By: David Elzey,
on 2/25/2011
by Judith Viorst illustrations by Lane Smith Atheneum 2010 Lulu is the sort of girl who won't take no for an answer when she demands a dinosaur for her birthday so she goes out to find one on her her own. Hilarity Mild amusement ensues, with a whiff of forced nostalgia. Lulu, an only child, is spoiled to the point that she has never heard the word 'no' before. So when she announces for
By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: February 1, 2011
Here’s the scoop on the most popular destinations on The Children’s Book Review site, the most coveted new releases and bestsellers.
Winter Books: Snow, Hibernation, and More
Review: Sleepy Kittens (Despicable Me)
Where to Find Free eBooks for Children Online
Best Kids’ Picture Books, 2010
The most coveted books that release this month:
by Victoria Kann
(Ages 5-8)
by Al Yankovic
(Ages 4-8)
by James Patterson
(Young Adult)
by Brian Williams
(Ages 12 and up)
by Mo Willems
(Ages 4-8)
Scaredy Squirrel Has a Birthday Party
by Melanie Watt
(Ages 4-8)
The best selling children’s books this month:
PICTURE BOOKS
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By: Betsy Bird,
on 12/11/2010
Yup. Had me bawling like a wee babe, this one. A little disappointing to realize that no matter what the actual movie does, this fan film of a scene from The Hunger Games will probably be more moving than anything Hollywood could produce. After all, I can’t imagine that the actual film will spend this appropriate amount of time on Rue’s death. I could do without the Linkin Park song, but even that sort of works. Of course, I never would have found this without the Huffington Post’s piece on Book Videos: 19 of the Best and the Worst. They’ve a fair amount of children’s stuff, but also some amazing pieces like this one from Steven Johnson’s Where Good Ideas Come From:
I could call this next video A Bunch of White Guys Making Origami, but I’ll restrain myself. In any case, it is rather neat. Particularly when you get into the medical applications of the form.
Watch the full episode. See more Independent Lens.
Truth be told, I just like how that one fellow says the word “elephant”. Thanks to bookshelves of doom for the link.
Next up, one of my favorite books of the year. It’s good old Milo: Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze. This gives you a very mild sense of the book itself. Probably the rock joke conveys the feel best. Just sayin’.
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By: Jenny Miller,
on 12/10/2010
By: Betsy Bird,
on 11/23/2010
It’s a Book
By Lane Smith
Roaring Brook Press (a division of Holtzbrinck)
$12.99
ISBN: 978-1-59643-606-0
On shelves now.
Where to begin? Begin at the beguine, I suppose. I’ve had It’s a Book sitting on my shelf for months and now the time is ripe. As you may have heard one place or another, it contains an off-color word at the end (“jackass”, belated spoiler alert) and it makes fun of folks who prefer online zips and whizbangs to good old-fashioned paper books. So what are we to make of it? Well, I hate to lob this designation on any author or illustrator I like, but this is so clearly a picture book for grown-ups that it squeaks. While kids today slip from electronic readers to paper books and back again like svelte otters, it is the grown-ups around them that are heard cooing and purring every time a shiny new electronic toy hits the market. For those who love the printed page, such enthusiasm can be scary. Kids don’t fear for the so-called “death of the book” but some of their caregivers certainly do, and so for them Lane Smith has penned an exchange between a pixel-happy donkey and the monkey (slash ape) who just wants to read his book in peace.
Hedging his bets right from the start, Smith begins by pulling his punch as far back as it can reasonably go. Turn to the title page and you read, “It’s a mouse. It’s a jackass. It’s a monkey.” Ignoring the fact that the monkey is actually an ape (though he may be hiding his tail beneath his, uh, muumuu?), the story begins with the donkey asking the primate what he’s got there. “It’s a book.” Not understanding the donkey tries to figure out the use of such an object. “Can it text?” “No.” “Tweet?” “No.” “Wi-Fi?” “No.” Eventually the donkey gets to see what a book really can do and when his companion asks if he can have his book back he gets a pretty straightforward, “No,” echoing his own earlier dismissals. The donkey, to his credit, offers to charge the book up when he’s done, but the mouse perched on the top of the monkey’s (slash ape’s) head clarifies everything, “You don’t have to . . .” Turn the page. “It’s a book, jackass.”
