Celebrities Move from Stage to Page
A quartet of individuals with claims to fame on the small or large screen are stepping into the literary limelight this spring, adding picture-book author to their lists of credits.
Maria Shriver, celebrated anchorwoman, First Lady of California and author of the bestselling What's Heaven? and What's Wrong with Timmy?, teams up with illustrator Sandra Speidel in their third picture book, What's Happening to Grandpa?, which delves into the issue of Alzheimer's disease. Little, Brown will release this title in May.
Also appearing on bookstore shelves this spring is Jay Leno, talk show host and author of Leading with My Chin. His children's book debut is If Roast Beef Could Fly, illustrated by S.B. Whitehead, which S&S will release on its laydown date of March 23 with a 175,000-copy first printing. Drawing on a tale from his childhood, Leno's narrative centers on a father with ambitious plans to build an enormous barbecue patio—and his son's equally ambitious plot to get a taste of the giant roast beef served at the first cookout.
Billy Crystal eschews the humorous for the heartfelt in his inaugural picture book, I Already Know I Love You, which describes the cavalcade of emotions that accompanies being a grandfather for the first time. Elizabeth Sayles contributes the art for this April release from HarperCollins.
And rounding out the roster of celebrity authors is Sonia Manzano, whom youngsters know well as Maria on Sesame Street. A 15-time Emmy Award winner, she makes her picture-book debut with No Dogs Allowed!, illustrated by Jon J Muth. In this March tale from Atheneum, a girl and her family have a wonderful time on a day trip to the lake, despite having to cope with some unexpected happenings.
Not surprisingly, the publishers of all the above will raise the curtain on these books with marketing and promotion campaigns.
Spring Anniversary Celebrations
Found on the upcoming lists of a handful of publishers are commemorative editions of books that have won the hearts of generations of readers. No fewer than five of these titles herald from various imprints of HarperCollins.
It was a half-century ago that Beverly Cleary, winner of the Newbery Medal and two Newbery Honors, first introduced readers to Henry Huggins and his mischievous pooch, Ribsy, in Henry and Ribsy. HarperTrophy has just issued a paperback 50th anniversary edition of this caper, illustrated by Louis Darling. Another title published under this imprint is The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles 30th Anniversary Edition, a repackaged version of Julie Andrews Edwards's novel about three youngsters on a quest to find a wise and magical creature who disappeared to another land because people stopped believing in him.
Also reaching the three-decade mark is Shel Silverstein's perennial bestseller, Where the Sidewalk Ends, a 30th-anniversary special edition of which HarperCollins releases this month. Available for only a year, this volume includes never-before-published poems and drawings and features a metallic silver-ink jacket.
A quarter-century has passed since the first appearance of Arnold Lobel's Days with Frog and Toad, which will be released in a 25th-anniversary edition as a HarperTrophy I Can Read Book. This duo earned its creator high kudos: a Caldecott Honor for Frog and Toad Are Friends and a Newbery Honor for Frog and Toad All Year.
And another recent HarperTrophy release celebrates the 20th anniversary of Steven Kellogg's retelling of one of America's best-loved tall tales, Paul Bunyan. Graced with art by the author, this book is a Reading Rainbow selection.
In 1954, The Lucky Baseball Bat, the initial title in the Matt Christopher sports series, scored a hit with young readers and got an impressive ball rolling: today there are more than 100 Christopher titles in print, and the series boasts sales of more than six million copies. To commemorate its 50th anniversary, Little, Brown will reissue in June that lead-off title with its original cover and backed by a $150,000 marketing campaign that includes a sweepstakes whose winner will earn a trip to a baseball team's spring training site in 2005.
Two decades have passed since the release of The Last Bit Bear: A Fable by Sandra Chisholm DeYonge, which has sold more than 100,000 copies. Due from Roberts Rinehart is a 20th-anniversary edition of this environmental tale introducing Clover, the last bear of his kind, who seeks out the leaves of the moak tree—the food on which his survival depends. This new edition features full-color art by Ellen Ditzler Meloy.
