Students in grades three through eight can enter the Dare to Dream…Change the World Second Annual Writing Contest for Children by creating an original biographical poem and a paragraph about someone who not only dreamed, but took action and made the world a better place. The contest “aims to promote literacy, poetry writing, and nonfiction research while inspiring students to follow their own dreams.”

Entries can be submitted through April 30, 2014. Winners will be announced by June 1, 2014. Be sure to check out the rules and submission information. The grand prize winner will receive $1,500 worth of Kane Miller and Usborne books for a school or community library of their choice. The top 30 entries will be published as a free ebook by sponsor Kane Miller Books.

The contest, cosponsored by Educational Development Corporation, has been announced by Jill Corcoran, compiler and contributing poet to Dare to Dream … Change the World (Kane Miller, 2013), a collection of biographical and inspirational poems for children featuring a culturally diverse mix of subjects ranging from Jonas Salk to Steven Spielberg, and from Christa McAuliffe to Michelle Kwan. A free, downloadable curriculum guide is available on the contest and publisher websites.

Pin It to Win

Teachers have until September 27, 2013 to enter Raytheon’s “Pin It to Win It” sweepstakes on Pinterest “that encourages knowledge sharing and promotes science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education.” The contest is part of Raytheon’s MathMovesU initiative, which aims to inspire student interest in STEM subjects and support teachers by providing easy access to STEM education resources.

Educators must create a back-to-school Pinterest board, re-pin and share creative STEM education content, such as inventive experiments or lesson tips, to the MathMovesU “Back-to-School” Pinterest board. Twenty-five winners will be randomly selected to receive a MathMovesU bag filled with classroom supplies, such as calculators, rulers, protractors, and compasses.

Picture Book Art

From September 17, 2013 through March 24, 2014, the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA, will feature an exhibit of artwork from Eric Carle’s new picture book, Friends (Philomel). The title has a release date of November 19, 2013, and showcases Carle’s signature tissue-paper collage artwork. It tells the story of a little boy who braves harsh weather, tall mountains, and long distances to reunite with his best friend who moves away. Visit the Museum’s website for hours and admission fees.

“Friends was inspired by many of my own friendships,” says Carle. “One that I had as a three-year-old boy, another as a six-year-old when I was taken by my parents to Germany, and another as a young man when I arrived back in the United States with my portfolio in hand. I have always believed that friendship is very important. I know it was for me as a child. I can still remember my strong attachments and feelings for my friends when I was a boy.”

Canadian Children’s Lit Awards

The Canadian Children’s Book Centre (CCBC) has announced the finalists for its seven major children’s book awards: TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award, Prix TD de littérature canadienne pour l’enfance et la jeunesse, Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction, Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People, John Spray Mystery Award, and Monica Hughes Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy. The winners will be announced at the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Awards and Prix TD de littérature canadienne pour l’enfance et la jeunesse in Toronto on October 22 and in Montreal on October 29.

The finalists for the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award ($30,000) are: Kids of Kabul (Groundwood; ages 11 Up) by Deborah Ellis; One Year in Coal Harbor (Groundwood; ages 9–13) by Polly Horvath; Susin Nielsen’s The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen (Tundra; ages 11 Up); The Stamp Collector (Fitzhenry & Whiteside; ages 8 Up) written by Jennifer Lanthier and illustrated by Francois Thisdale; and Virginia Wolf (Kids Can, ages 5–10) written by Kyo Maclear and illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault.

The Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award finalists are: Mr. King’s Things (Kids an; ages 3–7) written and illustrated by Genevieve Cote, Mr. Zinger’s Hat (Tundra; ages 4–8), The Stamp Collector (Fitzhenry & Whiteside; ages 8 Up) written by Jennifer Lanthier and illustrated by Francois Thisdale; Uncle Wally’s Old Brown Shoe (Orca; ages 4–8) written and illustrated by Wallace Edwards and Virginia Wolf (Kids Can, ages 5–10) written by Kyo Maclear and illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault.

The Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People ($5,000) finalists are: A Call to Battle (Scholastic Canada; ages 10–14) by Gillian Chan, The Lynching of Louie Sam (Annick Press; ages 12 Up) by Elizabeth Stewart, Making Bombs for Hitler (Scholastic Canada; ages 9–14) by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch, Amy McAuley’s Violins of Autumn (Walker; ages 12 Up), and Yesterday’s Dead (Second Story Press; ages 10–14) by Pat Bourke.

The finalists for the John Spray Mystery Award ($5,000) include: Becoming Holmes (Tundra; ages 11–14) by Shane Peacock, Devil’s Pass (Orca; ages 12–14) by Sigmund Brouwer, Neil Flambe and the Tokyo Treasure (S & S; ages 8–13) written and illustrated by Kevin Sylvester.

A complete list of finalists in all the categories can be found on The Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s website.

For the first time, TD Bank Group is partnering with CBC Books to present the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Fan Choice Award. Young readers will be asked to pick their favorite book from the shortlisted TD Award titles in an online poll starting on Monday, September 9. The book with the most votes will win, and one entrant will win a trip to Toronto to present the award at the ceremony on October 22.

The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano (Scholastic; Gr 6–10) by Sonia Manzano won the 2013 Americas Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature, established by the Consortium for Latin American Studies Programs (CLASP) “to encourage and commend authors, illustrators, and publishers who produce quality children’s and young adult books that portray Latin America, the Caribbean, or Latinos in the United States, and to provide teachers with recommendations for classroom use.”

In Manzano’s novel, 14-year-old Evelyn Serrano lives in Spanish Harlem in 1969. The family is of Puerto Rican descent, and the teenager struggles with her own sense of identity and what it means to be Puerto Rican in El Barrio.

Honorable Mention went to Martin de Porres: The Rose in the Desert (Clarion; Gr 2–4) written by Gary D. Schmidt and illustrated by David Diaz.  The picture-book biography tells the story of the life of the first black saint of the Americas who was born in 1579 in Lima, Peru.

There were also three Commended Titles: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (S & S; Gr 9 Up) by Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Drummer Boy of John John (Lee & Low; PreS-Gr 3) written by Mark Greenwood and illustrated by Frané Lessac, and In Darkness (Bloomsbury; Gr 9 Up) by Nick Lake.

Titles published in 2012 were considered for the 2013 award. Books are judged for their literary quality; cultural contextualization; exceptional integration of text, illustration, and design; and potential for classroom use. The award presentation will be held on October 5, 2013 at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.

Dot Day

Celebrate International Dot Day with its creator, Peter H. Reynolds, at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA, on September 15, 2013 from 1–4 pm EST. The event was inspired by Reynolds’s book for young readers, The Dot (Candlewick, 2003), that “encourages children and adults to unleash their inner creativity through reading, art, and more.” International Dot Day has been celebrated in classrooms and libraries since 2009.

Events at the Carle include a book signing with Reynolds, a storytime, screening of the three films (Weston Woods) in Reynolds’s “Creatrilogy” series (The Dot, Ish, and Sky Color). All the activities are free with Museum admission.

“What began as one little dot on the pages of a book has grown into a movement that has countless people fearlessly expressing their creativity—not only on International Dot Day, but now all year long,” noted Reynolds.

Librarians can pair audio with print to build literacy skills. The launch of the Playaway Bookpack program has been announced by Findaway World. Each Bookpack features a preloaded audiobook and its print version, and is packaged in a plastic hanging bag. There are currently more than 200 titles available for preschool through young adult readers. “Playaways have been used as powerful read-along companions for years. Launching Playaway Bookpacks is our way of making it easier than ever for users to access these pairings and especially easy for libraries and classrooms to deliver this service,” said Nancy Stickney, Vice President Playaway Products Group.

