Hurts Like a Mother: A Cautionary Alphabet by Jennifer Weiss and Lauren Franklin (Illustrated by Ken Lamug) (Doubleday) Fifty-three years after Edward Gorey’s delightfully subversive alphabet…
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It is a truth universally acknowledged that Jane Austen adaptations have been very nearly done to death. It is a testament to its classic status that Pride and Prejudice has made it gracefully through such a broad gamut of re-envisionings and reinterpretations, from a Bollywood setting to a zombie mash-up to a modern-day vlog.
Marcia Williams’s Lizzy Bennet’s Diary (Candlewick, April 2014) is another installment of this tradition. The diary not only tells the familiar story of Austen’s novel — more digestible for young readers in this simplified first-person format — but embroiders the story with rich details of life in Regency England, without appearing didactic. Lines from the novel are woven smoothly into the diary entries, and letters are included as nice pop-out elements, complete with faux seals and addresses. Though “Lizzy’s” drawings are stylistically far from period-appropriate, they are true to the tongue-in-cheek humor of Austen’s original text. However, the inclusion of scanned period documents (like a playbill from Lizzy’s trip to London) or pressed flowers pulled me out of the flow of the story rather than adding to the experience.
Though this may stem from my bias as a veteran reader of the novel (and a lit student to boot), I found the Lizzy of Williams’s Diary a shallower and less mature girl than the Elizabeth of “not yet one-and-twenty” whom I have come to know and love. The publisher pins the target audience age for this rendition as 8–12 years, but does that mean the heroine should be dumbed down?
That aside, the book will easily serve young readers as a good stepping stone into the wonderful, wide world of Austenania — and when they’re ready the original Pride and Prejudice will be waiting for them.
P.S. I highly recommend checking out the “Lizzie Bennet Diaries,” if you missed them while they were airing. I warn you that the serial installments (like the near-daily entries of Williams’s Diary) can get pretty addicting. (I watched 35 in one day!)
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The model made popular by the Choose Your Own Adventure middle-grade books comes to a teen audience in two new paperback series with massive appeal for reluctant-reader girls.
Bridie Clark’s Snap Decision series, which debuted last summer with Maybe Tonight? (Roaring Brook, August 2013), places the reader in the driver’s seat to navigate life at a prep school. In breezy second-person narration rife with timely pop-culture nods, “your” choices involve glamorous friends, glitzy parties, hot guys, and fabulous trips. The second installment, You Only Live Once (is “YOLO” still everyone’s favorite acronym?), publishes this month.
In Summer Love (Speak/Penguin, May 2014), first in her Follow Your Heart series, Jill Santopolo takes the formula on a summer beach trip during which readers (fresh from a sweet sixteen party “six — no, seven — days ago”) flirt, date, and look for love at every turn. Ideal for fans of Sarah Dessen and Gayle Forman (included on the “other books your may enjoy” list in the opening pages), this is a diverting prescription for summer-vacation reading.
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I went to the Stationary and Surtex show in New York City a couple of weeks ago and had a great time. I haven't been to the show in a quite a few years, so it was nice to go again. I really enjoyed looking at the booths, trends, and it was great to see some familiar faces too! I was happy to see my book,
Tooth Fairy Tales - My record of each lost tooth at the Potter Style Booth, and it was also very cool to see my
snail notecards at the Papyrus store on 5th Avenue!
My Book is in the middle of the second shelf up from the bottom.
It was so fun to see my notecards there!
by Salina Yoon
Toys, toys, toys! I love toys! They are often the inspiration to my novelty books—board books with interactive features. They are designed to be touched, pulled, squeezed and played with, so my books and toys are like cousins.
Colored stacking rings, the Connect Four game, wooden puzzles, rubber duckies, and even a football has inspired a book idea! And sometimes, it’s not even a toy at all. Random objects will inspire me. My husband’s toolbox, kitchen utensils, scrap fabric, a greeting card, and even a funny jack-o-lantern on Halloween! I can’t get away from ideas creeping into my head because I’m surrounded by objects. Needless to say, I develop a ton of ideas every year. About a dozen are usually good enough to publish. And the others crawl back into my deep, dark dummy closet of doom. (See photo!)
My books are concept- and format-driven, so I’m not looking for story ideas. I look for fun concepts that allow a child to interact in a meaningful way from the physical design of the book. Rock & Roll COLORS is an excellent example. The book has a hidden track within each narrow page that allow a shiny disk to roll back and forth when the book is tilted. It makes a nice, satisfying clunking sound when the disk hits the edge. Each side of the page has an image with die-cuts, so the foil comes shining through. Each spread focuses on one color, and both images on the page are that same color. It’s so simple, but effective!
So how does this help you if you’re not developing novelty books? I say keep an open mind! Even simple objects can inspire, if you let them. For the PiBoIdMo challenge, all you need are concepts.
Surrender to your imagination! I don’t actively try to create ideas as much as allowing ideas to come into my head. Allow your mind to be free! Relax. Smile. Enjoy the process. Like the Chinese finger trap, the harder you pull, the stronger it resists. Don’t stress too much about trying to think up great ideas. When they come a-knockin’, just invite them in!
