Children’s Bookshelf
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October 1, 2009

In this Issue

In the News

  • Record-Breaking Crowds at the National Book Festival
    The ninth annual National Book Festival took place last Saturday in Washington, D.C., with a record-breaking attendance of more than 130,000. Numerous children’s book authors and illustrators were present—including Jon Scieszka, Kate DiCamillo, Jeff Kinney, Judy Blume, Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi, among many more. See our extensive photo-essay after the jump. more » » » 
  • Sourcebooks Adds Teen Imprint
    Chicagoland-headquartered Sourcebooks announced Tuesday that it will launch a young adult imprint in spring 2010. In its debut season the imprint, called Sourcebooks Fire, will release seven titles, including a bestselling paranormal romance series from the U.K., a novel based on the true-life story of teenage sisters who invented the séance in 1848, a romantic mystery set against the backdrop of the Civil War, and a YA supernatural thriller set in New York City... more » » » 
  • Children’s Books Front and Center at Midwest Show
    Children’s books played a prominent part in the Midwest Booksellers Association’s annual meeting and trade show, held last weekend in St. Paul. To no one’s surprise, in the wake of Stephenie Meyer’s incredible success with the Twilight series, YA novels that contain magic, vampires or paranormal themes were popular with booksellers trying to anticipate the next big YA hit. more » » » 

  • Children's Authors Sparkle at MBA
    The children’s book and author breakfast, which traditionally kicks off the trade show portion of the Midwest Booksellers Association’s annual gathering, is usually a literary-star studded affair, and this year was no exception. Nearly 200 groggy booksellers straggled into St. Paul’s RiverCentre last Saturday morning to hear an A-list of children’s authors: Loren Long, M.T. Anderson, Catherine Gilbert Murdock and Neil Gaiman... more » » » 
  • Licensing Hotline
    David Biedrzycki's Ace Lacewing: Bug Detective is ready to generate buzz through a new representation deal between Charlesbridge and The ThinkTank Emporium, marking the first time Charlesbridge has signed with an outside agent to develop one of its book franchises. See more licensing stories, including news of Golden’s Iron Man: Armored Adventures titles, and Parragon teaming with MGA Entertainment on a new doll line for tween girls. more » » » 

Blogs

Book News

  • A Bountiful Crop of Young Readers’ Adaptations
    It’s that time of year again. Booksellers are stocking up for the holiday selling season and publishers’ fall lists are sprinkled with the names of tried-and-true authors. Some of those familiar authors are testing new waters, with children’s adaptations of their successful adult books—often with hefty first printings. Though it is hardly a new phenomenon, the adaptation business appears to be thriving in these tight times. more » » » 
  • Worldwide Release for Mandela Autobiography for Kids
    Back in the 1980s, Nelson Mandela was front and center on the world stage. Now, Macmillan aims to see history repeat itself, thanks to a global, 13-language launch of the picture-book adaptation of his autobiography. The company’s unprecedented release of Long Walk to Freedom "was intended to reflect Nelson Mandela’s importance to South Africa and the world," says Emma Hopkin of Macmillan Children’s Books in the U.K... more » » » 
  • Building a Book for Habitat for Humanity
    Since 1976, Habitat for Humanity has built more than 300,000 houses in over 3,000 communities in 90-plus countries. David Rubel chronicles the history and accomplishments of this organization in If I Had a Hammer: Building Homes and Hope with Habitat for Humanity, an October title from Candlewick. The book features a foreword by former president Jimmy Carter, who first picked up a hammer to participate in a Habitat project a quarter-century ago. more » » » 
  • New Square Fish Program Packs Double Punch
    This month Square Fish is debuting its Flip Me paperback line, which presents two back-to-back, flip-over chapter books by one author in a single volume. The program draws from the backlists of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group’s four imprints. A practical concern provided the inspiration, explains Jean Feiwel, senior v-p and director of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, who informally refers to the Flip Me line as "Square Fish Squared." more » » » 

In the Media

  • From the New York Times:
    Disney unveiled an ambitious subscription-based digital service, in which it will offer electronic replicas of hundreds of Disney books for $79.95 a year. more » » » 
  • Also from the Times:
    A look at Jan Brett's summer house—a log cabin in the Berkshires where she brings along her 60 chickens and 10 ducks. more » » » 
  • From the Guardian:
    In a new book, a former Bush speechwriter claims that administration officials objected to giving J.K. Rowling a presidential medal of freedom on the grounds that her Harry Potter books "encouraged witchcraft." more » » » 
  • From the Los Angeles Times:
    Ending two decades of litigation, a judge has ruled Disney, and not the Slesinger family, controls the copyright and trademark to the Winnie-the-Pooh characters. more » » » 
  • From School Library Journal:
    The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art held a star-studded event in New York City last week to honor Alice Provensen, Walter Lorraine, Marianne and Blouke Carus, and Kyle Zimmer. more » » » 

Q & A

  • Q & A with Katherine Paterson
    Q: What inspired you to write this book?
    A: This is the first time in my long life as a writer when somebody has suggested a story to me and I’ve taken the suggestion. Some years ago, our church sponsored a refugee family from Kosovo, and a good friend of mine said you should write the Haxhuis’ story. And so I went over there... more » » » 

