There are good and bad results that occur when a book like Diary of a Wimpy Kid hits the stratosphere. On the one hand, suddenly publishers are a lot more open-minded about breathing life into books that… Read More
Speed blogging time! No time for cute observations. I have a post to . . . uh . . . post.
In brief!
It’s almost Cybils time! Each year the children’s literary bloggers get together and give out their own awards to works of children’s literature. Want to participate? See here for more details.
Me interviewed on Desk Set blog. Me talk about me. No real surprises there.
The remarkable, fantastic, delightful Andrea Ross recently beat cancer back and gave it
Seems like more and more children’s books are being turned into movies these days. When I was a kid the pickings were relatively slim. If I had to name all the films I watched based on children’s literature that were released when I was between the ages of 0-12, I could name you that awful Pippi Longstocking (aw zut . . . now the theme song’s caught in my head again), The Neverending Story (which some would argue isn’t a children’s book at all), and . . . uh … Read More
Due to the sheer proliferation of book jackets featuring photographs rather than illustrations, I think the time is right to offer a little ode of praise to our brave illustrators who work so hard to give us great illustrated chapter book covers. In an age when it feels like all the teen covers are dedicated to giving us variations on the same theme, it’s refreshing to consider that some artists do more than just Photoshop a girl’s dress from pink to blue.
That said, sometimes it’s hard to tell who the cover artist is on an individual book. A… Read More
I don’t know how you like to wake up on your Sunday mornings, but I for one enjoy a rousing rendition of Bjork set to eerie stop animation. Particularly if that animation involves Moomins. This is quite possibly one of the odder openings I’ve ever placed on this blog. To be fair, “comet” and “dammit” really are ideal rhymes. Just not the kind of thing you’d expect to find in a music video for a children’s film.
As for the actual film itself, you can see… Read More
If Pippi Longstocking is a redhead known for her casual legwear, Angelica Longrider (or just “Angel” for short) would have to be considered her blatantly barefoot ginger-headed equivalent. When the Anne Isaacs Caldecott Honor winning picture book Swamp Angel took the stage back in 1994 it was cause for celebration. Here you had an… Read More
Welcome to the first informational post for the Kidlitosphere 2010 Conference!
This year’s conference will be hosted by Andrew Karre (Carolrhoda), Ben Barnhart (Milkweed Editions) and Brian Farrey (Flux) in beautiful downtown Minneapolis.
Let’s start with the basics:
Where: Open Book, Minneapolis, MN
When: Saturday, October 23, 2010
The rough schedule calls for a wine and cheese reception on the night of Friday the 22nd, a day of workshops and panels on the 23rd, followed by a closing conference dinner in the evening.
Ah. Tis that bonny time of the year when like-minded people (or, in some cases, like-occupationed people) gather together in pubs to sip alcoholic drinks and discuss the state of children’s literature today. Yes, it’s Kidlit Drink Night yet again, and this month Cheryl and I are hanging our hat on an old standby that many of us love. Get ready for a beer list that’ll put to shame any other place you’ve been in town. We’re going to The Ginger Man!
It's the bellbottoms on the hippy dippy minstrel that I love.
Comic book bloggers and children’s literature bloggers are two sides of the same coin. Our interests often run parallel. The degree to which the academic world regards us is fairly similar (though admittedly we get to have Norton Anthologies while they are sorely lacking any such distinction). I don’t read my comic book blogs as frequently as I might, but once in a while the resident husband will draw my attention to something particularly
Sometimes a company will implement an idea that makes me want to stand up, take notice, and perhaps dance a restrained ladylike jig. Such was my reaction to The Creative Company’s decision to produce small books of adult short stories. The kinds of things kids are assigned to read in school.
Thus far, I’ve seen four of the books in person. These include:
