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Actor Nathan Lane (pictured, via) and his life partner Devlin Elliott will team up as writers for a picture book series. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers will release the first installment, Naughty Mabel, in Fall 2015.

According to the press release, the story follows “a fabulous French bulldog based on Lane and Elliott’s very own naughty (but adorable) pup. Mabel is the queen of the Hamptons and has a penchant for getting her perfectly pedicured paws into trouble.”

Publisher Justin Chanda negotiated the deal with Brenda Bowen of Sanford J. Greenburger Associates (representing Lane and Elliott) and Abigail Samoun of Red Fox Literary (representing Krall). Chanda will edit the manuscripts. Animator Dan Krall has been brought on to create the illustrations.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

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Twicetold Tales: Cassie and the Woolf

written by Olivia Snowe
illustrated by Michelle Lamoreaux
Stone Arch Books       8/01/2014
978-1-4342-6278-3
Age 8 to 12 128 pages

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“Once (or twice) upon a time, a girl named Cassie brought supper to her grandmother. But in this retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, Cassie doesn’t know that Caleb Woolf gets to her grandmother first. When Cassie finds out what Caleb has done, she is determined to get revenge. Whatever it takes, Cassie is ready. She will fight the Woolf . . . “

Opening

“Cassie Cloak held her red raincoat closed at the neck.”

The Story

Cassie Cloak stops at a deli after school then delivers supper to her grandmother. Caleb’s basketball game with friends breaks up leaving Caleb alone and hungry, but unwilling to go home. He can smell the chicken soup and sandwiches in Cassie’s deli containers as she dodges the rain. He also hears Cassie decline a ride from the deli man and the address of grandma’s apartment complex. Caleb times it so he “runs into” Cassie on the street, but is not the most cordial guy. Cassie is glad when he leaves.

At grandmother’s apartment complex, Cassie checks on grandma but collides with the bathroom door instead, falling unconscious to the floor. Later she unties grandma and realizes the black hoodie left in the bathroom belongs to Caleb. He had ambushed grandma, knocked out Cassie, and left with their supper. Cassie and grandma plan their revenge. Cassie invites Caleb to dinner. He accepts, planning to retrieve his hoodie before anyone else sees it. (He figures Cassie had not seen it else, she would not invite him to dinner. Or was it a trap.) Caleb went back and forth with this debate throughout the day.

Grandma opens up windows so the smell of her soup and roast will flow down the street, enticing Caleb. She knew Caleb could not resist the aroma of her cooking, just in case he was going to stand her up. Promptly buzzed past security, Caleb walks through grandma’s ajar apartment door, which shuts quickly behind him. Caleb announces his presence, but hears nothing in return. He is alone. With the doors are locked—from the outside—and the windows are sealed shut, no one can hear Caleb when he realizes the horror of his mistake.

Review

I read Cassie and the Woolf in one sitting. The story is a mere 128 pages but I couldn’t put it down if broccoli began to burn on my stove, again. It is that good. This modern retelling’s setting is an after-dark dangerous downtown. Most every shop has closed and Cassie and Caleb pass no one on the streets. Add in a fierce rainstorm and the elements are set for a horror showdown. Caleb is a brut of a boy with little manner or social skills. His claim to fame at the middle school he shares with Cassie is his basketball skills. When they meet, Cassie has no idea who Caleb is and it might have turned his anger ugly. He proceeds to bounce his basketball into a puddle, soaking Cassie. It is no secret what Caleb Woolf—the wolf—is going to do at Cassie—Little Red’s grandmother’s home. It is what happens after that will draw readers in the most.

Both Cassie and her grandma are formidable foes, unlike the original story where the wolf eats them both. In this retelling, the woolf, I mean wolf, will get his due. What happens when Caleb finds himself trapped inside grandma’s apartment will not scare anyone. I quite enjoyed the scheme, not once figuring out what was happening until it happened. Even the ending threw me off. I can’t say much more or story spoils would fill the page. I will say the writing and potting are masterfully done, never letting the reader figure out the next step until Cassie and grandma take it..

