Today I was on the NPR program, On Point, along with Esme Raji Codell and Pete Cowdin, talking about summer reading for kids. It was a blast! If you missed us live you can still listen to the show here.
Coming up with the requested “seven or eight” recently published titles was torture and so I ended up with nine. (Our lists are on the website — just scroll down to see them.) Figuring the radio audience wouldn’t be as familiar with kids’ books as many of us and wanting to suggest books I know for sure are kid hits ( as I’ve read them aloud and/or given them to my students to read) my list is a mix of new, well-known, some less-so, some for slightly older kids, some for younger ones, a few quirky titles perhaps, and so on. There’s a graphic novel (volcanoes!); one nonfiction (having just seen Philip Hoose and Claudette Colvin* at ALA accepting various awards it was on my mind); one picture book (fictionalized, but based on a real story); and the rest are novels for middle grade kids and up. I enjoyed putting it together and had a great time doing the broadcast. I’ve done a few radio shows, but always over the phone. Pretty neat, I have to say, to do it in an actual NPR studio.
* I first saw Phil and Claudette speak about the book last fall at the Schomburg Center here in Harlem. Claudette had a lot to say to the teens that comprised the bulk of the audience. Very, very moving indeed.
