Fusenews: Love to eat them mousies. Mousies what I love to eat.
I feel like the White Rabbit here. No time, no time! We’ll have to do this round-up of Fusenews in a quick quick fashion then. Forgive the brevity! It may be the soul of wit but it is really not my preferred strength. In brief, then!
- First, I want this book to exist:
Dean Trippe, its creator, calls it YA. I call it middle grade. I also call it a great idea that we desperately need. COME ON, DC! Thanks to Hark, a Vagrant for the link.
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- This came out a little less than a year ago, but I find it useful. From American Indians in Children’s Literature, Debbie Reese presents her Top Ten Books Recommended for Elementary School.
- The Scop is back! This is good news. It means that not only can author Jonathan Auxier show off a glimpse of his upcoming middle grade novel Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes but he also created a piece of true art: HoloShark with Easter Bunny.
- If you know your Crockett Johnson (or your comics) you’ll know that long before Harold and that purple crayon of his the author/illustrator had a regular comic strip called Barnaby. What you may not have known? That it was turned into a stage play.
- J.K. Rowling wants to create a Hagrid hut in her backyard? She should get some tips from Laurie Halse Anderson.
- Often humor sites that reference children’s books are only mildly funny. This College Humor piece called I Think They’re Running Out of Material for New Shel Silverstein Books? Honestly hilarious. Thanks to Tristan Elwell for the link!
- Why do we never get sick of Shaun Tan? Because the man is without ego. So if you’ve a mind to, you can learn more about him through these 5 Questions with Shaun Tan over at On Our Minds @ Scholastic.
- A lesson plan database? I’ve been saying for years we needed something like that. Smart AASL. Clever ducks.
- Thanks to the good people of Lerner, I got to hang out a bit with Klaus Flugge at a dinner in Bologna recently. Not long after he showed The Guardian some of his favorite illustrated envelopes. Hmm. Wouldn’t be bad fodder for a post of my own someday. Not that I have anything to compare to this:
- New Blog Alert: I like blogs that do something different. Children’s illustrator Dana Sullivan does that very thing with Sticky Love. Most amusing.
- A loving tribute to The Hardy Boys, and a mention of my own favorite boy detective series (the far superior) The Three Investigators. Thanks to bookshelves of doom for the link.
- Lots of Hunger Games casting news this week. If they nab John C. Reilly I will die a happy woman (oddly, he was how I pictured Haymitch in my head for the entire series. No lie). For actual confirmed castings, however, we turn to Cynopsis Kids:
Lionsgate’s movie adaptation of the first book in Suzanne Collins’ young adult trilogy, Hunger Games , gets a number of new cast members this week. Director Gary Ross taps Willow Shields (In Plain Sight) for the role of Primrose Everdeen (aka Prim), the younger sister of the protagonist Katniss, per Heat Vision . As previously announced, Katniss will be played by Jennifer Lawrence. Other new cast members over the last bit include Josh Hutcherson (The Kids Are All Right, Bridge to Terabithia, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island) as Peeta Mellark and Liam Hemsworth (The Last Song, Knowing) as Gale Hawthorne. Elizabeth Banks is said to be up for the role of Effie Trinket, who Katniss’ handler. Additionally, four of the tribute members from the various Districts in the story have also been cast by Ross, with Jack Quaid and Leven Rambin set as Marvel and Glimmer, and Dayo Okeniyi and Amandla Stenberg as Thresh and Rue. Lionsgate will release The Hunger Games on March 23, 2012.
- Coming to BEA? Want to know what to nab when you’re there? Wonder no longer.
- Daily Image:
Cake Wrecks highlighted some children’s books recently in cake form. But while you can call this Beatrix Potter cake many things, a “wreck” it is not.
Thanks to AL Direct 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 Kirkus, 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 BlueSky at: @fuse8.bsky.social
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… bite they little heads off, nibble on they tiny feet.
In filling my new bookshelves (hooray!) I actually got some of my Three Investigators up there. Where do you put yours? I considered shelving them by series title, since Robert Arthur only wrote the first few, and I thought about filing them under Hitchcock, since that’s who everyone associates them with (and because I have a bunch of those Hitchcock collections), but I ended up putting ’em in the ‘A’s.
But I still might move them when we add more shelves.
Leila I wish I had enough 3 Investigators to have that problem. Mine are all Arthurs, but if I had a Hitchcock or two I’d probably store ’em with the Arthur like you did.
Boy, what I wouldn’t give if you did with them what you did with Nancy Drew *hint hint*.
And thanks, David!
what rams said. there’s no way i can hear those opening lines by b. kliben and not sing the rest of that song.
what a power-packed post. so much goodness shared, so much to check out!
I love Cake Wrecks-I thought about sending you a link, but I was pretty sure that you were a Cake Wrecks reader!
I love Dean Trippe’s and Daniel Krall’s concept for young Lois, too, but the adventures in the proposal aren’t, well, adventurous enough yet (book one: a respected pharmaceuticals representative has cheated on the asthma drug’s safety tests in order to get a promotion and a raise; book two: an elite boarding school is giving scholarships to children of celebrities and politicians…). Also, Clark is influenced by Lois, but they haven’t met at this point, so if Clark’s story is presented separately in the same book, it will sort of stall Lois’s action. There are kinks that need to be worked out, but it’s a great concept. Is DC the only publishing outlet, because they own the characters?
Yes! That does make sense — I’d have never even considered shelving Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys under Stratemeyer instead of Keene/Dixon, so Arthur it is… until I dig out my Hitchcocks, that is. *Then* I’ll have to re-evaluate.
I don’t think I could bear to tear up one of the Three Investigators books, as I don’t have as many doubles. But maybe, someday…
Agreed. The idea of young Lois is enticing but the writing needs some work. Frankly, I don’t think we need Clark in there at all. But a young gutsy girl reporter middle grade series? Love it! Like Kiki Strike but with some social awareness.
Oh! Not to tear up the 3 Investigators for bags, but rather to do a book by book analysis of the plots, Leila. There’s a lot to pick apart there. Like the fact that they win a week with a personal chauffeur . . . and that week somehow never ends over the course of the entire series.
Someone suggested to me that Robert Downey Jr. would make a good Haymitch. The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. Then there’s the whole “easy on the eye” issue, as well. 🙂
Thanks for pointing people to my site!
And on the topic of creating houses… Romance fiction writer Cassie Edwards lives in a mansion modeled after Tara. Smart Bitches took her to task for plagiarism. She plagiarized from many, including N. Scott Momaday.
What can I say? You tell me to blog, I blog. Such is the power you exert over your readers.
Also, that Shel Silverstein thing was brilliant. It’s also the reason I never plan to read EDWIN DROOD.