Books for preschool to third grade students include titles from Peggy Parish’s Amelia Bedelia collection, Gene Zion’s Harry the Dirty Dog and Other Stories, William Steig’s Sylvester and the Magic Pebble and Other Stories, and Jean Fritz’s What’s the Big Idea, Ben Franklin? And Other Stories of Famous Americans. For grades three to six, works range from Gennifer Choldenko’s Al Capone Does My Shirts and Carl Hiaasen’s Hoot to Russell Freedman’s Lincoln: A Photobiography and Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time. Among the middle school selections are Irene Hunt’s Across Five Aprils, Lois Lowry’s Number the Stars, and Christopher Paul Curtis’s The Watsons Go to Birmingham. Libba Bray’s Beauty Queens, Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games, and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter are among the titles for young adults. Be sure to check out the complete list.

Medal for Libraries and Museums

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is now accepting nominations for the 2014 National Medal for Museum and Library Service. The National Medal honors museums and libraries that make extraordinary civic, educational, economic, environmental, and social contributions to their communities. Public or private nonprofit museums, including art, history, science and technology, children’s, and natural history museums; and all types of nonprofit libraries, including public, school, academic, research, and archival, are eligible to apply. Complete applications must be mailed to The National Medal for Museum and Library Service, Office of the Director, Institute of Museum and Library Services, 1800 M St. NW, 9th floor, Washington, DC 20036-5802 and postmarked by October 15, 2013 (no faxes or emails). Check out eligibility requirements for libraries and museums, and then complete a nomination form.

National Book Awards Virtual Exhibit

The National Book Foundation’s Up All Night online exhibition showcases the National Book Award Winners and Finalists in Young People’s Literature from 1969 to 2012. The exhibition features 228 titles, including picture books, novels, graphic novels, novels-in-verse, poetry, and nonfiction books. Forty-five readers, writers, and National Book Award authors who were inspired by the titles have contributed videos, interviews, collages, essays, poems, and other artwork. For example William Alexander, the 2012 National Book Award Winner in Young People’s Literature for Goblin Secrets (S &S, 2012), contributed essays and recordings of himself reading passages from Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Tombs of Atuan and The Farthest Stone (1973 winner).

Educator Workshop at Serious Play Conference

Interested in designing serious games? Administrators and teachers interested in integrating educational games into the K-12 curriculum are invited to attend a one-day workshop on August 19, 2013 at DigiPen Institute of Technology in Redmond, Washington during the Serious Play Conference. Teachers and administrators who have incorporated game-based learning as well as senior serious games developers will share their insights and discuss what kind of products are best for different ages, where in the curriculum they work well, and how to measure learning objectives. The one-day workshop is $200 and registration is open now.

Serious games are simulations of real-world events or processes designed for the purpose of solving a problem. The Serious Play Conference is an annual event held to examine the current challenges and future developments in the field.

Mystery award: The Code Busters 2: The Haunted Lighthouse (Egmont USA) by Penny Warner won the 2012 Agatha Award in the Best Children’s/Young Adult category. In the book, Cody and his friends love codes, and when they receive a mysterious email suggesting that there’s a treasure hidden on Alcatraz Island, they are excited to start a clue hunt. A class trip to the prison is the perfect way for them to start their search. There are more than a dozen codes and puzzles in the book for readers to decipher.

The Agatha Awards honor “traditional mystery”books that are best typified by the works of Agatha Christie—that contain “no explicit sex and no excessive gore or violence.” The prizes were announced at the Malice Domestic 25 convention, an annual “fun fan” convention held in Washington, DC. Awards are also given in five categories for adults: Best Novel, Best First Novel, Best Nonfiction, Best Short Story, and Best Historical Novel.

Industry News

The Presidents: Capstone is adding 60 more titles to the K–3 PebbleGo Biographies module in August 2013. The new titles will complete its U.S. Presidential collection. Current subscribers to the database will receive the additional content at no extra charge. PebbleGo Biographies, which employ reading scaffolding strategies, feature narrated text, animated highlighting, a glossary, visual searching, educational videos and games, an interactive time line of key dates, and activities.

Graphic novels: ABDO’s Spotlight division will publish library editions of IDW’s Jurassic Park and Star Trek graphic novels this fall. There will be eight books in the Classic Jurassic Park set for all ages, based on the 1990s movies, and four Star Trek titles for young adults featuring characters resembling those in the current film franchise. Spotlight’s comic books and graphic novels are published as library editions, with side-sewn pages, a cloth reinforced spine, and a laminated cover.

“These are two of the most popular science fiction story lines in history,” noted Jim Abdo, the company’s publisher. “One warns of what happens when science goes wrong, the other promises a time where science helps humanity come together and build a future. And there is plenty of action and adventure, too. We think our librarian friends will love getting these into the hands of their kids and young adult readers.”

A first for the Navajo Nation:

Tapahonso has written five books of poetry and stories, as well as a children’s book—Songs of Shiprock Fair (Kiva Pub., 1999). Saánii Dahataal (1993) and Blue Horses Rush In (1997, both Univ. of Arizona Press) are two of her better known collections. In 1999 she was named Storyteller of the Year by the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers.

Take the Challenge—Fight Obesity

Improve kids’ eating habits: A Day without Sugar, or Un Día Sin Azucar in Spanish, is a new initiative that has been launched by Arte Público Press, a U.S. publisher of Hispanic literature. The campaign challenges children to cut back on their sugar intake. Educators, community organizations, and families are encouraged to focus on the health risk of consuming too much sugar by challenging children to go through an entire day without any sugary drinks, candy, cookies, and other foods with added sugar. The initiative has provided free materials, such as a toolkit that outlines fun activities that can be used to teach kids about sugar, low-sugar recipes, coloring pages, fact sheets, and more.

According to an Arte Público news release, “nationally among children ages 6–11, roughly 30 percent are overweight and roughly 15 percent are obese. Among Mexican-American children, roughly 39 percent are overweight and roughly 24 percent are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If current trends persist, half of all Latino children born after 2000 will develop type 2 diabetes during the course of their lives.”

And the Winner Is…

South Asia Book Awards: The Rumor (Tundra; PreS–Gr 4), written by Anushka Ravishankar and illustrated by Kanyika Kini, and Kids of Kabul: Living Bravely Through a Never-Ending War (Groundwood; Gr 5–12), written by Deborah Ellis, have won the 2013 South Asia Book Award (SABA) for children’s and young adult literature. The award is given annually for up to two outstanding works of literature, ranging from early childhood to secondary reading levels, which “accurately and skillfully portray South Asia or South Asians in the diaspora, that is the experience of individuals living in South Asia or of South Asians living in other parts of the world.”

The titles recognized as Honor Books are: Chained (Farrar; Gr 4–7) by Lynne Kelly; The Elephant’s Friend and Other Tales from Ancient India (Candlewick; K–Gr 4) by Marcia Williams; The Wooden Sword (Whitman; K–Gr 5), written by Ann Redisch Stampler and illustrated by Carol Liddiment; and Same Sun Here (Candlewick; Gr 4–7) by Silas House and Neela Vaswani.

There were also five titles recognized as Highly Commended Books: Ganesha’s Sweet Tooth (Chronicle; PreS–Gr 3) by Sanjay Patel and Emily Haynes; Michael Morpurgo’s Shadow (Feiwel & Friends; Gr 5–8); The Sweetest Mango (Tulika; PreS–Gr 3), written by Malavika Sherry and illustrated by Ajanta Guhathakurta; Tina’s Mouth: An Existential Comic Diary (Houghton Harcourt; Gr 9 Up), written by Keshni Kashyap and illustrated by Mari Araki; and Veera Hiranandani’s The Whole Story of Half a Girl (Delacorte; Gr 5–8).

