, I was informed that I had, in fact, written a children's series. This sudden shift in perspective was disorienting, and I had to consider whether what I had written was appropriate for kids. I created the main character, Greg, as an authentic middle schooler, full of imperfections and contradictions. In fact, most of the books' humor hinges on the reader's understanding that Greg is not a fully formed human being but a work in progress. Would kids get that?

Ultimately, I decided to trust my readers to figure it out for themselves. I was happy to find that kids embraced Greg, and from talking to them, I'm confident that they're in on the joke. And looking back, I feel fortunate, because had I known I was writing for children, I would have written differently — and less honestly. I would have been tempted to write down to kids and use my standing as an adult to impart some sort of life lesson. And that approach never would have worked. Besides, the conversations that a complicated character like Greg inspires in the classroom and at the dinner table are infinitely more interesting and educational than a baked-in moral.

This is the first in a series of essays by TIME's most influential people in the world.

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Super Diaper Baby Book Banned at U.S. School

Posted by Tamye Machina, 2 years ago

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I just wanted to share this with all of you fellow kids book friends. A parent in whose child goes to Brown Elementary School in Channelview, Texas recently won an appeal to have the popular children's book, "Super Diaper Baby" banned from the school library because she claims her son was suspended for using the words "poo poo head" after he read them in the book.

How crazy! This mother and the school system should be happy that children are actually reading. No, he shouldn't have called the little girl a "poo poo head", but should he have been suspended for it? He's six! They eventually (or hopefully) move on from the bathroom humour books. I would love to hear your opinions on this.

Here is the article:

A Channelview ISD parent wants a popular children's book removed from library shelves at schools. She says her son used some of the language in the book and he got suspended for it.

Tammy Harris has a six-year-old son, and last year, she got a call from his teacher.

"He and a little girl wasn't getting a long and he called her a poo-poo head," Harris said.

The punishment was a one day suspension at Brown Elementary in Channelview. Harris had no problem with that. But that was before The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby, which her son was reading aloud in the car, had been checked out from the school library.

"The only thing I heard from the back seat was 'hee-hee-hee. Poo-poo head is going to take poop and put it all over these people's heads,'" Harris said.

It is a graphic novel, or in this case, a cartoon book for kids. And in keeping with the diaper theme, it features bathroom humor.

Considering her son was suspended for the same kind of language, Harris has a problem with the book being in the elementary school library.

"I said, 'Do you remember when you got in trouble last year and you got suspended for calling that little girl a poo-poo head and now they allowed you to read something like that, do you think that's right?' And he's like, 'No,'" Harris said.

Harris is asking that the book be pulled from the Brown Elementary School library. In response, she got this statement from Channelview ISD:

"The review process will involve the appointment of a committee to determine the appropriateness of the material in question. School district policy also states that access to the challenged material shall not be restricted during the reconsideration process."

In other words, Super Diaper Baby can still fly off the library shelf and the boy's parents, who are protesting it, concede their complaints may only make the book more popular at the school.

"Every kid knows about that book and every kid in that school wants to check that book out," said the boy's dad, Randy Harris.

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Cantastic Authorpalooza

Posted by Unknown User, 2 years ago

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Canadian Children's Book Centre Award Nominees

Posted by Kids Editor, 2 years ago

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Each year, the Canadian Children's Book Centre nominates what deem to be the best in children's literature. Check out this year's finalists which include Alma Fullerton's Burn, Gordon Lightfoot's Canadian Railroad Trilogy, Caroline Pignant's Wild Geese (a personal favourite) and many more.

The winners will be announced on October 4, 2011.

www.chapters.indigo.ca/Kids/Canadian-Childrens-Book-Centre-Awards/

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How to Keep Girls Reading This Summer from Booklounge.ca

Posted by Tamye Machina, 2 years ago

This is a very informative video from a reading/literacy expert, Lahring Tribe from Booklounge.ca on how to keep girls reading this summer and some good book suggestions.

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How to Keep Boys Reading This Summer Video from Booklounge.ca

Posted by Tamye Machina, 2 years ago

This is a very informative video by a literacy & reading expert, Lahring Tribe from booklounge.ca on how to keep boys reading this summer and some book suggestions.

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