I’ve done it again. Delayed my Fusenews too long and now this post is going to overflow with too much good stuff. Forewarned is forearmed, as they say.
Me stuff for the start. And in fact, there just so much Me Stuff today that I’m just going to cram it all into this little paragraph here and be done with it. To begin, for the very first time my book Wild Things: Acts of Mischief in Chidren’s Literature (co-written with Jules Danielson and Peter Sieruta) was cited in an article. Notably, a piece in The Atlantic entitled Frog and Toad and the Self. Woot! In other news I’m judging a brand new picture book award. It’s the Hallmark Great Stories Award. Did you or someone you know produce a picture book in 2016 on the topic of “togetherness and community”? Well $10,000 smackers could be yours. In terms of seeing me talk, I’m reading my picture book (and more) at the Printer’s Row Lit Fest on June 11th. If you’re in the Chicago area and ever wanted to see me in blue furry leg warmers, now your chance has come here. Finally, during Book Expo I managed to coerce Hyperion Books into handing me three of their most delicious authors (Shannon Hale, Dean Hale, and Eoin Colfer) so that I could feed them to WGN Radio. You can hear our talk here, if you like. And check out how cute we all are:
Colfer, for what it is worth, is exceedingly comfortable. I highly recommend that should you see him you just glom onto him for long periods of time. Like a sticky burr. He also apparently has an Artemis Fowl movie in the works (for real this time!) and you’ll never guess who the director might be.
This is interesting. Not too long ago children’s book author C. Alex London wrote a piece for BuzzFeed called Why I Came Out As a Gay Children’s Book Author. It got a lot of attention and praise. Then, earlier this month, Pseudonymous Bosch wrote a kind of companion piece in the New York Times Book Review. Also Known As tackles not just his reasons for a nom de plume (skillfully avoiding any and all mentions of Lemony Snicket, I could not help but notice) but also how this relates to his life as a gay children’s book author.
Hey, full credit to The New Yorker for this great recentish piece on weeding a collection and the glory that is Awful Library Books. My sole regret is that I never let them know when I weeded this guy:
The copyright page said 1994, but I think we know better. Thanks to Don Citarella for the link.
Cool. The publisher Lee & Low has just released the winner of the New Visions Writing Contest, now in its third year. Congrats to Supriya Kelkar for her win!
New Podcast Alert: With podcasting being so popular these days, I do regret that my sole foray into the form has pretty much disappeared from the face of the globe. Fortunately there are talented folks to listen to instead, including the folks at Loud in the Library. Teacher librarians Chris Patrick and Tracy Chrenka from Grand Rapids, MI (homestate pride!) get the big names, from picture books illustrators to YA writers. Listen up!
New Blog Alert: The press release from SLJ sounded simple. “SLJ is pleased to welcome The Classroom Bookshelf to our blog network. In its sixth year, the Bookshelf features a weekly post about a recently published children’s book, including a lesson plan and related resources.” Then I made a mistake. I decided to look at the site. Jaw hit floor at a fast and furious rate leaving a dent in the linoleum. Contributors Randy Heller, Mary Ann Cappiello, Grace Enriquez, Katie Cunningham, and Erika Thulin Dawes (all professors at Lesley University’s outstanding school of ed.), I salute you. If I ever stop writing my own reviews, you’ll know why.
This:
This one’s just for the New Yorkers. I’m sure you already saw this New Yorker paean to the Mid-Manhattan library, but just in case you didn’t it’s here, “unruly pleasures” and all.
For whatever reason, PW Children’s Bookshelf always goes to my “Promotions” folder on Gmail, so I assume they already mentioned this article. Just in case they didn’t, though, I sort of love that The Atlantic (second time mentioned today!) wrote an ode to Sideways Stories from Wayside School. Thanks to Kate for the link.
Now some Bookshare info. The idea of providing free ebooks for kids with print disabilities is a good one. And, as it happens, not a new one. Bookshare, an online accessible library, just added its 400,000th title to its collection and boy are they proud. Free for all U.S. students with qualifying print disabilities and U.S. schools, they’ve a blog you might want to read, and they service kids with blindness, low vision, dyslexia, and physical disabilities.
Daily Image:
You probably heard that Neil Patrick Harris will be playing Count Olaf in the upcoming Netflix series of A Series of Unfortunate Events. Now we have photographic proof.
I wonder if Brett Helquist ever marvels at how much power his art has had over these various cinematic incarnations. The lack of socks is a particularly accurate touch.
- First and foremost, this:
That would be Kadir Nelson’s tribute to the Schomburg Library in NYC. A couple things to note about it. First, in an amazing bit of research you can see that he includes both the old Schomburg Library (now overrun with ivy) and the new Schomburg together at the bottom. Second, the inclusion of Langston Hughes front and center is particularly clever since Langston is practically the first thing a person sees when they enter the building. Or rather, Langston’s words which are embedded in the very floor. I do miss the Schomburg. This brought all that back.
- In all the talks we’ve heard from people about A FINE DESSERT and A BIRTHDAY CAKE FOR GEORGE WASHINGTON, I sometimes feel like we haven’t heard enough from the teachers about how they teach topics like slavery. That’s why posts like Monica Edinger’s In the Classroom: Teaching About Slavery are so important. If you read no other link today, read this one.
