It's Valentine's Day, which I think is fitting for the on-sale date of Wonder, 
our spotlight pick for February’s Best Books of the Month in Middle Grade and a book that I want to give everyone I know.
Wonder is a perfect Valentine because it has love and heartache, but it's also a story about choosing kindness and having the courage to be our authentic selves--both attributes of the heart, in my opinion.
August “Auggie” Pullman is a 10-year-old boy with extreme facial abnormalities that are the result of a rare genetic mash-up. Homeschooled all his life, Auggie enters school for the fifth grade and he is not the only one changed by the experience. Author R.J. Palacio has created characters that are incredibly authentic--from Auggie's inner dialogue to the intensely honest perspectives of his sister and new friends. I didn't want the story to end, but of course, it does, in a conclusion that was everything I'd hoped for. It reminds me of a Jerry Spinelli book, like Loser, something I would recommend without hesitation.
Wonder is R.J. Palacio's first book, and I look forward to seeing what she comes up with next. Read more about Wonder in an exclusive interview with author Laurel Snyder, who also writes books for middle graders (Bigger Than a Bread Box, Any Which Wall, Penny Dreadful)--an excerpt of their interview is below along with a trailer for the book. You can read the whole interview here (under A Best Books of the Month for Kids Exclusive). Happy Valentine's Day! --Seira
Snyder: Let’s start at the beginning. Why Auggie? How did you arrive at the idea for this book? Was there a moment, a catalyst, a person who inspired this story?
Palacio: There’s a scene in the book in which Jack talks about the first time he sees Auggie. He’s sitting on a bench in front of an ice cream store with his babysitter and his little brother, who’s in a stroller. At a certain point, both he and his brother notice Auggie—and they don’t react well at all. The babysitter, in her attempt to shield Auggie from their reactions, makes things worse by hastening away in a rather obvious manner. As they’re leaving the scene, Jack overhears Auggie’s mom say to her kids, “Okay, guys, I think it’s time to go.” Her voice is calm and sweet, and the babysitter is mortified at how badly she and Jack and his little brother have handled the situation.
That scene actually happened to me about four or five years ago. I was with my sons visiting a friend who lives out of town, and at some point we found ourselves sitting next to a little girl who looked like Auggie. The scene played out exactly as it played out in the book—and afterward, I couldn’t stop thinking about how poorly we had handled that encounter. My sons I could excuse: they were still young. But I hated the way I had responded. What could I have done differently? What should I be teaching my kids to prepare them for something like this? Is “don’t stare” even the right thing to teach them? What would it be like to walk in that child’s shoes? Since I’m a mom, that oth
Whenever I hear the name Laura Ingalls Wilder, or even just think it, a warm homey feeling comes over me like being covered in my grandma's quilt. 
Today I'm getting that feeling a lot, since February 7th is Laura Ingalls Wilder's birthday (born in 1867) and she is very much on my mind.
It's been said that Wilder wrote the Little House books to preserve the stories of her childhood for today's children, to help them to understand how much America had changed during her lifetime. Thanks to her foresight, generations of children have vicariously lived the pioneer experience and gained an appreciation of the difficulties the early homesteaders faced in a way that no history book or adult recitation of "how good we have it" could ever accomplish.
The Little House books have also given readers an opportunity to bond across generations, when the books are lovingly passed along from a parent or grandparent who fell in love with the series during their own childhood. Personally, I read my mother's set--which didn't include The First Four Years, discovered many years after Wilder's death--with their odd square shape and cloth covers, purchased during a time when the author was still alive (Wilder died in 1957 at the age of 90). I have warm memories of reading those old books, pretending I was living in the Ingalls cabin alongside Laura and Mary, and I can't wait to share the series with my own daughter. Reading even a fraction of the hundreds of customer reviews tells me that the Little House bond is shared by many, and one of the beautiful things about these books is that they are loved by boys and girls alike.
Wilder was 65 in 1932 when her first book, Little House in the Big Woods, was published and her books have remained in print ever since. In 1954 the American Library Association founded the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, the first one given to its namesake, and now awarded every two years to "an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have made, over a period of years, a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children." The current winner is Tomie dePaola, who received the award in 2011. Besides the children's book award, there are museums, elementary schools (including one in my hometown), countless books, blogs, and websites--even a crater on Venus named for Laura Ingalls Wilder. And then, of course, there was the wildly popular television show that brought Laura, most notably in the form of Melissa Gilbert, into the homes of millions every week (along with Nellie Olesen, the quintessential mean girl). It's quite a legacy.
