Jon Scieszka and I are in a fight

He totally destroyed my bracket. Check out the rest of the action at SLJ's Battle of the Books blog.

So Lori - fellow Queens librarian extaordinaire - and I are officially competing for a bottle of Casa Lapostolle Sauvignon Blanc...and, thanks to Jon, it looks like I'll be paying up. For the record, here are my picks:

FIRST ROUND:

Octavian wins over Ways
Graveyard wins over Trouble
Chains wins over Valley Forge
Tender Morsels wins over Here Lies Arthur (but I really want Arthur to win!)
Frankie over Ship (tough one!)
Hunger over Porcupine
Graceling over Underneath
Nation over Lincolns

SECOND ROUND:

Graveyard wins over Octavian
Chains wins over Tender Morsels
Hunger over Frankie
Nation over Graceling

THIRD ROUND:

Graveyard wins over Chains
Hunger wins over Nation

FOURTH AND FINAL ROUND:

Graveyard Book wins over Hunger Games

See what I mean? I'm completely screwed now.

Food books and Queens

Horn Book has a booklist up about food.  Naturally, I came up with completely different ones here, here, and here.

Which all reminds of some sad news: I just noticed the other day that How Pizza Came to Queens by Dayal Kaur Khalsa is out-of-print.  It's the one book we could truly call our own!  No longer.  

So thank goodness for David Ezra Stein.  Oh, and Mark Siegel.  Both Queens residents.  I'm definitely taking some consolation in that.  So boo to you, Brooklyn, and your silly Jon Scieszka.

What alcoholic beverage pairs best with your favorite children's book?

Examiner.com came out with a few fantastically awesome (and spot-on) lists of books to read with alcohol: beer, wine, and hard liquor.  I went through an embarrassing Victoria Holt stage in high school so I got a particular laugh out of the recommendation to read her with a glass of white wine.  I also snickered over the recommended pairing of Budweiser/Miller with America (The Book) by Jon Stewart - it's the perfect antidote to my overdose on election coverage.

So what about children's literature?  And young adult?  Am I the only one that does imbibe (sometimes) while reading?  What are some pairings you would choose?  I mean, obviously, you have to pair a raspberry cordial with Anne of Green Gables - that's a no-brainer.  Any others?  Here's a short list off the top of my head:

Beer:

- Sammy Keyes series by Wendelin Van Draanen (is it just me or is she Stephanie Plum in training?)

- Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Almost True Stories of Growing Up Scieszka by Jon Scieszka (totally!)

- Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan (probably something cheap and domestic...they are in high school, after all)

Wine:

- Sweet Valley High and Sarah Dessen's books are white wine books (I mean NO disrespect to Sarah Dessen by pairing these together!!!!  If it helps at all, SVH is a white zin and The Truth About Forever is a complicated, rich Viognier)

- Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series by Ann Brashares (totally white wine fare)

- My One Hundred Adventures by Polly Horvath and Miss Spitfire by Sarah Miller (these are Pinot Noir books - warm, cozy, lovely, complex but not weighed down)

- The Giver by Lois Lowry is a Zinfandel - Before I Die by Jenny Downham is a Zin too.

- The Luxe series by Anna Godbersen is soooooo champagne perfect!

Hard Liquor/Cocktails:

- Louise Rennison's Georgia Nicholson series is the perfect thing to read with a Cosmopolitan, anything pastel-colored, anything with -tini at the end of it.

- Whiskey neat: I think if Kiki Strike were to be an adult and a drinker, she'd go for a no-nonsense, tough-as-nails whiskey neat.  10 Cents a Dance by Christine Fletcher is a whiskey neat too, given the speak-easy nature of the setting.

- Harry Potter is challenging, but I would have to choose the pumpkintini I've been dreaming about for two years...you know, they drink all that pumpkin juice...get it???

- Lastly, I don't know if I'm getting the time period right here but doesn't it seem like you should drink mead with Good Masters!  Sweet Ladies! by Laura Amy Schlitz?

Eat, drink, and read children's books while doing so.

Tomi Ungerer in the Times

The New York Times has a very interesting article by Randy Kennedy about Tomi Ungerer and the reissues of his books in the States. Having met my fair share of authors and illustrators, I've been convinced that there are some out there that have no business having access to children. Likewise, there are many I have met who are rotten relating to adults but turn into big-hearted lovebugs around children. I would love to meet Tomi Ungerer and see if he fits into either of these categories. On that note, you also have the third category: Jon Scieszka.

I also find the debate about a children's author's "outside" interests intriguing and I don't really have an opinion formulated yet. I mean, Ungerer's politics and his interest in erotic cartoons affected (still affect?) his popularity in the States. Sound a little similar to a certain Orson Scott Card? Yep. Lots of similarities. I mean, if there are writers who are contributing to the children's literature canon, is it really for me to say what they do in other media outlets? I'm leaning toward "no." You know, when it comes down to the basics, I just want to read a really amazing story that kids will relate to, and I don't give a rat's arse what the author is creating outside of that gorgeous story. But still mulling it over...

Lastly, I think they liiiiiied to Tomi Ungerer: Times Square really is that Disney-fied. Let's hope the poor man doesn't fly over here to see it.