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I do not know where Monica Edinger found our first video today.  All I know is that she discovered a video that is absolutely the most interesting thing you’ll see all week.  It’s a young Maurice Sendak.  He’d recently won the Caldecott for Where the Wild Things Are.  I’ve never seen anything like this before.  And who knew you could kinda sorta flip Pierre?

Thanks to educating alice for the link.  If you have a Margaret Wise Brown  interview hidden away somewhere I’d be happy to take it off your hands.  Ditto a copy of Pinocchio illustrated by Mussino.  He makes a strong case.

Not long ago I mentioned that Dan Gutman’s book The Kid Who Ran for President was notably talked up on Last Week Tonight (John Oliver’s show).  Now I’ve heard that the book was reportedly the most read review on pw.com last week.  It would be a shame not to show the video in question.  Here it is then, in all its Gutmanesque glory:

This just in! “Carla D. Hayden will be sworn in as the 14^th Librarian of Congress in a historic ceremony in the Thomas Jefferson Building Wednesday, Sept. 14 at noon. The ceremony will be broadcast live on the Library of Congress YouTube channel. The YouTube broadcast will be captioned.”  So it’s not up yet, but if you’ve time this Wednesday you might want to tune in and see it for yourself.  She is, after all, the first Librarian of Congress to have an actual library degree in over 50 years.

Here’s a fun one for the Dahl fans. In this hour-long video, David Walliams presents a celebration of Roald Dahl’s children’s books, from The BFG to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  It also happens to include contributions from Steven Spielberg and Julie Walters.

Thanks to Zoe Toft for the link.

Why did the PBS News Hour feature Christian Robinson recently?  I care not.  All that matters is that he’s great to listen to.

Thanks to Elisa Gall and Aunt Judy for the link.

And for the off-topic video of the day, I’m hat tipping Brian Biggs for passing this along.  I like a video that doesn’t pound you over the head with its message.  This sort of connects well to my recent interview with Mr. Biggs where we discussed gender roles in children’s books.  As they say in this video, have a think in your head.

Thanks to Brian for the video.

Morning, poppins!

Yesterday, for the first time in a long while, I submitted a Video Sunday for your approval.  Trouble is, I may have failed to mention one of the most fascinating videos out there with a tie-in to books for kids, so I’d like to rectify the situation today.

The title of the article read, ‘Last Week Tonight’: John Oliver Turned a 20-Year-Old Kids’ Book with ‘Startling Parallels’ to Trump into a Bestseller.  Naturally I tried figuring out what book they were talking about but I was coming up short.  Turns out it’s good old The Kid Who Ran for President by Dan Gutman.  That’s a title that is consistently on New York City public school reading lists every single year.  Wouldn’t be surprised a jot if that’s how Last Week Tonight‘s writing staff heard about it (some of them must have kids).  Glad to see it getting a bit of attention here and there. I won’t give away which candidate the “startling parallels” refer to (kidding!).  Thanks to PW Children’s Bookshelf for the link.

A Gene Luen Yang comic piece for the New York Times simply called Glare of Disdain?  Don’t mind if I do!

Horn Book came out with their 2015-2016 Yearbook Superlatives post once more.  Fun bit.  I wonder if they collect them throughout the year as they do their reading.

Tis the battle of the smarty-pants!  Who did it better?  Adam Rex and Christian Robinson at Horn Book or Jory John and Bob Shea at Kirkus?  The choice is yours (though Christian Robinson probably sweeps the deck with his magnificent “Black people are magic” line).

See how I’m going from a Horn Book post to a Horn Book / Kirkus post to a Kirkus review?  That’s why they pay me the big bucks, folks.  In any case, usually when I post a review on this blog I like to link the books mentioned in the review to Kirkus.  Why?  Because they’re the review journal that has the most free archived older children’s book reviews online.  Generally this is a good plan but once in a while it throws me for a loop.  For example, a reviewer of the original Nate the Great back in 1972 had serious problems with the title.  Your homework for the day is to read the review and then figure out what precisely the “stereotype” the book was faulty of conveying really was.  I’ve read this review about ten times and I’m still baffled.  Any ideas?

So I worked at NYPL for a number of years (11 in total).  Of those, I spent about five or six of them working in close proximity to the original Winnie-the-Pooh toys.  And in all that time I never knew them to look as good as they do right now.  Oo la la!  Goggle at that restored Kanga!  And a Piglet where his skin ISN’T falling off his body?  I don’t even know the guy now.  No word on whether or not the restoration yielded more information on the music box in Pooh’s tummy (or if it’s even still there).  Still, they look great (and appear to have a whole new display area too!).  Thanks to Sharyn November for the link.

