Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Buyers, Books and Buzz
This past Saturday I attended SCBWI-IL's "Buyers, Books and Buzz" workshop at the beautiful Mayslake Peabody Estate in Oak Brook. The speakers were Jan Dundon, Children's Book Buyer and Seller for Anderson's Bookshop and Mary Harris Russell, Reviewer of Children's Books for the Chicago Tribune. This dynamic duo spoke about which books they love, hooked them and why. It was a wonderful morning discussing children's books. But I always leave with a huge list of new books that I need to read!
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Books for Boys
Over the winter break my children were reading maniacs. Especially my ten-year-old son, who for the longest time, really had a hard time finding books that he loved. I am beyond thrilled to report that this has completely changed. Hooray!
The author that has changed all of that is Dan Gutman. His baseball series books "Babe and Me", etc. have had my son reading a book every 24-48 hours. This is so amazing. My Danny has now finished 11 of Gutman's books. Thank you Dan Gutman. You are a genius! Last night my son was reading the bio for one of these books and we both found it so interesting that as a child, Dan Gutman said he hated to read. Gutman says that's one of the reasons why he makes an extra special effort not to write books that are boring.
A few other books that my fifth grader has also enjoyed are: Jerry Spinelli's "Crash" and "Loser" and all of the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" books by Jeff Kinney. Hooray! Definitely give these books a try.
"I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves." ~ Anna Quindlen
The author that has changed all of that is Dan Gutman. His baseball series books "Babe and Me", etc. have had my son reading a book every 24-48 hours. This is so amazing. My Danny has now finished 11 of Gutman's books. Thank you Dan Gutman. You are a genius! Last night my son was reading the bio for one of these books and we both found it so interesting that as a child, Dan Gutman said he hated to read. Gutman says that's one of the reasons why he makes an extra special effort not to write books that are boring.
A few other books that my fifth grader has also enjoyed are: Jerry Spinelli's "Crash" and "Loser" and all of the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" books by Jeff Kinney. Hooray! Definitely give these books a try.
"I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves." ~ Anna Quindlen
Happy New Year!
I love the "fresh start" feeling that a new year brings. Time to reflect on what we've done the past year and give thought to what we will tackle in the new one. Aside from an overwhelming urge to reorganize everything in my house and office, I feel new energy and enthusiasm to accomplish my goals. Bring on 2010! I wish everyone all the best that this next year has to offer.
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