Collecting Children's Books

We Neeeeeeed Bookmarks!

2012-01-23T19:03:00.014-05:00

I once thought I was the only person who looked forward to the American Library Association awards as if they were Christmas.

But over the past few years, thanks to children's book blogs, listserves, Facebook, and Twitter, I've realized that I am part of very large community of people who feel the same way.

I also wondered what I'd do if a "Newbery Day" ever rolled around and I was unable to participate. What if I had to attend a funeral that day? What if I was in the hospital or something? (I had visions of myself sneaking out of the funeral home to read the award announcements on a laptop in my car...or ripping out an IV and running to the nearest bookstore to buy the winning books.) Such extreme events did not occur this year -- thank goodness -- but it was a bit of a bad day anyway, due to some other painful, personal events going on in my life right now. A friend who knows me well said, "I cannot think of the word Newbery, at any time during the year and not think of you, and to imagine you not almost physically buzzing with excitement is very sad."

Yeah, it was kind of sad, but I realized today that Newbery Days come in all types: happy, sad, good, bad....

All are memorable in their own way.

Last night found me sitting in front of the computer till 2:00 AM, looking for clues about the awards and trading Newbery gossip with friends.

Then I got up at 7:30 AM and fired up the computer again. I always take Newbery Day off work, so that was not an issue. Then began The Wait until 8:45 AM. After years of getting the award info a week late...a day late...or (in recent years when a dial-up computer connection) a few minutes late, for the second year in a row I was able to watch the live webcast while sitting at my desk in my pajamas.

As always, it was full of surprises.

Which is another way of saying, I was completely wrong in nearly all my predictions!

But then so was nearly everyone else and that's part of the fun of the awards.

Just for the sake of keeping a record here, let's go over the winning books:

The Caldecott Honors were BLACKOUT by John Rocco:

GRANDPA GREEN by Lane Smith:

and ME...JANE by Patrick McDonnell:

The 2012 Caldecott Medal went to A BALL FOR DAISY by Chris Raschka:

Think they'll place the gold medal sticker right over one of those big orange balls on the cover? This is Chris Rashka's second Caldecott, having won in 2006 for THE HELLO, GOODBYE WINDOW.

This year's Printz Honor Books were WHY WE BROKE UP by Daniel Handler:

THE RETURNING by Christine Hinwood:

JASPER JONES by Craig Silvey:

and THE SCORPIO RACES by Maggie Stiefvater:

The 2012 Printz Award went to WHERE THINGS COME BACK by John Corey Whaley:

I have mixed feelings about this list. I didn't like WHERE THINGS COME BACK at all (should I read it again to see what I missed?) and thought WHY WE BROKE UP was interesting, but too long by a third. I enjoyed THE SCORPIO RACES, but haven't quite finished either THE RETURNING or JASPER JONES yet.

This year's Newbery Honor Books were INSIDE OUT & BACK AGAIN by Thanhha Lai:

and BREAKING STALIN'S NOSE by Eugene Yelchin:

The 2012 Newbery Medal went to DEAD END IN NORVELT by Jack Gantos:

I have not read BREAKING STALIN'S NOSE yet, but have to admit that I wasn't a big fan of INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN. People often criticize novels in verse for being less poetry than prose stories chopped up into artistic lines. In the case of INSIDE OUT, I sometimes found myself agreeing with that criticism. On the other hand, I now believe that DEAD END IN NORVELT may be a stronger selection that I first thought. When I first read the book, I had a few criticisms, but also realized that it was the kind of novel I would have loved when I was a kid. I think this offbeat, quirky book is going to please a lot of readers and will probably go down in history as one of the better choices. Of course only time will tell....

This morning, as soon as the webcast ended, I took stock of which titles I had in my collection. I try to have an ARC (advance reading copy) and a first edition of every Newbery and Printz winner.

This year I had an ARC and first edition of:

DEAD END IN NORVELT
WHY WE BROKE UP
THE SCORPIO RACES

I had first editions, but no ARCS of:

INSIDE OUT & BACK AGAIN
BREAKING STALIN'S NOSE
THE RETURNING
WHERE THINGS COME BACK

And I had an ARC, but no first edition of:

JASPER JONES

Fortunately, my independent bookstore had a hardcover copy in stock, so I rushed over there to pick it up. Now I have all the books in first editions and just need a few ARCS, which I hope will turn up over time.

In years past, Newbery Day has seen me rushing to other bookstores trying to pick up extra copies of these books in hopes of reselling them for a profit at a later time. This year I did not do that. Part of the reason is that I used to make a quick run to all the local Border's stores (four within six miles of where I live) but now they are gone. The other reason is that there was always so much competition for the books. I felt bad when someone grabbed the last remaining copy just as I was reaching for it. And felt even worse when I grabbed the last copy when someone else was reaching for it.

This year I decided to leave them all for other collectors.

Good news for them.

Good karma (I hope) for me.

So that was one thing that made Newbery Day different this year.

Another thing was the weather. Some years Newbery Day is bright and cold. Some years it's gray and chilly. One year we had a blizzard. This year was warm and rainy.

Normally I go to lunch at Ponderosa on Newbery afternoon, but my Ponderosa closed last summer, so this year I just went to a take-out Chinese place.

Something else different: normally I take one of this year's winners to read at lunch. This year I took a brand-new book from 2012 to read. Who knows -- maybe it will be next year's Printz winner. Newbery Day is always a day for looking back and looking forward. Looking back at the books we read and loved the previous year, and already thinking about the books we'll be reading in the forthcoming year.

Today I found myself thinking about the many children's and young adult books that have changed my life...the people in this field that I met, either in person or via the computer...and the libraries and bookstores where I have spent so much time.

Way back in the early 1980s, I used to shop at a mall bookstore called The Children's Bookmark. That was where I got my first Cynthia Voigt book, HOMECOMING. M.E. Kerr's LITTLE LITTLE. Robert Cormier's EIGHT PLUS ONE. Katherine Paterson's Newbery winner JACOB HAVE I LOVED. I have many fond memories of that little store. I also remember one incident I witnessed outside the store. A mother and father were heading for the mall exit, when a little girl, maybe six or seven years old, drawn by the word "children" on the sign, started begging to go in the store. In a hurry to leave, her parents dragged her away from the Children's Bookmark, while she kicked and whined, "But I NEEEEEEED bookmarks!"

That girl is probably now pushing forty, perhaps with little kids of her own. But I still think of her plea for "bookmarks" after all these years. For me, each Newbery Day is slightly different -- a happy day, a sad day; a day when I like the winning books, a day when I don't; a snowy day, a warm day; a day when I eat at Ponderosa or end up with Chinese take-out; a day when I look back at last year's books and look forward to next year's books.

I celebrate every "Newbery Day" and I remember each one of them, going back years and years.

They are bookmarks marking the pages of my life.

A Day Before Newbery Brunch

2012-01-22T15:51:00.005-05:00

It’s the Night Before Newbery.

Caldecott Eve.

Will you be getting up early tomorrow to watch the award announcements on your computer via the live webcast at 7:45 AM Central Standard Time?

Or will you already be at work, sneaking a peek at the ALA website to watch the proceedings?

At 6:30 AM on January 22, 2007, Susan Patron was up fixing a chicken sandwich to take to work that day. She was a librarian at the Los Angeles Public Library and planned to head in early to watch the live webcast of the book awards with her colleagues. That’s when she got the call informing her that she’d won the Newbery for THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY. After a few moments of disbelief, the new medalist ran up the stairs to tell her husband, then showed up at work to watch the webcast, not telling her fellow librarians that she had won the prize. One can only imagine how they reacted when the winner was announced and they learned the latest Newbery winner was sitting amongst them!

Stories of “The Call” – arriving in the middle of the night or in the early hours of the morning, are now part of the Newbery/Caldecott legend, yet there was once a time when the news arrived via a regular letter in the mail. And at one time the author learned of the award in midwinter, but had to keep it secret until the public announcement in the spring.

Long-time readers of this blog have already heard my stories of trying to find out the winners every year as a kid. At first it was simply a matter of asking the librarian at the local library a few days after the announcements where made. But then it reached a point where I wanted to know right away. In fact, I wanted to know first. So I’d take a pocketful of change from my piggybank and call the American Library Association in Chicago from a payphone. Sometimes I’d get the information there. Other times they’d give me the number to the “press room” of the convention and I’d call some far-off city, asking for the press room and pretending to be a reporter. (I’m sure I fooled no one.)

Next I had to find the books. When I was a kid, that meant borrowing them from the library -- often waiting for the library to order and receive them. When I got older and began collecting books, it meant visiting bookstores. If the books weren’t in stock, I had to order them and wait some more. It wasn’t until the late eighties/early nineties that I noticed any kind of frenzy associated with the awards. Then it became a matter of RACING – once during a blizzard – with a scrawled list of the winning books. In the bookstore, I’d often encounter other people already seeking the same titles, while the phone would ring repeatedly and I’d hear the clerk saying, “WALK TWO MOONS? Let me check our computer. …And what are the other titles? CATHERINE, CALLED BIRDY and THE EYE, THE EAR, AND THE ARM? Let me see….”

I’ve never known for sure if all the people who rush to bookstores or drive the winners to the top of the Amazon.com sales charts on Newbery Day are collectors, like me, or simply people who want to read the winning books right away. 2012 may be the year we figure that out. If sales for the e-editions of these books go crazy, we’ll know that many people are seeking the experience of READING the winning titles; if hard copies of these books sell big, we can assume that many of the buyers are collectors.

SO WHAT’S GOING TO WIN?

I don’t know.

Heavy Medal , the School Library Journal blog, voted for AMELIA LOST by Candace Fleming as the winner, with A MONSTER CALLS by Patrick Ness and I BROKE MY TRUNK by Mo Willems as Honor Books.

Elizabeth Bird from Fuse #8 is also predicting AMELIA LOST for the winner, with Gary D. Schmidt’s OKAY FOR NOW as an Honor Book, along with THE TROUBLE WITH MAY AMELIA by Jennifer L. Holm and JEFFERSON’S SONS by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley.

School Library Journal’s Someday My Printz Will Come blog , gave its Mock Honors to CHIME by Franny Billingsley, with a MONSTER CALLS and Mal Peet’s LIFE : AN EXPLODED DIAGRAM as Honors.

Over at the Horn Book, the Calling Caldecott blog gave their top prize to ME…JANE by Patrick McDonnell, with Honors going to BALLOONS OVER BROADWAY : THE TRUE STORY OF THE PUPPETEER OF MACY’S PARADE by Melissa Sweet; BLACKOUT by John Rocco; GRANDPA GREEN by Lane Smith, and I WANT MY HAT BACK by Jon Klassen.

As for my selections…?

I still don’t know.

When I imagine this year's Newbery list, I sort of see a big hole up there at the top, with no particular book rising to the very highest level. Earlier in the year, SPARROW ROAD by Sheila O’Connor struck me as a strong possibility, acknowledging even then that its plot and themes were so reminiscent of past Newberys(including last year’s winner!) that I really couldn’t see it being chosen. Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about DEAD END IN NORVELT by Jack Gantos, a book that seems somewhat flawed to me as an adult…yet a novel I know I would have loved as a kid. Although I don’t know what will win, I do think the following titles have a good shot as Newbery Honors this year: A MONSTER CALLS, AMELIA LOST, THE TROUBLE WITH MAY AMELIA (Jennifer Holm’s fourth Newbery Honor?), BLUE FISH (Pat Schmatz), THE FRIENDSHIP DOLL (Kirby Larson) and BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY by Ruta Sepetys. And is there room for the graphic novel/big old picture book WONDERSTRUCK by Brian Selznick on the list, or will it be recognized by the Caldecott committee?

I’m not any better at selecting Printz winners. Earlier this year I started my own Mock Printz blog but, due to time restraints and serious family issues, it never really got off the ground, reviewing no more than a dozen Printz possibilities. I’m going to fix that this year, renaming the blog “Printz Picks 2013” and adding titles to it all year so that it’s more helpful to readers. As for Printz 2012, I have a feeling that BLINK & CAUTION by Tim Wynne-Jones may win the gold. Unlike the Newbery and Caldecott, the Printz award places a limit on its Honor Books. Only four may be chosen. I think those four will be drawn from this pool of six: CHIME, PAPER COVERS ROCK (Jenny Hubbard), A MONSTER CALLS, THE WATCH THAT ENDS THE NIGHT (Allan Wolf), LIFE : AN EXPLODED DIAGRAM, JASPER JONES (Craig Silvey), and IMAGINARY GIRLS.

If I was voting, the following books would be Printz contenders: QUEEN OF HEARTS by Martha Brooks, RECOVERY ROAD by Blake Nelson, FIVE 4THS OF JULY by Pat Raccio Hughes, MY NAME IS MINA by David Almond (a bit young, I guess, but its companion, SKELLIG was an Honor, so why not?) and – probably my favorite – THE BIG CRUNCH by Pete Hautman. But these books have gotten so little “buzz” that I doubt we’ll see a single one on the list.

On the other hand, a few YA books that have received lots of buzz – EVERYONE SEES THE ANTS by A.S. King, WHERE THINGS COME BACK by John Corley Whaley, and THE PIPER’S SON by Melina Marchetta – are all strong contenders, though I myself was a not a fan of them.

All these predictions…prognostications…guesses…hopes…and still…you never know!
Last year’s Newbery winner seemed to come out of NOWHERE. I’m not sure if it appeared on any Mock Newbery lists. I did see the title bandied around a tiny bit, but it never seemed to have much buzz or support.

But here’s something funny….

A year ago today, as I wrote my night-before-the-Newbery post for 2012’s winners, the very first person who left a comment mentioned MOON OVER MANIFEST as their selection.

And then it won!

So today I’m extra curious what you all are thinking.

What books will be honored tomorrow?

Please leave your comments! The worst that can happen is that we’ll all be wrong.
The best that can happen is that you’ll be the sole person to pick an out-of-left-field winner and you'll have your prescient comment memorialized online, just like Kristen did last year!

NEWBERY THEORIES

I got a kick out of Betsy Bird’s theory that Newbery books follow patterns. According to Betsy, here’s how the pattern works: "The Year of Breaking Barriers followed by The Year of Playing It Safe followed by The Year of the Givens followed by The Year of the Wild Cards.”

I’m not sure it’s that cut-and-dried, but it is interesting to consider.
And it got me wondering if other Newbery “years” or even decades could be titled.
Here’s what I came up with:

1920s

THE DECADE OF MEN, since all the winners were male.

THE DECADE OF FIRSTS, since the winners were mostly firsts of their kind. That is, first nonfiction winner (THE STORY OF MANKIND), first western (SMOKY), etc. However, even within that truncated decade (the award wasn’t given in 1920 or 1921), there is a little repetition in the awards. For example, the 1925 winner, TALES FROM SILVER LANDS, is the first collection of short stories…but then, strangely, the 1926 winner, SHEN OF THE SEA, was also a collection of short stories. That’s especially strange since there have been no prize story collections since.

1930s

THE DECADE OF WOMEN, since all the winners were female.

THE DECADE OF LOOKING BACK AND LOOKING BEYOND. This decade was about looking “back” at America’s history (HITTY : HER FIRST HUNDRED YEARS, INVINCIBLE LOUISA, CADDIE WOODLAWN, ROLLER SKATES) and exploring lesser-known cultures within our country (WATERLESS MOUNTAIN) or beyond our shores (Japan, China, Bulgaria, and Hungary.) The only book with a contemporary, “typically” American feel was the last winner for that decade, THIMBLE SUMMER.)

1940-1946

THE YEARS OF WAR, PEACE, AND SOCIAL JUSTICE, touching on themes of conflict, courage, war, and peace, the winners DANIEL BOONE, CALL IT COURAGE, THE MATCHLOCK GUN, JOHNNY TREMAIN and even RABBIT HILL (with its message “There is enough for all”) reflect the ongoing war years. STRAWBERRY GIRL looks at a social issue within this country. The only exception is the 1943 winner, ADAM OF THE ROAD, which seems to be mostly a “past due” prize for multiple honor winner Elizabeth Janet Gray. Interestingly, she would later play a small postward role in uniting former enemies Japan and the USA when she served as the private tutor to the Crown Prince of Japan.

1947-1949

THE YEARS OF READING FOR ENJOYMENT. Now that the war was over, books such as MISS HICKORY, THE TWENTY-ONE BALLOONS, and KING OF THE WIND took the top prizes – solid, entertaining novels for the post-war era.

1950

THE YEAR OF HISTORY, with winner THE DOOR IN THE WALL and four of the five Honor Books set in historical times.

1951

THE YEAR OF BIOGRAPHY, with winner AMOS FORTUNE, FREE MAN and three of the four Honor Books being biographical. This never happened before or since.

1952

THE YEAR OF MAKING UP, with Eleanor Estes winning for GINGER PYE, a good book which many consider somewhat inferior to her early Honor Books about The Moffat family and THE HUNDRED DRESSES.

1953

THE YEAR OF HUH? People are still scratching their heads over SECRETS OF THE ANDES winning over CHARLOTTE’S WEB.

1954-1955

THE YEARS OF DEJONG. With two Honors in 1954 (HURRY HOME, CANDY and SHADRACH…the first and only time an author has scored two Honors in the same year) and THE WHEEL ON THE SCHOOL winning in 1955, the fifties were dominated by this Dutch-born writer, who also received Honors in 1957 and 1959. Strangely, his later work never achieved the same critical acclaim or popularity as the books he wrote during his golden decade.

1956-1958

THE YEARS OF SURPRISES. Many authors win the Newbery after having written several popular or acclaimed books…or having previous Newbery Honors. During these years, three solid authors, Jean Lee Latham, Virginia Sorensen, and Harold Keith, came out of nowhere to receive the top prize. None would ever write anything this highly acclaimed or popular again.

1959

THE YEAR OF UNANIMITY. For the first and only time that we know of, a Newbery winner, THE WITCH OF BLACKBIRD POND, won with a rare unanimous vote.

1960

THE YEAR OF SECOND HELPINGS. For the first time, an author (1954 winner Joseph Krumgold) returned for a second Newbery. Strangely, his second winner is not considered one of the better Newbery choices. In fact, two of that year’s Honor Books, MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN and THE GAMMAGE CUP have gone on to become classics.

1961

THE YEAR OF WHERE DID HE COME FROM? At 62 years or age, Scott O’Dell published his first children’s book and immediately won the Big N. No flash in the pan, he went on to write three more Newbery Honors in the 1960s.

1962

THE SECOND YEAR OF SECOND HELPINGS. Elizabeth George Speare won her second Newbery for THE BRONZE BOW, a rare historical novel set during the era of the Bible.

1963-1966

To quote Betsy Bird, these are THE YEARS OF BREAKING BARRIERS. The winners include a science fiction classic (A WRINKLE IN TIME), a very contemporary NYC kid story (IT’S LIKE THIS, CAT), a stark, polarizing novel about bullfighting (SHADOW OF A BULL), and an unusual novel featuring a black protagonist who is an adult for most of the book (I, JUAN DE PAREJA.)

1967

THE YEAR OF PLAYING IT SAFE. Irene Hunt’s UP A ROAD SLOWLY is an old-fashioned novel that harkens back to an earlier era.

1968

THE YEAR OF MODERN VOICES. E.L. Konigsburg scored with both the year’s winner (FROM THE MIXED-UP FILES…) and an Honor Book (JENNIFER, HECATE, MACBETH…) – the first time an author received both prizes in a single year. These two titles, plus Honor Book THE EGYPT GAME by Zilpha Keatley Snyder, seemed to speak to a more modern generation than most previous winners.

1969

THE YEAR OF FANTASY. THE HIGH KING ushered in an era of fantasy fiction winners and Honor Books.

1970-1971

More YEARS OF BREAKING BARRIERS, with a novels featuring an African-American family (SOUNDER) and concerning a mentally-retarded boy (THE SUMMER OF THE SWANS.)

1972

THE YEAR OF CHANGE. Though the winner was an old-fashioned animal story (MRS. FRISBY AND THE RATS OF NIMH) that quickly became a modern classic, the other books on the slate included an adult novel (INCIDENT AT HAWK’S HILL), a picture book (ANNIE AND THE OLD ONE), a high-end fantasy (THE TOMBS OF ATUAN), a mystery (THE HEADLESS CUPID) and a sophisticated urban tale (THE PLANET OF JUNIOR BROWN.) For the first time, these books were called Honor Books (from 1922-1971 they’d been “runners-ups”) and were now given their own silver seals for the front cover. This retroactive change ushered in a new era of appreciation for Honor Books.

1973

I’m not sure what to call the year that JULIE OF THE WOLVES won. A year for ecology? A year of rewarding favorite authors (in addition to Jean Craighead George, Arnold Lobel and multi-Newbery-Honor author Zilpha Keatley Snyder were honored.)

1974-1976

THE LITERARY YEARS. They may not appeal to every young reader, but there is no doubt that THE SLAVE DANCER, M.C. HIGGINS THE GREAT and THE GREY KING are written with a touch of literary brilliance.

1977-1978

THE YEARS OF CLASSROOM FAVORITES. With ROLL OF THUNDER, HEAR MY CRY and BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA, the Newbery crowned two books that would be used in classrooms for decades to come.

1979

A WILD CARD YEAR. Not just a mystery, but a comic-mystery, THE WESTING GAME is unlike any other Newbery winner…and coincidentally happens to be many readers’ choice for all-time favorite Newbery.

1980

THE SERIOUS YEAR. Perhaps as a response to the previous year’s comic romp, A GATHERING OF DAYS was a slow, sober historical novel – and an out-of-left-field winner.

1981

Again, I’m stumped on how to describe this year. JACOB HAVE I LOVED was certainly a worthy winner, neither expected nor totally unexpected. Perhaps this is a year for “older readers” since the protagonist of JACOB is a teenager (and later adult) in the final chapters of the book, and one of the Honors, A RING OF ENDLESS LIGHT also focuses on a teenager character.

1982

THE YEAR OF BREAKING BARRIERS, with the first poetry winner, A VISIT TO WILLIAM BLAKE’S INN.

1983-1986

THE YEARS OF GIVENS, with the award expectedly going to sequels DICEY’S SONG and THE HERO AND THE CROWN, and belatedly given to the great Beverly Cleary. 1986 seems like a given as well, with instant-classic SARAH, PLAIN AND TALL getting acclaim from the moment of publication.

1987

THE MAKE-UP YEAR. I can’t get excited about any of the books on the 1987 slate. It was either a bad year for books or a bad committee. But it was nice that Sid Fleischman finally got the prize after many years of excellent books.

1988-1989

MORE YEARS OF BREAKING BARRIERS with poetry and nonfiction taking the top prizes.

1990

ANOTHER MAKE-UP YEAR. I can’t get enthusiastic about this year’s selections either, with NUMBER THE STARS feeling like a rather humdrum “classroom” book, perhaps given to Lois Lowry in recognition of earlier, better books. However, if they’d only waited a couple years they could have given it to Lowry's THE GIVER, one of the best-ever novels to win the Newbery.

1991-1992

THE YEARS OF STEPPING INTO THE SPOTLIGHT. After a long apprenticeship, Jerry Spinelli went from a solid, reliable writer to a brilliant author with winner MANIAC MAGEE. Avi did the same with that year’s Honor Book THE CONFESSIONS OF CHARLOTTE DOYLE. The following year, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, who had already written dozens of books, wrote the novel that changed the course of her career, SHILOH.

1993

ANOTHER YEAR OF THE GIVEN. MISSING MAY received strong reviews upon publication, plus it won the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award. Its selection for the Newbery was expected…but now seems a bland, unexciting choice.

1994

AN EXPECTED YEAR. From the moment THE GIVER was published, it seemed to be the de facto Newbery winner. Expected, but still a highlight among winners.

1995

AN UNEXPECTED YEAR. A little known book from a new author, WALK TWO MOONS, stunned Newbery watchers.

1996

ANOTHER EXPECTED YEAR. Karen Cushman got a Newbery Honor for CATHERINE, CALLED BIRDY, and this year the committee gave her the whole enchilada for THE MIDWIFE’S APPRENTICE.

1997

A YEAR OF RETURNS. E.L. Konigsburg returned for her second Newbery, while Nancy Farmer and Eloise McGraw were back for more silver. (It had been 35 years since McGraw’s last Newbery Honor and 43 years since her first. This was a new record.)

1998

A YEAR OF BREAKING BARRIERS with OUT OF THE DUST the first novel-in-verse to win the Newbery.

1999

THE YEAR OF BREAK THROUGHS. Like 1991 and 1992, this was a year for previously unrecognized authors to step into the spotlight. Louis Sachar had mostly written undistinguished fiction before suddenly spinning literary gold with HOLES. Richard Peck had written many wonderful books, but most seemed more “young adult” than children’s volumes. With A LONG WAY FROM CHICAGO, he finally received Newbery recognition.

2000-2001

YEARS OF GIVENS. After writing an instant-classic (and Newbery Honor) with THE WATSONS GO TO BIRMINGHAM – 1963, it seemed an obvious choice for Christopher Paul Curtis’s second, well-received novel, BUD, NOT BUDDY, to win. Richard Peck’s 2001 win for A YEAR DOWN YONDER didn’t seem obvious in the days leading up to the Newbery ceremony, but as soon as most people heard the sequel to A LONG WAY FROM CHICAGO won, they thought, “Oh, of course.”

2002

ANOTHER SURPRISING YEAR. Linda Sue Park’s A SINGLE SHARD had been out for nearly a year before it won the Newbery. When the award was announced, surprised collectors scrambled for the few remaining first editions.

