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Children's Book Reviews
Picture Books The Baby in the Hat Allan Ahlberg , illus. by André Amstutz. Candlewick , $16.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-7636-3958-7 Ahlberg and Amstutz (previously paired for The Shopping Expedition) overlook few opportunities for humor in this tall tale (even the copyright includes jokes), which gains extra punch from the narrator's repeated insistence that the story is a true one.
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Cornelia Funke 'Inks' Her Final Chapter
This month sees the release of Inkdeath (Scholastic/Chicken House), the third and final book in Cornelia Funke's Inkheart trilogy, which began in 2003 with a book of the same name.
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All Ears on ‘Paper Towns’
When John Green’s third YA novel, Paper Towns (Dutton), hits shelves this week, it will be attended by the type of fanfare expected to accompany a much-anticipated book from an award-winning author, including a national tour, an extensive online promotion and a mobile text messaging campaign. But as part of the launch, audiobook fans can expect something groundbreaking: Paper Towns will be released simultaneously with the print book in a range of different audio formats.
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A New Stage for Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg steps into a new role next week, when Disney’s Jump at the Sun imprint publishes the debut novel in her first chapter-book series, Sugar Plum Ballerinas.
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Portrait of an Artist by a Like-Minded Artist
As a child, Deborah Kogan Ray read Millions of Cats, Wanda Gág’s 1929 Newbery Honor Book, as well as her other picture books. Several years ago, she came across excerpts from Gág’s diaries and immediately recognized a kindred spirit. That inspired Ray to create a picture-book biography, Wanda Gág: The Girl Who Lived to Draw, out this month from Viking.
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A Book (and Contest) for ‘Wimpy’ Fans
Last week, the latest addition to Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Do-It-Yourself Book, went on sale with a 500,000-copy first printing.
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The ABCs of Buzz
This past Tuesday, Roaring Brook Press turned up the volume to celebrate the release of ABC3D, a new alphabet pop-up book by Marion Bataille. The publisher hosted a lunchtime concert outside its new digs at the Flatiron Building in Manhattan featuring local band Not Waving But Drowning, which performed an original song they wrote about the book.
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Q & A with M.T. Anderson
M.T. Anderson’s The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation: Volume I: The Pox Party (Candlewick, 2006), about the coming of age of a young, classically educated slave at the outset of the American Revolution, received both a National Book Award and a Printz Honor. The sequel, The Kingdom on the Waves, is in bookstores.
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Cavendish to Launch Line of Classics
Beginning next March, Marshall Cavendish Children’s Books will publish a line of formerly out-of-print picture books and novels under the name Marshall Cavendish Classics.
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Kids’ Cookbooks Pick Up Steam
This fall brings a bountiful crop of cookbooks for kids to use in the kitchen. Many are standing on strong legs—whether authored by celebrity chefs or following successful first editions—while others are tied to well-known culinary establishments or have a standout visual element.
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Hoberman Picked as Poet Laureate
As part of its fifth annual Pegasus Awards, the Poetry Foundation has selected Mary Ann Hoberman as Children’s Poet Laureate. Hoberman inherits the two-year position, which comes with a $25,000 prize, from Jack Prelutsky.
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GLIBA Booksellers Dispense Advice
About 50 general booksellers gathered at the GLIBA trade snow to hear Kristen McLean, executive director of the Association of Booksellers for Children, along with booksellers Cynthia Compton of 4 Kids Books in Indianapolis and Rose Joseph of Magic Tree Bookstore in Oak Park, Ill., discuss the nuts and bolts of setting up a children’s section in a general-interest bookstore.
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GLIBA: A Weekend of Excitement
Children’s books were very much on booksellers’s minds at last weekend’s Great Lakes Independent Booksellers annual trade show, held in Dearborn, Mich.
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Turning Make-Believe into Real Success
Though the books might be about dolls, the creation of the Doll People series has been anything but child’s play. The Runaway Dolls is the third book in Ann M. Martin, Laura Godwin and Brian Selznick’s well-received series that began with The Doll People in 2000.
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Q & A with Neil Gaiman
Children's Bookshelf spoke with Neil Gaiman about his new novel, The Graveyard Book (HarperCollins).
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Storyopolis: Balancing Art with Books
Storyopolis, Southern California’s premier children’s art gallery and bookshop, moved from Studio City to Sherman Oaks three weeks ago and has changed its name to The Gallery at Storyopolis.
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‘City of Ember’ Premieres in Manhattan
City of Ember, a film based on the book by Jeanne DuPrau, opens in theaters this Friday. The book's agent, Nancy Gallt, attended its premiere.
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Lose Weight by Reading
Ever wish reading could make you thin? According to a new study released last week by researchers at Duke Children’s Hospital, that just might be the case, at least for teen girls. In a pilot study of 81 girls between the ages of nine and 13, reading resulted in a lower Body Mass Index, which measures weight in relation to height.
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Sheff Takes His Drug Recovery Public
Nic Sheff’s bestselling memoir about methamphetamine addiction, Tweak, landed on bestseller lists earlier this year. Now, a new blog by the author, New Dawn Transmission, has quickly found a strong following.
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Workman ‘Kicks’ Out a Tweaked Sequel
Baseball may be America’s national pastime, but it doesn’t have as strong a following in other countries. So while Swing!, Rufus Butler Seder’s sports-centered follow-up to last year’s bestseller, Gallop!, goes on sale in the U.S. next week, other countries will see a slightly different version of the book.
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