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April 23, 2009

In The News
More Book News
In Brief
In the Winners' Circle
Obituaries
Bestsellers News Briefs
Licensing Hotline
In Celebration
Q&A
Rights Report
From the Slush Pile

Book News
In the Media
On the Road
People
Featured Reviews
New in ShelfTalker

In the News

New Report Projects Small Decline in Book Sales in ’09

A new report from Publishers Weekly and the Institute for Publishing Research projects soft sales for children’s books through the end of 2010. According to the PW/IPR Book Sales Index, total children’s trade sales totaled $3.16 billion in 2008; that number will dip slightly in 2009, to $3.05 billion, and will hold steady in 2010 at $3.07 billion. The outlook is rosier after that: $3.12 billion in 2011, $3.18 billion in 2012, and $3.24 billion in 2013.

The study estimates 2008 sales of children’s hardcovers at $1.54 billion, with projections of $1.42 billion for 2009, and $1.43 billion in 2010. For children’s paperbacks, the 2008 figure was $1.62 billion, with a flat projection of $1.62 billion in 2009, rising slightly to $1.65 billion in 2010.

See more projections, including breakdowns of categories such as picture books, workbooks and fantasy, in the May 4 issue of Publishers Weekly.

News Briefs

Prince Charles to Pen a Picture Book

During this week’s London Book Fair, it was announced that England’s Prince Charles will create a book and film documentary that warn of the threat to the environment posed by big business. The project, called Harmony, immediately drew comparisons with An Inconvenient Truth by presidential candidate Al Gore, who won the Oscar and Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. The book will be published next year by HarperCollins, followed by a picture-book version in 2011. Here in the U.S., the picture book will be edited by Katherine Tegen, and will be illustrated with photographs.

The picture book will actually be the prince’s second work for children. He wrote The Old Man of Lochnagar in 1970, to amuse his younger brothers, the Duke of York and Earl of Wessex.

Dubai Children’s Book Fair to Debut Next Year
In other news from the London Book Fair, the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation announced that it will hold a Dubai International Children’s Book Fair next year, from February 3–10. The purpose of the fair is to promote children’s reading and literature both in the Arab world and internationally; it will take place one month before the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, which is scheduled for March 22–25, 2010.

In a statement, Dubai International Children's Book Fair CEO Jamal Al Shehhi said: "This event is part of our sincere endeavour to promote the habit of reading in the Arab region and elevate the status of children's literature in the publishing world." The foundation says it already has interest from more than 200 international publishers.

Book News

MacAdam/Cage Introduces Its Inaugural Children’s Series

Playwright and novelist Mark Dunn’s debut book for young readers marks a new chapter for MacAdam/Cage Publishing as well. The Age of Altertron launches The Calamitous Adventures of Rodney & Wayne, Cosmic Repairboys, the first children’s book series to be published by this San Francisco house. Starring 13-year-old twins who live in a town where the natural laws of the universe have ceased to apply, the novel will be released in June, with a second installment to follow, likely in spring 2010.
Dunn has published three critically acclaimed adult novels with MacAdam/Cage—Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters, Welcome to Higby and Ibid: A Novel. He explains that his move into children’s books was the result of several factors. "This was a very personal book for me," he said, "since I lost my twin brother, with whom I was very close, in 2006." read more

More Book News

Secret Mountain Offers Music to Kids’ Ears

The Secret Mountain, a publisher with offices in Montreal and Paris, is striking a chord with consumers with its line of storybook-music CD sets. Founded in 2000 by publisher Roland Stringer, the company initially focused solely on music CDs for children, which were available in Canada and France, and launched its book-and-music venture in 2003, the same year it opened a Paris office. In 2005, the publisher entered the U.S. market when it acquired NBN as its distributor of book-and-music packages in this country.

Moving into the book business was a logical step for The Secret Mountain, says Stringer, since the company’s music sales were primarily in bookstores. "Music retail outlets kind of forgot about parents, and placed most music for children in a back corner of the store," he says. "We found that our CDs were selling well in bookstores, plus from an artistic standpoint we liked the idea of bringing together illustrators, storytellers, songwriters and recording artists and publishing books and music simultaneously." read more

Licensing Hotline

Twilight Is Tops at Borders

The success of Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight books, movies and DVDs has carried over into licensed merchandise as well. A case in point: Borders, which has featured front-of-store displays of non-book merchandise, much of it exclusive, along with complementary books and media, since November. "It’s been a really terrific property for us all around," says Kathryn Popoff, v-p trade books. "The non-book merchandise has been a large sales contributor for us. The fans are rabid for anything Twilight."

