Children's Bookshelf

April 20, 2006
Book News
Q&A
Points of Sale
Linking Up
From the Slush Pile
In Brief
In the Winners' Circle
Featured Reviews
Contact Us

 Galley Talk
People
Bestsellers
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Book News

A Sheepish Sequel
Rob Scotton's picture book debut, Russell the Sheep (HarperCollins), about a fluffy, playful sheep who can't sleep, was a bona fide hit last year, selling more than 120,000 copies. The author and illustrator is well-known in the U.K. as a greeting card illustrator and creator of a collectible line of ceramics featuring his art. But a few years ago when Scotton decided to branch out, new opportunities began to emerge.   read more

In Brief

A Long Journey
This past Saturday author Li Keng Wong celebrated the release of her book, Good Fortune: My Journey to Gold Mountain (Peachtree), as well as her 80th birthday. The event was held at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center in Oakland, Calif., and was a benefit for the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation, of which Wong has been an active member. Wong was just seven years old in 1933 when she, along with her mother and two sisters, were detained and interrogated at Angel Island as they immigrated from China to the U.S. After retiring, she began writing the story of her journey to America. Here, Wong signs a copy of her book for a guest.


A School Celebration
Earlier this week, Malin Alegria appeared at Harvest Middle School in Napa, Calif., to promote her book Estrella's Quinceañera (S&S, Mar.), about a Mexican-American girl who is conflicted about the lavish 15th birthday celebration her family wants to throw for her. Almost 100 kids attended the event, which was organized by Jonatha Foli, children's book buyer at Copperfield's Books. Pictured here are school librarian Laura Weakly and author Alegria.

Q&A
Harriet McBryde Johnson
PW talks with Harriet McBryde Johnson about her debut children's novel, Accidents of Nature (Holt).
You have written many articles and essays for adults, but this is your first book for young people. What inspired you to write this novel?
The material is what really drew me. In fact, this was the first creative writing I ever did. I wanted to write something about the world that I came out of. I had tried in various nonfiction formats to work with that material and nothing said what I wanted it to say. So I started playing with fiction, and [Accidents of Nature] was the result. I started writing it back in 1994.

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People


HarperCollins Children's Books has hired Farrin Jacobs as executive editor. She was previously editor at Red Dress Ink.
Featured Reviews

Ten Worlds:
Everything That Orbits the Sun
Ken Croswell. Boyds Mills, $19.95 (60p) ISBN 1-59078-423-5
On the basis of its striking design and photographs, this handsome, large-format volume is well worthy of praise. And astronomer Croswell's (See the Stars) concise yet conversational, information-packed text wins it sky-high accolades in the narrative sphere as well. As the author takes readers on an elucidating tour of the solar system—traveling outwards from the sun—brilliantly colored photos of each planet and of their moons (mostly NASA shots) pop dramatically from a black background, while the text appears against pastel-toned panels. Croswell authoritatively explains the physical characteristics, temperature and atmospheric makeup of the planets; tells how they were named; examines comets, meteors and asteroids; and details the knowledge gleaned from spacecrafts' photographs and specific astronomers' discoveries. He confidently puts forth his own theories (he believes in the theory that an asteroid killed off the dinosaurs and allowed other forms of life to evolve, including humans). Timely references to recently launched spacecraft and their missions, and an intriguing look at "the tenth planet" (discovered in 2005, the planet takes 559 years to orbit the sun), attest to the book's relevance. Colorful, accessible analogies abound: remarking that stars shine during the day as well as the night, yet are washed out by sunlight, Croswell notes, "In the same way, you can't hear a soft flute when a loud car goes by." Concluding with charts that handily round up statistics about the planets and their moons, this eye-opening book will feed kids' curiosity about the worlds beyond earth. Ages 6-up. (May)