The award ceremony will take place on October 19, 2013 at The Madison Concourse & Governor’s Club Hotel in Madison, Wisconsin. The event, sponsored by the South Asia National Outreach Consortium (SANOC), is free and open to the public. Books will be sold at the ceremony and authors will sign copies at the close of the event.

Debut authors and illustrators: Author Karina Wolf and illustrators Ben and Sean Hilts are first-prize winners of the 2013 Marion Vannett Ridgway Award for The Insomniacs (Putnam, 2012). Established in 1993, the award is given each year to first-time children’s book authors or illustrators to celebrate the memory of Ridgway, an artist’s representative who worked in New York City’s publishing community for more than 40 years and encouraged new talent. The honor award was given to illustrator Christian Robinson for Harlem’s Little Blackbird (Random, 2012). The first prize recipient receives $800, while the honor award winner gets $200.

Author/illustrator extraordinaire:

Willems has created more than 40 books for children. The exhibit will feature “preliminary drawings that give viewers a glimpse of Willems’ process, as well as other finished illustrations that fully reveal his comedic genius and the influence of his early work as an animator for Sesame Street. Willems’ own work is accompanied by a selection of work from his private collection by the comic book artists and cartoonists who have inspired him most, including Charles M. Schulz, William Steig, and Saul Steinberg.”

Related programming include a members-only opening featuring a talk by the author on June 22 (reservations required), Mo Willems Day at The Carle on June 23 with a book signing for guests and another Mo Willems Day at The Carle on July 13. Ongoing events for school groups and guests will take place in the Museum’s Art Studio, Auditorium, Galleries, and Reading Library.

And the Winner Is…

Jane Addams Book Awards:  Each Kindness (Penguin) by Jacqueline Woodson and We’ve Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March (Peachtree) by Cynthia Levinson are winners of the 2013 Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards in the Books for Younger Children and Books for Older Children categories.

Two books were named Honor Books in the Books for Younger Children category: Dolores Huerta: A Hero to Migrant Workers (Marshall Cavendish) by Sarah Warren and We March (Roaring Brook) by Shane W. Evans. In the Books for Older Children category, two titles were named Honor Books: Marching to the Mountaintop: How Poverty, Labor Fights and Civil Rights Set the Stage for Martin Luther King Jr.’s Final Hours (National Geographic) by Ann Bausum and Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World (Houghton Harcourt) by Sy Montgomery.

Established in 1953, the annual Jane Addams Book Award honors books published in the U.S. during the previous year that “address themes of topics that engage children in thinking about peace, justice, world community, and/or equality of the sexes and all races.”

Debut author awards: The 2013 winners of the International Reading Association (IRA) Children’s and Young Adult Book Awards have been announced. The award recognizes promising debut authors—only first and second books by an author can be considered. Deborah Jo Larson’s One Frozen Lake (Minnesota Historical Society Pr.) won in the Primary Fiction category, and E. S. Redmond’s The Unruly Queen (Candlewick) received an Honor. Eight Days Gone by Linda McReynolds took the Primary Nonfiction prize, while the Honor in that category went to Dreaming Up: A Celebration of Building (Lee & Low) by Christy Hale.

Susan Verrico was the Intermediate Fiction winner for Privateer’s Apprentice (Peachtree), and Lana Krumwiede and Natalie Dias Lorenzi nabbed the Honor award for Freakling (Candlewick) and Flying the Dragon (Charlesbridge), respectively. The Intermediate Nonfiction winner was James Doyle for A Young Scientist’s Guide to Defying Disasters with Skill and Daring (Gibbs Smith).

In the Young Adult category, the Fiction winner was Lovely, Dark and Deep (S & S) by Amy McNamara, and the Honors went to Out of Reach (S & S) by Carrie Arcos and E. M. Kokie for Personal Effects (Candlewick). We’ve Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March (Peachtree) by Cynthia Levinson won the Young Adult Nonfiction award.

Peer awards: Fifteen books have won the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) 2013 Crystal Kite Award. The awards recognize books from 15 regional SCBWI divisions around the world and the winners are selected by other children’s book writers and illustrators. All titles nominated must be published by a SCBWI member.

This year’s winners are: The Magyar Conspiracy (Tafelberg) by Neil Malherbe (Africa), Ten Tiny Things (Fremantle) by Meg McKinlay (Australia/New Zealand), The One and Only Ivan (HarperCollins) by Katherine Applegate (California/Hawaii), Glory Be (Scholastic) by Augusta Scattergood (Southeast), The Dark Unwinding (Scholastic) by Sharon Cameron (Mid-South), Samurai Awakening (Tuttle) by Benjamin Martin (Middle East/India/Asia), Creepy Carrots (S & S) by Aaron Reynolds (Midwest), How to Babysit a Grandpa (Knopf) by Jean Reagan (Southwest), See You at Harry’s (Candlewick) by Jo Knowles (New England), Capture the Flag (Scholastic) by Kate Messner (New York), Boy + Bot (Knopf) by Ame Dyckman (Atlantic), Chained (Farrar) by Lynne Kelly (Texas/OK), The Stamp Collector  Fitzhenry and Whiteside) by Jennifer Lanthier (Americas), Fifteen Days Without a Head (Oxford Univ. Pr.) by Dave Cousins (UK/Europe), Pickle (Roaring Brook) by Kim Baker.

Tech awards: Tod Brekhus, Capstone Digital president, has won EdTech Digest’s 2013 Leadership Award, and the company’s flagship product, myOn reader, was selected as the best e-Learning Solution in the Cool Tool Award category. The awards honor “tools, trendsetters, and leaders in the education and technology sector. The distinguished awards program recognizes outstanding solutions—and the best and brightest minds—in education and technology.” Log on to EdTech Digest’s website for a full list of award finalists and winners.

“We are very proud to have myON reader chosen as the best e-Learning Solution,” noted Brekhus. “In just three short years, myON reader has created a unique reading environment that makes reading fun for students, a critical component in their individual academic success.” myOn reader offers online access to more than 4,000 books with multimedia supports and creates a collaborative reading environment where students, educators, and parents work together to support student reading performance.

Library Makeovers

In-need schools receive free renovations: Twenty-five school libraries across the country will be renovated thanks to the 2013 Target School Library Makeover Program. Each in-need school will get 2,000 books, new carpet and furniture, and a technology upgrade that includes iPads, interactive white boards, and more. In addition, students and their siblings will receive seven books to take home. The school libraries slated for renovation are in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Texas, and Washington.

To renovate the schools, Target is partnering with The Heart of America Foundation, a national nonprofit headquartered in Washington, DC, that promotes volunteer service and literacy, and recruiting the Target design and construction teams to do the work pro bono.

“The Target School Library Makeover program is part of our commitment to give $1 billion for education by the end of 2015,” said Laysha Ward, president, community relations, Target. “By reimagining school libraries and transforming outdated spaces into state-of-the-art learning centers, Target hopes to ignite a love of learning and put more children on the path to high school graduation.”

Game On

Games in the classroom: Administrators and teachers are invited to attend a one-day workshop focused on integrating games into the K–12 classroom on August 19, 2013 at Digipen Institute of Technology in Redmond, WA. The workshop is part of the Serious Play Conference that will be held August 20–22. Attendees will get advice on the types of games that produce the best results. The workshop will feature serious games developers as well as teachers and administrators who have integrated game-based learning. Speakers include David Martz, Muzzy Lane Software; Susan Meek, Breakaway Games; Dan White, Filament Games, Ray Yan, Digipen; Tammie Schrader, an elementary school science teacher from Spokane, WA; and Michele Zimmerman, master trainer, Amazing Grace Christian Schools. The speakers will discuss the kinds of products that are best for different ages, where they work in the curriculum, and how to create and measure learning objectives. Register now for the workshop: the early bird price is $100; a pass for the Serious Play Conference and the workshop is $350.

