By: Catherine Nichols,
on 5/15/2013
By: Joy Chu,
on 4/23/2013
The Irma Black award, designed by Maurice Sendak
The kids have spoken!
The Irma Black Award, given by The Bank Street School, is unusual in that children are the final judges of the winning book. This year’s award went to Big Mean Mike, written by Michelle Knudsen and illustrated by Scott Magoon. More than 7,500 first and second graders around the world voted Big Mean Mike as their clear favorite.
There were three other Irma Black honor books, also chosen by kids themselves:
The Cook Prize medal, designed by Brian Floca
Children also choose The Cook Prize winners, sponsored by The Bank Street School: The best science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) picture books published for children aged eight to ten. This year’s winner is:
The honor winners are:
Congratulations to all the winners!
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By: Alicia Padrón,
on 2/27/2013
Found these wonderful interviews with Mo Willems, I thought I would share them with you.
By: Gina Rullo,
on 2/27/2013
The spirit of friendship and the power of reading were in full force at Peck Full Service Community School, a Title I School in Holyoke, MA, yesterday.
The school eagerly awaited the arrival of beloved children’s author and illustrator, Mo Willems: Elephant and Piggie posters decorated the hallways and windows of the school while the receptionist tried her hand at sketching the characters, and every available Mo Willems book was checked out of the school library.
Click here to see Mo celebrating Friendiversary!
As second-grade students entered the library to celebrate Friendiversary with Mo Willems himself, costumed Elephant and Piggie characters greeted the students at door. After a grand entrance, Mo read two of his books – There Is A Bird on Your Head! and I Am Invited To a Party! He then conducted a Q&A with the second graders who asked him all sorts of questions. “Why did you work for Cartoon Network?” asked one of the students. “Do you have a pet pigeon?” asked another.
Mo then informed the second graders that they would each be taking home their very own Friendiversary book and the library erupted with deafening screams of excitement. Students immediately began opening their books, each of which were personally signed by Mo. Smiles were on every face and many were sharing and showing their books to friends.
Friendiversary doesn’t have to be celebrated in February, it can be celebrated at any time of the year! Here’s how you can throw your very own Friendiversary party:
At First Book, we love celebrating Friendiversary each year, partly because we love Mo Willems, but mostly because it’s one more way to get new, quality books into the hands of kids in need, and seeing those kids become excited readers is what we’re all about.
Happy Friendiversary!
By: Gina Rullo,
on 2/13/2013
For the third year in a row, our friend Mo Willems, beloved children’s author & illustrator, will be providing brand-new Elephant & Piggie books and activity kits to kids in need!
The books and activity kits will go to second grade students in New Orleans, Springfield and Holyoke, Mass. (These places have special meaning for Mo; he grew up in New Orleans and now resides in Massachusetts.)
Mo’s Elephant & Piggie characters inspired First Book to create Friendiversary, an annual celebration of friendship and reading. After all, who better exemplifies the meaning of friendship than Elephant & Piggie?
You can help second-graders across the country celebrate Friendiversary on Feb. 26! Click here to donate.
For every $33 donated, 10 second grade students will receive their own Mo Willems books and activity kits for the celebration.
Happy Friendiversary!
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By: Martha Brockenbrough,
on 2/3/2013
Almost the moment Mo Willems' keynote speech ended, people started lining up to get their books signed and we kid you not, the line ran the length of a football field (that's 100 yards, for those of you unfamiliar with the sport, or 91.44 meters if you're Canadian).
It's no wonder people are so excited to have their books inscribed, when you share the room with the likes of Julie Andrews, Mo Willems, Shaun Tan, Jane Yolen, Tomie dePaolo ...
We could and should go on, but we'll let the pictures speak for themselves.
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| Mo Willems |
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| Shaun Tan fans standing in a queue (do they say that in Australia?) |
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| Shaun Tan |
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| Mark Teague and Floyd Cooper |
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| Meg Rosoff and David Ezra Stein |
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| Lin Oliver and Theo Baker |
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| Tomie DePaola and Jane Yolen |
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| Margaret Peterson Haddix and Matthew Kirby |
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| Arthur Levine is a full-service editor. Here, he's opening the book to the right page for an inscription. |
By: Lee Wind, M.Ed.,
on 2/3/2013
Don't let the pigeon drive the bus, but do let Mo Willems give the closing keynote at a conference weekend full of icons and inspiration!
 |
| Mo Willems! |
"We're not trying to make stories that are going to be read, we're trying to make stories that are going to be read a millionty billionty times."