- This one’s for the librarians. Want to know all the different rates publishers charge libraries for ebooks? A handy dandy chart explains all.
- Travis Jonker knew not what he hath wrought when he posted about The Most Annoying Board Book Ever. I know precisely what book he’s talking about (as does anyone else who has encountered it). I never get rid of books, as my household will attest, but THAT book I gave away with a flourish when I moved. I wasn’t going to use precious box space cluttering it up with that monstrosity. One of the buttons that’s supposed to sound like snoring actually sounds like Darth Vader. And believe you me, you do NOT want the unsettling feeling that Vader is lurking around your house.
Speaking of radio, have you guys all heard James Kennedy (of 90-Second Newbery and The Order of Odd Fish fame) on Matthew Winner’s Let’s Get Busy podcast? If you listen to no other interview on that show (and I include my own when I say that) listen to this one. The two guys basically hit it out of the park right at the start when James mentions the plethora of The Call stories as they relate to ALA Award committees. The dog church bit . . . seriously, you just have to listen. And not just because an Oakland newspaper said of James that, “Between his wardrobe choices and excited mannerisms, he had the familiar air of Professor Gilderoy Lockhart in the Harry Potter film adaptations, only he was not a braggart.” I always think of him as more a Xenophilius Lovegood type, but maybe that’s just the Rhys Ifans talking.
- Man. I gotta apologize. Somebody somewhere alerted me to the Booktoss piece Say It With Me: Intersectionality and I’ve forgotten who they are. Mea culpa. In any case, this is a great piece of writing. From Beyonce at the Superbowl to Ben Hatke’s Little Robot. Not an easy connection, but Laura Jimenez manages it. Kudos.
- I think I failed to post this before, but Mike Lewis did a killer rundown of the CTTCB’s Social Media Institute in his piece Exiting the Echo Chamber. I am, however, a little jealous at the title. Wish I’d thought of it myself.
- Why, yes. I would like to attend a Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry exhibition at the Brooklyn Public Library. However did you know? But quick question: When did Wendell Minor illustrate the series? It makes me happy but I want to see that work.
- Things I’m Surprised More Publishers Don’t Do With Their Backlist: This. I guess it helps if you have a big recognizable name, but still. Now can we PLEASE discuss doing this with William’s Doll? You want money? I have money. (Fun Fact: I don’t have money – I just want to see it brought into the 21st century)
Pooh and friends pre-2008
Though it contains an image of the original Winnie-the-Pooh toys that has to be more than eight years old (Donnell Library!), the Huffington Post article Christopher Robin Was Real, And Other Facts About Winnie-The-Pooh’s Author has some nice items in it. Particularly point #2. H.G. Wells? Really?
- Here’s another one for the librarians. Booksellers too, as it happens. According to a recent Nielsen Report, Social Omnivores And Book Placement Majorly Influence Children’s Book Buyership. No surprises there. What is surprising is that when it comes to selecting books, “The shelf has more influence than the promotional table, window display, bargain bin, etc. combined by a very wide margin.”. Yep. Your displays may look all kinds of pretty, but nothing beats good old fashioned shelving when it comes to checkouts/sales. Who knew? Thanks to Carl Schwanke for the link.
- Word I Don’t Use Enough: Ostrobogulous. Disagree on peril of defining it (though this may help). Thanks to Phil Nel for the link.
- “Where are the children’s books that celebrate working-class values and voices?” is not a question being asked by many folks here in America. It is, however, being asked in The Guardian by Elen Caldecott. And it is a question I would very much like us to start answering over here as well.
Alison Morris, currently working as the Senior Director of Collection Development & Merchandising at First Book, is the cleverest crafty person I know. Years ago she showed me how to make F&Gs into birdhouses. Now she’s making classic children’s characters into marble magnets.
Want to make your own? Instructions can be found here. Cheers, Alison!
Me stuff for the start. And in fact, there just so much Me Stuff today that I’m just going to cram it all into this little paragraph here and be done with it. To begin, for the very first time my book Wild Things: Acts of Mischief in Chidren’s Literature (co-written with Jules Danielson and Peter Sieruta) was cited in an article. Notably, a piece in The Atlantic entitled Frog and Toad and the Self. Woot! In other news I’m judging a brand new picture book award. It’s the Hallmark Great Stories Award. Did you or someone you know produce a picture book in 2016 on the topic of “togetherness and community”? Well $10,000 smackers could be yours. In terms of seeing me talk, I’m reading my picture book (and more) at the Printer’s Row Lit Fest on June 11th. If you’re in the Chicago area and ever wanted to see me in blue furry leg warmers, now your chance has come here. Finally, during Book Expo I managed to coerce Hyperion Books into handing me three of their most delicious authors (Shannon Hale, Dean Hale, and Eoin Colfer) so that I could feed them to WGN Radio. You can hear our talk here, if you like. And check out how cute we all are:
Thanks, Betsy, for the kind words about The Classroom Bookshelf. We are so excited to join the SLJ Blog Network!