Children’s Bookselling

1. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
(Scholastic, $17.99, 9780439023481 / 0439023483)

The Fall '08 Kids' Next List is now featured on IndieBound.org in a fun, interactive format that makes it easy for consumers to purchase these insightful indie recommendations.

The first Children's Indie Next List is now available for preview. The new list showcases not only a wide range of exemplary titles for young readers, as chosen by indie booksellers, but also a new, redesigned format.

1. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, Dave McKean (illus.)
(HarperCollins, $17.99, 9780060530921 / 0060530928)

This Friday, July 11, is the deadline for nominations for the Fall Children's Indie Next List, which will be the debut kids' Next List.

The Summer 2008 Book Sense Children's Picks list is available now for preview. The list will be arriving at independent bookstores with Book Sense by the end of this month.

To celebrate the publication of On a Scary Scary Night (Cartwheel Books), the sixth book in Walter Wick's Can You See What I See? series, Scholastic Inc. and the American Booksellers Association are teaming up to sponsor the Can You See What I See? store window contest.

1. SAVVY, by Ingrid Law (Dial, $16.99, 9780803733060/ 0803733062) "Mississippi Beaumont (Mibs, for short) is about to turn 13, and in her unusual family that's when a 'savvy' arrives. One brother can produce electricity. Another causes hurricanes. The special talent that arrives, for her, however, is not at all what she expects. This rollicking novel is full of charm and energy." --Joanne R. Fritz, Chester County Book & Music Company, West Chester, PA

Children's booksellers can look forward to special programming every day from Wednesday afternoon, May 28, through Saturday, May 31, at BookExpo America 2008. Among the myriad events are an author's tea, a game show for lovers of books for teens and 'tweens, speed dating with children's authors, a traditional children's book and author breakfast, a mostly silent auction, and more.

Children's Book Week is being celebrated this year from Monday, May 12, to Sunday, May 18. The 89th annual event, sponsored by the Children's Book Council (CBC), in association with the CBC Foundation, features an array of activities, including the First Annual Children's Book Choice Awards and a children's version of the National Endowment for the Arts' (NEA) Big Read with New York City's Mercantile Library for Fiction.

The cover of Mary E. Pearson's new novel, The Adoration of Jenna Fox, bears an image of a butterfly -- a deep blue one with slightly damaged wings. It's an image that holds special meaning for Pearson, who told BTW in a recent interview, "I like looking at it -- and I love the serendipity of it all."

The Spring 2008 Book Sense Children's Picks List is available now for preview. The list will be arriving at independent bookstores with Book Sense by the end of this month.

Additional copies of the Spring Kids' Picks may be requested via e-mail to [email protected].

AAP/ALSC Task Force Creates Children's Title List to Promote Literacy Among Hispanic and Latino Communities

This week, the Women's National Book Association announced the nominees for the 2008 Lucile Micheels Pannell Awards, recognizing retail bookstores that excel at inspiring the interest of young people in books and reading.

On Monday, January 14, the American Library Association (ALA) announced the winners of the Caldecott and Newbery medals and numerous other awards recognizing the best children's and young adult literature. The announcements were made at ALA's Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia.

The winners are:

JOHN NEWBERY MEDAL for the most outstanding contribution to children's literature

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices From a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz (Candlewick)

NEWBERY HONOR BOOKS