How to use this Page

There is an incredible depth of literary talent in New Zealand ranging from Booker Prize winner Eleanor Catton to Kate di Goldi, Lloyd Jones, Janet Frame and the incomparable Margaret Mahy. NZ is also the base for amazing publisher Gecko Press, which publishes books from around the world for children. We should keep an eye […]

Photograph: Chris Skelton/AP; guardian.co.uk Margaret Mahy, beloved Overlook author, died on July 23 at the age of 76. Award-winning author of more than 150 books, Mahy gave up her day job as a librarian in New Zealand to become a full-time author in 1980, a fortunate event for children around the world who have enjoyed—and will, no doubt, read to their own children—her whimsical, inventive

It's been a sad summer for the children's book community. Scarcely more than a week after the dual losses of Donald J. Sobol and Else Holmelund Minarik, we learned today that Margaret Mahy, author of more than 200 children's books, passed away this weekend at the age of 76. 

Cybils organizer Gina Ruiz has collected a wide range of tributes to Ms. Mahy at AmoXcalli. Gina says:

"Mahy wrote over 200 books and poems, and is considered to be one of New Zealand’s finest and most acclaimed writers.  Her books have been translated into 15 languages and she has won numerous awards and honors for her body of work. Ms. Mahy has won both the Carnegie Medal and the Hans Christian Anderson award.  She wrote her first book at age seven.

I know I am only one among so many that are deeply saddened by the loss of such a strong voice for children’s literature.  It has been a very sad year as we have lost many greats in the genre.  I am sure there will be a huge outpouring from the children’s literature community and I will do my best to gather as many links to the tributes as I can find.

Rest in peace Margaret Mahy, you touched the world and generations with your work and you will be terribly missed."

From Gina's many links, we were especially moved by the words of Judith Ridge at Misrule, who said:

"I’m often asked about my favourite children’s and young adult authors, and for years and years now, I’ve often answered by saying, well, when I grow up, I want to be Margaret Mahy.

You know I have other favourite children’s authors, most notably Diana Wynne Jones, and now we’ve lost both her and Margaret. And as I write this, I keep remembering all the connections between their work—Chants and Changeovers and so on.

I’m more than a little bit heart-broken."

Personally (this is Jen speaking), I'm going to go and read Bubble Trouble to my daughter tonight, in tribute to Margaret Mahy.

Posted on the TVNZ website:

Acclaimed NZ children’s author Margaret Mahy passes away

Margaret Mahy, one of the world’s leading children’s authors, has died aged 76. The celebrated writer died in Christchurch this afternoon after a brief illness.

Click here to read the article.

Stories of the Wild West Gang by Joy Cowley, illustrated by Trevor Pye (Gecko Press)

As 11 year old Eliot says on the back cover 'Just the right amount of craziness. One of the funniest books I've ever read.'

When Michael's five cousins move in next door, his parents are horrified - Michael thinks it's wonderful. His parents make him go to bed at 9pm, eat a strict diet and coddle him as their only child. At the West's household he gets to stay up as long as he likes, eat anything, have scandelous fun and be treated as any other in the household. He manages to convince his parents to go away so he can go on wild jaunts with the West family, and Michael cannot get enough of it. He goes rafting, camping, to the school fair, Pong Castle, over the wonky fence, puts up with the grumpy guest, survives the haunted fridge, and the wedding, goes fishing and has wickedly fun hullabaloo time with them.

A laugh out loud book for 8-12 years olds. This series has been published before as single books but now all ten stories are in one volume. Joy Cowley's characters are original and funny. It's a book about families and how they're all different. Plus it is a young boy's adventures and making fun out of nothing much. Highly recommended for home and school libraries. An excellent book for Primary Middle, Senior and Intermediate teachers to read aloud to their class.

Joy Cowley's books are loved by children all around the world. She has been awarded the OBE for her services to children's wrting, and the Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement.

Trevor Pye lives in Tauranga and he is an award-winning illustrator whose work has featured in more than 200 children's books.

