Hokey dokey. Too much stuff here to cover very well, but try we shall. Hold on to your hats, folks! It’s gonna be a bumpy ride.
First off, you know how I was talking the other day about constructing the ideal educator website of children’s literature resources? Well, this might have to be one of said resources I’d include. Called Uncover the Past, the site is dedicated to “helping library and education professionals teach history through children’s literature!” The booklists are particularly interesting.
Thanks to Rebecca Redinger for the link.
Next up, one for the “how cute is this?” files. I don’t know why the idea of Mary Blair tableware isn’t commonplace, but so far this is the first place I’ve seen it done properly. Blair, as you may recall, worked as a Disney animator for years before becoming a children’s book illustrator.Take the survey and you might win a set of your very own.
Mmm. Process. Sweet, delicious process. What’s better than watching an Art Director explain how they came up with a YA cover? Watching an Art Director explain how they came up with a YA cover after considering LOADS of alternatives. Chad Beckerman shows us how The Haters came to be. I don’t usually do YA, but in this special case I am making an exception. You bet I am.
Oo. Auction. Now normally one wouldn’t have the money for such a thing, but this one’s special. What we’re talking about here is a Refugee Benefit Auction, created by authors Shannon Hale and Mette Ivie Harrison. 100% of the proceeds go to Lifting Hands International, a charity that gets life-saving supplies directly to refugee camps. As for the things you could get, they’re pretty fantastic. My personal favorite? A pole dance (or fan dance, they’re easy) performed by Shannon Hale and Daniel Handler. “Negligible nudity assured”. Oddly, this item has yet to secure an initial bid. Would someone like to lend me $10,000?
The Fictional Book Characters Who Sparked Our Sexual Awakenings. Meh. None of these ranked in my book, but it’s interesting to see the fellers other gals were into. And, happily, it reminded me of one of my favorite Toast pieces of all time: Things I’ve Learned About Heterosexual Female Desire From Decades Of Reading.
I think I’m the last one to link to the Alexander London piece Our Stories Are As Unlimited As Our Selves or Why I Came Out as a Gay Children’s Book Author. A great piece and one that ties in nicely with the GLBTQ chapter of Wild Things. Should we ever update that book, this is going in.
Oo! Eisner Award nominees. Love that stuff, I do. And check it out! Not only is Nathan Hale nominated in the Best Publication for Kids category (for The Underground Abductor, naturally) but he’s also in the Best Writer / Artist category as well. He is the ONLY children’s book creator in that category, by the way. Regardless of whether or not he wins, that is significant.
Travis Jonker. He comes up with so many good ideas. Have you seen his Endangered Series, uh, series? Well, it’s a great idea. Series that once were strong but now are waning are given a close examination. Cam Jansen was the latest to fall under scrutiny. I suspect The Kids of the Polk Street School already hit the dust, but if not then this would be an ideal candidate for a future post.
Wow. Two thumbs up to the ALSC board for voting to cancel the National Institute in Charlotte, North Carolina. American Libraries Magazine has the scoop. Thanks to Jules Danielson for the link.
How on this good green earth did I miss Rick Riordan’s letter to kids who are faced with the dire prospect of being shown one of the Percy Jackson movies in school? I’ve seen authors dislike their books’ adaptations before, but nothing quite matches this. Thanks to Monica Edinger for the link.
“With such a huge international variety of books and illustrators on display in Bologna, are there differences in illustration styles among individual countries?” Yep. Moving on. Oh, wait . . . no, let’s dwell on this idea a bit longer. Four German children’s book publishers were asked this question and they gave their responses. The thing is, here in the States we’re seeing some remarkably high quality German children’s book fare on a regular basis and it’s GREAT! I’d love this question to be regularly posed with folks from other countries as well.
The site Brightly has had a couple good articles up lately. I liked 8 Surprising Facts About Your Local Librarian not the least because I knew the librarians quoted. NYC pride!
Daily Image:
I almost never do images of books here for the Daily Image since it’s sort of a case of bringing coals to Newcastle. But then I saw that one of my greatest picture readalouds, one of my core books, a title I’ve loved for years, is getting a sequel. At long long last I have an answer for those kids who have been asking me, “Is there a sequel with the tractor?”
Yes, children. Yes there is. And life is good.
I have been telling stories and having so much fun in the last two weeks that I have not had time to post here. I promised you TOON reviews and with the Eisner Awards recently announced, I must comply.
