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Are you traveling to Minneapolis for PLA next month? If so, we'd love for you to be our guest at the Capstone Publishers PLA Open House.

On March 27 from 6 to 8 p.m., tour the Capstone Publishers offices, enjoy refreshments, and get a sneak peek at some of the upcoming books from Stone Arch Books, Capstone Press, Picture Window Books, and Compass Point Books.

Our offices are located at 7825 Telegraph Road in Bloomington, Minnesota. We'll even provide you with busing from the Minneapolis Convention Center (buses will pick up near the Convention Center's front doors). Just let us know when you RSVP that you'll need transportation.

To RSVP, for more information, or to have a copy of the invitation emailed to you, contact Krista at [email protected]. We can't wait to see you!

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New York will be in a good mood when I arrive this afternoon – an afterglow of congeniality from the Giants’ Super Bowl lightning-bolt win. Of course, there’s always a feeling of camaraderie at the SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) conference. SCBWI is an international professional organization that promotes knowledge among authors, illustrators, publishers, agents, educators, and booksellers who are passionate about children’s books. It’s the ideal networking opportunity for people who are already a part of this industry, as well as those who want to join in. I look forward to their annual winter conference each year; it’s a great place to meet enthusiastic and talented authors and artists. That’s where I met Lisa Trumbauer. Her book A Practical Guide to Dragons had just topped the NY Times bestseller list. She went on to write one of our first sports books for girls, Storm Surfer. And now she’s working with us on another project for Spring ‘09.

Last year’s conference brought together three of the biggest names in children’s literature: Katherine Paterson, Susan Cooper, and Brian Selznick. It was an alignment of the heavenly bodies. This year’s opening address will be given by poet Nikki Grimes. Wow! And Richard Peck, one of my favorite authors, will be there, along with Susan Patron (Newbery Award-winning author of The Higher Power of Lucky) and David Wiesner (Caldecott Medal-winning author/illustrator of Flotsam).

I’m also excited to hear from some equally influential stars on the business side of the industry. David Gale, Vice President/Editorial Director at Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, and Mark McVeigh, the Editorial Director at Aladdin Paperbacks, will be heading up breakout sessions. I’ve signed up for both of them. When I return to the office, I know that my laptop will be reaching its megabyte limit with new names and addresses of potential authors and illustrators for Stone Arch Books, as well as info on the hottest industry trends, the latest technology, the changing profile of young readers, and the delight and challenge that all the participants share in the ageless art of storytelling.


--Michael Dahl
Editorial Director, Stone Arch Books

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January was a busy month here at Stone Arch Books! We’re in the thick of working on our Fall 2008 list. All of the manuscripts are in. Illustrators are busily working away at covers, designers are starting the initial cover designs, our librarian reviewers and reading consultants are reading edited manuscripts, our marketing team is starting to work on sales flyers, and editors are polishing up the final manuscripts. Plus, we’re starting to receive manuscripts and talk about design concepts for some of our Spring 2009 books! But even when we’re busy working on our books, the rest of SAB life doesn’t slow down: we traveled to ALA this month, and are looking forward to SCBWI in February and ahead to PLA (here in Minneapolis—we can’t wait!) in March. We’ve got a lot going on—but the truth is, we like it that way.

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Well, we made it back from ALA Midwinter! Conventions are always so busy and so exhilarating. I spent breakfasts, lunches, and dinners with librarians this year, and what a wonderful group of people! Those who know our books know what they want from them.

Our breakfast on Saturday was with a couple of librarians . . . and I mean a couple! Malcolm and Martha Fick are librarians who once worked in the technology industry, but have come back to the school library with enthusiasm. Martha works at Moorestown Upper Elementary School in Moorestown, NJ, and her students love our Jake Maddox series. On her website, she uses icons to make searching for books easier. She has added our logo to help her students find our books quickly. Seems like a good idea to me!

