Post Teaser and Nice News...

Okay, I'm back from Seattle, full of turkey, and playing catch-up. I have started doing a sort of complicated post that's going to be book picks for your Christmas shopping... I hope to have it up mid-week, but we'll see how it goes!

In the meantime, I have some good news about my poetry collection, Water Sings Blue: it has made Kirkus's list of the Best Children's Books of 2012. There are 100 books total in fiction, nonfiction, picture book, MG, YA, graphic novel, early reader, and poetry, so of course I'm in very good company.

Here's the Kirkus list as a starting point for your holiday book shopping.

Or there's the New York Times list of the best illustrated books of the year.

Not to mention the Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards for Excellence in Children's Literature.

You might also want to check out the Cybils nominations if you haven't already. I'm especially big on the poetry list, and not just because Water Sings Blue shows up there, too. It's simply that I feel people often don't know where to find good poetry for children. You certainly can't count on B&N to carry a full selection of the latest poetry collections! So this list makes a good place to browse.

Now, if you're looking for classics to buy for your children, grandchildren, and students, try USA Today's 100 Greatest Books for Kids list. Better still, here's Betsy Bird's Top 100 Chapter Books from her poll earlier this year at Fuse #8, along with her Top 100 Picture Books.

More soon, I promise!

Note: The "Blue Whale" spread below is an example of Meilo So's truly gorgeous artwork for Water Sings Blue.

Update 12-17-12: Wow! Water Sings Blue made a Wall Street Journal best 10 books of the year list!