Fusenews: Gleep!
Durn. This is what I get for not doing a Fusenews in a while. A whole plethora of good stuff! Let’s see what we can use up in a single day, eh?
For the record, if you haven’t read these Hunger Games comics (in the style of Kate Beaton, no?) then now’s the time. They’re surprisingly good.
Good old poetry month. From spine poems to 30 Poets / 30 Days the celebrations are magnificent. Go ye, seek out and find.
- I won’t normally link to podcasts but this recent Scriptnotes that covers how a screenwriter options a novel he wants to adapt includes a discussion of older children’s books that were considered for screen adaptation. FYI!
- On the one hand they’re 9 Barbies Based on Books. On the other hand, if that Edward doesn’t sparkle and glow in the dark then I hope the people who purchased him got their money back. Thanks to bookshelves of doom for the link.
- When I worked the reference desk I got a lot of Stumpers. Folks would ask me to come up with a beloved book from their childhood and I would try to figure it out. If I couldn’t find it I’d take down all their information and ask PUBYAC on their behalf. If that didn’t work I’d suggest Loganberry Books, even though they charge money. Would that I had known about Whatsthatbook.com. A free site where folks post their stumpers and other folks answer them, it’s pretty cool. Sometimes I just like hearing the wacky descriptions. Current favorite: “Young girl reading to an older lady, girl almost gets caught in quicksand”. I hate it when that happens.
- Hello, under-a-rock denizens. J.K. Rowling’s newest book is going to be released. Hope you like community politics!!!
- Feel discomfort about Tikki Tikki Tembo? You’re not alone.
- Do Childish People Write Better Children’s Books? Dude, if you want to walk up to Maurice Sendak and inform him that he is childish, be my guest. I’m just gonna go hide behind this sturdy concrete pillar over here until the spatter of your remains stops with the spattering.
- Stealing books from publishers is nothing new, but there’s something particularly slimy about doing it during the Bologna Book Fair.
- In theater news there’s a two-man Harry Potter show coming to town. Though if you ask me, ten shows a week is madness. Madness!
- In other news, Rich Santorum’s wife wrote a children’s book. Bono blurbed it. And that, right there, is information that may cause your head to balloon to triple in size, don’t you think?
I don’t usually find much that is new when I read articles like the recent 6 Popular Children’s Books That Teach Kids Horrible Lessons. But I will say that in the midst of the regular stuff (the obligatory Berenstain Bears, Rainbow Fish, Love You Forever, etc.) there was one book I hadn’t really encountered before. Anyone else ever seen Because Your Daddy Loves You? I admit it. I’m curious now.
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- My library seems to be in the news quite a bit these days. The Guardian speculated about our upcoming big changes (though it failed to mention that 2 million books would remain on the premises). Then this article came up in The New York Times this past Sunday. And over in England the Telegraph had a piece on a book about the Winnie-the-Pooh dolls. I’ve the book in my home to examine closely. The article is just a bit odd since it says that no one really knows who owns the toys. And here I thought that brouhaha with Giuliani, Tony Blair, and even President Clinton made it awfully clear back in the 90s. On to look at the book!
- Hey hey! The Caldecott is turning 75! And Nina Lindsay is chairing the Caldecott 75th Anniversary Task Force. Neat! You can see all the details here. I’ll have to do something particularly fun for the Newbery/Caldecott Banquet this year (Note to Self: Actually buy a ticket to said banquet).
- Always on top of things Good Comics for Kids located all the child and teen comics nominated for the 2012 Eisners. Looks like I’ll be doing some heavy duty shopping for my branches from this list. Phew!
- Not too shabby. I was a little worried when I read the description for the Daily News article From Dr. Seuss to Dostoevsky: A Literary Guide for the New Parent, but I shouldn’t have worried. Our man Minh Le is back on the children’s literary scene and any article that mentions Sam, Bangs and Moonshine is a-okay with me.
- Admittedly the title “Saving Mr. Banks” is pretty good. Particularly if you’re talking about an upcoming movie about how frickin’ long it took Walt Disney to get the rights to film Mary Poppins. All star cast and a children’s literary story. And yes, this is in that book I’m writing for Candlewick as well.
- Should we go about labeling titles as “boy books” or “girl books”? Heck no! And the Horn Book piece On the Rights of Reading and Girls and Boys says as much.
- A show of hands. How many authors out there have done class visits to Easter Island? Anyone? Anyone? Ah. One of you then.
- Yay! It’s time for the Guys Lit Wire Book Fair! This year it’s the Ballou Sr High School in Washington DC again and they still need help. Check it out and lend a hand.
- Dear Santa: For Christmas I would like this show to play down the street from me and I would like several tickets. Failing that, a pony.
- Daily Image:
Oh Dr. Who mash-ups. Will you never cease to amaze?
Now to find the Inspector Space Time version. Thanks to Nine Kinds of Pie 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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One more site for lost books is abebooks.com…..they have a “booksleuth” section that works pretty much like whatsthatbook…it’s free too!
A little story about that Santorum book…
The year: 2002. My good friend (and old college roommate) Sam was doing all the design, layout, and illustrations for Karen Santorum’s book “Everyday Graces.” The book is intended to be similar to The Book of Virtues, but organized around manners. So it’s a collection of stories… a chapter from The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe leads into a short commentary about table manners. A chapter from Winnie the Pooh leads into a little discussion about the art of invitation writing. It’s all selections from classic stories like Frog and Toad, Little Women, and The Secret Garden.
At the time, I am simply a graphic designer, but my friend Sam knows I’d love to write children’s books. So he tells me that since he’s putting the book together, he can slip in one of my stories. I send him a little nonsense story I’d written, and he even works up an illustration for it. So in the end, “Everyday Graces” contains 180 previously published works by folks like Robert Louis Stevenson, LM Montgomery, Lewis Carroll, Beatrix Potter… and a single, solitary original work by Aaron Zenz – snuck in at the last minute by his old college roommate.
My first published writing.
Get. Out. Of. Town.
My mom has a Holly Golightly Barbie. Does it count if the Barbie is obviously based on movie-Holly rather than book-Holly?
http://i2.listal.com/image/2956694/400full.jpg
@Aaron–dude, that’s hilarious.
I know I am a little behind in reading your posting but there was the long flight from London to SF and that awful thing called jet lag but I wanted to tell you I have a Curious George Barbie complete with George himself, though he is quite small. My first (and only) Barbie. And I met the real Barbie gal about 38 yrs ago when I worked for Mattel toy co. Didn’t get a Barbie then (or want one) until about 25 years later when I found C. G. Barbie. I might be a little old for dolls, but for George I made an exception.