2003

ANOTHER MAKE-UP YEAR. With five solid Honor Books, it wasn’t as if 2003 lacked in good children’s books, yet somehow the award went to CRISPIN : CROSS OF LEAD by Avi, an author who has written many, many better books (including this year’s CITY OF ORPHANS.) Was it a “career” award for his entire body of work?

2004

A BORING YEAR. Everyone expected THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX to win.

2005

A SURPRISING YEAR. No one expected KIRA-KIRA to win.

2006

A STRETCHING YEAR. Everything about this year’s selections points to expansion and opening up. The winning book, CRISS CROSS, featured multiple points of view and the Honor Books encompassed a wide range of genres – nonfiction, picture book, fantasy.

2007

THE YEAR FROM LEFT FIELD

None of the books on the slate had received much talk before the Newbery announcement.

2008

A YEAR OF SURPRISES. A book of medieval monologues winning the Newbery? It can happen.

2009-2010

THE YEARS OF THE GIVENS. Both winners, WHEN YOU REACH ME and THE GRAVEYARD BOOK were touted for so long and by so many that a riot might have broken out at ALA if they hadn’t won.

2011

THE YEAR OF SURPRISES. There was a gasp when the winning title was announced.

2012

????? We’ll know tomorrow morning….

SOME QUESTIONS

This week someone sent an interesting comment to this blog:

My advisor in library school…was on the Newbery Committee in 1974 and was often quite candid about what it was like. During her year, the committee was completely divided over which of two books should win the gold: The Slave Dancer or The Dark is Rising. It was a tie, and the argument got so heated that all other books simply fell into the background. Finally, at 5:00 a.m. the committee chair stood up and said something to the effect of, "That's enough! I say Slave Dancer wins, and Dark is Rising will be the only honor book." The rest was history.

[The advisor’s] theory is that whenever you have a year with just one Newbery Honor book, a similar argument took place in the committee meeting. Heh.

Needless to say, I found this fascinating! Personally, I have often wondered at the super-secrecy of the award committees. Is it truly necessary? Would it hinder debate/selection if the discussions held in the jury room were made public? What if they were held secret for a specified time (say five years) and then made known? Would that hurt the process? Just in the interest of literary history (not to mention personal nosiness) I’d love to know what titles were discussed each year…why some were eventually dismissed…why others rose to the top. And if negotitations were made so that a so-so book ended up winning over two or three brilliant but divisive titles.

How do you feel about this?

I also wonder how you feel about the number of Honor Books every year. In the early days of the Newbery, it was not unusual to have six Honor Books. One year there were even eight! Do a large number of Honors dilute the distinction of the award? Personally, I love it when there are multiple Honors and hate when there’s just a single Honor title.

Finally, want to hazard a guess on how many Honors we’ll see for this year’s Newbery, Caldecott, and Printz? The Printz is limited to four, but the other actually have no limit that I know of. There have been four Newbery Honors for the past three years. There were five in 2003, but only one in 1999. What’s your guess for tomorrow?

And, again, what are your guesses for the winning and Honor Books? Please leave your thoughts in the comments section. I’d love to hear them!

Thanks for visiting Collecting Children’s Books! See you tomorrow!

Hope is the Thing with Feathers

2012-01-16T17:57:00.004-05:00

Today's post isn't about children's books, per se.

But it is about young people and it is about books.

Close enough.

The other day I was fooling around on the internet and came across some information about a soon-to-be released book called DIVATIEL: REFLECTIONS OF A BIRD'S COMPANION. Described as "the true tale of a diva cockatiel and her loving owner," I immediately ordered a copy.

Why did I order this book?

I don't usually read self-published books.

And while I like birds, I'm not a huge bird lover.

The main reason I ordered the book is because of the author, Cindi R. Maciolek.

You're probably saying, "Who is she? Is she famous?"

Not to you, perhaps. But she is to me.

Many, many years ago, Cindi and I attended the same high school in Detroit. I remember her from journalism class, held in Room C309, the "Cody Star" office. We both wrote for the school paper. Cindi was known for making all her own clothes, wearing a necklace with a "Ms." charm (hey, it was the seventies), and for being a real go-getter. She was the kind of person who was going to do Big Things with her life...you could tell it even back then. From what I've read about her on the internet, she really has lived an impressive life -- hosting a cable news show, working in fashion design, and writing for various publications.

And now this book!

The day after I ordered DIVATIEL, I got an e-mail from Cindi:

Hi Peter!

Thanks for purchasing Divatiel. Printed copies should be here by the end of the month, so I’ll get one in the mail as soon as they arrive.

Thanks again!

Cindi

Sounds like a form letter, doesn't it?

She doesn't remember me, does she?

But I remember her. She sat at a table a couple rows back, just over my right shoulder. I remember most everyone from Room C309 -- probably because journalism was my favorite class. I thought that a lot of us would end up as famous writers. So it makes me feel good that someone from that class has now published a book.

Incidentally, Cindi R. Maciolek (and, yes, she included the middle initial in her name back then. So did I. It's a writer thing.) is not the only young person I knew who went on to write a book. When I was in college, I took a couple creative writing courses with a guy named David Sosnowski. He was the star of the class and it was never a question of IF he'd publish a book...but WHEN. I was so certain of his eventual success that I always made sure to check the "S" section at the bookstore, and when I later had access to the OCLC database at work, I'd frequently check his name to see if he had a forthcoming book listed. And one day he did! It was called RAPTURE, and turned out to be quite an amazing novel.

I am excited about what happened to my old classmates -- even if they don't remember me. Thinking back on my school years, I didn't like every class I took and I didn't like every teacher, but one thing I always loved is that school was the place where so many dreams were born and fostered. Not just the hopes and dreams of aspiring authors in journalism and writing classes, but dreams of aspiring athletes in the gym, dreams of aspiring scientists in the lab, on and on. And dreams are never stronger or bigger than when you are young. Some dreams die, but sometimes they do come to fruition...even if it takes ten...twenty...or thirtyplus years.

I'm assuming that most readers of this blog have met or even become friends with an author or two as adults...but how many of you knew young people who eventually grew up to write books?

I'd love to hear about them! Please share your stories!

First Sunday Brunch of 2012

2012-01-08T10:02:00.012-05:00

Welcome to the first Collecting Children's Books Sunday Brunch of 2012.

Obviously we're running a bit late, since it's now January 8.

Unfortunately, the year got off to a bad start for my family...but I'm hoping that the "in like a lion, out like a lamb" description of March also holds true for entire years. That is, if 2012 starts badly, it's bound to end well. Let's hope that's true -- for everyone!

HOLIDAY BOOKS

Thanks to everyone who wrote in with suggestions for books to read on Christmas Eve.

One title that came up several times was THE COTTAGE HOLIDAY by Jo Mendel, a book in the Whitman "Tuckers" series.

Books about the Tucker Family were one of my childhood guilty pleasures. They sold for a dollar in the toy section of my local Woolworth's and, though I only bought two, I read them over and over as a kid. As an adult I've purchased a couple more, but never realized THE COTTAGE HOLIDAY was a Christmas favorite until a couple weeks ago when blog reader Linda said, "Peter, you must find a copy!"

Well, guess what?

I did!

In fact, I found it online for only $3.98!

It just arrived in the mail this week, and though my copy is a bit grubby and there are a couple torn pages, it's perfectly readable and now sitting beside my own desk, just waiting to be read!

I'm not waiting till next Christmas to read it either. I'll probably get to it in the next couple weeks -- which is fitting because, considering how unproductive I can, the Christmas tree and wall decorations will probably still be up for two more weeks!

Incidentally, the back of every Tucker book was, I believe, always pretty much the same. The background color varied from book to book but the illusrations of the Tuckers remained the same, as did the boxed "It's Tucker Time!" description of the series:

It's a masterpiece of marketing ("Time for fun! Time for excitement!" Time for picnics, parties, vacation trips, adventures -- even mysteries!") that practially begs the reader to pick up the book.

All those exclamation points!

I love it!

Of course nowadays it would never be presented in cursive writing, as so many kids can't read cursive anymore....

ONE MORE CHRISTMAS BOOK...AND AN INTERESTING AUTHOR

Another holiday book I'm trying to track down is STAR MOTHER'S YOUNGEST CHILD by Louise Moeri. I became interested in this title when I saw a Facebook posting by poet Helen Frost (author of last year's HIDDEN and this year's STEP GENTLY OUT) in which she described her cures for "Christmas nostalgia," which included reading the Moeri book for the thirtieth Christmas in a row. If Helen Frost is that devoted to this book, I need to read it!

This also got me thinking of Louise Moeri and her books. I've only read a couple, but maybe I'll try to read them all this coming year. Just looking at the titles and subject matter proves what a broad range she has as a writer. There are fantasies (THE UNICORN AND THE PLOW), frontier stories (SAVE QUEEN OF SHEBA), YA problem novels (FIRST THE EGG) and books about social issues, such as DOWNWIND, which concerns a nuclear meltdown. I remember being highly impressed by her novel THE FORTY-THIRD WAR, about a boy fighting in Central America's conflicts -- an unusually timely (in 1989) and challenging book for an American writer to attempt.

There is not much info available on the author, but I did find this quote about her writing career in Contemporary Authors: "The thing that kept me going is a picture I have in my mind. I see myself as a very old lady in a rest home with a blanket over my knees with a choice of two statements to make: `I tried very hard to write-- gave it everything I had' and `how I wish I had tried harder'."

Apparently she's still giving it everything she has. Though 87 years old and apparently ailing (on her Facebook page she lists her main activity as "chemotherapy"), she has published two adult novels in recent years -- one in paper, and one only in a digital edition!

FROM CHRISTMAS EVE TO NEW YEAR'S EVE

Thinking about Christmas Eve books got me wondering about New Year's Eve reads.

Do you know any good ones?

And can you think of any titles geared to specific years?

My first thought was perhaps Tomie de Paola's "26 Fairmount Avenue" books, but I'm not sure that each volume represents a different year.

One intriguing title comes to mind -- a title that also shows the downside of highlighting a specific year in fiction.

That title is CINDERELLA 2000, a young adult romance by Mavis Jukes.

Published in the fall of 1999 to commemorate the new millenium, the book was released in a rather inexpensive format (small trim size, no dustjacket, glossy illustration printed on its cardboardy cover, low price) which made it clear that this was probably an ephemeral offering not destined for years of success.

The following year it was released in paperback, with the title captioned "Looking Back..."

In other words, what seemed so dazzling and "new" in the fall of 1999 was already history by 2001.

Thinking back, though, this might be a nice book to add to an historical children's book collection -- the only (?) example of how YA fiction celebrated, however briefly, the new millenium.

COMING TUESDAY : THE MIGHTY MISS MALONE

A new novel by Christopher Paul Curtis is always an occasion. His first book, THE WATSONS GO TO BIRMINGHAM – 1963, received a Newbery Honor and is acknowledged as a modern classic. His next effort, BUD, NOT BUDDY, won the Newbery, and he received yet another Newbery Honor for ELIJAH OF BUXTON in 2008. And there will special interest in his newest novel, THE MIGHTY MISS MALONE -- due out this Tuesday – because the protagonist will be familiar to readers of BUD, NOT BUDDY.

Called the “The Mighty Miss Malone” by her alliteration-loving father, Deza is a smart, happy twelve-year-old girl. Although the Depression has hit the Malones hard -- Father can’t find work and there’s no money to get Deza’s rotting teeth fixed -- the protagonist is growing up secure in the love of her stable family, which includes her fifteen-year-old brother, Jimmie, who has a rare talent for music. Like ELIJAH OF BUXTON, this novel also begins as a series of vignettes -- Deza’s teacher offers an unexpected gift; Jimmie steals a pie from a neighbor; Father is involved in a boating accident; the world awaits the 1936 Joe Louis-Max Schmeling boxing match (also highlighted in Andrea Pinkney’s recent novel BIRD IN A BOX) -- before settling into a more conventional plot-driven narrative when Father leaves home to find work and, uncharacteristically, breaks contact with the family. Eventually, the Malones leave Gary, Indiana in order to find Father, ending up in a Flint, Michigan "Hooverville."

Anyone who writes about children's books should probably have a hotkey on their computer for the words "the plucky protagonist." While the phrase is clearly overused, it's almost always applicable. It certainly is here, as "the plucky protagonist" makes the best of life in the shantytown, then embarks on a daring solo trip to Detroit, hoping to bring together her now-broken family. Christopher Paul Curtis has written another big-hearted historical novel full of memorable characters and events. Though it contains a few flaws (Jimmie's lack of height is presented as a major issue in the first half of the book, but disappears in the second; Deza's repeated misuse of the word "geologically" seems patronizing to this otherwise intelligent narrator), THE MIGHTY MISS MALONE deserves its place on the shelf with the author's previous books -- all classics in the making.

READERS OF THE "LOST ARC"

Although the hardcover of THE MIGHTY MISS MALONE will not be released till Tuesday, I was lucky enough to get an ARC (advance reading copy) of the novel last week from my bookstore buddy.

So often when I read an ARC, I'm saddened by the fact that it contains fascinating background information that will not appear in the hardcover edition of the book. I always wish this info was available to every reader. I felt that way again when I saw the "Dear Reader" letter at the front of THE MIGHTY MISS MALONE ARC which explains how Mr. Curtis came to write the book.

I thought I'd share a bit of it here, for those who are interested:

The foundation for this book was the question that kept popping up during many "author visits" I made to schools and communities. This question was always asked by a girl, and she would preface it by saying, "Mr. Curtis, I like your books, but...."

The inevitable "but."

I'd developed a set answer for these girls. It ran along the lines of, "There are so many wonderful women authors doing books about girls, and if you really want a story about a girl, who is more qualified to do it, me or you?"

Not the best answer in the world; and it bothered me. I felt like I wasn't being completely honest. But when I thought about the question later, I couldn't come up with a better reply. However, mulling over question set in place the foundation for this book.

The first bricks in Deza's story were laid by a reporter for the DETROIT FREE PRESS, Cassandra Spratling. Ms. Spratling invited me to speak at an African American mother-daughter book club in Detroit. She told me the club had read BUD, NOT BUDDY and would love to have me address the group. I said I'd be happy to.

Big mistake.

Before I was introduced, several of the moms pulled me aside and said in rather threatening tones, "We really like your stories, but..."

To quote Bud, "Here we go again."

"...what we'd really like to know is what business that little girl in the Hooverville had kissing a stranger like Bud Caldwell the way she did."

We've all heard about the two reactions humans have when confronted unexpectedly by a threatening situation: fight or flight. I discovered there's a third response: heavy rationalization. I replied, "Oh, you're just getting his side of the story, she has a completely different take on what happened."

I saw that wasn't enough and added, "Besides, you know how boys just love to lie about these things."

Rationalization or not, I found this a fascinating response and only wish it were available in the hardcover edition so that readers of BUD, NOT BUDDY will understand the discrepancy between the "kissing scene" that is presented in both books.

Some readers may be disappointed that the Deza and Bud story (trumpeted with the dustjacket tagline: "Deza Malone from BUD, NOT BUDDY is back!") has such a small role in THE MIGHTY MISS MALONE, but placing too much of an emphasis on their brief encounter might have tilted the focus of the book. The succinct, two page scene presented here strikes me as particularly well-played.

IT WAS A GOOD YEAR

The lesson I have to keep learning over and over is that no one -- and that includes intelligent, informed people of good will -- is ever in 100% agreement on the merits of any single book.

Oh sure, there are titles that nearly everyone loves -- such as CHARLOTTE'S WEB, WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE, and many more. But I guarantee that if we got a big group of children's book fans together, we'd discover that at least a few of them are ambivalent about...cool toward...or even downright hate CHARLOTTE'S WEB and WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE.

I was reminded of that last week when reading School Library Journal's Heavy Medal blog on "the ones that got away" -- titles that readers believe should have won the Newbery but didn't.

The comment that made me rear back in my seat came from that extraordinary writer Nancy Werlin -- and I mean that both literally (she wrote a novel called EXTRAORDINARY) and descriptively (she's a great writer.) However, I was shocked when she mentioned 1964 as a bad Newbery year, calling the winning title, IT'S LIKE THIS, CAT "that piece of mindless drivel" and adding, "The honor books don’t shine in memory for that year, either (RASCAL by Sterling North and THE LONER by Ester Wier). A bad committee. It happens."

Ouch!

I love IT'S LIKE THIS, CAT!

Maybe it's a boy-thing. Or maybe it's because I'm such a huge fan of New York City, the book's setting. Or maybe it's because I'm a lot older than Ms. Werlin and remember the sixties, the book's time period, so well. But whatever the case, I really like this book. And while even I might agree that it's not in the top 10% of all Newbery winners, I think it's a fine choice.

I also don't agree about those Honor Books. RASCAL is pretty much a classic, and I regard THE LONER as one of the great unknown Honor Books of all time.

As I said: even intelligent, informed people of good will are going to disagree on books!

But the line that really got me thinking was this: "A bad committee. It happens."

It got me wondering if there were any Newbery years in which the committee made across-the-board excellent picks or, conversely, choose nothing but stinkers?

We've already acknowledged that not everyone is going to agree on anything, but just speaking in GENERAL terms, are there years where MOST readers would GENERALLY AGREE the committee did a bang-up job?

And years where MOST readers would shrug and say, "Bad committee. It happens."

Take a look at this complete list of winners and Honor Books to refresh your memmory.

Granted, there are a lot of factors involved in any year's selections -- starting with the pool of eligible books. It's possible that some years have an abundance of riches while other years are so weak that the committee must pick the best of a bad lot.

Looking at the list myself, I don't see any single year where I think every title is amazing...except a couple times when only one Honor Book was chosen (for instance, 1991 when MANIAC MAGEE won and THE TRUE CONFESSIONS OF CHARLOTTE DOYLE honored, and 1999 with its duo of HOLES and A LONG WAY FROM CHICAGO.)

Otherwise, I think 1975 may be my favorite year, with the medal going to M.C. HIGGINS THE GREAT and Honors won by FIGGS & PHANTOMS, MY BROTHER SAM IS DEAD, THE PERILOUS GARD, and PHILIP HALL LIKES ME, I RECKON MAYBE. In this case, I love all the Honor Books and admire (but am not emotionally connected to) the winning title.

I used to think that 1967 was a stellar year as well, with FROM THE MIXED-UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANKWEILER winning and JENNIFER, HECATE, MACBETH, WILLIAM MCKINLEY, AND ME, ELIZABETH and THE EGYPT GAME honoring...but the remaining honors, THE BLACK PEARL (not Scott O'Dell's finest) and THE FEARSOME INN, seem a step down in quality from the other three titles.

It's even harder to pick across-the-board weak years. While there are a few middling years (2007 comes to mind), it seems that nearly every year contains at least one good, surprising, or inspired choice. It may not be in the gold medal position, but at least it received recognition.

Perhaps it's silly to expect any single slate to appeal to any one person. The honored books cross a wide range of genres and are written in many styles -- so somewhere out there, for sure, there is someone who loves every title I hate, and hates every title I love.

But still, I'm curious: what do YOU think were the Newbery's best and worst years?

MR. AMBASSADOR

By now you have probably read that Walter Dean Myers has been named the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature.

You've also probably heard about the backlash, if "backlash" means one inflammatory article that talks about how kids should be reading Homer and Virgil instead of contemporary YA books. Whatever. I'm still perplexed by the article's timeline (the author says he taught at a Flatbush middle school some years ago, yet mentions Myers's 2010 novel LOCKDOWN as among his students' favorites.)

All I know is that the influence of Walter Dean Myers's books, and the importance of his work as ambassador, will be remembered long after that article in the newspaper is used to wrap fish or line a birdcage.

NEVER SAY NEVER

Well, I've been saying for years that I don't want an e-reader.

Now I've learned that my favorite author will be publishing her next novel only in the e-book format.

What's a reader to do?

Stay tuned to see what happens next!

THANKS

And I hope you "stay tuned" to Collecting Children's Books throughout 2012. There's lots to look forward to in the coming months, including the Newbery, Caldecott, and Printz announcements in just a couple weeks.

Thanks for visiting -- and Happy New Year!

A Season for Sharing

2011-12-22T20:36:00.008-05:00

This past weekend, I asked readers to share what books they planned to read on Christmas Eve.

Laura C. said that she likes to share "Twas the Night Before Christmas" with her son every year.

Wendy said her favorite is "CHRISTMAS ALL YEAR 'ROUND (1952), edited by Marjorie Vetter, which contains 25 Christmas stories from American Girl magazine--it used to be the official magazine of the Girl Scouts, but was similar to YM or Seventeen, and published excellent fiction. Most of the authors aren't anyone people have heard of anymore unless you're me; the most famous is probably Lenora Mattingly Weber, who wrote the cult-favorite Beany Malone books."

I want to read this book too, but it's almost impossible to find these days. And our library's copy is missing!

Linda revealed, "I usually don't have any time on Christmas Eve to read anything, but four books I must re-read before Christmas are THE TUCKERS: THE COTTAGE HOLIDAY, Kathryn Lasky's CHRISTMAS AFTER ALL, and Frances Frost's SLEIGH BELLS FOR WINDY FOOT, as well as A CHRISTMAS CAROL. If I can, I do like to read the last FEW chapters of Kate Seredy's THE OPEN GATE (starting with the Pearl Harbor chapter.)

Well, that got me excited. I'm a fan of the Tuckers books too, but have not read THE COTTAGE HOLIDAY and, in fact, did not even know it was a holiday story. Now it's going on my "find and read" list, along with the other books Linda suggested!

Brer is a fantasy fan: "I like to read "A Christmas Carol" of course, but also THE BOX OF DELIGHTS by John Masefield, THE DARK IS RISING by Susan Cooper, HOGFATHER by Terry Pratchett, and THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE by C. S. Lewis."

An anonymous reader contributed this: "I found my all time favorite Christmas read on a sale table in the front entry way at Schulers bookstore in Grand Rapids, Michigan years ago. The FOUR MIDWESTERN SISTERS CHRISTMAS BOOK is a treat to read especially for those of us who were born in the 50's. It is a wonderful collection of recipes, holiday craft projects, stories, and traditions."

I've got the same book, Anonymous! And I found mine on the sale table at Borders in Ann Arbor, Michigan, one New Year's Eve many years ago. I love it too!

And bookseller P.J. Grath said, "I'm happily all set with reading, as a friend has sent me two children's stories she's written. She's written others but is starting me with these two. What a gift! Now I feel like a kid with a big, mysterious, exciting wrapped box under the tree!"

P.J.'s comments actually have a connection with a note I got from blog-friend Mary. She wasn't able to post in the comments section, but she wrote me to say, "I will be reading two books of short stories by Katherine Paterson, one story each day, throughout the month of December. They are titled ANGELS AND OTHER STRANGERS : FAMILY CHRISTMAS STORIES and A MIDNIGHT CLEAR."

A few weeks ago this blog posed a question about Christmas books: since they are presumably read only for a month or so each year, are they "money makers" for publishers? Do they sell enough copies in November and December to justify remaining in print all year long? I guess they must, as Ms. Paterson's two collections have been in print continuously since they were published in 1979 and 1995. In some ways, these volumes are quite different from the author's usual books. Instead of concerning children, the stories frequently focus on old men, married women, fathers and mothers. Though Christianity has quietly informed much of Paterson's work, it is most evident in these Christmas collections. Though enjoyable to read (and read aloud) the tales sometimes seem a bit purposeful and lack the nuance of the author's very best work.

ANGELS AND OTHER STRANGERS was released just after Katherine Paterson's career skyrocketed with a National Book Award (THE MASTER PUPPETEER) followed by a Newbery Medal (BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA) and another NBA win (THE GREAT GILLY HOPKINS.) By the time A MIDNIGHT CLEAR was published, she'd won a second Newbery (JACOB HAVE I LOVED) and was acknowledged as one of the world's most important writers for children. Yet it's possible that none of those award-winning novels would have been written if it hadn't been for the humble Christmas stories collected in ANGELS AND OTHER STRANGERS....

It all began in 1967, years before Katherine Paterson had ever published a word of fiction. In fact, she'd only written two short stories in her life. Neither had been published. But that year, the author's minister husband decided that, rather than deliver a sermon at his church's Christmas Eve service, he wanted to read a short story. Katherine went to the library in search of yuletide stories, found none that pleased her ("I can do better than this!" she remembers thinking) and decided to write one of her own.

That Christmas Eve her story was read at the Takoma Park Presbyterian Church, beginning an annual tradition of original Katherine Paterson stories being shared every December twenty-fourth -- first in Maryland, and later in Virginia and Vermont, as the family moved to different church assignments.

The author said, "In those early years, propelled perhaps by my loving congregations' responses to my Christmas stories, I began to write fiction seriously."

In other words, if Katherine Paterson had not shared that first story forty-four Christmases ago, we might not have Jess and Leslie, Sarah Louise and Caroline Bradshaw, Gilly, Lyddie, Jip, Jimmy Jo, and so many others...so many stories.

Katherine's husband, John, is now retired from the ministry. Today he occasionally collaborates with his wife in writing children's books -- most recently THE FLINT HEART. I don't know if Ms. Paterson still writes a new Christmas story each year, but I do know that the stories from ANGELS AND OTHER STRANGERS and A MIDNIGHT CLEAR continue to be shared from other pulpits in other churches each and every Christmas. And of course they are always waiting for any of us to read within the covers of ANGELS AND OTHER STRANGERS, that offbeat children's book, so different from most of the author's work yet containing heartfelt stories -- some written during the apprentice phase of her career -- that continue to delight and inspire readers.

...And speaking of apprentice writers, wouldn't it be fun to sit around P.J. Grath's Christmas tree this weekend, hearing those two brand-new Christmas stories written by her friend? Who knows -- Perhaps that friend will go on to have the kind of success Katherine Paterson has had.