Rules
Cynthia Lord. Scholastic, $15.99 (208p) ISBN 0-439-44382-2
The appealing, credible narrator at the heart of Lord's debut novel will draw in readers, as she struggles to find order and balance in her life. Her parents place 12-year-old Catherine in charge of her younger autistic brother more often than she would like. Taking solace in art, the girl fills the back of her sketchbook with rules she has established for David, "so if my someday-he'll-wake-up-a-regular-brother wish doesn't ever come true, at least he'll know how the world works, and I won't have to keep explaining things." Sorely missing her best friend, who is away for the summer, and realizing that the girl who has just moved in next door is not a kindred spirit, Catherine devises some of her own self-protective rules ("When you want to get out of answering something, distract the questioner with another question"). In the able hands of the author, mother of an autistic child, Catherine's emotions come across as entirely convincing, especially her alternating devotion to and resentment of David, and her guilt at her impatience with him. Through her artwork, the heroine gradually opens up to Jason, a wheelchair-bound peer who can communicate only by pointing to words on cards. As she creates new cards that expand Jason's ability to express his feelings, their growing friendship enables Catherine to do the same. A rewarding story that may well inspire readers to think about others' points of view. Ages 9-12. (Apr.)

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Galley Talk

Carol Moyer, children's manager of Quail Ridge Books and Music in Raleigh, N.C., talks about a favorite spring title.

A diehard baseball fan, I picked up Samurai Shortstop by Alan Gratz (Dial, May) and was soon plunged into late 19th-century Japan. Yes, baseball plays a big part in this novel, but it is the clash of modern Western culture with ancient Japanese life that captured my attention. Gratz writes fluidly about a boy, son of a samurai, who begins his term at an elite boarding school in Tokyo in the late 1800's. He is caught between loyalty to his father's way of life, the samurai code, and the modern ideas flooding into Japan as a result of the new empire's interest in the West.

Life is very harsh for the youngest students at the school. Seniors inflict physical and mental torment on them, and any weakness is exploited cruelly. Finally Toyo proves himself on the baseball field, but then has to deal with his father's scorn for the Western game. In fact his father is so disgusted with the emerging culture that according to the samurai code, he can only remain honorable by committing suicide. So he asks Toyo to assist him with his seppuku. Surprisingly, baseball itself provides the means for Toyo to convince his father that he has value in the new order.

This gripping and satisfying novel is rich with the details of an ancient culture, yet contemporary in its exploration of the struggle to grow and change. Teens, even reluctant readers, will quickly be caught up in the story.
In the Winners' Circle


David LaRochelle has won the 2005 Sid Fleischman Humor Award for his novel Absolutely Positively Not (Scholastic/Levine). The award is given by the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators to an author whose work exemplifies excellence in humor writing. The award will be presented on August 6 at SCBWI's 35th annual conference in Los Angeles.
Points of Sale

Tips for children's booksellers
The "Other" BOMC

Just over a year ago Northshire Bookstore in Manchester Center, Vt. (PW's Bookseller of the Year) came up with a new twist on an old idea: the book-of-the-month club. Customers who sign up for the Northshire Children's Book Club get a year's worth of books, 12 in all, which are mailed out once a month. The customer is billed each month when the book is shipped. Typically, customers pay between $10 and $20, with a limit of $25, for a gift-wrapped book plus shipping.  read more
Bestsellers


Picture Book Bestsellers
April 2006

  1. Lilly's Big Day. Henkes, Kevin
    Greenwillow, $16.99. ISBN 0723257248.
  2. Owen and Mzee. Hatkoff, Craig Scholastic Press, $16.99. ISBN 0439829739.
  3. Fancy Nancy. O'Connor, Jane HarperCollins, $15.99. ISBN 0060542098.
  4. Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late! Willems, Mo
    Hyperion, $12.95. ISBN 0786837462.
  5. The Hello, Goodbye Window. Juster, Norton Hyperion/
    di Capua, $15.95.
    ISBN 0786809140.

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    Linking Up


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