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We’re continuing our discussion of what is a book today with some historical perspective. The excerpt below by Andrew Robinson from The Book: A Global History gives some interesting insight into how the art of writing began.

Without writing, there would be no recording, no history, and of course no books. The creation of writing permitted the command of a ruler and his seal to extend far beyond his sight and voice, and even to survive his death. If the Rosetta Stone did not exist, for example, the world would be virtually unaware of the nondescript Egyptian king Ptolemy V Epiphanes, whose priests promulgated his decree upon the stone in three scripts: hieroglyphic, demotic, and (Greek) alphabetic.

How did writing begin? The favoured explanation, until the Enlightenment in the 18th century, was divine origin. Today, many—probably most—scholars accept that the earliest writing evolved from accountancy, though it is puzzling that such accounts are little in evidence in the surviving writing of ancient Egypt, India, China, and Central America (which does not preclude commercial record-keeping on perishable materials such as bamboo in these early civilizations). In other words, some time in the late 4th millennium bc, in the cities of Sumer in Mesopotamia, the ‘cradle of civilization’, the complexity of trade and administration reached a point where it outstripped the power of memory among the governing elite. To record transactions in an indisputable, permanent form became essential.

Fragment of an inscripted clay cone of Urukagina (or Uruinimgina), lugal (prince) of Lagash. circa 2350 BC. terracotta. Musée du Louvre. Photo by Marie-Lan Nguyen. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Some scholars believe that a conscious search for a solution to this problem by an unknown Sumerian individual in the city of Uruk (biblical Erech), c .3300 bc, produced writing. Others posit that writing was the work of a group, presumably of clever administrators and merchants. Still others think it was not an invention at all, but an accidental discovery. Many regard it as the result of evolution over a long period, rather than a flash of inspiration. One particularly well-aired theory holds that writing grew out of a long-standing counting system of clay ‘tokens’. Such ‘tokens’—varying from simple, plain discs to more complex, incised shapes whose exact purpose is unknown—have been found in many Middle Eastern archaeological sites, and have been dated from 8000 to 1500 bc. The substitution of two-dimensional symbols in clay for these three dimensional tokens was a first step towards writing, according to this theory. One major difficulty is that the ‘tokens’ continued to exist long after the emergence of Sumerian cuneiform writing; another is that a two-dimensional symbol on a clay tablet might be thought to be a less, not a more, advanced concept than a three-dimensional clay ‘token’. It seems more likely that ‘tokens’ accompanied the emergence of writing, rather than giving rise to writing.

Apart from the ‘tokens’, numerous examples exist of what might be termed ‘proto-writing’. They include the Ice Age symbols found in caves in southern France, which are probably 20,000 years old. A cave at Pech Merle, in the Lot, contains a lively Ice Age graffiti to showing a stenciled hand and a pattern of red dots. This may simply mean: ‘I was here, with my animals’—or perhaps the symbolism is deeper. Other prehistoric images show animals such as horses, a stag’s head, and bison, overlaid with signs; and notched bones have been found that apparently served as lunar calendars.

‘Proto-writing’ is not writing in the full sense of the word. A scholar of writing, the Sinologist John DeFrancis , has defined ‘full’ writing as a ‘system of graphic symbols that can be used to convey any and all thought’—a concise and influential definition. According to this, ‘proto-writing’ would include, in addition to Ice Age cave symbols and Middle Eastern clay ‘tokens’, the Pictish symbol stones and tallies such as the fascinating knotted Inca quipus, but also contemporary sign systems such as international transportation symbols, highway code signs, computer icons, and mathematical and musical notation. None of these ancient or modern systems is capable of expressing ‘any and all thought’, but each is good at specialized communication (DeFrancis, Visible Speech, 4).

Andrew Robinson is the author of some 25 books in the arts and sciences including Writing and Script: A Very Short Introduction and Cracking the Egyptian Code: The Revolutionary Life of Jean-François Champollion. He is a contributor to The Book: A Global History, edited by Michael F. Suarez, S.J. and H. R. Woudhuysen.

