Reading Lists and Remembrances--posted by Carmela Martino

In her recent post, "Read Your Brains Out" (part of our Children's Book Week series), Mary Ann Rodman shared some references for recommended reading. As a follow-up, we've added links from this blog to online recommended reading lists--see the sidebar section labeled "Children's/YA Reading Lists." Now you have no excuse for not "reading your brains out." (And if you have suggestions for other online recommended reading lists, please let us know.)

By the way, Mary Ann was too modest to mention that her middle-grade novel, Yankee Girl, made one of those recommended reading lists: the Spring '09 Indie Booksellers Recommendations for Kids.
Congratulations, Mary Ann!

Two other new features on our blog:
1) We often receive questions from our students about graduate programs specific to writing children's literature. (Perhaps this is because four of the TeachingAuthors hold MFAs in writing for children and young adults from Vermont College.) To help answer those questions, I've added a section in the sidebar with links to "Graduate Programs in Writing for Children and Young Adults." If you know of any I missed, please let us know.

2) We've added a link to show our support for independent bookstores. We encourage all readers to shop at independent booksellers, either online or in person.

Finally, today is Memorial Day here in the United States, a day to remember those who have died while serving our country. In the May, 2009 issue of the Illinois Reading Council (IRC) Communicator, IRC president Roxanne Owens discusses using the poem "In Flanders Field," by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, as part of a middle school Veteran's Day project. After discovering that the poem has been set to music, Owens incorporated the following YouTube videoclip into her lesson. The clip features high school dancers interpreting the poem's lyrics