Children’s Bookshelf
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November 12, 2009

In this Issue

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In the News

  • Vetting Vine Voices
    Recently librarian and School Library Journal blogger Elizabeth Bird raised questions, in a post, about Amazon's mysteriously anointed Vine Voices reviewers, who receive free advance copies of new titles—and then often diss them on Amazon. Who are the Vine Voices, and how do they compare with professionals, who, Bird wrote, "give insightful commentary and acknowledge a book's intended audience"? And do publishers pay to participate? more » » » 
  • Little Critter Comes to the iPhone
    The iPhone is increasingly becoming a popular platform for children's books. Mercer Mayer's Little Critter is following Curious George and a handful of lesser-known characters into the Apple App store. The first Little Critter title to be made available as an iPhone app is Just Me and My Dad; it went live in the App Store last week. Somewhat unusually, this is a case where the rights holder, not the publisher, has developed the app... more » » » 
  • Movie Briefs: 'A Christmas Carol' and 'New Moon'
    In this round-up of film news involving the children’s book world, it was a big opening weekend for Disney’s A Christmas Carol, taking in $30 million; and Little, Brown preps for the long-awaited release of the Twilight sequel, New Moon, on November 20. more » » » 

Blogs

Book News

  • Little, Brown Inks Snicket Deal with Handler
    Daniel Handler, who had a long and successful run with his Lemony Snicket-penned A Series of Unfortunate Events series at HarperCollins, is moving to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers in a five-book deal. Under the agreement, Handler will write four Lemony Snicket titles in a new series, with the first due out in 2012. Before that series hits, LBYR will release a Handler young adult novel in 2011 that will feature full-color illustrations by Maira Kalman. more » » » 

In the Media

Galley Talk

  • Galley Talk: Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine
    Tish Gayle of The Blue Marble Children’s Bookstore in Ft. Thomas, Ky., shares her thoughts about a spring 2010 novel.

    Through literature for children and young adults, we’ve been introduced to characters who have worked their way remarkably well through personal hardships. In Kathryn Erskine's extraordinary Mockingbird, we meet 10-year-old Caitlin, aka Scout, a talented artist diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome... more » » » 
 

In Brief

  • Discussing Wondrous Worlds at Books of Wonder
    On Tuesday, five YA authors visited Books of Wonder in New York City for an event entitled “Brave New Worlds.” Each of the authors’ recent books (even those set in “our” world) has supernatural and/or fantasy elements, be it the colorful “monsters” of Kristen Cashore’s Fire or the Norse-God-disguised-as-lawn-gnome in Libba Bray’s Going Bovine. Here (l. to r.), Justine Larbalestier, Cashore, Scott Westerfeld, Bray, and Suzanne Collins get ready to give their pens a workout … more » » » 
  • Books Without Borders
    Dashdondog Jamba, a member of one of the smaller chapters of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators—in Mongolia—is one of 170 nominees for the 2010 Astrid Lindgren Award. The reason: years of work bringing children’s books to remote Mongolian villages via mobile library. That mobile library would be the Bactrian Camel seen here (if you look closely, a copy of Dr. Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham is visible)… more » » » 
  • Happy Ivy and Bean Day!
    Last Saturday, more than 100 bookstores and libraries across the country celebrated Ivy and Bean Day, inspired by the series of books by Annie Barrows and Sophie Blackall, which are published by Chronicle. The Ivy and Bean Day events also served to launch the sixth book in the series, Ivy and Bean: Doomed to Dance.Stores received two t-shirts to use as prizes (seen here with their t-shirts are the winners from The Voracious Reader in Larchmont, N.Y.) as well as posters, bookmarks and activity sheets… more » » » 

Featured Reviews

  • Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine and a Miracle
    Brian Dennis, Kirby Larson and Mary Nethery. Little, Brown, $17.99 (48p) ISBN 978-0-316-05318-1

    Larson and Nethery, who collaborated on Two Bobbies, team up with Dennis to tell the moving story of the Marine major’s friendship with a wild dog he befriended at a border fort in Iraq. Dennis named the dog Nubs because his “ears had been cut off to make him a dog of war” (a statement never explained). Though Nubs futilely attempts to follow Dennis when he departs the fort, the two grow closer on subsequent visits, until the dog (now wounded) treks 70 miles through the snow to find Dennis… more » » » 

  • Raven Summer
    David Almond. Delacorte, $16.99 (208p) ISBN 978-0-385-73806-4

    In a thought-provoking coming-of-age story, British writer Almond (Skellig; Clay) delves into the darkest realm of the human psyche as he expresses the conflicting urges of an adolescent. Liam is walking with a friend when a mysterious raven leads them to an abandoned baby. The boys are lauded for bringing the infant safely home, but Liam doesn’t feel heroic. While he has enormous tenderness for the infant (and a pair of foster children he meets), he is deeply affected by acts of violence… more » » » 






 


People

Daniel Nayeri will join Clarion Books as editor on November 30. He has worked as an in-house and a freelance editor, as a children’s librarian at Edmond Public Library, Edmond, Okla., and as a literary agent as the Carol Mann Agency. He is also co-author, along with Dina Nayeri, his sister, of Another Faust, a YA novel published this August by Candlewick.

Literary agent Mary Jack Wald has announced her retirement. She plans to dissolve her agency, Mary Jack Wald Associates, later this year, and says that "retirement will allow me to read all the wonderful books I've missed and all the exciting ones to come." She can be reached here.

Rights Report

Alvina Ling at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers has bought at auction a debut YA novel called Ophelia Live by Michelle Ray, for the Poppy imprint. The book is a contemporary retelling of Hamlet with a tabloid twist, from the point of view of an Ophelia who is neither suicidal nor anyone’s pushover. Publication date is spring 2011. Ammi-Joan Paquette of Erin Murphy Literary Agency did the deal for world English rights.

In the Winners' Circle


The first annual Etisalat Prize for Arab Children’s Literature, which carries with it a $1 million dirham ($270,000) award, was given on November 11, the opening day of the Sharjah World Book Fair. Dar Al Hadaeq, a publishing house from Lebanon, won for its book Ana Oheb (I Love) by Nabeeha Muheidli (pictured above), illustrated by Nadine Saidani. The Arab Children’s Book Publishers Forum offers this prize to support and develop the publishing industry dedicated to Arab children’s literature, and encourage authors and illustrators in the field.

Philip Ardagh's Grubtown Tales won the seven-to-14 years category of the Roald Dahl Funny Prize in the U.K., an award set up last year by former children's laureate Michael Rosen, to champion the role of humor in children's books. In the under six category, the winner was Mr Pusskins: Best in Show by Sam Lloyd. For more on the awards, click here.
 
  


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

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