Serious games are simulations of real-world events or processes that are designed for solving a problem and their primary purpose is to train or educate users. The Serious Play Conference examines the current challenges and future developments of serious games.

Advocacy

New website: Everyday Advocacy is a new website launched by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). The website offers resources “designed to empower librarians and library staff to take action in their libraries, communities, and beyond.” Make sure to check out the website to easy to implement ideas and tips.

Summer Programs for Students

The joy of reading: Middle and high school students from all over the world will come together at The Great Books Summer Program to discuss the books they love and some topics in literature. There’s an intermediate program for students in grades 6 to 8 and a senior program for those in grades 9 to 12. The sample readings include works by Dante, Virgil, T. S. Eliot, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Thomas Hardy, Emily Dickinson, and Herman Melville, among others. Guest speakers include writers and filmmakers. The program gives students the opportunity to experience college life and have fun by exploring the surrounding areas, swimming, going to baseball games, attending Shakespeare productions, and more. The programs are held on the campuses of Amherst College in Massachusetts, Stanford University in California, and Oxford University in England. Tuition ranges from $1,745 for a one week session to $5,385 for a three week session.

The International Board on Books for Young People

The Hans Christian Andersen Award is the highest international distinction given to authors and illustrators of children’s books. The Awards, given every other year by IBBY, recognizes “lifelong achievement and are given to an author and an illustrator whose complete works have made an important, lasting contribution to children’s literature.”

The 2014 jury, led by María Jesús Gil (Madrid, Spain), is composed of 11 writers, editors, publishers, and educators from around the world. The United States is represented on the jury by Susan M. Stan, Professor of Children’s Literature at the Central Michigan University. Winners will be made known to the public at the IBBY Press Conference at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair on March 24, 2014.

Christopher Awards

The winners of the 2013 Christopher Awards have been chosen. Eleven books for adults and young people have garnered the award. The six winners in the Books for Young People category are: Forever You: A Book About Your Soul and Body (Pauline Books and Media), written by Nicole Lataif and illustrated by Mary Rojas; The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (S & S) by author/illustrator William Joyce and illustrator Joe Bluhm; The House on Dirty-Third Street (Peachtree) by Jo S. Kittinger, illustrated by Thomas Gonzalez; the Newbery Medalist The One and Only Ivan (HarperCollins) by Katherine Applegate, illustrated by Patricia Castelao; R. J. Palacio’s Wonder (Knopf); and Warren St. John’s Outcasts United (Delacorte).

Created in 1949, “these awards are presented to writers, producers, directors and illustrators whose work affirms the highest values of the human spirit.” The Christophers, a nonprofit organization founded in 1945 by Maryknoll Father James Keller, “is rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition of service to God and humanity.” “The creative forces behind the projects we’re honoring are improving our culture by telling stories that awaken hope instead of despair, acknowledge the necessity of sacrifice in the service of a greater good, and light a candle rather than curse the darkness,” noted Tony Rossi, The Christophers’ Director of Communications.

Math SAT Prep

Do your students want to improve their SAT math scores? That’s no-brainer! Well, Shmoop, a publisher of digital curriculum and test prep, is offering a new SAT math practice tool—Math Shack. It offers more than 200 types of math problems in all the categories that appear on the SAT: Numbers and Operations, Algebra and Functions, Geometry and Measurement, and Statistics and Probability. Users get a lot more than just practice. For every problem, there are hints and detailed explanations of the answer. Student progress can also be tracked. Math Shack is instantly available to subscribers of Shmoop’s SAT test prep.

Industry News

Carnegie Medal-winning author Patrick Ness’s new book, More Than This, will be published in September 2013 by Candlewick. Ness’s previous novels, “Chaos Walking” trilogy and A Monster Calls (all Candlewick) garnered numerous awards. His new book chronicles “the life–or perhaps afterlife–of a teenager trapped in a crumbling, abandoned world. The book will be published simultaneously in the US, the UK, and Australia.

“I’ve wanted to write a book about waking up alone on the planet since from about the day I knew I wanted to be a writer,” said Ness. “And the ambiguity and mystery that Seth faces when he wakes [after drowning]—what is this place? Is it a memory? Is it real? Is it somehow both?—felt so much like the yearning and questioning I had growing up, it just all came together at the right time. Though there’s despair here, and pain, in one way it might be the most hopeful thing I’ve ever written.”

The immigration experience: Immigration is an important issue today not only in the news but also in the lives of many students and their families, making it a topic that’s relevant for discussion in classes across the curriculum. This spring, the Smithsonian is presenting two online education conferences—“From Where I Stand”—featuring historians, curators, and educators.

Curators L. Stephen Velasquez and Nancy Davis of the National Museum of American History will present “A Closer Look at Understanding Immigration/Migration Experiences in the United States” on April 10 at 1 pm ET. Latino program director Magdalena Mieri of the National Museum of American History and educator Ashley Naranjo of the Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies will be present “Immigration/Migration Stories in the Classroom” on May 8, 4 pm ET. The session is educator-focused and will “highlight techniques for sparking classroom conversations.”

In addition, through its Smithsonian Quests program, students will have the opportunity to earn two new digital badges. Kids in kindergarten through fourth grade can earn the Proud Publisher badge by making a book that “features a person, place, and object that represents their heritage.” Middle and high school students can earn a Cultural Storyteller badge by “analyzing an object that represents their identity and heritage.”

Video analysis: Subscribers of Shmoop’s online digital curriculum service can connect with students in a new way. Shmoop has added 26 new Video Activities to their teacher’s guides (with more on the way) that are all aligned with Common Core. George Orwell’s Animals Farm, John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath, William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, Hamlet’s Romeo and Juliet, Lois Lowry’s The Giver, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, and Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mocking Bird are just some of the titles that now have an added video feature with analysis and more.

Additionally, Shmoop offers a free online library of more than 150 videos covering literature, math, and history called Shmoopsterpiece Theater. Video reading guides are offered for classics like Lord of the Flies and Romeo and Juliet, and more contemporary fiction, like The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

Research Competition

Serving the Latino population: Have you conducted research that focuses on the library and/or informational needs of the Latino population in your community and how those needs are being met? REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-speaking, and the American Library Association’s Library Research Round Table, is asking librarians, information professionals, master’s students, doctoral students, researchers, and others to submit their latest research by April 15 for a chance to make a 15-minute presentation at the “Investigaciones par servirles/Research at your service” forum at the American Library Association’s (ALA) Annual Conference in Chicago.

REFORMA will present the three winners with a $250 honorarium. The proposal should be sent via email and should include a cover page with the author’s name, title of the paper, contact information, and email address. The second page should include the paper’s title and a 500-word abstract summarizing the proposed presentation (must be based on original research). Send your submission to Sandra Rios Balderrama, REFORMA Office Manager.

Industry News

Manga: Julie Kagawa’s The Iron King (Harlequin Teen, 2010), a popular young adult novel, is going to be transformed into a manga book. She’s partnering with Bluewater Productions using Indiegogo to crowdsource $10,000 to hire top talent to produce it. The Iron King is one title in her popular “Iron Fey” quartet.  Fans can support the project by making contributions ranging from $10 to $2,500. All donations must be received by April 22. Prizes to contributors include a t-shirt, a signed bookplate, an original sketch by Kagawa, a handmade sculpture of one of the book’s characters, and more. “We are really excited to be working with Julie and Indiegogo to transform her novels into a manga series, like they did with ‘Twilight’. The Iron King is a great novel that was made to be experienced visually,” noted publisher Darren G. Davis. “Not only are these comic books fun, but they can be used as a tool for reluctant readers.”

