How to use this Page

This may sound a little crazy, but even though I’m on maternity leave for three months or so, this video made me nostalgic for my system. It’s the rather remarkable Why Libraries Matter short documentary from The Atlantic. Beautifully shot and LOOK! There’s Rita Meade again! Somebody give that gal her own show.

While we’re loving our libraries, let’s keep on keeping on.  Here’s Brooklyn Public Librarian Alla Roylance on her own journey and time in the library.  And yes, there are pregnant iguanas involved.

Oh, what the heck. One more.  Here’s a piece on how popular our storytimes are.  Shout outs to Danielle Kalan and Rachael Payne, who both appear in this piece.

I know he’ll soon be living in Brooklyn for a year, but I’d never had a chance to see the man behind Press Here actually speak.  Et voila!  Herve Tullet discusses his latest book.

Thanks to 100 Scope Notes for the link!

Actually, 100 Scope Notes had most of the good videos this week.  Like John Green’s 47 Charming Facts About Children’s Books.  Tell me this isn’t awesome.

Of course Fact #18 may be untrue.  I did some research for my upcoming book Wild Things: Acts of Mischief in Children’s Literature (how’s that for a plug, eh?) and though it didn’t make the final cut I have evidence that suggests that it was Potter’s MOTHER and not Potter herself who insulted young Roald.  I do not, however, have any evidence to suggest that it wasn’t Ms. Potter who yelled at Diana Wynne Jones’s sisters for swinging on her fence.  That story appears to be legit.

And for our off-topic video, a very amusing video for Les Miserables fans.  It’s what happens when you run the lyrics to One Day More through a Google translator and back again.

Thanks to Marci for the link.

• Oh, you lucky bugs.  Do you know what today is?  Today is the first day of Kidlitcon and for those of you still interested in joining (and who wouldn’t be?) you have a last minute chance to be a part of the fun.  Always assuming you’re in the Austin area, of course, but I bet that LOTS of you are located in that general vicinity.  As you’ll recall, last year Kidlitcon was held in New York City and we did very well indeed with the vast hoards of people.  This year it’s a slightly smaller affair, but no less fascinating and fun.  Full details can be found here but don’t worry if you’ve missed the opening ceremonies.  The bulk of the action is on Saturday anyway, so you’ve still time to join.  So go!  Shoo!  Why waste your time here?

• I don’t know about you but typically I go through blog reading binges.  I ignore my favorites for long periods of time and then I consume weeks’ worth of material in a single sitting.  I did this recently with the beloved Crooked House.  First, I enjoyed the fact that she highlighted the book How to Do Nothing With Nobody All Alone By Yourself (notable, if nothing else, for the Lemony Snicket quote which reads, “Every great book reminds us that we are all alone in the world. At least this one provides us with the means to entertain ourselves while we’re here.”)  The second post that caught my eye was a transcribed selection from The Mermaid of Brooklyn which I perhaps enjoyed too much.  Too too much.

• Now some graphic novel news.  There are two horns worth tooting today.  First, there is the fact that I’m on ALSC’s Quicklists Consulting Committee and we recently came up with a newly revised Graphic Novels Reading List, broken down not just by age levels but by whether or not they’re black and white or color.  In related news, kudos to the folks at Good Comics for Kids as well as Snow Wildsmith and Scott Robins for their A Parent’s Guide to the Best Kids’ Comics: Choosing Titles Your Children Will Love.  The SLJ blog and the useful book were both mentioned on the most recent episode of the popular NPR podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour.  The episode Making Toddlers Into Nerds is a bit of a misnomer and they do a lamentable job of mentioning any children’s literature that isn’t either 50 years old or part of a huge series, but at least they get the graphic novels piece right.

• Questions I never thought to ask until Marjorie Ingall made me: Why do chickens play an outsized role in Jewish children’s picture books?  The answer may surprise you.  Or, at the very least, you’ll be impressed with the amount of thought Marjorie has put into this subject.

• This is a good one.  Always at the forefront of the diversity issues, Lee and Low recently put on their blog the post Literary Agents Discuss the Diversity Gap in Publishing.  The agents in question are Adriana Domínguez, Karen Grencik, Abigail Samoun, and Lori Nowicki. Much of what they’re saying echoes things we’ve heard from editors over the past few years.  Check it out.

• I received this message recently and figured you’d want to know about it.  Ahem.

I just wanted to let you know that ABFFE’s 2013 holiday auction will take place on eBay from November 26 through December 2^nd.  Please let your colleagues and friends know that this is the best place to buy holiday gifts! More than 50 leading artists and illustrators contributed to last year’s auction and we are hoping for even more art this year.  Once the auction is live, you will be able to access it from a link on www.abffe.org.

