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'Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale' Comes Full Circle
Long before Mo Willems made a name for himself as an author, or Stephanie D’Abruzzo won a Tony nomination for playing Lucy the Slut in Avenue Q, the two were colleagues on Sesame Street. And though they also worked together in 2000 on Sheep in the Big City, on the Cartoon Network, their career paths had diverged a bit when Mo and his wife, Cheryl, became parents for the first time, to a baby girl named Trixie.
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Children's Rights Report: May 6
Smokewood Entertainment, the production company behind Precious, has bought film rights to Judy Moody. John Schultz (Aliens in the Attic) will direct, and Kathy Waugh and Judy Moody author Megan McDonald have written the screenplay. The The film begins production in August, and Candlewick will publish a Judy Moody movie tie-in program in spring 2011.
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Ed Young Picture Book Introduces Fictional Bear with Very Real Roots
A bear forages for food, climbs into its tree nest, and scales the snow-capped Himalayas in Moon Bear by Brenda Z. Guiberson, featuring cut-paper illustrations by Ed Young. Out this month from Holt, the book spotlights the Asiatic black bear, also known as the moon bear, for the white crescent-shaped marking on its chest. A concluding author’s note addressing the plight of this endangered species is accompanied by photos of moon bears living in a China sanctuary run by the Hong Kong-based Animals Asia Foundation, which will receive a portion of the proceeds from the sales of Moon Bear. The publisher has also launched an on-line campaign to adopt a moon bear—with readers’ help.
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In Brief: May 6
This week in children's news, Rick Riordan launches his new series at the Brooklyn Museum, a first novelist gets some good 'Karma,' and Kids Otter Read Day is celebrated in the Bay Area.
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Toot and Puddle Ride the Rails
Last week Toot and Puddle, stars of an animated series that airs on Nick Jr. (based on Holly Hobbie's series of picture books with Little, Brown), were seen in train stations in Washington, D.C., and New York City. The duo was promoting the Read & Ride Travel Sweepstakes, sponsored by Amtrak and National Geographic Kids Entertainment, which produces the TV series. The sweepstakes offers a chance to win a three-day trip for four to Washington. Click through for some fun photos from the events.
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Katherine Paterson to Adapt St. Francis for Her Next Project
Just as the publisher of the Hollywood Reporter famously found Lana Turner at a Hollywood drugstore, Christopher Franceschelli discovered artist Pamela Dalton at a Harlemville, N.Y., farm store. The Handprint Books publisher spotted her intricate scissor-cut images hanging on the walls—and tracked her down at her studio, a quarter mile down the road. It wasn't long before he signed her up to illustrate a picture-book adaptation of Saint Francis of Assisi's 13th-century hymn, "The Canticle of the Sun," to be written by Katherine Paterson.
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In Brief: April 22
This week, Gary Paulsen concludes his national tour, an author who writes about Icelandic volcanoes gets stranded by the Icelandic volcano, and the Readergirlz distribute more than 10,000 YA books to Native American teenagers.
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Web Exclusive Children's Book Reviews: 4/20/2010
This collection of web-exclusive children's book reviews from Publishers Weekly includes a starred review for a book from Deborah Hopkinson and Jen Corace, as well as titles by Tim McGraw, Walter Dean Myers, Thatcher Heldring, and Julia DeVillers.
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Macmillan Kids Gets to the Point
In this digital age, an online presence is a key part of a publisher's identity. So when a corporate reorganization brought together the Macmillan Children's Publishing Group at the end of 2008, the goal of developing a digital snapshot of the new group was also hatched. First up in that plan is the blog called Get to the Point, launched earlier this year. "We came up with the idea when all seven of the children's imprints were merged under one umbrella," says Karen Frangipane, director of marketing and digital for the Macmillan Children's Publishing Group. "We began developing a number of online initiatives and the blog was one of those. Some of the imprints already had an online presence, but we thought that the blog would be a fun, interactive way to come together and present ourselves as one unified group."
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Animal Tales at the Bronx Zoo
"Every year we have amazing, beautiful babies," says Judy Frimer, marketing director of the Wildlife Conservation Society, which owns and/or manages New York City's zoos and aquarium. As a way to introduce children to baby animals at the zoo, this month WCS launched Animal Tales Extravaganza at the Bronx Zoo, a 13-week program designed to celebrate wildlife and children's literature. Each weekend between now and the end of June, the zoo is holding readings and talks by children's book authors and illustrators. Among the many participating authors and illustrators are Matthew Van Fleet (Alphabet), Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin (Click, Clack, Moo), Anna Dewdney (Roly Poly Pangolin), Peter Brown (The Curious Garden), Ed Young (Moon Bear), and Holly Hobbie (the Toot & Puddle books).