Awarded

Book awards: The finalists in the Children’s Choice Book Award program, sponsored by the Children’s Book Council and Every Child a Reader have been announced. It’s the only national book awards program that gives children and teens the chance to vote for their favorites from the group of finalists. Librarians and teachers are encouraged to spread the word with the online digital toolkit and have their students participate by voting for Book, Author, and Illustrator of the Year. Kids can vote individually, or you can make it a class project. Online voting is open through May 3. Winners will be announced at the 6th Annual Children’s Choice Book Awards gala on May 13 at the Liberty Theatre in New York City.

The finalists in all categories are:

K–Grade 2 Book of the Year: Big Mean Mike by Michelle Knudsen, illustrated by Scott Magoon (Candlewick); The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? by Mo Willems (Hyperion/Disney); I’ll Save You Bobo! by Eileen Rosenthal, illustrated by Marc Rosenthal (S & S/Atheneum); Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons created and illustrated by James Dean, story by Eric Litwin (HarperCollins); Nighttime Ninja by Barbara DaCosta, illustrated by Ed Young (Little, Brown).

Grade 3–4 Book of the Year: Bad Kitty for President by Nick Bruel (Macmillan/Roaring Brook); Get the Scoop on Animal Poop! by Dawn Cusick (Charlesbridge/Imagine); Homer by Shelley Rotner, illustrated by Diane deGroat (Scholastic); Just Joking by National Geographic Kids (National Geographic); Pluto Visits Earth! by Steve Metzger, illustrated by Jared Lee (Scholastic).

Grade 5–6 Book of the Year: Dork Diaries 4: Tales from a Not-So-Graceful Ice Princess by Rachel Renée Russell (S & S/Aladdin); Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead (Random/Wendy Lamb Bks.); Pickle: The (Formerly) Anonymous Prank Club of Fountain Point Middle School by Kim Baker, illustrated by Tim Probert (Macmillan/Roaring Brook); Rebel McKenzie by Candice Ransom (Hyperion/Disney); Stickman Odyssey, Book 2: The Wrath of Zozimos by Christopher Ford (Philomel).

Teen Book of the Year: Cinder: (The Lunar Chronicles, Bk. 1  by Marissa Meyer (Macmillan/Feiwel & Friends); City of Lost Souls (Mortal Instruments) by Cassandra Clare (S & S/Margaret K. McElderry Bks.); The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (Dutton); Insurgent by Veronica Roth (HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen Bks.); Rapture: A Fallen Novel by Lauren Kate (Delacorte).

Author of the Year: John Green for The Fault in Our Stars (Dutton); Jeff Kinney for Diary of a Wimpy Kid 7: The Third Wheel

(Abrams/Amulet); R. J. Palacio for Wonder (Knopf); Rick Riordan for The Mark of Athena: Heroes of Olympus, Book 3 (Hyperion/Disney); Veronica Roth for Insurgent (HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen Bks.).

Illustrator of the Year: James Dean for Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons (HarperCollins); Anna Dewdney for Llama Llama Time to Share (Viking); Ian Falconer for Olivia and the Fairy Princesses (S & S/Atheneum); Robin Preiss Glasser for Fancy Nancy and the Mermaid Ballet (HarperCollins); and Mo Willems for The Duckling Gets a Cookie!?(Hyperion/Disney).

The Lambda Literary Foundation (LFF) announced the finalists for the 25th annual Lambda Literary Awards—the Lammys. These Awards will recognize the best lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) books of 2012. This year, there were a record 687 submissions from 332 mainstream publishers, academic presses, LGBT publishers, and emerging publish-on-demand technologies. The finalists were selected by more than 90 booksellers, book reviewers, librarians, authors, and previous Lammy winners and finalists.

There are 22 categories in the competition—21 for adults and one for children/teens. There were ten finalists in the  LGBT Children’s/Young Adult category: Adaptation by Malinda Lo (Little, Brown), The Adventure of Tulip, Birthday Wish Fairy by S. Bear Bergman and Suzy Malik (Flamingo Rampant), Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz (S & S), Ask the Passengers by A. S. King (Little, Brown), Beautiful Music for Ugly Children by Kirstin Cronn-Mills (Flux), Every Day by David Levithan (Knopf), Kiss the Morning Star by Elissa Janine Hoole (Amazon), The Miseducation of Cameron Post by emily m. danforth (HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray), Personal Effect by E. M. Kokie (Candlewick), and Silhouette of a Sparrow by Molly Beth Griffin (Milkweed).

Winners will be revealed during a ceremony on June 3, at Cooper Union’s Great Hall in New York City.

Book awards: The winners of the 27th annual Ezra Jack Keats New Writer and New Illustrator Book Awards have been announced by the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation in partnership with the de Grummon Children’s Literature Collection at The University of Southern Mississippi. The New Writer Award went to Julie Fogliano for And Then It’s Spring (Roaring Brook/Neal Porter Bks.), about a boy and a dog who plant a garden after months of snow. The New Illustrator Award was given to Hyewon Yum for Mom, It’s My First Day of Kindergarten (Farrar/Frances Foster Bks.) whose illustrations capture the emotions of the parents and the child by changing size and color.

Additionally, New Writer Honor awards went to Mara Rockliff’s My Heart Will Not Sit Down (Knopf), Jennifer Lanthier’s The Stamp Collector (Fitzhenry & Whiteside), and Don Tate’s It Jes’ Happened (Lee & Low). New Illustrator Honors were awarded to K.G. Campbell’s Lester’s Dreadful Sweaters (Kids Can) and Sanjay Patel’s Ganesha’s Sweet Tooth (Chronicle).

The awards ceremony will be held on April 11 at The University of Southern Mississippi during the University’s Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival. Winners receive an honorarium of $1,000 and a gold medallion.

“The Book Award was created to bring attention and recognition to new artists who carry on in the spirit of Keats,” said Deborah Pope, Executive Director of the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation. “The jury looks for new books of beauty that portray the universal qualities of childhood, a strong and supportive family, and the multicultural nature of our world.”

Founded by the late Caldecott award-winning author and illustrator, the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation “ supports arts and literacy programming in public schools and libraries across the country, with the goal of bringing the joy of reading and learning to all children while highlighting the importance of diversity in children’s book.” The de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection at The University of Southern Mississippi is one of the of the leading research centers in the field of children’s literature in the U.S.

Audiobook award finalists: The 2013 Audie Awards finalists have been released by the Audio Publishers Association (APA). The Awards, honoring distinction in audiobooks and spoken word entertainment, are given in 28 categories for children, teens, and adults. The winners will be recognized at the Audies Gala at the New York Historical Society in New York City on May 30. The event will be emceed by writer Daniel Handler.

There are three categories devoted entirely to audiobooks for children and teens. In the Children’s Titles for Ages 8–12 category, the finalists are: The Cheshire Cheese Cat by Carmen Agra Deedy and Randall Wright, narrated by Katherine Kellgren and Robin Sachs (Listening Library); The Freedom Maze by Delia Sherman, narrated by Robin Miles (Listening Library); Same Sun Here by Silas House and Neela Vaswani, narrated by the authors (Brilliance Audio); Wonder by R. J. Palacio, narrated by Diana Steele, Nick Podehl, and Kate Rudd (Brilliance Audio); Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz, narrated by Davina Porter (Recorded Books).