And Jonathan Cape will publish a 40th-anniversary edition of John Burningham's Kate Greenaway Medal—winning debut book, Borka: The Adventures of a Goose with No Feathers. Also in commemoration of this milestone, Red Fox will issue paperback editions of 10 of Burningham's backlist picture books, including Aldo, Harquin: The Fox Who Went Down to the Valley and Where's Julius?
A very happy anniversary to one and all!
Cows Just Wanna Have Fun
Kids who think that cows spend lazy days munching in the meadow will discover that's not always the case when they encounter a trio of spring releases starring some boisterous bovines.
In Marsha Diane Arnold's Prancing Dancing Lily, a toe-tapping cow watches the other cows in her herd walk from barn to pasture at a dignified pace and decides to leave the slow-moving farm to explore the world. Visiting locales from New York City to Senegal, Lily learns new steps, but the hoofer decides to head home after concluding that none of the dances is quite right for a cow. John Manders illustrates this March title from Dial.
Set in the heyday of the Wild West, Home on the Range: The Adventures of a Bovine Goddess, penned by Maggie the Cow with Monique Peterson, is a trade paperback due out from Disney Editions. This dairy cow relays how she and two bovine buddies vow to stop foreclosure on their farm by collecting the reward for the capture of a notorious cattle rustler—a plan that entails staging a "moo-tion picture exposé."
And another feisty bovine is at the center of a new Eerdmans picture book, Something to Tell the Grandcows by Eileen Spinelli, illustrated by Bill Slavin. In this caper, a cow longing to embark on an adventure that will impress her descendents joins Admiral Richard E. Byrd on his 1933 expedition to the South Pole. Clearly, a cow's life can be far more exciting than grazing in the grass!
Recalling Memorable Milestones
This spring's crop of books includes several that celebrate noteworthy cultural or historical events in our country—and one big birthday.
Few people have left a mark on children's book publishing as deep or lasting as that made by Theodor Geisel, and Random House is celebrating this beloved author's 100th birthday with two spring books. Kathleen Krull's The Boy on Fairfield Street: How Ted Geisel Grew Up to Become Dr. Seuss, a picture book illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher, recounts the author's childhood and early professional life. And in The Seuss, the Whole Seuss, and Nothing But the Seuss: A Visual Biography of Theodor Seuss Geisel, Charles D. Cohen delves into the life of this creative thinker, whose writing and art are featured throughout the tome.
Also celebrating a centennial is the New York City subway system, an event celebrated in a picture book issued under Random House's Crown imprint: A Subway for New York by David Weitzman. In words and pictures, the author chronicles the creation of one of the world's first underground trains which, on its inaugural run in 1904, brought passengers from one end of Manhattan to the other in only 26 minutes.
June 6 marks the 60th anniversary of an event that was crucial to the Allied victory against Nazi Germany in World War II, and a pair of books due out this spring pays tribute to this key moment in American history. From National Geographic Children's Books comes Remember D-Day: The Plan, the Invasion, Survivor Stories by Ronald Drez. David Eisenhower contributes a foreword to this chronicle, which features archival photographs, memorabilia and maps. Also published to coincide with the 60th anniversary of this military feat is D-Day: They Fought to Free Europe from Hitler's Tyranny by Shelley Tanaka. This addition to Hyperion's A Day That Changed America series incorporates the stories of young men who participated in the event, and features paintings by David Craig.
Pulitzer Prize winner and Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison celebrates the 50th anniversary of the groundbreaking Brownv.Board of Education Supreme Court decision in Remember: The Journey to School Integration. This title includes archival photographs that inspired the author's fictional account of the dialogue and emotions of children who lived during that turbulent time.
Books by or 'bout the Bard
A deservedly perennially popular fellow, Shakespeare continues to take frequent bows on the lists of children's publishers, as their spring offerings demonstrate. April will bring Tina Packer's Tales from Shakespeare, which collects retellings of 10 of the playwright's most celebrated works, including Twelfth Night, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Macbeth and Othello. This Scholastic Press title is illustrated by an impressive cast of artists, among them Leo and Diane Dillon, Mary Grandpré, Barry Moser, Kadir Nelson, David Shannon and Mark Teague.
