Tuesday Kidlit Trivia for April 1, 2025

 This French author/illustrator wrote only one book for children, published in 1943, which has become a classic, translated into more than 50 languages.  He worked in a factory, and as a mechanic, and as a pilot delivering mail from France to Africa. His book reaches children and adults on different levels. After the book came out, he served in World War II as a pilot, and was reported as "Missing in Action." Debris from the wreckage was found off the coast of Marseille in 2000, but his body was never found. This was Antoine de St. Exupery and his book is The Little Prince.

Tuesday Kidlit Trivia for March 25, 2025

 This author was born in China in 1932 to missionaries and moved again and again and eventually became a missionary herself, to Japan. In New York City, while attending a seminary, she married a minister and they had two children and adopted two more. Her 1978 book The Great Gilly Hopkins features a tough cookie who goes from one foster home to another and fantasizes about her beautiful "real" mother. The author's 1980 Newbery award winning book Jacob Have I Loved tells of a girl jealous of her twin sister. The writer understands that "children do hurt, do fear, do grieve. We who care for them must take their feelings seriously." This sensitive author is Katherine Paterson.

Tuesday Kidlit Trivia for March 18, 2025

  Our town has a wonderful independent bookstore, opened by a local couple in October, with a beautiful children's book section. Our city council is considering offering an incentive to a developer wanting to open a Barnes and Noble in a vacant space in our mall. The owners feel this would essentially mean the death of their store. I'm using this week's trivia spot to say NOOOOOOO! And I'll show up at Thursday's city council meeting in support of our independent bookstore, Alpenglow. Support independents!

My Rant Poem

 My poetry group gives a weekly prompt, and this week we were to write a poem that is a rant:

My chubby thighs rage,

my derriere rants

as I struggle each morning

to pull on my pants.

Tuesday Kidlit Trivia for March 11, 2025

 This Polish artist lived through the 1939 Warsaw blitz and moved to Paris, Israel and finally New York City. He had only been speaking English for 4 years when an editor suggested he write a children's book to go with his illustrations. After several failures, he completed his first book in 1963--The Moon in My Room. He went on to write and illustrate numerous books and won the Caldecott medal for his artwork. He feels that too many writers want to create picture books because they love children. He said, "Sentimentality does not replace the craft that is essential in making good children's books. My first obligation is to the book, not to the audience." He died in February of 2025 of  influenza and pneumonia at the age of 89. This is Uri Shulevitz.

Tuesday Kidlit Trivia for February 25, 2025

 As a child, this American poet, born in 1998, had a speech impediment, so she practiced singing songs with lots of "R" sounds to correct it. As a young adult in 2021, she read her powerful poem "The Hill We Climb" to millions at the inauguration of President Biden. A school in Florida removed the book version of this poem from the children's section of the library, because one parent claimed it was "hate speech" and an attempt to "indoctrinate students." This poet has also written picture books for children, including "Change Sings," "Something, Someday" and "Girls on the Rise." This is Amanda Gorman.

Tuesday Kidlit Trivia for February 18, 2025

 This author, daughter of a Viet Nam veteran, attended a Department of Defence school in Germany. So it was personal, and quite a shock, when she learned that her 2007 book about a little red haired girl who learns to accept her freckles is now banned from all Dept. of Defense schools. The reason? The little girl comes to learn that her freckles make her different and that everyone has something different about them, which apparently smacks of diversity and inclusion. The author/actor is Julianne Moore, and her book is called Freckleface Strawberry.