In Children’s Titles for Ages Up to 8, the finalists are: The Great Cake Mystery: Precious Ramotswe’s Very First Case by Alexander McCall Smith, narrated by Adjoa Andoh (Listening Library); Knuffle Bunny Free: An Unexpected Diversion by Mo Willems, narrated by the author, Cher, and Trixie Willems (Weston Woods); A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead, narrated by David de Vries (Weston Woods); Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig, narrated by James Earl Jones (S & S Audio); We Are America by Walter Dean Myers, narrated by Dion Graham and a full cast (Live Oak Media).

The finalists in the Teen category are: The Diviners by Libba Bray, narrated by January LaVoy (Listening Library); Dodger by Terry Pratchett, narrated by Stephen Briggs (HarperAudio); Enchanted by Alethea Kontis, narrated by Katherine Kellgren (Brilliance Audio); The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, narrated by Kate Rudd (Brilliance Audio); and Inheritance by Christopher Paolini, narrated by Gerard Doyle (Listening Library).

“It is always an exciting revelation to see which titles have been nominated, especially as the number of titles produced in audio each year is growing so rapidly,” said Michele Cobb, President of the APA. “Yet again, this year’s finalists do not disappoint. With an outstanding host, an amazing list of potential winners, and a gorgeous venue, we look forward to once again celebrating excellence in audio publishing.”

Do Your Students Know a Super Hero?

Writing contest: Be a Super Hero, Read! is a writing contest for kids in grades 3–6 sponsored by DC Entertainment and Capstone. Children are encouraged to write about a real super hero in their lives who has amazing human qualities such as courage, generosity, or imagination. Entries must be approved by the child’s librarian, teacher, parent, or guardian. Judging criteria includes originality, creativity, and heroism displayed.

Be sure to check out the contest rules and how to enter. Entries must be received by April 15.

The top five finalists will be selected by the contest judges. Starting on May 15, kids across the country will have the chance to vote online for their favorite. The entry that receives the most votes will be selected as the grand prize winner, which will be announced at Book Expo America in New York City on May 30.

The first prize winner will receive a trip for four to tour Warner Bros. Animation Studios and DC Entertainment offices in California, a collection of DC comics, and Capstone merchandise. The hero described by the winner will get $2,500 to donate to his or her favorite registered non-profit charity. The five finalists will receive a set of Capstone’s “Man of Steel” chapter books.

“Our teams are excited to collaborate with DC Entertainment for this contest. We’re thrilled to give children an opportunity to appreciate the ‘super powers’ of their real-life heroes and to expand their literacy skills while doing it, “noted Ashley Andersen Zantop, Capstone Group Publisher and General Manager.

Music to Their Ears

Streaming music: March is Music in Our Schools Month. And what better way to celebrate than with the addition of a streaming music service to PBS Kids Play!, an online subscription cross-curricular learning program. PBS Kids Play! features characters from PBS Kids and interactive games for children in preschool through the first grade. To reinforce lessons for children, streaming music has been added to the program for subscribers. The first 25 music tracks are from the PBS Kids program Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood and the web-original series Fizzy’s Lunch Lab. Later this year, additional songs from other PBS Kids series will be added.

According to a recent news release, the songs are “designed to aid memory recall, reinforce key developmental and language themes, and encourage body movement for healthy development. The initial offering includes songs that address social and emotional skills and nutrition.

Freebies

Book giveaway: To celebrate the two-year anniversary of their Books in Bloom blog, Mackin Educational Resources is giving away books every Friday in March. It’s easy to enter the book drawing. Just go to the contest blog and leave a comment on the contest post with the title of the best book you’ve read in the past month.

The Books in Bloom blog, written by Mackin’s professional collection development librarians, highlights high-quality, current fiction and nonfiction K-12 books. Mackin Educational Resources has provided preschool–12 books, online databases, audiobooks, video resources, and other library and classroom materials from more than 18,000 publishers to schools for nearly 30 years.

Free poster:

During April and May, schools and libraries can get a free poster(s) and activity guide by sending a 9” x 12” (for 1–10 posters) or a 10” x 13” (for 11–25 posters) post-paid self-addressed envelope to Children’s Book Council, Attention 2013 Poster Order, 54 W. 39th St., 14th floor, New York, NY 10018. (Note the following weights for poster(s) and envelope: 1 poster (1.2 oz), 10 posters (14 oz), 25 posters (2 lb 6 oz).

Best-selling author/illustrator Brian Selznick has won the Caldecott Medal for The Invention of Hugo Cabret (2007), a Caldecott Honor for The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins (2001) and a Robert F. Sibert Honor for When Marian Sang (2002, all Scholastic).

Children’s Book Week is sponsored by the Children’s Book Council and Every Child a Reader. During its 94 year history, posters have been created by icons in children’s literature such as Ian Falconer, Jon J Muth, Maurice Sendak, Ezra Jack Keats, Richard Scarry, Ellen Raskin, Laurent deBrunhoff, Tomie dePaola, Rosemary Wells, Garth Williams, Marc Brown, and Jerry Pinkney have created posters for the celebration.

You have to be in it: The 2013 Samsung K–12 “Return on Intelligence” Gift Programs have been announced by Samsung Techwin, a manufacturer of document cameras. The Superhero Program competition encourages students to prepare a 1–3 minute digital video (camera phone quality is acceptable) in which they portray their favorite historical character. The deadline for entries is May 31. The contest is opened to students in grades K–12 and the video will be judged on presentation performance, character and content accuracy, and content quality. The winner will receive $500 and the student’s class will get a SAMCAM 760 document camera.

To enter the Scholarship Program, high school students must write an essay of no more than 300 words in response to the question: What do you think about technology advancements and how they will change the way we learn in the future? Is it for the better? The deadline for submissions is May 15. Essays will be judged on the basis of original thinking, relevance to the real world, and writing quality. All applicants must be sponsored by a teacher. Five winners will be announced on May 31 and will receive a $1,000 award.

Under its 2013 Grant Program, ten teachers will each have the opportunity to win a SAMCAM 760 document camera for use in school by writing a fun lesson plan of 100 words or less in which they use the camera. The deadline for submissions is May 1, The top 20 finalists will then have to submit a video showing their lesson in the classroom using the SAMCAM 760. Ten winners will be selected on June, and their school district will also keep the camera.

Freebies

Teaching guide: Hurry up and get your free copy of Brother Sam and All That: Historical Context and Literary Analysis of the Novels of James and Christopher Collier (Clearwater Pr., 1999) from AudioGO. The lessons compiled in this companion teaching guide provide teachers and librarians with information about how to use historical fiction in the classroom—just what the Common Core Standards require—and tips for teaching the novels by James and Christopher Collier. AudioGO publishes audiobook and ebook versions of more than 50 novels by James and Christopher Collier, including the classroom favorite, My Brother Sam Is Dead. The first 100 people to email michell.cobb@audiogo.com will receive this teaching guide at no cost.

Publishing News

Trade picture books: This spring, Capstone Young Readers, an imprint of Capstone, is launching a collection of fully illustrated picture books. “We are excited to introduce a range of picture books in both paper-over-board and trade paperback formats,” says Ashley Andersen Zantop, Group Publisher and General Manager. “We believe that quality illustrated titles provide an important stepping stone to reading and an opportunity to inspire imagination, creativity, and a love for good books.” The titles and series scheduled for publication in February 2013 are: Flood by Alvara F. Villa, “Princess Heart” series written and illustrated by Molly Martin, “The Other Side of the Story” series by Nancy Loewen (classic fairy tales), and Charlotte Gullain’s “Animal Fairy Tales” series.

