As you can see from this PW article, Simon & Schuster is now selling e-chapters of books. As exciting as this advance is it doesn't go nearly far enough, which is why, at DDG, our crack team of scientists has just developed the next big advance for reading, the Corneal Lens "Pay as you go" E-Reading Register.
When you fill your car with gas you only pay for what goes in the tank, right? And that's the beauty of the CLERR™: you only pay for what you actually read. As easy to put in as a contact lens, the CLERR™ emits a colorless laser image which interacts with the CLERR&trad...Read More
Fat issues loom large in our culture, as it were, and kids pick up messages about how they should look that batter their confidence at every turn. Literature for young people should be one place where kids don't find themselves mocked, dismissed, or shamed. I am not talking about books that deal directly with weight; it's the books that don't realize they are reinforcing negative stereotypes that concern me.
While we have all become accustomed to popular culture’s celebration of thin, what I didn’t expect is that books — the refuge of the chubby kid, the place where people understand the value of what lies beneath the surface, a land of acceptance and tolerance for difference — would come around to betray their readers. ...Read More
With so many of you, we share the sad news that beloved writer and teacher, colleague and friend Norma Fox Mazer passed away over the weekend after a sudden and courageous battle with cancer. Norma was an award-winning writer for children and young adults; she was also a lovely, wise, brilliant person whose warmth was felt by strangers and friends alike. She was a calm, good-humored presence, easy to relax around, with the most wonderful smile. But she was also alert, quick, incisive, and direct, a trusted critic and advisor.
Students at the Vermont College of Fine Arts called her the Sultan of Structure for her unfailing expertise in that ...Read More
Halloween is almost upon us, and we thought we'd share with you several new titles and a few perennial favorites to get kids of all ages in the mood for the spooky holiday that comes with candy.
To start things off, here's a great book to help families set the scene for creative Halloween festivities: Extreme Halloween: The Ultimate Guide to Making Halloween Scary Again, by Tom Nardone (Perigee, $14.95 ISBN 039953525X). Nardone, who brought us Extreme Pumpkins II last year, loves Halloween like Roseanne and Dan Connor of TV fame—the more gleefully grisly, the better. Lots of great projects for in and outside the house, from party tips and treats to full-blown haunted houses. Why not have an alligator in ...Read More
“It’s always been a dream of mine to open a bookstore.” We must hear this two or three times a week, sweetly confessed by starry-eyed book lovers. I don’t have the heart to tell them that, when you do have a bookstore, your dreams — the real ones, the nightly ones — change just a tad.
Here are a few recurring highlights from actual dreams Josie and I have had over the years:
The store is full of customers, you’re alone, and the cash register and POS system aren’t working.
The sections have all been moved; in fact, they’re changing while you look at them.
Your store is suddenly outside.
You’ve had to move your store from a great location to a lousy one, and grieve.
You need to get to work and can’t find your store in the strange...Read More
Guest blogger Kenny Brechner from 
Fat issues loom large in our culture, as it were, and kids pick up messages about how they should look that batter their confidence at every turn. Literature for young people should be one place where kids don't find themselves mocked, dismissed, or shamed. I am not talking about books that deal directly with weight; it's the books that don't realize they are reinforcing negative stereotypes that concern me.
Halloween is almost upon us, and we thought we'd share with you several new titles and a few perennial favorites to get kids of all ages in the mood for the spooky holiday that comes with candy.