TOON will NOT be left behind. They have produced Little Nemo's Big New Dreams, edited by Josh O'Neil, Andrew Carl and Chris Stevens. Poor Little Nemo! He's been having incredibly active dreams since 1905 when his comic strip was first designed by Windsor McCay.
Each double page spread of Big New Dreams offers a Little Nemo Slumberland adventure as envisioned by a different graphic artist. Most are paneled but some are simply large illustrations that still manage to tell a story. Little Nemo is clearly identified in each story but the artists' styles vary widely.
I can imagine so many different ways to use this colorful book - besides just reading the stories.
Well, I have another telling event this evening and need to prepare so stay TOON for my next TOON review and a possible GIVEAWAY!
I was beyond thrilled to learn that
Bluffton has been nominated for
THREE Eisner Awards. The Eisners are the "Oscars" of the comics industry and are named after the great Will Eisner, creator of
The Spirit and the artist most often credited with the creation of the modern graphic novel.
Bluffton is nominated in the categories of
Best New Graphic Album,
Best Writer/Artist, and
Best Publication for Teens.
Here is the press release.VOTING for the award winners will close on
Friday, June 13th at midnight PDT. Comics professionals, retailers, and...
LIBRARIANS are all eligible to cast a vote.
VOTE HERE.It is indeed an honor to be recognized in these categories and to stand beside such amazing fellow nominees. I'll be at the awards ceremony on
July 25th. It's my first time at
San Diego Comic Con.
I am thrilled that
Around the World has received
two nominations for the prestigious
Eisner Award (known as the Oscars of the Comics Industry). ATW is up for both
Best Publication for Young Adults and
Best Reality-Based Work (which includes books for adults as well). I'm in some amazing company and this is definitely one of those "it's an honor just to be nominated" kinds of things.
The Eisners are named after the great
Will Eisner, creator of
The Spirit and one of pioneers in what has become the modern Graphic Novel (although I don't think he liked that term). My introduction to Eisner came as a young boy in the seventies reading and rereading my copy of
The Great Comic Book Heroes by Jules Feiffer. Among the origin stories of Superman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and others I had heard of, was this strange comic called The Spirit and it was my favorite of the bunch.
Here's my yellowed copy of Feiffer's book, which I of course still have. It sits on my studio bookshelf. (Note the price: $6.95!). I'm pretty sure they recently reprinted this great book. Pick it up if you can.
Here is the complete list of Eisner Nominations.
And
here is a great article from
Brigid Alverson about the experience of being one of this year's Eisner Judges.
If all goes well, I'll be at the award ceremony this July in San Diego...
This week hasn’t just been about the CBCA Book of the Year shortlists but also the 2012 Eisner Awards.
For those unfamiliar, the Eisner Awards are focused on comics and are judged by peers (comic creators, journalists, artists and writers). CYL is often asked for recommendations in graphic novels so why not check out past nominations and recipients of the Eisner Awards in the young person categories?
Best Publication for Young Adults (Ages 12-17)
Anya’s Ghost, by Vera Brosgol (First Second)
Around the World, by Matt Phelan (Candlewick)
Level Up, by Gene Yang and Thien Pham (First Second)
Life with Archie, by Paul Kupperberg, Fernando Ruiz, Pat & Tim Kennedy, Norm Breyfogle et al. (Archie)
Mystic, by G. Willow Wilson and David Lopez (Marvel)
**Not surprised Anya’s Ghost made the list – it has been overwhelmingly received by comic creators, librarians and teachers alike. In fact it made CYL’s graphic novel book list recommendations last year.
Best Publication for Kids (ages 8-12)
The All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold, by Sholly Fisch, Rick Burchett, and Dan Davis (DC)
Amelia Rules: The Meaning of Life … And Other Stuff, by Jimmy Gownley (Atheneum)
The Ferret’s a Foot, by Colleen AF Venable and Stephanie Yue (Graphic Universe/Lerner)
Princeless, by Jeremy Whitley and M. Goodwin (Action Lab)
Snarked, by Roger Langridge (kaboom!)