The characters are believable and easy to care about, including Caleb Woolf. You have sympathy for him shortly after meeting him, alone, his stomach growling, and unable to go home. He slowly turns into the wolf. As he walks with Cassie, he slowly becomes more annoying. After he has eaten Red’s supper, Caleb’s stomach hurts from over ingestion and he actually feels a bit remorseful, though I think he is confusing gastritis with remorse. I felt bad for Caleb at that moment—a little—and hoped Cassie’s revenge would not hurt him. But then the following day Caleb treats Cassie unkindly and the sympathy waned. Caleb’s character is a rollercoaster between decent and awful.

Middle grade aged kids will enjoy Cassie and the Woolf. Nothing in the story will spark nightmares or upset kids in the least—unless they are a fan of the wolf. No one dies; no one is shot, knifed, or beat up. Violence is at a minimal level. Suspense rises as slow as possible once Caleb enters grandma’s apartment and finds he is alone. From the moment Caleb sees his washed and folded hoodie, he knows something bad is going to happen; that he had walked into a trap. Readers who open Cassie and the Woolf will find they love the build up, the suspense, the basketball-bouncing walk through downtown streets, and the dinner invite given at school. Cassie and the Woolf is a fun read and an excellent modern retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. Middle grade and older kids will enjoy this fairy tale once more. I’d expect nothing less from an author whose last name is Snowe.

TWICETOLD TALES: CASSIE AND THE WOOLF. Text copyright © 2014 by Olivia Snowe. Illustrations copyright © 2014 by Michelle Lamoreaux. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Stone Arch Books, North Mankato, MN.

Purchase Cassie and the Woolf at Amazon—B&N—Book Depository—Stone Arch Books—your favorite bookstore.

Learn more about Twicetold Tales HERE.
Meet the author, Olivia Snowe, at her website:
Meet the illustrator, Michelle Lamoreaux, at her website:
Find more stories at the Stone Arch Books website:    http://stonearchbooks.blogspot.com/

Stone Arch Books is a Capstone imprint.   http://www.capstonepub.com/

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Also in 2014 by Olivia Snowe & Michelle Lamoreaux.

A Home in the Sky (Twicetold Tales)

Beauty and the Basement (Twicetold Tales)

Dandelion and the Witch (Twicetold Tales)

Hansen and Gracie (Twicetold Tales)

The Girl and the Seven Thieves (Twicetold Tales)

The Sealed-Up House (Twicetold Tales)

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copyright © 2014 by Sue Morris/Kid Lit Reviews

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What’s in Your Purse?

by Abigail Samoun & Nathalie Dion

Chronicle Books     3/25/2014

978-1-4521-1701-0

Age   3+       12 pages

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“From compacts to wallets, passports to planners, cell phones to sunglasses—mommy, grandma, auntie, and sister’s pocketbooks have to carry it all. Lift-the-flaps and peek inside to find the tote-ally terrific treasures each fashionable purses holds! Featuring a snap closure and a take-it-anywhere handle, this interactive book collects five purses in one and allows young readers to lift more than 15 flaps—it’s the perfect accessory for budding fashionistas!”

Review

The first thing I want to say about today’s selection is this: please get your “Aw’s” out now. This adorable book will make your young child fall in love with books. Inside this carry-able book are five purses with the accessories one might find in mom or grandma’s purse. A snap holds the pages tightly in the shape of a purse that your child can carry. The pages are thick, the plastic snap is snug, and the pages will help your child’s imagination take off.

What’s in Your Purse? opens to that very question. Turn the page and the next question is, “Mommy, what’s in your purse?” Mommy’s yellowish-orange purse has a green zipper and a snap just like the one holding the book closed. Flip up the flap and you will see everything mommy carries in her purse, along with three questions for your child to read and answer. Don’t forget to look inside her Mylar compact—at yourself.

“Where does Mommy work?”

Mommy’s employee I. D. says she works at Fashionable Purse.

“What colors are Mommy’s eyes?

Mommy’s drivers license says her eyes are brown.

“What does Mommy have to do on Wednesday?”

