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The We Need Diverse Books campaign has kicked it up a notch with an Indiegogo campaign. They’re raising money to support authors, diversify classrooms, develop educational kits, promote diverse programming, you name it.  As of my writing this they are $40,000 or so away from their goal.  Check it out:

Diverse Campaign w Thanks Card from Undercurrent on Vimeo.

And now for something completely different.  Cookie Monster has parodied Harry Potter and Hunger Games (not to mention Star Wars).  Dare we hope Twilight is on the horizon?  Because I would pay a lot of money to hear him say, “Climb onto me back, little spider monkey.”

It was Travis at 100 Scope Notes who alerted me to the Vine illustrator videos at The Guardian.  There are lots there to choose from so I had a hard time figuring out which one to show here.  In the end I went with James Mayhew.  Lovely stuff.

Thanks to Travis for the link!

Moomins! Rivera Moomins! In Finnish, yes? Beautifully done.

By the way, when I die I’m coming back as one of Aaron Zenz’s kids.  A strange ambition but after watching this video can you blame me?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WNNJGJqnCA

I don’t think I need to tell you children’s librarians out there what a perfect fall craft this would be.  And talk about cheap!  Here are some additional photos of their creations.  These kids once did some Giant Dance Party fan art that I treasure to this day.  And as a side note, how cool is it that they watched Exit Through the Gift Shop as a family?

All I can say about this next Alice in Wonderland inspired video is that I am SO grateful I didn’t watch this while on any kind of drugs.  Lordy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGfNSitVQFM&feature=embed

Thanks to Marci for the link.

I don’t think I need remind any of you that this past week BookOps (the combined technical services of New York Public Library and Brooklyn Public Library) engaged in a sort-off with the Kings County Library system. You were all watching the play by play on your phones, right? Right? No? Hm. Well, in any case, I am happy to report that this year we won our trophy back.  It was a close race but that’s how we get it DONE, SON!  Now you can see this drone video of our freakin’ awesome sorter here, but if you’d like to check out the competition the following video shows a sorter very much like our own (and a Collection Specialist doing my job to a tee).

Granted, we don’t have a machine named “Mustang” in our building, but we’re still pretty cool.

I agree with Jezebel that Samuel Jackson’s reading of Go the F*** to Sleep is as good as it gets, but LeVar Burton reading it fulfills some deep hitherto unknown need in my soul. Do I really have to warn you about the language in this?

As for our off-topic videos, this one got me to thinking about how these goofy little internet videos often strip down a famous song to its most essential elements, and make it clear how strong the original melody really was.  I think it was Weird Al who pointed out that he could only parody songs that had a distinctive melody. Case in point:

I’m a chick who loves Star Wars.  I’m not ashamed of the fact.  Feminist icon Princess Leia?  I can get behind that (gold bikini or no).  So when I saw a galley for that AMAZING Star Wars children’s book coming out with art from the original concept artist Ralph McQuarrie, I was blown away.  Here, Tony DiTerlizzi (who did the writing in the book) talks about the film and the art.  Geeks unite!

I love that he mentions that moment with the two suns.  For me, that was undoubtedly the most iconic scene in the original film.  I just loved the realism of it.  I am SO reading this to my kids.  P.S. For a fun time read the rants about the “Luke, I am your father” line.  Or, better yet, don’t.

Now until about a day ago when my niece did it, I didn’t actually know what the Ice Bucket Challenge was.  Dav Pilkey takes it on using Flip-o-Rama.  Good man.

Ball’s in your court now, CeCe.

I think it’s safe to say that I have never seen an author promote a cinematic adaptation of their award winning book as much as I’ve seen Ms. Lois Lowry talk up the latest film of The Giver.  Here she does it again:

How famous is J.K. Rowling?  So famous that when she writes an incidental character, NBC News is willing to report on that character getting her own song.  According to Salon this is an original song written for Pottermore starring Celestina Warbeck, Molly Weasley’s favorite singer:

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

And speaking of all things Potter, the thing about learning that there’s a documentary out there called Mudbloods is that you can’t believe you hadn’t seen a film of that name before.  It’s an awfully good idea to make a movie about the rise of the real world Quiddich movement.  It’s not the first Harry Potter documentary of course but it’s a cute idea.  Here’s the trailer:

Man.  It would weird to be J.K. Rowling and see this, wouldn’t it?  Here’s some additional info.

