Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

Fifth grader Jess has been practicing all summer to win the school race. Newcomer Leslie beats Jess and afterwards the two become inseparable, best of friends, despite being a girl and boy. They create a make believe world of Terabithia reached by a rope swing where they reign as king and queen. One day, Leslie goes to Terabithia and a terrible accident happens. Jess suffers through guilt, grief and rage before reaching acceptance.

Themes of friendship, love and loss are found in the story.

This book has been challenged frequently because of the sudden death and religious references. I believe that the religious references are demonstrative of people found in this setting. The death took me by surprise when I read the book. I can understand the impulse to protect a child from learning of death. When the time comes, this would be a good book to begin the conversation of how to deal with it.

Paterson, K. (1977). Bridge to terabithia. New York, NY: Harper and Row, Publishers.
ISBN: 0064401847
Illustrated by Donna Diamond

Caldecott Medal Manual by ALA

In 1922, the American Library Association (ALA) approved the creation of the Newberry Medal to honor the most distinguished children's book published the previous year. Recognizing the artists creating picture books were neglected in this category, the Caldecott Medal was created in 1937. The medal was named for Randolph Caldecott, a great english illustrator, who's style can be described as energetic, realistic and humorous.

Members of the Association of Library Service to Children (ALSC) nominate members for the Caldecott (and Newberry) committee. Those committee members must be free from conflict of interests, understand confidentiality and be willing to spend time reading books published that meet the criteria. In addition to reading the books, they must also be prepared to write critically and read through various texts what a picture book represents. Not all members of ALSC would have the reviewing skills necessary.

Criteria for the Caldecott Medal

With the criteria, in mind, the committee takes specific note and criticism's of each book read so that when it is time to nominate books the information is readily available to jog memories. Each committee member is asked to submit nominations and it is recommended to do this on a monthly basis.

Once all recommendations have been submitted, the committee will choose the winner. It is optional to award Caldecott Honor Books and these should be a very select group.

The manual is available as a pdf file on the ALA website. Inside is an excellent example of a document used to track what has been read. I am going to adopt this with my future reading. I have seen numerous posts on the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) listserv for ideas on how new graduates could learn how/practice/get paid to write reviews. It is a skill that would be difficult to acquire without having feedback from someone. By the way, the response to the posts is to contact journals, post on a blog, write for the library, etc.

Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes

Kitten mistakes her first full moon for a saucer of milk. She chases and climbs after the saucer only to be disappointed. Until the end of the evening, her owner places a saucer of milk on the porch for her. The book is illustrated in black and white drawings.

A very cute book! The text is simple and large on the page. Kitten's adventures are shown beautifully through the illustrations. They complement the text and are even larger than the text which will hold children's attention.

Henkes, K. (2004). Kitten's first full moon. New York, NY: Greenwillow Books.
ISBN: 0060588284
Illustrated by the author

Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey

Mr and Mrs Mallard look for a safe place to raise their ducklings in the city of Boston. The first location, the Public Garden, is not safe enough for hatchlings so they settle on a second locations. After the ducklings are born and learn some skills, Mrs Mallard leads them on an adventure by land back to the Public Garden to live. The drawings illustrate the story and include actual places in Boston.

Great story! My favorite part is "...and when Mrs Mallard heard them she was so proud she tipped her nose in the air and walked along with an extra swing in her waddle." I can just see a duck doing that! Observing animals was a part of my childhood and I think it must have been of the author's to write this story. The drawings are full of activity supporting the story which provide more details for children.

McCloskey, R. (1969). Make way for ducklings. New York, NY: The Viking Press.
ISBN: 0670451495
Illustrated by the author