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Here are some literary events to pencil in your calendar this week.
To get your event posted on our calendar, visit our Facebook Your Literary Event page. Please post your event at least one week prior to its date.
Lindsey Stirling, a YouTube star, will celebrate the launch of her book, The Only Pirate at the Party, at Barnes & Noble (Union Square branch). Meet her on Tuesday, Jan. 12 starting 7 p.m. (New York, NY)
Nelsie Spencer, a teacher at the Gotham Writers Workshop, will host a free humor writing workshop at the Housing Works Bookstore Café. Join in on Sunday, Jan. 17 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (New York, NY)
Eric Litwin will read from his picture book, The Nuts: Sing and Dance In Your Polka Dot Pants, at the Lincoln Center Atrium. Hear him on Sunday, Jan. 17 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. (New York, NY)
In this day and age it is prudent of the self-sufficient blogger to warn readers when they may encounter something that will affect the rest of their day, nay, week. And so I say unto you, BEWARE! Be Wary! For in today’s book trailer premiere video for Sing and Dance in Your Polka-Dot Pants (words by Eric Litwin, art by Scott Magoon) you may find the dreaded earworm. The dreaded catchy catchy earworm. Apparently earworms like nuts. Who knew?
Don’t say I didn’t warn you. And many thanks to Little, Brown for the link.
1 Comments on Book Trailer Premiere: Sing and Dance in Your Polka-Dot Pants, last added: 9/8/2015
Our best selling picture book for the past month is Herve Tullet's completely awesome Press Here (Chronicle Books, 2011). As per usual, we've shared our hand selected list of the most popular picture books from the nationwide best selling picture books, as listed by The New York Times
Spring is here, the season of regeneration that brings plenty of flowers with nectar which worker bees gather and convert into honey. The Children's Book Review's best selling picture book for this month is full of information on the wonderful and very much under-appreciated honeybees, The Life and Times of the Honeybee by Charles Micucci.
This information was gathered from the New York Times Best Sellers list, which reflects the sales of books from books sold nationwide, including independent and chain stores. It is correct at the time of publication and presented in random order. Visit: www.nytimes.com.
This information was gathered from the New York Times Best Sellers list, which reflects the sales of books from books sold nationwide, including independent and chain stores. It is correct at the time of publication and presented in random order. Visit: www.nytimes.com.
#20 Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin, illustrated by James Dean (2010)
68 points
Once the song is downloaded and played, it will never leave your head! Catchy in a good way. Also, it teaches an important lesson to “not sweat the small stuff.” Great for kids and adults alike. – Gina Detate
Do not be fooled by the simplicity of this little picture book. As with Mo Willems’ Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, there is more here than meets the eye; there is genius in the pages.
Here is my Tip-slash-Promise: If you will teach your little ones two things before you start reading, you will have an instant-favorite on your hands.
1] Teach them to say, with enthusiasm, of course, “”Goodness, no!”"
2] Teach them the song Pete sings. You can see a video of the author himself reading this book with kids at PetetheCat.com. Super-simple to learn and sing. Kids lovelovelove it.
One of my favorite things about Pete the Cat is the moral of the story, which speaks to adults more than it does to kids. Winner.
Warning: You will find yourself singing, at odd times of the day, “I love my white shoes, I love my white shoes, I love my white shoes….” – Kristi Hazelrigg
And THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is how you create a serious upset! A show of hands from all of you who saw this one coming. A few? Well done then. Though aware of Pete’s popularity I had mentally relegated him to that genre of popular picture books that get a lot of attention then fade slowly into the mist. I had not counted on Pete’s ability to attract not only the masses but the gatekeepers as well.
The plot according to SLJ reads, “Pete the Cat strolls down the street singing, ‘I love my white shoes, I love my white shoes, I love my white shoes.’ Then he steps in (actually climbs up) a huge hill of strawberries that turn his pristine sneakers red. ‘Did Pete cry? Goodness, no! He kept walking along and singing his song. I love my red shoes….’ He proceeds to step in a mound of blueberries and then a mud puddle, each incident changing his sneakers to a new hue (the colors never blend). Unsmiling but placid, Pete takes it all in stride. After stepping into a ‘bucket’—more like a tub—of water, he notices that his sneakers are not only white again, but also wet.”
The story behind the book is one of those once in a blue moon success stories. Artist James Dean started out as an electrical engineer, actually. After quitting his job to paint full time he adopted a small black cat, named it Pete, and started painting it with blue fur. The real Pete took off for parts unknown but James kept painting him. That’s when Eric saw the paintings around town (the town in question being Atlanta) and started writing songs about him. Eventually the two men collaborated and voila. Instant picture book. The original Pete picture book was published by the author and illustrator in 2008 by their own Blue Whisker Press. Two years later Harper Collins snapped him up and wasted no time in introducing him to the wider world.
Of course the flipside of this book being the massive success that it is is that now publishers are far more open to finding and publishing self-published picture books. The successful ones that already have a following, anyway. And because Pete is such a 21st century hep cat, I suspect that his rise has as much to do with his YouTube video as the book itself. Can another picture book say the same? I think not.
It’s that time of the year again: school time! Whether it’s the first day of school or the first day of a new grade, there is always an adjustment period. Excited, nervous, or shy, reading books about school, or stories that revolve around the classroom, can be a great way to begin switching gears from the vacation mindset. In this book list, you’ll find picture books, chapter books for the early fluent and fluent readers, as well as a novel for young adults.
A few days ago a teacher friend emailed me to ask me if I had heard of Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes and attached was the youtube video (see sidebar). I had not heard of him. So I immediately looked on amazon for the book. To my surprise their was also a second book just released - Pete the Cat Rocking in My School Shoes. Both books are written by Eric Litwin and illustrated by James Dean. Find out more about James Dean and the inspiration for Pete on his website.
These are the perfect books for the start of the school year. Isn't this the time of year that every child is getting new shoes? Well in the first book Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes -
Pete the Cat was walking down the street in his brand new white shoes. Pete loved them so much he sang this song. "I love my white shoes, I love my white shoes, I love my white shoes." Everytime Pete steps in something the color of his shoes changes and he sings a song for that color. Pete the Cat is a fun and catchy story that reinforces colors.
The second Pete the Cat book takes places in school and he visits my favorite place the LIBRARY! The tune to the Pete song is the same in the second book. It is equally enjoyable.
My very own Pete the Cat doll is looking forward to the first day of school so he can meet all his new Pre-k to Grade 1 friends.
I know that, for some of you librarians, it feels like summer (and summer reading) will never end. But I was visiting my family in California recently and my sister-in-law mentioned that my niece is starting school on August 10th! August 10th! That seems so early, doesn’t it? Here in NYC, the public schools don’t start until after Labor Day. What about your part of the country? When does school start?
With school starting just around the corner, here are some new books to consider adding to your library to refresh and update your collections:
KINDERGATORS: HANDS OFF, HARRY! by Rosemary Wells This is an excellent picture book recommendation for kids with personal space issues.
I know there are a lot of dog people out there and, don’t worry, we’ll come back another day and give them some love. For today, though, we’re giving over the blog to the felines.
Need some cat books for preschool storytime? Here are a few suggestions:
There are many reasons why cats make great characters in kids' books! From the language to the illustrations, the author-illustrators of these books really know their audience.
Here are some literary events to pencil in your calendar this week.
I have nuts in a polka dot pants dancing in my head right now. Thank you, Betsy! Thank you so much.