The Margaret Mahy Treasury: Eleven favourite stories by Margaret Mahy (Penguin)

A compilation of some of Margaret's best picture books including A Lion in the Meadow, The Witch in the Cherry Tree, A Summery Saturday Morning, The Great Piratical Rumbustification, The Boy with two Shadows, The Great White Man-Eating Shark, Jam, The Three-Legged Cat, The Boy who was Followed Home, The Librarian and the Robbers, and The Man Whose Mother was a Pirate.

This is the sort of Treasury that Grandparents would buy their mokopuna, teachers would keep in their class to read to their students, and parents would buy for their children and keep afterwards for the next generaton.  It contains all your favourites with original illustrations.

Margaret Mahy has won the Carnegie Medal twice, the IBBY Honour Book Award, the Hans Christian Andersen Award and numerous other international and national awards. Her books are loved by several generations.  Every library should have this Treasury (along with her Poetry collection).

So let’s get a grasp on what exactly it is I’m talking about here.  Day of Dialog.  A day when School Library Journal and roughly 1.5 billion children’s book publishers (read: 16, give or take) get together and attendees (who are mostly children’s librarians and children’s booksellers) get to witness a variety of interesting panels and previews of upcoming children’s books for the Fall season.  It tends to be held on the Monday before BookExpo so that it doesn’t conflict with anything going on at that time.  And since my library was closed that day for it’s big time Centennial celebration, I thought to myself, “Why not go?  I could report on what went on and have some fun along the way.”

Of course I had forgotten that I would be typing all that occurred on Dead-Eye the Wonder Laptop: Capable of carrying at least two hours of charge in its battery . . . and then dying altogether.  So it was that I spent much of the day seeking out outlets and either parking myself next to them or watching my charging laptop warily across a crowded room.  Hi-ho the glamorous life.

I was hardly the only person reporting on the day.  Swift like the bunnies are the SLJ posts on the matter including the article BEA 2011: Paterson, Handler, Gidwitz a Huge Hit at SLJ’s Day of Dialog.

Day of Dialog is useful in other ways as well.  It means getting galleys you might otherwise not have access to.  It means sitting in a nice auditorium with a belly full of muffin.  Interestingly the only problem with sitting in the audience when you are pretty much nine months pregnant (aside from the whole theoretical “lap” part of “laptop computer”) is that you start eyeing the panelists’ water bottles with great envy.  I brought my own, quickly went through it, and then found myself wondering at strategic points of the day and with great seriousness “If I snuck onto the stage between speakers, do you think anyone would notice if I downed the remains of Meghan McCarthy’s bottled water?”  I wish I could say I was joking about this.

Brian Kenney, me boss o’ me blog and editor of SLJ, started us off with a greeting.  He noted that he had placed himself in charge of keeping everything on track and on schedule.  This seemed like a hazardous job because much of the day was dedicated to previews of upcoming books, and there is no good way to gently usher a sponsor off of a stage.  Nonetheless, Brian came equipped with a small bell.  Throughout the day that little bell managed to have a near Pavlovian influence on the panelists.  Only, rather than make them drool, it caused them to get this look of abject fear that only comes when you face the terror of the unknown.  For some of them, anyway.  Others didn’t give a flying hoot.

“It wasn’t wallpapering.”
Keynote Speaker Katherine Paterson

Luann Toth came after Brian to introduce our keynote speaker though, as she pointed out, “Does anyone really need to introduce Katherine Paterson?”  Point taken.  Now upon entering the auditorium this day, each attendee had been handed a signed copy of a new novel by Ms. Paterson and her h

With Book Expo going full-blast in town and my library celebrating its Centennial all at the same time, blogging is possible but slightly more difficult than usual.  I am amused to find that when I skip a day some folks worry that I might be in labor.  Fear not.  I’ll find a way to update the blog with that news, come hell or high water.  Tonight, meanwhile, is also my final Kidlit Drink Night (at least for a while) so if you’d like to view my largess (or, rather, largeness) here are the details.  Meanwhile, back at the ranch . . .

