Fusenews: Rubber Ducky, They’re the One

• I don’t want to jump the gun, but this may just be the best thing ever.  They’re creating a Bert and Ernie staged production for children with live guys.  The best part about this story is the fact that this show is being created by some of the folks behind the really remarkably lovely (warning: have exceeded adverb limit) A Year With Frog and Toad (which was nominated for three Tonys).  As a child I was always pro-Bert.  Bert was my man.  Ernie was good for a laugh, but in Bert, the world’s ultimate straight man, I found someone I could relate to.  It’s probably a good thing that this show (called Bert and Ernie: Goodnight!) is far away from me in Minneapolis.  A live action Bert is just too hot.  Thanks to Erin Tatge for the link.

• This feels like more of a Collecting Children’s Books post than a Heavy Medal one.  Newbie contributor Jonathan Hunt makes an interesting supposition in Ghosts of Newberys Past.  Supposing that Newbery alumni have an edge on future awards, which of the books that have been written by them (both Honor and Award proper) have the best chances at winning?  Jonathan lists them all.  My vote goes to Engle and Woodson in the Honor category.  And reading the comments I also realized that in the future there will undoubtedly be a band somewhere called Book Bag Pocket Shoe.  At the very least, there will be a blog or a children’s bookstore.

• The nice thing about the internet is how well one idea turns into another.  For example, when I decided to create the Top 100 Picture Books Poll, I only got the idea at the urging of my husband.  He, in turn, had seen it done on the site Comics Should Be Good about the top comic book runs.  Since I did it Semicolon came out with her Top 100 Hymns of All Time Poll.  Now Zooglobble is in on the act.  Zooglobble, should you be unfamiliar with it, is perhaps the top children’s music blog out there today.  And I’m not talking Raffi, or any of that wimpy stuff.  I mean folks like Caspar Babypants and Kesang Marstrand and the like.  Now Zooglobble has announced the Top Kids Albums of All Time poll.  Rank your top ten children’s music albums and send ’em on to Zooglobble for the ultimate in children’s tuneage.  I’ll be watching the results with baited pocketbook.

• A launch has been made into the children’s literary e-world and everyone is watching to see what happens.  According to Publishers Weekly, " Namelos editions will publish one-color children’s and YA fiction, nonfiction and poetry in electronic and print-on-demand editions."  The article goes on to specify what that means to both the authors and illustrators that hire namelos, and the publishing industry itself.  All very interesting.  We’ll see where this goes.  Thanks to PW Children’s Bookshelf for the link.

• Richard Peck comes down hard in the recent Notes from the Horn Book on reading aloud in a classroom without handing out vocabulary sheets as well.  Which seems doggone weird to me.  Monica’s response   (and subsequent link to another teacher’s response) gives notable exception to this idea.  "Turning a read aloud into a deadly vocabulary lesson happens, far too often, I fear.  And such a lesson is unlike to endear many of those child readers to Peck’s books, I’m afraid."  Roger has also considered Peck’s statements not once but twice.  Me?  I just love the term Old Man Crankypants.  Not that I necessarily think it applies to him.  I just like how it rolls off the tongue.

• When Googling oneself, you rarely find much good.  But a recent search on my part revealed a nursery rhyme I somehow had missed all these years.  Seems quite appropriate to me too:

Elizabeth, Elspeth, Betsy, and Bess,
They all went together to seek a bird’s nest;
They found a bird’s nest with five eggs in,
They all took one, and left four in.

• Jarrett recently found this pairing of his book with one of a similar… uh… persuasion.  My response: Do you really need a whole book on how to defeat slugs?  Salt and beer, man.  That’s all you need to know.

• Daily Image:

They tell you they love your books.  That you’re their favorite author.  But really, how do you know if that’s really true until your fans make one of your evil characters into a beer?  James Kennedy and his book The Order of Odd-Fish had just that happen.  It’s a Belgian Prankster brew!

Upon drinking it, Mr. Kennedy had this to say: "Chokes to death, acidic pink fizz explodes from nose, ears, eyes, nipples, body turns into blazing firework."  That means he likes it.  Thanks to @iamjameskennedy for the link.

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