Share a Story, Shape a Future Begins Tomorrow!

Well, that header really says it all, doesn't it?

Tomorrow kicks off a big week in the kidlitosphere--the (hopefully First Annual) Share a Story, Shape a Future literacy blog tour. Drop in over at the official blog to see the full schedule.

Book Review: The Sea Serpent and Me by Dashka Slater

Book: The Sea Serpent and Me

Author: Dashka Slater
Illustrator: Catia Chien
Published: 2008

One day, a little girl is taking a bath when a sea serpent slips out of the faucet and into her tub. She promises to take him home to the ocean, but it has to stop raining first. They make friends, the sea serpent telling her all the wonders of the sea. Every day, he grows bigger, until she can't even fit him in the tub, much less hold him in her hand. He has to go back to the sea--but how can she let him go?

The art is what first captured me about this book. Even though they don't make it to the beach until the last quarter of the book, every page evokes the sea with aquatic colors and beautiful sweeps of watercolor like waves. There are also smile-provoking details. For instance, the text describes "fish shaped like guitars." In the illustration, there are fish with long skinny necks and lines running down and floating off their back, like loose strings.

When I got into the book, however, the beauty of the language caught me just as much as the art. There is a bedtime story quality about the text that makes you want to read it aloud.

With picture books, the art and language have to match in tone, and this book succeeds in that so well that I had to double-check that the author and illustrator were in fact two different people. Try The Sea Serpent and Me for a beautiful picture book you won't soon forget.

Neil Gaiman Picture Book Trailer

Found this one over at Cheryl Rainfield's blog, where she asks, "Do you think it will help sell the book?"


Well, it worked for me. What a beautiful video, and Neil Gaiman has that perfect bedtime story voice. Love.

What Are Your Top 10?

Time for me to fire up my LibraryThing. Betsy Bird of Fuse #8 fame has asked for our Top 10 Picture Books. She's going to compile them all and get back to us with a list of 100 not-to-be-missed, bestest-ever picture books of all time.

By the way, this doesn't include early readers like Elephant and Piggie. Apparently, that poll is coming up.

This is gonna be hard, you guys. We've only got until March 31st.

Children's Choice Finalists

Tasha Saecker over at KidsLit alerted me to this one. The Children's Choice award finalists are up!

Kindergarten to Second Grade Book of the Year:
The Donut Chef by Bob Staake

Katie Loves the Kittens by John Himmelman

The Pigeon Wants a Puppy! written and illustrated by Mo Willems

Sort It Out! by Barbara Mariconda, illustrated by Sherry Rogers

Those Darn Squirrels by Adam Rubin, illustrated by Daniel Salmieri

The other age groups are posted at the link. Congrats to all finalists! Come April, you can drop by Book Week Online and cast your vote.

The Children's Book Council will announce the winners in May, just in time for the recently-moved Children's Book Week.

Share a Story, Shape a Future

So remember how Jen Robinson wanted to get a National Day of Reading Aloud going? This looks like a good start. It's a great blog tour, not with an author, but with an idea.

The "Share a Story, Shape a Future" blog tour starts March 9, with articles from teachers, parents, librarians, and other literacy fans on such topics as Raising Readers, Selecting Reading Material, and Reading Aloud. Check out this post at Book Dads for more information.

Reading Roundup February 2009

By the Numbers
Picture Books: 25
Early Readers: 2

Standouts
Writing: Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas
Illustration: Oodles of Animals by Lois Ehlert
Overall: The Black Book of Colors by Menina Cotten

Because I Want To Awards
Prompted the Loudest Squee, Because I Wasn't Expecting It: Good Luck Bear by Greg Foley
Title That is Almost Longer Than the Book: Why I Will Never Ever Ever Ever Have Enough Time to Read This Bookby Remy Charlip
More Fun for Adults: The Retired Kid by Jon Agee
Coolest Non-Speaking Character: the dog in Ladybug Girl by Jacky Davis