School Library Journal’s Battle of the (Kids’) Books competition has begun.  Patterned after the wildly popular March Madness, when college basketball teams vie against one another in a “bracket” scheme, the “Battle of the Kids’ Books” pits 16 topnotch children’s books against each other and asks popular children’s book authors authors to choose a winner. It’s a fast-paced event with the 16 books that open the contest  whittled down to eight books by the second week, and four books on the third week. A winner will be chosen on Monday, April 6, by Newbery Medalist Katherine Paterson, who is the new National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature.

Yesterday, in round one, match one, Jim Murphy chose Deborah Heiligman’s Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith over Phillip Hoose’s award-winning Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice. Today’s battle, judged by Nancy Farmer, pits Fire (Kristin Cashore) against Evolution of Calpurnia Tate (Jacqueline Kerry). Click here to see the schedule. Spread the word and get involved in the event: you could win a 2010 Battle of the Kids’ Books t-shirt!

Reporter Karen Springen of Publishers Weekly has posted a fabulous article on the recent  National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Announcement Ceremonies.  On January 5th, well-known and highly respected author Katherine Paterson was announced as the successor to first children’s ambassador Jon Scieszka.  The Publishers Weekly article gives readers great insight into what took place at the announcement ceremony and highlights the personalities of both Jon and Katherine as well as their thoughts on being a children’s ambassador.

Two paragraphs that are particularly insightful with respect to multicultural literature really struck me:

Scieszka’s ambassadorial platform was reaching reluctant readers. Paterson’s is “read for your life.” With books, she said, kids (and adults) use their “powers of intellect and imagination” and experience “delight.” Stories also teach children about people from other religions, races, and countries, said Paterson, who spent the first three years of her life living in China with her missionary parents. “Books help us make friends who are different from ourselves.”

It bothered Paterson when she heard a librarian say she didn’t buy any Virginia Hamilton books because no black children attended her school. “That’s the very reason you should be buying Virginia Hamilton’s books,” she said. “Because your kids don’t have an opportunity to have friends who are African-American, they should be making those friends in books. Same thing with religion.” Jimmy Carter said becoming friends with Anwar Sadat was the most important thing that happened to him as president, she added. “Neither was trying to convert the other. I love the fact that we might be able to do that in this country—that we might be able to learn to understand each other…. The more we know about each other, the better.”

Congratulations and best wishes, Katherine!   We wish you every success and look forward to the amazing work we know you will do in your new role as National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature.

Photo credit: Abby Brack

Press Release:

Katherine Paterson, two-time winner of the National Book Award and Newbery Medal, was today named National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature by Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. Paterson will serve in the position during 2010 and 2011; she succeeds Jon Scieszka, appointed in 2008, who was the first person to hold the title. Katherine Paterson has chosen “Read for Your Life” as the theme for her platform.

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Author Linda Sue Park has a new novel out called A Long Walk to Water, “based on the true story of Salva Dut, a Sudanese refugee who fled his home village at the age of eleven because of war. Salva became one of the ‘Lost Boys of Sudan‘, immigrating to the U.S. in the 1990s (he is now President and Chief Operating Officer of the charitable foundation Water for Sudan).” If this blurb catches your attention—it immediately caught mine!—don’t look for Salva’s story at you favorite bookstore—you won’t find it there. Instead, look for it in your local newspaper, as a “Breakfast Serial.”

Breakfast Serials, founded by children’s book author Avi, have, since 1996, been taking novel-length pieces of original fiction and syndicating them for publication in newspapers, one chapter a week, in the U.S. and abroad. “A simpler, more popular literature that appeals to new audience sets”, these serials were originally aimed at young people “who know how to read but choose not to,” but their popularity soon captured the attention of adults as well. Their goal, as stated on their website, is “to refresh the reading experience in a new and convenient context and to forward the process of human attachment by way of an unfolding story.” A very nice concept that has people talking and trying to figure out “what happens next.”

Every Breakfast Serial installment is accompanied by full-color or b/w illustrations—something that sets them apart from novels published in book format, which usually aren’t illustrated. You can see two sample chapters of A Long Walk to Water, illustrated by Jim Averbeck, here. In addition to Park’s story about Salva, there are many others available in English and Spanish, such as (more…)