Morning Notes: Stars Upon Thars Edition

CALDECOTT CALLED

*Update* The fine blog Calling Caldecott just announced the results of their first round of mock voting. All my picks made it, so I’m a happy camper. Click here to read.

ALL THE STARS

ShelfTalker put out the final tally of books that received starred reviews, a list that I always get a kick out of. Can you guess the books in the elusive seven star club? Click here to find out.

FUSEBERY/FUSEDECOTT AWARDS

Fusedecott really rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it? The illustrious Fuse #8 Production has named names for the books she thinks will win Newbery and Caldecott glory (and the ones she thinks will not) on Monday. Always fun to see folks stick their neck out and make some calls. Click here to read.

STEADBERY/PHILDECOTT AWARDS

And while we’re on the Newbery/Caldecott topic, how about some picks from picture book creators Philip C. and Erin E. Stead? They recently shared their favorites on Philip’s blog. But really, I’m going to remember this post for the bowl of disembodied Mac Barnett heads. Click here to read.

(Thanks to Jules Danielson for the link)

ME, ELSEWHERE

I wrote about the infinitely useful (and occasionally controversial) social network Goodreads for School Library Journal this month. They even went and added a nice illustration. Click here to read it online.

READING LEVEL OUT; BRAIN SCAN IN

This is crazy. Researchers at Stanford are creating method to predict a child’s reading ability via MRI. I repeat: this is crazy. Click below to watch:

BUILDING WITH BOOKS

Stack of books or miniature apartment? Frank Halmans chooses the latter. Click the image below to see more.

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Amazon Children’s Publishing recently announced they are launching two new imprints – Skyscape for teen fare and Two Lions for young readers. Does anyone else see extreme irony in Amazon naming an imprint after the well-known lion statues outside the main branch of the New York Public Library? All I’m sayin’ is: veeery interesting choice.

Click here for all the info.

(Thanks to Publishers Weekly for the link)

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