MORE POSTS FROM FEBRUARY 2009
Fortune’s Magic Farm By Suzanne Selfors Illustrated by Catia Chien Little, Brown and Company $14.99 ISBN: 978-0-316-01818-0 Ages 8-12 Roald Dahl was a troublemaker of the first degree. Did he really have to be so original? So interesting? Did his books have to fall into such a distinctive age range? And did he have to […]
I forgot to sacrifice a videotape beneath a bright full moon, so this week the Video Gods were less fruitful than I would have liked. Here’s what I was able to scrounge up. I think Chronicle Books really has a good feel on how a picture book trailer should go. Their vids have a certain […]
Galleycat always reports on the goings on in the adult literary world, but recently they made a children’s literature connection that I had missed. You are aware, I am sure, that a cartoon in the New York Post was recently considered hugely offensive. Well apparently its creator wrote a picture book not too long ago. […]
You know how I sometimes mention that I wrote a book for ALA Editions? Well here it is: Should anyone ask, I’m going to claim that the girl beneath the tree is me. Me with long flowing locks and a dress of some sort. On sale in late March. More details about it to come.
A former co-worker of mine liked to point out that if you were to look at children’s book stories as your sole reference point for the state of the world today, you would be under the distinct impression that after WWII all the Jews died out. True enough, finding a children’s book, particular middle grade […]
We’ve really classed up the joint this time. Remember, this event is always free. From my press release: The Children’s Literary Café at the new Children’s Center at 42nd Street is pleased to announce our event on Saturday, March 7th at 2:00 p.m.: What makes a book so good that it gets reviewed by The […]
The Snow Day By Komako Sakai Arthur A. Levine Books (an imprint of Scholastic) $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-545-01321-5 Ages 4-8 On shelves now. You know when a picture book is successful? When it can conjure up a feeling or a memory you didn’t even know you had. I remember playing in the snow at night as […]
The problem with working with someone who serves on the Ezra Jack Keats Award committee is that you find out the winners way too far in advance. For example, I knew about this year’s winners last week but had to zippadalip until the official annnouncement. Every year the Keats Award is given to a new […]
Admittedly I tried this once before and was burned. Instead of fine free karaoke in a delightful Brooklyn bar, my compatriots and I had to settle for fine $2 karaoke in a Manhattan nun-filled room. Actually, it wasn’t half bad. But I was denied my free karaoke in a place run by a man who […]
Two days late but just as fresh as ever. The 2009 Cybil Award winners were announced on Valentine’s Day. Omnivoracious called them the organic chicken nuggets of the kid-lit world (nope, I don’t know what that means either). SLJ’s Rocco Staino even featured them in a piece. Our little baby is almost all growns up […]