• So I go into the administrative office the other day to pick up my room’s checks and WHAM!  Two gigantic Lego statues of Patience and Fortitude (the library lions) are just sitting there, chewing their cuds (or whatever it is Lego lions chew).  I showed them to a class of second graders on a tour a day or so later (they’re on display in our main hall, if you’re curious) and one kid said that looking at them was like looking at a computer screen.  He had a point.  They’re mighty pixilated.

• Meanwhile, my workplace also just created the app of the future.  But you don’t have to take my word for it.  Thanks to @DanBlank for the link.

• Wow.  That’s pretty cool.  The organization Keshet (“a national organization working for the full inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Jews in Jewish life”) is releasing posters of LGBT Jewish Heroes.  One of the posters available?  Leslea Newman of Heather Has Two Mommies and my favorite LGBT board books Mommy, Mama and Me and Daddy, Papa, and Me.  Thanks to Marjorie Ingall for the link.

• Do you have what it takes to take on the Sixth Annual 48 Hour Book Challenge?  I don’t want to hear your excuses!  I want to see you reading.  You’ve some time to prep so get those eyeball stalks limbered up.

• Recently I attended SLJ’s Day of Dialog (slooooow emerging blog post to come on the subject).  The keynote speech was delivered by Katherine Paterson who began, much to my delight, with some praise of New Zealand children’s book superstar Margaret Mahy (who would be a superstar here if they just friggin’ republished The Changeover *coughcough*).  Anyway, it seems she recently won in the picture book category of the 2011 New Zealand Children’s Book Awards.  What would you like to bet me that someday they’ll rename those awards “The Mahys”?  I give it ten years, tops.

• Speaking of aw
  10 Comments on Fusenews: What’s wrong with this picture?, last added: 5/26/2011
  Display Comments
  Gregory K. said, on 5/25/2011 9:45:00 PM
  

  I know what’s wrong with that ridiculous picture. I mean, with good feta and Greek olives, no way is that only 230 calories. Absurd! Thanks for sharing…..

  tanita said, on 5/26/2011 1:33:00 AM
  

  Sometime you’ll have to tell us what it was like to write a picture book, ma’am, because although the Pioneer Woman had a lot of fun, that seems too … easy…

  Elizabeth Bird said, on 5/26/2011 4:45:00 AM
  

  Aw, Greg, you caught on right away. There’s no getting past you!

  And yeah, as I say it’s not exactly an instructional how-to-make-a-picture-book post so much as a long and lengthy bit of praise of Diane deGroat. Which, to my mind, the world needs more of.

  Kate Coombs said, on 5/26/2011 5:52:00 AM
  

  I enjoyed reading about Ree’s picture book experience, but it’s the veeeery rare author who gets to “write the art”! Usually, the illustrator is left in peace to proceed with his/her own creative process once the manuscript has been passed along. In fact, the editor tends to protect that process from potentially meddling, non-artist authors!

  Wrap said, on 5/26/2011 6:46:00 AM
  

  Wait – are you pregnant?

  Anne Ursu said, on 5/26/2011 9:14:00 AM
  

  Oh, great, now I’m blind.

  Becky Gorek said, on 5/26/2011 9:20:00 AM
  

  Lenny Kravitz was excellent in Precious. I think you’ll find he makes a perfect Cinna.

  Sondy said, on 5/26/2011 11:45:00 AM
  

  I am so looking forward to Mother Reader’s 48-Hour Book Challenge! In fact, I think you have the right idea, and I will have to practice up during the upcoming 3-day weekend.

  Brandy said, on 5/26/2011 12:38:00 PM
  

  I had to laugh at that quote about it being good toddlers not having a say in book choice. Both of my kids when they were toddlers certainly made their opinions on books known. They would close them, sit on them, hide them if they didn’t like them. They would take them out of my hands and replace them with books they did like. And neither of my kids liked Goodnight Moon.

  laurel snyder said, on 5/26/2011 4:30:00 PM
  

  My older son’s favorite book for a long stretch when he was a toddler?

