Steve Hulett recounts his role in the the confusing and chaotic production of Disney's most un-Disney-like feature, "The Black Cauldron."
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Blog: Cartoon Brew (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Lloyd Alexander, The Black Cauldron, Tim Burton, Ron Miller, Milt Kahl, Jeffrey Katzenberg, John Musker, Ron Clements, Untold Tales, Dave Michener, Pete Young, Ted Berman, Vance Gerry, Art Stevens, Ed Hansen, Joe Hale, Richard Rich, Rosemary Anne Sisson, Add a tag
Blog: Galley Cat (Mediabistro) (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Children's Books, Lois Lowry, Ursula Nordstrom, Lloyd Alexander, Leonard Marcus, Shel Silverstein, Trina Schart Hyman, E.B. White, Betsy Bird, Louise Fitzhugh, John Steptoe, Julie Danielson, Peter Sieruta, Add a tag
You probably enjoyed Charlotte’s Web or Harriet the Spy at one point in your life. But do you know who edited those great kid’s books?
After covering the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Summer Conference last weekend, I caught up with the New York Public Library’s Youth Materials Collections Specialist Betsy Bird and Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast blogger Julie Danielson, co-authors of the brand new book, Wild Things! Acts of Mischief in Children’s Literature (co-written with Peter Sieruta).
Q: Could you tell us more about the life and work of the great children’s book editor Ursula Nordstrom? What are some of the books you recommend from this great editor?
Betsy Bird: ”Ursula’s list begins to resemble nothing so much as a Who’s Who in children’s literature after a while. She had this crazy sense of humor that went well with her ability to spot potential children’s literature talent.
I mean, seriously, who would have looked at Shel Silverstein‘s rather explicit cartoons in Playboy and thought ‘There’s the man that children everywhere will love!?’”
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Add a CommentBlog: What's New (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: fantasy, children's literature, Susan Cooper, Lois Lowry, Newbery Award, Lloyd Alexander, Madeline L'Engle, Add a tag
Some exciting new books for kids are premiering tomorrow, October 2nd.
Madeline L'Engle's 1962 Newbery Award winning, A WRINKLE IN TIME, is being revisited as a graphic novel.
SON by Lois Lowry is the fourth book in her futuristic world that began with THE GIVER, another Newbery winner, and continued with GATHERING BLUE and MESSENGER.
Both these new stories are fantasies. I told you last week about just having finished ADVENT by James Treadwell. That fantasy reminded me of a classic fantasy series by Susan Cooper, THE DARK IS RISING. You should check it out.
All of the above reads have been for YA readers, but another fun fantasy series is THE CHRONICLES OF PRYDAIN by Lloyd Alexander. It's not new, but middle grade readers should enjoy it. Lots of adventure, plus some laughs.
Blog: The Children's Book Review (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Star Wars, Babymouse, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Maurice Sendak, Lloyd Alexander, Roald Dahl, featured, Sophie Blackall, Jeff Kinney, Sydney Taylor, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Beverly Cleary, Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, On the Shelf, Annie Barrows, Quest for Literacy, Hugh Lofting, Ivy + Bean, Jennifer L. Holme, April Hayley, Library, Add a tag
Librarian Spotlight #1
By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: August 17, 2012
To kick off TCBR’s new column “On the Shelf,” which shines a spotlight on brilliant children’s librarians, April Hayley, MLIS, graciously talked to us about becoming a librarian— among other great topics. Do you think you can guess which is the most checked out children’s book at San Anslemo Public Library in California? Read on!
Bianca Schulze: Why did you choose to become a librarian?
April Hayley: I was fortunate enough to discover the magic of reading at a young age, probably before I was out of the cradle. My mother, a librarian, read me stories and sang to me every night before bed and my father made up fairy tales for me. I didn’t discover my calling as a librarian until college one summer, working for the Chicago Public Library (my hometown). My job was to provide library services to children in some of the city’s most neglected and poverty-stricken neighborhoods. Instead of working inside the library, I brought books and literacy activities directly to the young people who needed it most. I visited three playgrounds a day, equipped only with a trunk full of picture books and a quilt to sit on. Once the kids figured out why I was coming around, they always ran over to join me, so eager to read stories, sing songs, and learn something new.Reading opened up new worlds for the kids I met. I could see it as they linked their eyes with mine, and for me that was a powerful, life-changing experience.
