Rowling with students at the Kodak Theatre.

When Rowling announced from the crimson-and-gilt throne onstage that she was going to read a section she called “goodbye to the Dursleys,” there was a collective groan. “I didn’t want to read anything too revealing,” she explained. “And I like this bit.” If the crowd had expected a more action-packed selection, she soon had them in the palm of her hand. The emotion of her chosen passage electrified the theater, which responded with a long “aawwww…. ” to Dudley Dursley’s inarticulate leavetaking with his cousin. They also gave Rowling a big laugh on a tension-releasing funny line. After the reading, Rowling took questions from 12 members of the audience, then signed books Scholastic had provided for all 1600.

The press was given only this one chance at Rowling; the other stops on the tour—New Orleans on Oct. 18 and New York on Oct. 19—will be strictly for schoolchildren and fans selected in a sweepstakes. In 20 minutes with reporters, she had no answer to the question of what she’s working on now, but said she is not turning immediately to the Harry Potter encyclopedia that has often been mentioned among fans. “It’s the first time in 10 years that I have no deadline,” she said, adding that she is enjoying having time with her children. “But I will always write.”

In answer to a question about what genre she might take up next, she said, “Whenever I say I will never do something, I always end up doing it in the next two weeks. So I don’t want to say I’ll never do fantasy again, but I’ve done it. It would be hard to follow up with a fantasy story and not overlap with Harry’s world.”

"It is nearly impossible to overestimate the impact, both creative and commercial, that Walter Lorraine had upon the success of children’s book publishing at Houghton Mifflin," said Betsy Groban, v-p and publisher of the children’s division. "He is one of the most important figures in the history of children’s books, and we are fortunate that he chose to spend his illustrious career with the company."

Disney Publishing Worldwide is relocating its headquarters from 114 Fifth Ave. in New York City 25 miles north to new offices in White Plains, N.Y. The company is moving approximately 175 employees in several stages and expects to have most of the book group in the new location by the end of the month. The only employees of Disney Worldwide not moving to White Plains are 25 editors in the Disney Press, Hyperion Books for Children and Disney Editions imprints, who will remain in their current location. Angus Killick, head of school and library marketing, is also remaining in Manhattan.

Jeanne Mosure, senior v-p, global publisher at DPW, said that very few people have decided to leave Disney rather than travel to White Plains. “Losses have been minimal,” Mosure said. She also doesn’t believe having two locations will cause communication problems within the company, noting that Disney has been using videoconferencing and teleconferencing for years. The New York editorial office will allow agents and authors to continue to meet with the editorial team in Manhattan, and editors “can come up [to White Plains] as needed,” Mosure said. Every Wednesday, editors will go to White Plains for a weekly sales, marketing and acquisitions meeting.

Mosure said the move out of New York City will give DPW more room to expand. In the fiscal year that ended September 30, sales for Disney’s U.S. publishing group rose 15%, while worldwide licensing sales increased 13%.

With space freed up at the Fifth Ave. location, the Hyperion adult publishing group run by Bob Miller will return to its former home early next year. The division has been located at ABC headquarters on the Upper West Side for nine years.

Nicole Kidman and Dakota Blue Richards, in the forthcoming film The Golden Compass.

In the book, first in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, which the author has noted was partly inspired by Paradise Lost, an authoritative, evil council called the Magisterium rejects the basic tenets of Judeo-Christian theology, and the book offers harsh criticism of the power structure within organized religion, particularly (though not explicitly named) the Catholic Church.

But moviegoers will not find this thought-provoking storyline when they head to the cineplex. As the pre-release buzz gets louder, much is being made of the fact that Golden Compass director Chris Weitz has played down Pullman’s religious themes in his interpretation, to avoid controversy. 

In an October 14 article in the Telegraph, Weitz admitted that his film does not closely mirror the theology of the print version. “In the books the Magisterium is a version of the Catholic Church gone wildly astray from its roots.” Weitz said. “If that’s what you want in the film, you’ll be disappointed.”

This flap is not a new one, however. Weitz, who had initially been hired to write the screenplay and direct the film, actually withdrew from the project in late 2004, citing the “technical challenges of making such an epic,” according to Variety. At the time, the Times of London speculated that Compass’s film studio New Line intended “to remove anti-religious overtones” from Pullman’s story “because of fears of a backlash from the Christian Right in the United States.” Weitz eventually returned to the helm and filmed the current incarnation of the movie.

Perhaps a case of damned if you do, damned if you don’t, The Golden Compass is still drawing passionate comment from both sides of the debate as its December 7 release date approaches. Anti-censorship groups and the National Secular Society, a British organization that defends the rights of “atheists, agnostics and other non-believers” (Pullman is an honorary associate), among others, have expressed disappointment because they feel the film has been “whitewashed.”   

Newbery Medalists Kate DiCamillo, Sharon Creech and Katherine Paterson, on stage in St. Paul. Photo: Stephanie Colgan

Minnesota Public Radio personality Cathy Wurtzer hosted the sold-out Readers Theatre performance by Kate DiCamillo, Sharon Creech and Katherine Paterson. A fourth author, Karen Hesse, was taken ill earlier that weekend, and was unable to perform. Fortunately, HarperCollins editors Joanna Cotler and Jill Santopolo had attended several rehearsals and were able to take turns filling in for the ailing Hesse.

The three authors and two editors performed two selections from each author’s work: Creech’s Walk Two Moons and Castle Corona; DiCamillo’s The Tale of Despereaux and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane; Hesse’s Out of the Dust and the yet-to-be-released Spuds; and Paterson’s Jacob Have I Loved and Bread and Roses, Too.

Eager audience members lined up outside the theatre on a rainy and chilly Minnesota afternoon two hours ahead before curtain time. Amy Baum, events coordinator at the Red Balloon Bookshop, reported that the performance lasted for almost two and a half hours, “but nobody left.”    read more

The Great Read Draws Thousands to Columbia

Stacy London reading Clementine.

You’d expect thousands of readers to throng the quad at New York City’s Columbia University on a beautiful October day, but you might not expect those readers to be under the age of eight. That’s just what occurred last Sunday, however, as parents and small children flocked to Columbia, lured by the New York Times Great Children’s Read. The event featured two open-air stages, one with celebrity readings of  favorite children’s books and the other presenting a mix of bands and children’s authors and illustrators; book signings; plus a variety of interactive attractions from New York City museums, libraries and event sponsors Scholastic and DreamWorks. The red-and-white bull's-eye of Target, the event’s presenter and the operator of an on-site bookstore, bobbed up and down seemingly everywhere throughout the crowd, on the company’s free totes.

Just before noon, while children lined up for autographs from  American Girl author Lisa Yee (Good Luck, Ivy) and others, hundreds more were being led by parents toward either Mariska Hargitay of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, to a reading of Charlotte’s Web, or toward Mary Poppins, as numerous adults were overheard to call Julie Andrews Edwards, appearing with her daughter Emma Walton Hamilton to promote their book Thanks to You.