Jay Goes Walkabout

June 11, 2007 by Betsy Bird

So I’m in my library, minding my own business, and who should walk through the door but none other than newly minted fresh-as-a-daisy YA author Jay Asher! Such a nice fellow. I don’t usually note the nice guests to my library on my blog, but Jay has presented a fabulous encapsulation of the 4 Days & 4 Nights spent traipsing about the Big Apple.

There a nice little picture of Jay and myself in there. What he fails to mention is that I was unable to give him a proper tour while he was there. A class of sixty-some sixth graders literally entered the room ten seconds after I shook his hand and I had to conduct a Welcome to the Library presentation for them. Sweet feller that he is, he gave me a lovely Disco Mermaids mug all the same.

FYI, chickens.

Own Your Own Cruikshank

June 11, 2007 by Betsy Bird

No, really! If you’ve a spare $1,200 to $1,800 floating about in your pocket, of course.

I was recently drawn to a little place called Illustration House here in New York City. If you select the Index By Artist you may note that a couple big name children’s illustrators are up for purchase. The aforementioned George Cruikshank was the first I saw. No? How about a James Thurber instead? The adult illustrators far outweigh those who did work for children’s publications, but it’s definitely worth a peek just the same. Particularly if you happen to incline towards the "independently wealthy" end of the monetary spectrum.

Thanks to Drawn for the link.

I Wouldn’t Mind Seeing a Worst Title Contest, Come to Think of It

June 11, 2007 by Betsy Bird

Bookninja recently turned me onto a great article in the Guardian Unlimited called The name of the prose: what makes a great title? It’s a worthy question. Children’s book titles have to walk a delicate line. Too looney and parents and children might both be turned off. Too subtle and everyone remembers your book’s plot but can’t remember what title to tell the nice children’s librarian. Ex: "It had a blue cover? Does that sound right? A blue cover?"

Of the memorable titles, just look at some we’ve seen coming out this year.

The Misadventures of Benjamin Bartholomew Piff: You Wish
The Lemonade War
The Broken Bike Boy and the Queen of 33rd Street
A Girl, a Boy, and a Monster Cat
17 Things I’m Not Allowed to do Anymore
Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians

We’ve discussed what it is that makes a great children’s book cover, but titles require another set of muscles entirely. I loved Reaching for Sun but darned if I forget the title every time I’m not looking at the book’s cover. Ditto A Friendship for Today or last year’s Part of Me. Great books, but with titles that act like liquid mercury to the brain. It’s worth thinking about, surely.

I Wanna Be Creepily Preserved Too!

June 11, 2007 by Betsy Bird

As first paragraphs go, this one from another recent Guardian article takes the cake:

Appointed as "ambassadors" of that most wholesome of sanctuaries – children’s books – the four children’s laureates have now been penetratingly transformed in holographic portraits unveiled this week at the Unicorn Theatre for Children in south London.

The four lucky laureates included Anne Fine, Quentin Blake, Michael Morpurgo, and Jacqueline Wilson. All worthy writer/illustrators one and all. Not everyone was entirely pleased, it seems. Said Anne Fine, she was, "seriously scared by the way she looked like the wicked stepmother in Snow White." If she’s referring to the stepmother pre her cronification then that might be intended as a compliment. Maybe.

I think this is an excellent idea, by the way. We should holograph our own kidlit behemoths. I say we start with Maurice Sendak. Something tells me he might enjoy the creepy process in all the right ways.