Whether you're reading aloud a tale from one of Paterson's Christmas books...or an unpublished story written by a friend...or maybe even a holiday tale you've written yourself, what better way to celebrate the season than sharing a story with someone this Christmas Eve?

December 18 Sunday Brunch

2011-12-19T02:10:00.003-05:00

Christmas shopping finished? Mostly.

Christmas tree and house decorated? Barely.

Christmas cards sent? No.

Christmas gifts wrapped? No.

In other words, with Christmas a week away, I am WAAAY behind and probably shouldn't be blogging, but I did have a few items to share today, so thought I'd write a quick blog now and wrap gifts later.

CHRISTMAS EVE READING

Seems like every year my bookstore buddy calls and asks what I'm reading on Christmas Eve.

Do you have any old books that you read every year on December 24? Or do you save up a special new book to read that evening? If you don't celebrate Christmas, do you read a book that is specific to your own beliefs or do you choose a secular book>? Or maybe you find yourself drawn to Christmas tales as well? I know several non-Christians who love to read Dickens' Christmas stories at this time of year.

In my case, I sometimes save up a new book to read, but often find myself drawn to specific "holiday chapters" of favorite old books -- for example, the Christmas chapters in Beverly Cleary's books about Henry Huggins and Ramona Quimby. And every Christmas I have to read "Let Nothing You Dismay," a wonderful/spooky/weird holiday story from Betty McDonald's adult book, ANYBODY CAN DO ANYTHING.

I just ordered a book which, if it arrives by next weekend, might be the perfect Christmas story.

But you couldn't tell it from the illustrations:

Even the title sounds more like Halloween story than a Christmas tale:

But from what I understand, NATHANIEL'S WITCH, written by Katherine Gibson, illustrated by Vera Bock, and published in 1941, is a Christmas story set in 1700s Salem. Actualy, there does seem to be a tradition of scary ghost and witch tales associated with the holiday. Henry James' THE TURN OF THE SCREW is set at Christmas (at least the framing device around the tale is) and perhaps the most well-known ghost story of all time is also set in this season, Charles Dickens' A CHRISTMAS CAROL.

Speaking of THE TURN OF THE SCREW, has anyone read the recent YA novel TIGHTER by Adele Griffin? I've read that it's a modern-day companion to the Henry James' novella. Maybe I'll read them both this coming holiday season.

SOMETHING SWEET FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Yesterday on Facebook (and if you haven't "friended" me there, please feel free!) I was recalling an incident that happened to me as a kid:

Back when I was in first grade, I volunteered to bring cookies to the class Christmas party. My mother was happy to make them, but felt bad that we didn't have any Christmas cookie cutters. Strangely, we did have a set of Thanksgiving cookie cutters. The morning of the party, my mother handed me a box of the most beautiful Santa Claus cookies you've ever seen. How did she do it? She'd used the cornucopia cutter

and then turned the cookies at a 90 degree angle. The "horn" of the cornucopoia was now Santa's hat, frosted with red icing. The round "opening" was Santa's face, decorated with chocolate chip eyes and a white frosting beard.

Over the years some people have praised my brother and me for our "creativity, " but it's really a trait we inherited from our parents, who have been quietly creative all of their lives -- often out of necessity. Now I know why they say "Necessity is the MOTHER of Invention."

Anyway, this got me wondering about which children's books contain recipes for Christmas cookies. I found a few:

THE BAKER'S DOZEN : A SAINT NICHOLAS TALE, written by Aaron Shepard and illustrated by Wendy Edelson
CHRISTMAS COOKIES : BITE-SIZED HOLIDAY LESSONS, written by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and and illustrated by Jane Dyer
CHRISTMAS COOKIES! : A HOLIDAY COOKBOOK, written by Susan Devins and illustrated by Barbara Lehman
GINGERBREAD FRIENDS, written and illustrated by Jan Brett

Do you know any others?

I can't remember...does Robert Sabuda's COOKIE COUNT contain recipes...or does it just make you wish recipes were included?

Incidentally, here are my favorite cookies, which my mother has made for me every Christmas since I was very young:

Chinese Noodle Cookies

1. Melt in saucepan or double boiler over low heat one package of chocolate chips and one package of butterscotch chips.

2. Stir in one can Chinese noodles and one can of either peanuts or cashews. We prefer cashews. (Edited to add: a couple people have written in to ask me what kind of noodles we use. We use the following, available in the "ethnic foods" aisle of almost every grocery store:)

3. Mix all together well and drop by teaspoon onto cookie sheet. Cool.

I don't know why we associate these cookies with Christmas, but I do remember once going to someone's house in the summer and being very shocked when they served this cookie at lunch. Being offered a Chinese Noodle Cookie in the summer felt as strange as if they'd invited me to help decorate their Christmas tree in the middle of July!

Which Christmas cookie is your favorite?

WILL E-READERS CHANGE YOUR READING HABITS?

I assume everyone here reads "A Chair, a Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy," Elizabeth Burns' entertaining and insightful blog about young adult literature over at School Library Journal.

Today, though, I had to give her a virtual noogie when I read this comment she posted on Facebook:

Read a few articles that said more sales of ereaders means opportunities for selfpub authors. Sorry, reading ebooks won't change what I read.

I responded:

Liz, I think you should print this off, hang it over your desk, and see if you're still as adamant on the topic a year from now....

Because even though I have completely resisted getting an e-reader thus far -- and plan to hold the Kindle at bay for as long as I can -- I assume it's probably going to be inevitable at some point and I can't help but believe that ebooks WILL change what we read.

Case in point:

I just learned that one of my favorite writers, Edward Bloor, has written MEMORY LANE, a young adult novel that's ONLY available as an e-book.

Bloor's website describes the book like this:

Memory Lane, America’s most popular new theme park, promises to provide its guests with “golden memories.” Choose any week—from 1950 to the present—and Memory Lane will recreate it for you in amazing detail: the foods, the clothes, the TV shows, even the schools. You will soon forget about the present and start living in the past.
 
But is that a good idea?
 
Alice hopes Memory Lane will provide a week of personal healing and of family bonding. Instead, Alice and her cousins Patrick and TJ find themselves struggling with a pair of psychotic bullies, and with the pain of young love, and with a shocking family secret that was, perhaps, better left buried in the past.

Smart, funny, and frightening, Memory Lane is Edward Bloor’s most powerful and insightful novel to date.

Of course I'm curious why this novel is available only as an e-book. Does it mean that his usual publishers turned it down? Or is this an experiment on the author's part. Ultimately, it may not matter -- at least for me. Edward Bloor is one of my favorites and I want to read what he writes.

And I suspect this is a sign of the future. As more and more publishers look for the "next big thing" -- the big concept three-volume vampire/zombie/dystopian novel -- I suspect more authors will resort to self-publishing "smaller" or more personal novels as e-books.

So I know that for me (and I suspect for anyone else who loves literature...maybe even Elizabeth Burns) we may eventually seek out at least some self-published books. So they will change the way we read. After all, they may be the types of books that end up winning the Newber e-award.

HERE'S SOMETHING IRONIC THOUGH...

While it seems as though more mainstream authors may be self-publishing e-books in the future, it appears that self-published authors -- even wealthy ones -- would still prefer to be published in PAPER.

Most of us have heard the story of Amanda Hocking, the young writer who, after being rejected by all the mainstream publishers, opted to self-publish her novels as e-books. Within a year, she had reportedly earned over a million dollars for her efforts.

Of course that's when the mainstream publishers started to take an interest in her work....

Did she send them on their way?

Nope.

Starting on January 24, St. Martin's Griffin will begin publishing Hocking's "Trylle Trilogy" in paperback with a 250,000 first printing for the first book, SWITCHED.

Already optioned for the movies, the book will be advertised on TV, on the internet, and in major magazines.

In the author's note, Ms. Hocking states, "People often ask me if I feel bitterness or resentment toward all the agents who passed on my work before, and to that I say a resounding no. It wasn't the right time or the right place, and I needed all those no's to get to the right agent and the right publisher."

She's a better person than I.

If that were me, I'd say (in the spirit of this holiday season): "People often ask me if I feel bitterness or resentment toward all the agents who passed on my work before, and to that I say a RESOUNDING YES. In fact, I've been making a list of their names and I'm checking it twice."

Anyway, it will be fascinating to see if the author's phenomenal e-book success can translate into hardcopy sales.

EMBARGOED!

Exactly a month ago, I read Roger Sutton's blog about nondisclosure forms and embargoed books.

At the time, it never dawned on me that I might somehow lay my hands on an embargoed book.

But the very next day, one landed right in my lap.

Well, not literally, but you know what I mean....

Suddenly I was holding a tape-bound manuscript copy (unjustified right margin!) of THE FAULT IN OUR STARS, the new novel by John Green.

Just under the title information, in big black letters, were the words:

EMBARGOED TITLE

Just beneath that, it said, "Thank you for submitting your signed affidvat. Any breach of this contract will result in your forfeiting delivery of this title at on-sale."

Ordinarily this book might have ended up in my "to be read" pile, but I was so tickled to read an "embargoed" book (you know what they say about forbidden fruit) that I read the whole thing the next day.

Unfortunately, I don't know what to do with this knowledge now.

I certainly didn't sign any affidavit, so I'm not legally bound by any sanctions placed on this manuscript.

On the other hand, I don't want to get the person who gave me this book in trouble.

So for now -- at least until the book is published on January 10, 2012 -- I'll only say a couple things:

For those who have complained that John Green keeps writing the same novel, this one is quite different and stretches his talent in new and unexpected ways.

For those who say there hasn't been a good dyingpeen tearjerker since the era of DEATH BE NOT PROUD, ERIC, and SUNSHINE, this one fills the bill.

Is it perfect? No.

Is it going to be a big hit? Yep.

It's probably the first "gotta read it" YA novel of 2012.

I hope the Literature Police don't come pounding on my door for revealing this much.

HOORAY FOR HAZEL

Okay, one more thing about THE FAULT IN OUR STARS: the narrator's name is Hazel.

Yes, the protagonist is a girl.

But what really intrigues me is that the name "Hazel," which I always associated with elderly woman (and TV maids) seems to be making a comeback in kids' books this year. I've been seeing it everywhere, not only in titles (the eponymous novel Julie Hearn) but also spotting here and there in other books. And the protagonist of another of this season's high profile titles, BREADCRUMBS by Anne Ursu is also named Hazel.

Must be something in the air.

SIZE MATTERS?

The other day at work I happened to glance up at our collection of Caldecott winners, all shelved in chronological order, and something popped out at me.

They're BIG.

That is, with very few exceptions, all the winning books seem to be -- within reasonable parameters -- "standard picture book" size.

A few are even bigger.

The largest Caldecott on the shelf is 1977's winner, ASHANTI TO ZULU.

That book is 31 centimeters tall. (I'm using centimeters rather than inches because that's how we measure books in cataloging -- and it's somewhat more exact than inches.)

After that book, there are seven winners that are 29.5 cm. tall. They are MEI LI (1939), ABRAHAM LINCOLN (1940), MAKE WAY FOR DUCKLINGS (1942), MADELINE'S RESCUE (1954), TIME OF WONDER (1958), BLACK AND WHITE (1991), and RAPUNZEL (1998.)

Though the remaining winners are smaller, they are -- as previously stated -- all within standard size for picture books.

Only two small books have ever won the Caldecott.

The 1966 winner, ALWAYS ROOM FOR ONE MORE is only 18 cm. tall and 22 cm. wide.

And the smallest of all is 1961's BABOUSKA AND THE THREE KINGS, palm sized at 18x19 cm.

This all leads me to a theory about the Caldecott: little books -- despite the fact that they may be "small gems" -- are far, far less likely to win than larger-sized volumes.

This is probably even more true today than at any other time in industry, when, it seems, fewer picture books are being published with small trim sizes.

Such books seem to be lost in the shuffle at libraries and bookstores (they always seem to slide to the back of the picture book shelves) and they seem to be forgotten when it comes to choosing Caldecott winners....

THE GIVERS

What will you be doing on April 23, 2012?

Will you be participating in World Book Night?

According to the organization's website,

World Book Night is an annual celebration designed to spread a love of reading and books. To be held in the U.S. as well as the U.K. and Ireland on April 23, 2012. It will see tens of thousands of people go out into their communities to spread the joy and love of reading by giving out free World Book Night paperbacks.

Thirty titles have been selected for giving in the United States. They are:

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
Little Bee by Chris Cleave
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Blood Work by Michael Connelly
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
Zeitoun by Dave Eggers
Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
Q is for Quarry by Sue Grafton
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
The Stand by Stephen King
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult
Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Just Kids by Patti Smith
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

I was excited to see that quite a few books for young readers are going to be distributed.

I must admit, my first thought was that, as good as they are, do authors such as Maya Angelou and books such as THE HUNGER GAMES, really need to be promoted this way when there are so many wonderful, lesser-known works that could also benefit from this type of publicity?

But then I read that one of the goals of this project is to give books to those who aren't frequent readers...so what better way to hook someone than with titles that have proven track records of pleasing a very broad range of readers?

It sounds like an interesting and fun night!

COLLECTING CHILDREN'S BOOKS, CIRCA 2061

Blog reader Lin left an interesting comment on this blog last week:

Collectability: how much does it have to do with sentimental attachment to a title? You see the very high prices for original publications of "Snip, Snap and Snurr" or the "Betsy-Tacy" books; things that were well-regarded, but not necessarily considered 'award-worthy,' but evidently very fondly remembered. In fifty years, will a first printing of "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" in excellent condition fetch big bucks?

This is question I have also pondered a lot over the years. Can we ever truly know which of today's books will become highly collectable in the years ahead?

Of course it goes without saying that award winners will always be collectable. But do books that are popular today always become collector's items tomorrow? Will, as Lin suggests, a first printing of WIMPY KID, be worth a bundle a few decades from now? I could be wrong, but my guess is "probably not." I'm basing this only on "recent popular trends" such as R.L. Stine's "Goosebumps" and "Fear Street" series or Ann Martin's "Babysitters Club." Enough time has passed for the "nostalgia bug" to have bitten the former child-readers of those books...and while I imagine that many of them still remember them fondly, I am not seeing a run on these titles -- or skyrocketing prices for the original volumes. At least not yet. And I wonder if there ever can be much "collectability" associated with books that were mass-produced in such huge quantities. (I believe there are, for example, something like thirty million "Wimpy Kid" books currently in print.)

I tend to think that collectability hinges on having a strong sentimental fondness for titles with an almost "cult following" -- and which ere not published in huge quantities to begin with. Of course I mean no disrespect by the words "cult following." I guess what I really mean is that collectable books are usually those that are loved by a small, but very fervent group of fans. The kinds of books that makes their fans feel as if they are members of a special club.

As I said, it's very hard to predict what titles will achieve this status.

The answer only comes with time.

And sometimes they are among the last books you'd predict!

THANKS

Thanks, Lin, for your note -- and for all those who send notes and leave comments on this blog. And thanks to everyone who reads Collecting Children's Books. Hope you stop back soon.

Coming soon!

2011-12-18T18:26:00.001-05:00

Running a little late today, but will be posting a new blog late tonight (Sunday) or early tomorrow morning. Thanks for you patience.

December 12 Sunday Brunch -- with Hog Calling and Sardines

2011-12-10T00:16:00.010-05:00

Sorry for my recent silence. Things got busy over Thanksgiving weekend, and then last weekend I had unexpected company.

I intended to catch up with a couple weekday blogs, but fans of A WRINKLE IN TIME will remember what Charles Wallace told Meg Murray about "good intentions."

In my own defense, I should add that part of the problem involved a broken key on my keyboard. For about a week, the “B” key was stuck, so I pried it off to clean the keys and ended up breaking part of the mechanism.

How can you log about ooks without the letter B?

Thankfully, I discovered you can order replacement keys for almost any laptop for only $5 each from a company called Laptopkey. My key arrived yesterday and I am Back in Business!

THAT TIME OF YEAR

As the calendar year comes to a close, most of the book review magazines are publishing their lists of 2011’s best. Since today’s “best books” are tomorrow’s award winners and collectable volumes, it’s probably a good idea to link to each of these lists in case you haven’t seen them already. You can find School Library Journal’s list here . Then there is Kirkus’s list of 2011’s Best Teen Books, as well as Publisher’s Weekly’s round-up of best books in every genre. The Horn Book has also published its 2011 Fanfare list.

THAT TIME OF YEAR, PART TWO

This is also the time of year that award juries start publishing their shortlists.

Personally, I live for the day that the Newbery and Printz either publish a shortlist or a LOOOONG list of all their nominees. (Hey, the Newbery did it before, they can do it again.)

Till then, we’ll have to make due with the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults and the William Morris

Choosing among titles published between November 1, 2010 an October 31, 2011, the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults selected the following five titles for it shortlist:

SUGAR CHANGED THE WORLD : A STORY OF MAGIC, SPICE, SLAVERY, FREEDOM, AND SCIENCE by Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos

BOOTLEG : MURDER, MOONSHINE, AND THE LAWLESS YEARS OF PROHIBTION by Karen Blumenthal

WHEELS OF CHANGE : HOW WOMEN RODE THE BICYCLE TO FREEDOM (WITH A FEW FLAT TIRES ALONG THE WAY by Sue Macy

MUSIC WAS IT : YOUNG LEONARD BERNSTEIN by Susan Goldman Rubin

THE NOTORIOUS” BENEDICT ARNOLD : A TRUE STORY OF ADVENTURE, HEROISM, & TREACHERY by Steve Sheinkin

The winner will be announced January 23.

The five finalists for the William C. Morris YA Debut Award honoring a “debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens” have also been announced. They are:

THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS by Rae Carson

PAPER COVERS ROCK by Jenny Hubbard

UNDER THE MESQUITE by Guadalupe Garcia McCall

BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY by Ruta Sepetys

WHERE THINGS COME BACK by John Corey Whaley

True to form, the Morris Award continues to favor fiction (no nonfiction title has ever been included) written by female authors (John Corey Whaley is only the second male ever nominated for this prize.)

CHILDREN’S BOOK CHARACTERS “DEFYING GRAVITY”

Well, if I had gotten around to writing a blog on Thanksgiving weekend, this would have been the headline story:

I was excited to recently learn that Greg Hefley -- the “Wimpy Kid” himself – appeared in the 2010 Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. I guess I slept in on Thanksgiving morning last year, as I did not get a chance to see it.

But it got me wondering if he was the first children’s book character to float above that famous parade as a giant balloon.

Far from it.

Doing a little research, I discovered that many children’s book characters have floated over Broadway during the past few decades. The Wimpy Kid’s predecessor’s include: Raggedy Ann (1984), Humpty Dumpty (1986), Clifford the Big Red Dog (1990), Babar (1991), The Cat in the Hat (1994), Peter Rabbit (1996), Arthur (1997), Babe the Pig (1998), Wild Thing (1998), Shrek (2007), and Horton (2008.)
Granted, most of these figures didn’t appear until they achieved success in the movies or TV…but they started in children’s books, so we still hold a claim on them.

ANOTHER FUN APPEARANCE

Some weeks back I blogged about author Marc Tyler Nobelman tracking down and interviewing Edward Ormondroyd, author of Marc’s favorite childhood book, DAVID AND THE PHOENIX.

In the interview, Mr. Ormondroyd revealed that, during his writing career, he never spoke at schools.

Here is a great story and video about Marc Nobelman surprising the now 86-year-old Ormondroyd with his very first “school appearance.”

AND YET ANOTHER FUN SIGHTING

Who caught Google’s tribute to Tom Sawyer a couple weeks ago on Mark Twain’s birthday:

WEEDING WORTH READING

I just spent the last couple weeks withdrawing many damaged books from our library’s collection. As usual, I was quite fascinated to get a look at titles which were apparently quite popular “back in the day.”

First I found a series of opera books geared toward children. Published in the late 1930s/early 1940s, these were billed as “authorized editions” by the Metropolitan Opera. They contained color artwork, retellings of the opera’s narrative, and occasional bars of music:

I questioned how honest these children’s books would be in presenting the more mature aspects of these operas but, as you can see, they do a pretty accurate job, right up to killing off Carmen on the final page of her book:

I wonder if any publishing company would find it profitable to release an opera-related title for kids today. I know Leontyne Price wrote one a few years ago, but would it have been published if her name wasn’t Leontyne Price? According to the cards in the pockets of these library books, they circulated pretty well throughout the forties, but hadn’t been checked out since 1948!

I was also drawn to THE HANDBOOK OF CO-ED ACTIVITIES by Edythe and David DeMarche, if only because of this dorky title page illustration:

Published through the YMCA in 1958, this 640 page book is filled with overwritten descriptions of boy-girl activities, including parties, games, dances, hobbies (including cooking, with a selection of recipes including recent teen favorite…pizza), putting on plays, listening to music, and volunteerism. It’s the kind of book that refers to its subjects as “teeners” and, in describing a game called “broom ball,” advises that it “can be too rough for girl players, so divide the boys…into two teams” and “each boy may choose a girl to ‘root’ for his team.”

Games in the book include: “Hog Calling” Contests, “Sardines” (not mentioned in the book, but here is today’s bit of trivia: did you know that actor David Niven’s first wife met her accidental death while playing “Sardines” at a Hollywood party?), “Fam-blies are Coming” (what the?), “We Won’t Go Home Until Morning” and “Tax Deductions.” (I’ve noticed that teens who don’t go home until morning frequently do end up with little tax deductions.)

The book also has this dessert suggestion for a New Year’s Eve party: Take a large fruitcake and secrete in it a thimble (for industry), a coin (for wealth), a ring (for love), and a toothpick (for dining well…another “what the?” moment.) Those who discover the objects in the cake will learn their fate for their new year. (All I’m picturing are lawsuits for broken teeth and choking deaths.)

The section on music describes some of the jargon associated with this hobby: “Tunes are torrid jumpers,’ ‘rhythm romancers’; records are ‘disks’ and ‘biscuits’’; styles are ‘rock and roll,’ ‘easygoing shuffle’ or ‘velvet delivery.’”

Finally, I was tickled by the section on manners which says that, when introducing others, “the use of ‘shake hands with’ or ‘make you acquainted with’ or ‘get to know’…should be avoided, as well as such trite responses as ‘Charmed, I’m sure.’”
When I read a book like this, I wonder if it accurately reflects 1950s “teener” culture or if it seemed anachronistic to young people even then?

Finally, I came across this book:

I wonder if this early children’s book on divorce (published 1977) strikes fear into the hearts of many kids from that era. Although the message is supportive and sympathetic:

Sometimes my Mom said bad things about my Dad.
And my Dad said bad things about my Mom.
My mom said my Dad was a liar.
My Dad said my Mom was stupid.

I couldn't stand listening to either one.

I didn't want to hear them say bad things
about each other.
I loved them both.

the documentary photographs are dark and rather cold. I just wonder how many kids were handed this book when they heard their parents were divorcing. And if you were one of them, did the book make you feel a little better, or does it just take you back to a sad, bad time in your life?

Though the book is dated, our library copy had been checked out several times in this new millennium. The only reason we’re getting rid of it is because it’s worn out….

HER NAME IS MINA

I wonder if anyone has ever done a survey or research on sequels.

Do they mostly disappoint and make the reader wish they’d never been written, or are readers usually glad to have ANY additional story about a favorite character.

I’m not talking about books in a series which, in most cases (HARRY POTTER, etc.) were conceived as series, but rather a follow-up to a famous book – often appearing many years later. A case in point would be SMALL STEPS – Louis Sachar’s sequel to the classic HOLES. Is there anyone out there who finds SMALL STEPS a superior book? Is there anyone out there who feels this book was ultimately necessary?

I must say that I approached David Almond’s latest, MY NAME IS MINA, with a great deal of trepidation. A sequel to the near-perfect SKELLIG, I wondered if this book could possibly emerge from its predecessor’s shadow.

To my surprise, I found this unique and powerful book to be quite amazing.

Perhaps Almond beats the “sequel curse” by making this book a “prequel” to SKELLIG and by focusing on a completely different character than the first novel. In SKELLIG, Mina was the neighbor of protagonist Michael, but she comes front and center in this volume, telling her own story of the months leading up to Michael’s arrival in the neighborhood. Written in the form of a journal (the font resembles a child’s printing), Mina muses about leaving school to be taught at home, her sorrow at her father’s death, and her interest in words and writing and nature. Less a plot-driven narrative than a character study, this luminous book may not appeal to every reader, but special readers will be amazed at how brilliantly the author captures the essence of the imaginative, misunderstood, almost mystical title character in a book that can truly take its place on the same shelf as SKELLIG.

SAME BOOK, DIFFERENT SIZE

I recently needed to purchase a book for a one-year-old baby. My bookstore buddy recommended THE HOUSE IN THE NIGHT by Susan Marie Swanson; Beth Krommes won the Caldecott for illustrating the book. I immediately said, “No, I don’t think so—“ as the book was not a particular favorite of mine.

Then my friend handed me the new “board book” edition of THE HOUSE IN THE NIGHT. I didn’t really want to look at it, as I’ve always thought that “board book” versions of traditional picture books are kind of a rip-off –- just another way to make more money off a known commodity. But then I began to look at the board book version…and found myself really liking it.

In fact, I liked it much better in that format than I did the original version!

My bookstore buddy agreed. She said that she'd had a hard time selling the larger hardcover edition of this book, but “can’t keep the board book in the store – everyone loves it!”

It’s as if the story was meant to be a board book all along….

Have you seen this particular board book? Do you agree with us or do you find the board book version inferior to the original?

BEHIND THE COVER

Have you seen THE FUTURE OF US, the new novel by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler?

