The winners, on the Today Show: Beth Krommes (The House in the Night); Neil Gaiman (The Graveyard Book); librarian Deborah Taylor, representing the ALA; and host Al Roker.

Neil Gaiman Wins Newbery Medal for 'The Graveyard Book'

Last fall PW caught up with Neil Gaiman to talk about his newest children's book, The Graveyard Book, which at the time was hot off the press. This week, Gaiman is recovering from some very exciting news regarding his novel: waking up during the wee hours of Monday morning to a chorus of 14 children's librarians shouting on speakerphone that his book had won the Newbery Medal.

"I was on so little sleep and had not expected or even dreamed that I would win," Gaiman said about the 5:30 a.m. call to his cell phone—he was in Los Angeles doing a press junket for the film based on Coraline, which is set for release February 6. "The only thing going through my head was: 'Don't swear. It's wrong. They're librarians.' "

Caldecott Medal Goes to Artist Beth Krommes

Illustrator Beth Krommes, who picked up the Caldecott Medal for The House in the Night by Susan Marie Swanson (Houghton Mifflin) this past Monday, knew that the award was being announced that morning, though she admits she hasn't always paid close attention to the announcement day in the past. "I was aware it was 'Caldecott Day'," she said in a phone interview soon after the announcement, but added, "I had certainly psyched myself out of thinking anything would happen."

So much so that she had already been to the gym that morning and was just sitting down at her home office, ready for "a really productive work day—which never did happen." Because that's when the phone rang, with Nell Colburn [chair of this year's Caldecott Committee] on the other line.   

As expected, the Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a letter to the Association of American Publishers this week that detailed further information and test results needed in order for the CPSC to make a determination about whether traditional ink-on-paper and ink-on-board books will be exempted from the Act's requirements. The letter was in response to a public meeting at the CPSC the previous week, at which the five largest children's book publishers and three largest printers, as well as the Association of American Publishers, made presentations.   

Jane Yolen. Photo: Jason Stemple.

The answer is no, according to publishers who actually see the younger female audience as a promising source of new and long-term comics readers. One project supported by this belief is the original graphic novel The Last Dragon by Jane Yolen, bestselling author of hundreds of stories for children and young adults, to be published by Dark Horse in 2010. The action-fantasy, with art by Rebecca Guay, will join other titles that the publisher says have successfully attracted a large young female audience, such as Gerard Way's Umbrella Academy and Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer.   

Expect to see the first products tied to The 39 Clues, Scholastic's multi-author, multi-platform mystery series, in bookstores this spring, just in time for the release of the third book, The Sword Thief by Peter Lerangis. Scholastic's first three licensees for the property are University Games for board and card games, Mead for calendars, and Trends International for journals and stationery. "The merchandise program will really enhance the exposure for the publishing," says Leslye Schaefer, Scholastic Entertainment's senior v-p marketing and consumer products.

"The web component and game cards are critical tentpoles for this," Schaefer adds. Readers can enter a contest as they try to solve the mystery through clues discovered in each book, through digitized game cards and online; the winner will be announced about six months after the release of the tenth and last book in October 2010. Both University Games' and Mead's products will include exclusive game cards. An as-yet-unannounced consumer promotion is planned for this summer, and a feature film is in development with DreamWorks.

Read on for news of Random House's latest Pixar tie-ins, the first-ever VeggieTales Bible, the latest on Lucy Cousins licensing, a new brand from author Todd Parr, and merchandise and broadcast plans for Gaspard and Lisa.