All Things Kid Lit: Guess Again!

Picture Book Pick of the Week:

Guess Again!
by Mac Barnett
illustrated by Adam Rex
ISBN: 9781416955665
Simon & Schuster, Nov. 2009
Genre: Fiction
32 pages

“Their fleece is warm and woolly white. / And when you lie awake at night, / Count them and you’ll fall asleep. / A guess? Why, yes! A flock of . . .” Think you know the answer? Guess again!

From School Library Journal: 

The earliest indication that this is not your typical guessing game comes on the endpaper as a robot energetically hatches out of an egg. For each round of guessing, readers are presented with a page of Rex's oil-and-acrylic illustrations opposite a rhyming quatrain. The completely unexpected and delightfully off-the-wall conclusion of the verse's final line is revealed on the next page. The images are especially droll. A spread set in a kitchen with a die-cut hole in the wall suggests that what's on the other side is a little mouse: "Who climbs our counters and eats our cheese?/We've set up traps all through the house/But still can't catch that pesky.." Turning the page, readers will see that what they thought was a cute little mouse was in fact the repulsive toe of a huge Viking. This is an especially fun book to share.

Also Recommended:

• Q is for Duck: An Alphabet Guessing Game by Mary Elting
• Imagine a Night by Rob Gonsalves

News in Children's Lit:

National Coalition Against Censorship Salutes Judy Blume

Publishers Weekly

October 27, 2009

Some people may have difficulty finding humor in the issue of censorship. Thankfully, celebrated author Judy Blume isn't one of them. Nor were the many actors, comedians, authors, and supporters who gathered at City Winery in New York City on October 19 for "A Night of Comedy with Judy Blume & Friends." Presented by the National Coalition Against Censorship, the event was both a celebration of the coalition's 35th anniversary and an opportunity to honor Blume, who has actively battled censorship of her own books since the 1980s.


The Return of Maud Lovelace's Betsy-Tacy books
New York Magazine
November 1, 2009

Maud Hart Lovelace’s books were old-fashioned even when they started coming out in 1940. In ten novels, Lovelace followed turn-of-the-century best friends Betsy Ray and Tacy Kelly from age 5 to their respective weddings. Think Serena and Blair of Gossip Girl with lower hemlines and smaller budgets.