Obviously this is a book destined for big things. Jay Asher’s first novel, 13 REASONS WHY, was a monster hit and here he’s paired with the popular and acclaimed Carolyn Mackler (THE EARTH, MY BUTT, AND OTHER BIG ROUND THINGS.) As we’ve all noticed in recent years, it’s suddenly hot to pair young adult authors as collaborators – something you rarely saw even a decade ago.

No money was spared on the dustjacket design either. Some months back I commented on the verso of the dustjacket for ACROSS THE UNIVERSE by Beth Revis featuring a blueprint of the novel’s spaceship and wondered why more publishers don’t take advantage of this blank space. One blog reader wrote back to say, “The back of the dust jacket is usually blank (or white) because it costs money--generally LOTS of money--to print on the reverse side (also known as 4 over 4--4 color over 4 color). It's not really wasted space so much as extremely pricey.” So the fact that the publishers used that space -- and spent that money –- on Asher and Mackler’s novel shows that this is a “quality publication”:

They also charged $18.99 for this book –- a bit on the high side for a current YA novel.

Is it worth all the care they put into the novel?

Yes and no.

Set in 1996, the story is told in alternating chapters by teenagers Josh and Emma. Trying out a new America Online disk, Emma stumbles on a website called “Facebook” (yes, THE Facebook…which didn’t even exist in 1996) and is able to see profiles of herself, Josh, and many of their friends from the year 2011. It’s a fascinating premise. Through Facebook, Josh discovers he’s going to marry the most popular girl in school…while Emma is stuck in an unsatisfactory marriage. Or can change that, fifteen years in advance, by just altering the college she plans to attend? One of the most intriguing concepts in the story is realizing that a minor incident in 1996 can change, for instance, the number of children Josh and his wife will have fifteen years later. THE FUTURE OF US is a real page-turner -– a breezy, light novel that never delves too deeply or seriously into the topic. And the ending feels a little rushed. This is a book a lot of kids are going to read, and love, though it ultimately may not have the “staying power” of many of its contemporaries. Five years from now Facebook may no longer be the phenomenon it is today. Will kids be interested in reading the novel then? So this is a book that may date very quickly. But if you want to read a fast, fun, and timely book TODAY, then THE FUTURE OF US is a great choice.

COLLECTABILITY?

People often ask which contemporary books are mostly likely to be collectable in the future. In the case of THE FUTURE OF US, I would say that the publicity push for this novel and its large first printing will assure that copies are always out there for purchase.

On the other hand, the fact that this book speaks so clearly to TODAY’S ERA, it may not be a book that will remain in print for years and years. It may be one of your best choices if you want a title that clearly defines YA publishing in 2011 –- the fancy dustjacket (I doubt later editions will contain illustrated versos), the two-author team, the very contemporary subject matter. Ultimately, I can’t think of a more timely book to represent the current era for any book collection.

O CHRISTMAS TREE!

No, this isn’t my Christmas tree:

but I saw it on Facebook today and I’d sure like to have one.

If you’re the type of person who’d also like a tree like this, feel free to friend me on Facebook.

Thanks for visiting Collecting Children’s Books. I will try to post more frequently in the coming weeks, so stop back often!

A Blog with Lots of Questions

2011-11-20T14:35:00.002-05:00

Do seasonal books sell and circulate all year round? Which Caldecott title contains the fewest illustrations? Which "Little House" artist is your favorite? Does a female powerlifting champion with a crew cut know she's being used to sell a new YA novel? These are some of the questions we ask in today's Sunday Brunch blog.

LAST WEEK

Everyone has already heard this news, but I might as well include it here for the sake of future internet researchers: this past week Thannha Lai won the National Book Award in the category of Young People's Literature. The author's first book, INSIDE OUT & BACK AGAIN, is a verse-novel about a young Vietnamese girl whose family immigrates to the United States. .One of the charges commonly leveled against verse-novels is that they are less "poetry" than broken lines of text arranged artfully across a page. Although INSIDE OUT has been well-received by most critics, I must admit that I'm in the "broken lines of text arranged artfully" school with this particular book. The story itself is interesting, but I simply wasn't too impressed with the writing style. Every year, when the NBA nominees are announced, people assume these titles could go on to be recognized by the Newbery committee. However, only two books have won both the Newbery and the National Book Award: M.C. HIGGINS THE GREAT by Virginia Hamilton and HOLES by Louis Sachar. So it now seems unlikely that INSIDE OUT & BACK AGAIN will win the 2012 Newbery. (Whew!)

LAST NIGHT

I didn't get a chance to see the animated feature film UP when it was released in 2009, so I made a point of recording it off TV last night. I really enjoyed it -- especially the moving first half hour. I wasn't as fond of the talking dogs but, hey, what's a kids' movie without animals that talk?

Every time a movie gets made from a children's book -- or any book, really -- the usual response is, "The movie wasn't as good as the book."

The same rule of thumb applies to original movies that get adapted into children's books. They're never, ever as good as the movie. And there are so many of them! I counted at least ten children's books based on UP -- and that's not including coloring books, sticker books, and activity books:

Can you imagine one nice, short, entertaining movie spawning this many books? I can imagine many contemporary kids growing up and remembering UP as one of their favorite childhood movies. I can't imagine ANY kids growing up and remembering any of these books as childhood favorites. Decades from now, people may still be enjoying the movie, but the only place you'll be able to find most of these movies is in landfills everywhere.

NEXT WEEK

With Thanksgiving just three days away, I recently took a look at the only Thanksgiving book ever recognized by the Caldecott committee. It's the 1955 Honor Book, THE THANKSGIVING STORY, written by Alice Dalgliesh and illustrated by Helen Sewell.

This got me thinking about the various holiday books that have been recognized by the Caldecott committee over the years.

The Dalgliesh is the only Thanksgiving book, isn't it?

There's one Hanukkah book -- the 1990 Honor HERSHEL AND THE HANUKKAH GOBLINS, written by Eric Kimmel an illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman.

There's one Easter book -- the 1950 winner THE EGG TREE by Katherine Milhous.

Christmas fares much better, with three winning titles (Marie Hall Ets' NINE DAYS TO CHRISTMAS, 1960, Nicolas Sidjakov's BABOUSHKA AND THE THREE KINGS, 1961, and Chris Van Allsburg's THE POLAR EXPRESS, 1986) as well as at least one Honor (THE CHRISTMAS ANNA ANGEL, 1945.)

This led me to wonder about the readership of seasonal books during the course of the year. I've been in many children's libraries in my lifetime and have noticed the varied way they handle seasonal and holiday books. Some leave all holiday books on the shelves all year round. Others keep them in a special section, but only emphasize the current holiday. Still others store them "behind the scenes," only bringing out the Christmas books, for instance, after Thanksgiving.

My question to you is this: If you work in a library or bookstore, do you notice that holiday books only circulate/sell during a very small window of time surrounding that particular day? If you publish holiday-themed books, do these titles generally earn less money than generic books not associated with holidays...or do Christmas books sell so well during the holiday season that they essentially make as much money in six weeks as other books make in fifty-two weeks?

I also wonder if "seasonal" books are somewhat limited in sales and circulation. For example, there are three Caldecott winners about snow (WHITE SNOW, BRIGHT SNOW, 1948; THE BIG SNOW, 1949; THE SNOWY DAY, 1963.) Are these books bought or borrowed as much in July and August as they are in December and January? Granted, one of the joys of reading is being transported to another place and time...yet I can't imagine myself picking out a "snow" book in summer. On the other hand, spring and summer seem to be the "default" setting for most picture books so somehow it wouldn't seem strange to read such a book in the dead of winter.

So what do you think? Are such books limited to their season or not?

BUT BACK TO THE THANKSGIVING STORY

One of the things that most surprised me about this book was how few illustrations it includes. There is the cover illustration, as well as a double title-page tableau. Beyond that, there five single-page illustrations, two half-page illustrations, and a final double-page spread featuring Thanksgiving dinner. A few pages have brown silhouettes around the edge of the page (birds, animals, grapes) and there are two additional illustrations -- one showing the interior of the Mayflower and map -- done by a completely different artist, Rafael Palacios.

So here is my question for Caldecott trivia masters. Seeing how few illustrations there are in this book has made me curious: what Caldecott winner or Honor Book has the fewest number of illustrations of all?

I have no idea what the answer is, but I'm curious if anyone else knows.

Are there are Caldecott books with fewer illustrations than THE THANKSGIVING STORY?

SEWELL'S GREATEST GIG?

Although THE THANKSGIVING STORY was the only time Helen Sewell was honored by the Caldecott committee, she had a long and distinguished career in book illustration. She entered the field in 1928 with MENAGERIE : POEMS FOR CHILDREN by May Britton Miller, but also provided illustrations for new editions of classic works (PRIDE AND PREJUDICE; Emily Dickinson's POEMS) and wrote a few children's books of her own, most notably BLUE BARNS.

And in honor of the Thanksgiving season, here's a picture of a turkey from BLUE BARNS:

But to many readers, Ms. Sewell is best-known for providing the illustrations to Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Little House" series. After illustrating LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS, FARMER BOY, and LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRE on her own, she collaborated with Mildred Boyle for the remaining books in the series.

The reasons for this remain a bit murky. According to a letter from Laura Ingalls Wilder's publisher, Ms. Sewell was in a bad car acccient and required help with her work. She would continue doing the jackets and frontispieces,but suggested that Mildred Boyle collaborate on the rest of the illustrations. Some question the car accident story and just think that Sewell was overworked, with contracts to illustrate a number of books. Whatever the case, Mildred Boyle, whose only previous children's book was NANCY ALDEN by Eliza Orne White (1936), joined Sewell in illustrating the remaining five volumes in the series.

Though she illustrated three or four other children's books in the forties and fifties, there is not much information out there regarding Mildred Boyle. But for a couple generations, readers of the "Little House" books knew only the work of Sewell and Boyle. This all changed in 1953 when Harper editor Ursula Nordstrom decided to reissue the series in a new uniform edition. Before then, the books were published in different sizes and with different fonts (the original LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS was square and blocky with large print, while the last volume, THESE HAPPY GOLDEN YEARS resembled a young adult book in size and typeface.) Nordstorm commissioned Garth Williams to illustrate the entire eight-volume series and, to readers from the second half of the twentieth century on, it's hard to imagine the books ever looking any different.

COMPARISONS

Although the dustjackets of all the Laura Ingalls Wilder books are available for viewing all over the internet (not to mention in every library and bookstore!) I don't think I've ever seen the Sewell and Williams covers displayed together, volume by volume. To remedy that situation, I'm sharing them here -- together for the first (?) time:

LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS / Sewell, 1932

LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS / Williams, 1953

FARMER BOY / Sewell, 1933

FARMER BOY / Williams, 1953

LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE / Sewell, 1935

LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE / Williams, 1953

ON THE BANKS OF PLUM CREEK / Sewell, 1937

ON THE BANKS OF PLUM CREEK / Williams, 1953

BY THE SHORES OF SILVER LAKE / Sewell, 1937

BY THE SHORES OF SILVER LAKE / Williams, 1953

THE LONG WINTER / Sewell, 1940

THE LONG WINTER / Williams, 1940

LITTLE TOWN ON THE PRAIRIE / Sewell, 1941

LITTLE TOWN ON THE PRAIRIE / Williams, 1941

THESE HAPPY GOLDEN YEARS / Sewell, 1943

THESE HAPPY GOLDEN YEARS / Williams, 1943

THE FIRST FOUR YEARS / Williams, 1971

This was the only "Little House" book that Sewell did not illustrate, as it was not published till 1971.

ALICE DALGLIESH, CALDECOTT HONOR AND NEWBERY HONOR AUTHOR

As mentioned, THE THANKSGIVING STORY was the only time the Caldecott committee called on Helen Sewell. It was also the only time one of Alice Dalgliesh's books wore a Caldecott seal. She was much more used to being a Newbery Honor author.

Children's book editor at Scribner's from 1934 to 1960, Alice Dalgliesh was also a prolific writer. Three of her titles -- THE SILVER PENCIL, THE BEARS ON HEMLOCK MOUNTAIN and THE COURAGE OF SARAH NOBLE - were named Newbery Honors. The latter two remain in print in both hardcover and paperback today -- a rather extraordinary feat considering they were first published in 1952 an 1954 respectively.

Published in 1944, THE SILVER PENCIL is much lesser known, but should be of interest to anyone interested in children's books and writers. It's a highly autobiographical novel in which aspiring writer Janet Laidlaw (read "Alice Dalgliesh") moves from her birthplace in Trinidad to her family's home country of England, and finally settles in the United States, where she teaches kindergarten and achieves her dream of publishing a book. It's a fascinating glimpse into Dalgliesh's own life and career.

A few years later, Ms. Dalgliesh published a sequel, BEYOND JANET'S ROAD, which traces the protagonist's later career as a children's book editor.

This book never caught on with young readers for several reasons. For one thing, it didn't have the globe-trotting locations of the original novel, plus Janet is already well in her twenties when this book begins. And while many aspiring young writers might be drawn to THE SILVER PENCIL to see Janet struggle with becoming a writer, how many kids dream about becoming children's book editors? Darn few, I imagine. Still, those of us with an interest in the history of children's books often love this novel for its insights into the publishing world. Plus it's fun to speculate on who the characters represent "in real life." I'm pretty sure that one is Rachel Field, while another is likely Ernest Heminigway.

Incidentally, my copy of THE SILVER PENCIL is inscribed by Alice Dalgliesh to the book's editor, Virginia Fowler:

At the time I bought this, there was also a copy of ALONG JANET'S ROAD available, inscribed by both Dalgliesh and the book's illustrator, Katherine Milhous, to the same editor. I could not afford both books. So somewhere out there there's another reader/collector/fan who has a copy of ALONG JANET'S ROAD inscribed to the editor and wishes they also owned THE SILVER PENCIL. Meanwhile, I have a copy of THE SILVER PENCIL inscribed to the editor and wish I also owned ALONG JANET'S ROAD. We have a lot in common. I think we'd be friends.

RED LETTER DAYS

When I was looking at Dalgliesh's THANKSGIVING STORY it dawned on me that that book received its Caldecott Honor the same year that THE COURAGE OF SARAH NOBLE got the Newbery Honor.

Has any other author ever published a Newbery and Caldecott Honor in the same year?

As I pondered that subject, I thought, "It must have been a real red letter day for Dalgliesh, having two of her books cited on the same day."

No more than an hour later, this book happened across my desk:

Does anyone else remember Elizabeth Hough Sechrist's POEMS FOR RED LETTER DAYS, the go-to anthology for holiday poems in the 1950s and 1960s?

Originally published in 1951, the book went through many printings and was found in nearly every library collection back in the day. Arranged in chronological order, the volume takes us through one calendar year, with a poem for each new month followed by verses for all of the special occasions within that month, from the biggies (New Year's, Valentine's, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas) to some that are far more obscure (Robert E. Lee's Birthday, I Am An American Day, Forefather's Day.) The last section of the book covers some floating holidays (states' days, with a poem for each of them; Boy Scout Week; birthdays, Fire Prevention Week.)

From what I understand, the term "red letter day" originated with old church calendars, so it's perhaps not surprising that this volume celebrates mostly Christian holidays (Epiphany, Saint's Stephen's Day) while ignoring all other cultures. Granted, multiculturalism wasn't a big deal in fifties America, but even then, most children's holiday books would at least toss in a few reference to Jewish holidays such as Hanukkah or Passover...but none are represented here.

I was intrigued to discover that POEMS FOR RED LETTERS is once again available to modern readers, as a $32.75 print-on-demand volume. It would be interesting to know how many libraries will purchase it as an example of a children's classic, or whether they'll decide to spend their money on modern books which has a more mutlicultural focus.

ANOTHER BOOK AWARD

A blog reader recently asked me to recognize the Child Study Association Award. In recent years the name has been changed to the "Josette Frank Award" to honor the Association's former executive director. Given since 1943, "this award for fiction honors a book or books of outstanding literary merit in which children or young people deal in a positive and realistic way with difficulties in their world and grow emotionally and morally."

I'm a bit confused by that description, since at least one book on the list is clearly nonfiction (1950's PARTNERS : THE UNITED NATIONS AND YOUTH.) Looking at the list of winners is fascinating, though, since the authors range from extraordinarily popular (Betsy Byars, Paula Fox, Lois Lowry) to some I don't know at all. (Am I showing my ignorance when I say I've never even heard of Maria Gleit, Vadim Frolov, and a couple others?)

1943 / KEYSTONE KIDS / John R. Tunis
1944 / THE HOUSE / Margerie Hill Allee
1945 / THE MOVED-OUTERS / Florence Cranell Means
1946 / HEART OF DANGER / Howard Pease
1947 / JUDY'S JOURNEY / Lois Lenski
1948 / THE BIG WAVE / Pearl Buck
1949 / PAUL TIBER : FORESTER / Maria Gleit
1950 / PARTNERS : THE UNITED NATIONS AND YOUTH / Eleanor Roosevelt & Helen Ferris
1951 / No Award
1952 / JAREB / Miriam Powell
TWENTY AND TEN / Claire Huchet Bishop
1953 / IN A MIRROR / Mary Stolz
1954 / THE ORDEAL OF THE YOUNG HUNTER / Jonreed Lauritzen
HIGH ROAD HOME / William Corbin
1955 / PLAIN GIRL / Virginia Sorenson
CROW BOY / Taro Yasima
1956 / THE HOUSE OF SIXTY FATHERS / Meindert DeJong
1957 / SHADOW ACROSS THE CAMPUS / Helen R. Sattler
1958 / SOUTH TOWN / Lorenz Graham
1959 / JENNIER / Zoa Sherbourne
1960 / JANINE / Robin McKown
1961 / THE ROAD TO AGRA / Aimee Sommerfelt
THE GIRL FROM PUERTO RICO / Hila Colman
1962 / THE TROUBLE WITH TERRY / Joan Lexau
1963 / THE PEACEABLE REVOLUTION / Betty Schecter
THE ROCK AND THE WILLOW / Mildred Lee
1964 / THE HIGH PASTURE / Ruth Harnden
1965 / THE EMPTY SCHOOLHOUSE / Natalie Savage Carlson
1966 / QUEENIE PEAVY / Robert Burch
1967 / THE CONTENDER / Robert Lipsyte
1968 / WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT / Vadim Frolov
1969 / THE EMPTY MOAT / Margaretha Shemin
1970 / ROCK STAR / James Lincoln Collier
MIGRANT GIRL / Carli Laklin
1971 / JOHN HENRY MCCOY / Lillie D. Chafin
1972 / THE SOUND OF CHARIOTS / Mollie Hunter
1973 / A TASTE OF BLACKBERRIES / Doris Buchanan Smith
1974 / LUKE WAS THERE / Eleanor Clymer
1975 / THE GARDEN IS DOING FINE / Carol Farley
1976 / SOMEBODY ELSE'S CHILD / Roberta Silman
1977 / THE PINBALLS / Betsy Byars
1978 / THE DEVIL IN VIENNA / Doris Orgel
1979 / THE WHIPMAN IS WATCHING / T.A. Dyer
1980 / A BOAT TO NOWHERE / Maureen Wartski
1981 / A SPIRIT TO RIDE THE WHIRLWIND / Athena Lord
1982 / HOMESICK : MY OWN STORY / Jean Fritz
1983 / THE SIGN OF THE BEAVER / Elizabeth George Speare
THE SOLOMON SYSTEM / Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
1984 / ONE-EYED CAT / Paula Fox
1985 / WITH WESTIE AND TIN MAN / C.S. Adler
1986 / JOURNEY TO JO'BURG / Beverley Naidoo
1987 / RABBLE STARKEY / Lois Lowry
1988 / THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACE IN THE WORLD / Ann Cameron
DECEMBER STILLNESS / Mary Downing Hahn
1989 / SHADES OF GRAY / Carolyn Reeder
1990 / SECRET CITY, USA / Felice Holman
1991 / SHADOW BOY / Susan E. Kirby
1992 / BLUE SKIN OF THE SEA / Graham Salisbury
1993 / MAKE LEMONADE / Virginia Euwer Wolff
1994 / EARTHSHINE / Theresa Nelson
1995 / MUSIC FROM A PLACE CALLED HALF MOON / Jerrie Oughton
1996 / THE CUCKOO'S CHILD / Suzanne Freeman
1997 / NO TURNING BACK : A NOVEL OF SOUTH AFRICA / Beverley Naidoo
1998 / MY LOUSIANA SKY / Kimberly Willis Holt
1999 / No Award?
2000 / FIGURING OUT FRANCES / Gina Willner-Pardo
2001 / BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE / Kate DiCamillo
2002 / AMBER WAS BRAVE, ESSIE WAS SMART / Vera B. Williams
2003 / GODDESS OF YESTERDAY / Caroline B. Cooney
JERICHO WALLS / Kristi Collier
2004 / THE GOOSE GIRL / Shannon Hale
2005 / IDA B AND HER PLANS TO MAXIMIZE FUN, AVOID DISASTER, AND (POSSIBLY) SAVE THE WORLD / Katherine Hannigan
2006 / EACH LITTLE BIRD THAT SINGS / Deborah Wiles
2007 / CLEMENTINE / Sara Pennypacker
THE MANNY FILES / Christian Burch
2008 / HOME OF THE BRAVE / Katherine Applegate
2009 / AFTER TUPAC AND D FOSTER / Jacqueline Woodson
2010 / THE EVOLUTION OF CALPURNIA TATE / Jacqueline Kelly
WHERE THE MOUNTAIN MEETS THE MOON / Grace Lin
2011 / OUT OF MY MIND / Sharon Draper

Did you notice something else about this list, guys?

And I'm not using "guys" in the vernacular, but actually addressing the gentlemen, dudes, and misters in this audience.

There sure doesn't seem to be a place for us on this list, does there?

Okay, there was a male winner in 2007...but you have to go all the way back to 1992 to see another man's name. Then you have to go back to 1979 before that....

It's a solid list of some very good books...but it clearly seemed slanted for female writers.

BEYOND THE BEYOND

Last weekend I discussed the reissue of Palmer Brown's novel BEYOND THE PAW PAW TREES.

Helen Schinske wrote in with a link to this entry from a children's book listserve in 2001:

I corresponded with Palmer Brown a few months ago, I **really** wanted to
reprint Beyond the Paw Paw Trees.

He very nicely responded that he had talked it over with Anna Lavinia and
they decided that she belongs to another time and does not want to be
resurrected.

I love the story and felt like there was a death in the family when I got
his response, I wanted to revive her so badly.

Jill Morgan
Publisher
Purple House Press

So it sounds like there has long been interest in reviving Mr. Brown's work. Obviously it sounds as though Anna Lavinia changed her mind about being resurrected because a few months ago, ten years after turning down Purple House Press, the author allowed his book to be reissued by the New York Review of Books.

21, RUSH, AND A "HULKING BEARER OF THE ACADEMIC FLAME"

I often wish I had my own review journal. Or maybe my own bookstore.

If so, I'd get my hands on advance reading copies of books, all kinds of promotional materials, publicity packets, and other related ephemera.

As it is, I have a regular daily job, blog on the side, and only get a freebie ARC or publicity packet about once a month.

Of course I'm grateful for everything I get (I do a happy beagle dance every time a box or large envelope arrives) but just wish such things arrived on a daily basis. Especially when I receive something as fascinating as I did this past week.

It was an ARC of a forthcoming book called RUSH by Jeremy Iversen.

The name rang a bell and I remembered that I had read his nonfiction book HIGH SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL a few years back.

I also remembered that he had written a novel called 21, which I had not read:

It turns out that 21 was the "preliminary edition" of this forthcoming novel RUSH.

Have you ever heard of a book's first edition being called its "preliminary" edition? Or having a newly-revised edition of the same novel released less than six years after its original publication?

Obviously I'm going to have to get my hands on a copy of 21 and compare the two books side-by-side. Sounds like my kind of assignment!

This new edition is being released with quite a bit of fanfare.

Accompanying the ARC was a twelve page packet of info about how the book came to be written and how it was received by critics. There's a lengthy summary of the novel and a big write up on each character. I was surprised they didn't include the author's phone number.

Oh, they did!

Really!

But the most irresistable part of the packet was the description of the book's origins:

Eighteen-year-old Jeremy Iversen had just gotten an assignment in his required freshman writing class at Stanford University. The teaching assistant, a very large woman with a crew cut and a chain wallet, had recently emerged victorious in a world powerlifting competition, and now ordered her charges to keep a detailed journal of their daily lives.

Jeremey raised a hand and asked if perhaps he might instead pen a short story. "No," she snorted. Eventually this hulking bearer of the academic flame confessed, "Oh, do whatever you like. I'm not going to read it anyway."

The packet goes on to describe the story he wrote and how, when "he mentioned the concept in class...the T.A. laughed at him."

We then learn that when the "preliminary edition" of the book was published, the author went on a nationwide promotional tour by bus and "true to her word, the T.A. still never read it."

I must admit I'm fascinated by all this. The promotional packet even includes a color photo of the "Giver of the Assignment," obviously taken at a sporting event. She's not identified by name.

I'm just dying to know if she's playing along with all this or whether the writer is using this opportunity to get even with her for laughing at him and still not reading his book.

If she's playing along with it: well, good for her, laughing along with the whole thing...even being called "hulking."

If he's getting even with her: well, good for him, laughing back at a teacher who never took his work seriously and still refuses to read it.

Either way, I'm fascinated by the book's backstory and now can't wait to read it.

THANKS

With Thanksgiving on the horizon, let me say again how thankful I am to everyone who stops by this blog. Maybe there will be time for another blog entry this week. If not and this is the last time we meet this week, I hope you and yours have a wonderful holiday!