The bestselling non-book Twilight product at Borders has been an exclusive 18-month calendar featuring movie art; other Twilight items available range from keychains, posters and t-shirts to Edward action figures. "It’s about the whole culture of Twilight," explains Popoff, noting that the products are refreshed often to keep fans coming back.

Read on for news about Feiwel and Friends’ novels with Breyer Animal Creations, new licensed math workbooks from Learning Horizons, a Tour de France pop-up, a new licensing-centric imprint from Holland Publishing, and more licensing tidbits.

In the Media

From the Salt Lake Tribune: Stephenie Meyer’s bestselling Twilight books are no longer being stocked at Deseret Book, which has 38 outlets in the West and Southwest and is owned by Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (of which Meyer is a member). In a statement to the paper, a spokesperson for Deseret said, "Like any retailer, our purpose is to offer products that are embraced and expected by our customers. When we find products that are met with mixed review, we typically move them to special order status."
read more

From USA Today: Alec Greven, 10, author of the bestselling How to Talk to Girls, copes with fame, a busy schedule and a movie deal.
read more

From the Orange Country Register: Lorson's Books and Prints, a children’s bookstore in Fullerton, Calif., will close its doors this summer, after 31 years.
read more

From the Knoxville News Sentinel: On his way to deliver the May Hill Arbuthnot lecture, Walter Dean Myers stopped off to speak at a juvenile detention center in Knoxville, Tenn.
read more

From the Dallas News: How some smaller Texas publishers are coping with tough times.
read more

From the Independent: An interview with British children’s author/illustrator John Burningham; he believes life is getting harder, and more restrictive, for kids today.
read more

In Brief

Remembering Lincoln, 144 Years Later

Last Tuesday, the Newseum in Washington, D.C., held an event in honor of one of its new exhibits, "Manhunt: Chasing Lincoln’s Killer," which was created in collaboration with James Swanson, whose adult work, Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer, was recently adapted for younger readers and published as Chasing Lincoln’s Killer (Scholastic, Feb.). Swanson, seen here with members of the Federal City Brass Band, delivered a lecture at the event, which marked the 144th anniversary of Lincoln’s assassination. The band, which uses mid-19th century instruments, played several songs in honor of the President outside nearby Ford’s Theatre.

What’s Brown and Green and Read All Over?

With yesterday being Earth Day, it was a fitting week for author Peter Brown to kick off his book tour for The Curious Garden (Little, Brown, Apr.). The picture book centers on a boy who helps tend some plants in his urban neighborhood, resulting in a very "green" transformation. Brown’s tour began at Salmon Bay School in Seattle, where (seen here) students gave him a tour of their new garden. From Seattle, the tour will take Brown to San Francisco, Los Angeles and the New York area. In keeping with the book’s environmental message, Little, Brown has made a donation to www.carbonfund.org worth 15 metric tons, to offset the estimated 3.6 metric tons of carbon that will be emitted during Brown’s 11-day tour.

The Big Red Dog’s "Big" Contest

In conjunction with National Volunteer Week and as part of its ongoing Clifford the Big Red Dog BE BIG! Campaign, which launched earlier this year, Scholastic has announced a "Be Big in Your Community" contest. Participants are invited to submit a civic-minded idea for a chance at a $25,000 grant to be used toward the winning proposal (click here for contest details). This past week numerous Clifford "BE BIG!" events were held at schools in five cities across the country, including (seen here) New York City’s PS 57 in Harlem.

Readergirlz’s ‘Book Drop’ Is Back

For the second year running, online book community readergirlz held its Operation TBD (for Teen Book Drop), which put 8,000 YA books, audiobooks and graphic novels in the hands of teenage patients at pediatric hospitals across America. In addition to the 18 publishers that donated books for the event, YALSA and Guys Lit Wire also lent their support to the event, held last Thursday, which was also the third annual Support Teen Lit Day. Here (l. to r.), author and readergirlz members Justina Chen Headley, Lorie Ann Grover, Holly Cupala and Dia Calhoun show off publisher-donated books at the Seattle Children’s Hospital.

Q&A

Mark Teague

Bookshelf spoke with Mark Teague about his new picture book, Funny Farm (Orchard, Apr.).

This is a big year for you. You have a number of new projects coming out, including the picture book Funny Farm, which contains a new set of characters for you. What was the inspiration for Funny Farm?