Most of the precious children I met that summer had never been exposed to the pleasures of reading, and none of them had ever visited a public library. When I witnessed the joy and curiosity that reading sparked in them, I understood the transformative effect of reading on young minds and I knew I wanted to be a Children’s Librarian. Once I entered graduate school to earn my Masters in Library Science, I had the opportunity to intern in the Children’s Room of the beautiful Mill Valley Library, and I knew I was on the right path; delivering traditional library services within the walls of a suburban public library could be just as fun and rewarding as literacy outreach in the inner city.
BS: Librarians are the ultimate evangelists for reading. How do you encourage students and children to read?
AH: Now that I work at the San Anselmo Library, I am lucky that many of the kids I meet already love to read. There is a culture of reading in San Anselmo that simply does not exist in places whose inhabitants must spend their time dealing with the dispiriting effects of poverty. Of course, I do a lot of work to promote reading for the children, babies, caregivers, and teenagers of our community. I lead several weekly storytimes for toddlers and preschoolers, which are designed to nourish a love of reading that will last a lifetime. It’s important to reach out to new parents and their babies as early as possible to show them how fun reading, sharing nursery rhymes, learning fingerplays, and singing can be. I also lead a book discussion group for elementary school students called the Bookworms, and a poetry club for yo
Add a CommentBlog: A Fuse #8 Production (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Top 100 Children's Novels Poll, The Book of Three, Uncategorized, Lloyd Alexander, Add a tag
#18 The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander (1964)
83 points
The best children’s fantasy series I know, and still very much underrated. – Lee Behlman
The assistant pig-keeper’s world is the standard by which Fantasy worlds should conduct themselves. Where three mystical women weave destinies and discuss the digestibility of toads. This is a vote for the series. Although Taran Wanderer is my personal favorite, and The High King is the perfect culmination to this rollicking adventure, the whole is greater than its parts and should be consumed as such. – DaNae Leu
One of the few books in my life I would say was “Important.” It had great influence in shaping me… mentally, emotionally, creatively. I lived in the Prydain books. They had a huge effect on my lifelong tastes and tendencies, and they shaped my writing style as well. – Aaron Zenz
To the uninitiated, Alexander’s best-known series looks like a rough copy of J.R.R. Tolkien’s. It would be an unfair characterization. For one thing, Alexander had a sense of humor. For another, one of the things I always loved about this series was the hero’s capacity to learn and grow. Cause when you first meet dorky Taran in this book, you have a pretty hard time believing he’s going to turn into the man in The High King later on down the road.
Laura Ingram describes the plot this way: “The first novel of the series, The Book of Three (1964), is named after a legendary magical book which contains between its covers the wisdom of all time. It is the story of the orphan Taran, Assistant Pig-Keeper, who is bored with his peaceful life under the care of the farmer Coll and the old magician Dallben. He longs for adventure and the chance to perform heroic deeds and finds them sooner than he expects when the search for the runaway oracular pig, Hen Wen, draws him into a battle between good and evil.”
In Lloyd Alexander’s entry in American Writers for Children Since 1960: Fiction, it is said that, “Alexander’s most important work has been the Prydain cycle, a series of five novels inspired by the Welsh Mabinogion. As originally planned, the novels were to be simple adaptations of these legends, a special interest for Alexander since he encountered them in his research for Time Cat. When he began to dig more deeply into the roots of Welsh mythology, however, the project ‘grew into something much more ambitious.’ He had ‘discovered that place which was, for him, the spiritual expression of something hidden.’ So, Prydain grew into something much more than a thinly disguised ancient Wales; undeniably, it was similar to that land, but reshaped by the addition of contemporary realism, modern values, and a generous dose of humor, as well as the special depth and insight provided by characters who not only act, but think, feel, and struggle with the same kinds of problems that confuse and trouble people in the twentieth century. In addition to human characters, the novels contain magical creatures both good and evil, including members of an ancient line of enchanters, the Sons of Don, who share the Earth with the human race.”
