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Nuts, bolts, and sprockets! These are the makings of fine toys, as well as these awesome vintage booklets!

Created for the East German toy company Vero in 1975, these colorful booklets itemize all of the pieces included in the “Construc” construction kit and instructs children in building a stop light. The back cover reads, “Toys With System for the Creators of Tomorrow’s World.” How inspiring!

(Via toxi & dobdes.com)

Both the catalog and manual are well designed, offering clean lines, neat diagrams, a simple color palette, and drool-worthy type. Interested in seeing more from the Vero Construc booklets? Visit toxi’s flickr!

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The fall-winter 09 catalog for Candlewick arrived this week and as usual it's a humdinger. Here's some titles that stood out, plus a few observations of some trends.

The Secret World of Walter Anderson by Hester Bass, illus by EB Lewis. I'm a big fan of picture book biographies and I think they can often be useful for readers far older than their intended audience. Here's a bit on this one:"Residents along the Mississippi Gulf Coast thought Walter Anderson was odd, rowing across twelve miles of open water in a leaky skiff to reach Horn, an uninhabited island without running water or electricity. But this solitary artist didn't much care what they thought as he spent weeks at a time on his personal paradise, sleeping under his boat, sometimes eating whatever washed ashore, sketching and painting the natural surroundings and the animals that became his friends."

I'm wondering why there isn't some unit in elementary or junior high school where you learn about American artists. It seems crazy how we spend time on the "masters" while ignoring so many American artists who had significant contributions. I have learned more about American art from reading picture books then I ever did in school which seems - pitiful. Looking forward to learning about Walter Anderson.

Fairie-ality Style by David Ellwand. I enjoyed Ellwand's mysterious and gorgeous The Mystery of the Fool and the Vanisher so this title jumped right out at me. It sounds like nothing else I've come across. It seems like it would appeal very much to a certain type of creative kid and as there is often very little for those kids, I think it's well worth a look from reviewers. The description:

In this stunning new volume....he uses the same gorgeous array of natural elements - feathers, flowers, stones, shells and more - to explore the limits of imagination in home design as well as haute couture. Partly an inspirational sourcebook for imaginative DIY projects, partly a showcase of unique fantasy fashion, Fairie-ality Style is an eco-designer's dream - the ultimate exploration of truly organic materials.

The new Templar Books imprint is really impressing the heck out of me - the illustrations are stunning. Here are some of those titles:

City in Peril! and Rust Attack!, the first two Robot City Adventures written and illustrated by Paul Collicut. These graphic novels for MG readers have reluctant boy reader written all over them. The tagline for the series: "Welcome Robot City - the metal metropolis that never rusts! Here, highly developed robots are part of everyday life, living and working in harmony with humankind." In City in Peril, Curtis, the Colossal Coast-Guard Robot must save the city from a giant sea monster. In Rust Attack the dance troupe the Automettes has been struck by rust and Robot city Confidential Investigations must get the culprit responsible. (One robot detective, one human who looks a lot like Sam Spade.) The art and design look really good on these titles and as graphic novels I bet they get some decent readership.

Day of the Assassins by Johnny O'Brien. I actually just got this one in the mail and the black and white illustrations/photos look great. Set in 1914, it surrounds the events which caused the start of WWI. (Can you believe that - a MG novel about the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand? I might pass out from history teacher joy.) "Jack Christie and his best friend, Angus, find themselves at the center of a momentous event that will shape history for decades to come. Their dilemma: Should they intervene? Their problem: Can they survive?"

I have no idea where I will fit this on in my winter columns but I do hope it is as exciting as it sounds - and true to history. I know one of the early illustrations is a photo of Gavril Princip, the assassin and that alone delights me to no end. Looking forward to it.

There's a new version of Alice in Wonderland with illustrations by Rodney Matthews that looks amazing. The spread in the catalog with a shot of Alice approaching the castle surrounded by the grounds - all the trees in the shape of hearts of course - is really impressive. If you get a chance to check this one out you should - I think Alice fans will be delighted. (Do you know about this one Little Willow?)

Leon and the Place Between by Angela McAllister, illustrated by Grahame Baker-Smith is another beautiful looking title. A bit from the catalog: "Leon and his brothers and sister go to a magic show, but this is no ordinary show and Abdul Kazam is no ordinary magician. Take a journey right through the die-cut pages in this book into the Place Between, where magic becomes truly real." According to one quote review, Baker-Smith "combines shadowy collage, painting, photography, and gilding...". If it looks the slightest bit like the catalog it's going to be irresistible.

And finally, we've got another Darwin book: Charles Darwin and the Beagle Adventures by AJ Wood and Clint Twist with various illustrators. This one is a novelty title, with excerpts from Darwin's own work (and diaries), a fold out map, envelopes, letters, etc. As far as I'm concerned there can never be enough Darwin, so I'm very much looking forward to this one.

