The SurRural Librarian

Since school started, I’ve been reading like crazy. Here are a few titles that are must buys for the year.
Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson is fabulous. Isabel is a rare character, a slave from the North. Her story brings so much life to the time period, so much depth to the sketch of history students at this age receive - how many of your students do you think realize there were so many slaves in NYC, or even that the city was occupied by the British during the war? Because of the popularity of Speak, I already have readers lining up for this book, which may not have been the case with another author. I’m sure this book will land in the hands of students who don’t usually read historical fiction, and I hope they surprise themselves by how much they enjoy it. With the promise of a sequel to come, this might be just the gateway book I’m looking for! (I posted this review on The Picnic Basket.)

Toy Dance Party by Emily Jenkins
I haven’t even finished this sequel to my favorite book in the whole wide world, but I love it already. LOL funny. Truly, I’m buying a case for the birthdays!
Chester by Melanie Watt
Ha ha ha ha. This book is already a big hit with my primary students. I drive a carpool of them, and listened to one read it to the others on the way home the other day, they just love it. With Scaredy Squirrel & Chester, Melanie Watt is a power house for these kids, best thing to happen to picture books since Mo Willems.

Owly by Andy Runton
The Owly books are a blockbuster. I have kids in every grade lining up for them. I keep all my graphic novels in baskets now because they circulate so often. Owly doesn’t even have its own basket - they are never in the library long enough. Completely wordless & way cute, these are the best thing to happen for early & reluctant readers in a while. I can’t believe how much the kids love these.

Other huge hits that my library couldn’t do without right now are Bone, Ivy & Bean and Amelia Rules.

OOh, pretty. Françoise Mouly (New Yorker art editor) and Art Spiegelman (her husband, acclaimed cartoonist) came out this spring with TOON Books,  comics for early readers! I have a feeling these are going to be a big hit at my school. The covers on these babies are beautiful and judging by the sample pages on their (great looking) website, the insides are mighty fine too.

Considering every comic/graphic novel I have for the under-10 set is falling apart, I’d better lay some of these in for fall.

Blood, they say, is thicker than water; add the right kind of ink and, sometimes, it’s stronger than steel.

Here’s a nice article by a dad who was introduced to manga by his daughter. I think teachers are particularly lucky to have the opportunity to learn about contemporary culture from spending time with so many young people. I wish more teachers would embrace the idea of checking out something new because their students recommend it.

Booklist has published a list of their picks of the top graphic novels for youth of the year.

What makes me particularly happy about this article is that it has books for the youngers too.

I haven’t seen most of these titles yet, so I can’t comment. But I’m looking forward to reading them.

I’m still disappointed by the spotty information I’ve found on graphic novels for k-8, but this new pamphlet from ALA has some interesting tips on shelving and challenges.

Graphic novels: Suggestions for Librarians
 (pdf)
ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom has prepared a downloadable PDF booklet (with artwork by Sergio Aragonés), in conjunction with the National Coalition Against Censorship and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, that offers tips on how to develop a graphic novel collection, ways to deal with challenges in libraries, and where to shelve them….

Trying to beef up our graphic novel collection, I picked up a copy of the Courageous Princess by Rod Espinosa (2003). I tossed it in my book bag along with a bunch of picture books I planned to try out on my four year old. She took it out and hasn’t put it down yet. I’m surprised she’s not sleeping with it.

It’s interesting to see how the book has really captivated her. I think it must be that she can understand the whole story without having to know how to read. And the images are so vivid and unlike any of the picture books she’s had so much exposure too.

I haven’t read the story to her yet, because it’s so fun that she can “read” it on her own. But I do like the story, and I think it’s a great, safe buy for anyone looking for graphic novels, especially ones with strong female characters. Great for ages 5 up to (at least) 8.