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In the News |
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Our Best Books of the Year |
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This week’s issue of Publishers Weekly contains our annual Best Books of the Year list. Here we reprint for you our children’s picks.
Picture Books
The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon
Mini Grey (Knopf)
The nursery rhyme “Hey Diddle Diddle” serves as prequel to this delightful swashbuckler, starring the title couple.
Owen & Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship
Isabella Hatkoff, Craig Hatkoff and Dr. Paula Kahumbu, photos by Peter Greste (Scholastic)
Glorious photos chart the growing bond between a hippo orphaned by the 2004 tsunami and a 130-year-old tortoise in this warm and memorable story.
Lilly’s Big Day
Kevin Henkes (HarperCollins/Greenwillow)
Lilly, disappointed when her teacher makes her the “flower girl assistant” to his niece, winds up saving the day in her inimitable way.
Jazz
Walter Dean Myers, illus. by Christopher Myers (Holiday)
In this father-son team’s aural and visual paean to jazz, the text’s savvy syncopation sweeps readers up in its rhythms, while the artist conjures the lurid reflections of after-dark jazz clubs.
 John, Paul, George & Ben
Lane Smith (Hyperion)
Smith profiles the founding fathers as the nonconformist kids they might have been (with a nod to the Beatles, for grown-up readers).
Flotsam
David Wiesner (Clarion)
New details swim into focus with every rereading of this immensely satisfying, wordless excursion to the beach and beyond.
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More News |
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Diamond, Hachette Launch New Comics Units |
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| Kurt Hassler. | In the span of two days, Diamond Book Distributors announced it had hired Scholastic editor-at-large Janna Morishima to run Diamond Kids Group, a new division focused on comics and prose kids' books, and the Hachette Book Group announced that Borders graphic novel buyer Kurt Hassler will team up with former DC Comics v-p Rich Johnson to run Yen Press, a new comics imprint aimed at kids as well as adults.
Last month Hachette hired Rich Johnson as a consultant. Now Hassler, one of the most influential comics retailers in the U.S., and Johnson have been named copublishing directors of Yen Press. While Yen Press will focus on licensed manga—Hassler's specialty—it will also publish a wide variety of comics works. Borders says it has not made a decision about who will replace Hassler as the graphic novels buyer.
David Young, CEO of the Hachette Book Group USA, said the Yen Press list will be very broad and include everything from original manga, original American comics and graphic novels to Web comics, licensed adaptations and children's works. He also made it clear that Hachette is done pondering the potential of comics in the book market, emphasizing, "The graphic novel business is one of the fastest-growing fields in publishing. We are thrilled to have two of the most respected names in the graphic novel business."
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Book News |
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Connecting Through the Web |
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In the world of book publishing, might there be such a thing as kismet? In the case of the creation of This Jazz Man (Harcourt, Nov.), a spirited, rhyming picture book that showcases nine celebrated musicians, kismet definitely played a major hand. All it needed was a little push.
The push came, as they often do, in the form of an editor. Samantha McFerrin, editor at Harcourt, came across the idea for the book before she even started acquiring manuscripts. "I'd read This Jazz Man years ago in a writing group I belonged to with the author, Karen Ehrhardt. Even back then, I knew it was a very clever idea," she says.
Told to the tune of "This Old Man," the story features nine jazz aficionados as they strut their stuff across each page. Scatting Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong, toe-tapping Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, and be-bopping Charlie "Bird" Parker are just three of the talents who grace the stage. Even their bios, written by Ehrhardt and included at the end of the book, are lyrical, providing snippets of background information and (in) key facts for interested readers. read more |
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In Brief |
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Bloggers Start Children's Awards |
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When a group of children's book bloggers got fed up with the lack of awards that recognized both a book's merit and popularity, they decided to make up an award themselves. Called the Cybils (which loosely translates to Children's and YA Bloggers' Literary Awards), the awards will be given out in eight categories (fantasy and science fiction, fiction picture books, nonfiction picture books, middle grade fiction, YA fiction, middle grade and YA nonfiction, poetry and graphic novels). The rules state that anyone can nominate a book, as long as it was published in English in 2006. The nominations close on November 20. After that time, a panel of bloggers with expertise in particular categories will bring that list down to five finalists. Once that list is compiled, judges (people such as librarians, teachers, homeschoolers, authors, illustrators and parents) will decide who wins. For more information about the awards and to nominate your favorite titles, click here. |
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New Hat in the Ring |
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Red Cygnet Press, a new children's book publisher, has just published its first eight titles, all of which were created by college students. The press, based in San Diego, Calif., was started by Bruce Glassman to give students an opportunity to be published. The publisher receives submissions from students through a partnership Glassman formed with a group of art schools and fine arts departments. In a statement, Joshua Gravin, the company's v-p and co-founder, says that with the help of Red Cygnet, "students get to begin their careers with a beautiful published book in their portfolios." For more information about the publisher, click here. |
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Attention, Teachers! |
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In the September 14 issue of Bookshelf, we linked to an article about a Texas junior high school teacher who started a school-wide book club, with all students reading James Patterson's Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment. Little, Brown, Patterson's publisher, is now following up on that idea and has just unveiled a reading incentive program where teachers and administrators are given exclusive access to a free e-book edition of The Angel Experiment. Also included in the program is a curriculum guide for the book, and teacher-approved examples of how the title can be used in the classroom. Schools that reach individual reading goals will receive free copies of the latest Maximum Ride title for their students. For more information about the program, click here. Seen here, club members from Hurst Junior High School. |
