Link Love -- Children's Classics, Summer Camp, and a Bevy of New Releases!

A quick rundown of some kidlit links of interest from the past week:

~  First up: a peek inside the home of the fantastic Tomie dePaola, author/illustrator of the classic Strega Nona series and my personal fave, 26 Fairmont Avenue. For wit and whimsy and all the things that make kidlit wonderful, Tomie dePaola's books are the best of the best. Check out this amazing behind-the-scenes tour from Shelftalker blogger Elizabeth Bluemle.

~ Also from Shelftalker, blogger Josie Leavitt on parents who claim "she's not a strong reader". What we say affects our kids, no doubt, and when we expect that they won't be interested in something, especially reading, that often proves to be true. Positive talk and attitudes go a long way!

~  TBR list alert! From the Diversity In YA blog, a roundup of August releases that feature diversity in a main character or plotline.

~ Speaking of new releases, one I'm pretty excited to read is Vanished by debut author Sheela Chari, a middle-grade mystery with a protagonist who happens to be Indian-American. Cynthia Leitich Smith profiled Sheela Chari over at her blog Cynsations. Check back later for my review!

~ And here's another must-read: the new release by Brian Selznick, Wonderstruck. Check out this interview from Publisher's Weekly. So many cool threads in this one novel, and the illustrations are sure to be amazing, of course. References to From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler? Swoon!

~ All of us have a few children's titles we consider classics, the kind of timeless works that we return to again and again, and can't wait to share with the young readers in our lives. For me the list is pretty long, and I'm pleased to note that a few (The Snowy Day, Harry the Dirty Dog, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel) are hits with Sprout already. The Lemuria Bookstore Blog asks "what do children's classics mean to you?", and gets some intriguing answers.

~ If you're passionate about sharing books with others, this is the link for you. The Little Free Library is a movement that started small but is spreading to communities all across the country. I'd love to do this where we live -- what a fun way to spread some literary love!

~ Summer is just not the same for grown-ups -- no long vacations, lazy days reading library books, and definitely no summer camp. Which is a complete bummer, because this camp for bookish kids is one I would love to attend, even now. Can you even believe that author list! Seriously, adulthood is soooo not fair.

~ I'm a recent convert to audiobooks but I LOVE them, mainly because the format allows me to sneak in a whole lot more reading than I'd otherwise be able to do. If you love audios too, you'll want to take a peek at the AudioSynced July Roundup over at Abby the Librarian's blog. (Why yes, there are a couple of reviews from yours truly on the list. What do you know!)

~ And finally, librarians as superheroes? Oh yeah. Check out this list of 10 Action Librarians from The Mary Sue.