*Be succinct. 'Nuff said.
*You may own your story's copyright but you don't own its meaning
*Be Superlative
"I've dreamed that everything I write will change the world for the better." If you're just dreaming of being published, dream bigger.
Always start your illustrations in the middle (to kind of warm up) and save the cover and opening spreads for the end (when you're in the zone and it's flowing) - because those are the first ones people will read!
"Your job is to be [through your books] some child's best friend."
 |
| What a finale! |
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By: Zoe,
on 2/1/2013
If you were invited to design a school library launch, how would you go about it? What events would you want to facilitate? Who would you want to involve?
These questions have been very much on my mind since the start of the year, for designing and delivering a school library launch is exactly what I have been asked to do by a local infant school. Can you imagine how excited I feel?
It’s an honour to be asked and trusted by the school to design a whole day of activities and I’ve loved every minute of it so far. Library Launch day is February 12th and now we’re counting down the days…
With apologies to NASA, whose original image I’ve modified.
Having got to the stage where I’ve everything prepped and in place, I wanted to share my plans and resources with you as many of them are easily replicable in families, in classrooms, in clubs, anywhere would you might like to help young children and their families get excited about books. And with World Book Day coming up next month, you could take any of these ideas and use them to celebrate perhaps my favourite day of the year 
Today I’ll share the activities the 3-5 year olds will be getting up to, and next week I’ll share the session plans for Year 1 (5-6 year olds) and Year 2 (6-7 year olds), although I believe many of the activities could be adapted to work with children of any age.
We were keen to get as many children into the new library during the day as possible so each class of 3-5 year olds will spend one session going on a treasure hunt for book characters in the library. The basis of this session with be Katie Cleminson’s Otto the Book Bear, in which a bear in a book steps off the pages and into real life. Having read the book, kids (in pairs) will be given a treasure card to identify which books and book characters they need to find in the library.
Some of the sheets of cards kids will be given so they know which characters to hunt for in the library
No doubt 30 kids hunting 30 soft toys is going to be quite chaotic! Once all the characters are found, the session will finish with a reading of one of the books found by the kids during the session.
A couple of trips to charity shops resulted in a good number of soft toys that either were actual book characters (for example I found Paddington Bear, Pooh, and Poppy Cat without even really looking), then I raided my kids’ soft toys and chose ones which matched (near enough) great books. So, for example, I am borrowing a soft toy squirrel and teaming it up with A First Book of Nature, by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Mark Hearld.
I supplemented these with a few extra official character soft toys (who wouldn’t love the excuse to get a Mog cat or Tiger who came tea toy?). Castlemere Books, based in the US, is the most comprehensive site I found for official book character soft toys, though I didn’t end up using them because of shipping costs to the UK.
Some of the characters kids will be searching for in the library!
On returning to their classrooms the kids will paint/colour their own bookshelves and Otto the bear. You can download the shelves here and the bear here.
The second session will be based around Lulu loves Stories by Anna McQuinn and Rosalind Beardshaw (follow the link to read it for free online). This is a gentle story about a child who is taken to the library every Saturday by her father. Each book they read together inspires different sorts of play, from being on a farm (having read about Old Macdonald) to making a pretend aeroplane (having read a story about going on an adventure).
Each table in the classroom will be set up with a different activity taken from Lulu Loves Stories: there will be one with princess dressing up, one with farm animals and one with construction toys. A fourth table will be set up for each child to create their own library to take home, by selecting and gluing lots of images of children’s book covers onto these shelves.
I’ve spent a fair few evenings cutting up old publishers’ catalogues to create enough “library stock”, but other than time in preparation, this activity has been very cheap to prepare with many publishers willing to send catalogues upon request. (If you were working with older kids you could simply give them the catalogues and ask them to do some fantasy shopping – seeing what books they themselves would chose for their library would no doubt be very informative.)
On a fifth table children will be able to cut out Lulu bookplates. These are available as part of an activity guide on the US publisher’s website. Don’t be confused by the name change – Lulu (in the UK) becomes known as Lola (in the US), but this doesn’t affect the bookplates.