One interesting thing in the catalog is the number of teen titles influenced by literature. We've got Hamlet by John Marsden ("The Dane as never seen before - in a daring, dazzling, sexy prose retelling of Shakespeare's tragedy..."), King Lear by Gareth Hinds (a "taut adaption" in graphic novel form), Metamorphosis by Betsy Franco (which is not about Kafka but how "Ovid" sees his "classmates' dramas as modern-day Roman mythology"), Exposure by Mal Peet which is about soccer but inspired by Othello, and Another Faust by Daniel & Dina Nayeri which is inspired - duh - by Faust. So apparently what is old is new again, or at least someone in publishing seems to think so. I find it hard this is just a Candlewick phenomena - I'll have to check around and see if these kind of books are showing up elsewhere also. (It seems kind of a shame though - I mean if you can't escape Shakespeare while at least reading for pleasure then when do you get away from the guy?) (Not that there's anything wrong with Shakespeare....but he can get a bit melodramatic....)

I have a ton of notes lying around about books coming out this fall. Here's the rundown of several that jumped out at me for a variety of personal or bloggable reasons. (Meaning I want them for myself or I wanted to let you all know.) Some aren't online yet, but if you're interested in them at least now you can keep your eyes peeled.

Mathilda Savitch by Victor Lodarto (September from FSG): "Fear doesn’t come naturally to Mathilda Savitch. She prefers to look right at the things nobody else can bring themselves to mention: for example, the fact that her beloved older sister is dead, pushed in front of a train by a man who is still on the loose. But after a year of spying and provocations, she’s no closer to the truth than she was the day it happened. When Mathilda finally cracks Helen’s e-mail password, a secret life opens up, one that swiftly draws her into a world of clouded motives and strange emotion. Somewhere in it lies the key to waking her family up from their dream of grief. To cross into that underworld and see what her sister saw, she has to risk everything that matters to her."

I see major teen crossover potential with this one as the protagonist is only thirteen. We'll see how it turns out - I'm hoping it leans heavily on the mystery and doesn't get bogged in trying to prove its quirkiness. It's coming my way so I'll keep you posted on how it reads.

The Fossil Hunter by Shelley Emling (October Palgrave): "In 1811, when she was only twelve years old, Mary Anning discovered the first dinosaur skeleton—of an ichthyosaur—while fossil hunting on the cliffs of Lyme Regis, England. Mary, the child of a poor family, became a fossil hunter, selling her discoveries and attracting the attention of collectors and eventually of the scientific world. Until Mary’s discovery, it was widely believed that animals did not become extinct. But the bizarre nature of the creatures that Mary found made it impossible to ignore the truth, sparking the conversation about evolution carried on by scientists from Charles Darwin to Stephen Jay Gould."

Mary Anning has a fascinating story and I'm very pleased to see this book. She was collecting fossils as a child and supported her family with her discoveries. Another example of a woman ahead of her time who has been hugely overlooked by modern historians. (Have any of you ever heard of her in earth science class when studying dinosaurs? I sure didn't and I'd love to reach back to my 8th grade teacher and demand to know why!)

Rewilding the World by Caroline Fraser: (Henry Holt December) From Fraser's web site: "In the spirit of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, which launched the modern environmental movement with its clarion call to stop the chemical onslaught against birds and wildlife, Rewilding the World, based on more than­ five years of travel, reporting, and research, documents the current global crisis of biodiversity loss and measures the profound cost of losing our ancient connections to the realm of the wild. But while the book offers an unsparing portrait of the toll of destruction and the failure of mainstream conservation groups to reverse the tide, it's also a story of breath throughs in genetics and conservation biology, of visionary heroes, and of hope. It is the first authoritative, narrative account of the rewilding crusade that has transformed conservation efforts and raised the environmental stakes on every continent, from Yellowstone to Africa to the jungles of Asia a­nd Latin America."

This is a subject that concerns me all the time - partly from growing up in FL where so much of the landscape has been altered for no good reason (and I mean that - abandoned shopping malls abound down there) and partly from living in AK where the belief that wilderness is limitless is still clung to by many. (Many people I personally know as a matter of fact.) I'm interested to see what has been going on in the field and who is doing the work.

The Heart of the Great Alone by David Hempleman-Adams (Bloomsbury October): "Among the greatest achievements in the history of photography, those of the early polar explorers surely stand out, for the beauty of their images and the almost impossible conditions they encountered. And none of these are more remarkable than the photographs recorded by the official chroniclers of two epic Antarctic expeditions—that of Robert Falcon Scott, departed in 1910, which tragically resulted in his death; and, four years later, that of Ernest Shackleton, whose heroic sea journey from Elephant Island to South Georgia has become the stuff of legend.

