Woo-hoo for Elana Johnson!

Terrific news!

One of our followers, Elana Johnson, has a book deal! Her YA novel, Control Issues, has been acquired by Simon Pulse.

So please, everyone, swing by her awesome blog and congratulate her!

Yay! Chocolate all round!

Take a break! How well can you...

... name children's books by synonym?

I found a great game today. You're given a list of title synonyms and expected to enter the real title. So The Feline in the Fedora would be The Cat in the Hat.

The only drawback is that you must enter the title perfectly- correct spelling, everything. But it was a pleasant diversion and I think you'll like it.

If you want, come back here and let me know how it went- how many correct in how long. I won't share my score- I discovered the game in the middle of a task and had to stop (the game- not the task!) and ran out of time.

Enjoy!

Books to Treasure

I have a new baby and a three year old. (And there's my wonderful husband, too.) They're the first grandchildren on both sides of the family, so they're getting spoiled with way too many toys. I've started telling people that if they absolutely must buy things for my kids (and sometimes you just gotta), they should get books.

But there are a lot of not-so-great books out there, ones that I get sick of reading. What can I say? I'm picky about my children's literature.

So, I'm creating a list of books I want my children to have, books I loved as a child, books they will treasure for years, books they will save for their own children.

There are the picture books: Goodnight Moon, Blueberries for Sal, Where the Wild Things Are.

And then there are ones for as they get older. Beautiful, illustrated, hardcover editions of Winnie the Pooh, Alice in Wonderland, the Chronicles of Narnia, the stories of Hans Christian Anderson, and on up through Beverly Cleary, Charlotte's Web, A Little Princess, and the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Oh, the list goes on and on. But I need help. Which books would top your list? Quick, before we get another toy that makes horrid bleeping noises. We need more books!