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Galley Talk: ‘Once Was Lost’ by Sara Zarr
Jennifer Laughran of Books Inc. in San Francisco talks about a favorite fall galley.
With a Mom in rehab, and a pastor Dad who knows a lot more about shepherding his congregation than taking care of his own family, Samara feels like her whole world is falling apart. When a girl in her town is kidnapped, Sam latches on to the case as a way to feel useful and a part of something bigger than herself, but nobody in town is beyond suspicion, even the people that Sam trusts most. -
New Edition (and Content) for ‘Light in the Attic’
First published in 1981, Shel Silverstein’s A Light in the Attic was the first children’s book to reach the New York Times bestseller list, where it appeared a total of 182 weeks. Next month, HarperCollins will release A Light in the Attic:Special Edition, which contains 12 previously unpublished poems and 10 new drawings by the author, who died in 1999. To help promote this new edition...
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Author Irene Smalls Adds Exercise to Reading
Concerned about declining reading skills and expanding waistlines for young people—nearly a third of U.S. children between the ages of 2 and 19 are overweight, according to the Alliance for a Healthier Generation—Boston author and storyteller Irene Smalls is looking to tackle both with Literacise, a children’s program that combines literacy and exercise. "Putting the mind and body together you get more learning and greater health," Smalls says.
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Children's Book Reviews: 8/17/2009
Reviewed this week: picture books from Loren Long, Charise Myracle Harper, Florence Parry Heide and Lane Smith, and Lauren Child; new fiction from Neil Gaiman, Kate DiCamillo and Gennifer Choldenko; and a round-up of titles about children's authors past and present, fit for kids, adults and even scholars.
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Ripple Connects Families with Recorded Children's Books
The Internet does nothing if not connect people, and Colorado-based Ripple has created a platform that uses the Internet to transport the intimate experience of reading a book to a child across long distances. Basically, Ripple is a Web-based audio recorder and player that also displays the pages of children's books. The idea is that a traveling parent, a long-distance grandparent, or a deployed soldier, for instance, could record the text of a children's book and then send a file...
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SCBWI's Annual Conference: Illuminating the Children’s Book Market
More than 1,100 people gathered at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles this past weekend for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators 38th annual summer conference. "This is a record-breaking level of attendance," said SCBWI president and co-founder Stephen Mooser. "Despite the recession, artists and writers realize the worth in being here. The children’s book field is a very supportive, sharing community."
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Page to Screen: Smith-Ready's YA Series and an L.A. Teen's Debut
This week in Page to Screen—PW's weekly column tracking film rights circulating and sold in Hollywood—Curtis Brown moves on Jeri Smith-Ready book, and Gotham shops an L.A.-teen-turned-Harvard-undergrad's novel.
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Q & A with Jane Smiley
Q: You obviously love horses. Is this the kind of book that you would have liked to have read as a child?
A: Well, it's more or less the kind of book I did read. When I was a child in 1960 - I was 10 and 11 that year - there were plenty of horse book series. I loved them all and read them all. I read the Black Stallion series, and other Walter Farley books. I also read Nancy Drew and other series. That was what kids' literature was back then. -
Movie Alert: 'Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs'
Based on Judi and Ron Barrett’s picture book of the same name, an animated film adaptation of 'Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs' hits theaters September 18. The story is set in the town of Chewandswallow (renamed Swallow Falls in the film), which is plagued by food and beverages that rain down from the sky on a daily basis. The film features the voices of Anna Faris and Bill Hader in the lead roles of weathergirl Sam Sparks and luckless inventor Flint Lockwood.
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McGuirk Dishes Up New Picture Book with Four Seasons Restaurateur
Dog may be man’s best friend, but for children’s book author/illustrator Leslie McGuirk, he doubles as her artistic muse. In her latest title, Wiggens Learns His Manners at the Four Seasons Restaurant (Candlewick, Aug.), the Vero Beach, Fla.-based writer, best known for her Tucker series of picture books, pays tribute to her canine companions once again.
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Diego Rivera’s Daughter Shares Memories of Her Father
Born in 1886, muralist, painter and political activist Diego Rivera was one of Mexico’s most influential 20th-century artists. His daughter, Guadalupe Rivera Marín, has compiled recollections of her father and personal commentaries on 13 of his works in My Papa Diego and Me/Mi papá Diego y yo, a new bilingual picture book that reproduces paintings and murals featuring children, who were the focus of many of Rivera’s paintings.
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Tess’s Tree: Online Picture Book Moves to Print
As the release date nears for the print edition of Jess Brallier’s Tess’s Tree (HarperCollins, Aug. 25), illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds, two questions remain: can a picture book with an online following succeed in print? And can lightning strike twice for a book originally "published" at FunBrain.com? (Hint: Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid already showed that a series of graphic novels can successfully make the transition.)
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Book Parties on Twitter
"The release of a new book is something to celebrate. Each story winging out into the world deserves a communal "HURRAH!," wrote children’s book author Mitali Perkins on her blog earlier this summer, to announce the launch of Twitter Book Birthday Parties (@bookbday). In the intervening weeks since she threw down the e-marketing gauntlet to help other children’s book authors and illustrators, she has filled most of the 75 slots that she had set as her limit.
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In Brief: August 13
This week, David Letterman's son gets his first book dedication, Walter Dean Myers takes fans on a historical tour, and Jarrett J. Krosoczka is reunited with his elementary school lunch ladies.
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Teen-Authored Series Gets Live Web Show
Marni suffers from Trichotillomania, a disorder that causes her to pull out her own hair. Chelsey’s father was murdered days before her 14th birthday. Emily has been diagnosed with West Nile Virus. Their stories are told, in their own words, in Louder Than Words, a new teen-authored memoir series from HCI Books. In support of the new series, HCI launched a weeklong live Web show, which premiered this past Monday on Kyte.tv.
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MetaMetrics Providing Lexile Measures for Simon & Schuster
Earlier this summer, MetaMetrics began providing Lexile measures for books under many of Simon & Schuster’s imprints. S&S's announcement of its partnership with MetaMetrics today follows the recent news that Barnes & Noble will start offering its customers the ability to search for books by Lexile measure, both in stores and at BN.com.
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Children’s Book Reviews: 8/10/2009
This week: picture books by Jon Scieszka and David Shannon, Deborah Hopkinson and Carson Ellis, and Yin Chang Compestine and James Yamasaki; novels from Patricia Reilly Giff, Ann M. Martin, Kaleb Nation and Adriana Trigiani; and an extensive round-up of fall picture-book biographies.
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A New Look for 'Liar'
Bloomsbury Children's Books has told PW exclusively that it will change the controversial cover of Justine Larbalestier's 'Liar.' Bloggers and the author herself had criticized the publisher's choice of a white girl with long, straight tresses for a novel about an African-American girl with "nappy" hair.
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Kids Can Rolls Out CitizenKid
Corus Entertainment’s Kids Can Press this month launches its first branded program, CitizenKid, a collection of books that focus on global issues and inspire young readers to become better global citizens. The debut collection consists of two new titles plus five backlist books. "As a company, we are very interested in global citizenship and making complex world subjects more accessible to kids," says Karen Boersma, publisher of Kids Can Press.
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Kids' Authors Team Up for 'Exquisite Corpse'
Plans are ramping up for the ninth annual National Book Festival in Washington, D.C., which will take place on September 26. For 2009, the Library of Congress and the National Children’s Book and Literary Alliance have teamed up with 18 children’s book authors and illustrators for a special presentation entitled The Exquisite Corpse Adventure, an ongoing story that will be unveiled over the course of a year.
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