The site consists of two main components: the Reader software and the Author tool, as well as blogs penned by authors, parents and others. The Reader allows sitegoers to flip through picture books, much like the Web site Lookybook, which launched last November, though books on Big Universe are displayed at a larger size. Users are given the option to buy the books from publishers’ Web sites or through third-party vendors like Amazon. The low-res images from the picture books are watermarked and cannot be saved or printed.

Via the Author tool, housed in a separate section of the site from publishers’ picture books, adults and children can create their own picture books on Big Universe’s site, adding and formatting text, using clip art graphics or uploading illustrations. These digital picture books can be used either just to show friends and family or can be submitted to Big Universe for publication on the site. 

So far more than 450 picture books have been created with the Author tool; of those, 79 have been published on the site, with most authors opting for personal use.   

Following brief remarks by Fran Manushkin and Susan Kuklin, co-chairs of PEN’s Children’s Book Committee, Levy introduced the panelists and noted that the empty seat at the table was left in honor of writer Dawa Gyaltsen, a Tibetan currently serving a 15-year prison sentence at Drapchi Prison in Lhasa for authoring pamphlets about Tibetan independence. Each of the panels during the festival would have an empty chair on stage, Levy explained, in support of writers imprisoned in China.

Levy first asked the authors when, as children, they had realized certain things were "not being said about the public or private world" around them. Ryan said she came to understand that adults would give particular physical clues or use certain phrases or tones of voice that indicated they were going to talk about something gossipy or inappropriate or children—"which was a cue to pay attention very closely to what they’re saying." She also noted that when children try to decipher what adults are trying to keep from them, their imaginations often make it much worse and "translate it into making it [the child’s] fault."

Similarly, Richter made note of the "secret language" used by adults during her youth in post-WWII Germany, recalling her parents saying of one home as they passed by, "Just look at those curtains. They don’t fit in our neighborhood," and being unable to see what was wrong with them. She also said that she learned early on the advantage of being "invisible," which she believes modern children don’t learn to do anymore. "The best place to hide is very close to everyone who is looking for you," she said and spoke of hiding under tables where adults sat, "talking about curtains and things like that."   

"It was certainly a business decision and not a decision of the heart," says Maryanne Eichorn, owner of Munchkin's. "But financially, I could not continue. The plaza where we're located has lost a lot of business and the foot traffic is just not enough to sustain this kind of store."

Kim White, owner of Crocodile Pie, told suburban Chicago's Daily Herald that her decision came from the realization that "it's just time to do other things" and that she plans to use her freer schedule to travel and spend time with her grown children. She has planned a going-out-of-business sale for mid-June.

Eichorn will experience a different kind of schedule change now that her store is closing. She's going to be part of the management team at independent bookstore Penguin Bookshop, a 78-year-old business that is set to re-open under new ownership in nearby Sewickley, Pa., this September. Eichorn will oversee the children's department in addition to other duties. "They're calling the children's area Munchkin's Loft, which is a nice tribute to me," Eichorn notes. "I'm getting the opportunity to take the things that I do well there."

In the meantime, Munchkin's Bookshelf has been swamped with bargain hunters and teary-eyed well-wishers this week. "I feel really good that I succeeded in part of my mission—to be a place in the community for kids," Eichorn says wistfully. "I may have been unsuccessful at the business part of it, but I believe that I had a positive impact." —Shannon Maughan

The Children's Book Council has released the schedule of official events in New York City for Children's Book Week, which begins this weekend. As we previously reported, this marks the first time Children's Book Week will be held in the spring, instead of the traditional week in November. Though schools, libraries and bookstores nationwide will celebrate the week, each year the CBC will add a city, beginning with New York City, where official events will take place. Additional information is available on the Children's Book Week Web site.

The NYC events are:

Saturday, May 10: Kick-Off Event, Bryant Park Reading Room. Readings and signings will take place from 12 to 5 PM, with authors, illustrators and children's book characters in attendance. 

Monday, May 12: Commerce Bank Breakfast. The finalists for the Children's Choice Book Awards will receive certificates. Leonard S. Marcus (Minders of Make Believe, Houghton) will discuss children's book history.

Tuesday, May 13: Children's Choice Book Awards Gala. The winners of the CBC's first Children's Choice Book Awards will be announced in an evening event hosted by Jon Scieszka, the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature.

Thursday, May 15: NBA Store Reading and Signing. Walter Dean Myers (Game) and Bob Krech (Rebound) will read from and sign their books. Members of the WNBA's New York Liberty will also be in attendance.

Saturday, May 17: The Little Big Read. Grand Central Terminal will become home to a mystery scavenger hunt, with clues derived from Bruce Hale's book, The Malted Falcon (Harcourt), the official book of the 2008 Big Read for Kids. Jon Scieszka will serve as host.

Sunday, May 18: Closing Event, Bryant Park Reading Room. Writers from WritopiaLab, an organization that conducts writing seminars for youth in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Westchester County, will read their stories, poetry and other works.

As a teenager, George had penned a play, The Most Massive Woman Wins, which spotlights four women awaiting liposuction procedures. Several years ago, one of Peskin’s friends, a theater director who also knew George, sent the editor a copy of the play. "She knew that I was interested in women’s issues and body issues," says Peskin. "At the time I was new to Viking and was interested in developing new talent from nontraditional sources. I was completely floored by Madeleine’s amazing play and contacted her immediately."

The editor’s timing was right. "Before hearing from Joy, I had been dabbling in short fiction on the side of playwriting and was toying with the idea of trying my hand at young adult fiction," says George, who is also a founding member of the 13P playwriting collective and the director of the Bard College satellite campus at Bayview Women’s Correctional Facility in Manhattan. According to George, Looks grew out of "a scene about the mutual observation between an emaciated girl and an obese girl," that she spontaneously wrote while at a diner with a friend.