Josh Funk: Tuesday, August 20th

A problematic Florida reading list, NerdCamp news, and three middle grade sequels full of adventure. We’ve got all this and more.

I’m Corrina Allen and this is All The Wonders This Week.

Joining me today to talk about all things exciting and new in the world of children’s literature is Josh Funk - author of The Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast series, the It’s Not a Fairy Tale series, How to Code a Sandcastle AND the coming-this-September How to Code a Rollercoaster!

• Author Matthew Cherry shared a clip of the Hair Love animated short shown before the Angry Birds 2 movie 
• Indiebound just released their Kids Fall Indie Next list - including Okay, Witch by Emma Steinkellner and 
• We Need Diverse Books Summer Fundraiser  - don’t wait too long because it only lasts until September 1st!
• 100th episode of the Fuse 8 n’ Kate Podcast - Poky Little Puppy episode and The Berenstain Bears and the Bull episode
• The response to the Florida Commissioner of Education’s Back to School Reading List - including analysis by Debbie Reese.
• Nerd Camp Michigan announced they are taking a break for a year and will decide if they’ll continue in 2021. 

• The 19th annual Library of Congress National Book Festival is Saturday, August 31st
• Princeton Children’s Book Festival on September 14th
• Registration is now open for NerdCamp Northern New England which takes place in Freeport, Maine on Saturday, September 28th.

There is not a lot in the way of children’s movies or TV shows coming out this week, but I did want to give you an update about a film mentioned on the previous episode.

Movies

• Last week, I mentioned that I was dubious about the new live action Dora movie called Dora and the Lost City of Gold - but I am hearing great things about it!  Susan Tan, author of the Cilla-Lee Jenkins series had this to say about it:

Josh

• I recently read  Ogilvy by Deborah Underwood and T.L. McBeth and and Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard and Juana Martinez-Neal.  I’ve been listening to the audiobook of Lemony Snicket’s The Grim Grotto with my son and we are reading The Parker Inheritance together.  And an adult book called Homegrown: How the Red Sox Built a Champion from the Ground Up by Alex Speier. And next up is a young adult book called Shatter the Sky by Rebecca Kim Wells.

Corrina

• Toni Morrison’s The Big Box, and  Maybe He Just Likes You by Barbara Dee 

Corrina

On my mind this week as I prepare my classroom for the beginning of school is how to curate a classroom library and knowing when to purge old books.  In light of some reading I’ve been doing lately, I’ve temporarily pulled most of the non-fiction and fiction pieces featuring Native American characters and content until I can verify that the messages in them are accurate and not harmful.

Josh

I think that for me, it’s really seeing all of the schools that are starting. So I’m thinking about all the teachers and librarians and principals and faculty and students that are about to start a new chapter of their lives. And I’m just hopeful that you all have an incredible 2019-2020 school year, and I wish you all the best!