Fusenews: Everybody’s Working ON the Week-end (Including Me)

• Some wonderful information is coming out of the Australian Aurealis Awards.  The finalists have been announced and there are some really great top-notch inclusions.  In the Young Adult category is my beloved Lamplighter, Monster Blood Tattoo Book Two by David Cornish.  And in the best illustrated category is the really well written (and adorable) Tashi and the Phoenix by Anna Fienberg, Barbara Fienberg & Kim Gamble.  If you’re looking for great early chapter books in the vein of My Father’s Dragon and the like, the Tashi books are smart, fun, and have magnificent illustrations.  They are WELL worth checking out.  My two cents.

• In the last days of the Donnell Library here in New York I took my fair share of pictures.  After all, we were there when the first stages of the destruction began.  And I was happy to hold onto them for my own personal use rather than place them where the world could see.  Someone else did not feel such qualms over posting some photos of their own, though.  If you’d like to see The Donnell Library Center: A Eulogy in Pictures

• There’s a nice Q&A with Mr. Tony Abbott up at PW right now.  Covers everything from Droon to Dinosaur’s Paws.  Thanks to Dolores Abbott for the link.

Aww.  The creator of Bagpuss has died.  Unless you are British or grew up watching foreign children’s shorts on that old Nickelodeon program Pinwheel you may not recognize Bagpuss’s contributions to the world.  If you would like to educate yourself on the matter, watch this and all will be clear.

• I should really read the ALSC blog more regularly.  Because I don’t, I cannot say whether or not this is a regular series.  In any case, I hope we see more of What I Wasn’t Taught in Library School, because there is just so much to say.  Particularly when it comes to nude parental units.

• From Cynopsis Kids:

Director Thor Freudenthal (Hotel for Dogs) will direct the movie Diary of a Wimpy Kid for Fox 2000, which is slated for a 2010 release, per The Hollywood Reporter.  The movie is based on author Jeff Kinney’s eponymous book for kids/tweens 9-12.

Of course, some of us suspect that he was chosen solely for the fact that his name is "Thor Freudenthal". Which, as you can see, is awesome.

• Autumn Winifred Oliver Does Things Different by Kristin O’Donnell Tubb was one of the many books that I read this year but that fell by the wayside because I didn’t have time to review it.  I always liked the cover Delacorte chose for that puppy too.  The girl was cute.  Now Jacket Whys has discovered a very rare moment in publishing history.  Ms. Tubb, the author, actually got to meet the girl who modeled for her own cover.  How often does that even happen?  Pretty cool post, I gotta say.

• I was looking for this information the other day but wasn’t able to find the site.  Now thanks to Shelf Elf I’ve learned that the website Class of 2K9 is up and running.  This is a site of debut middle grade and YA authors for the year 2009.  There’s not much available quite yet, but if you’re interested in the people involved, go to with the checking out do.

• See?  I told you that new Obama book by Kadir Nelson was coming out suspiciously fast.  Or, as Publishers Weekly put it, it’s the, "the crashiest of the Obama crash books this season."  Thanks to PW Children’s Bookshelf for the link.

• Daily Image – Holiday Gift Edition:

Here’s another little delight to buy for a loved one this holiday season.  After all, turning old books (including those of the children’s variety) into music boxes is fairly cool.  Check ’em out.

You can also hear their tunes here.  Thanks to Children’s Illustration for the link.

Filed under: Fusenews