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  • From the Mixed-Up Files... > Learning Differences > Tua and the Elephant–and Five Lucky Winners

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    March 28, 2013: Big at Bologna

     

     

    This year at the Bologna Children's Book Fair, the focus has shifted to middle-grade.  “A lot of foreign publishers are cutting back on YA and are looking for middle-grade,” said agent Laura Langlie, according to Publisher's Weekly.  Lighly illustrated or stand-alone contemporary middle-grade fiction is getting the most attention.  Read more...

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    March 10, 2013: Marching to New Titles

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Check out these titles releasing in March...

     

     

     

     

     

    March 5, 2013: Catch the BEA Buzz

     

    Titles for BEA's Editor Buzz panels have been announced.  The middle-grade titles selected are:

     

     

    A Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates #1: Magic Marks the Spot by Caroline Carlson

     

     

    Counting By 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan

     

     

    The Fantastic Family Whipple by Matthew Ward

     

     

    Nick and Tesla's High-Voltages Danger Lab by Bob Pflugfelder and Steve Hockensmith

     

     

    The Tie Fetch by Amy Herrick

     

    For more Buzz books in other categories, read more...

     

     

     

    February 20, 2013: Lunching at the MG Roundtable 

     

    Earlier this month, MG authors Jeanne Birdsall, Rebecca Stead, and N.D. Wilson shared insight about writing for the middle grades at an informal luncheon with librarians held in conjunction with the New York Public Library's Children's Literary Salon "Middle Grade: Surviving the Onslaught." 

     

     

    Read about their thoughts...

     

    February 10, 2013: New Books to Love

     

     

     

     

     

    Check out these new titles releasing in February...

     

     

     

    January 28, 2013: Ivan Tops List of Winners 

    The American Library Association today honored the best of the best from 2012, announcing the winners of the Newbery, Caldecott, and Printz awards, along with a host of other prestigious youth media awards, at their annual winter meeting in Seattle.

    The Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature went to The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. Honor books were: Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz; Bomb: The Race to Build--and Steal--the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin; and Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage. 

    The Coretta Scott King Book Award went to Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who Changed America written by Andrea Davis Pinkney and illustrated by Brian Pinkney.

    The Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, which honors an author for his or her long-standing contributions to children’s literature, was presented to Katherine Paterson.  

    The Pura Belpre Author Award, which honors a Latino author, went to Benjamin Alire Saenz for his novel Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, which was also named a Printz Honor book and won the Stonewall Book Award for its portrayal of the GLBT experience.

    For a complete list of winners…

     

    January 22, 2013: Biography Wins Sydney Taylor

    Louise Borden's His Name Was Raoul Wallenberg, a verse biography of the Swedish humanitarian, has won the Sydney Taylor Award in the middle-grade category. The award is given annually to books of the highest literary merit that highlight the Jewish experience. Aimee Lurie, chair of the awards committee, writes, "Louise Borden's well-researched biography will, without a doubt, inspire children to perform acts of kindness and speak out against oppression."

    For more...

     

    January 17, 2013: Erdrich Wins Second O'Dell

    Louise Erdrich is recipient of the 2013 Scott O'Dell Award for her historical novel Chickadee, the fourth book in her Birchbark House series. Roger Sutton, Horn Book editor and chair of the awards committee, says of Chickadee, "The book has humor and suspense (and disarmingly simple pencil illustrations by the author), providing a picture of 1860s Anishinabe life that is never didactic or exotic and is briskly detailed with the kind of information young readers enjoy." Erdrich also won the O'Dell Award in 2006 for The Game of Silence, the second book in the Birchbark series. 

    For more...

     

    January 15, 2013: After the Call

    Past Newbery winners Jack Gantos, Clare Vanderpool, Neil Gaiman, Rebecca Stead, and Laura Amy Schlitz talk about how winning the Newbery changed (or didn't change) their lives in this piece from Publishers Weekly...

     

    January 2, 2013: On the Big Screen

    One of our Mixed-up Files members may be headed to the movies! Jennifer Nielsen's fantasy adventure novel The False Prince is being adapted for Paramount Pictures by Bryan Cogman, story editor for HBO's Game of Thrones. For more...

     


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Tua and the Elephant–and Five Lucky Winners

Mar 22, 2012
Learning Differences

Next month brings the publication of a an already-starred new novel, Tua and the Elephant, written by R.P. Harris and illustrated by Taeeun Yoo.

Tua is the story of a ten-year-old girl living in Thailand, who  meets an unusual and wise elephant chained up in the market.  The elephant is being used as tourist bait by two mahouts, or elephant drivers. Tua, whose name means “peanut” in the Thai language,  decides she must rescue it and see it safely to an elephant preserve.

A starred review in Kirkus says:

“Will Tua be successful in getting Pohn Pohn into the preserve?  For a book aimed at middle graders, kudos on three fronts: providing a child’s-eye view of Thailand with foreign words to be decoded in context, creating a strong connection between the elephant and the girl, and using a simple vocabulary to introduce the complex issue of poaching.  Yoo’s multiple illustrations, done in charcoal and linoleum block print, catapult the story even higher.  Foreign yet familiar, the action is often humorous and reinforces the sweet bond between pachyderm and “peanut”.  A rousing adventure that introduces the issue of elephant trafficking in a gentle and appropriate way.”

We’re giving away five copies of this lovely, moving novel.   For a chance to win, please leave your comment below. (As for me, I’m pairing this with Katherine Applegate’s wonderful new The One and Only Ivan when I recommend books to young animal/environment lovers!)

AND WHILE YOU’RE HERE:  Eyes left.  See that link to enter our latest free-Skype-giveaway?  CLICK for the chance to win a visit with the wonderful Erica Pearl.   

Written by: Tricia Springstubb on March 22, 2012.on July 10, 2012.
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