November 13 Sunday Brunch

2011-11-12T12:56:00.013-05:00

This morning is gray and cold. The wind is whistling down the chimney. I just went out on the deck and watched four honking geese come in for a splash-landing in the pond. Meanwhile, a squirrel was chasing up and down the limbs of a bare tree, as if trying to find his way out of a maze. It's a "coming of winter" morning, as Truman Capote would say -- which is the reason I'm starting off today's blog with Capote's "A Christmas Story." I know, it's a little early in the season, but I didn't want to start with my Joe Paterno entry. That comes later -- along with other random stuff about children's books old and new.

IT'S FRUITCAKE WEATHER

Imagine a morning in late November. A coming of winter morning more than twenty years ago. Consider the kitchen of a spreading old house in a country town. A great black stove is its main feature; but there is also a big round table and a fireplace with two rocking chairs placed in front of it. Just today the fireplace commenced its seasonal roar.

A woman with shorn white hair is standing at the kitchen window. She is wearing tennis shoes and a shapeless gray sweater over a summery calico dress. She is small and sprightly, like a bantam hen; but, due to a long youthful illness, her shoulders are pitifully hunched. Her face is remarkable—not unlike Lincoln’s, craggy like that, and tinted by sun and wind; but it is delicate too, finely boned, and her eyes are sherry-colored and timid. “Oh my,” she exclaims, her breath smoking the windowpane, “it’s fruitcake weather!”

Yeah, I know Truman Capote's "A Christmas Memory" isn't technically a work for children. In fact, its mix of nostalgia and poignancy is probably best appreciated by adults. But it does feature a child protagonist, and every kid in the United States probably reads it in a school textbook before they're twelve-years-old. And, in 2006, fifty years after its original publication in an adult magazine, the story made its debut as a children's book:

It's one of my all-time favorites and if the above passage made you want to read it again or (where have you been?) read it for the first time, you can even read it on the internet, here or here. I'm not sure who posted the story and I'm sure it's all kinds of illegal, but it's out there so you might as well read.

If you're around my age, you may remember the wonderful (and wonderfully faithful) 1960s TV special made from this story. Geraldine Page won an Emmy for her performance. If you want to revisit the movie, or see it for the first time, it's available in six parts on Youtube:

I must admit I was a bit put off by one of the first viewer comments is from a kid who says, "im watching this cause my homework nd i dont like 2 read."

If you think it's still too early for Christmas memories, you might prefer Capote's other holiday classic, "A Thanksgiving Visitor." This story was also originally published for adults, but was co-opted for kids with this 1996 illustrated edition:

It was also made into a TV movie, for which Geraldine Page won her second Emmy. And it's also available on Youtube in five parts, starting here:

FROM THE SUBLIME TO THE RIDICULOUS

If you've been following the shocking and shameful events at Penn State this past week, you may have had an experience similar to mine.

Reading Joe Paterno's biography on the Wikipedia, I noticed the different "categories" were Paterno's name is included:

Penn State Nittany Lions football coaches
1926 births
people of Italian descent
American children's book writers

Children's book writers?

Though it's undoubtedly strange to see him listed there between Dillwyn Parrish and Katherine Paterson, he made the list by virtue of this 2007 children's book he wrote with his wife Sue:

He was also the subject of a 1974 children's book SIX DAYS TO SATURDAY by Jack Newcombe:

Jerry Sandusky, the criminal at the center of this case (oh, I shouldn't say that because he's "innocent until found guilty"? Sue me for slander) also wrote a book, although thankfully it's not a children's book.

The title?

TOUCHED.

Talk about flaunting it.

Talk about hiding in plain sight.

When I first looked this book up on Amazon.com last weekend there were only a couple customer reviews.

Now there are over one hundred.

Few, if any, of those reviews are from people who have actually read the book. Most are just using the space to comment on the Penn State case. I find this fascinating. I've bemoaned the fact that when bookstores close, folks can't find a place to share their thoughts and opinions with like-minded people -- "book people." It looks like they have found a way now...by visiting online bookstores.

BIL KEANE

I was sorry to hear about the death of Family Circus creator earlier this week. Although he never illustrated a children's book, his newspaper comic usually provided either laughs or smiles of recognition in its depictions of how kids think and feel. (Though he did run to those "Ida Know" and "Not Me" into the ground, didn't he?)

He also produced some cartoons that advocated literacy. My co-writer Julie Walker Danielson shared this one with me:

and now here is one I'm sharing with Julie -- and you:

R.I.P., Mr. Keane.

HEAVY MEDAL SHORTLIST

Over at the Heavy Medal blog , Jonathan Hunt and Nina Lindsay have announced their Newbery shortlist. The titles are:

THE ADVENTURES OF SIR GAWAIN THE TRUE by Gerald Morris

AMELIA LOST by Candice Fleming

HEART & SOUL by Kadir Nelson

I BROKE MY TRUNK by Mo Willems

THE MONEY WE’LL SAVE by Brock Cole

A MONSTER CALLS by Patrick Ness

OKAY FOR NOW by Gary Schmidt

PENDERWICKS AT POINT MOUETTE by Jeanne Birdsall

THE TROUBLE WITH MAY AMELIA by Jennifer Holm

WONDERSTRUCK by Brian Selznick

I'm 7/10.

How'd you do?

I was tickled to read Jonathan's later comments about three titles that almost made the cut:

PIE by Sarah Weeks

MO WREN, LOST AND FOUND by Tricia Springstubb

NEVER FORGOTTEN by Patricia McKissack

It was like hearing rumors about which titles almost, but not quite, become Honor Books for the Newbery.

SEUSS BY WHO?

Last night on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW an original drawing by Dr. Seuess was valued at $6000. The appraiser went on to mention that there are a number of fakes on the market. Checking the ROADSHOW's website, I found this article which states that as many as 80% of the "Seuss" drawings in circulation are fakes. The article gives some tips on separating the real stuff from the phony.

CULT CLASSICS

Blog reader and bookseller Pamela Grath from Dog Ear Books in Northport, Michigan recently wrote a blog entry about two of her favorite childhood books, BEYOND THE PAWPAW TREES and its sequel, THE SILVER NUTMEG, both written and illustrated by Palmer Brown.

After reading her enthusiastic comments, I wanted to get my hands on these books myself. Fortunately, my library had both titles in stock.

Published in 1954, BEYOND THE PAWPAW TREES is the story of Anna Lavinia, a young girl with a wandering father and a mother who stays home all cooking pawpaws. Torn between her mother's motto, "Never believe what you see," and her father's rule, "Only believe what you see," Anna Lavinia lives a strange claustrophic life, never attending school, never even leaving her family's property. Then comes the strange "lavender blue" day when Anna's mother sends her daughter off to visit an aunt in a remote location. The girl's adventures traveling on a train and through a desert by camel are nonsense of the first order. I must admit that I am not a fan of nonsense fiction at all. I'm far too literal minded. In fact, reading the book, I wondered if a brief reference to Anna Lavinia being locked in a broom closet by her mother as a punishment was the key to the story; could her fanciful adventures be nothing but the dreams of a captive child? Whatever the case, BEYOND THE PAW PAW
TREES is nonetheless distingusihed by its lyrical language, songs and poems (the book is full of them) and precise line drawings. If you do a search around the internet, you will see that many, many people love this book. First editions cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Its 1956 sequel, THE SILVER NUTMEG, also has a cult following. This one is more a fantasy than a nonsense story, as Anna Lavinia discovers another world on the other side of the Dew Pond, where she makes a new friend and solves a romantic mystery. Once again, the language shines, as in this passage describing the tingling feeling of life on the other side of the water:

It was something like the touch of clean cool sheets after a bath on a hot susmmer night, or the smell of the first burning leaves in atuumn. It was like the taste of the first wild strawberry in springtime, or the sound of a train's whistle far off at midnight in winter. It was a little, too, like the tickle before a sneeze, or the thrill that comes when the knot in the ribbon of a gift just begins to loosen. It was like all these things rolled together, ony it was even better.

If you have a taste for whimsical stories, filled with beautiful imagery (a hedgehog floating into a yard on a windy day) and precise, exquisite drawings, these books are for you. The good news is that you don't even need to track them down in unweeded library collections or spend hundreds for a used copy. The New York Review of Books recently reissued PAWPAWS and NUTMEG will be re-released next spring.

PALMER BROWN

Since reading the two Anna Lavinia books, I have been trying to track down information about author-illustrator Palmer Brown.

Strangely, there is almost nothing out there.

So far I've learned that he was born in 1919, educated at Swarthmore College and got a Master's from the University of Pennsylvania, and served four years in the military during WWII. No word about a family, hobbies, avocations.

One source said that he didn't begin drawing until he wrote PAWPAWS and decided to illustrate the book. Another source included this quote about his first book, "“If it has any moral at all, it is hoped that it will always be a deep secret between the author and those of his readers who still know that believing is seeing.”

Although his Contemporary Authors bio lists his career as "Illustrator and author of children's books," and adds that he contributed to WOMAN'S DAY and GOURMET magazines, is it really possible to make a lifetime living from just five middle-selling books (in addition to the two above, he also wrote three stories about mice: CHEERFUL (1957), SOMETHING FOR CHRISTMAS (1958) and HICKORY (1978.) What to make of the twenty year gap between the last two books? Why didn't he ever illustrate books for other authors? How come he never published a collection of poetry and verse since his novels contain so much of it?

These are some of the questions I'd love to ask this now-92 year-old author.

THANKS

Thanks for visiting Collecting Children's Books. Hope you'll be back soon!

A Sunday Brunch with Geese and Goops

2011-11-06T13:45:00.006-05:00

Among other topics, today's Sunday Brunch introduces Mother Goose's family, reveals the sad fate of a famous book dedicatee, and asks if anyone has ever called you a "goop." (They have???)

IF IT HADN'T BEEN HALLOWEEN

Working with children's books, I probably cross paths with Mother Goose several times a week. This past Monday I was moving some volumes around at work and came across this one:

If it hadn't been Halloween that day, I probably wouldn't have thought a thing about it...but it WAS Halloween. And my immediate thought was: "You know, Mother Goose sure looks like a witch!"

I then pulled a few more Ma Goose books from the shelf and they also supported my theory. Hey, substitute a broomstick for that goose she's flying and you could be looking at a Halloween decoration:

This got me wondering about the real identity of Ms. Goose -- and why she's often pictured as an old crone with black peaked hat and billowing shawl. From a little bit of internet research, it appears that the origins of this character are shrouded in mystery. Some trace her back to the first millennium as "Bertha the goose-footed," the wife of King Robert II of France, who was said to enthrall children with her stories. Others say she was a seventeenth-century Bostonian, though that legend has been dismissed by most experts. We probably never will know the truth.

But back to her appearance.

Can anyone explain why this character, meant to represent a kindly children's storyteller, looks like a witch?

I'm assuming that her image was developed over the years by a number of different illustrators until it finally settled into the general "look" it has today. But was the intent to make her look like a witch (right down to those striped "Wicked Witch of the East Socks" in the last picture?) or were the illustrators merely utilizing the then-current "little old lady" fashions of their own historical era?

Anyone know?

AS FAR AS THAT GOES....

We call her "Mother" Goose, but what ever happened to her kids? And where was her husband?

Actually, some of those answers can be found in children's books.

Though I doubt it was the first-ever reference to "Father Goose" in the panetheon of literature, the best-known character by this name was created by L. Frank Baum, who also originated the Wizard of Oz.

Baum was forty-one years old when he published his first book. MOTHER GOOSE IN PROSE (1897) contained short stories based on a number of familiar nursery rhymes, including "Old King Cole," "Humpty Dumpty" and "Little Miss Muffett." It was also the first book illustrated by Maxfield Parrish.

The following year, Mr. Baum published BY THE CANDELABRA'S GLARE, a biography of Liberace. Just kidding. BY THE CANDELABRA'S GLARE was actually a collection of poetry, with the last section of the book devoted to children's verse.

A year later, Baum released FATHER GOOSE : HIS BOOK, a volume containing nothing but nonsense verse for kids. The introduction states:

There is a fascination in the combination of jingling verse and bright pictures that always appeals strongly to children. The ancient “Mother Goose Book” had these qualities, and for nearly two centuries the cadences of its rhymes have lingered in the memories of men and women who learned them in childhood. The author and illustrator of “Father Goose” have had no intent to imitate or parody the famous verse and pictures of “Mother Goose.” They own to having followed, in modern fashion, the plan of the book that pleased children ages ago—and still pleases them. These are newer jingles and pictures for children of to-day, and intended solely to supplement the nursery rhymes of our ancestors.

and is followed by this explanatory poem:

Old Mother Goose became quite new,
And joined a Women's Club,
She left poor Father Goose at home
To care for Sis and Bub.
They called for stories by the score,
And laughed and cried to hear
All of the queer and merry songs
That in this book appear.
When Mother Goose at last returned
For her there was no use;
The goslings much preferred to hear
The tales of FATHER GOOSE.

FATHER GOOSE : HIS BOOK became the top-selling children's book of 1899, selling over 75,000 copies. Some credit much of this success to the illustrations of W.W. Denslow.

In 1900, Baum and Denslow published THE SONGS OF FATHER GOOSE, which set some of the previous volume's verses to music.

1900 was also the year that THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ was published. Baum and Denslow spent many more years writing the "Oz" series, only revisiting Father Goose once -- with a book of nonsense poetry for adults (FATHER GOOSE'S YEAR BOOK : QUAINT QUACKS AND FEATHERED SHAFTS FOR MATURE CHILDREN) in 1907.

DID MOTHER AND FATHER GOOSE HAVE ANY GOSLINGS?

According to Leonard Weisgard they did.

Three years after winning the 1948 Caldecott Medal for illustrating Margaret Wise Brown's THE LITTLE ISLAND, Harper published THE FAMILY MOTHER GOOSE, a collection of three small volumes (MOTHER GOOSE, FATHER GOOSE, and LITTLE GOOSE) that presents Mother Goose in her second most-famous visual incarnation. Instead of being being shown as an old woman; she's depicted as an actual goose in a dustcap.

Weisgard's three volumes were presented in a boxed set. A die-cut hole allowed one of the family members (here "Little Goose") to be seen, based on which book was first in the box.

The FATHER GOOSE volume (notice the fifties' style dad-hat on Father G) contains rhymes mostly featuring males, such as "Jack Sprat," "Three Men in a Tub,", "Old King Cole," and "Solomon Grundy."

LITTLE GOOSE features "Little Tommy Tucker," "Mary Had a Little Lamb," "Jack and Jill" and other kid-centric rhymes, while MOTHER GOOSE offers "Old Mother Hubbard," "Ladybug, Ladybug," and others.

Although the three volumes of THE FAMILY MOTHER GOOSE are easy enough to find individually in used bookstores, it's near impossible to find them together in their original fragile cardboard box.

...And so, like so many modern real-life families, the members of this book "family" have become separated over the years and are rarely seen together.

FROM GOOSE TO GOOPS

So you want to find information on Mother Goose in the online catalog, make a little typo, and what do you end up with?

Goops!

I have to admit I was unfamiliar with the books GOOPS AND HOW TO BE THEM and MORE GOOPS AND HOW NOT TO BE THEM until I stumbled across them in our catalog.

Goops, whose heads can be drawn by anyone with a compass and protractor, were the creation of Gelett Burgess. The introduction to the first book, explains what they are:

Let me introduce a Race
Void of Beauty and of Grace,
Extraordinary Creatures
With a Pauciety of Features.
Though their Forms are fashioned ill,
They have Manners stranger still,
For in Rudeness, they're Precocious,
They're Atrocious, they're Ferocious!
Yet you'll learn, if you are Bright,
Politeness from the Impolite.
When you've finished with the Book,
At your Conduct take a Look;
Ask yourself, upon the Spot,
Are you Goop, or are you Not?
For, although it's Fun to See them
It is TERRIBLE to be them!

Subtitled "A Manual of Manners for Polite Infants Inculcating many Juvenile Virtues Both by Precept and Example with Ninety Drawings," GOOPS AND HOW TO BE THEM is filled with rhymes (some of which appeared in St. Nicholas Magazine) about misbehaving kids.

Here's one about table manners:

The Goops they lick their fingers,
And the Goops they like their knives;
They spill their broth on the tablecloth--
Oh, they lead disgusting lives!
The Goops they talk while eating.
And loud and fast they chew;
And that is why I'm glad that I
Am not a Goop -- are you?

and another titled "Picking and Stealing":

When you are fetching bread, I trust
You never nibble at the crust.

When in the kitchen, do you linger
And pinch with your finger?

Or do you peck the frosted cake?
Don't do it, please, for Mother's sake!

Originally published in 1900 and 1903, these volumes taught etiquette by letting kids laugh at (and probably recognize in themselves) exaggerated bad behavior.

So popular were THE GOOPS that by the time the first volume was republished in 1928, the dustjacket informed us:

"Don't be a goop," children still cry to one another, though the book first came out so long ago its first readers are long since grown up.

So that's where that word came from.

I was also surprised to learn that the original Goops books are still in print today.

There is also a small company called Goops Unlimited which sells modern Goops books and merchandise. It was created by a seventy-year-old grandmother and atwenty-year-old young man and has been in business for a decade.

RACHEL, RACHEL

Last Sunday I wrote a blog entry about Rachel Field, best known in children's book circles for writing HITTY : HER FIRST HUNDRED YEARS. I ended my piece with this:

And I am still left wondering if we've ever had another creator with such wide-ranging talent: plays, poetry, children's fiction, adult novels, a Newbery, a Newbery Honor, a Caldecott text, two Pulitzer contenders -- plus she illustrated many of her own books!

I'm also wondering if anyone can answer three questions I have about this author:

Does anyone know where the original Hitty doll is? Is she owned by a library or museum?

Does anyone know what happened to her daughter Hannah?

Finally, I've read that Ms. Field was well-loved by her friends for designing personalized Christmas cards, and for giving them copies of her own books which, originally printed in black-and-white, she had hand illustrated with oolor paints. Has any collector ever come across any of these cards or books? Wouldn't it be a coup to find one?

I'm happy to say that I now have answers to these questions.

Blog reader Wendy informed me that Hitty now resides in the Stockbridge Library in Massachusetts. This sent me to the internet to find a picture of the real doll. If you Google "Hitty" with "Stockbridge," you will find quite a few...but they are all protected by so many copyright notices and warnings not to reproduce, that I dared not poach one for my blog today. However, I can provide links for you to see the original Hitty doll here and here.

I also did a little internet research and came across a wonderful article that Robin Clifford Wood wrote for the Bangor Daily News.

Get this: Robin Woods lives in Rachel Field's old house on Maine's Sutton Island.

Even better than that, Ms. Wood says in her article, "Relics and papers from her time in the house remained on shelves, in drawers and stored away in the attic."

Can you think of anything better than moving into a home once owned by a favorite writer -- and finding bits of their work still in residence?

Although usually too shy to contact writers, I sent Ms. Wood an e-mail. It turns out she is the midst of writing a book about Rachel Field, and has done a lot of research on the author's life.

I'll be first in line to buy that book!

Meanwhile, Robin was able to answer some of the questions I had.

I was very curious to learn how Rachel Field's relics and writings could be left in her Maine home for so many decades.

Robin explained, "The reason why Rachel's island house was so unchanged is twofold: First, there are no roads, and the house is a mile walk from the town pier, so when people move out they tend to leave things behind - especially furnishings, kitchenware, etc. Many of the contents actually pre-date Rachel. The second reason is that people generally go for only a few weeks a year, and the last decade or so before we bought it, it was virtually unused. No one was ever there long enough to care about cleaning out the attic!"

She also discussed the greeting cards and hand-illustrated books I asked about: "There are still in existence many original hand-painted cards, notes, and books made by Rachel for friends. Most of them, at this point, are no longer in private collections. Several college and university collections have Rachel Field stuff, plus many smaller institutions and libraries. I've been to archives all over the country - including in Hollywood. It's amazing what you find once you begin to dig, and I've been working on this for several years. She was a wonderfully talented woman, with an amazing spirit."

During my research this week, I had come across an obituary for Hannah Pederson, the adopted daughter of Rachel Field and her husband Arthur Pederson. According to findagrave.com, "Hannah married Gerald L. Tildsely on 30 January 1960" when she was barely twenty. They were divorced long before she died on the Fourth of July 1965. She was only twenty-five at the time.

I asked Robin Wood what happened.

It's a sad story.

WHAT HAPPENED TO HANNAH

It's one of the more indelible images in picture books.

The dedication page from PRAYER FOR A CHILD, written by Rachel Field and illustrated by Elizabeth Orton Jones, reprints the book's cover illustration of a little blonde girl kneeling in prayer and simply says, "For Hannah."

Rachel Field wrote the poem "Prayer for a Child" for Hannah in 1941, just a year before her own death from cancer surgery complications.

At the time, Hannah was only two years old.

The poem, which begins,

Bless this milk and bless this bread.
Bless this soft and waiting bed
Where I presently shall be
Wrapped in sweet security....

is a comforting list of items for which a young child would be grateful: her toys, her shoes, her "little painted chair."

The poem was published as a picture book in 1944, beautifully illustrated by Elizabeth Orton Jones. It would go on to win the Caldecott Award and remains in print nearly seventy years later.

One wonders if young Hannah read this book as she was growing up. Did it bring back happy memories for her

or did some rhymes -- such "Bless my Father and my Mother / And keep us close to one another" -- seem cruel in light of her mother's early death?

In answer to my question about Hannah's own early death, Robin Wood replied, "Although Rachel's husband, Arthur, tried to do his best for their daughter, he struggled with some depression himself. Hannah was cared for, but not tended to with any kind of rigorous direction. She married young, received an enormous inheritance, and went a bit wild. Her marriage ended after a year and she died of alcohol poisoning. Very sad."

Very sad indeed.

Rightly or wrongly, now whenever I look at the dedication page of PRAYER FOR A CHILD, I won't see the back of a girl snug in her pajamas and kneeling in gratitude but, instead, a sad young girl already turning away, turning away from life....

HOW TO IDENTIFY A FIRST EDITION OF PRAYER FOR A CHILD

If you are a picture book or Caldecott collector, you may be curious about how to identify a first edition of PRAYER FOR A CHILD.

Here is the front of the dustjacket. It may or may not have a Caldecott seal on the front. The presence of this sticker does not necessarily mean your copy is not a first edition; it may be a first edition that was still in the warehouse at the time the award was received and the sticker was added before shipping to stores. However, the price on the front flap of the dustjacket must be $1.50, as that was the original price of the book.

Removing the jacket, the binding must be beige with blue-inked illustrations that look exactly like this:

The front and back endpapers must also be blue.

The title page must look exactly like this, with "1944" in the lower right-hand corner. If the date is missing or changed, it is not a first edition.

Finally, the copyright page must match this image. Do not worry about the "1941" copyright date; that refers to the date the poem itself was written and copyrighted. The top date of "1944" is the important one here And there must be no other dates (months or years) or printings listed on this page. If there are, this is not a first edition.

If your book matches all the above qualifications it may be worth $250-$300. If the dustjacket is missing, yet the book itself remains in very good condition, it should be somewhere between $50-$100. Add on $50-$100 if it's signed by illustrator Elizabeth Orton Jones. Walk away if it's signed by Rachel Field, as that would mean the book is a phony. Remember, she died in 1942, over two years before this book was published.

I wonder if there are any copies out there signed by Hannah Pederson herself....

FYI : TK

Speaking of book collecting, if there's one thing we book collectors like it's ARCs!

ARCs are paperbound "advance reading copies" (AKA uncorrected proofs, galleys, pre-pubs) of books sent out to reviewers, bookstore owners, and others in the months before the actual book is published.

Sometimes these volumes are identical to the eventual published books.

Other times they are fairly different, and may include typos, printing errors, and even changes in the text.

Sometimes they are incomplete.

Often the dedication is not filled in yet:

Sometimes not all of the art is finished:

Someone recently asked me why the initials "TK" are used on these occasions. It seems fairly obvious that "TK" means "to come," yet we never see "TC" in such situations.

I did a little searching on the subject this week and learned the following from Wikipedia:

To Come is a printing and journalism reference abbreviated "TK." It is used to signify that additional material will be added at a later date.

TK is a combination of letters designed to catch the eye (it is also likely to be caught by computer spell-check programs, though the use of TK long predates the use of computers.) It may originally have come into use because very few words feature the letter combination of "t" followed by "k". The phrase "to come," by contrast, could very easily be mistaken as a deliberate part of the text, especially if read by an overworked editor late at night while on deadline.

So now we know the answer to TK, OK?

NEW YORK TIMES BEST ILLUSTRATED CHILDREN'S BOOKS, 2011

Earlier this week the New York Times released its list of the "Best Illustrated Children's Books of 2011."

The honored titles:

ALONG A LONG ROAD / Frank Viva
A BALL FOR DAISY / Chris Raschka
BROTHER SUN, SISTER MOON : SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI'S CANTICLE OF THE CREATURES / illustrated by Pamela Dalton ; text by Katherine Paterson
GRANDPA GREEN / Lane Smith
ICE / Arthur Geisert
I WANT MY HAT BACK / Jon Klassen
ME...JANE / Patrick McDonnell
MIGRANT / illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault ; text by Maxine Trottier
A NATION'S HOPE : THE STORY OF BOXING LEGEND JOE LOUIS / illustrated by Kadir Nelson ; text by Matt de le Pena
A NEW YEAR'S REUNION / illustrated by Zhu Cheng-Liang ; text by Yu Li-Qiong.

What do you think? Any major books missing (the new Sendak? Kadir Nelson's other book, HEART AND SOUL)? Any books that really shouldn't be there?

