2010 Notable Children's Books

I don't know about you but I'm always on the lookout for great children's books. My little guy (7 months) still mostly just wants to gnaw on the books at this point, but I still love reading to him. I really enjoy many of the stories myself. The Association for Library Service to Children just released their list of 2010 Notable Children's Books. The list is pretty long so I'm not posting it all but here are a few that I thought looked interesting. If any of you out there have read any of these, please let me know what you thought!

For young readers:

The Curious Garden. By Peter Brown.
Liam discovers a patch of lonely plants in an elevated train track and encourages them to grow into a magnificent garden that spreads throughout the drab city.

Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors. By Joyce Sidman. Illus. by Pamela Zagarenski.
Evocative poems celebrate color and enliven the senses as readers follow a woman and her dog surrounded by myriad intricately costumed and stylized figures through the seasons. (A 2010 Caldecott Honor Book.)

A Book. Mordicai Gerstein. Illus. by the author.
Part of a family who live inside a book, a young girl travels through fairy tales, mysteries, adventure yarns, and historical novels in search of a story of her own.

For middle readers:

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. By Grace Lin. Illus. by the author.
A young Chinese girl, long a believer in her father’s fantastic stories, goes on a quest to find the legendary Old Man of the Moon in the hope of bringing life to Fruitless Mountain. (A 2010 Newbery Honor Book.)

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate. By Jacqueline Kelly.
Eleven-year-old Calpurnia Virginia Tate and her curmudgeony old grandfather bond over their interest in the evolution of the species on a Texas plantation at the turn of the last century. (A 2010 Newbery Honor Book.)

Anne Frank: her life in words and pictures from the archives of the Anne Frank House. By Menno Metselaar and Ruud van der Rol.
A visual companion to other accounts of Anne Frank’s life is told chiefly through photographs, many published nowhere else, and handwritten excerpts from her actual diary in a well-researched and powerful and compact package.

Click here for the complete list of Notable Children's Books. Enjoy reading!

Haitian Earthquake: Children and Chronic Stress

We are all saddened and disturbed by the pictures of devastation coming out of Haiti in the aftermath of the massive earthquake. I personally feel so blessed and fortunate to live in the U.S. where, although we are not immune to natural disasters, we have many resources to help cope with and recover from such events. I wasn't aware until recently that prior to the earthquake Haiti has also experience massive flooding and several severe hurricanes in recent years. Any one of these natural disasters would be devastating but to experience all of them in the course of a few short years is more than any country could bear. Of course, even before the earthquake Haiti was already one of the poorest countries on the planet and one of the least able to handle such disasters.

My thoughts are with all the Haitian people but I can't help but especially feel for the children of this country. Unfortunately, disasters and wars in the past have provided opportunities for researchers to understand how such stressful circumstances affect children and their development. Children, like adults, can handle certain amounts of stress. Our bodies are set up to respond to stress in a "fight or flight" reaction. Stress hormones (primarily cortisol) increase rapidly under stress and prepare our bodies to react. Under most circumstances, this rise in stress hormones is short-lived and our bodies return to normal after the threat has passed. In the case of chronic stress, however, these stress hormones remain high for extended periods of time. Without the help of an adult to help children cope with stress and thus help their body return to "normal," children can face many long-term negative consequences of chronic stress. When stress hormones remain elevated for long periods of time, they can interrupt the processes in the developing brain of young children, resulting in problems with functions such as memory, learning, and self-regulation. Exposure to chronic stress can put children at risk for problems later in life as well such as physical illnesses and mental health problems such as anxiety and depression.

With these facts in mind, please keep the Haitian people in your thoughts. The children of this country especially need all the help they can get from caring, responsive adults to cope with this disaster and the resulting upheaval. If you are able, consider donating to one of the many organizations serving Haiti such as Doctors Without Borders or Red Cross.

Also keep in mind all children, even those in relatively privileged countries, who experience stress all too often in their young lives due to domestic abuse, poverty, or mental illness. All children deserve a safe, peaceful childhood.

Reference: The Science of Early Childhood Development: Closing the Gap Between What We Know and What We Do. (2007). Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University.

Photo credit: Red Cross

Yet Another Reason Not to Fight in Front of the Kids

We all know that parents arguing is not a great thing, especially if it happens in front of their children. New research from the University of Rochester, Syracuse University and University of Notre Dame, however, is showing that parental conflict may also affect how children perform in school. One recent study followed 216 6-year-olds over a period of three years. The children's teachers were asked about the kids' behavior at school such as interaction with peers, participation in classroom activities, and following teacher's instructions. As part of the study, the children were also asked about their worries and thoughts about how their parents got along. Here are the major results:

- child who reported more negative thoughts/worries about their parents getting along had more attention problems

- children with more attention problems were more likely to have more problems in school (as reported by teachers) the same year and one year later

- the authors report that many of the children's worries were based on witnessing their parents relationship problems

So what does this really mean? Well, it seems that kids who witness their parents' disagreements on a regular basis are, not surprisingly, troubled by this conflict. They worry and think about these conflicts as a way of coping. While this worry may serve to help them cope, it also seems that it may make it hard for them to concentrate on school-related tasks.

I found this study interesting because although we all know that parental conflict isn't good for kids, this study examined why and how this is the case. It's not just seeing the conflict that is harmful, but it causes kids to worry so much that it interferes with their ability to concentrate on school. Kids are people too! We find it hard to concentrate on work when we're upset about something and they do too.

Photo credit

Reference: Child Development, vol. 79, issue 5. Children's Insecure Representations of the Interparental Relationship and their School Adjustment: The Mediating Role of Attention Difficulties. Davies, P.T., Woitach, M.J. (University of Rochester), Winter, M.A. (Syracuse University), and Cummings, E.M. (University of Notre Dame).