• Me stuff.  Recently I was lucky enough to serve on the New York Times Best Illustrated judging committee for this year’s books.  If you haven’t seen the results I came up with alongside Brian Selznick and Steve Heller you have two choices.  You could look at the fancy dancy NY Times slideshow of the winners here OR you could go on over to 100 Scope Notes and check out Travis Jonker’s truly lovely round-up with book jackets and everything here.

• Just as I collect children’s literary statues from around the States (I’m STILL updating that post, people, so don’t worry if your favorites haven’t made it yet) I also like to keep tabs on museums of famous children’s authors and illustrators.  You have your Eric Carle Museum, your Edward Gorey Museum, and apparently you also have a Tasha Tudor Museum.  Or, at least, you will when it finds a new host.

You may or may not have heard about the SpotLit list, created by Scholastic Book Group with the help of scholars, teachers, librarians, and other specialists in the field.  Well, two awesome infographics have been created to show off some of the facts behind it.  I like them partly because they’re infographics and partly because in the group picture it looks like I’m snuggling up to Harry Potter while Hedwig swoops down mere moments before removing my cranium.  This list discusses what the committee looked like and this list discusses what the books on the list consist of.

• When a new library branch reopens in my city I don’t always report on the fact, but this recent article about the reopened Coney Island Branch is the exception to the rule.  The place looks precisely how you’d want a Coney Island branch to look.  Granted there aren’t any half naked mermaids or rides in the library, but those photographs on the walls are worth the price of admission alone.

• Jon Klassen’s right.  Interviews with the great illustrator Arnold Lobel are few and far between.  When you can find one, you post it.  And that’s just what he did.  Thank you, Jon.

• Turns out, there are LOTS of children’s literature conspiracy theories out there that I never even knew about.  A hat tip then to Listverse for rounding them up for us.  Clearly the Dodgson is my favorite.  Thanks to AL Direct for the link.

• I’m always keen to get a handle on the newest studies that discuss how kids handle technology.  Now the “Zero to Eight Children’s Media Use in America 2013” study has been released and Children’s Technology Review discusses the results in full.  Big time thanks to Mary Ann Scheuer from Great Kid Books for the link!

• Hat tip to Travis Jonker.  Without him I would have never known that there are TWO children’s literature podcasts out there that had escaped my attention.  I need to upgrade the old sidebar on this blog, do I not?

• And in the world of grants n’ such:

Greetings! There’s still time to apply for the ALSC Candlewick Press Light the Way grant. The deadline is December 1, 2013. This is a great funding opportunity if you have a project or program related to library service to children in special populations. The application is at this link: http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/profawards/candlewicklighttheway

• Daily Image:

Today’s image may be classified as Best Fan Art Ever, or something along those lines.  How many of you are familiar with Helen Frost’s lovely middle grade Diamond Willow?  Well, it came out in 2008 or so but its fans continue to find it.  Case in point, this young woman who, with her Chinook pet dog, reenacted the cover.  Compare and contrast:

Original:

Fan Made:

Utterly adorable.  Many thanks to Helen for sharing this with me

Yep.  A good old-fashioned bit of library/musical theater parody.  Joyce Valenza got some students to explain curation things Broadway style.  They do a good job.  I was trying to think up other Fiddler-inspired MLIS songs but it’s tough.  20 points if you can come up with another.

I like to say that writing a really good picture book can be far more difficult than writing a YA novel at times.  But seriously, why choose?

It really doesn’t matter what movie I watch sometimes.  Whatever it might be, there’s always a children’s literature connection lurking in the shadows.  Last night the resident husband and I watched Nobody’s Fool (1994) starring Paul Newman.  At one point Newman’s grandson is seen reading the Tintin adventure The Blue Lotus, which is timely.  After all, we’ve got a Tintin movie on the horizon so librarians everywhere?  Stock your shelves!!!  Little Brown has put out some great kid-friendly versions of his stories (now with less racism!) that you’ll probably want to get your hands on before the film comes out (though their smaller print size is unfortunate).  Here, British author/illustrator John Fardell (The 7 Professors of the Far North) discusses Hergé’s style, why we like it so much, and how it has influenced his own art.

For this next book trailer . . . paging, Vivian Alcott.  Alcott, party of one?

When lessons are taught on quality cheap book trailers, I hope this is used as an example.  Thanks to Playing By the Book for the link.

Entertainment Weekly, of all places, had a really top notch interview with The Pigeon Man the other day.  Along the way they showed off his Don’t Let the Pigeon Run this App app.  Durn.  I may actually have to shell something out and get this one.