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Five Authors (and a Surprise Guest) at the NBA Teen Press Conference
During his introductory speech at the 12th annual National Book Foundation's Teen Press Conference, held this past Tuesday, host Jon Scieszka noted that the "crazy collection of writers and illustrators" that make up this year's National Book Award finalists in the Young People's Literature category offered "absolutely something for everyone"; be it social activism, history, or "lots of kissing."
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Charlesbridge Acquires Mackinac Island Press List
Watertown, Mass., children’s publisher Charlesbridge has acquired the rights to the 30-book backlist and several forthcoming titles from Mackinac Island Press of Traverse City, Mich. MIP will continue to operate as a book developer, producing between eight and 12 children’s titles, and one and two series a year.
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Children's Book Reviews: 11/16/2009
In this week's children's book reviews: picture books from Peter McCarty, David McPhail, Sandra Boynton, and Arnold and Adrianne Lobel; fiction from Iain Lawrence, Mike Lupica, James Patterson, and Peter Lerangis; and a round-up of the latest pop-up books to hit the market.
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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... -
In Brief: November 12
This week, five YA authors gather for fans at Books of Wonder in New York City, children in Mongolia get their books delivered... by camel, and Ivy and Bean Day was celebrated in 100 bookstores and libraries across the country.
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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 AChristmas Carol, taking in $30 million; and Little, Brown preps for the long-awaited release of the Twilight sequel, New Moon, on November 20.
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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...
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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.
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Movie Alert: Fantastic Mr. Fox
Following in the footsteps of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, and The Witches, another of Roald Dahl’s much-loved stories—Fantastic Mr. Fox—heads to the big screen on November 13, reimagined as a stop-motion animated feature from Twentieth Century Fox. And the A-list team behind the project is as fantastic as the title character himself...
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Halloween 2009: A Photo-Essay
In what has become a holiday tradition, several children's book publishers celebrated Halloween this past week in high style, and with some inventive book-inspired costumes. Here, we present party highlights—both spooky and silly—in a holiday tradition of our own: the post-Halloween photo-essay.
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Obituary: Esther Hautzig
Author Esther Hautzig died on Sunday, November 1, at the age of 79. She was best known for her 1968 work, The Endless Steppe: Growing Up in Siberia, an autobiographical account of her family’s life in Siberia during WWII, having being exiled there from Poland. She wrote several other books for children over a career that spanned five decades...
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Invent a Tool for Alex Rider
Alex Rider's eighth adventure, Crocodile Tears, hits stores November 17 and Penguin is partnering with MAKE magazine to challenge young inventors to come up with a gadget cool enough for the teen spy's arsenal. After all, author Anthony Horowitz says that when he needs a new tool to get his hero out of peril, he goes to his own kids for inspiration. "I look around their bedrooms to see what kind of electronics and such they have littering the place," said Horowitz...
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Riordan Sets His Sights on Egypt
Like his Lightning Thief star Percy Jackson, Rick Riordan is a demigod—at least in the eyes of his readers. With the release next May of the first title in his new middle-grade fantasy series, about ancient Egypt, he is set to become a pharaoh, too. In The Kane Chronicles, Book One: The Red Pyramid, kids will meet Carter Kane, 14, and his sister, Sadie, 12, descendants of Egyptian magicians who battle gods accidentally released in the present...
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The Stories Behind Some Autumn Hits
In this busy fall selling season, several recently released children’s books are moving quite quickly out of the gate. Here we'll take a look at factors fueling the early success of five titles: Blood of the Witch and Fang of the Vampire, which launch Tommy Donbavand's Scream Street series; Ruined by Paula Morris; Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick; and Day Is Done by Peter Yarrow, illustrated by Melissa Sweet.
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Best Children's Books of 2009
On Monday, Publishers Weekly announced its Best Books of 2009, including our list of 30 Best Books for children. From accounts of civil rights heroes, to harrowing (and hopeful) stories about contemporary teenagers, to picture books that perfectly capture friendship, curiosity, or flights of fancy, 2009 held a treasure trove of wonderful reading for children of all ages and interests. Click through to see our selections.
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Guys with Books Rock the Road
Two authors. Two illustrators. Four books. Dozens of appearances. And, by all reports, immeasurable hilarity. These were some of the key components of the Guys with Books author tour that recently sent four creators of new Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers titles on the road...
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In Brief: October 29
This week, Al Roker picks Where the Mountain Meets the Moon for this book club, R.L. Stine goes out live to 150,000 viewers, and Cinda Williams Chima is on tour for the first book in her new fantasy trilogy.
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Bookfest in Boston
When the Boston Globe Children's Book Festival announced earlier this year that it was canceling its seventh book fair, the inaugural Boston Book Festival, which was held last Saturday, upped its children's programming. Even with short notice the BBF was able to fit in a number of activities just for kids, from a tea with Catie Copley, the Labrador that inspired Catie Copley's Great Escape...
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The Gen Z Reader: Finding Profits in an Elusive Market
Kristen McLean, executive director of the Association of Booksellers for Children, presented a detailed outline of the technological challenges facing the teen book market at the fall meeting of the Southern California Independent Booksellers Association on October 24. After commenting on the proliferation of teen Web sites, blogs, and social networks and how they are transforming the way books are read...
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Mazer’s Legacy Honored; Memorial Date Set
Family, friends, and colleagues are honoring in their own ways Norma Fox Mazer, who died of cancer on October 17. Remembrances of Mazer include a memorial scheduled for next weekend and the establishment of a scholarship fund by her family, to which several of her former students and other writers are pledging the royalties from a recent anthology. The memorial service will be held on November 7 at 2 p.m in the Vermont College of Fine Arts chapel...
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