You are currently browsing the monthly archive for December 2009.
THE MASSES DECLARE ‘WE’RE NOT BUYING IT’; FREE EBOOKS PROVE WILDLY POPULAR
Ebooks? More like FreEbooks (100 Scope Notes Lame Joke of the Day©). Amazon recently announced that they sold more ebooks than traditional books over the holidays. Turns out they were padding the stats with freebies.
FANFARE 2009 ARRIVES; MUSIC LOVERS DISAPPOINTED
You see, it’s a list of books, not a blast of brass instrumentation. The Horn book recently released their annual list of favorites from the past year. As far as end of the year lists go, this one is short and sweet. A nice collection of titles.
STORYTUBES 2010 IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS
The public library sponsored student video contest is back. Kids are invited to share their favorite book in two minutes or less. The ALSC blog has the scoop.
The Curious Garden by Peter Brown. Currently #10 on the NYT Picture Book Bestseller list.
A curious return? Not seen on the New York Times bestseller list since the golden days of August, Brown’s winningly subtle comment on environmentalism is back in the top 10. Nice to see.
Franki and Mary Lee of A Year of Reading are looking to celebrate Jon Scieszka’s run as the first Ambassador of Children’s Lit. January 4th is the day to post your tribute. Click the image above to read more and join in the fun. This much is true: Scieszka will be a hard act to follow.
In terms of reading, maybe the kids are going to be alright. @CherylRainfield brings to light a study that links the rise of the internet with an increase in reading.
And in lieu of BOOKS ON FILM, a bonus category…
T-SHIRT DESIGN OF THE WEEK
Irate Primate at Threadless Tees. Thanks to Popped Culture for the link.
It’s time to take a trip back and look at the year that was in children’s lit miscellanea.
Most Uncontroversial Children’s Lit Controversy: Neil Gaiman’s Twitter reaction upon winning the Newbery.
Some folks were (completely unreasonably (in my opinion)) offended by Neil Gaiman’s decidedly not-for-kids Twitter reaction upon winning the Newbery. This much can be said: the man was excited.
Book Cover that Had Something to Hide: Toby Alone by Timothee de Fombelle.
While I think it was a bit too retro for many kids, I saw this as one of the year’s best-looking covers. And when the dust jacket came off? It became retro-tastic (and helpful to boot, with a fold out map hidden under the dust jacket).
Word of the Year: Sequel.
Was 2009 the year of the sequel? Catching Fire, Wimpy Kid: Dog Days, The Last Olympian – the most anticipated (and best-selling) books of 2009 were sequels. Brand new series were also being published at a brisk clip. It was almost a surprise to see a book hit the shelves without a #1 (or #2 or #3) on the spine.
Best Book Dedication of the Year: Adam Rex in Billy Twitters and His Blue Whale Problem.
I wonder if his wife noticed.
Best Children’s Lit April Fools’: Collecting Children’s Books report that The Graveyard Book was being stripped of its Newbery Medal.
It takes an expert to pull off a believable hoax involving the Newbery. Peter of Collecting Children’s Books is just that person.
Picture Book Material Trend: Foil Titles.
In 2009, foil titles were everywhere (see below). When done in the right way, a tasteful method for drawing attention. Sure to keep on truckin’ in 2010.
Picture Book Cover Trend of the Year: White backgrounds.
In 2009, picture book covers far and wide were foregoing background imagery in favor of the blank slate. Shrubs, trees, grassy fields, the sun, and clouds could not have been more upset.
YA Cover Trend That Was Full Steam Ahead in 2009: Black backgrounds.
Nothing says “this book contains vampires and/or zombies” more than a black cover with a mysterious image. And the trend is spreading. Seriously, take a look at the YA section of your local bookstore – it’s like they turned the lights off.
Funniest Celebrity Take on a Children’s Lit Award: Stephen Colbert on the Newbery. Specifically, why it’s an outrage that he hasn’t won it.
Best Use of Fake Books: Cardboard book stool.
Chapter Book I Thought Was a Picture Book for an Embarrassingly Long Amount of Time (A.K.A. the See It to Believe It Award): 100% Wolf by Jayne Lyons.
Does this or does this not look like a picture book cover? Can you make me feel less foolish by saying that you were with me on this? Lies are welcomed.
Marketing Technique of the year: Give it away.
More and more publishers were releasing text and audio portions of books for free in order to drum up interest. This concept can only gain steam in 2010.
Controversy of the Year: Luv Ya Bunches vs. Scholastic.
Criticized for pulling Lauren Myracle’s middle grade novel from book fairs due to homosexual content, Scholastic felt the heat from bloggers and traditional media alike. They eventually reversed their decision and added the book back into middle school fairs. Read more in this School Library Journal article.
Better Late Than Never Award:
Most Likely to Cause a Library Noise Violation: Chicken Butt! by Erica S. Perl and Henry Cole.
An old joke gets fresh legs. Story time may never be the same.
Most Explosive Combination of Things Librarians Love: NPR and the American Library Association Annual Convention.
