Morsels of children's news with a pinch of foodie talk

It’s a dreary, rainy day in NYC and, naturally, we still don’t have any snow. I have friends and family in places like San Luis Obispo and Raleigh…they have snow. I’m surprised my friends in Arizona haven’t reported getting snow. Everywhere but NYC. I was unaware that we were protected by some sort of forcefield, apparently.

So I’ve had no other choice but to avoid work and browse blogs and news.

** Educating Alice is raging today, and it’s awesome. Alison started it by blogging about peeking versus non-peeking: people who read ahead and people who would never. Alison is very judicious about the issue, soliciting opinions from readers. But the responses to Alison's post are passionate and confessional - there are a lot of peekers out there! What has Monica annoyed are the non-peekers that feel they've taken a nobler, higher moral ground by not peeking. One commenter on Alison's post said that peeking "would simply be wrong!", and a publisher even got in on the act, asking readers to stop peeking and compromising the integrity of the author's work, or something like that. I'm just annoyed that, more and more, the way we go about our lives and the daily small choices we make are being being dictated to us. Do it this way! No, do it this way! Sheesh. Reading and, to a certain extent, libraries are two of America's greatest examples of democracy. To each their own or, as Monica succinctly put it, "the democracy of reading rules!"

** Booklist has put up their interview with Christopher Paul Curtis and it's fantabulous, as Curtis is one of the most articulate and brilliant authors out there. I particularly enjoyed Curtis' observation that humor is "the twin sister of tragedy. They are inextricably wound together." The interview also turns incredibly potent when Curtis likens a black person's use of the n-word to a "suicide bomb."

** Sweet Valley High is being reissued!!!!! It's like I've been transported back in time and my 11-year-old heart is leaping with unbridled joy! Apparently some things have changed: the Wakefield twins no longer drive a Fiat Spider (Damn, I loved the Fiat - I was convinced that I would drive one too when I turned 16. Instead I got a 1967 Buick. Shazam!) and Elizabeth has an anonymous blog whereas, in the original books, she had an anonymous column in the school paper. The cover has been redesigned too, of course. The new one is okay, but you can't really tell the twins apart, which I liked about the original covers. Thanks to A Chair, A Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy for the link. Carlie mentions in the "SVH 2.0" post that, before Stephenie Meyer's "Team Jacob" and "Team Edward" t-shirts, there could have been "Team Todd" and "Team Jeffrey" shirts. I would've worn "Team Todd": Todd Wilkins, now and forever, baby. I take it a step further: you know how Sex and the City came out with "I'm a Carrie" or "I'm a Charlotte" shirts? You could totally do that for Sweet Valley High: "I'm a Jessica" or "I'm an Elizabeth". Or "I'm a Lila." Which one are you? I'm totally an Elizabeth.

** Fuse has some great posts up right now. First, I love her description of how NYPL goes about sharing their "100 Favorites" list - I'm already brainstorming about how I can get something like that going here at Queens. Granted, we don't have a fancy list like NYPL, but we can still do a dramatic sharing of titles we like. I've been finding it a bit of a challenge, in a large system like this, to find out what the librarians are reading and what they're enjoying. It would be a hoot if everyone would really get involved with an event like this. Even better, it would be fantastic to hold it after-hours and provide wine and hors d'oeuvres. Fuse also has a Save Central Children's campaign going, echoed by A Chair, A Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy. I'm jumping on too. That space is magical, and I can hardly imagine that treasure trove of resources and literature scattering to 80-some branches. Unthinkable. Do the right thing, NYPL.

** The Telegraph came out wiht their list of "100 Books Every Child Should Read." As with every list of this nature, there's always room for debate. I would have liked to see some more newer titles, for one thing. Thanks to Bookshelves of Doom for the link.

** And in foodie-related news, right on the heels of my fondue rant last night, I got an email from Saveur, my favorite foodie magazine, and guess what food they were featuring for Super Bowl Sunday: Fond-friggin-uuuuue. Stop the madness.

And now that I finished writing this post, it's sunny outside. The clouds and rain are gone. Yep, I still don't see any snow.