Also in April, Candlewick will issue a paperback reprint of a book with the identical title, Marcia Williams's Tales from Shakespeare, which presents adaptations of seven plays in the author's signature comic-strip style art. Also due from this house is Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Jane Ray, a retelling for readers ages 12-up.
Another version of the Bard's celebrated love story is a new addition to Sterling's The Young Reader's Shakespeare series. Retold by Adam McKeown and illustrated by Peter Fiore, Romeo & Juliet offers a contemporary take on this tragedy.
Bruce Coville adds to his oeuvre of Shakespearean adaptations with Hamlet, featuring art by Leonid Gore, which is due next monthfrom Dial.
And two spring novels feature Shakespearean themes. Peter Hassinger has penned Shakespeare's Daughter, a Laura Geringer Book from HarperCollins, in which Susanna Shakespeare leaves
Stratford-upon-Avon to experience her father's theatrical world in London and follow her secret dream of singing onstage as men do. Novelist Margaret Meacham plays off the plot of a beloved Shakespearean comedy in A Mid-Semester's Night Dream, a contemporary tale in which a fairy godmother-in-training promises a girl that she can cast a spell guaranteed to make the boy of her dreams fall in love with her.
Tapping into Two of This Year's Highlights
American sports and politics will each have a turn in the spotlight in 2004, as Americans first compete in and watch the Summer Olympics in Athens and then cast their votes in the presidential election in November. Kids can learn more about these events in several books that appear on publishers' spring lists.
Due in May from National Geographic Children's Books is Sue Macy's Swifter, Higher, Stronger: A Photographic History of the Summer Olympics, which includes a foreword by sportscaster Bob Costas. Here, text and more than 150 photos shape a portrait of the history, politics and athletes of the summer Games over the years. And Kingfisher in June will release Clive Gifford's Summer Olympics: The Definitive Guide to the World's Greatest Sports Celebration. This companion to the 2004 Olympics compiles background information on the various athletic events and competitors, describes athletes' training and life in the Olympic Village and outlines the highlights of past Games. Youngsters interested in becoming better educated on the upcoming election can turn to a paperback that Chronicle will publish in May. In Election Connection: The Official Nickelodeon Guide to the Presidential Elections, characters from Nickelodeon share facts, trivia and activities about U.S. presidents and the electoral process.
And Gallopade launches a series, Presidents on Parade, the inaugural volumes in which are called Presidential Elections and First Woman President, both by Carole Marsh.
Happy running to both athletes and candidates!
Announcing Some Wacky and Winsome Winners
As is our custom for these issues, we've kept our eyes peeled, as we perused publishers' submissions, for books that catch our attention for one reason or another. And so, in the spirit of fun, we herewith bestow some silly superlatives and a couple of serious ones.
Lift-the-Flap Book Whose Flaps Readers May Be Most Apprehensive About Lifting: Where's the Poop? by Julie Markes, illus. by Susan Kathleen Hartung, which introduces toilet training. (HarperFestival)
Most Curious Narrator:Exiled: Memoirs of a Camel by Kathleen Karr, which explores the American West from the perspective of a Muslim camel in the U.S. Camel Corps in 1856. (Marshall Cavendish)
Most Auspicious All-in-the-Family Collaboration:Half a Pig by Allan Ahlberg, with art by his daughter, Jessica Ahlberg, making her debut as a children's book illustrator. (Candlewick)
The "It Can't Get Any Earlier" Award:When You Were Just a Heartbeat by Laurel Molk. (Little, Brown)
Most Obvious Pen Name: Olive Ewe, author of Bee Mine: A Pop-up Book of Valentines. (S&S/Little Simon)
Most Intriguing Companion Novel:Messenger by Lois Lowry, companion to the acclaimed titles The Giver and Gathering Blue. (Houghton Mifflin)
Title Most Likely to Make Cafeteria Lunch Ladies Bristle:Showdown at the Food Pyramid by Rex Barron, in which a food fight erupts when unhealthy foods start to take over the food pyramid. (Putnam)
Pen Names Most Likely to Make Adults Squirm: Ralph Retcher and Betty Lou Poo, authors of Gross Me Out! 50 Nasty Projects to Disgust Your Friends & Repulse Your Family. (Sterling/Lark)
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