How to buy a book for a baby

What do you get for the baby who has everything?
A book.

I think books make the perfect present for any occasion... but I love finding just the right book for a new baby. And I have a perfect track record. Not one baby has ever complained.

How do I choose a book for a baby who I haven't even met yet? I have a number of methods. Here are some things I think about:

Is this a first baby? A twin? The third in a family?
This is a very important consideration. For a first baby, I make the assumption that the family probably doesn't already have a lot of children's books and I'm helping them to build their library. I'm more likely to get classic books in this situation. For a second or third baby, I tend to get newer books that have been published since the first or second baby was born. For twins, I would get two different books, because they are two different babies.

What books do I love?
I think about books I loved when I was growing up. Not all of them are still in print, but those that are make wonderful gifts. Those books mean so much to me and when I give one of them as a gift, I feel like I'm giving something magical to a new baby.

I think about the books that my son loves. The ones he's asked to read over and over and over. The ones that work every time. I give those books because I know they work and I want to share that special secret with another parent.

What books are other people likely to give as gifts?
It's usually a pretty good idea to stay away from Goodnight Moon, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Pat the Bunny and Where the Wild Things Are. These books are almost always given at baby showers. The exception to this is if the baby has already been born, and you know for a fact that no one else has given these books.

Is the family likely to own classic children's books?
If the family doesn't have an existing library of children's books, then I'll get books such as Mike Mulligan's Steam Shovel or Harry the Dirty Dog. These are classics, but are less likely to be given by other people than Goodnight Moon. If you have friends who are extremely prolific readers and whose houses are filled with books, I'd recommend giving them recently published books that they are less likely to already own.

Is there a profession or location that is special to the family?
If one of the parents is an architect, then Andrea Beaty's Iggy Peck, Architect would make a perfect gift. Know someone from Brooklyn, New York? Give them Mo Willems' Knuffle Bunny which is full of wonderful pictures of Brooklyn. But don't go overboard with this. It's better to get a good book for a child than to hunt for a mediocre one that fits their exact situation. A child who has a dog will still enjoy Kitten's First Full Moon.

If the baby has already been born, is there a book that features their name?
I've met children named Eloise, Olivia, Angelina and Max. Clearly there are obvious book choices for those kids (although I'd ask the parents if they have the book or the series already- someone else may have had the same idea.) But lots of other great book feature children's names, such as Doctor Ted, A Bad Case of the Stripes (Camilla), or Matthew A.B.C.

What age is the book appropriate for?
If the intention is to get a book for the baby, then I'll go with a board book. It's durable and can withstand a baby's tough love. Touch and feel books are also a great idea. On the other hand, if I want to help develop their library, there's nothing wrong with getting a hardcover book they won't be ready for until they're older. I can never decide and I think there's value to both kinds of books. I'll frequently give a mixture of board books, longer picture books and chapter books.

What's your price range?
Hardcover picture books are typically about $17. Board books are typically about $7. Paperbacks are typically about $6. (These prices vary from book to book... I'm just trying to give you a general idea).

$15: Get one paperback and one board book... or get one hardcover book that you absolutely love (and go over your limit a little).

$20: Get a combination of paperbacks and board books. That way you can give three books for the same amount you'd spend on one hardcover picture book.

$35: Get one hardcover book (because they do last longer and some fantastic books aren't available in paperback), a paperback and a board book.

$50: Get a hardcover gift book such as a beautifully illustrated Mother Goose collection, Winnie the Pooh, or Charlotte's Web. Those are in the $22 range (depending on the version, of course). Then I'd get a classic paperback novel such as Mr. Popper's Penguins or The Phantom Tollbooth, a paperback picture book and a board book.

Obviously, you can mix these combinations up. My main goal is to get as many wonderful books as possible for the amount of money I'm planning on spending. I also like to give a range and variety of books, so I think it's nice to have both board books and and early chapter books.

Keep a record of the books you give.
You don't have to keep a record of every book you've ever given. But if you're giving books to a child that you'll probably be giving lots of gifts to, it's a good idea to keep track so that you don't give them the same books you gave last year. For example, I have an Excel spreadsheet with a list of all the books I've ever given to my niece. It only takes a minute, and that way I'm not giving her Goodnight, Gorilla every year. As she gets older and her library gets bigger, the spreadsheet becomes more useful.

Do you have any recommendations for specific books?
Such a tough question! For me, so much is dependent on the considerations I mentioned above. Every baby gift I give is completely different. But that being said, here's a list of ten books that I love to give to new babies. All the books listed below could be given to either a boy or a girl.

My favorite books to give as gifts:

• Animal Crackers: A Delectable Collection of Pictures, Poems and Lullabies for the Very Young by Jane Dyer. A superb collection of poems and nursery rhymes. The pictures are beautiful and the rhymes are short enough to keep children interested.
• Cars and Trucks and Things That Go by Richard Scarry. A classic transportation book featuring every conceivable type of vehicle and the never ending search for Goldbug. This book can be used at every age.
  
