“You’ll Really Like This Character…” (I hope)

Interesting thoughts from Steven Engelfried of the Association for Library Services for Children

I like a good story, and appreciate eloquent writing, but the element that I seem to respond to most strongly in books is characterizations. And I think many kids respond that way too. In a year’s worth of children’s books, we get to meet so many very interesting people (and animals). My favorite 2007 characters include a girl who chases chickens (The Chicken Chasing Queen of Lamar County by Janice Harrington) (I like Miss Hen a lot too), two boat-loving twins with a language of their own (Mokie and Bik by Wendy Orr), a girl who masters a Neil Diamond song on an organ (A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban), and a dog who serves in the Vietnam War (Cracker by Cynthia Kadohata).

To read the rest of his review:

ALSC Blog � Blog Archive � “You’ll Really Like This Character…” (I hope)