Fusenews: Imaginary Casting of a Neil Gaiman Bio Pic – Dylan Moran?

Awards are in the air once again, it seems.  First the Golden Kite and now something a little more fantastical.  The Andre Norton Award nominations have been released and there is a bevy of interesting titles nominated including:

• Oh! How useful. I guess I always wished that there was a list of upcoming book to film releases listed somewhere for easy access (to say nothing of thoughtful paperback ordering for my library).  Now such a list exists over at Early Word.  Apparently that Percy Jackson has his movie coming out in 2010.  Thanks to Early Word Kids for the link.

• Mommy bloggers.  They technically precede the children’s literary bloggers in history, which is to say that they organized themselves long before the Kidlitosphere came into existence.  As a result, I have always toyed with the notion of reaching out to the mommy blogger community (and yes, when I say "mommy blogger" I actually mean "parental bloggers" as a whole) but I’ve never gone so far as to do it.  Now we’ve found a way to at least reward one of them for paying a little attention to children’s literature in all its forms.  The other day Janell at the blog Brimful Curiosities had a fabulous proposal that I’m quite keen on.  Listen to what she had to say:

"I just looked at the qualifiers for the Scholastic Parent & Child Mommy Blogger awards at http://www.scholastic.com/parents/blogcontest/.  While I know this is supposed to be just a Mommy Blogger Award, many of  the blogs don’t seem to have much to do with reading at all.

However, one nominated blogger (Callipidder Days) looks like she hosts a twice a year reading challenge. I’d like to see a mom who promotes reading win this. See what you think for yourself.

By the way, I do not know this blogger personally. Just like blogs that promote reading!"

As do I.  I think that this is a magnificent proposition.  Let us reward blogs that acknowledge the importance of reading!  Not that we’d actually get her to win the poll.  As far as I can ascertain, Do They Have Salsa in China? (that’s a Blogspot blog? wow) has this one wrapped up.  Just the same, nothing wrong with giving props to a mommy blog who understands the importance of child literacy.  Oh, and if you vote for Callipidder Days, be sure to do it sooner rather than later.  The poll ends March 13th.

• Dora the Explorer.  She doesn’t bug me like some of the other children’s programs out there. What was Dora known first and foremost as?  An explorer.  She wears shorts most of the time.  She teaches kids Spanish.  And though she does sometimes go the stereotypical mermaid/princess route, it’s not what she’s primarily associated with.  Enter the Dora Wars.  Dora, it seems, is a victim of her own success.  Hoping to make a quick buck, Nickelodeon and Mattel are going to introduce a tween Dora.  Shopping, jewelry, and fashion will be the name of the game, and check out this silhouette they’ve released of her:

Poor little Dora.  They’re gonna Bratz her up good.

• Neil Gaiman has decided to be cruel to me by coming to speak at Books of Wonder in New York on the same day as my fabulous Children’s Literary Cafe featuring a panel of New York Times reviewers. *sigh*  It makes me positively sad, it does.  However, here’s something to cheer me up in the meantime. An interview with Gaiman by everyone’s favorite Horn Book editor Roger Sutton.  Two great tastes that taste great together.  Best of all, it talks about the inanity of that SLJ report about Gaiman’s win.  Probably the best interview with Mr. G I’ve seen thus far. Thanks to Educating Alice for the link.
  

• From Cynopsis Kids, some of the stranger news of the day:

Seth Green joins the cast of Mars Needs Moms! , the motion capture/animated feature film from Disney and Robert Zemeckis’ ImageMovers production banner, per The Hollywood Reporter.  Directed by Simon Wells (The Prince of Egypt, Balto among others), The movie is based on author Berkeley Breathed ‘s kid’s book of the same name, which revolves around a boy who stows away on spaceship to rescue his mom after she is abducted by aliens.  Mars Needs Moms will also feature the voices of Mindy Sterling (she played Seth’s mom, Frau Farbissina, in the Austin Powers movies), Joan Cusack, and Dan Fogler.  Breathed is best known for his Bloom County comic strip.

• Daily Image:

Scientific information does not remain in my brain long.  Generally a fact will sometimes wander into my cranium like the guest at a lame party who’s trying to figure out whether or not to stay or jet.  Most facts jet, but a couple are willing to have another handful of chips and take a minute to check out the host’s CD collection.  One such fact has to do with the human need to see faces in inanimate objects.  Clouds, cracks in the plaster, burnt toast, etc.  Apparently our brains are hardwired with an extreme sort of facial recognition, even when there is no face to be seen.  Author Jon Buller’s recent message to me is very much along the same lines:

"About twenty years ago, following on the heels of THE NOISY COUNTING BOOK, Random House published a book of ours called SPACE ROCK.  It was about a kid who, while walking home from school one day, picks up a rock that looks like it has a face.  It then turns out what he has picked up is actually a  rock-creature from another planet.  Ever since then we have been on the lookout for rocks with faces, and have collected a few dozen, which we keep in a tin that once contained Harrods chocolates.  Just recently I had the idea to put photos of our entire collection on our website."

Like so:

Some are shells, but I don’t think that’s a problem. Looking at them you can actually feel your brain desperately trying to give humanity to these shapes.  Go here to see them all.  Thanks to Jon Buller for the link.

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