• Fuzzy Fuzzy Fuzzy by Sandra Boynton. A perfect book for babies. It's a touch and feel board book with irresistible pictures. See my review here.
• Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes. A new picture book that already feels like a classic.
• Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale by Mo Willems. A funny and fantastic read aloud. See my review here.
• The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordecai Gerstein. My favorite picture book and a wonderful book for children to grow into. See my review here.
• The Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone, illustrated by Mike Smollin. Hysterical and memorable and one of the best read aloud books I know.
• Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater. A classic early chapter book. This book was read to my mom when she was in first grade and I remember when she read it to me. It's a wonderful and timeless story about a man with a troupe of performing penguins.
• Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann. Just what a picture book should be. A wonderful story with terrific pictures and characters.
• Shhhhh! Everybody's Sleeping by Julie Markes, illustrated by David Parkins. The perfect last story before bed, with lush and punny illustrations. See my review here.

Need more book recommendations? See these posts about great books to re-read, my favorite picture books when I was a kid, and 100 books your child should listen to before starting school. I also have more of my favorite books listed on the sidebar of this blog.

And, be sure to check out Becky's wonderful and informative post at Young Readers about how to give the gift of books.

Above all, pick books you love. It doesn't matter whether you've loved them for a long time, or if you just fell in love with them in the bookstore. The child you give them to will love them for years to come.

Harry Potter personality test

Which Harry Potter character are you the most similar to? Take the Harry Potter Personality Quiz at Pirate Monkeys Inc. It's just for fun, but if the results sound familiar, that's because it's based on the Meyers-Briggs test. Here's the result I came up with:

What an honor! Lupin is one of my favorite characters. I better get some Wolfsbane potion post haste and stay away from the full moon.

Thanks to A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy for the link.

Seven things about me

I got tagged for a meme (a list of information) by Jennie at Biblio File. This is my second one ever, and I wanted to respond because I actually know Jennie in real life... we're in the same grad school program (although we only seem to meet at events having nothing to do with grad school). Plus, it sounded cool.

Here are the rules:
1) Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.
2) Share 7 facts about yourself.
3) Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
4) Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Seven facts about me:

I'm finding blogging to be addicting.
It's absolutely terrific connecting with people from all over the country (and the world!) and realizing that there are actually people interested in what I have to say. The more I get involved in the Kidlitosphere, the better it is. I recently wrote a post with advice for beginning bloggers. I was amazed at how much I had learned in a few months, and even more amazed by how many people said they found it helpful.

I'm really loving my new job.
I recently starting working in an independent toy and book store. It's incredibly wonderful to be back talking with people about books again, making recommendations and meeting terrific kids. And it's fabulous to get to order brand new children's books and see them the moment they come out. Plus, do you have any idea how fun it is to work in a toy store? And the questions are great. My favorite so far is: "Can you please put this platypus on hold for me?"

I can't wait until finals are over.
I'm in graduate school, and final papers are due in the next week or so. And I hate writing papers. (Blog posts, are of course, an entirely different matter). I will be very, very, very happy when the semester is over.

I have the cutest son. Ever.
I may be the tiniest bit biased here (nah)... but my son is really, really, really wonderful. And cute. And smart. And cuddly. And adorable. It's not possible to be in a bad mood around him; he always manages to cheer me up (unless he's throwing a temper tantrum, in which case, he's probably causing the bad mood).

I have the best husband. Ever.
This may also be slightly biased, but my husband is really, really, really terrific. And supportive. And funny (and punny). And he laughs at my jokes (an amazing thing). And he's helping me get through graduate school, even though he just started graduate school himself. He knows me better than I know me and I don't know what I'd do without him. Plus, he can fix computers.

I have an incredibly supportive family.
If you've looked at the list above, you'll notice that I'm in graduate school, my husband is in graduate school, I have a son, I started a new job (in retail, just before Christmas), and it's finals time. There is no way I could get through this without my amazing family, who is always there for me (and who even read my blog!)

I never get tired of Harry Potter.
I know the 7th book has come out. I know people are sick of the Harry Potter hype. I know they're tired of talking about him. But I'm not. I love the books... no matter how many times I read them, I find something new I never noticed before. You can always get me talking about Harry Potter.

I'm tagging seven people whose blogs I've recently discovered and have been enjoying immensely. And that way, even if they don't end up doing the meme, at least I get to tell you about their blogs. In no particular order, I tag 100 Scope Notes, Abby (the) Librarian, Art, Words, Life, Chicken Spaghetti, Library & Literary Miscellany, pixie stix kids pix, and Lisa Chellman's blog Under the Covers.

Do you hear the people buzz?

It's December. The American Library Association's literary awards including the Caldecott and the Newbery will be announced on January 14, 2008. (See this post for more information.) That's only six short weeks until the big day... and the buzz for who will win the awards is already in the air.

Several major review journals have weighed in with their favorite children's books of the year. The rest of the lists should be out soon, and the conversations among librarians, booksellers and teachers are starting.

Lists of favorites from The Horn Book, Kirkus Reviews, The New York Times and Publisher's Weekly are below. Keep in mind that not all these lists cover the same territory... some include juvenile fiction and young adult books while others don't.

I alphabetized each list and highlighted the books that appear twice. The books that appear three or four times are in red. These aren't necessarily the books that will win awards.... books without buzz win all the time (the 2007 Newberys are a great example) but I think it's interesting to see which books are being talked about. For sanity's sake, I just included titles in this post, but I highly recommend clicking on the link to each respective reviewer. Their lists include beautiful pictures and wonderful commentary.

Remember that the Newbery and Caldecott awards can only be given to authors and illustrators who are citizens or residents of the United States, so that takes The Arrival, The New Policeman, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Orange Pear Apple Bear and a few others out of the mix of possible contenders.

Highlighted books appear on two lists, books in red appear on three lists or more.