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I have completed, what I hope was a very successful promotional tour for my new book, Isabella Star of the Story which came out April 1, 2013. I am sure I will tell you more details and show you pictures someday, but as still have two other tours and photos to tell you about, I will just sum up for now.

The tour included such wonderful highlights and accolades as:

Minneapolis… and snow… and B&N and some super engaged schools and Red Balloon and the library and Marianne Richmond for wine (shh… don’t tell, it was a work meeting) and did I mention SNOW!

Phewww… wonderful.

Related posts:

1. BFNBT #2 – My Name is Not Alexander – Jennifer Fosberry Tour
2. Target Book Festival – Color me Star Struck!
3. Big Fancy National Book Tour begins at home for Book #3

So it’s time for another “I’m so cool – I am an author” kind of post. I got my first fan mail. And my second actually, within two days. Here’s an image of the letters (no names of course).

Fan mail and thank you note

These letters show particular effort. I don’t share my address on the web. It’s part of my attempt to have some privacy for my kids. Not that there’s a huge worry about people stalking children’s book authors or their families, but you just never know. So if you want to write me you can always send it to the following address and I will get it:

Jennifer Fosberry
C/O Sourcebooks
1935 Brookdale Road
Suite 139
Naperville, IL 60563

But I don’t know how immediate that will be. So sometimes I give it out if you email and ask.

That was the case with the first letter, I received the following (edited) email:

I am tutoring little girl in ****, CA who adores “My name is not Isabella.” She wanted to write you a fan letter. I bought her the book after her grandma died and her mom said she slept with it. She then took it to school and the teacher read it to the class. She and they liked it so much that they wrote about it . Is there a way that I can get her letter and picture to you? She would be thrilled to know you actually got it.

So I shared. And got the lovely yellow letter with lots of great questions. I also got a letter from another little girl just the next day. Both great letters. So of course I wrote them back. See the cool Doctor Seuss notes. Don’t you love them?

I hope that they will love getting my letters as much as I enjoyed getting theirs.

Related posts:

1. Jennifer Fosberry – explained a little bit
2. 100 Things about Jennifer Fosberry
3. BFNBT #2 – My Name is Not Alexander – Jennifer Fosberry Tour

A fellow Sourcebook writer, Katrina Kittle, used to teach school at the Miami Valley School in Dayton, Ohio. Looking at their website, Allison Janney went there – I love her.

Anyway, back on topic. She sent the link to the video below. Apparently they have a ceremony, a convocation in September. A special ceremony where the youngest kids (kindergarten, first grade) give flowers to the seniors and the seniors present back a book. This year they chose to give the girls “My Name is Not Isabella” and the boys “My Name is Not Alexander.” And they videotaped the whole thing and shared it on youtube.

Evan Stanley, the sophomore who filmed it, did a wonderful job putting together this video. Jazz band is quite good as well. And even though I don’t know any of these students, I really enjoyed watching this inspirational ceremony. Thanks so much for including my books, my dreams as it were. Best of luck to you with the school year and beyond.

Related posts:

1. Cool Science Safety Video
2. Isabella was on TV
3. Time Machine Under Repair – Update on Current Events

FINALLY one of my kids came home with the Scholastic book flyers. I heard from my publisher a few months ago that My Name is Not Isabella was going to be in Scholastic. They even sent me a few copies in late August of the new paperback version. And friends have even mailed me a copy of the flyer that their kids brought home. And a friend posted a photo of the flyer on Facebook. But when it came home in my own kid’s folder it somehow feels more real.

Here’s the flyer and the book. Color me very excited about how many kids may get to see this book now!

My Name is Not Isabella by Jennifer Fosberry in the Scholastic Book Club

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I am a little behind the times, but here is where I will be for the next two weeks! Come see me if you can, Please.