This session will be rounded off by reading Lulu reads to Zeki also by Anna McQuinn and Rosalind Beardshaw, which is a simply delightful (and funny) window into a later stage in Lulu’s life;she now has a younger brother, and is passing on the love of books her father instilled in her to little Zeki, reading to him whenever possible.
The third session for the 3-5 year olds will open with a reading of I Love My Little Story Book by Anita Jeram, which is all about the delights you can find inside different books, and the various places they can transport you to.
Each child will have the opportunity to make their own bunny which comes with a hidden story book of its own. It’s a simple collage activity to make the bunny out of an envelope, a pompom, some dried spaghetti, googly eyes and cardboard ears, all stuck on to an envelope, inside which each child will find a blank mini book (blue to match the one in the story). Kids will be encouraged to make the story book their own with whatever mark-making they like.
The mini books are each made from a sheet of A4 paper, using this technique, my favourite way of making small paper books as it requires no sticking or stapling.
As well as there being tables set up with fairy tale activities (castles and knights to play with, dressing up, plastic animals in a forest play scene) kids will also be able to colour in and cut out several book plates designed by Anita Jeram.
These are all available to freely download (as long as you’re not using them for commercial purposes) from this brilliant website, http://www.myhomelibrary.org/, created by former Children’s Laureate, Anne Fine.
If time allows a reading of I like books by Anthony Browne will finish off this session. This is a very simple introduction to different types of books with just one sentence on each page. It’s a great reminder that there are all different sorts of books you can enjoy reading, not just story books.
The fourth session of the day will be based around an all time classic, Charlie Cook’s Favourite Book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. Once the story has been shared, each child will be given their own cardboard treasure chest to embellish with sticky jewels. I sourced some great treasure chests (from http://www.littlecraftybugs.co.uk/) so large that kids will be able to store favourite books inside them.
Elsewhere in the classroom during this session kids will have the opportunity to dig for buried treasure in a sandpit, make aliens out of green playdough, and play with plastic dragons, as well as the chance to colour in this Charlie Cook sheet which you can download from the official Gruffalo website, or to draw their favourite book on this Charlie Cook activity sheet from the US Scholastic website.
This session will be wrapped up with a reading of We are in a book by Mo Willems – a perfect book for this age range where the oldest kids may well be able to join in with reading this funny story about what characters in a book think about their readers.
And as well as all of this, all classes will have a session with the award winning author who is coming to join the school for the day… but more about this in a later post!
By: Amanda,
on 1/16/2013
Ah...Mo Willems. Always good for a belly laugh. Though I really love his Pigeon books, his stand-alone stories, in my opinion, have really been his best and this latest, Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs made me snort-laugh. Always a good sign.
The riff on the traditional Goldilocks and the Three Bears is totally silly, as the three dinosaurs lay the perfect trap for a delicious, succulent little girl. Readers are in on the joke, making for great anticipation as the end draws near, trying to decide whether or not Goldilocks will become a yummy snack for a few sneaky dinosaurs.
If you're looking for a fun new book to use at story time, look no further. Bold illustrations and a hilariously fractured fairy tale made this one a winner for me. Loved it!
Thanks to Balzer + Bray for the review copy!
By: Melissa Wiley,
on 12/8/2012
Bunch of books have to go back today; before they go, a quick catalog of the ones my gang loved:
Gideon by Olivier Dunrea, from the Gossie & Friends series.Huck enjoyed this short, simple story about a gosling who isn’t quite ready to take his nap. A repeat request, usually as a stall tactic at naptime. 
Sweet art; pleasingly small trim size. A good library choice, since Huck, at a month shy of four (eek), is on the top end of the age range this book is likely to appeal to.
Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same! by Grace Lin.A leveled reader that enchanted all three of my youngest. The homey adventures of imaginative twin girls with very different personalities. The making-dumplings chapter is Rilla’s favorite. She’s hoping for more Ling and Ting tales.
Rabbit and Robot: The Sleepover by Cece Bell.This early reader scored especially high with my boys. Huck’s an easy mark: you had him at “Robot.” Wonderboy was amused by the way Robot upended Rabbit’s careful sleepover plans. Plus: Magnetic hands! A lost remote control! A snack of nuts and bolts! And poor, flustered Rabbit, worrying about sticking to his schedule—a character Wonderboy can very much relate to. I might snag a copy of this one to keep.
