Fusenews: Itty Bitty Edition
Which is to say, it’s 12:06 a.m. and I haven’t the strength to do a full post. In brief!
Seems to me that Weird Al is missing the obvious here. If he’s going to suddenly decide to become a children’s author then he should at the very least have the decency to become a children’s book parodist. The world of children’s book parodies pretty much come down to Michael Rex (Goodnight Goon, Runaway Mummy, etc.) and the guy who did that awful Where the Mild Things Are. Clearly the field is still pretty open. MamaPop knows what I’m talking about. Even came up with a list of potential parody titles. Instead, Al went dull. His book now looks like every other celebrity’s out there. *snore!* Thanks to Sarah Stevenson for the link.
- Well the big news of the week is that I have a new neighbor. A new neighbor who’s smart and shared a cover with me way back in November. Yes indeed, A Chair, A Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy has moved to SLJ. Liz Burns shall now reside alongside me, upping the number of folks here with the initials of EB to two. Interestingly, her sidebar shows commenters and those who have commenting most recently whereas mine does not. Fascinating.
- After seeing my post yesterday about children’s books in dire need of new illustrations and covers, Peter Sieruta noted my McKillip cover for The Changeling Sea and upped the challenge. He says his terrible McKillip cover can beat my terrible McKillip cover. And you wanna know what? He’s right. Boy oh boy oh boy is he right.
- From future Children’s Poet Laureate Lee Bennett Hopkins (oh, you know I’m right) I received this very good point. I had just mentioned in a post that I wanted an ALA award for a graphic novel. Said Lee: “RE: Your plea for a new ALA Award. Are you aware that there never has been an ALA award for POETRY? Methinks that should happen before a Graphic Novel Award.” Zut alors! He is correct. About our need for a poetry award, certainly. This is deserving of a longer post. Anon, kids. Anon.
- Daily Image:
I blogged about how raccoons have made their way into the main branch of Brooklyn the other day. In the course of the post I say that they don’t really reside in Manhattan so my workplace is safe. Well count on Ann Baybrooks to show me how wrong I could be. No library is safe from the threat of raccoons. Particularly when they’re a mere seventeen blocks north of my location, residing in Central Park. The article Shakespeare in the Park Plagued by Bad Weather, Raccoons says it all . . . as does this accompanying photograph.
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I’m off to see if there are any copies of Rascal on the shelf, or if the raccoons have already started selecting their own books.
Thanks to Ann Baybrooks for the link.
Filed under: Fusenews
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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Lee has a great point! Would love to see an ALA award for poetry. Lee’s certainly put tremendous effort into promoting poetry, including creating/sponsoring poetry awards. It would be wonderful to see ALA support poetry, too. I was so thrilled when Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! won a couple of years ago.
Oops — small typo. In the opening paragraph, you want “Good Night Goon” (not “Good Night Good”).
Signed,
Your Neighborhood (and Well-Read) Raccoons
Oh ah. Good catch. Methinks post-midnight writing is not the most spellcheck friendly time of night. Tip of the hat.
It is impossible to believe ALA has not sponsored an award for poetry. Impossible.
As for Lee Bennett Hopkins? Has ANYONE in the country done more for poetry than
he? My research shows he has done more anthology than any one else in the history
of children’s literature in the US. A recent blog called him Poet of Poets. He is Poet of and for All Children. How come no one ever brought up this fact before re: ALA’s slight?
It’s such a lovely neighborhood! (And I cannot figure out how to get the picture on this changed. Oh well, old photo of me)
True. And when I comment I don’t get a picture at all. I’m just glad I switched my pic on the old format for this blog. I like looking at the little yellow fuse. My own head tends to bug me.
How can it be that there is not an ALA poetry award? It is high time for ALA to sponsor a poetry award, high time to honor this genre. In the words of Samuel Coleridge, “Prose is words in their best order; Poetry is the best words in their best order.” I look forward to reading your longer post on this.
Lee Bennett Hopkins has a good point, as he always does. A poetry ALA award would be magnificent…and is overdue.
Betsy Franco reads my blog?
Betsy Franco reads my blog.
Awesome.
Loved the Lee Bennett Hopkins quote/suggestion re: an ALA award for poetry. A masterstroke from our most masterful poet/anthologist. And when you look at the effect the Printz award (and others), had in helping to promote and revitalize young adult literature, it seems clear that an ALA award for children and young adult poetry is an idea whose time has definitely come. NCTE established their Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children in the late seventies. In fact, Lee received that honor himself this past fall. (And I agree with you–given that—can Lee as Children’s Poet Laureate be far behind?) Looking forward to your longer post on this topic, anon.