The Golden Compass.

An extended trailer is available for the movie of The Golden Compass.

You can view it here.

This movie looks amazing. The preview gave me shivers. Be sure to order a couple of extra copies of these wonderful books, because I have a feeling they are going to gain a whole new audience when the movie comes out.

Is Junie B. Talking Trash?

Here's an interesting New York Times article about parental reaction to the Junie B. Jones books. I grabbed the link from Roger Sutton, whose Read Roger blog is one of the highlights of the children's blogosphere.

Personally, I think Junie B. is hilarious, but I am a proponent of the subversive in children's lit. If you're looking for an alternative, though, try the Andy Shane books, whose protagonist is a nice, quiet foil for the overbearing June B.

Don't read to babies. Come to think of it, don't even talk to them!

This article has some sobering implications for our profession and its association with emergent literacy:

Leave those kids alone: The idea that adults should be playing with their kids is a modern invention -- and not necessarily a good one.

Galaxy of Stories

The London Times produces Galaxy of Stories, where you can download children's stories told by famous actors and comedians.

Watch out for spoilers!

If you care about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and you hate spoilers (I am guilty on both counts), you might want to avoid the internet for the next week or so. It sounds like spoilers of dubious veracity are going up everywhere. Beware Livejournal. Beware!

On a happier note, if you haven't checked out The Whomping Willows yet, you definitely should. They will be appearing in Worcester and Wicomico counties on July 30 and 31.

Children's albums and humor.

1. School Library Journal did a story on twelve kids' (music) albums you can't live without. I can vouch for the Elizabeth Mitchell one and the They Might Be Giants one - my 17-month-old loves both of them.

Read about the other ones here.

2. A funny list from McSweeney's Internet Tendency, a satiric online magazine:

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR OF
BABYBUG, A MAGAZINE FOR READERS AGE 6 MONTHS TO 2 YEARS.