SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About/Contact
  • Fusenews
  • Reviews
  • Librarian Previews
  • Best Books
    • Top 100
    • Best Books of 2022
    • Best Books of 2021
    • Best Books of 2020
    • Best Books of 2019
    • Best Books of 2018
    • Best Books of 2017
    • Best Books of 2016
    • Best Books of 2015
    • Best Books of 2014
    • Best Books of 2013
  • Fuse 8 n’ Kate
  • Videos
  • Press Release Fun

May 30, 2013 by Betsy Bird

Fusenews: C is for Calligraphy. That’s Good Enough for Me.

May 30, 2013 by Betsy Bird   1 comments

Allo!  BEA is now in full swing and always assuming I wasn’t crushed to death by today’s Family Feud game (it’s librarians vs. authors and I’m on Family Librarian) I’ll hopefully be seeing at least some of you on the conference floor in the next day or so.  In the meantime, take a look at these tasty treats.

  • So the new kids in town are playing with a website called Zoobean.  When librarian Sarah Goebel asked me about it I told her I hadn’t heard of them.  Turns out, that wasn’t entirely true.  I’d heard something about them before but had disregarded them due to an unfortunate labeling snafu.  Somebody apparently decided early on that they should be called “The Netflix for kids’ books” which could not be more misleading.  When I think of Netflix I think of renting lots of movies at my own convenience.  Apparently some folks (few) think that Netflix is best equated with recommendations.  Hardy har har.  In any case, that’s what Zoobean is.  TechCrunch and Swiss Miss both profiled it and I’ve been watching the site with interest.  Certainly this is the kind of work librarians do on a regular basis, but I also believe you can’t have enough helpful tools in this world.  If this helps librarians do their jobs as a kind of supplement, so be it.  In the meantime, it’s still in the early Beta stages and is not without its kinks.  You might find a book tagged incorrectly here and there, but generally it’s a better looking site than a lot of similar places I’ve seen crop up and disappear over the years.  One to keep an eye on, in any case.
  • It’s always very satisfying when a publisher blog comes out with a really good post.  Consider then this piece by Gina Gagliano at the First Second blog confronting the very idea of review copies and what a blogger “owes” a publisher. Thanks to Sarah Stevenson for the link.
  • I confess that though I read Minders of Make Believe by Leonard Marcus, I’d never really considered what the first picture book really was.  Now I know.  Thanks to Marjorie Ingall for the link.

Common Core.  You can’t escape it. You may not even want to when you hear about this new venture: Common Core IRL: In Real Libraries.  Basically, this is what you get when your favorite bloggers come together over a common cause.  Join Alyson Beecher, district literacy specialist at Kid Lit Frenzy, Louise Capizzo, children’s librarian at The Nonfiction Detectives, Travis Jonker, school librarian from 100 Scope Notes, Cathy Potter, school librarian at The Nonfiction Detectives, and Mary Ann Scheuer, school librarian at Great Kid Books as they tackle the big questions.  See more information on the project here.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

  • The Y.A. for Grown-ups blog at The Atlantic Wire traversed into younger territory recently when they profiled the recent Sophie Blackall package posting on this blog.  I am happy to report too that a winner of the contest was found.  To find out who it was, I suggest you consult with this piece.
  • Anytime Alison Morris chooses to return to ShelfTalker it is cause enough for celebration.  And if she happens to be writing pieces like How to Go to Greece and Have Your Own Odyssey?  That’s just a bonus.  Get ready to sop up some drool over the scenery and enjoy Alison’s killer descriptions.  To whet your whistle, here is an image of particular note:

As Alison calls it, “The Omphalos at Delphi, or the rock eaten by Cronos, who believed it was his infant son Zeus.”  I had no idea they had the actual rock.  The display of it cracks me up.

