Pleasantness
Oodles of it, actually.
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If you will direct your attention to a couple blogs here and there, you will find interviews and reviews with a wide assortment of fabulous personages. For example, on Book Buds is an interview with the great and powerful Jane Yolen. And in this corner over here is another tri-review over at 7-Imp. This time the gals are gaying it up alongside Roger Sutton with a review of Hero. Hero‘s YA, so I didn’t review it myself, and now I see I’ve no need to do so. When these people review, they review! Do be so good as to check it out.
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From Cynopsis Kids: "VOOM HD Networks ‘ Animania HD acquired three new kids series. Animalia, based on Graeme Base’s picture book of the same name, will make its world premiere on November 2 at 8:30p."
Remind me, how exactly do you make a series out of Animalia again? I bet it’s taken entirely from the point of view of those computer savvy mice.
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I’m so glad they posted this on the First Second blog. Recently I heard Nick Abadzis talk about his new graphic novel Laika. And at this particular posting he answers the age old question of where he gets his ideas. In the course of the piece is a section that shows that sometimes life imitates art. Particularly when one creates a character for a book and then finds out later that she’s real.
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While I follow the children’s literary blogs, my husband follows the comic ones. Recently he found this piece at Comics Should Be Good: "Weirdly — well, it seems weird to me — the explosion of comics into our public libraries over the last couple of decades is a phenomenon that goes largely unremarked in the mainstream comics press. I hardly ever see anyone in the comics press talk about it, anyway, so I decided that I’d ask a couple of the youth librarians I knew to share their thoughts on the subject."
Well worth reading, particularly if you want a little more info on how comics and graphic novels fit into the broader library oeuvre.
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Part of what I love about blogging is that you can get different perspectives on big events. Take the recent Rutgers One-on-One Conference. I wrote my piece on it, but Leeza Hernandez had a far better one, and look at this awesome sketch she made of my panel!
She drew me! And check out Nancy Mercado’s magnificent hair. Good going, Nancy. That brings the number of awesome artists who have sketched me to 2 (here’s number one). In other news, I am freakin’ scary. Just check out this dispatch from the recent children’s literary blogger conference by author Brian Mandabach. I KNEW wearing all that black velvet would pay off! Fear me, little people! Booga booga!
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And here is an interview with graphic novelist Marjane Satrapi. Awesomeness. Thanks to Children’s Illustration for the link.
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Librarians should take note of the Light the Way Grant currently being offered from Candlewick Press as it involves a whopping $5,000.
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I haven’t included any great BB-Blog pieces in a while. Check out this exceedingly simple little piece of furniture for your home then.
A certain type of person (archival-type person) will shiver at the strain this places on the book’s binding, but my ARCs and paperbacks could definitely use it.
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And for your random, exceedingly random, piece of the day, author Elizabeth Fama drew my attention to the New York Times article, Fearing Crime, Japanese Wear the Hiding Place. I am in love with the pictures involved.
The caption on this image read, Though street crime is relatively low in Japan, quirky camouflage designs like this vending-machine dress are being offered to an increasingly anxious public to hide from would-be assailants.
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Filed under: Uncategorized
About Betsy Bird
Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.
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Laura says
I saw that article on Japanese “camouflage”! There was a set of pictures in the article that demonstrated how one puts on the vendor machine costume. Completely surreal. And I’ve never seen Nancy Mercado before, but I know that I want her cartoon’s hair.
Elizabeth Fama says
The Japanese camouflage isn’t necessarily off-topic — it fits in with your graphic novel piece, because THIS WOULD WORK FOR A TOON.
Fuse #8 says
Hey, there you go! Now someone should invent a paint that allows you to create real holes on the street.
Stephany Aulenback says
Weird. Where do you keep that thing? Does it fold up like one of those rain jackets you can keep in a pouch? If not, what’s the alternative? Wearing it out of the house, inching along the sidewalk, just in case an assailant is lurking? Must go read that story.
Laura says
In the Times article, they showed the costume before its transformation. It folds up to about 18″ square so you just carry it around with you. Fuse, cool paint idea. I could paint a hole under my cube and escape from work!
Laura J. says
Ok, I’m confused how the open book shelf works. Do you prop it against something? Which end do you prop? Apparently I’m a need-to-have-it-spelled-out kind of person. :
Fuse #8 says
No, I think that it’s standing on the (white) floor in that photo. As you view it, that’s how it “stands”. At least that’s my guess. There aren’t many pieces of furniture where the pointy end is raised skyward, but that’s one of the few.
Mandabach says
You weren’t really scary–but you know how it it: I’m just the new kid, and, well, you people who already know eachother seems sort of daunting. 🙂
But, maybe the black velvet does elevate you somehow. Try having some Elvis painted on it, just to bring you down to earth! 😉
mandabach says
Oops! *how it IS*
Fuse #8 says
Ooo. Or big-eyed crying children. That’d be significantly less scary too.