Happy Pig Day! by Mo Willems.One of the few Elephant & Piggie books we don’t own, which means we wind up checking it out often.
I’m sneaking Autumn Leaves out of the house after approximately thirty-seven reads.
By: Maryann Yin,
on 11/6/2012
The literary community has created a number of relief efforts after the destruction of Hurricane Sandy.
If you want to help, you bid at the Kidlit Cares auction raising relief funds. Some of the items include Skype author visits with Elephant & Piggie author Mo Willems, Speak author Laurie Halse Anderon and Divergent author Veronica Roth. Nonprofit group First Book is asking for donations so that they can give new books to children affected by the storm.
Check out NYCService.org to learn about ways to help out in the New York City area. For the readers who don’t live nearby, but want to come out to the East Coast to volunteer, travel service Airbnb is offering fee-free rentals until November 7th.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
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By: Catherine Nichols,
on 9/10/2012
By: Gina Perry,
on 9/6/2012
By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: September 3, 2012
Here’s the scoop on the most popular destinations on The Children’s Book Review site, the most coveted new releases and bestsellers.
Best Halloween Books for Kids: Scary, Spooky, and Silly
How Picture Books Play a Role in a Child’s Development
Where to Find Free eBooks for Children Online
The most coveted books that release this month:
by Anna Dewdney
(Ages 3-5)
by Eric Litwin
(Ages 4-8)
Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs: As Retold by Mo Willems
by Mo Willems
(Ages 3-7)
Shatterproof (The 39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers, Book 4)
by Roland Smith
(Ages 8-12)
by Margaret Peterson Haddix
(Ages 9-12)
The best selling children’s books this month:
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
by William Joyce
(Ages 4-8)
Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons
by Eric Litwin
(Ages 4-7)
by Jon Klassen
(Ages 4-8)
Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site
by Sherri Duskey Rinker (Author), Tom Lichtenheld (Illustrator)
(Ages 4-8)
by Herve Tullet
(Ages 4-8)
The Heroes of Olympus: The Demigod Diaries
by Rick Riordan
(Ages 10-14)
by Veronica Roth
(Ages 14 and up)
by John Green
(Ages 14-17)
by R.J. Palacio
(Ages 8-12)
Heroes of Olympus, The, Book Two: The Son of Neptune
by Rick Riordan
(Ages 9-11)
_______
by Veronica Roth
(Ages 14 and up)
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
by Stephen Chbosky
(Ages 14 and up)
by Markus Zusak
(Ages 14 and up)
by Jay Asher
(Ages 12 and up)
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
by Sherman Alexie
(Ages 12 and up)
SERIES BOOKS
by Suzanne Collins
(Ages 12 and up)
by James Patterson
(Ages 13-17)
by Rachel Renee Russell
(Ages 9-12)
by Jeff Kinney
(Ages 9 to 12)
by Rick Riordan
(Ages 9 to 12)
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.
Original article: September 2012: Best Selling Kids’ Books, New Releases, and More …
©2012 The Childrens Book Review. All Rights Reserved.
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By: Zoe,
on 8/15/2012
I know some schools are already back hard at work, but we’ve got another couple of weeks before term starts for us, so here’s one more round up of activity sheets available for free from children’s authors and illustrators.Click on the relevant image or coloured link to be taken to activity sheets you can download.
I absolutely love Louise Yates’ books and I know my kids will enjoy the range of activity sheets she has available on her website.
Mo Willems has a new colouring page up every month, plus several online activities to keep Pigeon, Pig and Elephant fans happy.
At Chris Riddell’s site, carefully hidden away under “Hairstyles of American Civil War Generals” (sic!) there are activities for fans of Ottoline and The Emperor of Absurdia.
Almost exactly a year ago I fell in love with Steve Cole. I’m still in love with him, and I know M will be delighted to discover there are plenty of activities of Steve’s website, covering all his different books. I’m particularly looking forward to making the Astrosaurs puppets with M.
US born but Scotland-based author/illustrator Teresa Flavin has some lovely bookplates and fun mazes to share with us.
