This Week in Words – Apr 13

by Treehouse Editors

compiled by Rachel Bondurant

In case you missed it – and if you don’t have Twitter, missing it wouldn’t be too hard to do – the American Society of Magazine Editors announced this year’s finalists for the National Magazine Awards. There are an overwhelming number of categories, so take a look around.

Here are some literary rumors for you to offer in conversation at parties. Something like this: “Oh, you drink almond milk? I heard Dave Eggers bathes in it. Apparently there’s video.” Try to do it with a straight face or you’ll never get the word out.

Somewhat related, the Barnes & Noble Book Blog is boasting a hypothetical dating profile for Jack Kerouac.

There’s this thing called The World Through Picture Books Project in which librarians select ten of their country’s favorite children’s books (based on a pre-arranged criteria). Thirty countries participated in the first selection, and results came out last year. For the US, Where the Wild Things Are tops the list, surprising no one; also listed are Goodnight Moon and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? among others. It’s enough to make me miss being a kid. (Access the whole list at the bottom of the page. It’s the PDF named “Catalogue.”)

As promised, here’s another poem I love in honor of National Poetry Month: Robert Frost’s “On Looking Up By Chance at the Constellations.”