Please join me in some Little House nostalgia, as I reminisce about maple syrup candy and falling asleep to the sound of fiddle playing--what are some of your favorite Little House moments? --Seira
The nine books in the Little House series:
By: Seira Wilson,
on 2/7/2012
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Whenever I hear the name Laura Ingalls Wilder, or even just think it, a warm homey feeling comes over me like being covered in my grandma's quilt. Today I'm getting that feeling a lot, since February 7th is Laura Ingalls Wilder's birthday (born in 1867) and she is very much on my mind.
It's been said that Wilder wrote the Little House books to preserve the stories of her childhood for today's children, to help them to understand how much America had changed during her lifetime. Thanks to her foresight, generations of children have vicariously lived the pioneer experience and gained an appreciation of the difficulties the early homesteaders faced in a way that no history book or adult recitation of "how good we have it" could ever accomplish.
The Little House books have also given readers an opportunity to bond across generations, when the books are lovingly passed along from a parent or grandparent who fell in love with the series during their own childhood. Personally, I read my mother's set--which didn't include The First Four Years, discovered many years after Wilder's death--with their odd square shape and cloth covers, purchased during a time when the author was still alive (Wilder died in 1957 at the age of 90). I have warm memories of reading those old books, pretending I was living in the Ingalls cabin alongside Laura and Mary, and I can't wait to share the series with my own daughter. Reading even a fraction of the hundreds of customer reviews tells me that the Little House bond is shared by many, and one of the beautiful things about these books is that they are loved by boys and girls alike.
Wilder was 65 in 1932 when her first book, Little House in the Big Woods, was published and her books have remained in print ever since. In 1954 the American Library Association founded the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, the first one given to its namesake, and now awarded every two years to "an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have made, over a period of years, a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children." The current winner is Tomie dePaola, who received the award in 2011. Besides the children's book award, there are museums, elementary schools (including one in my hometown), countless books, blogs, and websites--even a crater on Venus named for Laura Ingalls Wilder. And then, of course, there was the wildly popular television show that brought Laura, most notably in the form of Melissa Gilbert, into the homes of millions every week (along with Nellie Olesen, the quintessential mean girl). It's quite a legacy.
Please join me in some Little House nostalgia, as I reminisce about maple syrup candy and falling asleep to the sound of fiddle playing--what are some of your favorite Little House moments? --Seira
The nine books in the Little House series:
By: Seira Wilson,
on 1/31/2012
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Schiel & Denver Book Publishers Blog
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Today marks the 50th anniversary of a children's book classic, A Wrinkle in Time. 
To celebrate this milestone Farrar, Straus and Giroux (who published the book 50 years ago) have released gorgeous commemorative editions with the original hardcover and paperback jackets and new extras that include an introduction by Katherine Paterson and an afterword by author Madeleine L'Engle's granddaughter.
A Wrinkle in Time is as relevant and captivating in 2012 as it was in 1962, and it's incredible to me that such an iconic story began with a random thought during a cross-country vacation, "...the names Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who, and Mrs Which popped into my grandmother’s head, and she told her three children—twelve, ten, and seven—that she would have to write a book about them..."--from the afterword [PDF].
Many prominent authors have been influenced by Madeleine L'Engle, including Judy Blume. Blume was interviewed for a book about L'Engle (titled Listening for Madeleine) coming out in the fall, and we have an exclusive excerpt, a sample of which is below. You can find the rest of the excerpt here (under More to Explore).
"Madeleine and I really bonded over the issue of book banning. Her books were being
challenged all over the country. They were being challenged—and I love this and have used it in
every speech about book banning that I’ve ever given—for teaching “New Ageism” to children. I
always say that I can guarantee you that when Madeleine wrote her books she had never heard of
New Ageism. The attacks on her books made her absolutely furious. She was beside herself, not
just because her books were being attacked, but because any books were being targeted in that
way. We would go out and do TV shows together in defense of banned books. An evening news
show might have a segment on the censorship of children’s books. This was during the 1980s.
She was so elegant and so down-to-earth, and some of her answers were so funny, as much as to
say: Why are you guys so stupid? Why would you be asking questions like this? She never
actually said those things, but it was absolutely clear what she meant. I just loved her."--Judy Blume in an excerpt from Listening for Madeleine: A Portrait of Madeleine L’Engle in Many Voices.