Zita the Space Girl, by Ben Hatke (First Second)
Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 7)
Beauty and the Squat Bears, by Émile Bravo (Yen Press)
Benjamin Bear in Fuzzy Thinking, by Philippe Coudray (Candlewick/Toon Books)
Dragon Puncher Island, by James Kochalka (Top Shelf)
Nursery Rhyme Comics, edited by Chris Duffy (First Second)
Patrick in a Teddy Bear’s Picnic, by Geoffrey Hayes (Candlewick/Toon Books)
Happy Monday to you, everyone. I’ve plenty of tasty treats to bestow on the good little boys and girls this morning. First off, the only thing that I can figure when I look at the baby versions of various Harry Potter characters by Artful Babies is that whomever the creator is they must spend a lot of time skulking about maternity wards. How else do you manage to capture that brand new ugly/cute look of newborns? Of all the characters, the Snape amuses me the most. Anyone who has ever seen a pissed off baby will recognize the look on his face. And for those of you reading this with your morning coffee, I will spare you the baby Lord Voldemort. Needless to say, be prepared to spittake. I liked my friend Marci’s suggestion that someone take the Voldemort baby and put him under a bench in a train station somewhere, though.
- I love Leila Roy of bookshelves of doom, but I think I love her best when she’s taking down a bad book. Whether it’s Flowers in the Attic or her recent smackdown of John Grisham’s Theodore Boone sequel, nobody snarks like she does.
- A hitherto unknown Arthur Rackham drawing has been discovered in an obscure book? Hot diggety dog! That is awfully cool to me.
- New Blog Alert: Well, as I live and breathe. I hereby declare myself unobservant. Since March of this year there has been a group blog of middle grade authors called Smack Dab in the Middle. Group blogs are a perfect way for authors to blog without having to distract themselves from their real jobs. In this particular case it’s a great line-up of folks and I’ve taken a great deal of pleasure checking out some of their upcoming books.
- I know you all read your Morning Notes from 100 Scope Notes without fail. Be that as it may be, how can I not link to a man who knows when to use the phrase, “This cover needs more maracas“?
Seems a bit unfair. I complained some time ago about the fact that Kadir Nelson somehow managed to be able to write AND illustrate his books with aplomb. Hey, Kadir! Save some talent for the rest of us! Now I feel the same way knowing that not only did illustrator Leo Lionni make some of the greatest picture books of the 20th century, he could sculpt as well.
9 Comments on Fusenews: More cowbell/maracas, last added: 7/28/2011
First off, you know how I was talking the other day about constructing the ideal educator website of children’s literature resources? Well, this might have to be one of said resources I’d include. Called Uncover the Past, the site is dedicated to “helping library and education professionals teach history through children’s literature!” The booklists are particularly interesting.
Oo. Auction. Now normally one wouldn’t have the money for such a thing, but this one’s special. What we’re talking about here is a Refugee Benefit Auction, created by authors Shannon Hale and Mette Ivie Harrison. 100% of the proceeds go to Lifting Hands International, a charity that gets life-saving supplies directly to refugee camps. As for the things you could get, they’re pretty fantastic. My personal favorite? A pole dance (or fan dance, they’re easy) performed by Shannon Hale and Daniel Handler. “Negligible nudity assured”. Oddly, this item has yet to secure an initial bid. Would someone like to lend me $10,000?
Oo! Eisner Award nominees. Love that stuff, I do. And check it out! Not only is Nathan Hale nominated in the Best Publication for Kids category (for The Underground Abductor, naturally) but he’s also in the Best Writer / Artist category as well. He is the ONLY children’s book creator in that category, by the way. Regardless of whether or not he wins, that is significant.
I wish every art design company released their drafts of book covers. I found the Jesse Andrews cover evolution endlessly fascinating!
Also, I’ve been working on a document for the social studies teachers in my school: historical fiction curricular tie-ins for each unit of study. Uncover the Past will help make the rest of the process go a little bit easier. Thanks for the link!
Thanks for the shout out, Betsy!
That’s the auction item I want, too. Our Friends have been very generous in funding events. I’m thinking the community would respond well to a Pole Dance/Fan Dance by Shannon Hale and Daniel Handler. Right?
Right now I’m having a hard time trying to think of anyone who wouldn’t want a Pole Dance/Fan Dance by that magnificent dancing team of Hale & Handler.
Duck on a Bike, the very best read-aloud. A sequel, hurray!
I may have screamed with joy at my desk when I saw an announcement for Duck on a Tractor! I LOVE Duck on a Bike and can’t wait.