The Horn Book's favorite books of 2007:

• A Good Day by Kevin Henkes
• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
• The Arrival by Shaun Tan
• At Night by Jonathan Bean
• The Bearskinner retold by Laura Schlitz
• Becca at Sea by Deirdre Baker
• Beowulf: A Hero’s Tale Retold retold by James Rumford
• The Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamar County by Janice N. Harrington, illustrated by Shelley Jackson
• Comets, Stars, the Moon, and Mars: Space Poems and Paintings by Douglas Florian
• A Darkling Plain by Philip Reeve
• Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
• First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
• The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
• May I Pet Your Dog? by Stephanie Calmenson
• The New Policeman by Kate Thompson
• Pictures From Our Vacation by Lynne Rae Perkins
• Red Spikes by Margo Lanagan
• Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You by Peter Cameron
• Tap Dancing on the Roof: Sijo (Poems) by Linda Sue Park
• The Wall: Growing Up behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sís
• Who Was First?: Discovering the Americas by Russell Freedman

The New York Times Notable Children's Books of 2007

• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
• The Arrival by Shaun Tan
  
• Extras by Scott Westerfield
  
• Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal: A Worldwide Cinderella by Paul Fleischman
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
• How to be a Baby... By Me, the Big Sister by Sally Lloyd Jones

The New York Times list of the best illustrated books of 2007:

• 600 Black Spots by David Carter
  
• The Arrival by Shaun Tan
  
• Every Friday by Dan Yaccarino
• First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
• The Frog Who Wanted to See the Sea by Guy Billout
• The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
  
• Jabberwocky by Christopher Myers
• Not a Box by Antoinette Portis
• Old Penn Station by William Low
• The Wall: Growing Up behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sís

Kirkus Reviews Best Children's Books of 2007:

• A Good Day by Kevin Henkes
  
• The Apple Pie That Papa Baked by Lauren Thompson
• Artist to Artist: 23 Major Illustrators Talk to Children About Their Art by the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art
• At Night by Jonathan Bean
• Aunt Nancy and the Bothersome Visitors by Phyllis Root, illustrated by David Parkins
• Babies in the Bayou by Jim Arosky
• Birmingham, 1963 by Carole Boston Weatherford
• The Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamar County by Janice N. Harrington, illustrated by Shelley Jackson
• Comets, Stars, the Moon, and Mars: Space Poems and Paintings by Douglas Florian
• Dog and Bear by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
• The Down to Earth Guide to Global Warming by Laurie David and Cambria Gordon
• Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
• The Entertainer and the Dybbuk by Sid Fleischman
• Fred Stays With Me! by Nancy Coffelt, illustrated by Tricia Tusa
• Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal: A Worldwide Cinderella by Paul Fleischman
• Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Schlitz
• I am Invited to a Party! by Mo Willems
• Into the Woods by Lyn Gardner, illustrated by Mini Grey
• The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
• Jabberwocky by Christopher Meyers
• Jack Plank Tells Tales by Natalie Babbitt
• Knuffle Bunny Too by Mo Willems
• Leaves by David Ezra Stein
• Mary the Mouse, the Mouse and Mary by Beverly Donofrio, illustrated by Barbara McClintock
• Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little by Peggy Gifford
• The New Policeman by Kate Thompson
• Old Penn Station by William Low
• Orange Pear Apple Bear by Emily Gravett
• Phooey! by Marc Rosenthal
• Pictures From Our Vacation by Lynne Rae Perkins
• Pssst! by Adam Rex
• Rainstorm by Barbara Lehman
• Robot Dreams by Sara Varon
• Tasting the Sky by Ibtisam Barakat
• Spiders by Nic Bishop
• The Wall: Growing Up behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sís
• Who Was First?: Discovering the Americas by Russell Freedman

Publisher's Weekly Best Children's Books of 2007

• 1,2,3: A Child's First Counting Book by Alison Jay
• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
• The Apple Pie That Papa Baked by Lauren Thompson
• The Arrival by Shaun Tan
• At Night by Jonathan Bean
• Before I Die by Jenny Downham
• Bone by Bone by Bone by Tony Johnston
• Bullyville by Francine Prose
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
• Dog and Bear by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
• Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree by Lauren Tarshis
• Evil Genius by Catherine Jinks
• The Golden Dream of Carlo Chuchio by Lloyd Alexander
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
• The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
• Knuffle Bunny Too by Mo Willems
• Leaves by David Ezra Stein
• Living Color by Steve Jenkins
• Long May She Reign by Ellen Emerson White
• Mistik Lake by Martha Brooks
• Mother Goose Numbers on the Loose by Leo and Diane Dillon
• The New Policeman by Kate Thompson
• Nothing by Jon Agee
• Orange Pear Apple Bear by Emily Gravett
• Red Spikes by Margo Lanagan
• Revolution is Not a Dinner Party by Ying Chang
• Robot Dreams by Sara Varon
• Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy
• Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You by Peter Camer
• A Swift Pure Cry by Siobhan Dowd
• The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray
• Tuttle's Red Barn by Richard Michelson, illustrated by Mary Azarian
• The Wall: Growing Up behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sís
• The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt

Interesting, isn't it? Got any predictions?

All I Really Need to Know I Learned at the Children's Literature Carnival

What's a blog carnival? It's a collection of posts on a specific theme.

Mother Reader just posted the November Carnival of Children's Literature which is full of tips, advice and suggestions for bloggers, parents, teachers, librarians, writers and readers.

