When asked in an interview with School Library Journal if his background as a magician helped him as a writer, Sid Fleischman answered, "Magic is like a three-act play. You have to plan ahead; you have to look around corners. Inventing tricks is like plotting a novel ... my plots are more generous with their surprises." He surprised me again this morning when I read his obituary.

I can't remember how to search my journal so I'm not sure if this story is a repeat: a long time ago, Christopher was doing a report on Rosa Parks. He referred to her as if she were no longer alive, so when I read the paper I mentioned to him that I was pretty sure she was still around. He said, "Hold on!" and ran downstairs. When he returned, he was carrying Leslie Marmon Silko's Almanac of the Dead, figuring we could look her up.

Carrying on the kid lit theme, let me point you to a suspenseful series unfolding at Fuse #8 where the blogger is counting down her top 100 children's books. If you guess the top 10 in order you can win a fabulous prize! I love lists and I LOVE lists of books, but to guess the mind of a quirky--The Secret of the Old Clock above The Egypt Game? The Penderwicks at all?--set of kids' librarians is too intimidating for me. Anyway, it's a fun blog to read.