In the past, Smith was king at walking the fine line between adult humor and children’s humor. Books like The Happy Hockey Family remain spot on. Kids find them funny just on a basic humor level and adults love the sly jabs at easy reading books of yore. This balance was once a Smith trademark, but lately he’s been falling too far on the adult side of the equation. When I mention The Elephant in the Room to other children’s librarians I often meet with blank stares. Though it came out just a year before It’s a Book, this title was a pretty strange concoction. In it a donkey (a jackass?) asks another about “the elephant in the room”. His companion then launches into a series of unspoken topics that might be that elephant until, at the end, we see an actual elephant sitting in the room. After trying to figure out if there was a political point to the story (donkeys and elephants rarely co-mingle for any other reason) it occurred to me that the book made no sense. Of course the first thing a child reader is going to assume when they hear the term “elephant in the room” is that there’s an actual elephant there. Only adults would go along with the donkey’s string of inte
By: Annie Beth Ericsson,
on 11/18/2010
As I mentioned, I already attended the Society of Illustrators’ Original Art Show during its opening, but the hustle and bustle of the event kept me from really getting a good look at all the pieces and reading the actual books. So the Putnam art and editorial crew took a field trip last Friday to spend a few hours there in relative quiet and share our likes/dislikes.
All of the books are obviously winners, and of course, there were plenty that I already knew I loved: Peter Brown’s Children Make Terrible Pets, Jan Jutte’s Sleepover At Grandma’s House, Lane Smith’s It’s A Book!. But I wanted to mention a few new titles that I discovered along the way. Here are my favorites:
1. Tao Nyeu – Bunny Days (Dial)
I was literally cooing and gasping with laughter aloud when I read this, as I couldn’t believe that a single book could be so adorable and disturbing at once! In three parts, Mr. and Mrs. Goat find various ways to accidentally muddy/trap/maim a group of baby bunnies, and Bear comes to the rescue… with, um, interesting solutions. Well-meaning Bear subjects the bunnies to the washing machine (and hangs them to dry!), a high-powered fan, and a sewing machine. AND THE BUNNIES ARE STILL CUTE! AND NOT DEAD! Hilarious.
2. Carmen Segovia – Brownie Groundhog and February Fox (Sterling)
This was one of my favorite designed books at the show. I just love the wintery limited color palette with pops of red… reminds me of a modern version of classics like Mary Wore Her Red Dress. Plus, predator (Fox) and prey (Groundhog) become friends and share toast. Aw.
By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: November 2, 2010
Here’s the scoop on the most popular destinations on The Children’s Book Review site, the most coveted new releases, the bestsellers, and kids’ book events.
Interview with Lian Tanner, Author of The Keepers Trilogy
2010 Children’s Choice Book Awards Nominees
Where to Find Free eBooks for Children Online
20 Sites to Improve Your Child’s Literacy
The most coveted books that release this month:
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth
by Jeff Kinney
(Ages 9-12)
by Mike Lupica
(Ages 9-12)
by Robin McKinley
(Young Adult)
by Anthony Horowitz
(Ages 12 and up)
You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You: Very Short Fables to Read Together
by Mary Ann Hoberman
(Ages 4-8)
The best selling children’s books this month:
PICTURE BOOKS
by Anna Dewdney
(Ages 0-5)
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We should be celebrating the printed word more loudly and more often nowadays. As educators we are all painfully aware of how the electronic word has infringed upon the territory of books, and some of us still hold out hope that the book will endure. Now that I'm a librarian, I see that plenty of kids still want to hold that bound volume in their hands and take in the fully sensual experience of reading in that form.
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"It's a Book!" by Lane Smith
“Its a Book!” – whilst I am definitely in favour of innovation and new technology, there is nothing like a book! This little gem beautifully and humorously puts books and new tech in perspective! Highly recommended! 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhUNyzYzBX0
Monkey is absorbed, reading a book. Jackass is busy, playing on his laptop. Jackass gets curious. What is it about this very static, boring looking assemblage of cardboard and paper that has Monkey’s attention so completely? Jackass does what all curious kids do, asks and asks and asks and asks. But, instead of deterring Jackass, Monkey’s repetitive response only spurs him on till, in desperation, Monkey lets Jackass look see for himself.