  • In other news, there is still space available at the Highlights Foundation’s Writing Fiction for Children and Young Adults workshop happening June 16-22.  It has a stellar line-up (Patti Lee Gauch, Kathryn Erskine, Rich Wallace, Janet Taylor Lisle, and more!) and it’s located in a truly beautiful part of the country.  I’ve been lucky enough to visit twice.  Always a treat.
  • Good old First Book.  While I sit here and kvetch over the dearth of African-American boys in 2013’s middle grade fiction, they actually go out and do something about it.  As I was recently told, “We’ve been doing our best to address the dearth of young black male protagonists (and other under-represented characters and voices) through something we call the Stories for All Project.  One of the first things we did was to solicit proposals from the publishing industry and awarding 500K purchase orders to the publishers who offered us the best range of diverse titles.  We selected HarperCollins and Lee and Low, and sent a strong message to the industry at large that we serve a market that is not being served in the general marketplace and that is hungry for this content.  You can read more about it here and we are carrying a series of blog posts on some of the authors whose books we are now carrying as well.  Admittedly, this does not “fix” the problem you so astutely identify, but we feel it is related because we are championing the need for all kids to see themselves in books as well as to learn about cultures and characters beyond their experiences through books.”

Well done, guys.  Well done.

  • Look out, everyone!  There’s a new award in town and it’s a kids choice award for comics and graphic novels!  Called the KCR! Comics Awards the nominees are fantastic (unlike the lamentable Eisner Award nominees in the youth category).  Kids have until June 23rd to vote, so get crackin’!!
  • Daily Image:

Because it makes me happy.

Inordinately happy.  Thanks to Cynthia von Buhler for the image.

Filed under: Fusenews

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments
comic awardsCommon CoreFirst Bookgraphic novel awardskids choice awardsZoobean

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.

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

January 2019

Fusenews: All the news that's fit to fuse

by Betsy Bird

December 2018

Fuse 8 n' Kate: Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems

by Betsy Bird

November 2018

Fusenews: She Has a Name

by Betsy Bird

October 2018

Fusenews: We Would Have Also Accepted "Fast Food Fairies"

by Betsy Bird

September 2018

Fusenews: STEM Girl Fashions, the Death of "Hypothesis", and More

by Betsy Bird

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

BLUE FLOATS AWAY Turns Two!

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Faced with a Parenting Dilemma? Write a Book About It! Jacob Grant Comes By to Talk About NO FAIR

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Pardalita | Preview

by Brigid Alverson

Heavy Medal

March suggestions: early Mock Newbery possibilities

by Emily Mroczek-Bayci

Teen Librarian Toolbox

Post-It Note Reviews: Wish granters, brotherly mischief, a high-stakes scavenger hunt, and more!

by Amanda MacGregor

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey Try Something New

by Travis Jonker

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

Ellen Oh, Linda Sue Park, and Ami Polonsky Speak Out Against Censorship at Florida School Board Meeting

2 World War II Memoirs for Middle Grade & YA Readers

SCBWI Announces 2022 Golden Kite Awards

An Exclusive Excerpt & Interview: 'Odder' by Katherine Applegate

'Banned Book Club' Authors Offer Advice as Teens Confront Censorship

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.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Genevieve says

    May 30, 2013 at 10:56 am

    I didn’t think I could love First Book more.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

  • External Links

    • A Fuse #8 Production Reviews
  • Follow This Blog

    Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    Primary Sidebar

    • News & Features
    • Reviews+
    • Technology
    • School Libraries
    • Public Libraries
    • Age Level
    • Ideas
    • Blogs
    • Classroom
    • Diversity
    • People
    • Job Zone

    Reviews+

    • Book Lists
    • Best Books
    • Media
    • Reference
    • Series Made Simple
    • Tech
    • Review for SLJ
    • Review Submissions

    SLJ Blog Network

    • 100 Scope Notes
    • A Fuse #8 Production
    • Good Comics for Kids
    • Heavy Medal
    • Neverending Search
    • Teen Librarian Toolbox
    • The Classroom Bookshelf
    • The Yarn

    Resources

    • 2022 Youth Media Awards
    • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
    • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
    • Summer Reading 2021
    • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
    • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
    • Summer Programming Survey
    • Research
    • White Papers / Case Studies
    • School Librarian of the Year
    • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
    • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

    Events & PD

    • In-Person Events
    • Online Courses
    • Virtual Events
    • Webcasts
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Subscribe
    • Media Inquiries
    • Newsletter Sign Up
    • Content Submissions
    • Data Privacy
    • Terms of Use
    • Terms of Sale
    • FAQs
    • Diversity Policy
    • Careers at MSI


    COPYRIGHT © 2023


    COPYRIGHT © 2023