 Mommy’s datebook says she is buying pink laces.

Next, let’s ask Grandma what’s in her yellow billowy purse. This purse is closed with a clasp. Turn it and look inside. She has a picture album, a wallet, and a glasses case, all of which flip up for further investigations. Just three of the fifteen total flaps. Again, there are questions to answer that require a good search through Grandma’s purse. Check out the diary in your sister’s purse—hurry, don’t let her catch you!

There is one last purse and it belongs to your child. Will the contents of her purse surprise your child? Does she have a real purse to compare to this book purse?

When I first saw this, I know my eyes got very wide with excitement. How cool is this book/purse? Little girls will love carrying this around and showing others what is in each purse. The purse is a large eight inches long and tall. A convenient handle is smooth and inviting. Girls will want this book. Buy this and try, as hard as you can, to keep it hidden until Christmas or some other important day. What’s in Your Purse will definitely put a smile on the girl who opens up its purses and flaps.

I think I could blubber on about this all day. The sturdily made purse-shaped book has a well-constructed plastic snap and the flaps that won’t tear without force. Even with these fine qualities, What’s in Your Purse is still a book, not a toy, and should be treated as such. When done reading or carrying, the book sits on a shelf like any other book. Girls will love this; parents will love giving this to their daughter. I only hope that the author designs a toolbox for boys and a lunch box for boys and girls. Until then, enjoy What’s in Your Purse? This is one more surprise from the wonderful line of books from Chronicle Books and its imprints.

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WHAT’S IN YOUR PURSE? Text and design copyright © 2014 by Abigail Samoun. Illustrations copyright © 2014 by Nathalie Dion. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Chronicle Books, San Francisco, CA.

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Want to learn more about What’s in Your Purse? Check out: THE MAKING OF WHAT’S IN YOUR PURSE?

Buy a young girl in your life What’s in Your Purse? at Amazon—B&N—BookDepository—Chronicle Books—your local bookstore.

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Meet the author, Abigail Samoun, at her agency website:   http://redfoxliterary.com/aboutus.html

Meet the illustrator, Nathalie Dion, at Behance: http://www.behance.net/madamedion4723

Find books at the publisher, Chronicle Books, website:    http://www.chroniclebooks.com/

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Also by Abigail Samoun

How Hippo Says Hello! (Little Traveler Series)

How Gator Says Good-bye! (Little Traveler Series.

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Also by Nathalie Dion

Urban Babies Wear Black

Artsy Babies Wear Paint (

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Chronicle Books Imprints

A Good Home for Max

Telephone

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Hi Abigail. Thanks for joining us today.

Before we get pick your brain on marketing, tell me a little about yourself.

Tricycle Press is the children’s imprint of Ten Speed Press which began in Berkeley in the early 1970’s. After over 30 years as an independent publisher, we were just bought by Random House/Crown Books in February.

Ten Speed is known for its quirky, offbeat books like ‘Why Cats Paint’ and ‘The White-Trash Cookbook,’ but also for its business books (‘What Color is Your Parachute?’) and its high-end James Beard Award-winning cookbooks (Charlie Trotter, Hungry Planet, the Moosewood Cookbook). Tricycle’s list shares some of Ten Speed’s offbeat quality with board books such as the ‘My First Book of Sushi’ and ‘Urban Babies Wear Black.’ We’ve also done groundbreaking books like ‘King & King,’ about same-sex marriage, and ‘Mama’s Milk,’ promoting breast-feeding.

We have a whole list of character education books such as ‘Hey, Little Ant,’ which has kids think about the moral issues surrounding the question of squishing or not squishing an ant, and the picture books by anti-bullying expert, Trudy Ludwig. Our list ranges from photographic board books, to humorous read-alouds, to literary young adult novels. It’s an eclectic list and what all the books have in common is their high-quality and broad appeal to a trade audience. Our motto is ‘Books to Make Kids Think.’