In Brief

  • Introducing Lottie
    Return to the Hundred Acre Wood by David Benedictus, the much anticipated sequel to A.A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner isn't out yet—it's still embargoed until October 5, and details about the stories remain scant—but a brand-new character, named Lottie the Otter, has been revealed... more » » » 
  • An Animated ‘Exquisite Corpse’
    As Children's Bookshelf reported back in August, the Library of Congress and the National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance have teamed up to create The Exquisite Corpse Adventure, a multi-episode online story, which was launched at the National Book Festival last weekend. Readers can now page through and read the first chapter... more » » » 
  • In the Big Apple and on the Small Screen
    Chris Paul, point guard for the NBA's New Orleans Hornets, visited New York City recently—not for a game, but to promote his new picture book, Long Shot: Never Too Small to Dream Big, illustrated by Frank Morrison. At the NBA flagship store on Fifth Avenue, Paul met with a group of students from the Mt. Vernon YMCA and Harlem Children's Zone. Two students, shown here, helped Paul read from his book…. more » » » 
  • Roker Discovers ‘Magyk’
    Last Friday, Al Roker announced the latest pick for Al's Book Club on The Today Show: Magyk, the first book in Angie Sage's Septimus Heap fantasy series. Click here for video of Roker with author Patrick Carman (seen here), discussing his previous book club pick, The Black Circle, part of The 39 Clues series... more » » » 

Featured Reviews

  • Crow Call
    Lois Lowry, illus. by Bagram Ibatoulline. Scholastic Press, $16.99 (48p) ISBN 978-0-545-03035-9

    A parent returning as a stranger after WWII could be a difficult situation, but in Newbery Medalist Lowry's first picture book, drawn from her childhood, the reunion brings warmth and trust. Out on a fall hunting trip with her father, Lizzie is quiet with apprehension ("Daddy. Daddy. Saying it feels new"). Yet he respects her wishes, even when they're quirky. When she longs for a plaid hunting shirt many sizes too big, he endorses her choice: "You know, Lizzie... You will never ever outgrow this shirt." He orders three pieces of cherry pie (her favorite food) for breakfast. She's worried about the idea of hunting; he gives her the crow call—"I'm pretty sure you can handle it"—and the crows gather like magic… more » » » 

  • School of Fear
    Gitty Daneshvari, illus. by Carrie Gifford. Little, Brown, $15.99 (352p) ISBN 978-0-316-03326-8

    Imagine a humorous middle-grade novel by a less self-absorbed Woody Allen to get an idea of this intelligent and witty children's debut. Daneshvari assembles a precocious cast of 12- and 13-year-olds with outsize fears, including Madeleine, whose obsessive fear of insects keeps her drenched in bug repellant; Theo, "the most dramatic, hysterical, and neurotic boy in the borough of Manhattan"; brazen Lulu, with crippling claustrophobia; and hydrophobic Garrison. Desperate families entrust these kids to Mrs. Wellington, the snarky "deranged beauty queen" of a headmistress at the secretive and fairly terrifying School of Fear… more » » » 






Movie Alert


One of the most anticipated movies of 2009—Spike Jonze's adaptation of Maurice Sendak's beloved picture book Where the Wild Things Are—is finally approaching its release date, after a long and tumultuous road to production. With a screenplay co-written by Jonze and author Dave Eggers, the film arrives in theaters October 16...
read more

Rights Report

Sarah Ketchersid at Candlewick has acquired the first two books in a new early chapter book series from Daniel Pinkwater featuring Mrs. Noodlekugel, a little old lady who, along with her feline butler and myopic mouse companions, takes two children on magical romps. Jennifer Laughran at Andrea Brown Literary Agency was the agent.

Jennifer Hunt at Little, Brown has bought debut author Aaron Hartzler's Rapture Practice, a YA memoir about growing up in a fundamentalist Christian home while questioning one's faith and sexuality. Publication is set for spring 2011. Michael Bourret of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management did the deal for world English rights.

Regina Griffin of Egmont USA has won an auction for North American rights to two novels by Hong Kong native and PEN Emerging Voices Fellow Cara Chow. The first, Bitter Melon, due in spring 2011, tells the story of a Chinese-American teenager torn between the liberal culture of her native San Francisco and her traditional upbringing. Stephen Barbara at Foundry Literary + Media was the agent.

In movie news, Unique Features has acquired screen rights to the bestselling YA novel Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater, the first of a three-book series. The story is a paranormal romance between a teen who becomes a wolf each winter and his girlfriend, who helps him find the secret to staying human. The sequel, Linger, will be published next August; Unique acquired all three books in the series.

Temple Hill Entertainment has acquired screen rights to L.A. Candy by Lauren Conrad, ex-star of reality series The Hills and Laguna Beach, Variety reports. It's the story of a 19-year-old who moves to Hollywood, finds fame as a reality series star and has to deal with the ramifications of life in a fishbowl. Conrad plans to write two more books in the series.

Director Chris Wedge (Ice Age; Robots) has been signed to direct the animated feature film Leaf Men that will be financed by Fox Animation and produced by Wedge's Blue Sky Studios, per Variety. The project is based on the picture book by William Joyce, The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs.

And the Little Red series of picture books by the Duchess of York are to be turned into films. Sarah Ferguson told the Daily Mail that she has signed a deal with a major U.S. movie company to work on big-screen versions of the five books, which center on a red-headed girl and her adventures.

In the Winners' Circle

The Underneath by Kathi Appelt (Atheneum) has won PEN USA's 2009 Literary Award for Children's Literature. The novel also won a 2009 Newbery Honor; a complete list of the PEN winners can be viewed here.

On-Sale Calendar

Come November, Twilight fans will be getting ready to storm theaters to see New Moon, which arrives November 20 (a mass market tie-in edition of the book pubs November 1 for those who want a refresher). Also on deck: a new Alex Rider adventure from Anthony Horowitz, the sixth 39 Clues book—In Too Deep by Jude Watson—and new books from Mike Lupica, Cecily von Ziegesar, Erin Hunter, and former vice-president Al Gore. Click here for more information about these and other big November titles.
 


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Children's Bookshelf
Editor: Diane Roback
Associate Editor: John Sellers

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