NYT VS. CALDECOTT

I imagine there are a few illustrators out there thinking, "My book didn't make the New York Times list...so I guess I'm not going to win the Caldecott either!"

Fear not!

The NYT has been publishing their list for fifty-nine years now...yet only TWENTY of the titles on their lists have gone on to win the Caldecott Award.

That's pretty amazing when you consider that the TIMES usually honors ten illustrated books per year (some of the early years listed fewer than ten.)

Yet TWO THIRDS of the time, the Caldecott winner did not even find a place on the NYT's list of TEN BOOKS.

This either says a lot about the differences in criticism and evaluation between separate award committees or proves what a bounty of wonderful picture books are released each year.

In case you are wondering, these are the twenty Caldecott winners cited as NYT Best Illustrated Children's Books:

1954 / MADELINE’S RESCUSE / Ludwig Bemelmans
1961 / BABOUSHKA AND THE THREE KINGS / illustrated by Nicolas Sidjakov; text by Ruth Robbins
1962 / ONCE A MOUSE... / Marcia Brown
1964 / WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE / Maurice Sendak
1977 ASHANTI TO ZULU: AFRICAN TRADITIONS / illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon ; text by Margaret Musgrove
1978 / NOAH'S ARK / Peter Spier
1980 / OX-CART MAN illustrated by Barbara Cooney ; text by Donald Hall
1982 / JUMANJI by Chris Van Allsburg
1985 / SAINT GEORGE AND THE DRAGON / illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman; text by Margaret Hodges
1986 / THE POLAR EXPRESS / Chris Van Allsburg
1993 / MIRETTE ON THE HIGH WIRE / Emily Arnold McCully
1994 / GRANDFATHER'S JOURNEY / Allen Say
1997 / GOLEM / David Wisniewski
2004 / THE MAN WHO WALKED BETWEEN THE TOWERS / Mordicai Gerstein
2005 / KITTEN’S FIRST FULL MOON / Kevin Henkes
2006 / THE HELLO, GOODBYE WINDOW / illustrated by Chris Raschka; text by Norton Juster
2007 / FLOTSAM / David Wiesner
2008 / THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET / Brian Selznick
2010 / THE LION & THE MOUSE / Jerry Pinkney
2011 A SICK DAY FOR AMOS McGEE / illustrated by Erin E. Stead; text by Philip C. Stead

Just a few of the titles that the NYT didn't cite:

TIME OF WONDER by Robert McCloskey
THE SNOWY DAY by Ezra Jack Keats
SYLVESTER AND THE MAGIC PEBBLE by William Steig
...and David Wiesner's first two Caldecott winners

It's interesting to note, however, that in recent years they seem to have included the future Caldecott winner every year except for THE HOUSE IN THE NIGHT by Beth Krommes, the 2009 awardee.

ALMOST LOST THIS ONE

They've been weeding children's books again at work and one of my jobs involves withdrawing the records from our online catalog.

One book that crossed my desk was an early Andre Norton title, SWORDS ARE DRAWN. Published in 1944, it's a World War II action story that pre-dates Norton's reign as Queen of Science Fiction.

Opening up the book, I discovered that it was a first edition. It was also our only copy of this title. So I snagged it for our library's collection of rare and notable children's titles.

SWORDS ARE DRAWN was the first of three books Ms. Norton wrote about Lorens Van Norreys. It was followed by SWORD IN SHEATH (1949) and AT SWORDS' POINTS (1954.) I know these books are highly-valued by collectors, and fairly hard to find. And expensive.

But looking at this first book, I was struck by two things.

The introduction talks about the Cleveland Press World Friends Club, a penpal organization sponsored by that newspaper which was, during the time SWORDS ARE DRAWN was published, on hiatus because of World War II. The introduction states that Andre Norton first came to know the novel's Dutch protagonist, Lorens Van Norreys, because he was a member of the Cleveland Press World Friends Club.

I find this odd. The book does not state that "she based her fictional character Lorens on a real boy" but specifically seems to say that the protagonist of her book, Lorens Van Norreys, is a real person. Yet I've seen no other documentation that supports this.

Does anyone know?

Secondly, I was somewhat surprised by the book's adult, rather risque illustrations by an artist named Duncan Coburn. This one seemed like something you'd see in a "physique magazine" they might sell "under the counter" back in the forties:

Does anyone know anything about this artist? The only thing I could find was that he illustrated one other children's book -- COME, JACK : THE STORY OF A DOG by Robert W. McCulloch -- around the same time. After that, I see no references to him. Was he a casualty of the war? Did he move into another career? Did he start anonymously illustrating 1950s porn?

It's amazing what you find in books almost lost in weeding projects.

Like I always say, "It's better to read 'em than weed 'em."

THANKS

Thanks for visiting Collecting Children's Books. More TK so I hope you'll be back -- even if you are a Goop!

I know I am!

Sunday Brunch with Watercolors, Rachel Field, Tickletown, Halloween, and Teenage Girls Trying to Keep Their Heads Above the Water

2011-10-30T09:47:00.029-04:00

I guess this blog entry requires no introduction; the title tells you everything you need to know.

FROM TEST PIES TO TEST PAINTINGS

Does anyone remember INTERIORS, Woody Allen's extremely serious 1978 movie -- regarded by many as an homage to Ingmar Bergman?

Most audience members left the theater feeling like they wanted to jump off a tall building or stick their head in the nearest oven.

I left thinking, "Gee, I really identify with the character of Joey."

I'd like to report that the character of "Joey" was an intelligent, wealthy, and debonair man-about-town, beloved by all.

In actuality, "Joey" was a mousy middle-aged woman played by the bespetacled Mary Beth Hurt. She was depressed and looked-down-upon because she had a creative spirit, but absolutely no artistic talent.

I can relate.

I've tried all kinds of things: writing, playwriting, gluing together felt Santa Claus figures...I've never been much good at any of it, despite having a creative spirit that impels me to keep trying such things.

It would be bad enough if I confined these creative endeavors to some little basement studio -- but no! I always have to put them out there for everyone to see. So everyone saw the one-star (one out of four) review my play got when it was reviewed in the local newspaper. And everyone sees my felt-and-yarn Santa Claus when I hang it on the wall every Christmas. ("Oh, that's...er...cute. Did you make that in kindergarten?" "Actually, I was nineteen years old.")

My Facebook friends (feel free to "friend" me at "Peter Sieruta" on Facebook) heard about -- and sometimes saw photographs of -- the succession of test pies I made this past summer. That story had a happy ending when Sarah Weeks -- author of the new middle-grade novel PIE -- praised my lattice-topped sour cherry pie at a booksigning. This made me realize that, while practice doesn't necessarily "make perfect," it does make things better.

So now I've embarked on another creative endeavor. When I moved into this house, I thought, "Oh, I'll just paint my own pictures to put on the walls." Never mind that I'd never painted any pictures before -- it looked easy! So I went out and bought a wooden watercolor kit that had little drawers and latches and even a fold-out easel. A year passed and the walls are still bare. So about a month ago, I finally cracked open the kit and every weekend since I've painted a "test picture" -- just like all summer I baked "test pies" -- in preparation for the day that I'm finally ready to do a big painting to put over the fireplace. At the rate I'm going, I think I'll be ready in a hundred and twenty-three years.

This was my first painting:

Someone on Facebook asked if the crossing guard was suicidal and getting ready to jump from a ledge.

I used a photo of two childhood friends to inspire my second painting:

Can't tell you how glad I am that these friends are not on Facebook.

Used another old photo for Test Pic #3, which I titled "Borrowed Cat":

Friends suggested I either try drawing it upside down or get a copy of the book DRAWING WITH THE LEFT SIDE OF YOUR BRAIN. I haven't tracked down the book yet, but I did try it again, using the upside-down technique, which seemed to help:

Yesterday, I painted this one, inspired by my brother's memory of baking potatoes in curbside bonfires when we were kids -- back before ecology was an issue and burning autumn leaves was banned:

The first person I showed it to didn't "get" the whole baked potato thing and suggested I write "POTATO" in the middle of the painting and then draw arrows pointing to each of the kids' hands. Obviously, this same person would have told Whistler to write "MOTHER" in the center of his painting and then draw an arrow pointing to the old lady in the rocker!

Anyway, what's the point of this whole "art exhibit," since it has nothing to do with children's books?

Nothing, really, except I know that when many of us re-read childhood favorites, we're taken back to the world of our youth. I've found that painting these pictures from my own childhood (however badly!) also takes me back to those days. I remembered "borrowing" that cat from a neighbor to take the porch photograph forty years ago. When painting the bonfire picture, I remembered how the leaves smelled in the fire and how charred our potatoes would get in the fire. I remembered how black the smoke was and how it hurt to breathe. So many people I know -- my contemporaries! -- tell me they can't remember going to kindergarten, or can't remember the names of childhood friends. I guess I'm trying to "save" mine now, on paper, before I start forgetting too.

I don't just collect children's books...I also collect memories.

HALLOWEEN ISSUE

Last year at this time I shared the cover image of the October 1934 issue of CHILD LIFE magazine. I found it in a book of vintage Halloween art and was surprised to see that this one issue alone had work from at least three Caldecott winners (Dorothy Lathrop and Berta and Elmer Hader) as well as two Newbery winners, Rachel Field and Dorothy Lathrop:

Since then I have acquired a copy of the magazine itself. It's considerably more dogearred and tattered than the one pictured above, but it's still a lot of fun to look at -- especially at Hallween time.

The cooking column was written by Clara Ingram Judson, who is listed as "a well-known expert on home economics," who would later be better known as three-time Newbery Honor biographer. In this issue she provides a fruit salad recipe that contains "equal parts of whipped cream and mayonnaise."

Ah, so we finally know who to blame for our long midwestern nightmare -- that potluck, office party, church social staple: ambrosia salad!

Who knew a children's book author was behind it?

The other thing that surprised me about Ms. Judson's column is that it doesn't contain all the usual warnings that would have been found in our kid-cautious era. It's full of instructions to "light the stove," "dice fruit," and pour things into "boiling hot liquid."

Can you imagine this column today? "Ask an adult to turn on the stove," "have mom cut up the fruit for you," "stay away from boiling liquids!"

I was also tickled by Tickletown -- a monthly two-page comic strip by Lois Lenski. In this edition, the children of Tickletown celebrate Cabbage Night (their version of Devil's Night) by putting Deacon Dandelion's garden bench on Old Lady Bluenose's porch roof. On Halloween, Peter Prunepit has a party where "the boys ducked for apples and ate pumpkin pie." Walking home they see a ghost, which turns to be Farmer Sauerkraut's white horse."

Beneath the comic strip we are told in teeny-tiny print:

"Moral note: The Tickletown sisters, the Tickletown brothers
Deserve to be scared, for they scare others!"

The ads are also intriguing. I was particularly struck by this one, pitching Remington Typewriters for elementary grade children. I've never seen typewriters suggested for kids that young. When I was in school, we learned to print in firs grade, learned cursive in fourth grade, and didn't see a typewriter until ninth grade at the earliest.

Nowadays, of course, keyboarding actually is taught in elemenatary schools -- though on computers, and typewriters -- while cursive has been done away with completely.

LADY OF LETTERS

Although much of CHILD LIFE seems dated today, a two-page drawing by Dorothy Lathrop which frames Rachel Field's poem "Something Told the Geese," still holds up well toay.

Thinking about Rachel Field's (1894-1942) contributions to literature today, I'm convinced she was one of the most gifted and wide-ranging writers of the twentieth-century. This is especially impressive when you consider she didn't even learn to read until she was ten years old. Except for reading and writing, she was an unimpressive pupil and was only allowed to enter Radcliffe College as a "special student," studying writing but not allowed in a degree program. She was also permitted to spend two years in a playwriting program at Harvard. Most of her plays were written for children and she earned enough from drama royalties to buy a cottage (which she named "Playhouse") on the coast of Maine.

Her output was extraordinary. She published plays, poetry, and novels for children -- ofen as many as four volumes a year. Some she illustrated herself. She is best known today for HITTY: HER FIRST HUNDRED YEARS, a story told from the perspective of a wooden doll. She and illustrator Dorothy Lathrop first noticed the doll in the window of an antique shop and pooled their money to purchase it. The book they created about Hitty was acknowledged as an instant classic. It was the first book by a female writer to win the Newbery Medal; some sources also say it was the first book with American themes to win that award. (Personally, I think that honor goes to Will James' SMOKY, published three years earlier.) Among her other famed chilren's book are the Newbery Honor CALICO BUSH (1931) and the lesser-known but no less brilliant circus novel HEPATICA HAWKS (1932.) She also wrote the poem "Prayer for a Child" which, published as a stand-alone volume, won the 1945 Caldecott Medal for illustrator Elizabeth Orton Jones.

Ms. Field did not marry until she was past forty. She and her husband would later adopt a daughter named Hannah. Although she continued to write for children, the author switched focus to adult novels at this point, publishing TIME OUT OF MIND (1935), ALL THIS, AND HEAVEN TOO (1938), and AND NOW TOMORROW (1942.) All three were made into movies (ALL THIS, AND HEAVEN TOO, with Bette Davis is especially great...and, speaking of Halloween, has a nice little "All Hallow's Eve" sequence) and the later two books were considered strong contenders for the Pulitzer Prize.

Rachel Field died of pneumonia after cancer surgery in 1942. She was only 47 and we can only imagine how many other brilliant works she might have written had she lived another few decades. Maybe that's just greedy thinking, though, since she left us wih so many lasting works.

And I am still left wondering if we've ever had another creator with such wide-ranging talent: plays, poetry, children's fiction, adult novels, a Newbery, a Newbery Honor, a Caldecott text, two Pulitzer contenders -- plus she illustrated many of her own books!

I'm also wondering if anyone can answer three questions I have about this author:

Does anyone know where the original Hitty doll is? Is she owned by a library or museum?

Does anyone know what happened to her daughter Hannah?

Finally, I've read that Ms. Field was well-loved by her friends for designing personalized Christmas cards, and for giving them copies of her own books which, originally printed in black-and-white, she had hand illustrated with oolor paints. Has any collector ever come across any of these cards or books? Wouldn't it be a coup to find one?

BLAST FROM THE PAST

Some authors seem to disappear into thin air.

Such was the case with Dale Carlson, an author who published her first children's book in 1964 and released books fairly consistently through the next couple decades.

I was particularly fond of the offbeat books she published with Atheneum in the 1970s, including THE MOUNTAIN OF TRUTH (1972), about a camp for young people in the mountains of Tibet, THE HUMAN APES (1973), about a group of humans disguising themselves as apes, and BABY NEEDS SHOES (1974), which revolved around the subject of gambling. THE MOUNTAIN OF TRUTH was considered particularly daring, as I recall, because one of the young characters was labelled "a practicing homosexual" -- probably the first time that phrase was ever used in a mainstream novel for kids. Although Ms. Carlson continued to publish into the 1980s, she eventually disappeared from the scene.

The other day I was roaming around the web and found her!

Since 1993, Dale Carlson Bick has been running the Bick Publishing House.

According to the company's website:

The mission of Bick Publishing House for Teens/Young Adults is to relate modern science and its ethics, communications arts, philosophy, psychology to the teenager's world, so they can make their own responsible decisions about their own lives and future. The Life Sciences books in the series are presented with accessible texts, with glossary of terms, illustrations, index, resources, bibliography,websites.

The mission of Bick Publishing House for Adults is to bring professional information to the general audience in mental illness and recovery, addictions and recovery, in the art of living with disabilities, and in wildlife rehabilitation.

I was intrigued to see that Bick has re-issued many of Dale Carlson's earlier books. Yes, the cover illustrations aren't up to standard:

but I'm sure the novels are still as odd and intriging as they were in the seventies.

If you have fond memories of this author and her books, you might want to track them down too.

GIRLS UNDER TROUBLED WATERS

Looking through a stack of recent YA novels, I noticed a strange trend in cover illustations:

Stay out of the water, girls. Even bathtubs are dangerous places in the world of YA fiction:

A THOUGHT

Earlier this week friend sent me this link to a Publishers Weekly article about the large rise in sales for e-books.

But I was most struck by this ent by Karen Chase, who has apparenty published her own novel as an e-book:

My belief is the publishing cycle will reverse from what it has been. Authors and publishers will put out an e-book, then paperback, then hardcover or special editions. It makes more sense to launch books softly, gain the following, and then invest when readers cry for more.

I never thought of that before. Do you think Karen Chase is right that publishing may turn things around, first releasing e-books and only publishing special edition hard covers if the market demands?

I'd hate for that to happen.

But in this topsy-turvey new world of publishing, anything is possible....

Thanks for visiting Collecting Children's Books. Hope you'll be back soon. And I hope Halloween brings you a cup of cider, a bag of candy corn, and a nice bright candle for reading ghost stories in the dead of night!

Missing Moms and Deleted Dads : Newbery's Orphans

2011-10-25T20:14:00.002-04:00

Psst, want a quick tip on how to win the Newbery Medal?

Kill the parents.

It's the surest way to get your book that seal of gold.

Don't believe me?

Well, just take a look at a list of all ninety Newbery winners from 1922 to 2011. You've got enough parentless protagonists there to fill up an orphanage, plus a couple foster homes.

Before citing specific examples, I guess we need to exclude certain genres from our list. Let's start by removing nonfiction and biographical titles. Some of the subjects of these biographies were indeed orphans in real life, but the authors really had no choice in the matter; they had to work with the known facts. So we're getting rid of:

1922: The Story of Mankind by Hendrik Willem van Loon
1934: Invincible Louisa by Cornelia Meigs
1940: Daniel Boone by James Daugherty
1951: Amos Fortune, Free Man by Elizabeth Yates
1956: Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham
1966: I, Juan de Pareja by Elizabeth Borton de Trevino
1988: Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman

Next we need to cut folklore, short stories, and poetry from the list. So we'll say goodbye to:

1925: Tales from Silver Lands by Charles Finger
1926: Shen of the Sea by Arthur Bowie Chrisman
1938: The White Stag by Kate Seredy
1982: A Visit to William Blake's Inn by Nancy Willard
1989: Joyful Noise by Paul Fleischman

Animal and doll stories should also be excluded since only a few of these books mention the family backgrounds of their characters:

1927: Smoky, the Cowhorse by Will James
1928: Gay Neck, the Story of a Pigeon by Dhan Gopal Mukerji
1930: Hitty, Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Field
1931: The Cat Who Went to Heaven by Elizabeth Coatsworth
1945: Rabbit Hill by Robert Lawson
1947: Miss Hickory by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey
1949: King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry
1972: Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien
2004: The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo

The final genre we can omit are "ensemble novels" -- narratives in which a large number of characters play fairly equal roles. Some of these characters may come from two-parent families while others are missing a parent:

1948: The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pène du Bois
1955: The Wheel on the School by Meindert DeJong
1979: The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
1997: The View from Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg
2006: Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins
2008: Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! by Laura Amy Schlitz

This leaves us with a total of 63 novels, certainly a large enough number to provide an adequte statistical sampling.

Would you believe the 34 of these 63 novels feature protagonists who are either missing a mother, a father, or both?

It's true.

Here's the list of books in which the mother is either dead or permanently "out of the picture":

1941: Call It Courage by Armstrong Sperry
1943: Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray
1961: Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
1967: Up a Road Slowly by Irene Hunt
1971: Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars
1973: Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
1980: A Gathering of Days by Joan W. Blos
1985: The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley
1986: Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
1995: Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
1998: Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
2011: Moon over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool

Here are the books where Dad is dead or gone:

1924: The Dark Frigate by Charles Hawes
1933: Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze by Elizabeth Lewis
1935: Dobry by Monica Shannon
1962: The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare
1974: The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox
1983: Dicey's Song by Cynthia Voigt
2010: When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

And the largest category: orphans, or kids whose parents (like Lucinda's in ROLLER SKATES) may be alive but do not appear in the story:

1937: Roller Skates by Ruth Sawyer
1944: Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
1953: Secret of the Andes by Ann Nolan Clark
1959: The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
1962: The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare
1969: The High King by Lloyd Alexander
1987: The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman
1991: Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
1993: Missing May by Cynthia Rylant
1996: The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman
2000: Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
2002: A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park
2003: Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi
2007: The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron
2009: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

That leaves us with only 29 titles in ninety years in which the protagonists has both parents:

1923: The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting
1929: The Trumpeter of Krakow by Eric P. Kelly
1932: Waterless Mountain by Laura Adams Armer
1936: Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink
1939: Thimble Summer by Elizabeth Enright
1942: The Matchlock Gun by Walter Edmonds
1946: Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski
1950: The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli
1952: Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes
1954: ...And Now Miguel by Joseph Krumgold
1957: Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorensen
1958: Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith
1960: Onion John by Joseph Krumgold
1963: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
1964: It's Like This, Cat by Emily Neville
1968: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
1970: Sounder by William H. Armstrong
1975: M. C. Higgins, the Great by Virginia Hamilton
1976: The Grey King by Susan Cooper
1977: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
1978: Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
1981: Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson
1984: Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary
1990: Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
1992: Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
1994: The Giver by Lois Lowry
1999: Holes by Louis Sachar
2001: A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck
2005: Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata

But that number is cut even further when you consider how many of the protagonists on that list may have both parents, but spend most of the book separated from them (such as Tommy Stebbins off voyaging with Doctor Dolittle -- not to mention the young people in RIFLES FOR WATIE A WRINKLE IN TIME, FROM THE MIXED UP FILES..., THE GREY KING, HOLES, and A YEAR DOWN YONDER.) Then there are those who have both parents, but are not with both of them, including the heroes of DEAR MR. HENSHAW and SOUNDER who are separated from their fathers.)

Of course there is a reason for all of this.

Creating a protagonist who is missing one or both parents establishes immediate conflict and gives the young character an emotional edge.

It also gives this character the independence and autonomy to have adventures without those stuffy old adults getting their noses into the act.

Can you imagine Mrs. Kincaid hanging out with Claudia and Jamie at the Met, telling them to stay out of that dirty fountain water and keep their hands off those coins -- stealing is wrong?

Or Mr. Yelnats shadowing Stanley at Camp Green Lake, threatening to sue the warden for mistreating his kid?

Wouldn't work.

Still, it's quite amazing to think -- when all is said and done -- that less than twenty of the ninety Newbery winning books feature intact families who stick together from first to last page.

Considering these statistics, the next Newbery winner is likely to be Avi's latest, CITY OF ORPHANS.

Sunday Brunch with a Hitch

2011-10-22T09:52:00.033-04:00

Today's Sunday Brunch asks who calls the shots when reading a book -- the author or the reader? We also look at Halloween books and those great old Alfred Hitchcock anthologies from the sixties.

WE'RE WAITING, NBA....

If nothing else, this week's fuss over the National Book Award nominations has given more publicity to two titles, SHINE by Lauren Myracle and CHIME by Franny Billingsley, than they've probably received in all the months since they were published.

Now I'm wondering if we're ever going to hear what Paul Harvey used to call "the rest of the story," from one of the judges or a member of the National Book Foundation. Because something about this incident still doesn't feel right....

This is my second year serving as one of the judges for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. I well remember how, last year, the chair of our committee had to fill out official forms listing each finalist's title, author, and other pertinent info before submitting our list to the administrators. It seems almost impossible to believe that this info was casually transmitted via a single phone call for the National Book Awards. And I can't help but wonder how many eyes saw the error after that. SOMEONE prepared the official press release. SOMEONE prepared the official announcements. SOMEONE wrapped the book that was revealed to the public during those announcements. So we're talking about an error that was compounded many times over....

I must hand it to author Lauren Myracle, for handling the situation so graciously. In an interview for School Library Journal, she said that she "felt like poor Carrie, invited to the prom just to have pig's blood dumped on her head," but ultimately feels "insanely blessed and humbled by how much love has been beamed my way." You can read the whole interview here.

After being dragged "inside out and back again," it sounds like Lauren Myracle is "okay for now."

But I still want the full story!

AND FROM A BOOK COLLECTING PERSPECTIVE....

Did any copies of SHINE with the NBA "finalist" sticker on the cover make it out to bookstores?

If you see one, you might want to pick up a copy.

Could be worth something.

And even if it doesn't have monetary value, it will be a good conversation piece. Because I imagine that all of us in the children's book community will be talking about this incident for years at come.

IN THE LAND OF THE BOOK, WHO IS KING?

I have spent the last couple days hanging out at Elizabeth Burns’ School Library Journal blog, A Chair, A Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy, wielding an imaginary ruler and rapping the knuckles of any reader who admits to skipping ahead in a novel to peek at the ending.

It all started when Liz wrote a blog called “So I Flipped to the Back of the Book…” which began:

So, I’m reading Lauren Myracle’s Shine and I do something — Well. To some, something unforgivable.

You see, there was something happening in the book and, well, I couldn’t wait. I had to know whether someone was going to be OK.

So I flipped to the back of the book, skimmed a little, got the answer to my question, and returned to my reading.

Hello, I’m Liz, and I read the end of books.

Hello, Liz. Put your hand out, palm down.

Whack!

That’s what you get for paging ahead to the end of a book!

Little did I know that Liz had so many fellow chapter-skippers. Within a few hours of her original post, she had over a dozen responses, ALL of whom admitted to peeking at the endings of books. They said things like:

Sometimes, it’s because I’m reading historical fiction and I want to know beforehand how much is real and how much is made up. Sometimes it’s because it’s really intense and I want to know if things turn out good or bad. Sometimes it’s because I’m bored and I want to know if it’s worth finishing the book.

and

I have to release the OMG what is going to happen tension.

and

Oh I always read the end when there is too much suspense for me.