What is the result? Computer geek Jackass gets hooked on a book and Monkey heads off to the library!
By highlighting what a book is not, Lane Smith cleverly shows exactly the joy, fascination and involvement to be had by turning the pages of a good book. The illustrations humorously depict the characters of Monkey, Jackass and Mouse and further definition is given by the clever use of a different font for each character.
Not a word is wasted in this celebration of what a book is and why we love them!
“It’s a Book!” by Lane Smith, is a Walker Book, ISBN 978-1-921720-14-7.
By: Kara Schaff Dean,
on 9/28/2010
This post was originally prompted by an on-line discussion I've been following--and contributed to--about whether or not this picture book should be shelved as a picture book, fiction or in the children's room at all. You might have head about It's a Book on NPR, or read a review of it (there are many, and they are favorable.) You might have even read it yourself (please do!) What prompted the
What am I reading now? Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork
As the print versus digital debate continues to rage on, Lane Smith sums up the issue with It’s a Book. All readers, regardless of their personal stance, are sure to enjoy Smith’s delightfully humourous take. It’s a Book is absolutely brilliant! Take a look:
By: Annie Beth Ericsson,
on 9/3/2010
In celebration of the final half-day Friday of the summer, I should be doing – and posting – all sorts of sunny, outdoorsy activities/videos. But the impending hurricane vibe that’s taking over New York today has got me cancelling plans and just wanting to curl up with a good book instead.
So today, if you haven’t already heard all about Lane Smith’s newest masterpiece, watch the trailer for “It’s A Book!” (and check out an interview here). I’ve been crazy excited about this title a lot longer than is appropriate for a new picture book, and it only increases my awe that Smith remains relevant, innovative and, as always, wacky over two decades of best-selling books.
Plus, as someone who has been spending more time on social media than at the painting desk, this book resonates – but in a light-hearted way. I find it especially ironic that “It’s A Book!” is being promoted virally . . . wouldn’t it be hilarious if there was an app for that?
On a further digital note: I’ve been redesigning my web content this week . . . stay tuned for the launching of AnnieBethEricsson.com awesome-ness!
By: Julie Fortenberry,
on 8/18/2010
By: Aline Pereira,
on 8/16/2010
Judging by the lovely book trailer below, It’s a Book by author and illustrator Lane Smith (to be released tomorrow by Roaring Brook Press), will sure be a hit! A book “for the technorati and literati alike”, it features a book-loving ape and a tech-savvy donkey talking digital vs. print. Just priceless!
By: Betsy Bird,
on 7/24/2010
I like displaying the week’s most talked about video at the end of the week on Video Sunday. It shows that while I don’t act as quickly as other blogs, at least I can sum up well. Last week I showed the Old Spice Guy library PSA. This week, right from the campus of Brigham Young University itself, comes this advertisement for their Harold B. Lee Library. When I first heard about this ad I thought it would be some low budget cheesiness. Quite the contrary! A delight through and through.
All right. Enough of that. It’s summer. We’re all heading down to the beach. Let’s just get some tips from a mermaid then. A little mermaid.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8xCgC3w1zs&feature=player_embedded
I like the idea of always having friends that are smaller than you. Thanks to BoingBoing for the link.
On a day I was out, Al’s Book Club from The Today Show stopped by my children’s room. The clips sort of mix my room in with clips from a different library, but anytime you spot dark wood you know they’re at my workplace. The beanbag chairs are another fabulous indicator. You can even see my chicken puppet in the background of one shot from the video interview I conducted with Dan Santat (I gave it to the library).
Very cool. Pairs well with the recent interview I gave to The Today Show about the Ramona books too.
Considering that I just saw a variation on this joke in the movie Inception, it’s pretty funny that I’d run across it again so soon. I’d missed the fact that Michael Ian Black had a new video out for his latest picture book. The person who sent me this video said he was wearing a monkey outfit but due to the presence of his joey, that is clearly a kangaroo costume. Albeit, not a purple one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZv2UsA_q9Q&feature=player_embedded
Other celebrities may write picture books, but none of them put on costumes as silly as Mr. Black’s. Just sayin’.