That’s the last lot of free activity sheets I’ll be linking to this summer. The full collection can be found here. I hope you’ve found them fun and useful, I know I have – I’m most g
By: wako_bill@hotmail.com,
on 8/5/2012
Sometimes it’s nice to take a little peek into the work of some of the world’s most successful authors, and in the coming months I’ll be adding a post or two on authors and illustrators I personally admire, and who continue to delight children (and adults) with their impressive line-up of work. In this first post, I’ll be revealing a little more about Mo Willems – a US author whose Knuffle Bunny books had me in stitches when my kids were really little. I hope you enjoy this profile. Email me with your author profile suggestions . . . who would you like to know more about?
Mo Willems was raised in New Orleans. He studied at Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, and when he was done, he travelled the world, drawing a carton every day. This work was later published in the book You Can Never Find a Rickshaw When it Monsoons.
Mo began his career as a writer and animator for Sesame Street. He also performed stand up comedy in NYC and recorded essays for BBC Radio. Mo has worked for The Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon, and has created two animated TV series – The Off-Beats and Sheep in the Big City.
Since 2003, Mo has authored many books for children. Three of his books have been awarded a Caldecott Honor: Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (2004), Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale (2005), and Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity (2008).
His Elephant and Piggie books, an early reader series about a friendly elephant and pig, are a huge hit with the littlies, and Elephant and Piggie won the Theodor Seuss Geisel Medal in 2008 and 2009, and a Geisel Honor in 2011.
In 2010, Mo began writing a new series of books featuring Cat the Cat, also aimed at early readers.
Mo’s books have been translated into many languages. They have even spawned animated shorts and have been developed into musical productions. His work, including illustrations, wire sculpture and ceramics have been shown in exhibitions all over the US.
Mo married his wife Cheryl Camp in 1997 and now lives in Masschusetts.
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By: Zoe,
on 7/29/2012
Thanks to the very generous folk at Walker Books I got to do something which makes me very happy earlier this week – read aloud lots of fabulous picture books with friends and their kids, and then give the books away, all part of a Picture Book Picnic…
The day started early, baking “Walker Bear” Gingerbread biscuits…
With the first of our “emergency supplies” ready for scoffing, we got to to the main business of the day – reading together!
We started with The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? by Mo Willems, humorous take on why it’s so nice to be polite.
Full of chocolate chip cookies (we used this recipe) and cold milk I then read How to Get a Job by me The Boss, actually by Sally Lloyd-Jones & Sue Heap. After a long conversation about what everyone wanted to be when they grew up, I interviewed the kids for the post of Explorer. All the kids sailed through their interviews (Do you like being outdoors? Yes! Are you afraid of snakes? No! Do you like climbing trees? Yes!) and so we got down the map of our local area and off we set on our bikes to have an adventure.
We set up our first camp by a sunny stream, perfect for a reading of Arthur’s Dream Boat by Polly Dunbar.
After the story we made paper boats and floated them off down the river.
Then we climbed up a hill to one of my favourite climbing trees, and in we all clambered to read Anna Hibiscus’ Song by Atinuke and Lauren Tobia.
Anna Hibiscus’ Song is an exuberant, joyous book about what makes people happy – just perfect for me on a day doing what makes me happy!
Anna Hibiscus (yes, the very same character as in the fabulous early chapter books also by
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By: Zoe,
on 2/14/2012
Although things may have appeared all cool, calm and collected on the blog front this last month (ha!), I’ve been feverishly beavering away behind the scenes acting as a judge for The Cybils. The Cybils awards are given each year by bloggers, for the year’s best children’s and young adult titles published in the US.
Yesterday the winners were announced! Three hearty cheers for the following books which won in their respective categories:
Elementary & Middle Grade
Book Apps
The Monster at the End of This Book
by Callaway Digital Arts, Inc
Nominated by: Sheila Ruth
Fiction Picture Books
Me . . . Jane
by Patrick McDonnell
Little, Brown
Nominated by: Kerry Aradhya
Nonfiction Picture Books
I Feel Better with a Frog in My Throat: History's Strangest Cures
by Carlyn Beccia
Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
Nominated by: Mary McKenna Siddals
Easy Readers
I Broke My Trunk! (An Elephant and Piggie Book)
by Mo Willems
Hyperion
Nominated by: Becky
Early Chapter Books
Have Fun, Anna Hibiscus!
