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This summer saw the release of Dodsworth in Rome, the fourth volume in the easy reader series about Dodsworth and his accidental companion, Duck. It's an amusing book in a series which consistently entertains and has the capacity to continue for many volumes yet as the pair bumbles their way across the globe. The journey actually started, sans Duck, in a junk yard, where the underachieving

As you may have heard, last week author William Sleator passed away.  I met him once during the Midwinter ALA Conference in Philadelphia.  He was part of an Abrams brunch in which librarians munched on food and spoke to various authors.  I was pleased to get Mr. Sleator’s autograph on a book for a friend and remember him as a nice guy.  I also remember another fellow there who spoke to the occasional librarian but was by no means hounded by them.  Since that brunch Jeff Kinney and his Diary of a Wimpy Kid books have gone on to fame and fortune but Mr. Sleator was big in his own way and his last book, The Phantom Limb, will be published this October by Amulet Books.  A page in remembrance of Mr. Sleator is up here.  If you’d like to leave a comment, please do.

• Speaking of ALA Conferences, when I attend one there’s nothing I like better than to slip into an ALA Notables meeting to watch the crew eviscerate the unworthy and laud the laudable.  Now the ALSC blog informs us that “The 2012 Notable Children’s Books Committee invites ALSC members to suggest titles for consideration for our annual list of notable children’s books.”  Awesome!  If there are titles that you think are particularly worthy, please be so good as to visit the blog to find out how to nominate them.  I’ve already a couple of my own favorites in mind . . .

• And if it’s “Best” lists you’re looking for, why not check out a new one compiled by the two most prominent young, male, web-savvy children’s librarians out there.  You can probably already guess who they are, cantcha?  Yes, Mr. Schu and Mr. Jonker have joined forces (when you say their names like that, don’t they sound like Batman villains?) and produced their Top 20 Children’s Books of 2010.  A remarkable list, it pays homage to books I adored (The Night Fairy, Farm, etc.) though there will always inevitably be one or two you love that get missed (Hereville, man, Hereville!).  Well worth checking out.

• Now it is time to brag.  Because while I’m sure your moms are awesome and everything, only one mom won the Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Poetry for 2011.  Yup.  That would be mine.  Her manuscript, A Mind Like This, will now be published by the University of Nebraska Press.  Because, naturally, she’s one of our greatest living poets.  Just sayin’.

• This one goes out to the librarians in the field.  The Oxford University Press blog has revealed info on 120 years of census data on American librarians.  There’s lots of fun info to be culled.  Personally I like the fact that “Today, the marriage rate among librarians is the highest it has ever been with 62 percent of librarians married in 2009.&
  7 Comments on Fusenews: Horton hears too much. He must be dealt with., last added: 8/9/2011
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  Cheryl said, on 8/8/2011 6:31:00 AM
  

  Tasha Tudor for best Frances Hodgson Burnett illustrator!

  And congrats to your mom!

  Shoshana Flax said, on 8/8/2011 8:26:00 AM
  

  Hereville, man, Hereville! (I agree.)

  Emily said, on 8/8/2011 9:05:00 AM
  

  Not to be Pedantic Twilight Fan, but Bella is only “urged to eat by a man” maybe twice in the whole series, and both of those times she is distracted by other events in her life and just isn’t thinking about food. All her other meals are eaten of her own free will. I don’t expect everyone to love Twilight as much as I do, but I’m tired of people exaggerating or making things up in an attempt to discredit the books.

  Elizabeth Bird said, on 8/8/2011 9:10:00 AM
  

  I remember three instances in the first book myself, but I’ll need to double check that to make sure. Her father once, Edward once or twice. I don’t tend to exaggerate unless I need to. But admittedly I never read the other books so it’s entirely possible that she eats consistently and well after the first book.

  Samantha said, on 8/8/2011 11:11:00 AM
  

  Bravo to your mom. I LOL when I read “while I”m sure your moms are awesome and everything, only one mom won the Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Poetry.” I love that lead-in. I might have to borrow – with attribution, of course – when I’m trumpeting my mom. Nice shout out for your mom. Congratulations.

  Genevieve said, on 8/8/2011 11:23:00 AM
  

  Thanks for the Africa Access link! I’ve got a relative who can definitely use this to give her son books before they move.

  Quotes « World of author Tim Holtorf said, on 8/9/2011 4:11:00 PM
  

  [...] Neil Gaiman quote on libraries (schoollibraryjournal.com) [...]

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You know what?  Skip everything I’ve ever suggested about visiting the Bologna Book Fair.  Airflights take a lot of time.  Your sleeping schedule gets off.  And then there’s all that walking.  Phew!  It’s enough to exhaust you just thinking about it.  No no, far better to just watch this little video created by Bart Moeyaert.  It’s the fair in 90 seconds.  You’re in.  You’re out.  Slap your hands together and you’re done!  Couldn’t be easier.

In other news, my library is doing this:

First off, I love that it makes my workplace, the building where I earn my daily bread, look like something out of a movie (and not just the set like in The Adjustment Bureau and Arthur, both in theaters now).  So cheers there.  Second, this is a game inspired by our upcoming Centennial celebration.  You can see the website for the game here, if you’d like to join in.  You have to fill out an application by April 21st, though.  There’s nothing specifically keeping employees like myself from participating, but I suspect that since my body these days conks out effectively at 10:30 each night, I am in no position to add my own expertise.

When you are a child of the 70s or 80s you may have a unique gift.  Thanks to television shows like Sesame Street, it’s entirely possible that your brain is filled with small animated shorts and clips that will burst into fiery remembrance when seen.  Take, as today’s example, the news that Maurice Sendak has a new picture book coming out soon.  Called Bumble Ardy, the book was originally a short on Sesame Street.  Now, if you had stopped me on the street and asked me if I had ever seen said short I would have given a sharp bark of a laugh.  Me, forget a Maurice Sendak bit of animation?  Not hardly!  Then I started watching this and the memories . . . oh the memories . . .

Those memories just keep on coming back.  Probably the only time you’ll hear Jim Henson’s voice (as Bumble at the end) voice a Sendak character too.  Thanks to Mr. Schu for the link.

More of this please.  More, I say.  MORE!!!

Big time thanks to 0 Comments on Video Sunday: Too bad his duck is so crazy as of 1/1/1900