I feel smarter already.

Sitting in your library

Oooh, I could use one of these. Check this out... it's a chair that also functions as a bookshelf.

No need to ever get up, except for you know, food and stuff. Or to get a book from the back of the chair.

Although (as pixie stix kids pix points out), it looks rather uncomfortable, doesn't it? And where would you put your feet? You don't want to accidentally kick the books on the bottom shelf, and you'd hate to block your book access by placing a footstool in front of the chair. And you couldn't put the chair against a wall or in a corner because then you couldn't get to all your books.

The same designer, Nobody&Co, also makes unusual and creative book shelves.

They look incredibly cool, but I'd need at least fifty to accommodate my burgeoning book collection.

Plus, alphabetical order would be a nightmare, wouldn't it? Or am I the only one that alphabetizes their personal books?

My husband would love it. He firmly believes that books should be shelved by size... not by title, author or subject.

Update: I showed the bookshelf picture to my husband. He said that while he definitely thinks books should be shelved by size, he also thinks that this particular bookshelf is far too inefficient for him. He says it would be more effective if you could move the pegs around.

Book Discussion Questions

Looking for discussion questions about your favorite children's books? Multnomah County Library in Oregon has an enormous number of discussion guides posted on their wonderful website. They have discussion questions, booktalks (and even recipes!) for over 150 books. Some of my very favorite books are included, such as:

• Airborn by Kenneth Oppel
• Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
• Frindle by Andrew Clements
  
• Holes by Louis Sachar
• A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly
  
• Our Only May Amelia by Jennifer L. Holm
• Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling (didn't know I liked that one, did you?)

There are even tips on how to start a book group for children. Check it out, it's a wonderful resource.

Discussion questions for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Looking for discussion questions about Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone? I just wrote some for a class project and wanted to share. The questions assume that you've read the first book, but you don't have to have read the whole series.

Spoilers
ahead
if
you
haven't
read
the
first
Harry
Potter
book.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Discussion Questions

-On the train to Hogwarts, Draco offers to be friends with Harry. Harry refuses. What do you think would have different if Harry had accepted Draco’s friendship?

-Why do you think Harry was sorted into Gryffindor? Which Gryffindor characteristics do you think Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville possess?

-If Draco Malfoy had been sorted into Gryffindor, do you think he would have eventually become friends with Harry?

-Which house would you like to be in?

-What kinds of food are described in this book? Which ones would you most like to try?

-What classes does Harry take? Which ones would you like to take?

-How do you play Quidditch? What parts of the game do you like? Would you change any aspects of the game?

-How did the Mirror of Erised get its name? What would you see if you looked into the Mirror of Erised?

-Should Harry, Ron and Hermione have snuck out of their dorm to rescue the Sorcerer’s Stone? Why did Neville try to stop them?

-How did Harry get the Sorcerer’s Stone out of the Mirror of Erised? Do you think Dumbledore expected Harry to rescue the Sorcerer’s Stone?

Dumbledore says “There are all kinds of courage. It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.” What examples are there of this in the book?

-During the final banquet, why does Dumbledore award the last ten points to Neville instead of to Ron, Harry or Hermione?

-When this book was published in England, the original title was Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Which one do you like better; the American title or the British title?

Writing these questions was harder than it looks... because my goal was to come up with questions that would only be applicable to Book One. For example, I couldn't use questions such as: "Why does Harry feel pain in his scar?" because the answer to that question keeps changing with every book in the series you read.

If you're looking for more discussion questions about this wonderful book, check out Scholastic's guide and Multnomah County Libray's questions.

For my analysis of specific chapters of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (and clues about the other six book), see these posts. I've also written discussion questions and chapter analysis about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

As this blog demonstrates, I can't seem to stop talking about these books!

Update: There are spoilers in the comments section about the 7th book.

Harry Potter 1: Chapter Two

Here's another chapter analysis of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Why am I writing about Book One? Find out why in this post, and read about Chapter One here.

Even though this post is about Book One, there are spoilers in it for all seven books.

Don't

read

this

unless

you've

finished

reading

Harry

Potter

and

the

Deathly

Hallows.

Chapter Two: The Vanishing Glass

All page numbers refer to the hardcover Scholastic edition.

Connections to later books:

• Parseltounge. The fact that Harry can talk to snakes is first established in this chapter, mentioned again in Book Two and is quite important throughout the series.
• Avada Kedavra. In this chapter the only two things that Harry remembers about his parents’ death are a flash of green light and pain in his scar. In Book 4 we learn that the green light is a telltale sign of the Avada Kedavra curse. And in Book 7 we learn that Harry felt pain in his forehead because he became an accidental Horcrux almost immediately after his parents died (and that’s why he has the scar on his forehead).

Characters and places introduced in this chapter that don't appear again until later books in the series:

• Aunt Marge gives Dudley a birthday present in this chapter and is mentioned as a possible babysitter for Harry, but she doesn’t actually make an appearance until Book 3.
• Mrs. Figg is briefly mentioned but doesn’t have a speaking part until the fifth book.
• Dedalus Diggle gets another minor mention in this chapter (he's also in Chapter 1) as the tiny man in the violet top hat that bows to Harry in a shop. Both Dedalus Diggle and Harry talk about this incident when they meet in The Leaky Cauldron in Chapter 5.
• Madame Marsh. You have to pay careful attention to catch this one. On page 30, Harry mentions that: “a wild-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved merrily at him once on a bus.” Right about now you’re probably wondering who on earth Madam Marsh is. She has a walk-on part only and she is mentioned as a passenger on the Knight Bus every time Harry rides on it. She is always dressed in green. I love this mention of her in the first book, it’s so incredibly subtle.
  