During July’s Convention in Chicago, ALA bought every seat for a taping of the NPR news quiz Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me! The librarians in attendance were giddy with delight. The amount of wool and tweed in the room was verging on fire hazard status.
Biggest Children’s Lit Crossover Moment: The release of the Where the Wild Things Are film.
For a few weeks, you couldn’t escape it. Articles, interviews, costumes – it was a rare moment when millions of adults simultaneously remembered and got excited about something from their childhood. Oh, and some kids enjoyed it too.
YA Cover Trend that was Too Popular to Mention (Except for Now): Guys and girls sitting together.
But please, no faces.
Best Children’s Lit Related Use of Putt Putt Golf. Downer’s Grove Public Library.
“Attention golfers. A hole-in-one on the 18th will enter you in the drawing for a free book cart!”
Most Memorable Cover of 2009 (New): The Lion & the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney.
When we look back at aught nine, I’m willing to bet that this will be the cover we remember. With the cover type removed, Pinkney’s amazing illustration becomes even more powerful.
Worst Book of 2009: Family Huddle by Peyton Manning.
While I could say a number of things here, I’ll just leave it at this: Manning should hope that this book will not be taken into account for NFL MVP voting this year. If it does, he will not win MVP.
The Most Off-Putting Cookbook of the Year: A Herpetological Cookbook: How to Cook Amphibians and Reptiles.
While Those Amazing Leeches put the Awful Library Books blog on the map, this “gastronomical delight” may have been the most staggeringly unusual.
Children’s Lit Movie Hype of 2010: The live action film adaptation of Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
Given the fact that the most recent Wimpy Kid (Dog Days) had the biggest first printing of any children’s book in 2009, I’m guessing this one will get some attention. Hits theaters April 2, 2010.
Best Library-Related Opening Line to an Album: Camera Obscura with My Maudlin Career.
This Scottish band knows how to kick things off with the first line of their 2009 album:
Spent a week in a dusty library/waiting for some words to jump at me. Click the play button below to listen.
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Thanks for taking a look back.
I had designs on highlighting this cover trend a while ago, but I held off because I thought it might be fizzling out. Not so! After coming upon a couple more examples recently, I realize that holding stuff is still hot.
But first: the hands that started it all?
Logo for Allstate Insurance.
Eventually, cover designers took the hands, added stuff, and a trend was born. Holding stuff was popping up on Newbery Honor books…
The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner.
And, of course, bestsellers…
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer.
The trend has continued into ’09 and looks to extend into 2010. The evidence?
Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle.
Toads and Diamonds by Heather Tomlinson.
Side by side:
Turns out that holding stuff is far from done. One to keep an eye on.
(Thanks to Abby (the) Librarian and A Fuse #8 Production for the cover leads)
KIRKUS REVIEWS NO MORE
The venerable literary journal will be closing up shop. See Tweet o’ the Week for more info.
THIS JUST IN: WORLD OF CHILDREN”S BOOKS ‘ROCKING’
Try to not get pumped up about the current state of children’s lit while reading Jon Scieszka’s report to the LA Times. The man makes it difficult. (Thanks to Meghan Newton for the link)
BLOGGERS TO EXPOSE SEEDY UNDERSIDE OF CHILDREN’S BOOKS
Elizabeth Bird (A Fuse #8 Production) Peter Sieruta (Collecting Children’s Books), and Jules Danielson (7 Impossible Things Before Breakfast) are teaming up to tell the scandalous, scurrilous, and shocking untold stories of children’s lit. Can’t wait until 2012. Read the announcement at Fuse #8, Collecting Children’s Books, 7 Imp.
LOCAL RESIDENT, BACKSTREET BOY RELEASE CHILDREN’S BOOK
Uh, actually, this is a real headline.
This tweet by @medinger (with a link to Publishers Weekly article) was the first I heard of Kirkus shutting its doors.
This outstanding clip from The Onion sneaks into the running for children’s lit video of the year. (Many thanks to Underage Reading for the link)
Looking to give books that convey just the right “if only you had tried harder this year” vibe? The 100 Scope Notes Children’s Book Lump of Coal Gift Guide is for you.
(Click the images below to purchase)
For a child who’s head over heels for complex interactions between physical systems:
The ABCs are overrated – bring on the umlauts! This is the stuff toddlers need to be introduced to.
For a child whose cat has too many toes:
I think we can now say with authority that there is indeed a book for everything.
For a child who thinks coloring books should be more disturbing:
“I thought Burnt Anguish was just the right color for this dilapidated house.”
For a child who likes puppies. Too much:
This book addresses an issue that really needs clearing up. What if dogs really are angels?
For a child with a beard:
My first thought: this is a novel? My second thought: actually, this might be awesome.
For a child with exceptional vision:
“This book is so small, sweetie, that you can’t even read it!”
For a child who requires too much information:
Not to be crass, but is that poop playing with dogs?
For a child who enjoys Australian dystopian action films, preferably starring Mel Gibson:
The image above, from the book Donkeyoti Gets Rough, Tough, and Buff, might be the oddest thing on this list. Mad Max?
