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March 1, 2015 by Betsy Bird

Video Sunday: La la la!

March 1, 2015 by Betsy Bird   1 comments

Morning, folks.  We’ve a good store of goodies this morning, and I’m pleased as punch to give them to you.  First up, a short film.  A very short film, actually.  I’ve spoken in the past on how Hollywood views children’s writers and the creation of children’s books.  This film seems to believe that children’s books in general are being urged to be “darker”.  Even picture books.  An odd sentiment, but there you go.

Thanks to Stephanie Whelan for the link!

So, First Book is doing something called the Speed Read Challenge.  It’s being done to draw attention to First Book’s Be Inspired campaign, which is attempting to get 1 million books into the hands of kids.  You can see a whole slew of celebrities told to speed read book in ten seconds.  First, recent Newbery winner Kwame Alexander:

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Next, Mo Willems:

I wanna do it.

As you may have heard from folks like Travis Jonker, Jimmy Kimmel started a regular feature where he has a bookclub with kids.  So far they’ve covered Goodnight Moon and There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly.  Naturally when it came time to embed one, I went with The Giving Tree. To know me is to know why.

Barb Langridge has made it her goal to get the ALA Youth Media Award titles back in the public eye and conversation.  Here she talks with the people of Baltimore about the recent winners.  Good stuff.

 

And for our off-topic video,  I had two really good choices.  Still, in light of last Sunday’s Oscars, this seemed like the link that made a bit more sense:

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author videosBig BirdJimmy KimmelKwame AlexanderMo WillemsSesame StreetThe Giving TreeVideo Sunday

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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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

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. :Donna says

    March 1, 2015 at 7:52 pm

    Betsy, this was SUCH a treat! 🙂 Thank you for posting all these! The “darker kid’s books” one is just fantastic. How perfect! And I have to tell you, I absolutely cannot stand THE GIVING TREE and I love that Jimmy pointed out why! lol Yay! Great stuff here…all the videos 🙂

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