Their photographers—Herbert George Ponting and Frank Hurley—transported bulky cameras and glass plate negatives across the forbidding polar landscape to record some of the earliest images of this dramatic environment. That the photographs survived to be presented on their return to King George V is miraculous, and they have remained ever since in the Royal Collection. The Heart of the Great Alone reproduces the best of these marvelous images, some of which have never appeared in book form before—ships encased in ice floes, ice cliffs and ravines, campsites and dog sleds, and the incomparable beauty of Antarctic flora and fauna. Together they form an invaluable record of an environment that global warming has forever changed. With a superb narrative drawing on Ponting’s and Hurley’s writings and other unique archival material from the Royal Collection, and with extended captions for each image, this book is a unique addition to the literature of polar exploration."

I can't imagine why I even have to explain why I want this. Please - you all know me. It's a given.

Changing My Mind: Occasional Essays by Zadie Smith (Penguin November). "Split into four sections—“Reading,” “Being,” “Seeing,” and “Feeling”—Changing My Mind invites readers to witness the world from Zadie Smith’s unique vantage. Smith casts her acute eye over material both personal and cultural, with wonderfully engaging essays—some published here for the first time—on diverse topics including literature, movies, going to the Oscars, British comedy, family, feminism, Obama, Katharine Hepburn, and Anna Magnani. In her investigations Smith also reveals much of herself. Her literary criticism shares the wealth of her experiences as a reader and exposes the tremendous influence diverse writers—E. M. Forster, Zora Neale Hurston, George Eliot, and others—have had on her writing life and her self-understanding."

I'm not a huge Smith fan but anyone interested in writer porn of the literary kind is going to want to give this one a look. The fact that she gives Hurston some attention certainly makes me happy though.

Strange Maps by Frank Jacobs - from the Strange Maps web site. (Studio/Penguin October): "An intriguing collection of more than one hundred out-of-the-ordinary maps, blending art, history, and pop culture for a unique atlas of humanity."

This is brain candy for anyone interested in development, urbanism, history, etc. The site is a lot of fun and always informative - the book looks gorgeous.

The Kingdom of Ohio by Matthew Fleming (Putnam September): "After discovering an old photograph, an elderly antiques dealer living in present-day Los Angeles is forced to revisit the history he has struggled to deny. The photograph depicts a man and a woman. The man is Peter Force, a young frontier adventurer who comes to New
York City in 1901 and quickly lands a job digging the first subway tunnels beneath the metropolis. The woman is Cheri-Anne Toledo, a beautiful mathematical prodigy whose memories appear to come from another world. They meet seemingly by chance, and initially Peter dismisses her as crazy. But as they are drawn into a tangle of overlapping intrigues, Peter must reexamine Cheri-Anne’s fantastic story. Could it be that she is telling the truth and that she has stumbled onto the most dangerous secret imaginable: the key to traveling through time?"

It features cameos from Edison and Tesla and sounds like fun. I like a fun novel sometimes and this will have to be my Tesla fix (damn you Samantha Hunt for making him so appealing!) I also love that it is in old NYC and the turn of the last century (a favorite place and time for me). Here's hoping it's as good as promised....

Wonderwall by Elizabeth Hand (Penguin YR October) Hand goes YA - who would have thought it after reading the incredible grittiness of Generation Loss (still can't forget that book). From the catalog: "Seventeen-year-old Meredith lives for her art—but after her girlfriend Lindsey commits suicide, even that can’t save her. Desperate, Mer abandons art school and makes her way home to Washington, D.C., intending to kill herself. A chance street encounter leads her to a lockhouse by the river, which leads her to craft something remarkable—a wall painting that is a doorway through art and time. Through it comes the young Arthur Rimbaud, the “child poet,” who is equally desperate. The two artists—one visual, one verbal—change each other’s lives."

Arthur Rimbaud in a YA title? My God - it's like the apocalypse or something. No vamps, no werewolves, no deep soulful looks. No mean cheerleaders. No....well, you get the idea. I'm planning to review this one for my October column and really looking forward to it. Hand is probably one of my favorite authors, not because I automatically love everything she writes, but because she pushes me with everything she writes. She makes me think - both as a writer and a reader. I'm delighted to see her writing a book for teens.

Whew - lots of books to look forward to! (And I didn't even mention DK's two LEGO titles - Lego Star Wars and The Lego Book. Somebody in my house will be finding both of those under the Christmas tree, I guarantee it.)

