Monica Edinger's Blog, page 87

Equity First

Decades ago, when the Finnish school system was badly in need of reform, the goal of the program that Finland instituted, resulting in so much success today, was never excellence. It was equity.

From Anu Partane's Atlantic article, "What Americans Keep Ignoring About Finland's School Success."

Coming Soon: T. R. Burns' The Merits of Mischief

In a recent post Betsy Bird listed a few 2012 middle grade novels she is anticipating among them T. R. Burns' first book in The Merits of Mischief series. I'm the friend she mentioned  — the publisher sent me the ms to read and I liked it a lot, but hadn't seen the cover till I saw the ARC at Betsy's.  (This post by the artist about the evolution of that cover is, to my mind, fascinating.)

It is a school story (yep, another one) a school for "special kids" (yep, yep, one of those), a boarding ...

Andy Mulligan's Ribblestrop

I am a big fan of Andy Mulligan's Trash, published last year in the United States to very positive reviews. (It also made it through two rounds in last year's SLJ's Battle of the Kids' Books; those elegantly penned decisions are here and  here.)  And now, having just read them, I'm here to report that Mulligan's other two books, Ribblestrop and Return to Ribblestrop, are just as good (although as of this writing, they have not been published in the US and I don't know of any plans to do so). ...

Love and Latkes

Christmas is just around the corner and Hanukkah is in full swing. One writer who manages to successfully consider both is Lemony Snicket, sometimes also known as Daniel Handler. Not so much (or at all to be truthful) in his latest, Why We Broke Up although I urge you all to read that too (if you need to know why and haven't — blush — already, check out my NYTBR review), but in The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming charmingly illustrated by Lisa Brown. For those who may have missed it last...

In the Classroom: Charlie in the New World

As some know I'm a big fan of Charlie Chaplin and last year I brought him into my classroom for a year-long study.  We spent months studying this wonderful silent film artist before creating a film in his style.  Since we also do an in-depth study of the Pilgrims we had our Charlie travel on the Mayflower to the New World.  Unfortunately, because we used some background images that we aren't sure of in terms of copyright I can't put the whole thing here for you to see, but I can show you...

This Sunday's New York Times Book Review

I'm going to be offline for the next few days and so wanted to give you all a heads-up that there will be children's and YA book reviews in this weekend's New York Times Book Review and one of them is mine.  I'm quite proud of it, I must say.

Be Happy

The various writers of obituaries and recognitions for Russell Hoban have done a fine job of showing his range — everything from the delightful Bedtime for Frances to the dystopic Ridley Walker to my personal favorite, The Mouse and his Child.  This last is an enigma of a book. I've read bits aloud, but never the whole thing and in my many years of teaching have rarely recommended it to a child. Still I love it — whether the edition illustrated by Lillian Hoban or the more recent one by...

First Australian Children's Laureates Announced

Drum roll….they are: Alison Lester and Boori Monty Pryor! More about the award, the new laureates, and more here.  Congratulations to all!  (Now we in the States have to wait with bated breath for the person who will be taking Katherine Paterson's spot as our National Ambassador for Children's Literature— to be announced January 3rd by the Librarian of Congress, James Billington.)

Happy Birthday,Georges Méliès

Today is the 150th birthday of Georges Méliès, the remarkable filmmaker celebrated in the wonderful movie Hugo based on the wonderful book The Invention of Hugo Cabret.  I wish I could claim knowing this on my own, but in fact it was through film scholar Kristen Thompson's terrific essay, "HUGO: Scorsese's birthday present to Georges Méliè," that I was clued in.  The essay is just what I've been looking for — a consideration of the movie in terms of film history by an expert.  (Thanks so...

Whither the Awards (Again)

Good PW piece on the Newbery and Caldecott Awards, including some of the challenges today, with some familiar and smart people quoted:  "And the Winner is…"