Now wow! Wowie and also a bit of zowie! This video has been out a good two years now, but I’ve only just now run across it. This is epic! How is it we’ve never seen it before?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NO3×6dOFCQ&feature=player_embedded
Many many thanks to Children’s Illustration for the link.
And now the off-topic vid of the day. I didn’t know that NPR had gotten into the video business, and I don’t think I would have known at all had not my buddy Don passed along this cool link called Look Up! This reminds me of those old 3-2-1 Contact videos they used to show (and when are those coming out on DVD, might I ask?).
6 Comments on Video Sunday: Always have friends that are smaller than you so that you can control them, last added: 7/25/2010
By: Betsy Bird,
on 6/5/2010
Okay dokey! So! First off, for half a second there I thought I couldn’t embed videos. Fortunately this morning I found myself a little workaround. I can now embed almost every video, with some exceptions. Huzzah! Now. Librarians doing Lady Gaga. My first thought off the top of my head is that they’re doing a play on Poker Face and not Telephone? I’d think that with NPR doing it one place and the army doing it another, Telephone would have been the number one choice. Or, at the very least, Bad Romance. And why is it that when librarians hold drinks on the cover of SLJ it’s a problem but when this darling woman holds the world’s greatest martini glass she is a-okay? That is a mystery for the universe. Many thanks to the multiple people who sent me this link!
Changing gears entirely (and on purpose) is this wonderful video covering the most recent Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. Now the article about this award describes it as Presentation of World’s Largest Children’s Literature Award. I read something like that and I imagine a physically large award. Maybe a bronze tree or something along those lines. In fact, by “large” they mean “most expensive” because the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award is a monetary award, largest in the world. It’s 5 million SEK (or 490, 000 EURO). Howsoever you slice it, it’s big. David Almond was up this year, but the ultimate winner was Belgian Kitty Crowther. This lovely little video says more:
Would you like to see her work for yourself? That could prove difficult. As far as I can tell, the only time Ms. Crowther has been translated in America was back in 2000 when Hyperion brought over her Jack and Jim. It is currently out-of-print, alas.
My August Children’s Literary Cafe will be all about ebooks and their creators. With that in mind, my buddy Don Citarella sent me this crazy international ad of sorts for a “phone book”. More like a phone book video game than a book book, but there might be a lot of potential applications for other uses.
Two people have mentioned the It’s a Book trailer to me recently, and both have their problems with it. You are familiar with this title, yes? It’s the new Lane Smith. The trailer, like the book itself, is a mite bit problematic, though. The whole premise of the story is the awesomeness of books and how one distinguishes them from computery stuff. So, as Person #1 pointed out, can we mention the irony of giving this book not only a book trailer but a Facebook page as well? Where precisely ar
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By: Deb,
on 6/4/2010
By: Jennifer E. Morris,
on 6/2/2010
Very cute book trailer. Thanks to Elizabeth Dulemba for the link.
By: Amanda,
on 9/26/2009
My first pick of the week is a little unconventional as far as my typical picture book "taste" goes. It's sappy and is overtly obvious with it's message, but after flipping through it a few times, I really think your toddlers will appreciate the silly illustrations and sweet storyline.
Big Bear Hug is written and illustrated by Nicholas Oldland and tells the reader of a bear that loves to hug trees. He loves hugging animals, big or small too, but he really, really loves hugging trees. Peach trees, apple trees, pine trees, you name, he hugs it! And when a man comes to cut down a tree? Well...that man gets a hug too!
From an adult point of view, Big Bear Hug might be a bit too mushy-gushy, but toddler-aged kids tend to appreciate the sweeter side of a story, often more than we do! The message is environmentally based, with a smidge of "one hug can change the world."
Big Bear Hug
Nicholas Oldland
32 pages
Picture Book
Kids Can Press
9781554534647
September 2009
Would I Trade My Parents?, written by Laura Numeroff of "Mouse" book fame and illustrated by James Bernardin is filled with a fun look into the lives of one boy's friends and their parents, allowing the boy to wonder if he would indeed trade his parents.