I was very pleased to receive the Graywolf catalog as it has rapidly become one of my favorite publishers. I've already written at length here about Eula Biss's Notes From No Man's Land, an essay collection I'm looking forward to reading but there were several other titles that I wanted to mention as well. Here are the new releases that caught my eye:

The Winter Sun: Notes on a Vocation by Fanny Howe.

Through a collage of reflections on people, places, and times that have been part of her life, Howe shows the origins and requirements of “a vocation that has no name.” She finds proof of this in the lives of others Jacques Lusseyran, who, though blind, wrote about his inner vision, surviving inside a concentration camp during World War II; the Scottish nun Sara Grant and Abbé Dubois, both of whom lived extensively in India where their vocation led them; the English novelists Antonia White and Emily Brontë; and the fifth-century philosopher and poet Bharthari. With interludes referring to her own place and situation, Howe makes this book into a Progress rather than a memoir.

It sounds like the ultimate process porn (Howe is a poet) and quite a freewheeling look at the work of writers over centuries. It certainly does not sound dull, that's for sure.

Castle by J. Robert Lennon. This one earned a starred review from PW:

"Do not be fooled by the dull narrator of this latest novel from Lennon (Mailman); the author methodically baits readers with mystery and the macabre until the hook is set and then yanks it back with a vengeance. Eric Loesch returns to his hometown of Gerrysburg in upstate New York and sets out to renovate a secluded farmhouse. A strange bird, Eric is unpleasant and obviously burdened with secrets that, though unknown to the reader, seem to be known by the townsfolk. Childhood flashbacks fill in the gaps, and as the terrifying details of his past coalesce, Eric remains loathe to face the truth about some horrific events. Meanwhile, clues in the present lead Eric to understand that someone or something is out to get him, and past and present meet with violent but cathartic consequences. Lennon's work is full of misanthropes and unsettling figures of all stripes, and the promise of emotional or spiritual redemption remains elusive. Here, the surprising denouement packs a powerful and brutal punch."

Lennon also has a new collection of short shorts out: Pieces for the Left Hand. From Graywolf:

A student’s suicide note is not what it seems. A high school football rivalry turns absurd—and deadly. A much-loved cat seems to have been a different animal all along. A pair of identical twins aren’t identical at all—or even related. A man finds his own yellowed birth announcement inside a bureau bought at auction. Set in a small upstate New York town, told in a conversational style, Pieces for the Left Hand is a stream of a hundred anecdotes, none much longer than a page. At once funny, bizarre, familiar, and disturbing, these deceptively straightforward tales nevertheless shock and amaze through uncanny coincidence, tragic misunderstanding, strange occurrence, or sudden insight. Unposted letters, unexpected visitors, false memories—in J. Robert Lennon’s vision of America, these are the things that decide our fate. Wry and deadpan, powerful and philosophical, these addictive little tales reveal the everyday world as a strange and eerie place.

Each of these would interest me in small ways but then I read what Dan Wickett (who is a big fan of Graywolf and got me directed to them in the first place) had to say:

Graywolf has recently published a couple of J. Robert Lennon's books - a new novel, Castle, and the first US printing of Pieces for the Left Hand (story collection previously Lennon2 published in the UK). Castle was another 'can't put down' book - a man returns to his hometown and purchases a fixer upper home on a large plot of land. He then discovers there is a block of land in the middle of his that he does not own. The collection has one to two page vignettes that are complex in their seeming simplicity. Really solid.

"Solid" from Wickett is not a throwaway word and when he notes any book I prick up my ears. I don't always agree with his choices (he's a little more into experimental fiction then I am) but he never chooses anything dull. So J Robert Lennon is certainly someone to give a look (Castle in particular sounds like a great thriller).

After looking over the frontlist titles (which include a lot of poetry if you are interested) I browsed through the backlist and came up with several titles to note:

Graveyard of the Atlantic by Alyson Hagy. (Love that title.) It's a short story collection - here's a bit of the NYTBR review:

“The stories set here will little resemble the airbrushed Outer Banks of Coppertone vacations, peppermint-stick lighthouses and legends of Blackbeard. Stripped of its beach cottages and sentiment, this is America’s breakwater—a fractured comma of sand and cordgrass, its shoals a boneyard for ships that confuse this place with sanctuary.”

Very pretty and having grown up on the insanity that is the coast, I'm mightily interested.

Frantic Transmissions to and from Los Angeles by Kate Braverman. From the pub:

"Frantic Transmissions to and from Los Angeles" chronicles the trajectory of Braverman's Left Coast generation with a voice of singular power. She was an antiwar activist in Berkeley, a punk-rock poet on Sunset Strip, a single mother in the East L.A. barrio, and a woman in recovery at AA meetings in Beverly Hills. By 1990 she was married and settled into a life of writing and teaching. In her forties, Braverman did the unthinkable and moved from Beverly Hills to New York's Allegheny Mountains to a 150-year-old farmhouse. In wide-ranging transmissions, Braverman deftly contrasts the social histories of Los Angeles with her new, timeless rural community; describes the effects of the changing seasons on her Californian, sun-drenched soul; and marvels at how a remote farmhouse can offer surprising consolations. "Library Journal" calls Braverman a "literary genius"; "Rolling Stone" describes her as having the "power and intensity you don't see much outside of rock and roll."