The idea actually came out of a conversation I had with Ken Geist, editor-in-chief of Orchard Books. We talked about where I live upstate, where it’s very much farm country. It’s so country that my kids go to a school that is attached to a biodynamic dairy farm. After the conversation, I realized that I have the perfect model for the book at home—my Boston Terrier. He’s perfect for the role because he’s a funny little guy who looks out of place because of his fur pattern. When I watch him outside chasing a deer, it looks like he’s wearing a tuxedo. From there, my imagination just let me think of the hijinks that would come out of my dog in a situation like being on a farm.

read more

People

Mark McVeigh, who was until recently editorial director of Aladdin at Simon and Schuster, has opened The McVeigh Agency, handling writers, illustrators, photographers and graphic novelists for both the adult and children’s markets. More information is available here.

Obituaries

Selma G. Lanes

Author, editor and critic Selma G. Lanes died on April 8 of complications due to Parkinson’s disease. She was 80. In addition to serving as editor of Parents magazine, editor-in-chief of Parents Magazine Press and managing editor of Western Publishing’s children’s book division, Lanes was the author of several critical works in the field, including The Art of Maurice Sendak and Down the Rabbit Hole: Adventures and Misadventures in the Realm of Children’s Literature. She also reviewed many children’s books, for many publications.

Featured Reviews

The Nine Lives of Rotten Ralph

Jack Gantos, illus. by Nicole Rubel. Houghton Mifflin, $16 (32p) ISBN 978-0-618-80046-9
Uh oh. Rotten Ralph is in bigger trouble than ever. After a rough night of "being rotten with his alley cat friends," he gets some bad news from the vet: he’s used up eight of his lives and, per the nine lives chart, "Next Stop: Cat Heaven (Good Cats Only!)" At his owner Sarah’s request, a forlorn Ralph recaps (in thought bubbles) how he lost his eight lives, providing a quick tour of his previous eight picture-book misadventures, a satisfying reminder of just how uproarious—and timeless—these stories are. Sarah announces that Ralph’s rotten days are behind him, vowing to protect her pet: he ends up in a baby buggy, wearing a bonnet. Kids won’t expect this to last, and it doesn’t. Leaping out the window, he engages in some typical shenanigans ("He ran into the aquarium and grabbed two electric eels. That shocked him back into action") but, luckily for fans (and his owner), he returns, last life intact. Gantos and Rubel remain in perfect comic sync, as wryly understated text and dynamic art deliver Ralph at his rotten best. Ages 3–7. (May)

A Map of the Known World

Lisa Ann Sandell. Scholastic Press, $16.99 (280p) ISBN 978-0-545-06970-0
Family life comes to an abrupt halt for 14-year-old Cora after the death of her older brother, Nate, in a car accident. Dreading her entrance to high school seven months after the event (“If he had still been alive, I might have had a fighting chance at being able to distance myself from him.... Now I’ll be the girl whose brother died”) and with her parents lost to their numbing grief, Cora finds sustenance in her passion for maps and mapmaking. A new friend, the encouragement of an art teacher and growing interest in her brother’s best friend, Damian, who was in the car when he was killed, all slowly revive her emotional life and self-confidence. Sandell creates a satisfying tension by juxtaposing Cora’s grief and anger at her parents with her developing attraction to Damian and her growing sense of possibility about her own future. Sandell’s two previous novels were written in verse and, despite occasional emotional editorializing, her fluid phrasing and choice of metaphors give her prose a quiet poetic ambience. Ages 12–up. (Apr.)

Reviews from the April 20 issue of Publishers Weekly.

see all of this week's reviews
including our web exclusive Annex *

Bestsellers

Picture Books
April

Listen to the Wind.
Greg Mortenson and Susan L.
Roth, illus. by Susan L. Roth.
Dial, $16.99
ISBN 978-0-8037-3058-8

Fancy Nancy: Explorer Extraordinaire!
Jane O’Connor, illus. by Robin Preiss Glasser.
HarperCollins, $12.99
ISBN 978-0-06-168486-9

Gallop!
Rufus Butler Seder.
Workman, $12.95
ISBN 978-0-7611-4763-3

Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy.
David Soman & Judy Davis, illus. by Soman.
Dial, $16.99
ISBN 978-0-8037-3339-8

Swing!
Rufus Butler Seder.
Workman, $12.95
ISBN 978-0-7611-5127-2

see full list

In Celebration

Three Cheers for 30 Years at Hicklebee’s

To commemorate its 30th year in business, Hicklebee’s Children's Bookstore threw a party last Saturday, and Children’s Bookshelf was there for the celebration.

