Feet, Scents, and Wild Things

• From Cynopsis Kids: "Simon & Schuster has entered into a deal for its Tom Swift book series with Worldwide Biggies , per Hollywood Reporter . The company will adapt the books, which follow the adventures of a young genius/inventor, for a feature film as well a video game(s), TV series and online content. The original Tom Swift book series dates back to the early 1900s and includes some 40 titles all of which appeared under the author pseudonym Victor Appleton, which was a creation of the Stratemeyer Syndicate that was also responsible for kids book series such as the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew and the Bobbsey Twins among others. A second round of the Tom Swift series was born beginning in the 1950s (with 30+ titles), a third series born in the 1980s (with 11 titles), followed by the fourth series in the 1990s (13 titles) and a fifth from 2006 (currently 6 titles)."

Have any of you guys ever stopped by the NYC children’s bookstore Books of Wonder and taken a gander at the covers of their Tom Swift collection?  Man, if they have their heads screwed on straight, Worldwide Biggies should be bowing and scraping before William Joyce begging him to help them out with this project.  BEGGING, I say.

• Some of you may have noticed that I keep posting things about perfume. First there was the Demeter perfume called Paperback.  Then the Neil Gaiman character scents. Well, Dan just alerted me to yet another. Check this out: 

It comes from CB I Hate Perfume.  Helloooo, stocking stuffer . . . .

• You know how I send out free books in a contest type situation at the beginning of every month? Well, last month I sent someone a copy of Satchel Paige and not only did they get it, but they reviewed it as well. The blog is 100 Scope Notes (I’m drooling over the banner) and I was particularly fond of this posting which compares two children’s literary covers that were almost certainly separated at birth.  Right down to their curly little fonts.  Awwww.

• Speaking of Linda Urban (that statement makes more sense if you followed the last link), she just sent me some information that proves that Amazon does indeed have Top Ten lists for Picture Books, Middle Grade, and Teen.  Not too long ago I lamented the fact that Amazon’s 100 Best list only has 4 or 5 children’s titles on it.  Now that I look at the lists, though, I think the Amazon editors are a little foggy on what books should actually be given to teens.  A Crooked Kind of Perfect was wholly and utterly awesome, but would you really lump it in the same category as The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian? 

• And from the land down under, I credit Paul K for letting me know about Lookybook.  Small holes have started popping up in my brain, allowing matter and little gray cells to escape with lightning quick alacrity.  The result is that I can’t remember if I’ve blogged about Lookybook before.  If not, it’s kind of neat.  Basically, it allows you to "read" a variety of picture books online.  I’m not sure how the legal logistics work, but I couldn’t help but notice that there’s an "embed" option.  So, for a larf, here’s The Latke Who Couldn’t Stop Screaming, for those of you who have always wanted to see it.