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(Children’s) BookNotes, June 22, 2016

Summer is officially upon us, but that doesn’t mean we should ditch all our books completely. Here’s a round-up of headlines in the world of children’s picture books this week.

We here at Literary Features Syndicate trumpeted our summer schedule last week: http://bit.ly/28Qq4rq

A pristine first-edition of Alice in Wonderland failed to sell at Christie’s: http://bit.ly/28Qq0Il

 USA Gold pencils announced the winners of the USA Gold Poetry Contest.
Each child won a cash prize of $500, plus $50 in U.S.A. Gold® pencils. Teachers of the winning students also received a $150 American Express® gift card, plus $100 worth of stationery products including U.S.A. Gold® pencils, an electric pencil sharpener and erasers.

Full list of winners here: http://bit.ly/28NbwNv 

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(Children’s) BookNotes, April 13, 2016

Beverly Cleary turns 100, and Scholastic announces a poetry contest.

Publisher’s Weekly interviewed beloved children’s book author Beverly Cleary, who turned 100 on April 12.

In celebration of National Poetry Month, Scholastic and
U.S.A. Gold®

Pencils company announces a student poetry contest for public school children in grades 1-6. Read the details here. (Hurry! The contest ends April 29.)

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ECHO
ECHO: Reverso Poems About the Greek Myths
by Marilyn Singer, Illustrated by Josee Masse, Dial Books, $16.99, 32 pages ages 6-9.

This April marks the 20th anniversary of National Poetry Month, and in recognition of that milestone we’ll be highlighting many of the best new poetry books. Marilyn Singer and Josee Masse’s last collaboration of poetry was 2013′s Follow Follow, a book of poetic reversos: read one way, each poem recounts one mythological character’s side of the story. Read in reverse, the poems reveal a new, unexpected point of view. Fourteen reversos offer new interpretations of
great tales from Greek mythology–Medusa gives her haughty, powerful counterpoint to Perseus’s stony bravery, and even the devilish box of horrors opened by Pandora gets the poetic treatment. Masse’s familiar illustrations are fun and slyly offer two perspectives to match the poetry. Echo Echo would make an excellent addition to an English or Language Arts curriculum.