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Featured Reviews |
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 John Smith Escapes Again! |
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 Rosalyn Schanzer. National Geographic, $16.95 (64p) ISBN 0-7922-5930-0
The lore of Captain John Smith extends far beyond the familiar Pocahontas story, as Schanzer (How We Crossed the West) attests in this vivid, extensively documented biography of the 17th-century explorer. Her inventive chronological format alternately expands and condenses Smith's feats and far-flung journeys, as she describes his numerous death-defying escapes (e.g., from shipwrecks, Turkish slave masters and Native American warriors). Interspersed between chapters (with titles such as "Escape Number One: Our Hero Is Tossed into the Briny Deep and Becomes a Pirate"), spreads appear that feature a map of Smith's travels on the left with numbers that correspond to captioned panel illustrations on the right. Schanzer offsets the former borders with the cartoonlike artwork within; a smiling, ruddy-cheeked Smith often winks or waves at readers, even as a baby. Yet the cheery illustrative style belies the often harsh nature of Smith's experiences, such as the time he was brutally beaten as a slave near the Black Sea or when Native Americans burn one of his fellow explorers at the stake (depicted in a small spot illustration). The author indeed accomplishes her aim of showing that "this swashbuckling Englishman was a heroic warrior,... a daring world explorer, a president, a mapmaker, a peacekeeper" and finally an author. Schanzer indicates in endnotes that she bases her account on Smith's own writings. Students of history will most appreciate the new light shed on this plucky voyager, but adventure fans will also be swept up in his escapades. Ages 9-14. (Oct.) |
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Jane Addams: Champion of Democracy |
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 Judith Bloom Fradin and Dennis Brindell Fradin. Clarion, $21 (224p) ISBN 0-618-5044367
This remarkable team (Ida B. Wells: Mother of the Civil Rights Movement) aptly captures the shaping of Jane Addams's (1860–1935) character. The authors focus on her inspiration for and her own contribution to the settlement house movement with Hull House ("an institution that provides educational and social services for the needy"), as well as her unpopular yet stalwart commitment to peace during WWI. The authors immediately grab readers' attention with a chapter on Jane's comical role as Garbage Inspector of Chicago's Nineteenth Ward (where Hull House was situated). Only 5'3", Jane commanded "the brawny garbage collectors," and the cleanup contributed to lowering the ward's death rate. Jane extended her hospitality to even the "stone throwers" surrounding Hull House, and made a smooth transition to pacifist. The press sanctified and berated Jane in equal measure, calling her "Saint Jane," "Miss Kind Heart" and eventually even "the most dangerous woman in America." The book explores some of her complexities, including her habit of collecting interesting people and also speculation about whether she and her close friend Mary Rozet Smith might also have been lovers. Jane may have lived a century ago, but her universal childhood anxieties (a sense of herself as an "ugly duckling" and her very modern complex family tree) as well as her struggle with depression make her a very human and inspiring role model for today's readers. Ages 10-14. (Oct.)
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see all of this week's reviews
including our web exclusive Annex * |
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Moving on Up |
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An Icy FriendSandra Boynton had a hunch that kids would be captivated by the thought of having their very own personal penguin for a pal—and it seems the author was spot on. Boynton (Snuggle Puppy, Barnyard Dance) added two more cartoon characters to her merry menagerie with Workman's September publication of Your Personal Penguin, in which an earnest young penguin offers to be an initially hesitant hippo's personal penguin and new best buddy. Readers have eagerly embraced these fast friends: after two return trips to press in just six weeks, the board book has 172,000 copies in print.
The ninth title in the publisher's Boynton on Board series, which has sold more than 7.4 million copies, Your Personal Penguin has a toe-tapping add-on: readers can log on to a Web site and listen to—and download—a free MP3 of the song Boynton composed based on the book's lyrics, performed by former Monkees star Davy Jones. The site also features a video of Jones recording the spirited song, accompanied by Boynton's musical partner Michael Ford. |
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Rights Report |
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People |
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There are some promotions and a new addition in the Abrams Books for Young Readers and Amulet group. Samara Klein has been promoted to sales manager. She was previously subsidiary rights account executive. Maggie Lehrman has been promoted to assistant editor from editorial assistant. Valerie Ralph has been hired as publicity and marketing assistant. |
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Obituaries |
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In the Media |
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From The Guardian: The phenomenon of the celebrity book for children is discussed at length, covering books published both in the U.K. and in the U.S. No celebrity is spared, from Madonna to John Travolta to Paul McCartney.
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From the Buffalo News: "While Mom shops, kids play" turns out to be a lucrative retailing tactic, helping Barnes & Noble and other kinds of stores ring in big sales.
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Linking Up |
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Want to know more about children's books? |
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For a list of industry resources
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For PW articles on children’s books (subscribers only)
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Contact Us |
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Dear Bookshelf Readers, |
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Hope you enjoyed this week's issue. We'd
love to hear from you with any comments and suggestions—drop us a note here. —The Editors |
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In memory of Sophie the cat, 1992-2006.