It’s funny to note that it wasn’t universally loved from the start, though. A reviewer for the Junior Bookshelf said that “this sample fails to come up to expectations” and that the people in it were so “trivial… that the menace is rendered ineffectual by their reactions.” Harsh!
- You can read some of the book 5 Comments on Top 100 Children’s Novels #18: The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander, last added: 6/13/2012
Blog: A Fuse #8 Production (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Uncategorized, Lloyd Alexander, Top 100 Children's Novels Poll, The High King, Add a tag
#68 The High King by Lloyd Alexander (1968)
28 points
The masterpiece against which all heroic fantasy for young people should be measured. – Emily Willis
Previously #88 on the list the last of the Lloyd Alexander Prydain series makes yet another appearance. Many of us have a great deal of affection for Lloyd Alexander’s books, but how well can a person justify putting the last book in a series on this list without listing the other books alongside it? The answer is in the Medal. The High King was awarded the 1969 Newbery Medal, beating out Honor books To Be a Slave by Julius Lester and When Shlemiel Went to Warsaw and Other Stories by Isaac Bashevis Singer in the process. And if the Newbery committee felt that this book stood on its own, who are we to argue?
The description of the plot from the publisher reads, “When the Sword of Dyrnwyn, the most powerful weapon in the Kingdom of Prydain, falls into the hands of Arawn-Death-Lord, Taran and Prince Gwydion raise an army to march against Arawn’s terrible cohorts. After a winter expedition filled with danger, Taran’s army arrives at Mount Dragon, Arawn’s stronghold. There, in a thrilling confrontation with Arawn and the evil enchantress Achren, Taran is forced to make the most crucial decision of his life.”
Other books in the series include The Book of Three (1964), The Black Cauldron (1965) – which was the winner of the 1966 Newbery Honor, The Castle of Llyr (1966), Taran Wanderer (1967), and The Foundling and Other Tales from Prydain (1970).
- You can read much of the book here.
- Download a map of Prydain if you like.
- Here too is a Reading Group Guide.
And talk about a range of covers!
Confession…. this next one was my favorite, but I can’t find a nicer scan than this. It was by artist Jody Lee who, for a time, did a lot of my favorite fantasy covers. Just wait until you see Jody’s Madeleine L’Engles!
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Blog: Under the Covers (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: books, lloyd alexander, predictability, Add a tag
Susan at Wizards Wireless has a great post about authors who reuse characters and plot devices so consistently you can predict the plot before you open their next book. Susan breaks down the Harry Potter books, Amelia Bedelia, and L. M. Montgomery novels, and she invites readers to join in with their familiar favorites.
Lloyd Alexander is my personal love-to-hate author in this regard. When I was a kid, I totally loved his books, particularly the Prydain Chronicles and the Westmark trilogy (and I still do). But having read those series several times over and then moving onto his stand-alone novels, each time I open one of his books I'm overcome with déjà vu.
Sam Riddleburger blogged about this very issue last year after the publication of The Golden Dream of Carlo Chuchio and posed the question why did Lloyd Alexander essentially rewrite the same story again and again. There are some great comments on that post, and Jason Fisher responded at length on his own blog. If this matter has ever haunted you as it has me, check out both posts.
(I started to write out my own character/plot analysis, but it was so similar to Sam's I decided not to bother. That itself should be evidence of how consistent/repetitive Alexander was.)
That said, I believe Lloyd Alexander's books are well worth reading. The Prydain Chronicles (among them the Newbery Honor-winning The Black Cauldron and the Newbery Award-winning The High King) stand up as a top-notch high fantasy series, forty years after publication. The Westmark trilogy, as well as being a great adventure series, is fascinating for its treatment of governmental revolution. The Rope Trick has one of the strangest endings I've ever read in a children's book... which actually, I guess, depending on how you like your endings, may or may not be a strong selling point.