by Atinuke
Kane/Miller Book Pub
Nominated by: Madigan McGillicuddy
Poetry
4 Comments on The best children’s books chosen by bloggers aka The Cybils winners, last added: 2/15/2012
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By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 4/24/2012
BY JEN VAUGHN – Read it and weep! Go have yourself a good cry (probably at a Disney movie). In the tradition of occasionally free newsprint tabloid comics like the one-shot Caboose and quarterly Smoke Signal, a collaborative comic will be available this weekend at MoCCA! Official press release below:
The word “comic” has always been a bit of misnomer and The Cartoon Crier hopes to set the record straight. Sorrow and woe is the focus of this free 36-page newspaper tabloid that highlights the work of members of The National Cartoonists Society and of The Center for Cartoon Studies’ community.
The Cartoon Crier will premiere on Saturday, April 28 at The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art Festival (MoCCA) in New York City.
The Cartoon Crier features the saddest strips from iconic comics like Family Circus, Beetle Bailey, Dennis the Menace, B.C., and For Better and For Worse. The Cartoon Crier also includes comics by Ivan Brunetti, Mell Lazarus, Melissa Mendes, Joe Lambert, Tom Gammill, Hilary Price, Laura Park, Richard Thompson, and Mo Willems as well as new work from the paper’s editors Cole Closser, R. Sikoryak, and James Sturm.
The Cartoon Crier will be available as a free download on May 1 from cartoonstudies.org.
—
Jen Vaughn is ready to weep tears in four colors: CMYK.
By: Amanda,
on 4/28/2012
The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? by Mo Willems
Boy + Bot by Ame Dyckman and illustrator Dan Yaccarino
Baby Bear Sees Blue by Ashley Wolf
Obviously, this is an old book. I enjoyed it during MY childhood and now I'm hoping Elliott will enjoy it too. It's been around for 70 years! This copy includes a cd to read along with, one track with page turn signal
By: Jerry Beck,
on 4/29/2012
Tonight, ASIFA-East handed out prizes for its 43nd annual Animation Festival. The Rauch Brothers took home the Best in Show for their 9/11-themed short John and Joe. Two children’s films that I particularly enjoyed at the screening were Michael Sporn’s inspiring I Can Be President (which was shown in excerpted form) and an adaptation of Mo Willems’ book Don’t Let The Pigeon Stay Up Late directed by Pete List. The latter showed that preschool animation can engage audience participation without talking down to kids.
The most surprising film of the evening was Leah Shore’s Old Man. The “old man” in question is Charles Manson, and Shore uses a breathless array of techniques and styles to illustrate recordings of his schizophrenic ramblings. Though we’ve posted Shore’s films here before—see BOOBatary and Meatwaffle—I’d suggest that Old Man is a breakout work for the young filmmaker. She is a talent to watch.
A full list of winners follows the jump.
BEST IN SHOW
John and Joe
StoryCorps/Rauch Brothers
BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM
1st Place
Taxonomy
Karen Aqua – Director2nd Place
Two
Steven Subotnick – Director3rd Place
Old Man
Leah Shore – Director
BEST MUSIC VIDEO
1st Place
the light that died in my arms
Alan Foreman – Director2nd Place
(Baby) It’s You!
David Cowles, Jeremy Galante, Brad Pattullo – Directors3rd Place
Le Soleil Chante (The Sun Sings)
Delphine Burrus – Director
INDEPENDENT FILMS
1st Place
Turning A Corner
David B. Levy – Director2nd Place
Dr. Breakfast
Stephen Neary – Director3rd Place
The First Time Cee-Cee Did Acid
Twins are Weird
Noelle Melody – Director
Joy Vaccese – ProducerExcellence in Animation
More Than Winning
Nick Fox-Gieg – Director
Susan Murray – AnimatorExcellence in Design
The Girl and the Fox
Base14/Tyler J. Kupferer – DirectorExcellence in Design
Orbis Park
Andrew KaikoExcellence in Soundtrack
Car Crash Opera
Skip Battaglia – Director
Jairo Duarte-Lopez, Michaela Eremiasova – ComposersExcellence in Writing
Wolf Dog Tales
Bernadine Santistevan – Director
COMMISSIONED OVER 2 MINUTES
1st Place
Miss Devine
StoryCorps/Rauch Brothers2nd Place
Don’t Let The Pigeon Stay Up Late
Mo Willems Studio/Weston Woods
Pete List – Director3rd Place
I Can Be President
Michael Sporn Animation, Inc.
