Celebrate Children's Book Week this week!
Would you read your child a book about a magical, beer-centric journey? Would you dip into his college fund to buy the latest Kindle? These are just a couple of the questions that have come up at Books & Authors over the past week, along with discussions of the latest Percy Jackson adventure and bets on what will win at the Children’s Choice Book Awards. And let’s not forget the steamy author discussions about the role of sex in fiction. See below for details …
- Tom Robbins’ latest book, B is for Beer, is marketed as both “a children’s book for grown-ups” and “a grown-up book for children.” In just over 120 pages, 5-year-old Gracie Perkel takes the reader on an exploration into the drink her daddy likes so much. The book has led to some lively discussion on Goodreads (with most people agreeing that it is not, in fact, a book for children), but the overall consensus seems to be that Robbins’ trademark humor can’t quite pull off a novel about children and beer. A review in the Orlando Sentinel captures this sentiment.
- Children’s Book Week is off and running with the annual gala tonight and Children’s Choice Book Award winners announced tomorrow. To check for events in your area and see suggestions for how to celebrate, check out the Children’s Book Week site. And please tell the kids you know that, yes, it’s okay to keep reading once this exciting week is over.
- Is the fifth and (supposed) final book in Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series, The Last Olympian, as satisfying as the previous four? Sonja Bolle of the Los Angeles Times seems to think so, even though she found the plot hard to follow. The most telling reviews probably come from actual kids, but if you don’t have one handy, you can read Bolle’s review here: The Last Olympian Review
- SEX. Now that we’ve got your attention, let’s narrow that down to sex in fiction. Sex scenes are a touchy subject for publishers (who fear alienating their more prudish readers), but many authors consider them just another part of their characters’ humanity. Four of Canada’s hippest authors (Claudia Dey, Nalo Hopkinson, Russell Smith and R.M. Vaughan) discuss how they handle sex in their work in the latest issue of Bookninja. You can read the hilarious and at times cringe-worthy debate at Bookninja online.
- Amazon’s Kindle is back in the headlines this week with its new, super-sized version. This Kindle has more processing power than the original, and its 9-inch screen is designed for reading newspapers and textbooks. But experts wonder if the improvements merit the significantly higher price of $489. Will people be willing to pay iPhone prices for a device with far fewer applications? At this point Amazon must wait and see. You can read more about the pros and cons in this Wall Street Journal article.
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