You pretty much had me at the Rolling Stone quote but it does sound like interesting social history wrapped up in a memoir. I'm a sucker for other people's lives (endlessly curious) so this one is hard to resist.

Neck Deep and Other Predicaments by Ander Monson. This one sounds quirky but should be worth a look:

In this sparkling nonfiction debut, Ander Monson uses unexpectedly nonliterary forms — the index, the Harvard Outline, the mathematical proof — to delve into an equally surprising mix of obsessions: disc golf, the history of mining in northern Michigan, car washes, topology, and more. He reflects on his outsider experience at an exclusive Detroit-area boarding school in the form of a criminal history and invents a new form as he meditates on snow.

Kirkus did not like it, PW did. That sort of thing always amuses me - it depends so much on the reviewer (as I know all too well). If you've got someone who prefers a conventional format then this book would be sunk.

A Postcard Memoir by Lawrence Sutin. This one gets me on concept alone:

Drawing upon his collection of quirky antique postcards, Lawrence Sutin has penned a series of brief but intense reminiscences of his "ordinary" life. In the process, he creates an unrepentant, wholly unique account about learning to live with a consciousness all his own. Ranging from remembered events to inner states to full-blown fantasies, Sutin is at turns playful and somber, rhapsodic and mundane, funny and full of pathos. Here you'll find tales about science teachers and other horrors of adolescence, life in a comedy troupe, stepfathering--each illustrated with the postcard that triggered Sutin's muse--and presented in a mix so enticingly wayward as to prove that at least some of it really happened.

And finally, Native American Fiction: A User's Manual by David Treuer. This whole genre is a minefield but Treuer knows what he is writing about. (BE sure to check out his essay on people masquerading as Native American authors that ran in Slate last year.) Here's what he is trying to do with this book:

This book has been written with the narrow conviction that if Native American literature is worth thinking about at all, it is worth thinking about as literature. The vast majority of thought that has been poured out onto Native American literature has puddled, for the most part, on how the texts are positioned in relation to history or culture.

Rather than create a comprehensive cultural and historical genealogy for Native American literature, David Treuer investigates a selection of the most important Native American novels and, with a novelist's eye and a critic's mind, examines the intricate process of understanding literature on its own terms.

Native American Fiction: A User's Manual is speculative, witty, engaging, and written for the inquisitive reader. These essays—on Sherman Alexie, Forrest Carter, James Fenimore Cooper, Louise Erdrich, Leslie Marmon Silko, and James Welch—are rallying cries for the need to read literature as literature and, ultimately, reassert the importance and primacy of the word.

Treuer is at work on a book about modern reservation life, funded by a Guggenheim award.

Still have other topics to write about (like a lot of wonderful YA reading I've been doing and a great historical novel from Unbridled, The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire plus my idea of books that every library should have) and upcoming news on Guys Lit Wire and the Summer Blog Blast Tour). In other words, it won't be quiet around here anytime soon, promise!

One thing I learned today is that when company comes to town and you end up taking a week off of running, the first time you go back out is most unimpressive. This is when that whole dedication thing rears its ugly head (or so I keep reminding myself.)

In the meantime, the Spring 09 catalog for Penguin (and its many imprints) arrived last week. Here are a few titles that caught my eye:

Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith. "When America enters the war with Germany and Japan, the Army creates the WASP, the Women's Airforce Service Pilots - and Ida suddenly sees a way to fly as well as do something significant to help her brother stationed in the Pacific. But even the WASP won't accept her as a black woman, forcing Ida Mae to make the difficult choice of "passing", of pretending to be white to be accepted into the program."

This combines two of my primary interests: aviation and military history. I especially have a soft spot for books on female pilots as so few have been written. On top of that, Smith is an excellent writer and I'm sure she did an outstanding job with this story.

Peace, Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson. "Twelve-year old Lonnie is finally feeling at home with his foster family. But because he's living apart from his little sister, Lili, he decides it's his job to be the "rememberer" - and write down everything that happens while they're growing up. Lonnie's musings are bittersweet; he's happy that he and Lili have new families, but though his new family brings him joy, it also brings new worries. With a foster brother in the army, concepts like Peace have new meaning for Lonnie."