That's when I had to step in with my two own cents:

Geez, I’m going to send all you guys to Mrs. Peregrine’s Home for Peek-culiar Readers. Whatever happened to patience, forbearance, and self-control? I guess my feeling is that the author crafts his or her book in a very precise way. If they wanted to reveal the ending first, they’d write the book in that fashion: “Gentle Reader, I married him!” followed by an extended 500-page flashback showing how Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester met and fell in love. So I give the author due respect and read the book the way it’s presented.

I think this should be especially true if one is reading the book for review. How can we tell if the author has done an adequate job planting clues, foreshadowing, and maintaining tension if we skip to the end and don’t actually experience those things for ourselves as readers?

I’ve never been a fan of e-readers, but I think I’m going to develop a new type of Kindle for Certain Type of Readers: anytime someone tries to skip ahead to the end of a book, they will get a ZAP from the machine. That’ll teach ya. : )

You'll notice I added a smiley emoti-con at the end of my diatribe, just to show I'm not really a fanatic on the subject.

It's funny that the topic came up this very week, as I just struggled with an adult novel for the sole purpose of getting to the final rewarding lines. In truth, I'd been struggling with SO MUCH FOR THAT by Lionel Shriver for MONTHS. I'd read two of the author's previous books (WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN and A PERFECTLY GOOD FAMILY) and found them brilliant, but SO MUCH FOR THAT was a slow go. Part of the problem was the subject matter: terminal cancer. Not a fun read. However, the book came with a reading guide and one of appended essays written by the author was called "Why Reading This Book Is Not a Big Drag."

She supplies a number of reasons including "It's fun to read. ...Yes, the book is funny." I actually didn't laugh once when I read it.

Another of Shriver's reasons: "It has energy. ...That's right -- this novel, I have heard repeatedly, is a 'page-turner.'" Obviously I did not find that to be true either, or it wouldn't have taken me all summer and half the fall to read it!

I was most intrigued by this reason: "It has a happy ending." Shriver warns us, "Do not, whatever you do, flip to the last page now if you haven't read the rest of the book, but I do fancy that the final couple of lines of SO MUCH FOR THAT are the best (and also the simplest) of any novel I've written. It's a real up yours ending, a 'Take that!' After I bashed out that little paragraph on New Year's Day 2009, I couldn't wipe the smile off my face for the rest of the night."

I must admit that this promise of a "happy ending" was what kept me slogging through the book over the past few weeks. I couldn't figure out how the author would be able to achieve this -- especially with the mortally-sick characters in her story dropping like flies in the final chapters. As the end of the novel grew closer, I became more and more intrigued and ultimately stayed up till 4:00 AM, just to reach those final lines of the book, which were promised to be happy ones.

I couldn't imagine how they could be.

But they were!

The author totally pulled it off!

But I don't think they would have had nearly as much power, or been nearly as satisfying to me as a reader, if I'd peeked ahead to read them in advance. Taken out of context they would have meant very little. And knowing them ahead of time truly would have ruined the last chapters of this cold and almost cruel novel. I was so glad that I had stuck with it and followed the author's instructions to "Do not, whatever you do, flip to the last page now if you haven't read the rest of the book."

...Which brings me to the main point of this long and somewhat unwieldy blog entry:

In the land of the book, who is king? (Or queen?) Do we as readers have the right to read a book any which way we'd like -- sampling it here and there, peeking ahead to the ending, reading the story in a nonlinear fashion? The reader is the one who buys (or at least borrows) the book and is devoting precious hours of their life to this narrative. Isn't it their right to read the book any way they choose?

Or should the author -- the creator of this story and its characters -- have the final say? They've crafted their novel in very specific ways, hoping to create a singular emotional journey for readers. Do writers have the right to tell us "Do not, whatever you do, flip to the last page...." Isn't it their right to expect us to read the book exactly as they've written it?

When a book is published, does the author transfer ownership of the novel to readers? At what point does the author diminish control? When does it change from "their book" to "our book"?

Who should be the final arbiter of how a book is read -- author or reader?

I really don't know the answer to these questions, but they are fun to ponder.

THIS ONE IS ABOUT TEA COZIES, NOT BOOKS

Okay, this little entry doesn't have a thing to do with children's books -- or books of any kind. But I did want to add that I smile every time I see the title of Liz Burns' aforementioned blog, "A Chair, A Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy." Even though one of my grandfathers came from England, as an American male I've never had much truck with tea cozies. In fact, I don't think I've ever even seen one in real life. But every time I see the words "tea cozy," I'm reminded of a story my aunt once told me.

My aunt was in the Air Force for many years. Shortly after World War II she was stationed in Great Britain. One year, at their office Christmas party, an English girl, who worked on base in a civilian capacity, gave an American employee a hand-knitted tea cozy as a present.

The American woman had no idea what a tea cozy was.

The next night they were all invited to a fancy Christmas dinner at someone's country estate. The American woman showed up wearing the tea cozy on her head. Yes, she thought it was a hat! Everyone found it so funny that this lady ended up being the hit the party (though, unfortunately, wearing tea cozies as hats never did take off as a fad.) Still, every time I see Liz Burns' blog title, I think of that poor American lady walking into that traditional English Christmas party with a tea cozy on her head and can't help but smile.

EIGHT MORE DAYS TO HALLOWEEN, HALLOWEEN, HALLOWEEN
EIGHT MORE DAYS TO HALLOWEEN, SILVER SHAMROCK!

Yes, Halloween really is just eight days away.

Last Sunday I solicited your ideas for spooky-type books that we could give out as part of Neil Gaiman's All Hallows Read project.

Lin wrote in to say "I'm hard pressed to think of a Halloween book for upper elementary (except for Bradbury's HALLOWEEN TREE.) For scary: Of course, the 'Scary Stories' trilogy by Alvin Schwartz, BUT ONLY if they are the Stephen Gammell illustrations. Picture books: NIGHT OF THE GARGOYLES by Bunting, pictures by David Wiesner."

Alison said: "In our house, our Halloween library is mainly limited to picture & board books. THE LITTLE OLD LADY WHO WASN'T AFRAID OF ANYTHING was a particular favorite. As my kids aged, we found very few middle grade books that they really attached to Halloween, with the exception of the already mentioned 'Scary Stories,' and David Lubar's 'Warped and Creepy' Weenie series. OH & I did run out last year & get my 12 year old Susan Rich's HALF-MINUTE HORRORS after reading about here, I believe. That was a fun little book!"

Thanks, Lin and Allison, for those great suggestions. I was about to compile a list of my own when, wouldn't you know, Monica Edinger and Betsy Bird beat me to it by publishing this one -- with video, no less! -- listing a lot of recent books just perfect for the holiday!

They sure beat me to the punch, didn't they?

But I guess at Halloween, it's the early bird that gets the gummi-worm.

Here are a few more Halloween books that are fun to read:

THE BEST HALLOWEEN EVER by Barbara Robinson (2006) which continues to the adventures of the Herdman kids from THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER)

THE LITTLE LEFTOVER WITCH by Florence Laughlin (1960), a "cozy" (but not tea cozy) story that starts on one Halloween and ends on the next Halloween. I try to read this one every year.

A NEWBERY HALLOWEEN by Martin H. Greenberg and Charles G. Waugh (1993) collects spooky stories and chapters from the works of Newbery-winning authors.

WILLIE BEA AND THE TIME THE MARTIANS LANDED by Virginia Hamilton (1983) takes us back to the Halloween when Orson Welles' "War of the Worlds" radio broacast terrified the country.

ED EMBERLEY'S DRAWING BOOK OF HALLOWEEN by Ed Emberley (2006) shows how to draw witches, monsters, and other holiday-themed illustrations.

Finally, here'a a gallery of R.L. Stine covers just right for the season:

I hate to admit that I was seduced by all these covers. I love Halloween, and I love Halloween artwork, so all these books reached out to me (with cold, creaky skeleton fingers) demanding to be bought and read. I did buy them and I did read them. And, predictably, they were all pretty bad. In fact, as quickly as I read them I ended up donating them to used booksales. But what does it say about the power of the artwork that, even now, looking at this covered, I'm halfway tempted to track them down and read them again....?

BUT NOT FOR KIDS....

How cool is this?

Chuck Palahniuk's new, definitely-not-for-kids, horror novel, DAMNED, features an eleven-year-girl as its protagonist.

Her opening lines will either warm the heart or chill the soul of all us children's book lovers:

"Are you there, Satan? It's me, Madison."

WITHOUT A HITCH

Speaking of spooky books for kids, here is a blast from the past.

Does anyone remember the series of oversized, wonderfully-illustrated Alfred Hitchcock anthologies for young readers that Random House published in the sixties and early seventies? Doing an internet search today, I came up with the following titles. Is my list complete? Also, have I found the right illustrations for the original covers of these books? There are a few variant covers out there, since some of the cover illustrations changed in later hardcover or paperback printings.

ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S HAUNTED HOUSEFUL, 1961

ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S GHOSTLY GALLERY, 1962

ALFRED HITCHOCK’S SOLVE THEM YOURSELF MYSTERIES, 1963

ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S MONSTER MUSEUM, 1965

ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S SINISTER SPIES, 1966

ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S SPELLBINDERS IN SUSPENSE, 1967

ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S DARING DETECTIVES, 1969

ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S SUPERNATURAL TALES OF TERROR AND SUSPENSE, 1973

ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S WITCH’S BREW, 1977

One of the things that made these books unique was that, despite their "commercial" appeal (with a well-known director and TV personality on the cover!), they were not considered subpar literature, but seemed to be purchased by many school and public libraries. And why not? The stories in these volumes were written by such literary luminaries as Cornell Woolrich, Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Patricia Highsmith.

Does anyone have any memories of reading these books as kids?

And do you think they would still be popular if re-published today, or would the Hitchcock imprimatur no longer work> Do kids still know who he was? Or would we now be subjected to the same books with Scare Tactics' host Shannen Doherty posing ont the cover, with a bubble (and bubble-headed) quote, "Are you scared? You should be! These are SCARE TACTICS BOOKS!)

PICTURE BOOK CREATORS WRITING NOVELS

Caldecott winner Chris Rashka has written his first novel, SERIOUSLY, NORMAN:

My bookstore buddy attended an author event and picked up several signed copies of the book. I bought one from her on Friday. Obviously the published modeled the author's title page "byline" off his real signature because, looking at my copy of the book, it's hard to tell which one is real and which is Memorex:

This volume has got me thinking about the whole phenomena of picture book writer-illustrators who also have the ability to write novels.

I should make it clear: I am not talking about picture-book AUTHORS, such as Jane Yolen and Eve Bunting, who can write in many different genres from pioture books through young adult novels.

No, instead I'm talking about those rare people who start off both writing and illustrating picture books...and later prove they can write full-length novels as well.

I can only think of a short list:

William Steig, who won a Caldecott and had Newbery Honors
Kevin Henkes, who won a Caldecott for KITTEN'S FIRST FULL MOON and wrote Newbery Honor OLIVE'S OCEAN
There's Allen Say who, after many picture books, wrote THE INK-KEEPER'S APPRENTICE
Mordicai Gerstein, Robert Lawson, and Ludwig Bemelmans moved easily between these genres

Can you think of many others?

ANOTHER HALLOWEEN, ANOTHER COVER

Though everyone knows "you can't judge a book by its cover," you also know (from the discussion of R.L. Stine covers above) that I'm a sucker for certain types of illustrations -- and can sometimes be drawn to a book by its front cover.

It actually happened to me this morning.

While trying to track down the cover illustrations for the Hitchcock anthologies, I came across this cover:

TEN TALES CALCULATED TO GIVE YOU SHUDDERS was edited by R. Ross Olney, and issued by cheapie-dime-store publisher Whitman in 1972.

I have no idea how good this book will be, but I was so drawn in by the cover that I decided I wanted to read it. Fortunately, many copies were for sale online -- most for under five dollars. So I ordered an inexpensive copy today -- to read on Halloween.

I hope the book arrives before October 31.

And I hope you'll be back before then too. Thanks for reading Collecting Children's Books!

Okay, Let's See If We've Finally Got This Right....

2011-10-17T14:59:00.005-04:00

Sunday Brunch for October 16

2011-10-17T12:12:00.006-04:00

Today's Sunday Brunch revisits this week's National Book Award snafu, discusses some recent book-signing events I attended, and asks how you're celebrating "All Hallow's Read."

WHERE ARE THE GREAT MARTIN LUTHER KING BOOKS?

As I write today's blog, the national memorial to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is being dedicated in Washington, DC.

This got me wondering.

There are nearly 2500 chilren's books about Martin Luther King listed on Amazon.com. The vast majority are dreary, cardboardy, standard-issue volumes in educational series, usually written with an eye toward library sales.

While there have been a couple outstanding picture-book biographies of King (Caldecott Honor MARTIN'S BIG WORDS, written by Doreen Rappaport and illustrated by Bryan Collier), I'm hard-pressed to think of an equally strong biography for middle-grade or young-adult readers.

Can you think of one?

Martin Luther King is probably one of the top subjects for school reports, yet it seems that all we have to offer young readers are average-quality books with encyclopedia-quality prose.

Isn't it about time for a major biography written for kids?

UNEXPECTED SEXTUPLETS

I had Wednesday off work, first to meet with a handyman about home repairs, then to take my parents on some errands across town. I knew this meant missing the live announcement of the National Book Award finalists, but I figured I’d be able to get them off the internet when I returned home.

Who knew I’d end up missing all the excitement?

As most everyone knows by now, shortly before noon author Virginia Euwer Wolff announced the following five titles as the finalists in the category of Young People’s Literature:

MY NAME IS NOT EASY by Debby Dahl Edwardson
INSIDE OUT & BACK AGAIN by Thanhha Lai
FLESH & BLOOD SO CHEAP : THE TRIANGLE FIRE AND ITS LEGACY by Albert Marrin
SHINE by Lauren Myracle
OKAY FOR NOW by Gary D. Schmidt

When I got home from my errands in the late afternoon, I immediately checked the internet and discovered there were SIX titles listed – all of the above, plus CHIME by Franny Billingsley.

Well, how did that happen? Traditionally there are only five books in each NBA category!

Doing a little searching on the internet, I learned that some time after Ms. Wolff announced the five nominees above, the National Book Award stepped forward to add CHIME to the list.

How come? Well, as School Library Journal reported, “Someone screwed up.”

Reportedly, the names of the finalists were transmitted by telephone and somebody transcribed the titles incorrectly.

Everyone immediately thought of those sound-alike titles SHINE and CHIME, but the NBA wasn’t telling. They decided to leave all six books on the list. Though the public will never know for sure which title wasn’t really supposed to be there, I imagine that some of our children’s book world’s insiders and cognoscenti know the truth. This is exactly the type of literary mystery that Elizabeth Bird and Julie Danielson and I try to crack in the book we’re writing for Candlewick Press….

Incidentally, although a draft of our book is now in the first stages of being edited, there may still be time to squeeze in a few more mysteries and true tales behind famous children’s books. So if you know of one, feel free to send it to me, Betsy, or Jules or, as Alfred Hitchcock might’ve called us, “The Three Investigators.”

BUT THERE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN FIVE!

One of the most interesting aspects of the National Book Award controversy is that everyone who saw six titles listed -- including me! -- immediately wondered why. After all, there have ALWAYS been five finalists in each category, right?

Wrong.

Back in the day (or I should say, "back in my day"), the National Book Awards had varying numbers of finalists from year to year.

An NBA category for young people's books didn't even exist until 1969. For the first three years of the award, there were indeed five finalists.

However, in 1972 the field expanded to eleven books: THE ART AND INDUSTRY OF SANDCASTLES by Jan Adkins; WILD IN THE WORLD by John Donovon; THE PLANET OF JUNIOR BROWN (Virginia Hamilton), HIS OWN WHERE (June Jordan), THE TOMBS OF ATUAN (Ursula K. LeGuin), MRS. FRISBY AND THE RATS OF NIMH (Robert C. O'Brien), HILDIDID'S NIGHT (Cheli Duran Ryan), THE BEARS' HOUSE (Marilyn Sachs), AMOS & BORIS (William Steig), FATHER FOX'S PENNYRHYMES (Clyde and Wendy Watson) and that year's controversial winner, THE SLIGHTLY IRREGULAR FIRE ENGINE OR THE HITHERING THITHERING DJINN by Donald Barthelme.

In 1973, there were seven finalists.

There were ten finalists in 1974 and 1975, but seven in 1976 when the award went to BERT BREEN'S BARN by Walter D. Edmonds (it seemed an old-fashioned and somewhat out-of-left-field choice back then...but it's a book I've never forgotten and I suspect it holds up very well today.)

From 1977 to 1979, there were five finalists every year.

At that point the young people's category was dropped, not to be restored until 1987. Since its return, there have been five nominees each year.

So it has been a long time since we've had more than five finalists, but it did used to happen some time back.

And you know what?

I liked it.

I think some years there really could be more than five neat-and-tidy top titles. And occasionally expanding the field to seven or ten or even eleven volumes just made it more fun -- spotlighting some books that might have been otherwise neglected and adding to the discussion of what was best. I'll always be grateful that 1975's "top ten" finalists included three of my personal all-time favorites: I TELL A LIE EVERY SO OFTEN by Bruce Clements, WINGS by Adrienne Richard, and THE EDGE OF NEXT YEAR by Mary Stolz. Would they have made the list if it was shrunk to five? Maybe yes, maybe no. But they at least got recognized when the list was expanded.

My feeling about the number of National Book Award finalists is similar to my feeling on Newbery Honor Books -- the more the merrier!

UPDATE, UPDATE, UPDATE

I feel like a television network interrupting regular programming with this special bulletin.

Just in: Lauren Myracle has withdrawn SHINE from NBA consideration.

According to this article from the Huffington Post, she was pressured by the organization:

Lauren Myracle has pulled "Shine" from consideration in the young people's literature category. Her decision, announced Monday by Amulet Books, follows a miscommunication last week between judges and the award's sponsors. Myracle was on the original list of five nominees, but the National Book Foundation than announced that her book had been confused with Franny Billingsley's "Chime" and was not a finalist.

The foundation soon changed its mind again and decided there would be six nominees. Myracle said in a statement that she was asked by the foundation to withdraw to "preserve the integrity" of the awards process.

FUN WITH BOOKSIGNINGS!

I'm often envious of my friends who live in or near New York City; they seem to have myriad opportunties to attend booksigning events at stores and libraries and library conferences. Life is not like that here in the midwest, where author events are few and far between. However, this past week was such a whirlwind of booksignings that I almost felt I was visiting the Big Apple. This was mainly because the Great Lakes Booksellers Association conference was being held locally and a number of authors, in town for that event, agreed to visit local bookstores to meet fans.

The only drawback to these events was that they occurred during a week in which they received a lot of competition from Detroit sports events (one booksigning was interrupted by an audience member shouting "Tigers win, seven to five!" while another was held on the day of the annual Michigan/MSU football game.) but enough book fans turned out to make the literary events successful.

Wednesday night for the event for Sarah Weeks, author of the "Guy Strang" and "Oggie Cooder" books, now on the road to celebrate her latest, and perhaps best-yet, book, PIE.

Ms. Weeks spoke about her inspiration for writing this warm-hearted mystery. I was particularly struck by the fact that the author's two sons don't really enjoy reading and have never even read their mom's books. However, they did give their mother with a unique and personal insight into how boys' minds work -- and provided her with lots of material for her stories! I was also gratified to learn that Sarah Weeks reads mostly children's and YA books on her own time!

During her presentation, the author spoke about Oggie Cooder's hobby, "charving" -- which involves carving cheese with his teeth into the shapes of all fifty states. Now when Ms. Weeks visits schools, kids put their charving examples on display for her. Sometimes they use tortillas instead of cheese because it lasts longer.

Personally, I found the whole charving thing a little gross...and wondered what talent those kids will display if William Kotzwinkle ever visits their schools to promote his Walter-the-dog series.

On the other hand, writing about pie was a great idea, because now when Ms. Weeks makes author visits, she is greeted by pies.

In fact, fans brought a total of eleven pies to this event.

Two of them were mine: one sour cherry pie and one caramel apple:

I'd never made a pie in my life until earlier this summer when my bookstore buddy gave me an ARC (advance reading copy) of PIE; Sarah Weeks' novel inspired me to try my hand at making my own pies. Those of you who have followed my Facebook postings (feel free to "friend" me at "Peter Sieruta") over the past few weeks have heard me talk about the succession of "test pies" I've been making in preparation for this author event.

I'm happy to say it paid off!

During her presentation, Ms. Weeks mentioned seeing a "beautiful latticed cherry pie" on the table. Be still my pie-making heart -- she was talking about my pie! Afterwards, she even posed for pictures holding my pie. She asked me to pose with her, but I was far too shy. Heck, I was almost too shy to talk to her. The irony, of course, is that she was the nicest person in the world -- the kind of person you'd like to be friends with. (Holden Caufield wished he could be friends with Eustacia Vye; I wish I could be friends with authors.) Later, Ms. Weeks had a slice of the sour cherry pie, then came up to me and raved about the filling and crust! Several other people told me they liked it too, including one who said it reminded her of the pies her YaYa made. Turns out "YaYa" means "grandmother" in Greek. And I heard that some of the kids in attendance said their favorite item on the table was my caramel apple pie -- probably because it was oozing with warm caramel and melted Heath bars...but, hey, I'll take praise wherever it comes from.

Don't worry, I won't get a big head over it.

...Okay, maybe my hat size did increase momentarily when Sarah Weeks said she thought I could have a second career in pie making!

But my head quickly deflated when I remembered that, despite holding many different jobs over my lifetime, I've never had anything that can remotely be called a "career" of any type.

Saturday afternoon I attended an author event for Lisa McMann, a native of Holland, Michigan back in our state to promote her new novel THE UNWANTEDS.

Though I have not read this book yet (just bought it on Saturday), I've heard many good things about it and can't wait to dive in.

The book, about artistic kids being purged from a futuristic society, was inspired when the author's children brought home notes saying that arts classes were being cut at their school. Writing the book was very much a family project, with Ms. McMann's son and daughter offering suggestions for some of the magic feats performed in the novel. Her son also designed this illustrated postcard (signed and numbered by the author) which Lisa McMann handed out with the sticker below. We book collectors love this kind of ephemera:

I'd write more about this author event, but I'd rather spend the time time starting to read THE UNWANTED, the first book in a series which Lisa McMann hopes will fill seven volumes.

This afternoon I attended the last author event. Canadian-born Moira Young, who now lives in England, was here in America's heartland to discuss her first book, the smash-hit BLOOD RED ROAD.

It was particularly interesting to hear the author read from earlier versions of the novel, written in the third-person instead of the first, and featuring the protagonist at age eight, rather than the eighteen-year-old she is in the published book.

It was also fascinating to learn which literary and even film influences the author tapped into when writing this book -- everything from the writings of Joseph Campbell and the movies GONE WITH THE WIND and THE SEARCHERS. A former professional actress who once sang and tap-danced on London's West End, the author gave particularly riveting readings from her book. My bookstore buddy, who has hosted hundreds of booksignings over nearly three decades felt that Moira Young gave one of the very best author presentations she has ever witnessed.

ALL HALLOW'S READ

Halloween is two weeks away. How do you plan to celebrate it?

According to Neil Gaiman, we should observe the holiday by giving books.

I think it's a fun idea.

My only problem is that the list of book recommendations on the website comes from HarperCollins and (surprise, surprise) contains only HarperCollins books.

I think I'll make an alternate list of Halloween books not published by HarperCollins and post it in next Sunday's blog, in plenty of time for the big day.

What titles do you think I should add?

Remember, they don't necessarily have to be new books that can be purchased at bookstore. They can be older books borrowed from the library and handed to a friend.

ORMONDROYD ORATES

When I was a kid in the 1960s and 1970s, there were a handful of children's books that seemed to be ubiquitous -- turning up on everyone's bookshelves as well as in just about every used bookstore you visited. Among these titles were THE PINK MOTEL and MAGICAL MELONS by Carol Ryrie Brink, and DAVID AND THE PHOENIX by Edward Ormondroyd. I think they must have been among the earliest volumes issued by children's book clubs, as they seemed to be EVERYwhere when I was growing up. I've learned over subsquent years that DAVID AND THE PHOENIX was a personal favorite of many kids who grew up in the late fifties and early sixties.

In Anita Silvy's EVERYTHING I NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED FROM A CHILDREN'S BOOK, American cultural critic Gerald Early cites DAVID AND THE PHOENIX as an influential novel from his own childhood.

Writer Marc Tyler Nobleman felt the same way about the book and recently stated, "I continue to be surprised whenever I find that someone whose work I loved in a younger day has almost no or literally no online presence -- barely a photo and nary an interview. But then I get excited because it means maybe I can be the one to help change that."

Mr. Nobleman did help change that -- by tracking down now-eighty-six year old author Edward Ormondroyd, and publishing a lengthy two-part interview with him here and here . It's a fascinating look back at one author's experiences and at "long forgotten" novel that, apparently, many people have never really forgotten.

ONLY ONE CHILDREN'S BOOK POP ICON?

For the last couple years, my town's annual autumn scarecrow festival has provided me with lots of blog fodder. One year the theme was children's books. The following year it was movies...with many of those movies (WIZARD OF OZ, etc.) having a children's book source. This year the theme was "American Pop Culture Icons," so I took my camera downtown with hopes of snapping some scarecrows inspired by children's books.

Unfortunately, between scarecrows representing Michael Jackson, Austin Powers, the Oscar Weiner Mobile (very cute), Dolly Parton (you can just imagine what that scarecrow looked like!), I only saw one figure representing a children's book character, the Cat in the Hat:

I hope next year's theme brings us more children's book figures stuffed with straw. It's become an annual tradition for me and I was disappointed that this year's festival only included one.

