The news is out! Thanks to a news release from publisher Abrams, we now know something about the fifth book in the wildly popular Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney.

• The title of book five is Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth.
• As you can see, the cover is purple.
  
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth will have a first printing of more than 5 million copies. (Wow!)
• The book will be released on November 9, 2010.
• According to Charles Kochman, executive editor of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, "All of the favorite characters will be back but, like Greg Heffley, you will see them in a new light as Jeff explores the reality of adolescence."

According to Abrams, "Since the publication of the first Diary of a Wimpy Kid book in 2007, more than 35 million books are in print in the United States, and the books have been sold in more than 30 countries around the world." For an overview of all seven of the books that Jeff Kinney has written related to the Wimpy Kid, see Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Books. For more about book 5 in the series, see Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth.

(Cover art courtesy of Amulet Books, An Imprint of Abrams)

Today is author Sharon Creech's birthday. Sharon Creech is an award-winning author of novels for upper elementary and middle school students. She has a number of books that I recommend for children who are ready for books with substance. Some of my favorite novels by Sharon Creech are Walk Two Moons, Ruby Holler and Granny Torrelli Makes Soup.

(Cover art courtesy of HarperCollins)

If you blog about parenting, family or children, there's still time for you to join the About.com Family August blog carnival. Our theme is starting school, and blogs about any aspect of starting school are welcome. Check back here on Monday, August 2, 2010, for a collection of blog posts related to starting school.

Here's what you need to do to participate:
1. Write a blog post related to starting school, from preschool to high school, between now and July 30, 2010.
2. Include a link to this post somewhere in your entry.
3. By July 30, 2010, mail the title of your post, the permalink, and your name and email address directly to me at childrensbooks.guide@about.com with "Blog Carnival" in the subject line.
Please do not submit off-topic entries or those that do not follow the guidelines because they will not be included. I'm looking forward to hearing from you!

To Learn More:
What are the rules for a blog carnival? (About Working Moms)
See last month's About Parenting Blog Carnival (About Baby Products)

(Cover art courtesy of Candlewick Press)

Good concrete poems have the ability to tickle a child's funny bone, pique a child's interest in poetry, and engage children in word play of their own. Get your child thinking (and writing) with a good book of concrete poetry. A Poke in the I: A Collection of Concrete Poems is one of my favorite books of concrete poetry. In case you are not familiar with them, concrete poems can be one-word poems or poems with a number of words, but in every case, the words are arranged into a particular shape that reflects the poem's meaning. A Poke in the I is a collection of thirty concrete poems by well-known visual poets. Poet Paul B. Janeczko edited the book, which was published by Candlewick Press. The quality of the poetry, the design of the book, and the witty collages by Chris Raschka, a Caldecott Honor artist, create an exceptional experience for the reader. I recommend the book for 8-14 year olds.

(Cover art courtesy of Candlewick Press)