How to use this Page

• Of all the most deserving, least lauded children’s book awards out there, my favorite might be The Phoenix Awards.  “The award, given to a book originally published in the English language, is intended to recognize books of high literary merit. The Phoenix Award is named after the fabled bird who rose from its ashes with renewed life and beauty. Phoenix books also rise from the ashes of neglect and obscurity and once again touch the imaginations and enrich the lives of those who read them.”  They’ve just announced the 2015 winner and I admit that I never read it (One Bird by Kyoko Mori).  There was a time, when I was young, when I tried to read as many Phoenix books as possible.  Someday, maybe, I’ll try again.

• And speaking of obscure awards, did you see the Seven Impossible Things post on Kirkus recently called The Coolest Picture Book Award You’ve Never Heard Of … A lot of you folks should know about this.  I suspect your books would be eligible (it’s for wildlife and nature).

• Heck, while we’re at it let’s also mention once more the Mathical Award which is given to books that “inspire young people to engage with mathematics in the world around them.”  The submission info is here.  Marc Aronson’s thoughts on the matter are here.

• For those of you in the market for ideas for your next middle grade novel, I suggest checking out this Dunmore, PA housing advertisement.  Have at it. Thanks to Kate for the link.

• New Podcast Alert: You know I’m just goofy for new children’s literary podcasts.  Heck, I once did an entire Literary Salon on the topic.  Well, Ms. Julie Sternberg has just started Play, Memory.  As she describes it: “I interview authors and others about the ways in which themes that recur in children’s literature–themes like the secrets we keep in childhood; the times we disappoint our parents; and the times our parents disappoint us–have played out in their lives.”

• And in other podcast news, there’s an interview with Fuse #8 favorite Frances Hardinge over at Tor.com.  Because anything that has to do with Ms. Hardinge is awesome.  I recently found myself having lunch at the same table as Patrick Ness and, at a loss of anything else to say to him, I realized we both belonged to the Mutual Admiration Society of Frances Hardinge.  So to speak. Thanks to Sarah Hagge for the link.

• There’s a nice big post on endpapers up and running at Nancy Vo’s Illustration blog.

This one’s rather interesting to me.  Folks in my family often send me links that have to do with libraries or librarians in some way.  I find some more useful than others.  Still, I was very intrigued by the recent piece called The Archivist Files: Why the woman who started LA’s branch libraries was fired. Wowzah.  Them’s good reading.

Speaking of librarians, did you know there’s an entire site out there dedicated to them dressing up and posting pictures of themselves?  Yup. Librarian Wardrobe. The more you know.

“But there’s a third set of children’s books: those that fall into an uncanny valley between enjoyable literature and ignorable junk. These are books that exert an irresistible pull on adult consciousness but don’t reward it. They are malign presences on the bookshelf. They hurt. One of them may be the best-selling children’s picture book of all time.”  That’s a hard sentence to beat and, as it happens, I agree with author Gabriel Roth every which way from Sunday.  He discusses what may be one of the worst “canonical” picture books of all time.

• A nice little write up of the panel I moderated at BEA called Telling the Truth at Every Age.

• This doesn’t actually have any connection to children’s literature really (though you might be able to make a case for it) but did you know that there’s a site created by NYPL where you can look at old photos of pretty much every single block in the city?  It’s called OldNYC and I’ve just handed you a website that will eat away at your spare time for the rest of the day.  You’re welcome.

• I was discussing this with buddy Gregory K the other day.  Can you think of a single instance where a Newbery Award winner went out, after winning said award, and became an agent?  Because that’s what Ms. Rebecca Stead has just done and I think it’s safe to say that it’s an unprecedented move.

• Daily Image:

So there’s this artist out there by the name of James Hance.  And this, my friends, is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the content he has available.  Here’s a taste:

Thanks to Stephanie Whelan for the link.

When I was a mere slip of a lass learning my library rules like a good little MLIS student, I decided that I needed a thorough grounding in the great children’s books of yore.  So I made lists.  Lists and lists and lists of different kinds of children’s books to read. There was a Newbery list.  A Caldecott list.  A dystopian children’s literature list (and this was in 2002).  And there was also a Phoenix Award list.

The Phoenix Award does not get a lot of attention in a given year.  I think I can explain why that is.  You see, unlike other awards that are just gaga over the shiny and new, the Phoenix Award rewards the musty and old.  The award is bestowed annually to, “a book originally published in English twenty years previously which did not receive a major award at the time of its publication.”  Previous winners have included everything from Weetzie Bat to Howl’s Moving Castle to The Devil’s Arithmetic.

Sadly, the official page for the Phoenix Award is badly out of date.  To see the most updated list you’ll have to turn to Wikipedia, of all things.  There you will find a truly fantastic list of great children’s books.

Bestowed by the Children’s Literature Association, I would like to see a phoenixlike rebirth of this award once more.  When it is bestowed the press is positively silent.  Blogs do not discuss it.  Twitter remains mute.  Even reliable listservs like child_lit rarely note its passing.  I say, revivify it!  It serves a magnificent purpose, after all.  Think of all the children’s books you love that never got their due.  Alabama Moon.  A Drowned Maiden’s Hair.  The Lost Conspiracy.  Here Be Monsters.  Each one, a beauty.  Each one, someday eligible.  Were they to win they would at last receive some kind of belated due.

While we’re at it, let’s give some attention to the aforementioned Children’s Literature Association.  Here we have a group that should be better known to the greater online children’s literary community.  They are fantastic individuals and they deserve greater notice.  Academia and blogging have never been natural companions, but it seems to me that only good could come from an official ChLA blogger, should such a thing come to pass.

My $0.02.