Observations:

• I love the old-fashioned neglected orphan tone of this chapter. It really makes the book feel like a timeless classic. Harry living in the cupboard under the stairs, having to wear clothes too big for him, having broken eyeglasses… all these things are wonderful contrasts with the fact that Harry is incredibly famous.

Favorite quote:

• "Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel—Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig." (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Scholastic hardcover, page 21).
  

Question:

• Who on earth does Harry make the comment to about Dudley looking like a pig in a wig? It doesn't seem like the kind of thing he'd say to any of the Dursleys.

Beautiful libraries

Take a look at amazing pictures of extraordinary libraries from around the world on the Curious Expeditions website. There are almost 100 libraries pictured, and each one is unique and beautiful.

My favorite picture is shown above. Even though it's pretty impossible to choose just one... I fell in love with the library of the Admont Abbey in Austria.

Thanks to Another Kick Butt Librarian for the link.

And for me, any library that lets me check out books is beautiful.

The difference between Amazon and Independent Bookstores

Okay, so there are a lot of differences. Too many to go into on this blog.

But, let me give you a fascinating example involving a particular book and its place on the bestseller lists.

Workman Publishing has recently released an incredibly cool book called Gallop by Rufus Butler Seder. When you flip the pages of the book, the pictures really seem to be moving. It's amazing. It's fascinating. When you see this book, you can't help but want to own it. Also, it has a simple and surprisingly good text. And a nice big, clear font. This is one of the few books that can equally fascinate both children and adults.

To get an idea of what I'm talking about, check out Workman's website. In the far right corner you'll see a horse galloping... this is what happens when you turn a page of the book. In the actual book, the action isn't quite that fluid, but it's pretty close.

The Booksense list of children's bestsellers currently lists Gallop as its number one bestseller... a position the book has held for two weeks. The Booksense list is representative of the sales of independent (non-chain) bookstores.

Now check out the listing for Gallop on the Amazon website. As of today, Gallop is ranked at #9,483. Pretty incredible, isn't it? How could a book be so popular in bookstores and not popular at all with an online retailer?

For one thing, look at the pictures on the Amazon listing. They don't convey the visual impact the book has. Also, there are only a few reviews (the book just came out last week, so not a lot of people have seen it so far). And the book is listed as not being available for 4 to 6 weeks. (Workman is a relatively small publisher and they're trying to fill the huge demand for the book.)

Why is Gallop so high on the Booksense list? Because independent bookstores are talking up the book, displaying it in prominent locations and showing their customers a book they think is intriguing and creative. And, in the end, it comes down to the fact that you need to actually see Gallop. You need to hold it in your hands. You need to be able to play with it. And, in the end, that's something that you can't do on Amazon.

Dreadful dinner guests

On the eve of Thanksgiving, as you head to large gatherings of family and friends... be thankful that you will not have to share the dinner table with unsavory fictional characters.

I recently conducted a poll asking which Harry Potter characters would you NOT like to have dinner with. I predicted that it would be a tight three way race between Umbridge, Bellatrix and Lord Voldemort (none of which strike me as enjoyable dinner companions).

I couldn't have been more wrong. Bellatrix and Umbridge tied for third, and Voldemort came in a surprising fourth. The winner? Aragog the monstrous spider, followed closely by bloodthirsty werewolf Fenrir Grayback. Apparently, readers of Wizards Wireless do not want to be turned into entrees (and you can't really blame them.)

Interesting results:
Peter Pettigrew got the same number of votes as Marvolo Gaunt, Morphin Gaunt, Grawp, Bellatrix and Umbridge. I agree that he's not my favorite character by any means, but I was impressed that he ranked that high (he got more votes than Voldemort).

Voldemort and Percy Weasley got the same number of votes. I thought that was astonishing. True, Percy can be a bit pompous and annoying, but he'd be far less likely to kill you because you didn't season the turkey properly.

Grawp, who started with a strong lead, finished in third place.

Severus Snape only got one vote. That was surprising... he doesn't seem like an ideal dinner companion to me. It would be rather difficult to engage him in small talk.

The Giant Squid (who I put in as a joke) got three votes! Very impressive.


Here's the poll results:

Question: Which Harry Potter characters would you NOT like to have dinner with?
Answers:

In first place: Aragog

2nd place: Fenrir Grayback

3rd place: Marvolo Gaunt, Morphin Gaunt, Grawp, Bellatrix Lestrange, Peter Pettigrew and Dolores Umbridge

4th place: Mundungus Fletcher, Gregory Goyle, Percy Weasley and Lord Voldemort

5th place: Amycus Carrow, Alecto Carrow, Vincent Crabbe, Barty Crouch Jr., Barty Crouch Sr., Dudley Dursley, Petunia Dursley, Vernon Dursley, Cornelius Fudge, Igor Karkaroff, the Giant Squid and Yaxley

6th place: Ludo Bagman, Merope Gaunt, Griphook, Kreacher, Draco Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy, Auntie Muriel, Rufus Scrimgeour, Horace Slughorn, and Sybil Trelawney.

