1 | Cathy C. Hall Writes

You know why having two blogs is nice? I get to spread good news twice! (And make a little poem about it, too!)

Last year, I read about a call-out for puppet plays. Not just any puppet plays–these had to be plays tied into books or words or other concepts that librarians could use. And the plays had to be written for a young audience–4 to 7 years, I think. So I figured I’d give it a try.

And I really liked writing that puppet play. Mostly because I love dialogue. In a perfect writing world, I’d write all the dialogue and get someone else to write all the descriptions and transitions and settings. Kind of like…well, plays. But something tells me that writing plays longer than 3 pages might be more difficult than it looks.

Anyway, I was thrilled when my play, “Oh, Deer! Oh, Dear!” was selected for Puppet Plays for Librarians. It’s a funny, little mix-up play with a Princess, Santa, a deer and a fly, introducing little kidlets to the concept of homonyms. I’ve read quite a few of the other plays and all I can say is that if I were a kid, I’d love storytime at the library!

You can get more information about Puppet Plays for Librarians here. Now if only I had a few more blogs…

You should probably know that I get a little crazy at Christmas. And that includes my blogs.

But honestly, this time around, I was just going to add snow falling on my blog. Easy as filling up the old stocking! But the snow didn’t look quite right on the original background. So I thought, hmmmm. I’ll just change my blog background.

But then I saw this new template with customizable headers. I LOVE customizable headers! So I changed my whole blog and added the Christmas pic. Easy as stringing popcorn. Then, whilst checking over the merry old blog, I noticed that eeek! I hadn’t changed my books in FOREVER! So I added a few Christmas favorite reads.

Which brings me to finding a few good books for you to read. At the end of the year, all kinds of folks share their “Best of…” lists. So, instead of racing around from one spot to the next, why not check these links for a few good lists of award-winning books from 2010? Because honestly, in another month, you’ll have to catch up on award-winning books of 2011.

Here’s the 2010 list of Books to Share and Read from the New York Public Library (if you can make it there, you’ll make it anywhere).

And here’s the link to the Parents’ Choice Award Winners (Fiction) but you can look around and find picture books and non-fiction, too.

Here’s the School Library Journal’s list of Best Books 2010, Fiction (also look for picture books and non-fiction).

And here’s the Kirkus Review’s list of Best Children’s Books as well as the Kirkus Review’s list of Best Books for Teens.

I’ve got some seriously fine reading ahead of me. And I’ll get to it, soon. As soon as I finish hanging candy canes all over the house. (P.S. What’s YOUR favorite read from 2010? I’d love to hear all about it!)