This past Saturday afternoon I was lucky enough to attend the 30th anniversary celebration at Hicklebee’s in San Jose, Calif. A staple in the community, the store is owned and operated by sisters Valerie Lewis and Monica Holmes. Guest after guest told of their own amazing connection to this valuable resource for children’s books. And it was evident from the huge turnout that families and children have cherished this special store, as well as the knowledgeable staff, for over three decades.

And what an amazing bash! The day was jam-packed with events and surprises.

read more

On the Road

Swashbucklers with Bite

British author Justin Somper is a man of many hats: he worked as a children’s book publicist and owned his own publicity consultancy group, before creating the hybrid-genre series, Vampirates. According to Somper’s U.S. editor, Nancy Conescu at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, the first four books in Somper’s series, popular in the U.K. (where they are published by Simon & Schuster U.K.), have now been translated into more than 20 languages—and are reaching a growing American readership.
read more

In the Winners' Circle

Steve Breen, author/illustrator of Violet the Pilot (Dial) and Stick (Puffin), won his second Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning for his work with the San Diego Union-Tribune. Breen is only the 12th person ever to win the prize for Editorial Cartooning more than once. Stick was reissued in paperback this month, and Breen’s newest picture book, The Secret of Santa’s Island, will be released in October by Dial.

The American Booksellers Association has announced the winners of the inaugural Indies Choice Book Awards (formerly the Book Sense Book of the Year Awards). The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman was named Best Indie Young Adult Buzz Book, and Bats at the Library by Brian Lies was named Best New Picture Book. Five Best Indie Young Adult Buzz Honor Books were named: Graceling by Kristin Cashore; The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins; Little Brother by Cory Doctorow; My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger; and Savvy by Ingrid Law.

There were also five Best New Picture Book Honor Books: Louise, the Adventures of a Chicken by Kate DiCamillo, illus. by Harry Bliss; Monkey and Me by Emily Gravett; The Pout Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen, illus. by Dan Hanna; Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox, illus. by Helen Oxenbury; and Wave by Suzi Lee. In addition, Sherman Alexie, author of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, was named Most Engaging Author.

Rights Report

Jean Feiwel of Feiwel and Friends has signed New Yorker cover artist and children’s author Bob Staake for a picture book on Bo, the new Obama puppy. The book, called The First Pup, is currently scheduled for publication in spring 2010. (Feiwel was also the publisher, at Scholastic, of Ted Kennedy’s book about his dog, My Senator and Me: A Dog’s Eye View of Washington, D.C.) Staake provided the cover illustration for this week’s New Yorker, which features Bo on the White House lawn. Gillian MacKenzie of the Gillian MacKenzie Agency did the deal.

Nancy Hinkel at Knopf Books for Young Readers has acquired an untitled love story from Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. Cohn and Levithan are the authors of Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, which was released as a movie last year; their second novel, Naomi & Ely’s No Kiss List, is in development as a feature film. The new book, which is set at Christmastime in New York City, stars 16-year-old Dash and Lily, who "meet" when Dash finds Lily’s red notebook tucked in the J.D. Salinger section at the Strand Bookstore. Inside the notebook is a scavenger hunt of sorts, to help find a potential boyfriend for Lily. The pub date is set for October 12, 2010.

David Fickling Books has bought a book by Mark Haddon, author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, according to the Bookseller.The new novel, Boom, follows two boys who bug the staff room at school and discover their teachers talking in code. It will be illustrated by Haddon, who is also a professional cartoonist. Boom was originally published in 1992 under the title Gridzbi Spudvetch! It is scheduled for publication in May 2010.

Liz Szabla of Feiwel and Friends has bought North American rights to Kristin O’Donnell Tubb's Selling Hope: Or, Gaining Glorious Asylum from Mr. Halley’s Fiery Beast. The middle-grade historical novel tells the story of 13-year-old Hope McDaniels and her friend Buster Keaton, a pair of vaudevillians looking to cash in on the fast-approaching Halley’s Comet that people fear will lead to the end of the world. Publication is scheduled for fall 2011. Josh Adams at Adams Literary did the deal.

Mark Your Calendar

Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry will host the world premiere of "Harry Potter: The Exhibition" beginning Thursday, April 30. The show, which runs through September 27, features items from the Harry Potter films, displayed in Hogwarts settings including the Great Hall and Hagrid’s hut. Additional information is available at the museum’s Web site.

New in ShelfTalker

This week Josie and Elizabeth give some advice to authors who stop into their store, rave about the new IndieBound app for the iPhone, and report on a happy phenomenon: adults shopping for themselves in the YA section. Check out all their new posts here.

Click here to read Tales from the Slush Pile from the beginning