A Wrinkle in Time has been read, loved, and shared, by countless readers over the last 50 years, and I'm certain that trend will continue. This anniversary inspired me to re-read the book for the first time in decades and I fell in love with the words and characters all over again. Those of you who adore this book as I do will understand when I say that I got a little bit giddy when I saw the photo posted below, and if A Wrinkle in Time is one of the unread classics on your list--treat yourself to an amazing read. --Seira
A photograph of page one from the original
By: Seira Wilson,
on 1/23/2012
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This morning I got up at 5 a.m. to see (via webcast) the 2012 winners of the biggest awards in children's publishing--the American Library Association (ALA) awards. The film industry has their Golden Globes® and their Oscars®, and we have the Caldecott and Newbery Medals, the Coretta Scott King Award, and the Michael J. Printz Award. Unlike most other book awards, the major children's book awards given by the ALA have no lists of finalists or nominees. It's a surprise every single year (with plenty of speculation beforehand) and I kind of love the secrecy. This year's announcement had both the unexpected and the "ah, of course" books on the lists (including some 2011 Best of the Month titles)--you just never know who is going to win what. Congratulations to this year's winning and honored authors and illustrators:
2012 Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children:
2012 Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature:
2012 Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults:
By: Seira Wilson,
on 1/23/2012
Blog:
Schiel & Denver Book Publishers Blog
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
children's books,
Newbery medal,
Books,
young adult,
Book Awards,
ALA awards,
Parenting,
Coretta Scott King award,
Pura Belpre award,
award winning children's books,
Great Migration,
Caldecott medal,
Blackout,
Underground,
Family Room,
Heart and Soul,
Jasper Jones,
I Broke My Trunk,
Where Things Come Back,
Me...Jane,
A Ball for Daisy,
Scorpio Races,
Tales for Very Picky Eaters,
Dead End in Norvelt,
Under the Mesquite,
I Want My Hat Back,
Breaking Stalin's Nose,
2012 ALA awards,
childrens book awards,
Diego Rivera: His World and Ours,
Grandpa Green,
Hurricane Dancers: The First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck,
Inside Out & Back Again,
kids book awards,
Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match,
Maximilian & the Mystery of the Guardian Angel: A Bilingual Lucha Libre Thriller,
Michael J. Printz award,
See Me Run,
The Cazuela that the Farm Maiden,
Theodore Geisel award,
Why We Broke Up The Returning,
Never Forgotten,
Add a tag
This morning I got up at 5 a.m. to see (via webcast) the 2012 winners of the biggest awards in children's publishing--the American Library Association (ALA) awards. The film industry has their Golden Globes® and their Oscars®, and we have the Caldecott and Newbery Medals, the Coretta Scott King Award, and the Michael J. Printz Award. Unlike most other book awards, the major children's book awards given by the ALA have no lists of finalists or nominees. It's a surprise every single year (with plenty of speculation beforehand) and I kind of love the secrecy. This year's announcement had both the unexpected and the "ah, of course" books on the lists (including some 2011 Best of the Month titles)--you just never know who is going to win what. Congratulations to this year's winning and honored authors and illustrators:
2012 Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children:
2012 Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature:
2012 Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults:
The first flakes of the fabled thundersnow have started to fall. Home will be the globe now, so they tell us.
Today, while talking with clients, while reviewing proposals, while sending an email or two, I had this thought about the novel that I wrote for adults, a novel that needs another round of attention before I send it out newly into the publishing world.
If a single transition—in a poem, in a story, in a novel—is broken, then the whole is broken; it is untenable and marred.
Find the broken transition. Fix it. And when you do you will find the novel (the story, the poem) opening itself to you in ways you could not, before, imagine. You will find your novel capable of more. Yourself, too.
Be capable of more.
are particularly special for those who create children's books because they are the only awards given by their peers in the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
How do you put these poetic posts together, Beth? And whole novels of such beauty.
I was thinking of you tonight as I took my children's book class. (I'm learning to write picture books--and it's VERY hard!) Have you dabbled in those waters? Your poetic nature would serve you very, very well.
Amazing. Thank you.
Beautiful, and so very true. Every sentence has to work.
Your posts about writing make me wish I lived closer so that I could take one of your classes or attend a workshop that you're teaching. :)
You inspire sweet friend. I'm working to fix the broken parts, slowly but surely.(Hugs)Indigo
You help me with that line: "Be capable of more." Thank you Beth.