Michael Sporn – DirectorExcellence in Education
Journey of a Water Molecule
The Knowledge Project/PS69x
Jose Maldonado, MB Hunnewell – DirectorsExcellence in Writing
A History of Animation
Morgan Miller – Direc0 Comments on 2012 ASIFA-East Awards Announced as of 4/30/2012 1:19:00 AMAdd a Comment
By: Molly,
on 5/18/2012
This Wednesday, we plied our local librarian friends with coffee and treats to meet us very very very early in the morning to hear about our Fall 2012 titles, straight from the mouths of our truly masterful editors. Our attendees live-tweeted under the hashtag #harperfallpreview and it was really exciting for us to see those enthusiastic tweets roll in. Thanks, guys!
Everyone with their listening caps on.
Now, for some great This Meets That’s:
Can you believe that in a little more than a month, we’ll be at the ALA Annual meeting in Anaheim, California? Because we sure can’t (cue folders flying, frantic packing). But if you’ll be there too, please make sure to stop by, say hello, and grab galleys of the titles above. Booth #2558– see you there!
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By: Betsy Bird,
on 5/24/2012
#60 There Is a Bird on Your Head by Mo Willems (2007)
31 points
I love so many of these, and so do the kids at my school. I find them reading – and acting them out – all the time, even though they’ve been read and reread and reread. And not just the youngest students…many a grade 5 has been observed chuckling over these two. So simple, so sweet, but so funny! How does he do it? – Emily Myrh
Oh yes. This is happening. Remember that last time I conducted this poll there was a ban on board books and easy books. Now the ban has been lifted and what is the result? Elephant and Piggie make their premier appearance on the list! Will this be their sole outing or will they appear again later on down the road? Only time will tell . . .
It’s a short book so the descriptions of it tend to be pretty to the point. As Horn Book described it, “two ‘love birds’ make a nest on Gerald’s head. Cause enough for panic, but when their three eggs hatch (in record gestation time), hysteria ensues. Luckily, Piggie has a good head on her shoulders.” I just like the term “record gestation time”.
Out of curiosity I decided to look at my library’s catalog holdings just to see how this book fares. As of this writing 103 copies of this book currently checked out. That’s what so weird about working for a system as large as NYPL. Numbers like that don’t always strike me as large enough. And it’s an easy hand sell, that’s for sure. Basically all you need is a parent who wants something easy and basic for their kid and you just hand them everything Willems related on the shelf.
Elephant and Piggie books do have a danger of blurring together, but it’s easy to remember this one. After all , it was the first Willems book to win a Geisel Meda. ALA proclaimed far and wide that, “Willems’ balanced design of color-coordinated speech bubbles, expressive cartoon art and familiar vocabulary create an engaging, laugh-out-loud experience for young readers. The charming characters, whimsical tone and accessible language come together in this fresh and memorable celebration of friendship.” And later, “In a book that is both contemporary and universal, Willems captures the hearts of readers while inspiring young children to embrace the joy of independent reading,” said Committee Chair Cindy Woodruff. Later Are You Ready to Play Outside? would win another Geisel Medal in 2009, but those are the only ones to garner gold so far.
SLJ said of it (in tandem with other Elephant & Piggie books): “The conversation between the friends flows smoothly and allows beginning readers to practice expression as they read. These appealing titles will tickle the funny bones of children and are sure to become favorites.”
And said Horn Book, “The uncluttered, animated illustrations will help new readers decode tone and meaning while the spare speech-bubble dialogue enhances the pictures’ slapstick humor. The minimalism of both text and pictures focuses attention and moves the stories forward.”
By: Chris Singer,
on 6/18/2012
Listen to My Trumpet by Mo Willems (Published by Hyperion)
Review by Chris Singer
About the author:
A three-time Caldecott Honor winner for Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale, and Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity, Mo Willems has also won two Geisel Medals for There is a Bird on Your Head! and Are You Ready to Play Outside? and his books are perennial New York Times bestsellers. Before he turned to children’s books, Mo was a writer and animator on Sesame Street, where he won six Emmy Awards. Mo lives with his family in Massachusetts.