However, the Vesper Holly books—which I think of as Sherlock Holmes meets Indiana Jones but with a smart, brave young woman as the hero—are the only Alexander books I know that break the mold.
How about you? Head over to Wizards Wireless and share your thoughts. (I know some of my friends could probably write a Baby-Sitters Club synopsis in their sleep!)
Blog: Boys Rule Boys Read! (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Lloyd Alexander, the ACCC, Prydain books, Add a tag
Greetings, all you March Madness fans. Bill is out sick today, so we may have to wait a bit to tabulate the results for the first round of our Sweet 16 of Books. (I wonder if a Sith lord takes medicines or fights viruses with a light saber) In the meantime, I'll give you some book recommendations from THE ACCC, that is, ACCording to Carl. We live in North Carolina and are part of the mighty ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference), so I thought that our blog could go them one better and be THE ACCC. So here are some good books ACCording to Carl.
Actually the first books are a seres, the Prydain series by Lloyd Alexander. A lot of our regular readers are big fans of fantasy and I'm surprised that not many people have talked about them before. These books are really terrific and belong on this blog that points out terrific books. Each one has enough adventure, excitement, and humor to satisfy any reader. They are, in order:
The Book of Three--Young Taran, the orphan boy, is Assistant Pig-Keeper to the wizard Dallben, who is 397 years old. Life is boring as an Assistant Pig-Keeper, but it suddenly becomes exciting when Hen Wen, the oracular pig, escapes and she must be rescued before she's captured by the forces of Arawn, Lord of the Dead. This book has it all--adventure, magic, mysterious swords found in an underground barrow, the fearful Horned King, Eilonwy the tomboy princess who adventures with Taran, faithful Gurgi the whatever-he-is, and much more!
The Black Cauldron--Taran gets his chance to wear a sword and go on a daring raid into Annuvin, the realm of Arawn, and capture the Black Cauldron, which can create an army of the undead. He soon finds out that this is glorious adventure is not just fun and games but a real life and death confrontation with evil. Even better than the first one.
The Castle of Llyr--Since Eionwy is a princess, she has to sail away to the Isle of Mona to learn to act like one, even though she hates the idea. She falls under the spell of the evil enchantress Archen, however, and Taran and friends must rescue her. Or does Eilonwy want to be rescued? Wow, this one is good!
Taran Wanderer--The Assistant Pig-Keeper becomes obsessed with finding the truth about his birth and identity. He will know if he finds the magical Mirror of Llunet. Does he do it? And what else does he learn along the way? I can't say enough good things about this one!
The High King--The final confrontation between Arawn and the forces of good. This book won a Newberry Medal (sort of the Oscar for kids' books) as best book of its year, and, boy, did it deserve it!!!A great conclusion to an unbelievably good series. Don't miss them!
Hope to get results up soon. Just from looking at some of the paper ballots, we might have some upsets! Ought to be interesting!
Carl
Blog: Four Story Mistake (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: children's books, adventure, children's literature, Lloyd Alexander, treasure, The Golden Dream of Carlo Chuchio, Add a tag
This was Lloyd Alexander's final book he wrote before he passed away so I felt a little sentimental reading it. He is definitely a beloved author of mine and I hoped that it would be genuine Alexander goodness. It has a lot of his trademarks: a ne'er-do-well hero on a quest, a feisty, quick-tempered love interest, a journey that is more than it seems and ruthless, cutthroat villains (led by one particularly ruthless, cutthroat villain).
Blog: Miss Snark, the literary agent (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: aw hell, Add a tag
In the words of the snarkling who sent this link to me: the perfect obit
Blog: Miss Snark, the literary agent (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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Kurt Vonnegut has died.
Blog: Miss Snark, the literary agent (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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this is just sad sad news.
