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Licensing Hotline: October 2009
David Biedrzycki's Ace Lacewing: Bug Detective is ready to generate buzz through a new representation deal between Charlesbridge and The ThinkTank Emporium, marking the first time Charlesbridge has signed with an outside agent to develop one of its book franchises. See more licensing stories, including news of Golden’s Iron Man: Armored Adventures titles, and Parragon teaming with MGA Entertainment on a new doll line for tween girls.
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A Bountiful Crop of Young Readers’ Adaptations
It’s that time of year again. Booksellers are stocking up for the holiday selling season and publishers’ fall lists are sprinkled with the names of tried-and-true authors. Some of those familiar authors are testing new waters, with children’s adaptations of their successful adult books—often with hefty first printings. Though it is hardly a new phenomenon, the adaptation business appears to be thriving in these tight times.
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Children's Authors Sparkle at MBA
The children’s book and author breakfast, which traditionally kicks off the trade show portion of the Midwest Booksellers Association’s annual gathering, is usually a literary-star studded affair, and this year was no exception. Nearly 200 groggy booksellers straggled into St. Paul’s RiverCentre last Saturday morning to hear an A-list of children’s authors: Loren Long, M.T. Anderson, Catherine Gilbert Murdock and Neil Gaiman...
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Building a Book for Habitat for Humanity
Since 1976, Habitat for Humanity has built more than 300,000 houses in over 3,000 communities in 90-plus countries. David Rubel chronicles the history and accomplishments of this organization in If I Had a Hammer: Building Homes and Hope with Habitat for Humanity, an October title from Candlewick. The book features a foreword by former president Jimmy Carter, who first picked up a hammer to participate in a Habitat project a quarter-century ago.
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Children's Book Reviews: 9/28/2009
This week's reviews include new picture books from Peter Yarrow, Satoshi Kitamura, Patricia Polacco and Lois Lowry, as well as fiction from Sharon Creech, Nancy Farmer, Cinda Williams Chima, Julia Donaldson and Siobhan Dowd.
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Web Exclusive Children's Book Reviews: 9/24/2009
This selection of web-exclusive children's book reviews includes new books from Rachel Isadora, Peter Yarrow and Amber Kizer, as well as debut work from Jan Bozarth, Carolyn Q. Ebbitt and Donny Bailey Seagraves.
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Finalists Named for Astrid Lindgren Prize
Nearly 170 authors and organizations were named last Thursday as finalists for the annual Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, the world's most lucrative prize in children’s books. Finalists from the United States are: Ashley Bryan, Kevin Henkes, Russell Hoban, Maira Kalman, Lois Lowry, Greg Mortenson, Walter Dean Myers, Anne Pellowski, Allen Say, Uri Shulevitz, Peter Sís, and the Room to Read organization. Nominated British authors include...
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Debut Author Draws from Her Own Childhood
Penelope, a big-hearted doll character, mends a tear in her grandfather’s khakis in Poppy’s Pants, out this month from Blue Apple Books. Penelope's story recalls that of her creator, first-time author/illustrator Melissa Conroy, who began sewing at an early age and displayed her prowess with a needle by repairing torn pants belonging to her father, novelist Pat Conroy. Melissa went on to develop the WoOberry line of dolls. Conroy's path to becoming a children's author began...
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In Brief: September 24
This week, the Barber brothers appear on 'The Today Show," the Kennedy Center celebrates multicultural kids' books, and two book festivals feature children's authors as guests.
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Obituaries: Milton Meltzer and Bernie Fuchs
Historian Milton Meltzer, author of more than 110 books for young people, and a five-time finalist for the National Book Award, died on September 19 after a battle with cancer. Illustrator Bernie Fuchs, who worked for many years as an editorial illustrator before turning his talents to children's books, died of cancer on September 17...
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Books Go 3-D Starting with Ology Series in U.K.
Up until this spring, augmented reality - a software program developed in France by Total Immersion to create a hologram-like 3-D experience - has mostly been used in print for marketing brochures for cars. Then in March Topps added augmented reality to enhance its baseball cards. So it was only a matter of time before the program, which ties a brand with a Web site, migrated to books...
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Q & A with Richard Peck
Q: When you wrote the short story 'Shotgun Cheatham’s Last Night Above Ground' years ago, did you have any inkling that it would grow into three entire novels?
A: No, I didn’t. I was asked by Harry Mazer to contribute something to a collection of stories about guns and I thought, "He’s going to get too many guy stories, so I’m going to think up a female character." That’s how Grandma Dowdel was born. -
Galley Talk: ‘The Maze Runner'
Shannon O’Connor of the Doylestown Bookshop in Doylestown, Pa., talks about a favorite fall galley.
In James Dashner’s The Maze Runner (Delacorte, Oct.), Thomas wakes up in a strange place, surrounded by strange boys—and the only thing he can remember is his name. Where has he been taken? To the center of a giant maze that is guarded by Grievers, creatures born of your darkest nightmares. -
Bologna Reinstates Fourth Day
The Bologna Children's Book Fair has yielded to protests and reinstated the fourth day of the event. The 2010 fair will now take place from Tuesday to Friday, March 23-26. A group of U.K. publishers petitioned Bologna after they had learned that the 2010 fair had been scheduled to take place over three days rather than the usual four. Gloria Bailey, manager of international book fairs at the Publishers Association, met Bologna Fair director Roberta Chinni...
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Children's Book Reviews: 9/21/2009
This week's children's book reviews include new picture books from Ursula K. Le Guin, Jeff Smith and NBA-er Chris Paul; fiction from Jutta Richter, Laini Taylor, Gordan Korman and Joanne Dahme; and a collection of Thanksgiving books (none of them turkeys).
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QR Codes Tie Print, Online Marketing
As publishers continue to hunt for ways to use new technology to draw the attention of teens to books, HarperCollins has been extremely pleased with the response it has received to the use of QR (quick response) codes, which it used for recent releases L.A. Candy and The Amanda Project. To access the codes, teens (or anyone else) take a picture of the code with a smartphone, which then links the user...
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Children’s Publishing in the Digital Age
In a forum this past Tuesday on “The Current State of E: Publishing in the Digital Age,” a group of panelists discussed some of the thorniest issues that the industry is currently facing: where digital publishing stands and where it is headed. Speakers included Len Feldman of Follett Digital Resources, Andrew Weinstein of Ingram Digital, Erica Lazarro of OverDrive and Josh Koppel of ScrollMotion; digital publishing reporter Craig Morgan Teicher served as moderator.
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Kids' and YA Authors at the Brooklyn Book Festival
More than 200 authors and illustrators participated in the Brooklyn Book Festival this past Sunday, many of whom were creators of books for children. The one-day festival drew 30,000 attendees, according to the Village Voice; more than 150 booksellers, publishers and other organizations were on hand as well. See our photos from the event.
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Harry Potter Heads to Orlando
From tasting Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans to visiting Ollivander’s wand shop, Potterphiles will soon be able to live out fantasies of life in Hogwarts. Universal World Resort has revealed some advance details about The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, a Potter-themed addition to Universal’s Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Fla. Scheduled to open in spring 2010, the 20-acre attraction will feature shops, food and entertainment drawn from J.K. Rowling’s books as well as...
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Happy Birthday, Tomie!
Tomie dePaola celebrated his 75th birthday this past Tuesday, and Penguin Young Readers Group threw a birthday party in honor of the beloved author and illustrator last week at New York City’s Valbella Restaurant. Numerous friends, writers and publishing folk turned out to wish dePaola well; see our photo-essay from the party, after the jump.
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