Woodson's last book, After Tupac & D Foster, really impressed me and I'm very interested to see how she folds the story of a family split apart into the larger context of the war. She nails so much about urban life and African American children and she's downright fearless about letting her children speak hard truths.

Ron's Big Mission by Corinne Naden and Rose Blue. Based on a true story this is the tale of future astronaut Ron McNair (who died in Challenger) and his struggle to desegregate his South Carolina public library in the 1950s. McNair went on to become a scientist and while there have been books like this one before about famous writers, etc., I'm quite pleased to see one that focuses on a scientist who struggled to obtain a library card. Honestly, I don't think we can ever have a enough books about why libraries matter and the positive impact they can have on children. Don Tate is the illustrator here and the catalog copy looks lovely.

The Brooklyn Nine by Alan Gratz. I'm a sucker for a good baseball novel and this one sounds very interesting. "In nine innings, this novel tells the stories of nine successive Schneider kids and their connection to Brooklyn and baseball. As in all family histories and all baseball games, there is glory and heartache, triumph and sacrifice."

The catalog copy includes descriptions from 1845, 1908, 1945, 1981 and hints at five more. I love the idea of generations loving the game and playing it at all different levels (and at least one player, in 1945, is a girl). We'll see how Gratz does with the idea.

Stonewall Hinkleman and the Battle of Bull Run by Michael Hemphill and Sam Riddleburger. This one sounds perfect for mg boys. Young Stonewall is dragged around to reenactments by his "Civil-War obsessed parents". He hates it (of course). One day though he gets transported back to the Battle of Bull Run along with a Confederate supporter from his time who has traveled back to change the outcome of the war. It's up to Stonewall to save the future and he has to use all of his knowledge about the Civil War in order to do it.

Time travel and war - it should be a major winner.

One other observation about the Penguin catalog - it seems that all Razorbill titles are now romances. It's literally becoming the Harlequin romance imprint for teens. I'm not saying that's a bad thing but Penguin is getting downright skimpy on SF, fantasy, mystery and anything edgy for teens. Firebird is still there but I don't see too much in the way of new titles for Spring. This could all be an aberration but it bears watching.

Not exactly catalog tites, as I found them in an ad in the latest issue of Booklist, but close enough. Here are some current (and upcoming) National Geographic titles for kids that look very appealing:

African Critters by Robert Haas: "A deadly hunter, the leopard is also a loving parent to its newborn cubs, and Haas shows both roles in his beautiful photo-essay about African wildlife, which features pictures he took over several years in southern African game reserves. The brief, chatty text and the unframed pictures catch the harsh reality of the animals’ life-and-death struggle: “No good guys, no bad guys; it’s about survival.” Haas’ writing is needlessly exclamatory; the zoology and the photos are astonishing enough all by themselves. There’s the poignant picture of a mother hyena carrying her cubs to a den, with the accompanying explanation that the cubs were later killed by a lion. Then there’s the shot of an angry bull elephant. Is the beast protecting a tiny new baby? What about the huge hippo, charging with its mouth wide open, or “Itty Bitty Critters,” such as the dung beetle? Each of the chapters, some of which are 10 pages long, provides fascinating details about animal behavior, and numerous boxed notes fill in more facts about numbers and anatomy."

Proceeds go to the Humane Society and it really looks amazing.

Bizarre Dinosaurs by Christopher Sloan: "Paleontologist Josh Smith uses clear and informed text to tell kids what we know and what we are still guessing about this collection of odd-looking monsters, including how scientists think they used their individual bizarre characteristics. In his introduction, life-long dinosaur enthusiast John Updike gives young readers a new perspective on the sheer weirdness of dinosaurs by turning our relationship with them on its head: How weird might a human body look to dinosaurs? he asks."

Cool dinosaurs and John Updike? I'm sold! (I saw the article by Updike in the magazine earlier this year and it was very good - I'm eager to see it bound for easier reading.)

The Planet Gods by Jacqueline Mitton: "With the addition of Ceres and Eres to our solar system, every library, school, and space-gazing, mythology-loving kid needs an updated look at the planets and the gods they represent. The Planet Gods is that volume: a new, reliable guide to the exciting recent developments in the world of astronomy from the experts here on planet Earth."

I do love an astronomy title that links mythology and science. This one looks lovely and informative and should make the stars that much more fascinating for young readers.

The Dinosaur Museum: "Young, eager paleontologists wanted. Apply within. We need Your expertise So step inside The Dinosaur Museum, the book where kids get to act like paleontologists. This amazing volume gives readers a behind-the-scenes peek at a museum, with an interactive experience that evokes a visit to a natural history museum. Forget about waiting in long lines for hours. This interactive guide takes you on a room-by-room tour of the most fun-packed museum you can imagine. Learning about prehistoric monsters becomes a practical challenge to the scientist in every reader. Each room points to a range of interactive investigations that can be carried out in the dino-lab gatefold flap. You can open the specimen drawer filled with fossils, look at specimen slides through the microscope, and use a whole host of interactive features: a pop-up fossil finds map, a dinosaur time line, and a sliding chart that allows you to compare the size of dinosaurs with modern animals."