Malcolm, who is a librarian at Willingboro Memorial Upper Elementary School in Willingboro, NJ, has very little budget to work with, but has a group of kids that could really use our books. He’s still experimenting, but we’re sure he’ll get his kids hooked on Stone Arch Books too! We gave him a few books to get his SAB collection started.

Saturday night dinner was with Diane Chen and her fellow librarians from Tennessee. What a hoot! We laughed all night.

You can see Joan and me in the picture with our friends Kathleen Baxter, author of the Gotcha books and SLJ columnist (“The Non-Fiction Booktalker”), and Deborah Ford, BER presenter (and author!). We just like hanging out at the booth with them. They always have good advice about our products.

My last visit of the weekend was with Dr. Sylvia Vardell from Texas Women’s University. She is such a wonderful mentor for me. She advised me on what part of librarianship would be appropriate for me to study (I’m starting classes this semester at The College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, MN). Dr. Vardell was on the very first ALSC/Booklist/YALSA Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production Selection Committee. She had great things to say about the committee and its chair, Mary Burkey.

All in all, it was a great weekend—and I even made it to see the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps like I’d hoped to.


--Maryellen Gregoire
Director of Product Planning and Public Relations, Stone Arch Books

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This Friday, we’re off to ALA Midwinter! Joan Berge, Michaela DeLong, and I are representing Stone Arch Books.

The fun thing about our booth (we're in #758) is that for the first time, we are physically adjacent to our sister companies, and we're also communicating that we are all from Capstone Publishers! You’ll definitely notice it with the carpeting and the signage. We did something similar at AASL and it looked great!

On Friday night, come visit our booth and sign up for the sports basket, part of the raffle sponsored by ALA. The drawing for the basket is on Friday night around 7:00. Winners will be announced over the loudspeaker in the exhibit hall. We’re handing out cool Library of Doom posters, too! They’re printed on both sides . . . perfect for windows!

I’m hoping to find some time to visit the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The steps, made famous in the "Rocky" movies, were built with stone from Mankato Stone Company, part of Coughlan Companies (our parent company). After hearing about it for so many years, I can’t wait to see those famous steps in person!

When you come to the booth, make sure you mention this blog and we’ll give you a Library of Doom book signed by the author, Michael Dahl (while supplies last). See you at booth #758.

Hope to see you there!


--Maryellen Gregoire
Director of Product Planning and Public Relations, Stone Arch Books

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BROADWAY STAGE HANDS GO ON STRIKE.

Seems that strikes are definitely in the air and the newest group to join is the stagehands union. Terrible timing with the holiday season here.

"After a morning of confusion and anxiety during which members of Local One, the stagehands union, met and the producers waited to see what would happen, the stagehands strike has officially begun. Union members are holding picket signs in front of theaters and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, the parent union of Local One, issued a statement confirming the walkout.

The stagehands took their picket signs to the wet sidewalks around 10 a.m. today, after a meeting of Local One, their union, at the Westin New York on West 43rd Street.

The Saturday matinee traffic of tourists and theatergoers was thrown into chaos, with busloads of students sitting unhappily outside of “The Color Purple,” and nervous restaurant workers contemplating a Saturday night with no dinner rush..."


Read the full story and background info. about the strike here:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=av0pFpnkOdrA&refer=muse
(Update 3)

www.nytimes.com/2007/11/10/theater/10cnd-theater.html?_r=38&hp=&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=11947253

Mind you if you're looking for a new contract, this would be the perfect time to negociate one. Still too bad for everyone concerned. Let's hope that it doesn't drag on and that a fair and equitable settlement is reached.