Did you know that Cricket Media (which runs Cricket Magazine as well as other periodicals) has a blog?  I tell you this partly because I’m trying to contact someone at their Chicago location and so far my efforts have been for naught.  A little help?

Did you know there was a children’s book award for science fiction?  Yup. “The Golden Duck Awards, which are designed to encourage science fiction literature for children, have been given annually since 1992.”  And as far as I can tell, they may still be going on.  Check out their site here to see for yourself.  You can suggest books from the previous year too, so have at it, peoples.

So I give up.  Slate?  You win.  You do good posts on children’s books.  I was wrong to doubt you.  That post about how your son loves “bad guys” so you read him Tomi Ungerer’s The Three Robbers?  That’s good stuff.  And the piece on how terrible the U.S. is at translating children’s books?  Also excellent.  To say nothing of all the other excellent posts you’ve come up with and researched well.  I doff my cap.  Your pop-up blog is a rousing success.  Well done you.

Question: How often has a documentary been made about a nonfiction children’s picture book about a true subject?  Once at least.

Saw this next one on the old listservs and figured it might be of use to someone:

I just wanted to pass along an opportunity that I’m hoping that you’ll hope promote for ALSC. Every year, we give away four $600 stipends for ALSC members to attend Annual for the first time. Applications are open now and are being accepted up to October 1, 2016. For 2017, Penguin Random House is including one ticket for each winner to the Newbery-Caldecott-Wilder Banquet. Here is some more information.

Daily Image:

Because I just cannot stop with the Stranger Things.  This one came via my friend Marci.  Look closely enough and you’ll see Will hiding in the Upside Down.

Thanks to Marci Morimoto for the link.

Have you ever asked a celebrity to appear in your book trailer? In the “Funny or Die” video embedded above, Aasif Mandvi makes this request of Jack Black, Wyatt Cenac, John Oliver, and more.

Mandvi has written a book of personal essays entitled No Land’s Man: A Perilous Journey through Romance, Islam, and Brunch. Chronicle Books will release it on November 04, 2014. (via The Huffington Post)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

I have promised you tales of BINGO, have I not?  Tales to curl the very insides of your soul.  Tales that recount my magnificent victory over Lady Luck, Charlie Chance, and Sarah Serendipity!  And recount my tale I shall, but first!  Some mood music to set the tone.

That’s the stuff!

A week and a half ago I asked you, my faithful readers, to sponsor me in the 826NYC Dueling Bingos challenge.  Not only did you respond in kind but for a while there I was wiping the floor with the competition.  Then the competition bit back, but for quite some time we were really riding the wave of most-money awesomeness.  I promised that in return I would give you one heckuva recap of the event.  And recap I shall!

Oh, the outlook wasn’t brilliant for the Betsy Bird that day.  Having just finished moderating two brilliant panelists at NYPL for my Children’s Literary Salon (Stephen Roxburgh and Jennifer Perry, and it went beautifully) I immediately sped after work with husband in tow from Manhattan to Brooklyn on a Saturday night.  If you know the New York subway system then you’ll realize what a miracle it was to get there precisely on time.

I decided to wear something appropriately Bingo-ish.  I don’t know what constitutes correct Bingo attire, but I figured it should probably involve a lot of dots, right?  Here’s what it looked like during the Lit Salon:

Thanks to Melanie Hope Greenberg for the pic.  So with dress, husband, camera, and Flip camera in tow we burst through the doors of 826NYC.

A quick word about the actual physical doors of 826NYC.  Each 826 venue (there are many throughout America) is fronted by a faux storefront that covers up the true nature of the facility in an amusing fashion.  In New York, the front is a Superhero Supply Store.  Inside you can buy many of the fun “superhero” products that they sell.

Inside the place filled up fast.  That was when we heard the rules behind the game.  You see, in dueling bingo you have an actual opponent.  Whoever you sit across from is your rival.  Then there are three games of lightning quick speed and whoever gets the best of three is crowned the ultimate winner.  Easy peasy.

To make the game a bit more lively you can take the money folks have donated in your name and “buy” extra bingo cards and even balls for the caller with your preferred number and letter.  So if you look at these cards:

2 Comments on Dueling Bingos: Emphasis on “Duel”, last added: 8/12/2010