And more picture books: Hank Finds an Egg (ages 3–8) written and illustrated by Rebecca Dudley will be published by Peter Pauper Press in May 2013 as their initial venture into publishing children’s trade picture books for children. The wordless picture book tells the story of a young boy who finds an egg on the forest floor, helps it return to its home in a tree, and is rewarded by his new forest friends. Three additional titles are scheduled for publication: Bruce Arant’s Sheep Won’t Go to Sleep! (Fall 2013), Digby Differs by Miriam Koch (Fall 2013), and Sarra J. Roth’s Not the Quitting Kind (Spring 2014). If you’re a picture book author, Peter Pauper Press is accepting unsolicited submissions online, or you can send your manuscript to Mara Conlon, Senior Editor, Peter Pauper Press, 202 Mamaroneck Ave., White Plains, NY 10601.

Peter Pauper Press has been publishing gift books, references, travel guides, children’s activity books, and other products for adults since it was founded in 1928.

Children’s Lit Conference

Digital Lit: Librarians, teachers, and others who love books are invited to attend e-Looking Glass: Children’s Literature in the Digital Age, a full-day conference to be held at Carthage College Hedberg Library in Kenosha, WI, on April 13, that will explore “how books are being reinvented to create visual and interactive experiences that printed books cannot provide.”  Topics will include the changing landscape of texts (interactive ebooks, book apps, learning products, and online communities), how to integrate this new technology into the classroom, and the design and development of these new types of books. Among the speakers are Brandon Oldenburg, award-winning illustrator and co-founder of Moonbot Studios; Umesh Shukla, animation director and founder of Auryn, a digital publisher of apps; Denise Johnson, author of The Joy of Children’s Literature; William H. Teale, Professor of Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago; and others. Undergraduate continuing professional education credit is available. The cost to attend the conference is $65, and $40 for students. You can register online. The cost of one credit hour is $50; to view the syllabus, contact Marilyn Ward at mward@carthage.edu.

The album, inspired by their canoe trip down the Mississippi River, features original mostly folk, country, and bluegrass numbers enhanced by virtuoso performances on a variety of instruments, including accordion, auto-harp, rhumba box, fiddle, udu, drums, pots and pans, tuba, trombone, and many others. According to a recent review in School Library Journal, “this unique, outstanding musical performance should have a place in every library.”

The two childhood friends took a month-long journey on the Mississippi, but never dreamed that their voyage would take them to the Grammys. About to board a plane home to Minnesota, Mailander told SLJ, “We are thrilled that the recording academy chose our album to represent the quality music that’s being made in the children’s genre right now. All the nominees were deserving and we’re honored to be in such great company.”

Four other children’s albums were nominated for a Grammy this year by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences in the Best Children’s Album category: Bill Harley’s High Dive and Other Things That Could Have Happened (Round River); the JumpinJazz Kids’s A Swinging Jungle Tale (JumpinJazzKids), narrated by James Murray and featuring Dee Dee Bridgewater, Al Jarreau, Hubert Laws, and various artists; Little Seed: Songs for Children by Woody Guthrie (Smithsonian Folkways), re-imagined renditions of classic Guthrie favorites by Elizabeth Mitchell; and the Pop Ups’s (Brooklyn-based music duo Jason Rabinowitz and Jacob Stein) Radio Jungle (CDBaby.com).

Banned Books Week: From September 30 to October 6 libraries, schools, and bookstores will celebrate Banned Books Week, an annual event that focuses on First Amendment rights. “During Banned Books Week, we hope to remind Americans that the ability to read, speak, think and express ourselves freely is a right, not a privilege,” said Maureen Sullivan, American Library Association President. “As we celebrate the 30th anniversary of Banned Books Week, it’s important to recognize that book banning does exist in this day and age. It’s up to all of us, community residents, librarians, teachers and journalists, to continue to stand up and speak out for the right to read.”

To commemorate the event, ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom is coordinating the “50 State Salute to Banned Books Week.” State or regional library associations, local libraries, bookstores, schools, universities, and community organizations are urged to create a video of no more than 5 minutes for the Banned Books Virtual Readout “that emphasizes ways each state’s community celebrates freedom to read during Banned Books Week.” You can upload your video to a special YouTube channel. During last year’s Banned Books Week, more than 800 videos were uploaded, and included posts by such challenged authors as Judy Blume and Lauren Myracle. ALA encourages libraries to participate in the read-out by facilitating the event in their institutions. Be sure to check out the instructions for creating and submitting your video.

Broadcast journalist Bill Moyers and Judith Moyers have been named honorary co-chairs of Banned Books Week. Bill Moyers, a longtime supporter of the event, will appear in an online video “addressing the importance of our freedom to seek and express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.”

Filmmaking Competition

Shoot a documentary: StudentCam, C-SPAN’s 2013 national video documentary contest, is open to middle and high school students. Students in grades 6 to 12 are asked to produce a 5-8 minute video focusing on this year’s theme: “Message to the President: What’s the most important issue the president should consider in 2013?” Entries must represent varying sides of the issue and include some C-SPAN video footage that supports the topic. Kids can compete individually or in teams of two or three. While the video must be the original work of the student, teachers are permitted to provide guidance. Rules for preparing the film and other guidelines can be found online. Young filmmakers can upload their videos directly online.

A total of 75 student prizes and 11 teacher prizes, totaling $50,000, will be awarded. There will be one grand prize—the student will receive $5,000 and the teacher/school will get $1,000 to purchase digital video equipment for the school. Awards in the middle and high school categories for first, second, and third prize winners range from $750 to $3,000, and teacher/school awards will range from $125 to $500. There will also be $250 for each of the 48 honorable mentions. The deadline for entries is January 18, 2013, and winners will be announced in March 2013. The top 27 winning videos will air on C-SPAN in April.

StudentCam is sponsored by C-SPAN Classroom, a free membership service intended to support educators’ use of C-SPAN programming in their classes or for research.

Test Prep

College admissions: It’s college application time for high school seniors, and now there’s help available. Shmoop is partnering with college preparation site Zinch to give students access to any one of Shmoop’s test prep resources, including the SAT, ACT, and PSAT, through January. Teens can register on Zinch Prep and get access to one of Shmoop’s test prep resources. If they want access additional Shmoop resources, they can go directly to Shmoop’s website and find additional test prep materials for a fee, unless their school or school district is already a member.

Zinch Prep is a college counseling program that offers students free step-by-step instructions from experts to help them through the college admissions process. Zinch Prep’s web series will provide information on college admission tips, writing your personal statement, application mistakes to avoid, and how to ask for recommendations. Schmoop is a digital curriculum and test prep company. “High income families will pay thousands of dollars for individual college admissions counselors, creating an advantage, while many students from families of more modest means may not be aware of the opportunities they have,” said Bob Patterson, Director of College Outreach at Zinch. “Zinch wants to help those students by offering Chegg Presents Zinch Prep and providing college admissions support to the 99 percent.”

Picture books: On August 31, Candlewick launched a yearlong video celebration of picture books in honor of their 20th anniversary. Every day for 365 days, as part of the We Believe in Picture Books campaign, Candlewick will offer a video shot by authors, illustrators, staff, and friends, sharing what picture books mean to them, recommending a favorite story, and more. Librarians and teachers are welcome to post these videos on their own websites to share with students. You can also submit your own video to the publisher in which you informally talk about your favorite picture book, what the format means to you, or why it matters.

Pinterest Contest

Win an audio package: Califone International is encouraging educators to follow them on Pinterest and create their own board titled “Classroom AV Wish List,” in order to win tools for their classrooms. To enter the contest, educators have to repin one of four audio packages—portable PA, mobile and ELA learning, library, and clicker—from the Califone Pinterest contest board and then explain how the it will help enrich their classroom. One pin per contestant per week is permitted. Contest rules and submission requirements are featured on the Califone blog. Winners will determined by Califone based on creativity and effective use of audiovisual products. You have until September 24 to enter. Winners will be announced by October 5.