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Father-Daughter Team Brings Back Lyle the Crocodile
Nearly 50 years ago, Bernard Waber introduced a lovable crocodile named Lyle in The House on East 88th Street. Lyle was a big hit with readers: that inaugural picture book and seven subsequent Lyle the Crocodile books have sold more than 1.5 million copies in the U.S. alone. Now, 12 years after his last book appearance, Lyle returns in Lyle Walks the Dogs: A Counting Book written by Bernard Waber and illustrated by his daughter, Paulis Waber, who is making her children's book debut. Aimed at a younger audience than the earlier Lyle stories, the book will be published (as have all the others, by Houghton Mifflin) next month.
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In Brief: April 15
The cover for 'Matched' by Ally Condie is revealed; a teenage Australian author gets a whirlwind tour of the U.S., and Archbishop Desmond Tutu's book helps teach second graders about peace, love, and acceptance.
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Capstone Characters Headed for Hollywood
Capstone Publishers has partnered with lawyer-producer Eric Feig and actress-writer Marisa Coughlan, a member of Capstone's founding family, to bring the company's portfolio of original characters to film, television, new media, and licensed products. Feig and Coughlan will work with literary rep Alan Gasmer and licensing agent Ken Abrams on the project, which will focus on properties from Capstone's fiction imprint, Stone Arch Books. "These books are getting into the hands of millions of schoolchildren daily," says Lori Benton, president and publisher of Capstone Fiction. "The recognition factor is very high among the end users. There's already a built-in audience."
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Obituary: John Schoenherr
Artist John Schoenherr died April 8 in Easton, Pa.; he was 74. Schoenherr illustrated dozens of books for children and adults during his career, including Rascal by Sterling North, Walt Morey's Gentle Ben, The Fox and the Hound by Daniel P. Mannix, Incident at Hawk's Hill by Allan W. Eckert, Jean Craighead George's Julie of the Wolves, and Jane Yolen's Owl Moon, for which he was awarded the Caldecott Medal in 1988. Schoenherr also received a Hugo Award for his science fiction artwork in 1965 (he was the first artist to illustrate the worlds of Anne McCaffrey's Pern books and Frank Herbert's Dune series, both of which were first seen in Analog magazine). His son Ian is also a children's author/illustrator.
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The iPad Meets the Children's Book
On launch day last Saturday, Apple sold more than 300,000 iPads—and users downloaded more than one million apps and more than 250,000 ebooks from the iBookstore. Parents immediately started snapping up picture book apps from Apple's online store. In fact, children's stories held six of the top 10 paid iPad book-app sales spots as of press time. Typical prices for children's book apps range anywhere from $2.99 for The Cat in the Hat to $9.99 for Miss Spider's Tea Party. So far the big winners seem to be household names....
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The More Things Change....
Publisher Stephen Roxburgh test-drives his brand-new iPad with his five-year-old granddaughter.
Since founding namelos, my print-on-demand and ebook-based publishing house, I have been accused of having an unnatural attachment to hardware and all things digital. However, in spite of what some people are saying, I was more excited about the birth of my children than the arrival of my iPad. But the kids are grown up now and... well, maybe I'm not. Be that as it may, the iPad is a thing of beauty and a wonder to behold. -
Chickens—and Children's Book Authors—on ‘Martha'
Last Friday, The Martha Stewart Show was all about chickens. And given what a frequent subject hens, roosters, and baby chicks are in kids' books, it should come as no surprise that the episode featured guest appearances by two children's book authors—Jan Brett and Terry Golson, both of whom discussed their recent picture books and showed up with chickens of their own. Audience members joined in the fun, bringing their own chickens, too.
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Tricycle Press Book Spotlights an Extraordinary Bulb
In 1901, the owner of the power and light company in Livermore, Calif., gave that Bay Area town's volunteer firefighters a four-watt bulb to help them find their equipment in the dark. That lightbulb, made of carbon filament and hand-blown glass, has been burning ever since, and is thought to be the world's longest continuously burning bulb. This story inspired Janet Nolan to write The Firehouse Light, a May release from Tricycle Press. Illustrated by Marie Lafrance, the picture book chronicles the myriad changes that occur in the town—notably in firefighting equipment and techniques—over the decades, as the steadfast bulb continues to glow.
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In Brief: April 8
This week, children's authors read from their works at the White House, Ivy and Bean celebrate selling a million copies, and a football star talks about his new picture book.
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Van Metre Named Publisher at Abrams
Following former publisher Howard W. Reeves's move to become editor-at-large earlier this year, Abrams has announced that Susan Van Metre will become v-p and publisher for Abrams Books for Young Readers and Amulet Books, effective immediately. Senior editor Tamar Brazis, who has edited books including Laura Numeroff's Jellybeans picture book series, is being promoted to executive editor. Van Metre hopes to build on Abrams' strengths, as well as take a fresh look at the younger end of the list.
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