If it follows through on half of that description it will be dazzling - it's certainly one to look for in the bookstores this fall and see if the awesomeness is real.

The Literary Adventures of Washington Irving by Cheryl Harness: "Cheryl Harness' lively narrative traces the development of both Irving's life and his literary imagination. The book's vivid illustrations invite readers to step back in time and find out how his creations helped lay the foundation for American folklore--the tales and traditions that help define the spirit of America. Along the way, readers meet other authors and their legendary characters, including Longfellow's Hiawatha and Evangeline, Davy Crockett and the heroes of the Alamo, Johnny Appleseed, Daniel Boone, Pecos Bill, Jesse James, Paul Bunyan and his big blue ox, John Henry and his hammer, Casey Jones, Clement Moore and many more."

It seems like I shouldn't be reading fall catalogs until it is at least 65 degrees outside, but FSG has arrived and there are a ton of great title to look forward to. Here we go with some highlights:

Marveltown by Bruce McCall: A picture book about a town founded by inventors that must face giant robot workers who suddenly go beserk. The art is reminiscent of William Joyce (in a good way) and the site of rockets and futuristic building design from the 1950s all reminds me of old issues of Popular Mechanics. If it has flying cars I might weep with joy.

Little Audrey by Ruth White. Based on White's childhood in a late 1940s Virginia coal camp, this looks like a title that addresses one of the more underrepresented aspects of children's lives in literature: poverty. "This snapshot of life in a coal camp, complete with everyday heartaches and joys - as well as stories, songs and jokes - is Ruth White's most personal work to date."

A Mystery for Thoreau by Kin Platt. Set in 1846 in Concord, MA, 16 year old Oliver is on the chase of a murder mystery where Henry Thoreau (who was in jail at the time) is the only one not a suspect. Aided by Ralph Waldo Emerson and a teenage Louisa May Alcott, Oliver is hot to uncover just what happened at Walden Pond.

On top of the neat literary premise, the author (who passed away in 2003) was also the author of two books in the Three Investigators series - books I devoured in elementary school. That fact alone (plus the 1950s cover art) made me eager to read more on this one.

Emperors of the Ice by Richard Farr. Based on the events in the Robert Scott Antarctic expedition where Apsley Geroge Benet Cherry-Garrand and two others nearly died on a mission to collect penguin eggs. Told in Cherry's voice with photos. Do I really have to explain why I'm jazzed about this one?

Swiss Mist by Randy Powell. "When Milo is in the fifth grade his parents get divorced, and his teacher, Ms. Swinford, helps him make it through the year...During the next five years, Milo moves through the mists of Washington State - from place to place and school to school - while his mother tries to figure out her life. Along the way he tries to 'seek the truth' as his free-spirited father urged him to do before he left, but he never forgets Ms. Swinford and her tales of Switzerland. Then, when he gets the chance to see Ms Swinford again, his understanding of what is true is shaken."

As long as the ending isn't too much of a "gotcha" moment this could be a nice thoughtful titles for teen boys.

A Life in the Wild by Pamela S. Turner. A biography of George Schaller, the field biologist whose research proved that it is possible to "study dangerous animals in their own habitats..." He had a fifty year career that changed field biology. Awesome stuff and very cool to see it written for kids.

Headlong by Kathe Koja. Okay first, it is Kathe Koja and that alone makes it something that must be read. This is the story of girls at The Vaughn School - very upper crust. Lily knows and plays by the rules and then meets Hazel, a scholarship student who is some kind wild. "Can you ever fit in someplace you don't want to be? As Lily befriends Hazel, both girls discover what it means to dive deep beneath the surface - of friendship of commitment - and to live life with all their hearts, with all they are, headlong."

Sea Cows, Shamans and Scurvy: Alaska's First Naturalist: Georg Wilhelm Steller by Ann Arnold. Pardon while I'm shocked (SHOCKED) to see a book on Steller for kids. (At a whomping 240 pages with pictures, maps, timelines, etc..) Steller was part of Bering's journey in the mid 18th century on a landmark Russian mission of discovery. "Making judicious use of Steller's richly detailed journals and liberal use of illustrations and maps, Ann Arnold allows the reader to join Steller on this fascinating voyage and its final dangerous mission, which left half the crew dead and the rest suffering from scurvy."

Way way too cool.

