Fusenews: O my cabbage stalks, I must leave you behind!

It’s been a while! You can tell when I’ve been flush with content because my Fusenews posts become a bit less frequent. But here we go. I’m back, and I just have so MUCH to tell you! Where to start, where to start . . . . I know! Let’s begin with everyone’s favorite subject. Math! Oh, don’t play. You know you love it.

So the big news is that my favorite Math awards for kids (the only math awards for kids but shhhhh, don’t tell it that), the Mathical Awards, have been released. This is the math committee I sit on each year, and I just adore doing so. There are very few thrills in this life to compare with serious mathematicians arguing the finer points of board books (“It shouldn’t say numbers, it should say numerals!”). KQED’s Mind/Shift has an article on the award but I’m just going to steal an image from the site because I’m so proud of our winners:

Look me in the eye and tell me that’s not a beautiful list, by any definition. Now go show it to your math teacher friends. Let them know about it. Lord knows the award needs the press.

The Mathical Awards may be the only ones out there for math alone, but STEM awards do abound. For example, the shortlist for the 2018 Cook Prize (given out each year for STEM books) has been released. And I honestly would love it if any of those book won. Who do I root for? I’m torn.

High fantasy authors of middle grade books for kids are faced with a choice right at the start of their misadventures. Mainly, should they include a fantastical map at the beginning of the book or not? Maybe the current exhibit going on at Harvard right now would help them answer that question. According to Atlas Obscura:

“… over 60 maps … are currently on display at the exhibition Landmarks: Maps as Literary Illustration, at Harvard’s Houghton Library. The collection includes the work of landmark authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien and the late Ursula K. Le Guin, and spans everything from love stories to fairy tales. The exhibition is open through to April 14, 2018.”

The Newbery and Caldecott Awards have come and gone, but if you somehow missed the episode of The Yarn podcast in which Brian Selznick and Laura Amy Schlitz were interviewed about THE GREATEST BANQUET OF ALL TIME (the caps are mine, the opinion is not mine alone) then plug in your earbuds and enjoy. And if anyone would like to just give Ms. Schlitz her own radio hour/podcast while they’re at it, I’d be grateful.

I’m sorry. Did you say Sherlock Holmes Escape Room? For that matter did you say Sherlock Holmes Escape Room with primary sources for kids? Because that somehow just took a brilliant idea and made it better. Once again, the librarians at Princeton are knocking it out of the park. There was also a pretty amazing interview with librarian Marissa about being a dyslexic librarian that I think everyone should check out while they’re at it.

In other news, I feel like the CCBC released their 2017 list of Multicultural Statistics to shockingly little fanfare. If you want a clear a picture of the state of the world today (in terms of diversity in children’s book publishing) this is pretty much the only game in town. Extra points for including the image of Hello Goodbye Dog a.k.a one of only three books I’ve ever seen where the main character’s wheelchair is a reality, not a plot point.

Over at The Paris Review they featured foods and recipes based on fairy tales. Seems a risky proposition if you veer into Grimm territory. As I recall, people get et more often than I’m strictly comfortable with.

Jane Yolen has finally done it. She’s written enough books where you could read one every single day of the year. On March 6th her  365th and 366th books are coming out and the Eric Carle Museum is planning on a whole slew of celebratory events on March 10. Happen to live in the area? Then why not stop by and give her a great big congrats in person.

Daily Image:

I had heard of the Instagram feed of Angry Asian Man, and the fact that he was taking all the Babysitters Club covers featuring Claudia and re-titling them. I just didn’t know how good they would be. I have to physically restrain myself from showing all of them on my blog. Here’s just a taste:

Filed under: Fusenews