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April 13, 2015 by Betsy Bird

Fusenews: Spring is here, spring is here / Life is skittles and life is beer

April 13, 2015 by Betsy Bird   5 comments

  • The weather!  She has warmed here in NYC!  The crocuses and daffodils and purple flowers that I can never identify are blooming in my front yard.  The birds are singing and there are buds on the trees.  Tis spring spring spring!  To celebrate, we begin today with a poetic celebration of baseball (a very spring thing) written by none other than my father.  You may have known that my mother was talented in this manner.  So too mon pere.  Enjoy!
  • News That Did Not Make a Sufficient Splash in America: How is it that we are not ALL aware that over in Bologna the small Brooklyn publisher Enchanted Lion Books won the prize for Best Children’s Publisher of the Year in the U.S. category?  It was indeed mentioned by PW in this post but otherwise no one is talking about it.  Come on, people!  Big time honor here and it couldn’t have gone to a nicer company.  Well done!
  • There are few things the British like more than rereleasing new Harry Potter covers.  They just revealed the new Jim Kay cover and while it does resemble some of the European covers I’ve seen, I think it is the very first time I’ve ever seen a hog associated in any way with Hogwarts.

Harry’s hair is actually messy!  And here is a nice interview with the artist in question.

  • Did you read The Toast take on The Boxcar Children?  Not as creepy as their usual takes but it’ll do.  It’ll do.  If it’s horror you seek then Ayn Rand’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, also at The Toast, will fill that need.  That place is fair crawling with former English majors, it would seem.  Dobby’s tombstone was particularly choice.
  • I admit it.  There were facts in this Mentalfloss article 10 Things You Might Not Know About Anne of Green Gables that I was unaware of.  Poland?  Really?  Knock me over with a feather.
  • I say this in all sincerity: The Bay Area Children’s Theatre may be the coolest theater of all time.  Yes, I love the New Victory Theatre in here NYC and my heart will always have a soft spot for Children’s Theatre Company of Minneapolis, but check out this upcoming season.  It was Rickshaw Girl that drilled it all home for me.  Rickshaw Girl!  That would work brilliantly on the stage.
  • Oh. Ah?  Er. *sigh*
  • This one’s interesting.  There’s an extension (I think they’re called extensions, though I’m a little hazy on that point) that once installed on your computer allows you to browse Amazon.com and see the availability of the items there in your local library.  The applications, should they get out, could be enormous.  Using an online retailer to search your local library (which could be useful if your library’s search engine is archaic).  Curious how people feel about this one.  It’s called Library Extension.
  • We’ve seen books written by children reach various levels of popularity over the years.  Swordbird, Eragon, She Was Nice to Mice, etc.  And we’ve seen celebrity children’s books flood our shelves whether we want them or not.  Now the two have come together with an upcoming release and it’s . . . um . . . well, it’s kind of the ULTIMATE celebrity child author of all time.  This I’ll pass on, though.
  • What kinds of children’s books would you like to see?  Where are your pet personal gaps?  Marc Aronson begins the conversation.
  • Daily Image:

I don’t usually show tweets that amuse me, but this one had me laughing aloud in public for days.

Filed under: Fusenews

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Anne of Green GablesAyn Randbaseballbook jacket natteringcelebrity children's authors (may they rot)celebrity picture bookschild authorschildren's theaterEnchanted Lion BooksFusenewsHarry Pottermy dad's poetryThe Boxcar ChildrenWhere's Waldo?

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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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. tanita says

    April 13, 2015 at 1:54 pm

    Ooh, thanks for the heads-up for the Mitali play! How awesome is that!?
    Meanwhile, I would have to pass on the Victoria story as well… things you write when you’re ten generally only your mother loves.

  2. Genevieve says

    April 14, 2015 at 11:00 am

    Hooray for a play of Rickshaw Girl!

    Your post title is something I kept singing when we were on vacation and the weather was gorgeous. The teen was a bit taken aback by the conclusion – I need to play him some Tom Lehrer.

    • Elizabeth Bird says

      April 14, 2015 at 11:24 am

      I’m so glad you got the reference. I was half worried someone would berate me for propagating beer on a children’s literature blog.

      “My heart will be quickening with each drop of strychnine . . . .”

  3. Bay Area Children's Theatre says

    April 15, 2015 at 12:31 pm

    Thanks so much for the shout-out, Betsy! We are so excited to be commissioning the stage adaptation of Mitali Perkins’ Rickshaw Girl! It’s such an amazing story with important themes, plus a glimpse into a different culture, and we hope our production will introduce the book to many children and parents who may have never heard of it. We’re also partnering with the Berkeley Public Library to help get the word out about our season, and they were super-excited about Rickshaw Girl in particular!

  4. Mitali Perkins says

    April 17, 2015 at 6:40 pm

    My little Naima is traveling so far! Thanks, Betsy.

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