Buy One Get One Free

Ebooks: To celebrate Capstone’s expansion of its Interactive Library interactive ebook program, the publisher is offering customers the opportunity to buy one ebook and get another free. This fall Capstone is expanding its program to include more than 2,000 titles. The program has also improved its technology and is compatible with any PC, Mac, iPad, interactive white board, and any other device with high-speed Internet access. Kids can access Capstone’s interactive ebooks in school, at home, or on any mobile device 24/7. Hurry—this special promotion only runs until November 16. To place an order, customers should use the code “12CILBOGO.”

Careers in Library Service

Career opportunities: The Pratt Institute School of Information and Library Science (SILS) is offering students in their SILS program tuition scholarships and two semester internships at the Brooklyn Museum, the Frick Art Reference Library, and the New York Art Resources Consortium to prepare them for careers in museum libraries and archives. M-LEAD TWO (Museum Library Education and Digitization-Technology, Web, Online) is a three-year project that will give students hands-on experience—they will be able to work with research materials from these museum libraries and be mentored by the museums’ staff. Students will graduate with a master’s degree and an advanced certificate in museum libraries and will also get stipends for participating.

The project is funded by a grant of more than $261,000 from the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) through the 2012 Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program. “With a two-semester internship program and a focus on collection accessibility, the new project furthers our efforts to prepare students for careers as museum librarians and archivist and also advances a new model for museum library education for the 21st century, incorporating digital collections and services across the museum so that graduates are preparing to meet the challenges of museums in our global networked information environment,” noted Tula Giannini, dean of Pratt-SILS and project director.

The Big Red Dog: The 50th birthday celebration of Norman Bridwell’s iconic Clifford the Big Red Dog will kick off on September 24th at 10 am with a party at Scholastic’s New York City headquarters. Everybody can join in on the “Biggest Birthday Party Ever!” The live event will be streamed to classes across the country. Teachers can register now so their students can watch the festivities and Bridwell’s 30-minute webcast. There’s also a free kit that includes lesson plans, art project ideas, and coloring pages. In addition, Norman Bridwell’s Clifford Collection, a compilation of six stories originally published between 1963 and 1977, will be released on the same day.

And that’s not all. There will be other events throughout the school year. Clifford’s BIG Birthday app for iOs and Android featuring three birthday-themed games will be launched in September. And kids can create their own birthday cards for Clifford online and send them to the pooch via Scholastic’s website. And there’s more! Teachers can enter Clifford’s Big Birthday Classroom Sweepstakes. Just have your class create a birthday card for Clifford by December 14th. Five winners will each receive an all-expense-paid classroom birthday party, including a visit from the Big Red Dog—and every student will receive a Clifford book. In December, PBS Kids will air the broadcast Clifford’s Really Big Movie, the animated film originally released in 2004 by Warner Brothers.

Industry News

Enhanced ebook: Inheritance Deluxe Edition, a new version of the final book in Christopher Paolini’s popular “Inheritance” cycle, will be released by Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers as an enhanced ebook with videos on October 23. The 17 videos take readers behind the scenes with the author as he offers commentary and shares stories about Inheritance. Paolini’s commentaries on scenes are embedded throughout the text. There’s also new artwork by the author, a letter to fans, and a new scene. You can get a sneak peak at the videos now. The print version of the Inheritance Deluxe Edition will publish simultaneously.

Curriculum Connections

Common Core: Educators looking for help in implementing the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in both mathematics and literacy can now use a free digital tool introduced by Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD). According to the organization, EduCore features “a variety of formative assessment lessons and videos ready for classroom use, including more than 20 formative assessment mathematics lessons. Developed by the Shell Centre, the Classroom Challenges for middle and high school include problem-solving and content-development formative assessments on subjects such as solving linear equations in two variables. There are also student materials, PowerPoint slides, and three templates that have been created by the Literacy Design Collaborative for “argumentation, informational, and narrative teaching” to help implement the literacy standards in all subjects. ASCD also has additional resources to help educators implement the Common Core.

Student writing: Turnitin is launching a series of free 30-minute weekly webcasts that provide educators with information to help students in high school and above improve their writing skills. Among these professional development webcasts that run from September 6th to October 11th^. are: “Partners in Education: Creating Common Core Rubrics,” presented by Dawn Lewis, English instructor and co-chair of the English Professional Learning Council; “Bridging the Gap: Common Core Rubrics for Secondary and Higher,” offered by Dr. Shelly Valdez, director of educational collaboration for IEBC; and “The Plagiarism Spectrum: Tagging 10 Types of Unoriginal Work,” presented by Ray Huang, customer programs manager at Turnitin. Register quickly since the webcasts will begin very shortly.

Star Wars: National Star Wars Reads Day is October 6. The event is an initiative of Lucasfilm and its publishing partners, Abrams, Chronicle Books, Dark Horse, Del Rey, DK, Scholastic, Titan Magazines, and Workman. Although the sign-up period to receive a free Star Wars event kit from the sponsors (1000 libraries signed up) has ended, there is another option available for libraries that want to participate in the event. ABDO Publishing is offering a free Star Wars event guide containing teacher’s guides, promotional posters, interviews with celebrities connected to the franchise, a list of nearly 300 Star Wars universe terms, a video of the event that was held in the Hennepin County Library in Minneapolis, and an order form for the 68 ABDO/Spotlight Star Wars library editions. You can also follow Star Wars Reads Day on Facebook.

Game On

Free online game: Electronic Arts’s Star Wars: The Old Republic, previously a subscription only massively multiplayer online game (MMOG), will be available online for free starting this fall. The free version allows players “to play free to Level 50, with game play restrictions that limit game options and access to certain game content,” according to Jeff Hickman, the game’s executive producer. Those who continue to subscribe for $15 per month will have free unlimited access to all game features and game updates. The publisher will rely on players buying premium content and virtual items to make money.

Digitally Yours

Multimedia ebooks: eBoost is ABDO Digital’s new multimedia line of flip book ebooks that are combined with related media links. Among the multimedia features of ABDO’s flip books is the ability for readers to turn pages and make them larger. Each ebook in the new eBoost line also includes Web links; downloadable content; embedded videos; RSS and/or Twitter feeds; notes and custom links fields for teacher comments, posting messages, and student assignments; and more. The eBoost titles, featuring secure Web-based hosting by ABDO, are compatible with Macs, PCs, iPads, and Android-based tablets such as Kindle Fire or the Nook. The new line is being launched with 164 titles for elementary through middle grade students. Titles can be ordered individually or in bundles such as Animal Kingdom, Body Systems, The Civil War, Planet Earth, and more. eBoost is sold as a site license with simultaneous access for multiple users.

Granted

Public awareness campaign: The 2013 Scholastic Library Publishing National Library Week Grant is an annual $3000 award open to all libraries. To apply for the grant, libraries must come up with a public awareness campaign using the National Library Week Theme—“Communities matter @ your library—and involving at least one other community organization. An application form and guidelines are available on the Scholastic Library Publishing National Library Week Grant website. The application deadline is September 30. The winner will be announced after the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Seattle in January 2013. The winner must provide documentation of their activities and submit a report to ALA’s Public Awareness Committee by May 20. The grant is sponsored by Scholastic Library Publishing and is administered by the Public awareness Committee of the American Library Association (ALA).

Read On

Literacy initiative: Author John Green, Michael L. Printz and Edgar Award winner, has been named the spokesperson for the 2012 Teen Read Week, a literacy initiative of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). The theme of this year’s Teen Read Week—celebrated October 14-20—is “It Came from the Library!” “Getting more teens to pick up a book and make it a regular habit” is what Teen Read Week is all about says Jack Martin, YALSA president. Among his duties, Green will host a national event to kick off the celebration and will judge a contest in which teens are charged with creating a video about their favorite book.