Fusenews: My proverbial hat tastes like flan

I was going to spend a lot of time on this Fusenews.  Then I picked up Doug TenNapel’s Cardboard and lost most of my evening in the process.  So it goes.  I really am going to have to be brief today.  To sum up:

The Battle of the (Kids’) Books rages on in earnest!  Wish I’d submitted my bracket this year.  So far the winners make sense to me.

• Opinions I do not share.  #1: “Here is a list of eleven children’s books that still have value in a writer’s adult years.”  I might agree with you if you meant that Rainbow Fish makes for an excellent source of protein. #2: “Ten Tips for Avoiding Terrible Children’s Books.”  This may actually be the strangest collection of children’s book-related advice I’ve seen in years.  I live in hope that I misread it and that this is all the stuff you’re supposed to avoid, not do.

• Stephen Fry + a pub called The Hobbit = lawsuit city.  Actually, you don’t even need the Stephen Fry part.

• It’s spine poem time!  With Poetry Month right around the corner you just know you want to partake.  Spine poem it up!

• Of course THIS month is Women’s History Month.  So I wrote a little guest blog piece just for the occasion where I noted the little known historical heroines making their debut in juvenile print this year.

• I’ve an app-related Children’s Literary Salon a week from this Saturday, so this overview of the children’s book app market was an invaluable piece of writing for me.

• Speaking of apps n’ such, did you know that over in Italy where the Bologna Book Fair takes place there is now a Bologna Ragazzi Digital Award?  In incredibly good idea.  International apps.  A whole new world.

• New Blog Alert: New to me anyway.  We Too Were Children, Mr. Barrie which describes itself as “Being a Compendium of Children’s Books by Twentieth Century ‘Adult’ Authors Currently Out of Print”.  It’s beautifully done.  Go see.

• If someone out there isn’t writing a middle grade novel about the repercussions of those newly discovered five hundred fairytales I’ll eat my proverbial hat.

• Hooray!  The Ezra Jack Keats Awards were announced.  Hooray!  Lola’s Fandango got an honor.  Though, if I’m going to be honest, all the books listed were fantastic.

• Two items from Cynopsis Kids.  The first is clearly book related:

Amulet Books, an imprint of Abrams, acquires author Tom Angleberger’s the third Origami Yoda book (title TBD), a middle-grade novel set for release in 2012. Angleberger’s first two books, The Strange Case of Origami Yoda and Darth Paper Strikes Back, have 2+ million copies in print. The deal was orchestrated by SVP and Publisher Susan Van Metre, who is Angleberger’s editor. In this third installment of the Origami Yoda series a Star Wars character will again be featured in the title of the book. Fans can make their best guess as to which Star Wars character will be folded in the new book at the online poll at www.origamiyoda.com/poll. The poll is open now and will close on March 28, 2012.

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• The second is not, but it made me gape like a guppy for a while. Mr. Rogers apparel?  What, is it going to be, hipster sweater vests or something?

The Fred Rogers Company, which, of course, produced the iconic kid-targeted PBS series Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, has entered into a licensing deal with American Classics, a noted licensed t-shirt and apparel. The license agreement was negotiation by Fred Rogers Company’s agency, Brand Central. Under the deal, American Classics will establish strategic partnerships and licensing deals that will extend the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood brand throughout North America and the UK, and will include product categories such as high-end apparel and accessories. The Mister Rogers’ license program will focus on specialty and “better” department stores.

• Daily Image:

Beth Fama is to be credited for this one.  Said she, “I just think this is so pretty. I saw it on my sister-in-law’s blog. It’s the wall/bookcase of the cafe in the Roku Museum by Hiroshi Nakamura.”

I love it.  If I could just slot my random books into holes I think I’d find it oddly fulfilling.  Thanks, Beth!

Filed under: Fusenews