LISNews: Librarian News

The days of children reading traditional books are numbered, claims the man spearheading a campaign to improve literacy in schools.

Publishers must adapt titles to the demands of modern young readers who spend more time on the internet if they are to succeed in persuading the next generation to read, says Jonathan Douglas, the director of the National Literacy Trust.

"When PJ Haarsma wrote his first book, a science fiction novel for preteenagers, he didn’t think just about how to describe Orbis, the planetary system where the story takes place. He also thought about how it should look and feel in a video game....Mr. Haarsma is not the only one using video games to spark an interest in books. Increasingly, authors, teachers, librarians and publishers are embracing this fast-paced, image-laden world in the hope that the games will draw children to reading."
Will gamers pick up books if they need to in order to play a game? Does gaming offer useful skills on its own?. The NYT ponders.

The Riverside Library in Oak Park IL will host a series of events celebrating the children's book "Bats at the Library", which includes a storyline and illustrations based on the that exact library.

Batoberfest culminates with a book signing event, featuring the BATSmobile (a Toyota Prius with a huge bat replica affixed on top) and author/illustrator Brian Lies-who enjoyed visiting the Riverside library as a child. As Lies was finishing up the illustrations for his best-selling book "Bats at the Beach", a librarian in his hometown Massachusetts library told him that they actually had found a bat in that library. Lies set the sequel in the Riverside Library, considered "perfect for bats"... high ceilings, limestone and wood furniture-the classic bat library.

"I'd had a lot of fun in the bats' world, and was starting to feel wistful about leaving for good," Lies said. "And I thought, 'Maybe I don't have to leave their world after all.'" More battiness here.

Nixon! Environmentalism! Hitler! War!

The latest bestseller? Historical fiction? A new take on the Cold War?

No, they're just a few of the themes and controversies behind the world's greatest author of children's books. Take a look at some of the lesser known stories behind the literary world's most loved books. Even if Dr. Seuss never set out to start trouble, sometimes trouble just kind of finds you.