For children everywhere, who demand to know:
The world has been patiently waiting.
Click here for the Librarian Lump of Coal Gift Guide
Enough nonsense! Be sure to visit these outstanding, useful children’s book gift guides:
MotherReader: 105 Ways to Give a Book
It happens every year. Good books come and go without getting their due. But if there is a reassuring thought, it is this: honest books are always needed. And honest is exactly what Two of a Kind is. From the perspective of, and speaking directly to kids experiencing an all-too-common friendship problem, Jacqui Robbins (The New Girl) sets an impressively authentic tone. Don’t let this one fly under your radar.
Kayla and Melanie are best friends. They also look down on everyone else. When Anna becomes accepted into their group, Anna’s friend Julisa is left behind. The more Anna gets to know her new friends, the less happy she becomes. Is it too late for Anna to save her friendship with Julisa?
The softly-hued watercolor illustrations look wonderful. Matt Phelan’s (The Storm in the Barn) attention to detail brings to vivid life all the subtle expressions and body language that make this story stand out.
It’s easy for a book like this to come across as an adult author telling kids what to do. Not here. Two of a Kind sets itself apart as a truthful take on a situation that kids will relate to. Be sure to add it to your collection.
Review copy provided by the publisher.
This book is nominated for a 2009 Cybils Award.
Also reviewed by TheHappyNappyBookseller.
Read and interview of author Jacqui Robbins by Little Willow.
Find this book at your local library with WorldCat.
Artist Jane Mount paints bookshelves. Or rather, what’s on the shelves. I particularly like the children’s titles in Ideal Bookshelf 5, TRE (above) – a nice mix of classics (e.g., Pippi Longstocking) and outstanding recent releases (e.g., 365 Penguins). The best part? Shell out 20 bones and you can have a copy. Click here to do that.
Click here to visit Jane Mount’s Etsy store (she’ll even paint the books on your shelves if you would like).
The Circus Ship
By Chris Van Dusen
Candlewick Press
ISBN: 9780763630904
$16.99
Grades K-2
In Stores
You know how it goes – great story, weak illustrations. Or maybe it’s amazing artwork, slight story. This either/or inconsistency is the downfall of many a picture book. Not this time. Delightful from start to finish, The Circus Ship is fully-realized and well executed. Likely to be a go-to read aloud choice and a circulation champion.
The story is loosely based on real events that occurred in 1836, with rhyming verse that pulls the reader in from the beginning. On the way to Boston, a circus ship carrying exotic animals sinks. The circus owner, worried only about himself, jumps into a lifeboat and lets the animals fend for themselves. The assortment of fauna eventually find land – a small island off the coast of Maine. After winning over the locals, the animals begin to feel at home. It isn’t long, however, before the hot-headed circus owner reappears in the island, intent on bringing the animals back to the big top. With the help of the island residents, the animals send the blustery circus owner packing.
Bright and impressively detailed, Van Dusen’s (If I Built a Car) gouache illustrations raise this book to the next level. In the author’s note, Van Dusen explains that he “focused more on light source and texture in the artwork … This makes the book more complex and richer overall”. I agree – the richness of this artwork stands out as the best of his career thus far – and some of the best children’s book illustration of the year.
It works, and it works well. The Circus Ship is cohesive storytelling through and through. Be sure to add this to your collection.
Review copy provided by the publisher.
This book is nominated for a 2009 Cybils Award.
Also reviewed by Provo City Children’s Book Review.
Find this book at your local library with WorldCat.
SESAME WORKSHOP GETS INTO EBOOK GAME
Is it just me, or does it seem like ebook news is coming fast and furious lately? The LA Times reports that the folks who bring Sesame Street to the world will also begin offering digital books.
BEST COMICS OF 2009 ANNOUNCED; MICHIGAN LIBRARIAN’S BUDGET STRAINED
I love/have an issue with “best of” lists from reliable sources. Why the conflict? There are always undiscovered gems that pop up and make me further overspend my budget. That’s a good problem though, right? Good Comics for Kids has just released their best of aught nine picks, and it’s loaded with great titles (like the outstanding Toon Treasury, which I finally looked through at the bookstore this week – required purchase), and some I’m looking forward to checking out (I’ll be keeping an eye out for Leave it to PET!).
A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner. Release date: March 23, 2010.
A bit YA for these pages, but what the heck. Whether Bookends was asking for it as a stocking stuffer, Educating Alice was looking to discuss it further, or Charlotte’s Library was reviewing it and giving it away, the latest from Megan Whalen Turner (click here for a WBBT interview of Turner by HipWriterMama) was getting plenty of buzz.
How do decide which books to save first? Smell them.
Cover designer and recent interviewee @boydesigner (Chad W. Beckerman) points us to a recent New York Times essay by Joe Queenan about the odd discomfort he felt when reading a beloved book with a bad cover.
Jon Scieszka stops by the CBS Early Show to share some great children’s lit gift-giving picks. Scieszka is awesome. (Thanks to A Fuse #8 Production for the link)