Salina Yoon is the creator of over 150 innovative books for young children. She has been named a finalist for the CBC’s Children’s Choice Book Awards for K-2nd Best Book of the Year, for Opposnakes (S&S/Little Simon), received the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal awards for Little Scholastic TOYS (Scholastic/Cartwheel) and Rock & Roll COLORS (Scholastic/Cartwheel), and the Nick Jr. Fam
Baby's Book Tower. By Leslie Patricelli. 2010. August 2010. Candlewick. 96 pages.
The book contains four board books (book blocks) by Leslie Patricelli:Yummy Yucky, Baby Happy Baby Sad, No No Yes Yes, Quiet Loud.
I love, love, love Leslie Patricelli's board books. She is such a great writer and great illustrator! And these four books are among her best. They're simple. They're fun. They're true-to-life.
Aren't the illustrations fun? I just love them!
From Yummy Yucky:
Spaghetti is yummy.
Worms are yucky.
Blueberries are yummy.
Blue crayons are yucky.
From Quiet Loud:
Whispering is quiet.
Screaming is loud.
Crayons are quiet.
Pots and pans are loud.
No No Yes Yes and Baby Happy Baby Sad rely on the illustrations to tell the story. For example, in Baby Happy Baby Sad, we learn that baby is happy when he's hugging the cat and sad when the cat runs away. Or my favorite, the baby is happy to be naked and sad to be bundled up in a snowsuit. And in No No Yes Yes, readers learn that baby drawing on the wall gets a No No while baby drawing on a piece of paper gets a Yes Yes.
Other book towers include
The Very Best Mother Goose Book Tower and
Maisy's Book Tower.
© Becky Laney of
Young Readers
The Grasshopper Hopped. Elizabeth Alexander. Illustrated by Joung Un Kim. 2010 [January 2010]. Random House. 14 pages.
The grasshopper hopped into the pot,
only to find that the soup was too hot!
The grasshopper hopped out of the pot.
He had to find a cooler spot.
Hippity-hop, hippity-hop
In this rhyming adventure, readers meet a grasshopper who's hopping places he has no business hopping. (That pot of soup isn't the most dangerous either place either.) Where does this grasshopper belong? Will he find the right place to be?
This interactive picture book offers readers the opportunity to 'play' with the grasshopper. The reader can make the grasshopper hop on each page by manipulating tabs.
This one has a repetitive refrain which is a good thing. It means that readers can join in on the action if they want.
I think it is a simple story that offers a bit of fun as well.
© Becky Laney of Young Readers
Trucks Go Pop! written and illustrated by Bob Staake. Little, Brown, 2008 (978-0-316-00510-4) $17.99
In the town of Truckopolis, happy trucks are going about their days--delivering milk, picking up recycling... shooting clowns out of cannons. Vibrantly colored pictures and some innovative paper engineering makes this a particularly busy pop-up book; there's plenty of action on every page, often with actual movement, as well as a lot to look at. (Some of it, like a poster advertising "telepathic flesh-boring," quite bizarre.) The 3D of the pop-ups is complemented surprisingly well by a whimsical, flat drawing style that's heavy on odd, bold shapes and contrasting colors. This is mostly a book for looking at: "little truck/big truck/silly truck/dig truck" is half the text right there. Includes a colorful poster of "Truckopolis." (3 & up)
Thanks Salina. How fun to think about concept books! You make it seem easy.
Catherine Denton
Thanks for the inspiration, Salina.
I absolutely LOVE your books and I own several of them.
They are so much fun!
Ooh, I’m gonna have to look up OPPOSNAKES! (Well, and all the others, too!)
Thanks for the reminder to relax and let the ideas come to you. I sometimes feel as if I’m chasing mine–and they keep turning the corner just ahead of me!
Oh Salina, you’re so funny with the deep, dark dummy closet of doom… I love that! Your words are very inspirational and also that your work is so prolific. I’m completely motivated to dive into more ideas and sketching out some illustrations today…thank you for the creative boost! You’re amazing…
Thanks, Salina! You’re such an inspiration! I don’t know how you come up with so many fantastic ideas. It’s incredible. I think I’ll go play with my kids’ toys, have a relaxing cup of tea, and wait for inspiration to strike. Sounds like fun! I love your closet of doom, by the way. LOL! Hey, it even has nice moldings.
Thank you Salina! Your books are wonderful!
Oh.. I have to say something about my Deep, Dark, Dummy Closet of Doom. That closet didn’t exist until my hubby decided there was space beneath the staircase for a small closet if he could only make a hole into my studio wall! I reluctantly let him,… and wow. There is definitely space in there! He even carpeted the inside. Hubby built that custom door with moldings for me! YAY for new found storage spaces!
And thanks, all, for your lovely comments!
Oh, I think it would be so fun to come up with novelty book concepts! Thanks for the PB inspiration today!
Thanks for inspiring me to think out of the “toy box” Salina! I appreciate what you said about tons of ideas and only about a dozen being good enough to publish. The last time I said that, I heard gasps! But it’s true…so we should all be inspired to keep building a better mousetrap (or a better idea) until we find one that works! Keep building, troops!
I love your books, too, Salina… and your blog post is SO relevant, especially as with e-readers, it’s great for PB writers to be able to think of their stories in more than just 2D. You’re ahead of the game!
Excellent post. Opposnakes looks like it could be a blast. Thanks for the inspiration.
Cheryl