7th place: Fleur Delacour, Xenophilius Lovegood, Narcissa Malfoy, Mad Eye Moody, Mr. Ollivander and Severus Snape

In 8th and last place (with no votes): Viktor Krum and Oliver Wood

See my new poll about how many times you've read the Harry Potter books. If you're a regular reader of Wizards Wireless, you can probably guess my answer, which is: so many times that I'm embarrassed to admit how high the number is. Actually, by this point, it's so many times that, honestly, I've lost count.

J.K. Rowling Dutch interview

There's a rather good and lengthy new interview with J.K. Rowling, written on the occasion of the publication of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in Dutch.

Even if you can't read Dutch, check out the interview at De Volkskrant, because it is beautiful and elaborately done to represent pages from the Daily Prophet.

And of, course, I highly recommend the English translation, at The Leaky Cauldron. It's just a touch easier to read, if you're not fluent in Dutch.

I just broke my own rule from my post about advice for beginning bloggers... about not posting every single news story. But, what the heck, I'll make an exception for good, new J.K. Rowling interviews. (Bad, old interviews don't make the cut. =)

Advice for beginning bloggers

Have you just started a blog? Are you wondering what to do next? How to publicize it?

I've been blogging for about six months... and here's a few things I've picked up so far. I hope these tips help you. If you're looking for specific advice about being a children's literature blogger- look towards the end of this post.

Welcome!
Blogging is fun, scary, exciting and incredibly rewarding. Congratulations on starting a blog! It's a gutsy step. The hardest part is to keep it going after those first few initial posts. Keep it up... you can do it!

Don't apologize
It's hard to blog consistently. It takes a lot of time. All blog readers know that. When you have a chance to blog, don't write posts apologizing for not writing. Instead, just write a post saying something you haven't said before. Some people blog daily, some blog weekly, some blog monthly. Find a schedule that works for you, and don't be embarrassed by it.

Be proud of what you write
Don't say that you're rambling or incoherent. Your voice and opinions are valid, whatever it is that you have to say. The more you knock yourself down, the less likely a reader is to take you seriously.

Find a topic
Decide on the general subjects you want to write about. For example, Wizards Wireless is about three very specific things: Children's books, comic strips and Harry Potter. I try to keep myself limited to these topics because it carves out a niche and lets a reader know what they'll find when they visit my blog. If it's not related to one of those three things, I'll mark the post as off-topic (which I try not to do too much). And if you have too many topics to chose from, don't worry, you can always start another blog on that subject.

Find a mission
Why are you blogging? To advance your career? To tell family and friends about what's going on in your life? To become a better writer? To talk about topics that you're passionate about? All of these are valid reasons... just figure out what you hope to achieve by blogging. That will inform almost every other decision you make. For example, a person blogging for professional development reasons is much more likely to use their real name than someone who wants to let off steam about work.

Above all, write about what you want to write about, not what you think you have to write about.

Contribute original content
There's no need to post every news story on your blog. As a reader, I come to your blog for original content, not recycled information. If there's a big announcement, chances are I've already read about it somewhere else. The exception here, of course, is if you have something to say about a news story or if it's relevant to your subject matter. For example, I wrote quite a bit about J.K. Rowling's announcement that Dumbledore is gay. (The posts are here, here and here, if you're interested). Obviously, people read about it elsewhere... but since I write a lot about Harry Potter on my blog, I felt it was relevant and I had opinions I wanted to discuss.

Steal from yourself
Coming up with new things to say can be difficult. Why not post something you've written in the past? Whether it's a blurb, an annotation or a paper, you can adapt it into a blog post (if it fits your topic and mission). For example, I took excerpts from a paper I wrote for graduate school about The Man Who Walked Between the Towers and posted it on my blog. I changed it and edited it to make it appropriate. It remains my favorite review to this day, because I worked for weeks on the original paper and I'm proud of the writing and research.

If you've written something that's been previously published, make sure you say where it's been published, and make sure you own the rights to it before posting it. Otherwise (if possible), post a link to it.

Tell people that your blog exists
Let your friends and family know that you have a blog. If someone in your real life mentions an interest in the topic you write about, give them the link to your blog. Mention your blog (if it's relevant to the topic being discussed) on listservs and electronic discussion boards.

Join the Community
Connect to the community of bloggers who write about the same topic you do. There are communities of book bloggers, parent bloggers, etc. They link to each other, promote each other and toss around new ideas. Be part of the discussion. Find out who else is in your community.

If someone leaves a comment on your blog, respond to it within the comments section. Most blog programs have an option that will e-mail you whenever a person comments on your blog. This is extremely helpful... particularly when keeping track of comments on old posts.

Leave comments on other people's blogs. If you do, post under the name of your blog. It helps you build a reputation.... and it's a great way to join the discussion in the blogosphere.

If someone links to your blog, add a link to theirs.

Remember that ANYONE can read your blog
Your neighbor, your third cousin, your ex-boyfriend, a potential employer, the person in the next cubicle who drives you nuts... all of these people are potential readers of your blog. It's on the web, it's unbelievably public. Don't insult other people... they'll figure out who you're talking about.

The best advice I've gotten is to write your blog as if your boss reads every post you write.

Protect yourself
Some people put their full names on their blogs... some don't. It's a personal decision. But whatever you decide to do, take steps to protect your family. Unless your blog is specifically about parenting, you may want to refrain from mentioning your kids' names or providing pictures. Don't reveal that you're going out of town until after you come back. It's okay to be vague about who you are.