Wednesday, March 16th
6:30 PM
Barnes & Noble, Pima & Shea location
Scottsdale Fiesta Shopping Center
10500 N. 90th Street
Scottsdale, AZ 85258
480-391-0048

Thursday, March 17th
10:15 AM
The King’s English Bookshop
1511 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City, UT 84105
801-484-9100

1:00 PM
Barnes & Noble, Layton
1780 North Woodland Park Drive
Layton, UT 84041
801-773-9973

Sunday, March 20th
3:30 PM
Vero Beach Children’s Book Center
2145 Indian River Blvd
Vero Beach, FL 32960
(772)569.6650

Wednesday, March 23rd
4:00 PM
The Book Mark
299 Atlantic Blvd
Atlantic Beach, FL 32233
904-241-9026

Thursday, March 24th
6:30 PM
Barnes & Noble, Rittenhouse Square
1805 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
215- 665-0716

Friday, March 25th
4:00 pm
Children’s Book World
17 Haverford Station Road
Haverford, PA 19041
610-642-6274

Saturday, March 26th
10:00 AM
Doylestown Bookshop
16 S Main Street
Doylestown, PA
215-230-7610

Related posts:

1. Jennifer Fosberry – explained a little bit
2. BFBT Stop #2 – Barnes and Noble at El Cerrito (or It was a Dark and …..)
3. This is IZZY on tour

The time machine is currently broken, so I need to tinker with that and keep reporting what I remember from my wonderful BFNBT for “My Name is Not Isabella.”

No pressure or anything.

Not because I am getting emails about the NEXT tour for “My Name is Not Alexander” for this March, or anything. But seriously, if I don’t “report” (and I use that term loosely as I believe it usually refers to CURRENT events) on those wonderful stops and events soon, they will start to blur into the next set of wonderful stops and events. Right now my memory is pretty good on happenings, not always on remembering people’s names.

Speaking of names, I am currently in Washington DC for ABA Winter Institute. I am getting to meet lots of booksellers, feeling a bit shy and yet mostly here for the fun stuff (receptions, dinners, etc.). I will also get to sign ARCs of Alexander on Thursday night. First ability to see how people react to it. Fingers crossed for that.

I went to a lovely reception at Politics and Prose last night, forgot my camera but my new friend Laura Duskta took a photo and put it on her facebook. I am stealing it to show you here (I am sure she won’t mind):

That’s me, Heidi from Sourcebooks (love her!) and Laura, my second NY Times Bestselling author friend (for “I Love You More”).

So done with the update, I’m trying to sneak in sight seeing this afternoon (there are a few new memorials since I was last here in high school – I’d love to see them!) before a reception at the Library of Congress. Then a fancy dinner tonight. My head is getting bigger as I type this. Don’t worry though, Mr. Woo Hoo Senior won’t let me back in the house without a proper deflation.

Related posts:

1. Jennifer Fosberry – explained a little bit

In Baltimore. On NBC. On a gift guide of great books. Let me tell you, lots of those books look great.

What is so funny (funny strange, not funny ha ha) is that Isabella is essentially (almost) sandwiched between a reissue of Peter Pan and a book on Ted Williams.

Why is this so funny? Because I have always loved Peter Pan. My high school year book quote was “Second Star to the right and straight on ’till morning.” It is a beautifully told adventure story that deals with not wanting to, but having to grow up.

And I heard all about the Kid growing up from Poppi. Not just because he was a Red Sox. Because as a young coming player, he stopped to join the Marines for WW II. Because he made it back. Because he played when he could have ensured his record by sitting out the last two games.

So pretty heady company for Isabella to sit with.

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1. Margaret (Tina) Plays along with Isabella
2. A Princess Story for “My Name is Not Isabella” After All
3. Wanna hear the real Isabella?

Rebecca OUP-US

Hanna Diamond, author of Fleeing Hitler: France 1940, is Senior Lecturer in French History at the University of Bath. She lived and taught in Paris for many years and has spent her career researching the lives of the French people during the twentieth century. Fleeing Hitler shows how the mass exodus from Paris was a defining moment in the war for the French. In the original piece below Diamond reflects upon how difficult it was to get into the French psyche.

When I was approached by OUP to write a book on the exodus in France I had already read Irene Nemirovsky’s Suite Francaise and I jumped at the chance. Aware that official archives, police reports and other documents drawn up by officials were not likely to be available since most had left their posts along with the rest of the population, oral history seemed an ideal way of reaching this experience. (more…)

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