With Global Warming on the rise it may not be so far-fetched after all that years from now children may not even know what an elephant is, much less be able to see one at the zoo. Kristina Chew tells us about 10 animals that children may be able to only read about in books in the near future if we are not more careful with taking care of them. Read about which animals these are in the article on Care2.com.

Source: http://www.care2.com/causes/10-animals-tomorrows-kids-could-know-only-from-books.html?page=1

James Herbert was often described as the British “Grand Master” of horror. He was most notably known for “The Rats” and especially “The Fog,” books that transcended oceans and were hugely popular in other countries as well. He will be greatly missed by family and horror lovers alike. For more information on the author and his death read the article by Boston.com.

Source: http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/2013/03/21/james-herbert-authored-best-selling-horror-books-the-fog-and-the-rats/xTjX2S6FveINmaQEVFHO0I/story.html

If you are anything like me it is hard to justify spending $35 to $40 on the latest new release by your favorite author, so nine times out of 10 you end up skipping the book when shopping. The good news is that it’s not taking near as long for books to make it to paperback anymore. With that being said here are SheKnows.com’s top picks for paperbacks coming out in March.

Source: http://www.sheknows.com/entertainment/articles/988561/marchs-red-hot-reads

Stephen King has long since made it known that he not only loves libraries but fears them as well. This is not surprising with the many books he has written where bad things happen to good people, well sometimes good people, among the stacks of the library. Stephen King and his wife recently donated $3 million to their local library in Bangor, Maine. The horror novelist has a big heart. Alison Flood reports for The Guardian.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/mar/22/stephen-king-wife-maine-library

Books in Bloom was a huge success last year for the Newburyport public library and the Newburyport Horticultural society. It was such a success that they have decided to repeat the performance this year as well. The Daily News reports on the event and when it will be in this article.

Source: http://www.newburyportnews.com/local/x1121360463/Books-in-Bloom-sprouts-anew-at-library

For this cycle of Booksfree we discussed everything from Alan Bradley’s interview with Yahoo Voices to good books that have been made into good…or not so good movies. Join us and tell us if you agree with our choices.

• Alan Bradley talks about sleuths and series in an interview for Yahoo Voices. You can read the entire interview here.
• Recent surveys show that more and more children are choosing books below their grade level from the school library. To read about the concern over this practice, read Alison Flood’s article for The Guardian.
• Amanda Craig gives us some concrete tips on how to get your teenager back into reading difficult fiction books, in The Telegraph.
• Does violence have any place in children’s literature, or should it be banished from the pages of childrens books? For some people’s thoughts, read Megan Creasey’s article for the Oneota Reading Journal.
• Many books have made their way onto the silver screen over the years. What are your favorite picks? IVillage gives you their top few. What do you think of them?
• Finally, we discussed some of the good…and not so good…books that have been made into movies. Do you agree with our picks? Why or why not?

Reading iVillage’s article “From Page to Screen: The Best Books Made Into Movies” made me think about all of my favorite books that have been made into movies. Some were excellent…some not so good. There is always a controversy raging over what is better, the book or the movie. In my opinion, nine times out of 10 the book way outshines the movie.

Take Stephen King’s The Stand, for instance. The book was amazing, detailed, and graphic, as only a Stephen King book can be; the movie, on the other hand, left out so much of the original plot that it stopped making much sense halfway through the first half and never picked up steam again.

Another case in point is basically anything by Stephen King that has ever been made into a movie. The Shining, Salem’s Lot, and even Pet Cemetery. The movies just failed to capture the sheer terror that Stephen King can make you feel in the pages of a book.

On the other hand, the movie The Hunger Games, based on the book by the same name, was actually pretty true to the book itself. There were some parts that could have been done better, but all in all it was a decent portrayal of the book itself.

Another book that was actually done justice by the movie was One for the Money. Janet Evanovich has long been one of my favorite authors, and to see that the producers hadn’t butchered Stephanie Plum and her hilarious cohorts was quite a relief.

What movies did you enjoy that came from books? What movies did you hate? Join us and let us know. We would love to discuss it together.

Many, many movies have been made into books over the years, more so recently, it seems, and everyone has their favorites. Nisha Gopalan of iVillage discusses her top picks on books to movies in a recent article. From Cloud Atlas to One for the Money, these top movies have to have something that everyone loves. What is your favorite book turned movie?

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/best-books-made-movies/1-b-331880

Violence in children’s books has been around ever since the first books were printed. In recent years, an outcry has been heard that has modern writers taking the violence out of not only their own work, but classic fairy tales as well. Does violence have a place in children’s literature? Megan Creasey reports for the Oneota Reading Journal on the subject, and what some people think.

Source: http://oneotareadingjournal.com/2010/does-violence-have-a-place-in-children%E2%80%99s-literature/