Publish your e-mail address
Include an e-mail address on your blog. Obviously, it's not a good idea to post your main e-mail address because of the potential for spam, but I highly recommend that you create an e-mail account just for your blog. Go to Gmail to set up a free account which you can forward to your regular e-mail you read all the time. Keep it simple... such as: thenameofyourblog at gmail.com

Why is it important to include an e-mail address? So that people with legitimate questions and compliments can contact you. For example, I'm in the process of writing a paper for graduate school on blogs written by children's librarians. I would love to ask bloggers for their permission to be included in my paper and get a bit more background about why they are blogging. But on the majority of the blogs I've been reading, there is no way to contact the writer. It's not really appropriate to leave a note in the comments, it would be extremely off topic.

Link to blogs
Link to other people's blogs and find out who is linking to you. Technorati is a great way to keep track of this. Sign up for a Technorati account (use your new blog gmail account to sign up for all of these various accounts) and claim your blog. Once you've done this, you can see who is mentioning your blog. If someone does link to your blog in a post, go to their blog and thank them. It's always nice to add a reciprocal link to their blog if it's relevant to your blog's topic.

Check your links
Whenever I add a new link, either in the sidebar or in a post, I click on it to make sure that the link works. It's frustrating to a reader if you have broken links.

Create a feed
Burn a feed for your blog. This isn't nearly as scary as it sounds. You may have heard of an RSS feed (which actually, just stands for Really Simple Syndication). A lot of people (myself included) read blogs primarily through feeds.

Do you subscribe to My Yahoo? Then you already know all about feeds even if you don't realize it. Feeds are the headlines that keep appearing on the page, such as the most recent stories from CNN, or the current top sports headlines. I subscribe to blog feeds on my page, so that in addition to seeing what the New York Times Bestseller list is, I also see the most recent blog posts from Fuse #8 and What Adrienne Thinks About That (and many, many others). When I see a new post that I'm interested in, I click on it. You don't have to use My Yahoo to subscribe to feeds. You can also use blog readers such as Bloglines.

The important thing is for you to create a feed for your blog, so that people who prefer to read your blog through RSS can subscribe to it. How do you do this? Go to Feedburner. The instructions are fairly simple. After you burn a feed for your blog, BE SURE to add a graphic on your blog for people to access your feed. How to do this? Once you have a Feedburner account, go to Publicize and follow the directions from there about creating a chicklet. Pick the simplest one, the top one that is a generic "Subscribe in a Reader." I also recommend selecting PingShot and SmartFeed (both available on the Publicize menu).

Once you have a feed, log back into Feedburner regularly so that you can see how many people access your blog... what searches they use to locate it and what sites they're being referred from.
Another great (free) source for statistics is Google Analytics.

UPDATE: Google has purchased Feedburner. You still need to create your RSS in Feedburner, but it no longer tracks statistics. Use Google Analytics for that.

Also, be sure to subscribe to your own feed. That way, you can see if it works, and you can see how often it's updated. Sometimes my feed is updated a few hours after I post, sometimes it takes a day.

Kidlitosphere
If you blog about children's literature (which I do), the community of like-minded bloggers is called the Kidlitosphere. It's a vibrant and wonderful group of people who love children's books and includes librarians, teachers, professors, booksellers, editors, authors and illustrators. They do multiple blog efforts such as the amazing Robert's Snow posts organized by Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.

Every week, bloggers from the Kidlitosphere join in Poetry Friday and post fantastic poems on their blogs. One blogger each week volunteers to post a round-up of all the Poetry Friday links. See this round-up at Big A little a for an example.

There's even an annual award given by kidlit bloggers called The Cybils. Nominate your favorite children's books from the past year today. Literally. Nominations close November 21, 2007.

How do you get involved with this wonderful community? Head over to Kidlitosphere Central to find out about the various activities of this hardworking group. And then join the Kidlitosphere listserv on Yahoo Groups. Once you've been approved, be sure to introduce yourself and add your blog to the Blog Directory. And then, join the discussion!

JacketFlap
If you're a Kidlit blogger, I highly recommend joining JacketFlap. It's a terrific resource for anyone involved in any way with children's books. You can read other people's blogs though JacketFlap... and be sure to add your blog to their list.

What's the point?
Why bother with all this technical stuff? Because blogging takes a lot of time and effort and creativity. If you're willing to do all of that, and put yourself and your ideas out there, it's worth it for people to see what you have to say. And it allows you to get feedback and be part of the blogging community. But, no one is going to know about your blog unless you publicize it a little.

If you make it hard for people to link to you, locate your RSS feed or e-mail you... they're not going to. And the more that other people link to you, the more your rank rises in Google and other search engines. This means that your blog will come up closer to the top of search engine results pages, and more people will see what you have to say and be able to use the information you provide.

So, take the time (it really doesn't take long)... do the technical things described above. If you're overwhelmed, you can do them slowly, one piece at a time. But let your voice be heard.

And once, again... welcome!

Don't let the pigeon read this post!

Okay, I admit it. I'm a Mo Willems junkie.

Now that I've got that confession out of the way, let me share with you a great interview with Mo posted at Babble, a parenting web site. Thanks to Pirate Ninja Mommy for the link.

My two favorite things about the interview are the picture at the top with the pigeon and the duckling reading a copy of Knuffle Bunny Too... and Trixie Willems' response to her teacher when asked if the Knuffle Bunny books were real stories.

