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December 11, 2008 by Betsy Bird

Fusenews: The Snowman Goeth

December 11, 2008 by Betsy Bird   14 comments

  • Half the discoveries I mention on this blog come about through incessant self-Googlization (note: find better term for this).  For example, the other day I saw that my blog was on the blogroll for something called Authors Now!  And I probably wouldn’t have paid it too much mind even then had it not been for the fact that the cover being displayed was this:


Eye catching, is it not?  It’s a Summer 2009 release and its cover marks a distinct shift on the part of Feiwel and Friends away from the previously dreamlike soft-hued images they’ve favored in the past.  But back to the site . . . Authors Now! describes itself as, "The Internet’s Largest Collaboration of Debut Children’s and Teen Book Authors and Illustrators".  This may actually be true.  Other debut-centric groups like the Class of 2K8 and the like are lovely but they limit the number of debut authors who can join.  Also, Authors Now! apparently includes debut picture book authors as well as novelists.  Most interesting of all, some of their titles are listed as having 2010 release dates.  So I guess anyone can join, no matter when your book is coming out.  I will be watching this site with interest.

  • Over at Read Roger, Roger Sutton describes the experience of showing the film of Raymond Briggs’s The Snowman  to the young.  I cannot wait until I have a little test subject of my own to try these things out on.  I mean, when I was a kid I was perturbed by any ending that did not keep to the straight and narrow definitions of a "happy ending".  If there wasn’t a wedding, I could deal but I wasn’t pleased (a life of Shakespearean comedies appropriate for seven-year-olds was I guess what I sought).  And for a main character to just MELT!  Blew my tiny mind, I can tell you.  I still fight against some residual drops of horror free flowing in my blood when I remember the end of that book/film.  Then I rewatch this video and I feel a little better.


  • Hubba wha?  The Guardian just announced the fact that Nintendo is getting goofy on us.

For any reader feeling they didn’t do enough shopping before Christmas, help is at hand from Nintendo, which is preparing to launch a library of 100 classic books for its handheld games

console on Boxing Day.

It gets weirder.

Perhaps aware that it’s catering to an audience with a short attention span, Nintendo is also offering the option, for those "stuck for somewhere to start", of telling the software your mood, upon which it will present you with a range of options. Bleak House, for example, would be a bad option for those pushed for time, while King Lear might not suit those in need of a pick-me-up.


Thanks to bookshelves of doom and Bookninja for the link.

  • Oliver Jeffers’s book Lost and Found has been turned into a delightful little film narrated by Jim Broadbent.  Don’t be looking for it too soon, though.  It will be playing on Channel Four in England on Christmas Eve, but not here in the States for a while.  Foot.  Thanks to ShelfTalker for the link.


  • Oh, Wayne Kokkinos, what a strange sad truths you speak.



I came this close to missing the fact that Christoph Niemann (creator of such picture books as The Pet Dragon, The Police Cloud, etc.) had a new piece in The New York Times.  This one?  An ode to coffee.  Thanks to Swiss Miss for the link.

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Item: One librarian and five author/illustrators (one a Newbery Honoree) crammed behind a bed wearing zombie sock puppets on their hands.  I was unaware that this photograph even existed.  It makes for one of those rare moments when I am happy that I have red eye. 


  • Jen Robinson just posted the following information on her blog for one and all to see:

"I am delighted to announce that starting in mid-to-late January I’ll be working with Susan Kusel from Wizard’s Wireless, Pam Coughlan from MotherReader, and Gina Montefusco from PBS on a new children’s book blog for PBS Parents. The mission of the blog will be to help kids learn to love reading. This, of course, fits in quite well with what Susan and Pam and I have been trying to do with our own blogs, and with what PBS does through their many other outlets. We are all very excited to get started."


Yes, my pretties.  My ultimate goal of getting us to ALL be paid for blogging is coming to fruition.  Soon we shall all be paid for what we love and NOBODY will be able to stop us! 

  • I actually have one of these bookmarked on my browser, no lie.  Every year Susan over at Chicken Spaghetti creates this amazing round-up of all the Best Books Lists of children’s titles in a given year.  She’s already started with her Best of the Best: Kids’ Book ’08, and it’s well worth checking out.  If you’re looking for the ultimate consolidation of "the best", this is it.


  • Huh.  Who knew the Animorphs books contained so much pathos?  I ain’t reading them, but this blog Purple Polka kinda sorta makes me wanna.  Thanks to Tea Cozy for the link.


  • Daily Image – Holiday Gift Edition:


Got kids?  Got parents?  Got parents that can’t get enough of your kids?  Well a little site called Petit Debutant tells you how you can go about making silhouettes of your children for the aforementioned grandparents with little muss or fuss.


Thanks to Swiss Miss for the link.

Filed under: Fusenews

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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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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.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kim Kasch says

    December 11, 2008 at 12:49 am

    Eye Catching – beautiful. And congrats to Jen R. Plus, getting paid to blog – wouldn’t that be wonderful?

  2. Bookninja says

    December 11, 2008 at 6:11 am

    I call it “onan-googling”.

  3. Liz says

    December 11, 2008 at 7:38 am

    Briggs’ Snowman remains a magical experience for me. When he first saw it, my son asked a lot of questions about the ending, but did not burst into tears as he did the first time we read Charlotte’s Web. Something about the bittersweet ending of The Snowman made sense to him. He’s 9 now, and still wants to watch it every year….Can’t wait to read Roger Sutton’s piece.

  4. Sara O'Leary says

    December 11, 2008 at 8:01 am

    Great post – and that Lost and Found film looks like it’s going to be fab.

  5. Cheryl says

    December 11, 2008 at 8:08 am

    I’ve heard self-Googling called “ego surfing,” which I like.

  6. Heidi R. Kling says

    December 11, 2008 at 10:12 am

    EYES LIKE STARS cover is so gorgeous and I’m glad you stumbled upon Author’s Now!

  7. Cynthea Liu says

    December 11, 2008 at 10:21 am

    Thank you, Elizabeth, for mentioning AuthorsNow! As founder, I am so excited to bring this resource to the public. Our membership continues to grow at a lightning speed as word spreads. And the more members we sign on, the better the resource this site becomes for our readers.

    Thanks again! We look forward to bringing you the very best about what’s happening with AuthorsNow! And we are also listening intently to audience feedback so that we can make the site the very best it can be.

    Yours,
    Cynthea

  8. sdn says

    December 11, 2008 at 10:55 am

    the term you want is “vanity search.” not everyone uses google.

  9. kim baker says

    December 11, 2008 at 3:28 pm

    Wow. A lot of people want to see you with red eye. I couldn’t figure out why that post got so many hits until I came over here. Thank you for sharing our silliness with the masses.

    Lost and Found looks great.

  10. rams says

    December 11, 2008 at 5:46 pm

    Autogoogle.

  11. Brooke says

    December 11, 2008 at 9:29 pm

    I prefer “Googlessistic.”

  12. Fuse #8 says

    December 11, 2008 at 9:36 pm

    I’m going to have to turn this into a vote, aren’t I?

  13. Jen Robinson says

    December 11, 2008 at 9:56 pm

    I like “ego-surfing”. As in “I believe that if I had been ego-surfing, I would have come across this post.” If you can use a term in a sentence, it must be correct.

    Thanks for the support, Betsy!

  14. Wizards Wireless says

    February 18, 2009 at 12:36 pm

    And now I have to admit, embarassed, that I just came across this post during a Google search.
    -Susan

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