About the book (from Amazon.com):
Gerald is careful. Piggie is not. Piggie cannot help smiling. Gerald can. Gerald worries so that Piggie does not have to. Gerald and Piggie are best friends. In Listen to My Trumpet! Piggie can’t wait to play her new instrument for Gerald! But is she ready to listen to his reaction?
My take on the book:
If you’ve followed Book Dads, you know we are big fans of Mo Willems and Elephant and Piggie. I enjoy reading all of Elephant and Piggie books with my daughter, and it’s hard to pick a favorite. Depending on the day you ask me, I would probably say the name of the last one we read together. Right now, our very favorite is “Listen to My Trumpet.” It has my daughter giggling almost from the very beginning. And when I say giggle, I mean full-out belly giggles. It’s just fantastic fun. I read this at the story time I do at the local library and the parents were laughing as much as the kids were. I can’t recommend this series enough. We’re slowly collecting the series and look forward to Mo’s next release!
By: Betsy Bird,
on 6/18/2012
#7 Knuffle Bunny, A Cautionary Tale by Mo Willems (2004)
129 points
These perfect pictures of New York City complement the family tale of Daddy who is wrong, wrong, wrong, and Trixie, who is totally right, but can’t yet say words to tell him. Heartwarming and hilarious. – Diantha McBride
And this is the book that sealed that obsession evermore. Mo-tastic. - Pam Coughlan
There have been others, and they are just as good, but this one still makes all of us smile (and my youngest is six now). Sometimes, the first one is still the best. - Melissa Fox
This may be a shocking inclusion on the Top 10 list to some, but for others they might remember that last time I conducted this poll Knuffle Bunny came in at a reasonable #10. Now it moves up three spots, which may owe as much to its continued popularity as to the success of its subsequent sequels. I do wonder if even Mr. Mo knew that Trixie would gain a trilogy out of the tale of one lost bunny.
The plot from my old review reads, “Trixie and her pop are off to the local neighborhood Laundromat one bright and sunny day. They get there, load the clothes, and take off for home when little Trixie comes to an awful realization. Knuffle Bunny, her beloved favorite toy, is missing. Unfortunately for her, she has not yet learned to talk. After some valiant tries (my favorite being the single tearful ’snurp’) she feels she has no alternative but to burst into a full-blown tantrum. This doesn’t make her father any happier and since he hasn’t realized what the problem is, he takes her home as she kicks and screams. Once home, however, her mother quickly asks, ‘Where’s Knuffle Bunny’? Back runs the whole family to the Laundromat where, at long last, the beloved bunny is recovered and Trixie says her first real words.”
Its origin story is rooted in a happy accident. Alessandra Balzer (of Balzer & Bray, an imprint of Harper Collins) was in an office with Mo and his art director as he vaguely told a story about his daughter. Alessandra insisted that he turn the story into a book, so he went home to try. He’d done a comic about his family for a DC comics anthology but, as he says in Leonard Marcus’s book Show Me a Story: Why Picture Books Matter, “the characters weren’t popping and I couldn’t get it to work. Then one of my drawings accidentally fell on top of one of the photographs on my light box, and I suddenly had the idea to combine the two.” That distinctive look is part of what sets KB apart from the pack. He result is that Willems believes that by combining drawings with photos “They’re purer than more realistic drawings of the character would have been, because their design focuses on their emotional side.”
Mo spoke at a SCBWI conference in the Pacific Northwest about five or six years ago. At the time he discussed the fact that Knuffle Bunny was the first Caldecott Honor winner to contain photography in any way, shape, or form. He’s been asked since then why he made such a “bold” choice. The fact of the matter, though, is that he partly saw it as a time saver. Of course, once he got into it he didn’t realize the amount of soul-sucking hours it would take to resize the characters so that they’d be proportional within their photographic environment. As it happens, the result is that he managed to create one of the only (perhaps THE only?) Caldecott Honor winners to incorporate photography into its images.
Said Horn Book, “There’s plenty here for kids to embrace. There are playful illustrations and a simple, satisfy
5 Comments on Top 100 Picture Books #60: There Is a Bird on Your Head by Mo Willems, last added: 5/25/2012
I almost missed Mo Willems while getting Julie Andrews and Emma Hamilton's autographs, but when I caught him at the elevator, he was kind enough to do one more quick signature. :) A great ending to an absolutely perfect conference.