Ambassador Paterson

I was so pleased to hear that Katherine Paterson has been named the new Ambassador for Young People's Literature. It was hard to imagine who could follow comic genius Jon Scieszka in this role, but Ms. Paterson's own brand of genius is certainly up to the task.

I didn't read Bridge to Terabithia until I was in college. A friend of mine gave it to me to read over break (I don't think it was in our library because of that whole banned books thing). I sat in my childhood room and cried my eyes out, partially because of Leslie, and partially because I had missed out on this book as a kid. It's a beautiful story about friendship, imagination, joy, belonging, and grief.

We need stories like this in the world. Of course I think kids need to laugh. A lot. But they also need books that deal with and help them process all the other things that go on in life. Thank goodness for the Jon Scieszkas of the world and for the Katherine Patersons. We need them both desperately.

There's a great interview with Ms. Paterson at the School Library Journal. Here's a taste:

As children’s book ambassador, what’s your most important role?
In some ways, I feel like what they’re asking me to do is what I’ve been doing for 30 years. It just has another name. Because what I’m trying to do is to encourage people to take books seriously and to take children seriously—their spiritual and intellectual needs, as well as their bodily needs. It’s more of a platform for the things I’ve been saying for a long time.

What was your reaction when you found out that you’d been selected?
It was a big thrill. I felt like a kid, really. And then I thought, Gee, I’m 77 years old, and I’ll be 79 before I finish, since it’s a two-year term. But I still have a good bit of zip for an old lady, and I hope that they know what they were doing.

Has Jon Scieszka given you any advice about your new job?
Well, you know Jon. [Laughing.] He’s told me about the cape and the helicopter and the jet-pack that doesn’t work. But his chief advice was just to enjoy myself—and I will. I love people, and I love to talk about what I care about. So I can’t imagine the job as a chore.

For the rest of the interview, please visit SLJ.

Jon Scieszka: Knucklehead

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Jon Scieszka is a creative genius.

Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Almost True Stories of Growing Up Scieszka is a hilarious memoir (geared toward the 9-12 set) filled with short vignettes about what it's like to grow up in a family of six kids. Six boys, no less. And just in case that family structure alone isn't comedy itself, try this: six boys in Catholic school.

Of course, growing up in a family of six kids myself (we were five girls, one boy...comedy of another sort), the stories made me grin, guffaw, and repeatedly force my husband to read and re-read chapters. It's that kind of book. The kind you have to share because it's just cruel to keep that much funny to yourself.

After the first couple chapters, I decided to ration myself and only read one chapter a night. I didn't want it to end, and what better way to go to sleep than after a good chuckle?

More than anything, Knucklehead is a testament to the strength of sibling relationships. Jon Scieszka's book illuminates the mystery of how you can sell your brother his own shirt, get him to eat a burnt out cigarette butt, pee on him, and even break his collar bone, and still come out laughing on the other side.

Here's an NPR story about Kucklehead (with some excerpts from the book at the bottom of the page).

Here's a great Reading Rockets interview with Jon Scieszka about growing up with five brothers, teaching elementary school, his unconventional style, and how to get boys interested in reading:

Cowboy and Octopus: Jon Scieszka

As a huge Jon Scieszka fan, I've been waiting for Cowboy & Octopus to come out for months and it is finally here. As expected, it is completely strange and off the wall and absolutely hilarious.

The picture book is made up of several short vignettes (think in terms of the classic easy readers: Frog and Toad, George and Martha).

While every single page didn't make me belly laugh, there was a bit about a knock knock joke and a head of lettuce that sent me into uncontrollable Monkey Woman level wheezy laughter.

I also particularly like the bit where Octopus dresses up as the Tooth Fairy for Halloween.

I'm not going to go on and on because you should just check out the great review that Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast already wrote.

Also, you should definitely check out Jon Scieska Worldwide. There are all kinds of fun little treats there (try clicking on "Cheese Fez" at the top righthand corner for instance, and see what happens). Ah, creative genius!

Here's today's schedule for Blogging for a Cure (I'll update the sidebar for this week later today, I promise.)

Jon Scieszka: Guys Read

I'm teaching a fiction workshop for 4-6th graders this summer, and while trying to choose a balanced mix of books to use as examples, I came across a very cool website: Guys Read. (Thanks to Fuse #8 for pointing me in the right direction!)

Guys Read was created by author John Scieszka, perhaps best known for the Time Warp Trio Series and his wildly clever "fractured fairy tales" such as The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales. According to Mr. Scieszka:

• A lot of boys are having trouble reading.
• The U.S. Department of Education reading tests for the last 30 years show boys scoring worse than girls in every age group, every year.
• Eighth grade boys are 50 percent more likely to be held back than girls.
• Two-thirds of Special Education Students in high school are boys.

Guys Read is a web-based literacy program for boys. At Guys Read, you can:

• See book recommendations for guys of all age groups
• Suggest your own book recommendations
• Learn about how to start a Guys Read group in your home town

You can read an interview with Jon Scieszka about Guys Read on the popular blog, Bookslut. Here's a great clip:

What are some things that parents can do in order to get their kids to enjoy reading?

Two things they can do most readily and easily is to, one, accept a really broad range of reading, and when your kid is reading newspapers and magazines, encourage that as reading. Information books, computer textbooks, reading online -- that's all reading, and that's a good thing. And then the second thing, that I think is hugely important, is [providing] some kind of male role model. Dads and brothers just have to get involved, because I think that it does so much, in so many more positive ways than what we've done before. When I was teaching I found that, too.

I was in second grade, when I started teaching, and some of my boys just took off as readers. And it was nothing particularly special that I did, it was just being there. Because I think they thought, "Oh, you can be a reader if you're a guy; you're not going to turn into a girl." Which I think is some weird kind of subconscious fear of theirs.

I think, through our culture and society, we're giving (kids) this message that reading is more of a feminine activity, because when you look around, it's your mom who is reading to you early on, it's women in the elementary school, it's women librarians, or women in publishing, too. And I think guys just subconsciously sort of absorb that message and go, "Oh yeah, this isn't for me."

I should mention that Jon Scieszka's regular website is fun to explore, too. (Definitely play the "Official Jon Scieszka Pronunciation Guide" clip for a chuckle.)