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NOTE: This blog is a continuing dialog between the two faces of rilla. The identity crisis is explained (if such a thing is possible) in the first edition. Click here to read: 1 -- Introduction

Rilla: The Lives of Others
rilla: Pardon? Others? What’s wrong with our life?
Rilla: It’s the title of a movie…
rilla: Oh. What about it?
Rilla: Saw it last night. Where were you?
rilla: Watching Ratatouille.
Rilla: The animated movie? By Pixar??
rilla: That’s the one.
Rilla: Well at least we were on the same continent.
rilla: Huh?
Rilla: I was in Germany, you were in France.
rilla: Yeah, but I was in heaven and you must have been in…
Rilla: …hell a.k.a. East Germany, before the wall came down. What a story. The fear…the corruption…bugged apartments…big brother watching you even when you make love…your loved ones ratting on you to save their own skins... government sponsored terror at its best.
rilla: Well thank goodness they don’t have that anymore.
Rilla: Too bad that we do.
rilla: What do you mean we do? Government wiretapping is illegal here. That was amply proven by Nixon’s resignation.
Rilla: Which fairy wonderland do you live in? Oh, I forgot. Last night you were dreaming of rats who are chefs and the gourmet food they create. Well wake up, honey, and smell the coffee. On this continent, the president has declared that he is above the law and can wiretap whomever he wants to just because he is the president. Sounds so like what I saw in the movie last night…maybe we’re not there yet, but if we don’t watch out…we sure will be. What a ghastly world it was.

rilla: Mm…makes you wonder. How does an entire country relinquish its rights and allow itself to be dehumanized, abused and raped by its own government…the people who are supposed to be serving the public’s best interests?
Rilla: It’s a slippery slope and we’re on it. Starts off with good intentions…the justification for the GDR was protection of their own revolution, of their people. It ended up with persecution of anyone who spoke out against the government, labeling any intellectual an unpatriotic traitor and throwing them in a cell with no right to representation. In this country it is in the name of protection against a shadowy terrorist threat, that we are willingly allowing our government to rise above the law. Routinely, those who speak out against the government are labeled unpatriotic and undemocratic. We’ve even ratified a law that allows the government to label people and throw them into jail with no right to a fair trial. Sounds frighteningly similar. Either way, we the people are the ones terrorized, doesn’t really matter if it’s by foreign terrorists or homegrown ones…
rilla: See…now that’s why I watch fantasy. I stay away from horror whether it is fiction or non…
Rilla: Escape! How’s that going to help you? If you run away, who’s going to protect your rights, huh?
rilla: How’s watching distressing movies going to help?
Rilla: I actually enjoyed that ‘distressing’ movie very much. I believe that seeing such movies will remind us what can happen if we are not constantly vigilant, watching for abuses of power at every level of government. One other thing in the movie really bugged me though…
rilla: Pun intended?
Rilla: Why is it constantly depicted that the woman is the ‘weak’ one who can’t hold up in the face of oppression. Women, who at great cost to themselves, gave birth to humanity, and ever since have stood in the face of all kinds of oppression, discrimination, subjugation and death to protect their families. I mean really, I’m a little tired of the same scenario – the poor damsel in distress, all the time, either needs rescuing or puts her dear innocent mate in harm’s way. Reality versus fantasy, again. Is that what we think of our sacrificing mothers?
rilla: Started right there at the beginning with Eve…makes for a good story, IF you are male …
Rilla: How about your movie? You obviously enjoyed it.
rilla: Oh. Yeah! Baby! Good food, fabulous animation, great aspirations…a rat who doesn’t conform to rattiness but dreams big and conquers the gastronomic world against all Health Inspectors’ efforts. But, yeah, even in this movie, come to think of it, the supporting actress at first deserts her beau when he reveals he’s being led by a rat. Actually, when was the last time an animated movie had a genuine strong female lead protagonist?
Rilla: You mean the movies by Pixar?
rilla: Well, let’s look at Pixar movies…Toy Story – male lead, no real females to mention, A Bug’s Life – male lead, Toy Story 2 – male lead but interesting female supporting role, Monster’s Inc. – cute little girl, but monster leads are male, The Incredibles – more evenly distributed, but the Father is still the lead, Cars – definitely male lead, Finding Nemo – The only female character, Dory, is the most interesting, yet, she has a supporting role, and now Ratatouille – two male leads, one somewhat interesting supporting female… If an alien species knew nothing about us and only watched our movies, they’d come to the conclusion that our world has very few women…
Rilla: ...well, it seems to be what we believe as well, otherwise why would we, the majority, be so dominated by a minority? That's the reality... but coming back to virtual reality, of all the animated movies you’ve seen lately, have there been any female leads at all?
rilla: Hm…Shrek, no, Shrek 2, no, Shrek 3, no, Ice Age, no, Ice Age 2, no, Over the Hedge, no, even the next Pixar movie, Wall-E, is about a MALE robot! I can’t think of a female lead in the newer animated movies…can you? Pocahontas, Ariel, Anastasia, Mulan…where, oh, where have you gone?

