Plastic Surgery Children's Book

So I was reading Us Weekly.com and came across an article that was called, "New Children's Book Explains Mom's Plastic Surgery". I included a link below, but the article is written by a plastic surgeon who thought it was a good idea to write a book that explains that surgery helps moms feel better. I can only imagine that this is going to be a very controversial book and thought it would be an interesting topic to discuss whether or not people would have this book in their classroom.

http://www.usmagazine.com/new-childrens-book-explains-moms-plastic-surgery

TI: getting out of trouble?

In respect to Kalya's post about Snoop Dogg...

I was watching the news when I heard about the rapper, TI's, deal he made to reduce his sentence time for prison. I have very mixed feelings about this. Should a rapper who is known to have been buying illegal machine guns off of a convicted felon, be able to talk to children about gun savety and gang violence? He states in his website that
"TI also encouraged the youth to turn away from negativity and stressed that certain situations can interfere with positive growth and success in life."
also it states that:
"Later that day TI was pulled aside by a parent expressing gratitude and respect for TI and stated his message was heartfelt and sincere and will inspire her child to do better."

I have a hard time understanding how to believe messages from those who are 1) forced to talk to children about these things to keep them out of jail. (I would do almost anything to keep out of jail, and I bet he would as well.) and 2) Hearing this message from a man who sold crack as a teenager, went to jail for three years, and then was buying machine guns and silencers illegally...

What does everyone else think?
Should famous artists, like TI, be able to reduce and basically get rid of the charges by talking to our youth in schools?

http://www.trapmuzik.com/
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/WireStory?id=3727227&page=2

Snoop Dogg writing children's books?

While looking on the internet for news on children's books. I came across many articles saying the Snoop Dogg is writing his own series of books for children. http://au.launch.yahoo.com/080414/10/1p3dp.html I thought this was interesting due to his reputation and behavior so I decided to check out the link to his site promoting the book. http://allhiphop.com/ The website reads "The world's most dangerous site". I found it interesting that a website promoting children's books would have so much inappropriate material on there for young readers. I don't understand why he would correlate his other work (targeted for a mature audience) with children's material. I was just curious if these factors would affect any of your decisions to read/buy/provide such a book in your classroom.

Also, happy national library week Apr 13-19. --learn something new everyday

Horton Hears a Who

A friend sent me this note in an email and I thought I would pass it on to you!

Peter Sagal (from Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me) has an interesting editorial criticizing Horton Hears a Who for being sexist.

I haven't seen the movie, but if his description is accurate, it sounds like he has a good point.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89318829

Notes from spring break

Hi everyone,

I hope all of you are enjoying spring break. I'm staying home this year to focus on my writing and to spend some time catching up on my pleasure reading. I've also just reread posts on the blog, which have inspired me to pen some more limericks!

This morning NPR had a segment on "Harriet the Spy" that made me think of some of the conversations we had in class last week related to contemporary realistic fiction. (By following the link you can listen to the 7 minute broadcast.) I would love to hear people's experiences with the book and responses to the segment.

I'm reading "Brave Story" by Miyuki Miyabe this break. Miyabe is a Japanese writer who is known for her detective stories. "Brave Story" is a translation of her popular fantasy for kids. (It is 816 pages, so I didn't dare start it until break!) It took me almost 100 pages to get into it and now I can't put it down! A good reminder for myself that we all need time to sink into books.

As people come back from break, I hope you'll share any connections you made with your travels and the course!

Valerie

ALA Award winners announced

We'll be talking about the role of awards in the world of children's and adolscent literature in the upcoming weeks. The American Library Association has just announced the 2008 award winners of the:

• John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children's literature
• Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children
• Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults
• Coretta Scott King Book Award recognizing an African American author and illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults
• Schneider Family Book Award for books that embody the artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences
• Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for the most distinguished book for beginning readers
• Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults, the The Pura Belpré Award honoring Latino authors and illustrators whose work best portrays, affirms and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in children's books
• Robert F. Sibert Medal for most distinguished informational book for children
• Andrew Carnegie Medal for excellence in children's video
• Mildred L. Batchelder Award for the most outstanding children's book translated from a foreign language and subsequently published in the United States.

Check out the lists. Has anyone read any of the award winners?