As far as for me, I've been an editor at Tricycle Press since 2000 and focus on books, picturebooks, middle-grade, and early young-adult novels. These include the SCBWI Golden Kite winner GEORGE HOGGLESBERRY: GRADE SCHOOL ALIEN and the New York Public Library Ezra Jack Keats awardwinner, YESTERDAY I HAD THE BLUES.

I also edited the middle grade series Edgar & Ellen which has sold over 200,000 copies worldwide and launched a cartoon series on Nickelodeon.

There is more information on Abigail in her interview on Cynsations.

Do you or your publishing house have a website/blog? If so, when did you start it and who manages it?

TenSpeed has had a website since I came to the company in 2000. We have some individual contractors who help us with it but it’s managed overall by one of our marketing people.

In your opinion , what are the top 3 things every author should and must do to promote their book?

First I would have to say websites.

For writers, websites are a very good idea, but if an author feels overwhelmed by the idea, a Word Press or Blogger blog can work almost as well. If I’m interested in an author, I’ll often Google them to find out a little more about them. A blog gives me a good sense of their writing style, what they’ve been up to, what they might do to promote their book, and their interests.

For illustrators, a website is crucial. I can’t tell you how frustrating it is to come across a book with amazing illustrations and then Google the illustrator only to find out they have absolutely to web presence. Most of my illustration searches are done online. Even if I get a postcard or tear sheet from an illustrator, I’ll always go online to see more of their work. Make it as easy as possible for an editor to find you: the best web address is one that’s simply your first and last name .com (or, alternatively, first and last name + illustration + .com). Be sure to include lots of samples (twenty or more is ideal).

Secondly, it would be platform.

Someone who has already made a name for themselves among teachers and librarians is gold to your publisher. We love illustrators and authors who do school visits. A few of our authors make a good living doing school visits. School visits and attending trade shows like ALA, TLA, and IRA is great, but also consider less obvious methods such as writing an article for a trade journal (i.e., ‘Teaching Tolerance,’ ‘School Library Journal’), writing a teachers’ guide for your book and offering it through your website or blog, or putting a video up on teachertube.com---give teachers and librarians free content to use and they’ll remember you.

The third thing is to focus on targeting specialty markets.

As trade book sales drop, the special markets are becoming more important to publishers. Most publishers will have someone on their sales team that deals with special market sales. Help them out by thinking of places to sell your book besides bookstores and schools/libraries. There are tons of places that sell books that aren’t bookstores: baby shops, gift shops, stationers, museum stores, tourist shops. chains like the Discovery Store, Pottery Barn, Anthropologie, ...the list goes on. Come up with your own list of special markets to explore and work with the sales people at your publishers’ to get the book into those places. If you have any contacts that might help your publishers’ sales team---i.e., your sister-in-law knows the buyer at Anthropologie---share them.

In your opinion, how important is social networking? Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, GoodReads.

I love Facebook because it’s a way to stay in touch with people I’ve worked with or met at conferences in a casual, less time-intensive way than email. Remember, though, that it’s still a professional relationship---it’s okay to be playful, but not okay to barrage editors or agents with lots of requests for quizzes and such.

I personally prefer Facebook to MySpace for professional contacts because it doesn’t have that teen vibe MySpace has and or as many obnoxious ads. The “status” bar on Facebook is great for letting people know about conferences you’re attending, awards you’ve won, exciting news about your book.

Jacketflap.com is my second favorite social networking site because it’s specifically dedicated to children’s book people. I just found a terrific children’s book designer through that site.

When evaluating whether to take on an author or book, do you ever Google them to see if they already have a web presence or platform?

I didn’t used to but now I do more and more. It’s especially helpful when I’m trying to convince my publisher why we need to take on a given book---it’s a big plus for the project if I can tell my publisher that the book has an “active author.” Having a web presence is a big part of this.

What marketing do you expect an author to do on their own?

At Tricycle, we’ll rarely sponsor a book tour. We’ll help schedule book signings and events, but the travel and lodging costs are almost always up to the author. We also expect authors to put together their own websites or blogs.

We expect authors to do a lot to promote their books. Its a partnership.

Thank you Abigail for being here!

Thanks Shelli!

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