ShelfTalker: A Children's Bookseller's Blog

November 20, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (6)

In a word, NO. At least, not if you trust the opinions of the kids John Oliver read aloud to in a hilarious clip featured Wednesday on "The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart. Watch it and weep (with laughter, that is) as these youngsters announce several things they would RATHER do than have to listen to Mr. Oliver read any more pages of Going Rogue which, as it turns out, is no Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.

Thanks to my friend Tim Scarlett for the link! The read-aloud section begins about three minutes into this clip.

November 16, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (3)

I didn't expect to share my recent flight home from Nebraska with any book illustrators other than my husband, but by chance three of them were sharing the friendly skies with me -- at least in a manner of speaking. As I slid the November 2009 issue of United's Hemispheres magazine out of the seat pocket in front of me, I found myself looking at a clever, colorful illustration that could only be the work of the incredibly talented John Hendrix, whose illustrations for Deborah Hopkinson's Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek: A Tall, Thin Tale (Introducing His Forgotten Frontier Friend) helped land it on my ...Read More

November 13, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (3)

What on earth are you going can you give your reader friends who need something OTHER than books? Etsy to the rescue! Once again I've pulled together an assortment of book-related suggestions for you.

A short Etsy tutorial for those of you not yet familiar with the website: If the item you've clicked on is "SOLD OUT" by the time you get to it, fear not! Click on the "store" link beneath the seller's profile (on the right-hand side of the screen) to get to their main store page. You may find another (newer) listing for that same item elsewhere in their shop, and/or info. on how you can contact the seller to ask about an item's availability.

Don't see anything below...Read More

November 10, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (8)

Let's launch a children's book illustration career right here, today, on this very blog, shall we? The other day, while preparing a post to help you with your holiday shopping, I stumbled across the work of an immensely talented young woman who has a shop on Etsy. Her name? Brigette Barrager.

Because she is reportedly tired of hearing how much her illustrations resemble some of the work by the late great Mary Blair, I will instead point out the fact that Brigette's illustrations feel fresh, hip, and playful. I love her use of color, and ...Read More

October 30, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (3)

What a great (and ambitious) idea! The blogger who writes Vintage Kids' Books My Kid Loves reads vintage children's books to her son and then reviews them at a rate of one per DAY, and sells some of the featured titles (most of which are currently out of print) in her Etsy store. So, for your daily fix of classic tales and illustration kitsch, check it out.  (Note that all you publishers wondering what backlist books might be worth reissuing might get some VERY good ideas here...)

This ...Read More