Children's Literature

Children's book author and illustrator Chris Van Allsburg. His book The Polar Express a fable about a little boy who meets Santa Claus was/is a bestseller. It was written ten years ago, and each year at Christmas it's a big favorite. His new book is Bad Day At Riverbend (Houghton Mifflin). His book Jumanji (published in 1981) has been made into a new movie starring Robin Williams. (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his daughter Amy Carter. The two have collaborated on a new children's book, The Little Baby Snoogle-Fleejer (Times Books). The story is one that Cater made up, and told his children when they were young. Amy Carter illustrated the book.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "Fragments," the new memoir by Binjamin Wilkomirski about being a child of the Holocaust.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan recommends her favorite children's books of the year: "The Christmas Tree," "Sam and the Tigers," "Little Black Sambo" (revised edition) "The Complete Adventures of Curious George" "The Golden Compass."

Book Critic Maureen Corrigan provides us with a special holiday list of her favorite books. Great books from the past.

We remember Jeff Moss, one of the original creators and writers of "Sesame Street." He died Thursday, at the age of 56, from colon cancer. Moss created Cookie Monster and Oscar the Grouch, and wrote such songs as "Rubber Ducky" and "People in Your Neighborhood." He won 14 Emmy's, four Grammy's, and an Acacdemy Award nomination for his work on "Sesame Street" and with the Muppets. Moss was also the author of books for children, including "Hieronymus White: A Bird Who Believed That He Always Was Right" (REBROADCAST from 11/30/94)

Book critic Maureen Corrigan tells us her picks of children's books that adults love.

Children’s book writer Christopher Curtis has become the first writer to receive the prestigious Newberry Medal and the Coretta Scott King Author award for his book, “Bud, Not Buddy.” (Delacorte press). The story, set in the Depression Era, is about an orphan boy and his search for a home. Curtis is also the first African-American to win the Newbery Medal in 22 years. And he’s also author of “The Watsons Go to Birmingham” which was singled out for many awards. Before becoming a writer, CURTIS worked on an automobile assembly line in Flint, Michigan.

Writer Michael Patrick Hearn. He’s edited “The Annotated Wizard of Oz: A Centennial Edition” (W.W. Norton). The book commemorates the 100th anniversary of the publication of L. Frank Baum’s classic “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.” Back in 1900, the first 10,000 copies printed of Baum’s book sold out in two weeks. Baum wrote 14 Oz books in all.

We remember Cecile de Brunhoff, who died April 7 at the age of 99. It was the bedtime story she made up and told her sons in 1930 that became the basis for the world-famous Babar the Elephant stories. Her husband, Laurent de Brunhoff, wrote down the story and provided the illustrations. Terry talked with their son, author and illustrator Laurent de Brunhoff, who followed in his father's footsteps, and has written and drawn the continuing adventures of Babar the Elephant for the past 40 years. This interview first aired Feb. 28, 1990.

He's the creator of the Artemis Fowl series, featuring a 12-year-old millionaire criminal mastermind. Two of the three books in the series have been on The New York Times best seller list. The books are a combination of science fiction, fantasy, fairy tale and thriller. They are Artemis Fowl, Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident and Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code.

His new book is Uncle Andy's: A faabbbulous visit with Andy Warhol. It's a children's story about going to visit Warhol, in which Warhola chronicles one of the many trips he took with his family from Pittsburgh to New York City.

His new book Brundibar is based on a Czech opera of the same name. It was set to music by Hans Krasa, who was imprisoned in the Nazi concentration camp Terezin and later killed in Auschwitz. The opera was performed 55 times by the children of Terezin. Sendak has also written and illustrated the classic children's books Where the Wild Things Are, In The Night Kitchen and Outside Over There. Time magazine has said, "For Sendak, visiting the land of the very young is not something that requires a visa.

Film critic David Edelstein reviews The Cat in the Hat, starring Mike Myers and Alec Baldwin.

His new book is Looking for Bobowicz. In addition to his duties as an NPR commentator, he's written more than 60 books for children and the young at heart, including Irving and Muktuk: Bad Bears in the Big City and The Picture of Morty and Ray. Pinkwater lives in upstate New York with his wife Jill, who illustrated Looking for Bobowicz.

After a chart-topping and occasionally controversial music career, she is now turning out children's books, publishing four in just over a year. Her latest is The Adventures of Abdi. The others are The English Roses, Mr. Peabody's Apples and Yakov and the Seven Thieves. Her fifth, Lotsa de Casha, is due out in April 2005.

If a comic book about surviving middle school doesn't sound like a must read to you, think again. Critic Maureen Corrigan says that Jeff Kinney's Dog Days — the latest in his Diary of a Wimpy Kid series — hits home with any crowd.

Before there was Superman, other comics roamed the funny pages. The TOON Treasury of Classic Children's Comics is an anthology of these forgotten gems, lovingly selected by famed comic artist Art Spiegelman and his wife, Francoise Mouly.