NSA Watch
Read C. K. Kelly Martin's (a fellow blogger) article on harrassment of women on the web.
The Tall Poppy Syndrome

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NOTE: This blog is a continuing dialog between the two faces of rilla. The identity crisis is explained (if such a thing is possible) in the first edition. Click here to read: 1 -- Introduction

rilla: Ribbit.
Rilla: Rabbit?
rilla: Ribbit.
Rilla: A frog?
rilla: Croak.
Rilla: OK, you do mean frogs.
rilla: The frogs croaked.
Rilla: That’s what they tend to do…
rilla: More than one meaning to the word croaked …
Rilla: Oh… you mean croaked.
rilla: Frogs croaking all around the world.
Rilla: But not all of them are saying Ribbit?
rilla: No, they’re saying HELP, we’re dying, someone do something.
Rilla: Huh? So what? Don’t much care for the nasty, slimy things.
rilla: Ever hear about the Gastric Brooding Frog in Australia?
Rilla: Nasty slimy things…
rilla: They swallowed their own fertilized eggs and the frogs would hatch inside the parent’s stomach.
Rilla: Nasty slimy things…
rilla: Somehow the parent turned off its own gastric juices so that the eggs wouldn’t be digested.
Rilla: How’d they get out then?
rilla: Through the parent’s mouth…pop…pop…
Rilla: You mean puke, puke…nasty slimy things.
rilla: Remember that empty swimming pool in our first school.
Rilla: Never had any water in it.
rilla: Yeah, and the only ones who went swimming there were…
Rilla: … frogs, millions of them, tadpoles turning into froggies in the monsoon.
rilla: You had nothing against them then. I remember you climbing down those steps and laughing in delight when the little frogs jumped into your hands…
Rilla: Humph…frogs…swallow their own eggs huh?
rilla: Don’t anymore.
Rilla: Why? They got hungry and started eating them?
rilla: Nope, they’re extinct, along with the Golden toad of Costa Rica and species everywhere are dying out.
Rilla: So what? If the frogs outside our window would die out, we’d sleep better at night.
rilla: Frogs are the barometer of the health of an ecosystem, the proverbial canary in the coal mine. And it’s because they are slimy and have permeable skins that they’re so vulnerable to pollutants in water and the sun as global warming heats up the planet.
Rilla: So they’re croaking.
rilla: Yup, they’re telling us our ecosystems don’t work anymore. That means the end of more than just the frogs you know.
Rilla: Someday, all these animals we know might be memories too?
rilla: Myths we tell our grandkids about…
Rilla: …sitting around the digital campfire.
rilla: We used to have tigers prowling in our jungles.
Rilla: We used to have elephants roaming our savanna.
rilla: We used to have polar bears hunting on our ice caps.
Rilla: We used to have jungles.
rilla: And savanna.
Rilla: And ice caps.
rilla: And frogs.

Sad reflections on the state of our planet after watching the BBC series Planet Earth. If you haven't already, see it. The DVD set is on sale at Costco right now and always at Amazon.

Facts about frog populations declining
Interesting article on the adaptability of frogs
For Kids

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