I just received a copy of the Counterpoint Spring 08 catalog which included titles from Counterpoint, Sierra Club Books and Soft Skull Press. While I was happy to see all the titles offered here (and especially Sierra Club - I really need to track down a copy of Birding Babylon. I just read about it again in Soldier's Heart: Reading Literature Through Peace and War at West Point and it sounds great), there were a few that really sounded appealing. Here they are:

X-Films by Alex Cox. The flimmaker behind Six & Nancy and Repo Man has a memoir that extends beyond not only his own influences and experiences but also offers looks at his favorite films. He also provides some thoughts on the future of indy fillmmaking. You get an inside look at the life and work of an influential artist and also some pointers on how to pursue a career like his. Very cool.

No Sleep Till Brooklyn by Kevin Powell. In my ongoing effort to prove that poetry can be cool (admittedly I leave most of this fight up to folks like Kelly Fineman who are real poets and just make comments from the sidelines :), Powell's work stands out. Political and personal, Powell excels at making his point in a thoroughly literary way. From the description:

Within this rich weave of musings, confession, and sometimes painful introspection, he confronts such issues as racism, black self-hatred, gender violence, and his own anguished revelations about sex, love, and misogyny. Powell samples the sights and sounds and scenarios of American life, then reshapes them into a provocative soundtrack for our times.

I wrote about Martin Millar's Lonely Werewolf Girl last December and was quite pleased to see it listed here. Fans of urban fantasy should take particular note:

Lonely Werewolf Girl is an expansive tale of werewolves in the modern world; elegant werewolves, troubled teenage werewolves, friendly werewolves, homicidal werewolves, fashion designers, warriors, punks, cross-dressers, musicians - an entire Clan of Werewolves, getting in trouble from the Scottish Highlands to London, and in several dimensions beyond...

The Bandana Republic an anthology by gang members and their affiliates (perfect for Guys Lit Wire don't you think?). It includes fiction, essays, poetry, etc from current and former gang members. From the description: "Intergenerational in scope, The Bandana Republic focuses on creative literature written by adolescents from such contemporary gangs as Crips and Bloods, Latin Kings and Mexican Mafia, Black Spades and Black Gangster Disciples. It also includes work by former gang members who have entered the arena of social work or gone on to other careers. The anthology showcases writing by television and film actors Malik Yoba, Edward James Olmos, Ruby Dee, Mos Def, and Jim Brown; performers and lyricists Oscar Brown Jr., Gil Scott-Heron, Dead Prez, and Snoop Doggie Dog; and journalists Felipe Luciano and Mumia Abu Jamal - all of whom have either come from urban gangs or were closely affiliated with street-based organizations."

Writers in Paris by David Burke is one of those literary geographies that always seems to sound like candy for book lovers. Consider: "From natives such as Molière, Genet, and Anaïs Nin, to expats like Henry Miller, Samuel Beckett, and Gertrude Stein, author David Burke follows hundreds of writers through Paris's labyrinthine streets, inviting readers on his grand tour. Unique in scope and approach, Writers in Paris crosses from Right Bank to Left and on to the Ile de la Cité as it explores the alleyways and haunts frequented by the world's most storied writers. Burke focuses not only on their writing but on their passions, ecstasies, obsessions, and betrayals. Equally appealing to Francophiles and serious readers, this engaging book includes maps and more than 100 evocative photographs."

Now that's some beach reading!

Victoria Glendinning has a biography now out in paper of Leonard Woolf. I think he has been terribly overlooked by literary fans - even those of his famous wife. Glendinning comes to this one with a perfect pedigree - she has already written about Rebecca West and Vita Sackville West. The hardcover got starred reviews from both PW and Booklist - sounds very interesting (and readable).

And a Winter 2008 title that sounds fascinating: On the Lower Frequencies from Erick Lyle (aka Iggy Scam). Here's the general description: "Iggy Scam's Secret History of Cities is both a manual, a memoir and a history of creative resistance and fun in a world run rotten with poverty and war." Now that sounds appealing enough but I do worry that it is just aimed too much at being punk and in your face and not a lot of substance. The description addresses that though with: "But he never seeks refuges in the abstract - in one of the book's key set pieces, "The Epicenter of Crime: The Hunt's Donuts Story," Scam celebrates the history and passing of a donut shop that was once a nerve center in San Francisco's Mission neighborhood. On one level, it's an epitaph for a beloved hangout. On another, it's a metaphor for the racial and economic tensions that can accompany gentrification. And on yet another, it's an untold history of an entire neighborhood via a single retail establishment."

I"m all about the urban planning and development that can be related in a hip (and dare I say) interesting way. If Katrina taught us anything it is that we have to think about how our cities are built and the significance of community to the residents. In that light, Iggy Scam certainly sounds worth a look.

[Is that an awesome book cover or what?]