Category Archive

To declare a trend of similar children’s book covers a “controversy” is a stretch to say the least. But what the heck. The list of kid’s book covers featuring socks just continues to grow. Take a look at the newest addition:

Switchin it up with the dots, but it still falls squarely into the socks cover category with:

100 Scope Notes vows to keep you posted with any new developments.

“A person’s a person no matter how small” - apparently even the really, really, small. Pro life folks have taken to “Horton Hears a Who”, saying its message supports their cause. They got so fired up they even crashed the big Hollywood premier last month. Click below to listen to an NPR audio clip explaining the controversy.

A few months back I posted about a curious similarity between the covers of the Vintage Classic edition of “Alice in Wonderland”

and recent Cybils Award winner “A Crooked Kind of Perfect”.

Well, it appears that the trend of keeping feet warm continues on two more recent children’s lit covers. First up is “Deep Down Popular”:

Switching it up a bit with the argyle, but same concept.

Also joining the team is “Kickoff”:

What’s the deal?! Back with the stripes, but in a different setting than the others. Until they make a cover with someone sporting SmartWools (best socks ever), I refuse to be happy about this trend.

*Update* Another warm-footed cover has joined the party. Click here to take a look.

A clip (allegedly) from the film adaptation of “Where the Wild Things Are” has appeared on the internet recently, to a variety of reactions. Some say that the video isn’t authentic, some say that it is incomplete, and some say it’s the real deal. Take a look below to form your own opinion.

To my eyes, it looks pretty authentic and pretty cool. That’s not to say that it’s a finished product or that it will appear in the film, but it doesn’t seem to be fan-generated. What’s your opinion? Let us know in the comments!

(Thanks to the blog Pop Candy for the tip)

I thought I was through with reports on the Golden Compass controversy. The movie comes out tomorrow and the time for hype is over. Then I visited the excellent children’s lit blog Educating Alice this afternoon.  She linked to article on Mr. Pullman’s work that I had to share.

Is ‘The Golden Compass’ really anti-Christian? | csmonitor.com

(Thanks to Educating Alice for the link)

It’s been a bit since my original post, so I thought it was about time for a follow up.

Backlash over the film has continued as the December 7 release date approaches. Religious groups in the US and Canada continue to speak out against the themes contained in both the book and the movie, resulting in the book being pulled from the shelves of Halton Catholic Schools in Toronto.  Publishers Weekly also reported on the controversy in its weekly Children’s Bookshelf newsletter.

Click here to view the most recent trailer for the film.

I enjoy socks, especially when they’re warm. It appears that I’m not alone. When I recently saw the cover for the Vintage Classic version of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland over at Becky’s Book Reviews, I couldn’t help but notice a similarity to a recently published (an well received) title. You be the judge. Here’s the Alice cover:

Pretty nice, right? Well, here is the cover for “A Crooked Kind of Perfect”:

Huh?! The stripes, the background, the text with curlicues - these appear to have been separated at birth. What is going on here?

It all began with a little email that went like this:

Movie Warning

THE GOLDEN COMPASS, a new movie targeted at children, will be released December 7, 2007. This movie is based on a the first book of a trilogy by atheist Philip Pullman. In the final book a boy and girl kill God so they can do as they please. Pullman left little doubt about his intentions when he said in a 2003 interview that ‘My books are about killing God.’
The movie is a watered down version of the first book and is designed to be very attractive in the hope unsuspecting parents will take their children to see the the movie and that the children will want the books for Christmas.
The movie has a well known cast, including Nicole Kidman, Kevin Bacon, and Sam Elliott. It will probably be advertised extensively, so it is crucial that we get the word out to warn parents to avoid this movie.
You can research this for yourself. Start with this article on Snopes.com, then go to Google.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp
or www.truthorfiction.com

Yikes. This sort of message was tailor made to drum up some good ole’ fashioned book backlash. Indeed it has. The message has been forwarded to all corners of the country, and a number of religious groups have already made their disapproval known. I’m part of a school librarians listserve (fancy name for email list), and my inbox has nearly caught fire with everyone weighing in. At the end of August, The Golden Compass was selected for inclusion in Al’s Book Club for Kids, adding fuel to the fire of those who disagree with the book’s content. Pullman defends his book in this interview. Interesting, to say the least.

(Thanks to Karen for the email)