  Get Your War On.

  Add a Comment

This is amazing good news. Great news, in fact. I’m happy and proud to say that my book, Bystander, is included on the ballot for the 2012 New York State Reading Association Charlotte Award.

To learn more about the award, and to download a ballot or bookmark, please click here.

The voting is broken down into four categories and includes forty books. Bystander is in the “Grades 6-8/Middle School” category. Really, it’s staggering. There are ten books in this category out of literally an infinity of titles published each year. You do the math, people.

For more background stories on Bystander — that cool inside info you can only find on the interwebs! — please click here (bully memory) and here (my brother John) and here (Nixon’s dog, Checkers) and here (the tyranny of silence).

Below please find all the books on the ballot — congratulations, authors & illustrators! I’m honored to be in your company.

-

GRADES pre K-2/PRIMARY

Bubble Trouble . . . Margaret Mahy/Polly Dunbar

City Dog, Country Frog . . . Mo Willems/Jon J Muth

Clever Jack Takes the Cake . . . Candace Fleming/G. Brian Karas

Lousy Rotten Stinkin’ Grapes . . . Margie Palatini/Barry Moser

Memoirs of a Goldfish . . . Devin Scillian/Tim Bower

Otis . . . Loren LongStars Above Us . . . Geoffrey Norman/E.B. Lewis

That Cat Can’t Stay . . . Thad Krasnesky/David Parkins

Turtle, Turtle, Watch Out! . . . April Pulley Sayre/Annie Patterson

We Planted a Tree . . . Diane Muldrow/Bob Staake

-

GRADES 3-5/INTERMEDIATE

The Can Man . . . Laura E. Williams/Craig Orback L

Emily’s Fortune . . . Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Family Reminders . . .

Add a Comment

(Click on event name for more information)

Bath Literature Festival~ ongoing until Mar 7, Bath, United Kingdom

Exhibition of Joy Mallari’s Artwork From the Book Doll Eyes~ ongoing until Mar 9, Makati City, Philippines

Entries Accepted for the Growing Up Asian in America Contest~ ongoing until Mar 10, San Francisco, CA, USA

The Making of the Word Witch: The Poetic & Illustrative Magic of Margaret Mahy & David Elliot~ ongoing until  Mar 14, Ashburton, New Zealand

21st Annual Children’s Book Illustrators Exhibit~ ongoing until Apr 3, Hayward, CA, USA

Heart and Soul: Art from Coretta Scott King Award Books, 2006–2009~ ongoing until Apr 18, Chicago, IL, USA

New York Public Library Exhibit: 2010 Caldecott Winner Jerry Pinkney’s African-American Journey to Freedom~ ongoing until Apr 18, New York City, NY, USA

Read Across America Day~ Mar 2, USA

Papirolas Festival for Children and Youth~ Mar 2 – 7, Guadalajara, Mexico

20th Abu Dhabi International Book Fair~ Mar 2 – 7, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

World Book Day~ Mar 4, United Kingdom and Ireland

New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards Finalists Announced and On-Line Voting Begins~ Mar 4, New Zealand

Irish Society for the Study of Children’s Literature Conference Mar 5 – 6, Dublin, Ireland

The Environmental Imagination and Children’s Literature~ Mar 5 – 6, Toronto, ON, Canada

Shanghai Literary Festival~Mar 5 – 21, Shanghai, China

Western Washington University Children’s Literature Conference~ Mar 6, Bellingham, WA, USA

Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) Choices Day and Charlotte Zolotow Award Presentation~ Mar 6, Madison, WI, USA

SCBWI Conference: Creating Diversity in Children’s Literature~ Mar 6, Frederick, MD, USA

SCBWI Writers’ Day with Holly Thompson (Includes a session entitled “Plotting Across Cultures: A Workshop on Writing Intercultural Fiction”)~ Mar 6 – 7, Hong Kong

0 Comments on March 2010 Events as of 1/1/1900