A little me stuff.  I conducted a talk with Mara Rockliff and Eliza Wheeler for Bibliocommons in honor of their latest book The Grudge Keeper.  It was recorded, but rather than show our lovely faces the video shows some slides of what we’re discussing.  In case you’ve an interest you can take a gander at it.  A lot of talking about the process of writing picture books can be found here:

As for the off-topic video, this one’s been making the rounds.  It’s one of those videos where you go, “Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Ooooooh!”

Thanks to Steve Bird for the link!

No time to dilly-dally, people! We’ve most of our peers and betters living it up in Las Vegas. Let’s soothe our sorrows of not attending ourselves in some lovely videos then, eh whot?

First off, you may have known that there was a recent Boston Children’s Book Trivia Night. But did you know there was video from the event as well? Indeedy.  Just LOOK at that turnout!  That’s Jack Gantos moderating.  The only trouble with this vid is that it doesn’t contain the answer to his trivia question.  Um . . . anyone want to tell it to me?

In other news, Eoin Colfer.  Not that his existence is news exactly.  It’s just worth making your day brighter to watch him talk a little about . . . well, pretty much anything.  In this case, on getting a literary agent.  Granted, he looks a bit like a great big blue floating head, but I care not.

In movie news, The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex is finally finding itself in film form.  Retitled Home, it has made some interesting changes. The title, for one.   J-Lo is now just O. And  Tip is a teenager (one suspects the film executives thought kids would start picking up their own parents’ car keys if they saw a kid in a movie driving).  We shall see.

Awwww.  A Harry Potter rap!  It’s never too late folks (and note the complete and utter lack of snark in the lyrics).

Thanks to bookshelves of doom for the link.

And for our off-topic video, this one actually mentions Hagrid at one point (continuing our Harry Potter theme).  So we’re awfully close to being on-topic.  It’s one woman, seventeen different British accents, and one rocking pair of fantastically 1985 glasses.

Time to up the bar. Years ago N.D. Wilson made what has to be the most ambitious book trailer created by an author I ever did see (it was for The Ashtown Burials and if you missed it you can watch it here and see what I mean). Now, after copious Florida research trips where he shot this footage, Wilson returns. Think the narrator on this is Morgan Freeman? Think again. It’s Wilson himself and this is a beautiful glimpse of the book. Tell me you don’t want to read it right now now now.

Finally, the off-topic video was going to be that Christopher Walken supercut of him dancing in all his films.  Unfortunately it looks like it’s been removed.  So instead, I’ll just give you a video that will lead you to waste your ENTIRE DAY.  Do you know Postmodern Jukebox?  If not, do NOT click on that link or you’ll be listening to clever recuts of popular songs all the ding dang day long.  Fitting that I show their video of 2013′s hits then:

Just sorta makes me happy.  I’m working on a theory that the tambourine players is a being from another world.

When a video has reached over two million views, it’s usually safe to assume that everyone has seen it.  However, there’s always the possibility that you have not, so with that in mind what better way to start off today’s Video Sunday then by looking at books with a sense of rhythm?  This is the kind of thing that clearly puts the “labor” in the term “labor of love”.

Now as a great number of you know, Monday morning we’ll see the announcement of the Newberys, the Caldecotts, and all the other awards ALA hands out each year.  Seems appropriate then to post a video of past Newbery winners.  First up, this amazing look at Virginia Hamilton, the woman behind the Newbery winning M.C. Higgins the Great (amongst other things).  I am ashamed to say that before I saw this I had no idea that Jaime Adoff was her son.  Ye gods!  The video also features Jean Craighead George of Julie of the Wolves.  You get a glimpse of her Newbery Medal in its velvet case at one point.

Open Road Media made these to sell the ebooks.  Nice covers too.  Check out the one for Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush.  Print publishers should take notes.

Now to look at some hardcore bookshelves.  Here in America we’ve these wimpy little bookshelves that anyone can reach.  In Berlin?  You need a freakin’ harness to get what you want.