One friend's parents make blueberry pancakes for breakfast, one's mom owns a convertible, and another's parents take him camping. When looking at all these cool things, the young boy can't help but be a bit envious, but when he remembers that his mom teaches him cool French words, his dad reads to him every night, and they always take bike rides on the weekends, he realizes his parents aren't too bad after all!
I think all children think about trading their parents once in awhile and Numeroff's book will be a nice reminder to be thankful for what we have been given. Bernardin's illustrations are great and make for a nice accompaniment to the text.
Would I Trade My Parents?
Laura Numeroff
32 pages
Picture Book
Abrams
9780810906372
October 2009
The Big Elephant in the Room, written and illustrated by the amazing Lane Smith, introduces children to just how big of a mess one little verbal misunderstanding can cause!
When asked if they could talk about the "big elephant in the room," one friend thinks it's about something he's done. Like told a girl that his friend peed his pants or ran away from a bully and left his friend there or the fact that he peed in the pool. When really, all that his friend wanted to talk about, was literally, the elephant in the room! Oops!
A very cute story and a great read aloud! I loved the illustrations and found myself laughing on every page. A winner for sure with this one.
The Big Elephant in the Room
Lane Smith
32 pages
Picture Book
Hyperion
9781423116677
July 2009
To learn more about any of these titles, click on the book covers above to link to Amazon.
By: Judy Bryan,
on 7/19/2009
Awesome! Inspiring! So many books, so many authors, so little time!
Neil Gaiman (!) and me. The highlight of the weekend was meeting him, getting my copy of The Graveyard Book signed and hearing his Newbery speech in person. Wow.
Me and Tammi Sauer with her new picture book, Chicken Dance. Check out this youtube
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
link www.youtube.com/watch of her publisher (Sterling) having fun with her book. I wish all publishers were like this! Tammi's coming to Wisconsin's SCBWI Fall Retreat in October. We'll be bawkin' n rollin'!
gbeaverson , and Ann Bausum. Kashmira, and Ann are in critique groups of mine and Georgia's, though not the same one, if that makes any sense. If not, oh well, it's not important. :) Kashmira received the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature for her beautiful picture book, Monsoon Afternoon.
thatgirlygirl , Tanya Seale was in my very first critique group when we were greenhorns, waaay before we even knew what SCBWI was!
By: Stacy Curtis,
on 6/24/2008
Here's a video, via Barnes & Noble, of the dynamic duo of Lane Smith and Molly Leach.
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By: Just One More Book!!,
on 11/29/2007
Author: Jon Scieszka
Illustrator: Lane Smith
Published: 2004 Penguin Young Reader (on JOMB)
ISBN: 0670062693 Chapters.ca Amazon.com
Mother Goose, Longfellow and Edgar Allen Poe get a jolt of unshakable Scieszkan nonsense in this addictive collection of twisted belt-it-out classics.
Other books mentioned:
Check out 7-Imp’s interview with the amazing Jon Scieszka here.
Tags:childrens book, Jon Scieszka, Lane Smith, Podcast, review, Science Versechildrens book, Jon Scieszka, Lane Smith, Podcast, review, Science Verse
By: April Henry,
on 6/6/2007
The New York Observor has an article called "My Book Deal Ruined My Life" in which authors complain about how little they make, how much weight they have gained sitting at their desks, how they don't ever leave the house, how lonely they are, and how, if they write biographies, they grow to loathe their subjects.
I'm guessing a lot of it was tongue-in-cheek. One would hope so when looking at this quote from Anna Holmes "When I have a low-five-figure advance, I call it, like, a small gift, I suppose," said Ms. Holmes. (Full disclosure: a low five-figure advance would be pretty common for most authors.)
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The Hunger Games trailer was incredible. Thanks very much for sharing! Except–now I’m wondering if I can really make it through a movie, it will be so visceral.
But Bets, they stuck that terrible awful no good very bad rock song over the beginning of that faux Hunger Games thing.
*sigh* Well, yes Dan. But for a homemade video I ain’t complainin’.
Aw man, made me cry too. And I’m with Kate – the entire movie – like that – would just tear me up!
I loved the girl playing Katniss – I thought she was perfect!
e
Absolutely sobbing. That was a very well done scene. One of the hardest parts of the book for me to get through, and I thought that the video did a fine job of telling the story.