Kirkus cheers my new picture book, Santa Knows (Dutton, 2006): “The transformation of a nonbeliever on Christmas Eve is an old story, but Alfie F. Snorklepuss is a newly minted winner.”

Speaking of Santa Knows, it’s not every day I hear as delightful a reader story as the one featured of late at One Over-Caffeinated Mom: Kim’s Reading and Writing Home. Thanks for sharing, Kim!

Read about the Jingle Dancer puppet show from Liz B. at A Chair, A Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy.

Currently reading: Blind Faith by Ellen Wittlinger (Simon & Schuster, 2006)(excerpt). Read a Cynsations interview with Ellen. See also a review of Blind Faith by Kristi Olson at Teenreads.com.

More News & Links

The 2006 ALAN Award has been awarded to both author/editor Marc Aronson and scholar/author Virginia Monseau. Read a Cynsations interview with Marc.

The Broken Tusk: Stories of the Hindu God Ganesha by Uma Krishnaswami (Linnet, 1996) is now available from August House in paperback. Read a Cynsations interview with Uma.

Children’s Librarians Recommend Books for the Holidays from VLA Blogs. “The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), has created a list of new books recommended for holiday gift-giving, as well as reading about the holidays themselves.”

Congratulations to Maureen Doyle McQuerry on the the publication of Wolf Proof (Idyllis, 2006). Scroll to read related interview.

Congratulations also to the following authors on their November releases: Alma Fullerton, author of In the Garage (Red Deer, 2006); Natalie Standiford, author of Dating Game #6: Parallel Parking (Little Brown, 2006); and Lola Douglas, author of More Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet (Razorbill, 2006)(note that True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet is available in paperback).

“Book Proposals with Terry Whalin:” a chat transcript from the Institute of Children’s Literature.

GregLS Blog is now syndicated on LiveJournal. Greg is the author of Ninjas, Piranhas, and Galileo (Little Brown, 2003, 2005), Tofu and T. rex (Little Brown, 2005), and the co-author of Santa Knows (Dutton, 2006). See also Greg’s website.

Library Community Comes Together to Build Bridges: More than 1,100 attend First Joint Conference of Librarians of Color from VLA Blog.

Thanks to author Helen Hemphill (author interview) for sending me a copy of the latest cover of The ALAN Review, which features the cover art to: Indian Shoes by Cynthia Leitich Smith (HarperCollins, 2002); Tofu and T. rex by Greg Leitich Smith (Little Brown, 2005); Bone: Out from Boneville by Jeff Smith (Cartoon Books, 1996); Dateline: Troy by Paul Fleishman, illustrated by Gwen Frankfeldt and Glenn Morrow (Candlewick, 2006)(inside spread); Andy Warhol: Prince of Pop by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan (Delacorte, 2004); The Telling Pool by David Clement-Davies (Abrams, 2005); A Boy No More by Harry Mazer (Simon & Schuster, 2004)(author interview); Somebody’s Daughter by Marie Myung-Ok Lee (Beacon Press, 2005); and Crossing the Wire by Will Hobbs (HarperCollins, 2006).

Surf over to Spookycyn where I’m blogging of late about writing my newest gothic fantasy YA manuscript, Halloween, and the Texas Book Festival.

See also Jo Whittemore‘s TBF report and her Austin SCBWI Fall Conference notes. Read a recent Cynsations interview with Jo. Happy Birthday, Jo!