Michael Dibdin, renowned crime novelist, and a really really wonderful guy, has died.
Here's the link to the BBC notice.
Blog: Miss Snark, the literary agent (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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In today's Shelf Awareness email news comes this addition to the story:
R.I.P.: Nicholas Pekearo
One of the two auxiliary police officers who were killed in Greenwich Village in New York City Wednesday night by a heavily armed gunman was a bookseller at Crawford Doyle Booksellers in New York, where he had worked for five years, today's New York Times reported. Nicholas Pekearo, 28, "was steeped in hard-boiled, noir kinds of things," business manager Ryan Olsen told the paper. "He was our go-to guy for mysteries. He grew up with comics--that was a love of his."
Pekearo was revising a novel that Tor Books editor Eric Raab was interested in. "I see thousands of manuscripts a year," he said. "When I saw his, I thought, man, this guy's got something I've got to nurture."
Pekearo's girlfriend, Christina Honeycutt, whom he met when she joined the staff at Crawford Doyle, said, "He'd gone through the dark years of New York City as a kid, tripping over hypodermic needles in the street, and he'd come into this time of relative ease in the city and he just wanted to give back. He wanted to help anyone, like talking down a guy who wanted to kill himself one night."
Although Pekearo and his partner were auxiliary police (who work unarmed), they will receive full police honors at the their funerals. One friend commented: "He'd definitely get a kick out of [that]."
Blog: Miss Snark, the literary agent (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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Two auxiliary police officers were killed in the line of duty in Greenwich Village last night.
Two ordinary guys, one of whom is thought to be a writer in his other life. Two guys who just wanted to help people. Auxiliary officers don't carry guns; they don't arrest people; their job is to be eyes and ears, and make New York safer. They don't get paid. They do it just to be of service.
Most of us will scarcely notice other than to feel sad when we read the newspaper stories, or see it on tv. There are 8 million people here; 579 homicides annually. Two ordinary guys are a small percentage of the people here, even of the people who die.
These guys weren't the wrong guys in the wrong place. They weren't innocent bystanders. They were guys who rushed toward the sound of gunfire, not away. They probably saved countless lives because the man who killed them was carrying hundreds of rounds of ammunition and a lot of anger, and when he shot those guys, the armed cops responded in seconds.
Eugene Marshalik and Nicholas Pekearo, it's a little late to say thanks but I'll say it nonetheless; thanks guys.
Blog: Miss Snark, the literary agent (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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And it's a sad, sad day.
I always liked to read her blog, and she introduced me to my one of my all time favorite bloggers, and writers Jamie Boud.
What I DIDN'T know was that she got FIVE HUNDRED emails a DAY!!!! That's just insane.
I thought I got a lot and I'm tipping just over 100 and that's Miss Snark's blog and Snark Central combined.
Yikes.
I know agents watched her blog for good books.
I know we all wanted to know who she was so we could buy and read hers.
I know she'll be greatly missed by the writers who got noticed cause she read and liked their books.
I know I'll miss her too.
Thanks for a great run.
Yippee, I was concerned this might be my one that didn’t make it!
Tolkien had a sense of humor! Sure, there were long stretches of the books that were very serious without any welcome breaks whereas Fflewddur Flam could almost always be counted on to provide some humor.
Sam Gamgee is the best example of Tolkien’s sense of humor and of a character with the ability to change and grow. But yes, Alexander has more of both.
Glad to see this here – I don’t enjoy it as much as an adult, but really loved the series as a child (especially any parts with Eilonwy or Gurgi).
I’m so glad to see this at a prime spot on the poll! Even if I didn’t vote for it (sigh).
“For one thing, Alexander had a sense of humor.”
While Tolkien does have flashes of humor in his books, Alexander’s wry wit threads through every page of all his books, providing an underlying pattern that everything else builds on. And nobody in all the world but Alexander could have come up with Eilonwy of the red-gold hair and sharp tongue. And Gurgi! We use “crunchings and munchings” as slang for snacktime all the time around here.