Now that I've started doing storytimes, I seem to be becoming a bigger Mo fan than ever. Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog, Knuffle Bunny and Today I Will Fly! are just perfect read alouds. I also like The Pigeon Loves Things that Go and Time to Say Please. I haven't attempted Leonardo the Terrible Monster yet, but I recently saw a colleague do wonders with it. I've read Knuffle Bunny Too aloud- but I find it a bit more difficult.

I'll never measure up to MotherReader in terms of Mo Willems fandom (read this post on The Cybils blog to see what I mean)... but when I took a look at previous posts, I saw that there's a lot more about Mo on this blog than I realized.

Here's what I mean:

In this post about my favorite children's books to re-read, I mention two Pigeons and a Knuffle Bunny.

I list Knuffle Bunny as one of my favorite books to read with my son, in this post about 100 books to read to your child before they start school.

This post contains a great quote from an article Mo wrote.

In this post, I wrote about where to find an incredibly stylish (and cute) Pigeon t-shirt.

I posted some of Mo's early Sesame Street videos.

I wrote a review of Knuffle Bunny and a review of Don't let the Pigeon Drive the Bus.

And I talked about my son's reaction to the Knuffle Bunny video.

Plus I've meet Mo twice... if you count thirty seconds at a book signing, and being in the audience when he was accepting an award. Yeah, you're right, that doesn't really count.

This is more serious than I thought. I might have to give him his own category.

And you thought this blog was just about Harry Potter. =)

Harry Potter 1: Chapter One

Welcome to the Wizards Wireless chapter by chapter discussion of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. See this post for an explanation of why I'm talking about the 1st book when the 7th book has just been published.

Even though this post is about Book One, there are spoilers in it for all seven books.

Don't

read

this

unless

you've

read

Harry

Potter

and

the

Deathly

Hallows.

Chapter One: The Boy Who Lived
(All quotes refer to the Scholastic hardcover edition).

Things that we learn in this chapter:

• Professor McGonagall can transform from a cat to a human. This introduces the concept of animagi, which is very significant in Book 3.
  
• The deluminator, which is important in Book 7 is mentioned here when Dumbledore extinguishes the streetlights in Privet Drive.
• Dumbledore’s nose is described as crooked and broken. In the 7^th book, we learn that Albus’ nose has in fact been broken by his brother Aberforth.
• Dumbledore says that he wouldn’t remove Harry’s scar even if he could, because “scars can come in handy.” (Scholastic hardcover, page 15). Harry’s scar is important in every book and does come in extremely handy.
  
• When Dumbledore leaves Privet Drive, he turns on his heel and vanishes with a swish of his cloak. This is exactly the way apparition is described in later books.

Characters and places introduced that aren’t important until later:

• Dedalus Diggle. Professor McGonagall comments that Diggle is probably responsible for the display of shooting stars that appeared on the Muggle news. Diggle also appears in Book 5 but doesn’t have a real speaking part until Book 7.
• Godric’s Hollow is mentioned as the place where the Potters were living. This is significant because it demonstrates that Rowling had already decided that the village would be named after Godric Gryffindor.
• Sirius Black. This always amazes me. Here we are, on page 14 of the book, and a crucial character is mentioned in passing, although he doesn’t appear again until the 3^rd book. Why is this so interesting? Three reasons:
  

Rowling has already named him Sirius Black, and his name essentially means “Black Dog.” This shows that she has already planned out a very important part of the plot of Book 3... before Book 1 was published.

Sirius’ motorbike is mentioned and doesn’t reappear until the seventh book when it factors into a crucial scene.

We get a glimpse of Sirius right before he’s framed for murder, and it sets the stage (and the time) of his battle in the street with Pettigrew.

Observations:

I think that the first sentences of books are extremely important… and I have always been surprised by the first sentence of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone:

“Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.” (Scholastic hardcover, page 1).

It’s a pretty bland descriptive sentence, wouldn’t you say? It doesn’t leap out and grab you (as first sentences should) and it doesn’t become more significant as you learn more about the characters. I've always found this odd.

Another observation:

Speaking of the opening of the book, I’ve recently noticed an enormous amount of repetition in the first few pages. The word Dursley appears over and over a surprising number of times. Obviously Mr. and Mrs. Dursley are being introduced and it’s important to give background information on them… but their last name is mentioned 14 times in the first four paragraphs. It feels a bit excessive. The word Dursley also is among the first words of nearly every sentence in the first part of the chapter. Take a look at the opening sentences of the first four paragraphs and you’ll see what I mean:

• Paragraph One: “Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four Privet Drive…”
• Paragraph Two: “Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings…”
• Paragraph Three: “The Dursleys had everything they wanted…”
• Paragraph Four: “When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, gray Tuesday…”

Maybe this is over analysis because I frequently listen to the audio book (where it is quite noticeable) but I wonder if this is a stylistic choice or accidental.

Question:

• Dumbledore mentions that he must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on his way to Privet Drive. Then how did he get there? If he had apparated, he wouldn’t have been able to see anything other than his departure and destination points.

Things that are never explained (that I wish were):

• How did Dumbledore acquire a scar above his left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground?

Favorite quote:

• Professor McGonagall: “There will be books written about Harry- every child in our world will know his name!” (Scholastic hardcover, page 13).

I love this quote because J.K. Rowling, a fledgling author who was thrilled just to get her first book published, could never have known how prophetic this statement would be.