Tuesday Blurbs: The Chapter Book Edition (Updated)

Updated to fix the correct link for Fuse #8’s Children’s Fictional Chapter Book Poll.

Oh, kidlitosphere, why do you torture me so? Yes, I am participating in Mother Reader and Lee Wind’s Comment Challenge 2010, and, as Michelle at Galleysmith, Lori Calabrese, and Beth at Library Frog point out, the comment challenge isn’t really breaking a resolution. But playing along with these two awesomely cool events will be … so I’ll compromise. I’ll be a cheerleader for others and comment on their blogs.

Last year it was the Top 100 Picture Book Poll (that turned into 101),  now Betsy Bird of Fuse #8 fame is conducting a  poll of  the top 100 children’s fictional chapter books. Between now and 31 January 2009, nominate your top 10 middle grade books of all time. Betsy is explicit in the rules that eligible books do not include early readers or YA books. She suggests that you visit Powell’s website if you would like assistance in determining the audience.

The In the Middle Reading Challenge is QUITE enticing. Isn’t that button just adorable?  The O.W.L. blog (Outrageously Wonderful Literature from the Middle Grades) is hosting the event, which I learned about from Natalie Sap at This Purple Crayon. The deadline to sign up is 16 January 2010.

Speaking of middle grade readers … did you see the latest edition of the Big Fresh, the Choice Literacy newsletter? I hadn’t had a chance to read it, but Sarah Mulhern had a great post yesterday at the Reading Zone with a summary of an article about schoolwide literacy activities. She classifies it as a “Must Read,” so I did. Like Sarah, I also loved the idea of students listing their current read on their locker, but my favorite was a school-wide D.E.A.R. event. Imagine the power of a first grader seeing one of those “cool” fourth graders enjoying a book! Or a fifth grader reading to a group of Bright Star students.

Now that we’ve sequeyed from lists to literacy … If you’re looking for a one-stop spot for great articles about reading and literacy, look no further than Bianca Schulze’s Top 10 Children’s Literature Articles of 2009 at The Children’s Book Review. This is fabulous collection of articles with the how, why, and fun of reading together.

Happy Tuesday … Remember it’s National DeLurking Week. So leave a comment!