Thanks for visiting Collecting Children's Books. I'm hoping to return with at least one more blog entry before next weekend, so hope you'll check back this week!

"Luke, I Am Your Father." "But You're Not OLD ENOUGH to Be Luke's Father!"

2011-10-05T09:58:00.007-04:00

The calendar may say Wednesday, but it's feeling more like Printz Day on the web.

Today the Horn Book devotes its "Read Roger" blog to introducing School Library Journal's new Printz blog.

So does Elizabeth Burns' "A Chair, A Fireplace & a Tea Cozy" blog.

Ditto Betsy Bird's "Fuse #8" blog.

Did any of these blogs -- even the one moderated by my pal, my buddy, my co-writer Betsy -- give a plug to poor Peter's Printz Picks?

Nary a one.

But that's okay. Reading the blog they're all discussing actually gave me an idea to write about today.

And sometimes an idea is the best thing anyone can give you.

In today's SLJ Printz blog (AKA "Someday My Printz Will Come") co-moderator Sarah Couri discusses A.S. King's new novel EVERYBODY SEES THE ANTS.

A couple Sundays ago, I referenced this book in my own blog, stating:

I loved the author's eccentric PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ, but her new YA novel feels like a flop to me. <...> I'm astonished it's getting starred reviews and great word of mouth. What am I missing? I'll read it again if someone can present a compelling argument.

It's evident from Sarah Couri's piece that she likes this novel a lot more than I do. Obviously I am going to have to go back and re-read the book at some point and post my thoughts on Printz Picks.

But for now, I want to talk about about something else Sarah Couri mentioned in her discussion of the book:

And now we’re going to go for a side trip inside my head, because my next complaint is really all about me, me, MEEEEEE!

I really struggled with the dates in this book. Lucky’s grandfather is exactly my dad’s age. Which makes Lucky’s dad analogous to me. In fact, his dad is, according to the text, 3-4 years older than me. And while I would be biologically capable of having a teenage son, I do not. And while I have friends my own age who have children, none of them are teenagers. And while some of my friends who are 3-4 years older than me are capable of having a teenage son, they do not. And I realize that is completely anecdotal and that he wouldn’t be THAT young of a parent (he would have become a parent at 24), it’s…somewhat unusual. Worth remarking on, I guess I would say. And while I don’t believe that any teens are breaking out their calculators and doing this math, it felt off to me — off enough to me that it felt like an authorial intrusion.

I read these paragraphs with a smile and a nod of recognition.

It happens to all of us adult readers of children's books at some point, doesn't it?

You know what I'm talking about.

That dreaded moment when you realize that you are the same age -- or even older than! -- the parents of the protagonist in the book you're reading.

I first read Katherine Paterson's COME SING, JIMMY JO, when I was in my mid-twenties. In this story of a boy growing up in a country-singing family, the protagonist is eleven years old, but during the book there is some confusion about his real age...compounded by the fact that the man he believes to be his father is really his stepfather.

A few months later I happened upon an article that Katherine Paterson wrote about this novel. She revealed:

Usually I determine the date of all my central characters, not just the protagonist. This was crucial to the story in my novel Come Sing, Jimmy Jo. James was born in 1973 and his mother was born in 1959. "But that means...!" Yes, it means that Keri Su was fourteen when James was born.

The fact that Keri Su was only fourteen at the time of Jimmy Jo's birth shocked me less than finding out that she was born in 1959.

1959?

But...that meant she was even younger than me!

It was the first time I realized that a book's protagonist was so young...so very, very young...that I was actually older than his parents.

Believe me, it would not be the last time this happened.

In fact, it now happens nearly every time I pick up a children's or young adult book. More and more, I'm reading about protagonists whose parents are in their thirties or who "grew up back in the eighties." Like Ms. Couri, I also had my own little moment when reading EVERYONE SEES THE ANTS. I was humming along, turning the pages, and comfortably inside the head of its fifteen-year-old narrator when I added up the dates and realized that (gulp) his father was born when I was in junior high school!

Despite these occasional blips, I must say that over the years I've gotten used to it.

In fact, being old actually has its advantages in reading children's books. I now have a broader, deeper perspective on life...on literature...on people. My critical skills are keener. I'm better at expressing my opinions. And (this is the sad one) I've found that people listen to adults expounding on children's books much more than they ever listen to kids.

So it's the "adult me" that chooses what book I want to read next.

And, when I close the last page of that book, it's the "adult me" who appraises the narrative and the characters and writing.

But in between those times...

...when I'm reading the book...

...and deep within the pages of the story...

I am eleven-year-old Jimmy Jo, or twelve-year-old Holling Hoodhood or Ramona Quimby, Age 8.

A Memorial Brunch for the Late Miss Grundy

2011-10-02T12:45:00.007-04:00

Today's blog explains why I've become a pie-makin' fool, points out some recent dustjacket changes, pushes my Mock Printz blog at an unsuspecting public, and mourns the recently-deceased Miss Grundy of Riverdale High.

LIFE OF PI(E)

One of my biggest personal flaws is that I'm far too cautious.

I've stuck with dead-end jobs because I was afraid of trying something different.

I've let people take advantage of me because I was afraid to fight back.

I've sacrificed creativity for complacency.

That's the big picture.

But when it comes to little things, I am wildly impulsive.

I think it's a family trait.

Not long ago, a friend asked one of my older cousins if she'd take care of her farm while she was on vacation for a week. My cousin, city born and bred, didn't even have to think twice: "Oh sure, I'd be glad to!"

She drove out to the farm on the appointed morning, daydreaming about such farm delights as gathering up chicken eggs in the hollow of her gingham apron. Instead she found a four page list of instructions that included mucking out the animal stalls, dragging 100 lb. bags of feed to the livestock, milking a pair of cows ("Do not get behind Bessie. She has quite a kick.") and, most shockingly, "Keep an eye out for the two pregnant sheep. If either one of them seems to be having a breech birth, just reach in and turn the lamb around."

Just reach in and turn the lamb around? Can you imagine someone leaving you that kind of advice as they drove off on vacation?

Thankfully, the sheep did not give birth during my cousin's week at the farm. But they could have! And if she did have to "assist" it would have been her own fault for impulsively agreeing to help out when she didn't know what she was doing.

I've been thinking about this story for the past month, ever since I impulsively agreed to bake a pie for a bookseller.

My bookstore buddy is hosting an author event to celebrate the publication of PIE, a fun new middle-grade novel by Sarah Weeks, and came up with the idea of everyone bringing a homemade pie to the booksigning. When she mentioned this idea to me, did I say, "I've never milked a cow...I've never helped a sheep give birth...and I've sure never baked a pie!" Nope. Instead I impulsively said, "Sure thing. I'll bring two!"

So the past few weeks have seen a flurry of "test pies" coming out of my oven. First I made a blackberry pie. The filling was good, but why didn't someone tell me how hard it is to make a crust? I ended up patching that crust together like a jigsaw puzzle and it still only covered half the pie. Next I made a grape pie. I know, that's not a traditional pie. But I always have to be "different." That's my third-biggest flaw in life. (#1 Overcautious in making big decisions. #2 Impulsive in making small decision. #3 Always has to be "different" from everyone else.) Again, the grape filling was quite good, but the crust was a mess. In fact, I never could scrape up enough dough to cover the top of pie. Instead, it had a little circle of crust centered on top; it looked like my pie was wearing a yarmulke. Test pie #3 was an oatmeal pie (different, as always.) Tasted okay, looked awful. Still, I noticed some improvement with each pie, probably due to my "If at first you don't succeed, try try try again" mentality, plus some helpful tips from Facebook friends. (If you'd like to be Facebook friends too, feel free to "friend" me!) Finally, this past week I made Test Pie #4, a traditional American apple pie. It was the first time I ever got the crust to cover the whole pie. It tasted and looked pretty good too. It's the first one I took a picture of:

I've got eleven days before the the author event, so I'll probably be making at least one more test pie before then. Who knows how this will turn out.... Will the Big Day find me showing up with two home-baked pies or will I be stopping at Kroger's and scraping off price tags in the car?

ORDERING PIE BY MAIL

No, I am not starting a mail-order baking company, but I wanted to add that if you'd like to get a signed copy of Sarah Weeks' PIE, you can order it from Bookbeat at this link. It's a funny, sweet tale of a young pie expert and the book includes pie recipes and a hilarious send-up of the Blueberry (read "Newbery") Award. Bookbeat is also having author events for Lisa McMann's THE UNWANTED (one contributor on the "Heavy Medal" website called it the best book of the year) and Moira Young's BLOOD RED ROAD, one of the season's hottest young adult novels. Signed copies of these books can also be ordered in advance at the above link.

MOCKING THE BOOK AWARDS

Of course if my bookstore friend wanted to be really on point, she could insist that her customers bring pies based on recipes found in children's books.

The Sarah Weeks book contains recipes for apple, key lime, sour cherry, and Peanut Butter Raspberry Cream Pie, among others.

Marjorie Priceman's HOW TO MAKE AN APPLE PIE AND SEE THE WORLD is said to contain a great apple pie recipe.

So do THE APPLE PIE TREE by Zoe Hall and AMELIA BEDELIA'S FIRST APPLE PIE by Herman Parish.

PIE IN THE SKY by Lois Ehlert offers up a cherry pie recipe while HALLOWEEN PIE by Michael O. Tunnell serves a pumpkin pie.

Fellow Michigander Lisa Wheeler includes a recipe for "ugly pie" in her book of the same name. The included recipe sounds an awful lot like apple pie with raisins and nuts.

Given my penchant for always being "different," I'd probably find myself making a "Moves Make the Man Pie."

Does anyone remember the scene in Bruce Brooks' extraordinary novel THE MOVES MAKE THE MAN, in which narrator Jerome and his new frien Bix are assigned to make a Mock-Apple Pie for school, using Ritz Crackers instead of apples? Remember Jerome's hilarious riff to the teacher? ("Is it tastier, more delicious, more scrumptious than genuine apple pie, old Non-Mock-Apple-Pie? ...Are rich crackers more nourishing than apples? ...Are they less expensive? Do they save money on the family grocery bill in these difficult times?")

Yep, that's what I want to make: a Mock Apple Pie.

Then I'd serve it to one of the many Mock Award committees proliferating on the web right now.

As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, we are now in mock award season with the Heavy Medal blog up an rolling at School Library Journal and Calling Caldecott operating at the Horn Book.

In that same entry I mentioned a new blog called Printz Picks which focuses on possible Printz contenders.

What I did not mention was that I am moderating that blog.

I was intentionally holding that info back for a couple reasons. First, I had just started the blog and wasn't completely organized yet. Plus I was hoping to find a co-moderator to help me run it. And I was hoping it might develop into a money-making gig (I don't just "knead dough" when making test pies...I need it in real life too) and was afraid that no one would take Printz Picks seriously if they knew I was moderating it. I'm already "giving my milk away for free" at this blog and we all know the kind of respect that gets ya: zilch. Or, as I like to say, "MOOOOOO!!!"

You might wonder how my "Printz Picks" blog is doing. Oh swell...five postings and so far no reader comments and no submitted book reviews or opinion pieces, no matter how much I've solicited them. So I'm not just eating grape and oatmeal pie over here...I've been havin' a hearty heapin' helpin' of humble pie as well!

Especially since a somewhat more official Printz blog opened up this week at School Library Journal. Moderated by former Printz committee members Karyn Silverman and Sarah Couri, "Someday My Printz Will Come" can be found right here. I definitely plan to follow this one!

I hope you'll follow it.

And I hope you'll follow Printz Picks as well.

Not that I'm competitive or anything (stats so far -- "Someday My Printz Will Come": two blog entries and sixteen reader comments vs. "Printz Picks": five blog entries and zero reader comments) but here's a challenge for the "Someday My Printz Will Come" bloggers: Let's see which of our blogs gets more Printz guesses right on January 23, 2012 when the winner and Honor Books are announced.

Since I'm usually completely and totally wrong in these kind of predictions, I expect that January 23 will find my eating more Humble Pie...a la mode!

A MONSTER CHANGES

Speaking of Heavy Medal, one of their recent blog entries focused on whether Patrick Ness's A MONSTER CALLS is actually eligible for the Newbery. You can read the discussion here.

The eligibility issue is intersting, though I find myself agreeing with co-moderator Nina Lindsay when she says, "Folks–it’s not our game," meaning that it's ultimately up the Newbery committee to sort those issues out.

But I must admit that I'm endlessly fascinated in the cosmetic differences in the two editions of this book -- the British version from Walker and the American version from Candlewick.

The British dustjacket is on top and the American is below:

Same illustration, different font and position of text. I wonder why the British edition used the words "From an original idea by Siobhan Dowd" while the American book instead states, "Inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd." You'll also notice that the UK version features a blurb from Phillip Pullman, while the American version has none.

However, on the back cover of the dustjacket, the British book offers only one quote, from Meg Rosoff, while the American volume includes Pullman, Rosoff, Frank Cottrell Boyce and Libba Bray:

Even the spines of the book differ, with the Walker version giving us the author's full name and the title in a smaller size, where the Candlewick edition gives us just the author's last name, along with a larger, more noticable title:

Also, I'm not sure how they did it, but the American edition, at 204 pages, is ten pages less than the 214 page British edition.

I admit this is all minutiae, but I offer it here as an example of how -- even when publishers work together as closely as Walker and Candlewick reportedly did in preparing this book -- every hand that touches it (publisher? editor? designer?) may also leave it slightly changed. I think about beginning writers who are rightfuly happy to place their manuscripts with any publisher. But do they ever wonder how different their book would be if published elsewhere? The jacket illustration would certainly be different, as would the font, perhaps the trimsize -- and those are just external differences. What about changes in the text? A different title? Everyone who works on a book brings their own vision to it and, in the end, the finished product is always a collaboration of sorts. This is not a criticism, by the way, as most authors will tell you that the input of the editor, illustrator, designer, etc., improves their work in unimaginable ways.

MORE CHANGES

It's also interesting to note the changes in dustjacket illustrations that occur, sometimes right up until the last minute before publication. Laini Taylor's new novel, DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND MIRRORS, has been getting some great buzz over the summer. Now that it's been published, the cover illustration of the hardcover (on the right) is very different from the illustration used on the advance reading copy on the left:

Which do you prefer?

Another book that's getting a lot of critical attention, LIFE : AN EXPLODED DIAGRAM by Mal Peet, is using this cover in the US:

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but used this one in Great Britain:

The latter cover reminds me very much of MY NAME IS MINA, the prequel to SKELLIG, just out from David Almond -- an also getting raves from reviewers.

I wonder if we're looking at a new trend in dustjackets.

THE DEATH OF MISS GRUNDY

Several years ago I had a freelance job writing a few entries on children's book authors and illustrators for THE OXFORD ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CHILDREN'S LITERATURE, edited by Jack Zipes. I was surprised to be assigned several pieces on comic creators such as Walt Kelly and probably sniffed in judgement at having to write about "comic books." But the more I thought about it, I had to grudgingly admit that comic books are part of the larger, overall canon of "children's literature." For some kids, they may be the only books they ever read. And even I, a lifelong book-reader have to admit a certain fondness for Archie Comics. (Hey, I'm in good company, as my pal Fuse #8 has also written about growing up with Archie.)

However, I was a bit taken aback to read a recent CNN article by Erika D. Peterman about the evolution of Archie Comics. I was particularly struck by this passage:

Archie has always traded in lighthearted laughs and hijinks, which is why the heavily dramatic “Life with Archie” made such a splash when it launched in 2010.

The comic chronicles two alternate realities in which Archie is married to either Betty or Veronica, and the storylines have been surprisingly serious. Shady business dealings, failed dreams, troubled marriages and even death — beloved teacher Miss Grundy died of cancer — are all part of the mix. Even if you have just basic knowledge of the characters, it’s fascinating stuff.

They killed off Miss Grundy?

I can't believe it!

In case you're not familiar with the character, Miss Grundy taught Archie and his pals at Riverdale High. She seemed to teach almost any subject. She was stern, cranky, yelled a lot, and, on occasion, her white wig would fly off her bald head when she was shocked. Of course there were also times when Miss Grundy was funny, sardonic, compassionate, and sometimes even likable.

She'd been teaching at Riverdale for decades, always looking the same (white bun, red polka-dot dress), never changing, never aging, and the whole idea of this fictional character dying ticks me off!

And don't even get me started on "alternate realities" where Archie is married to either Betty or Veronica!

To quote my Archie-obsessed brother upon learning of Miss Grundy's death: "I will NEVER read 'Life with Archie.'"

Amen, brother!

And rest in peace, Miss Grundy.

ARCHIE LIVES ON

Though I also plan to boycott any Archie book that includes subjects such as "failed dreams and troubled marriages," not to mention death, I am tempted to add the new, ongoing hardcover Archie Archives volumes to my own library reference section for the nostalgic purposes.

OTHER BOOKS I'M GETTING

Reading the new issue of Booklist magazine and noticed a starred review for THE WATCH THAT ENDS THE NIGHT : VOICES FROM THE TITANIC by Allan Wolf, a verse novel about the Titanic. Reviewer Daniel Kraus says, "Wolf leaves no emotion unplumbed, no area of research uninvestigated, and his voices are so authentic they hurt. Nothing recommends this to a YA audience in particular, but who cares? Everyone should read it. Outstanding, insightful backmatter completes this landmark work."

As a long-time Titanic fanatic, I can't wait to read this book!

Also noted a starred review for THE MAGIC MAKER : A PORTRAIT OF JOHN LANGSTAFF AND HIS REVELS by none other than Newbery winner Susan Cooper. I have to admit that I'm completely unfamiliar with Langstaff's "Christmas Revels," which were apparently huge in England. But I do know Langstaff from his children's books -- especially the Caldecott winning FROG WENT A COURTIN', so I can't wait to read this book too.

I'm up for any book-length bio of a chilren's book creator. In fact, I can't believe we don't have more of them.

Which authors or illustrators of children's books would you like to read an in-depth biography about?

My first choice is Louise Fitzhugh.

What's yours?

THANKS

Thank you, as always, to those who write in and/or leave comments on this blog. I learn so much from you. Last week I learned that Rick Yancey's Monstrumologist series will not end at volume three, as recently reported. A write-in campaign by fans has convinced the publisher to issue a fourth book! Mr. Yancey himself wrote in to answer my questions as to whether a Printz Honor helps book sales. He said, " As to the larger issue of the Printz Awards, I can only speak for myself. The selection of THE MONSTRUMOLOGIST as an honor book raised it out of obscurity and undoubtedly increased its modest sales. It is my personal opinion that had it not been recognized a fan write-in campaign for more books would have been unsuccessful." Fascinating to hear that. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. After loving CURSE OF THE WENDIGO, I can't wait to read the newly-published THE ISLE OF BLOOD and the forthcoming fourth volume.

Thanks to everyone who read this blog. Hope you'll be back. And don't forget Printz Picks!

Sunday Brunch with Goats and Birds

2011-09-24T10:20:00.022-04:00

Today's Sunday Brunch revisits the book President Bush was reading when America was attacked, has a link to a Nancy Drew website, and wonders if the Printz Award really has much clout.

TAKING MY OWN ADVICE

Two weeks ago, on the tenth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, I wondered why we didn't hear more about MY PET GOAT, the "children's book" that played a supplementary role in the tragic events of that day.

As it turned out, the correct title is actually "THE Pet Goat" and it's not a stand-alone book, but a story from an elementary school reader. Still, it's a part of history and it remains surprising to me that more book collectors haven't grabbed up READING MASTERY II : STORYBOOK I, the volume that contains this story -- especially since copies can be found for as little as one dollar!

Taking my own advice, I ordered a copy of this book-for-a-buck for my own collection. It arrived yesterday:

Though the textbook is credited to Siegfried Engelmann and Elaine C. Bruner, no authors are listed for the individual stories; perhaps Engelmann and Bruner wrote them all. The tales in the book are flatly-written and contain no spark or finesse. Here is the first page of "The Pet Goat" and one its illustrations:

For the life of me, I can't figure out the diacritical marks used in the stories. Most seem to represent long vowel sounds, like the "o" in "goat" and the "a" in "day." Yet they are used inconsistently (where is the long vowel for the "a" in "cape"?) or in ways I don't quite get. (In another story the "o" in "horn" is repeatedly marked, but that's not a long vowel sound, is it? And what are the marks over every "ng" about? AND WHERE IS THE CAPITALIZATION in the story?

And I hate to be one of those "my childhood was better than today's childhood" types, but I have to say that the school readers from my day were beautifully illustrated in a number of styles. I can still remember many of the full-color pictures from my own grade school textbooks. The illustrations in this book are also done by a number of different (uncredited) artists, but they're terrible! Look at this one:

However, I'll give the illustrations plenty of credit for trying to reverse sex-role steretyping. One story takes place in a railway yard and one of the track workers is a woman. In other story, a dog stops two robbers from escaping and -- although the sex of the robbers isn't mentioned in the text -- they are shown to be women, an unusual and refreshing choice:

Finally, I noticed that the volume has this "THIS BOOK IS THE PROPERTY OF" label inside the cover:

Ah memories! Did your schoolbooks also contain this label? I remember this identical form turning up in all my textbooks starting around the time I finished grade school (1971) right up through high school. And it appears it's still being used today. Strangely, I don't ever recall filling out the form. (For one thing, we weren't even allowed to take textbooks out of the classroom before seventh grade.) But I do remember being fascinated by these labels as a kid. I was always tempted to fill one in myself -- in pencil, so I could erase it before the teacher noticed.

Wouldn't it be fun to go through a collection of old textbooks and find the childhood signatures of people such as Barack Obama, Michelle Robinson (Obama), and so many other young people who grew up to be famous figures?

NANCY GOES COUNTRY

There are already enough books and websites about Nancy Drew to satisfy avid fans of the teenage detective.

But if you're just a casual fan, or you have an interest in the monetary value of Nancy Drew books and memorabilia, you might want to take a look at the October 2011 issue of COUNTRY LIVING magazine, which contains a brief piece about the collectability of Nancy.

The article tells us that the first volume in series, THE SECRET OF THE OLD CLOCK, published in 1930, is now valued at $5000 for a mint copy first edition:

If signed by author Mildred Wirt (who wrote 23 volumes as "Carolyn Keene") the value increases to $10,000.

Volumes from the forties can be worth around $200. The article mentions that Nancy's hairstyle here was reminiscent of Lauren Bacall's hair:

This volume from 1953 is valued at $140. The article mentions Nancy's "prim" look but doesn't compare her to anyone else:

I wondered if she wasn't then being modeled after fifties stars June Allyson and Doris Day:

You can also access an online feature from COUNTRY LIVING magazine which lists the plots of all 56 Nancy Drew books here.

Believe it or not, I've only read one Nancy Drew book -- THE CLUE OF THE TAPPING HEELS, also known as the one where Nancy gets locked in a trunk and, from inside, tapdances a message in Morse code. This must have been the book that started my lifelong case of claustrophobia!

PRINTZ POPULARITY

Okay, I don't have any definitive facts and figures here to back up what I'm going to say. I'm sort of writing from observation and intuition. Maybe those of you who work directly with young adults in libraries or who publish YA books can tell me if I'm on the right track here or if I'm all wet.

But I've come to the conclusion that, as much as I love the Printz Award, it doesn't have the same kind of clout that the Newbery Award does.

Every year when the Newbery is announced, the winning title and Honor Books immediately hit the Amazon.com bestseller list. And, to a greater or lesser extent, these books continue to sell well over time. Winning the Newbery gives an author star quality, even if he or she had been a midlist author in the past. It's like someone said about winning the Oscar: once you've won the prize, every time your name is seen in print, right up through your obituary, it will be preceded by two words: "Oscar winner..." The same is true for Newbery medalists.

But is it true for Printz winners?

Though I'm sure that winning the Printz gives an author greater visibility and more opportunities, I'm not sure it's the life-changer that the Newbery is.

Looking at a list of the eleven winners to date, I don't see too many titles that have become wildly and continually popular with readers. The lone exception may be LOOKING FOR ALASKA by John Green, though perhaps part of its popularlity is due to the author's own self-promotion and connection with readers through social media sites. It might have been equally popular without that gold seal. Have the careers of An Na, Angela Johnson, and Geraldine McCaughrean (to name just three) really taken off in sales or wider popularity since winning the Printz? I'm not sure.

I guess I'm thinking about these things ever since reading this rather sad interview with Rick Yancey at the Bookshelves of Doom blog. Two years ago, Mr. Yancey received a surprise Printz Honor for his YA debut, THE MONSTRUMOLOGIST. I have to admit, I was not a fan of that novel. But many readers were and the book ended up being published in nearly twenty countries. The author's second YA novel, THE CURSE OF THE WENDIGO was published last year and I thought it was vastly better than the first book. In fact, we selected this title for our top-five shortlist when I was one of the judges for the LA TIMES Book Awards.

You would think a Printz Honor would guarantee an author some career momentum for at least the next decade, but the Bookshelves of Doom piece reveals that Yancey's series is now being ended by his publisher, even though the author original planned his story to play out over several more volumes. The publisher's reasoning? "We think we've spent too much on these books already. We're not prepared to spend any more."

It doesn't make a lot of sense to me. And I can hardly imagine this happening to an author continuing a series that received a recent Newbery Honor.

Is the Printz the "red-headed stepchild" of youth literary awards?

Will it always be this way or will this fairly-young award acquire, over time, the prestige of the Newbery and Caldecott?

THINGS WITH WINGS : THE APOTHECARY AND THE AVIARY

For the past few months, people have been talking about the enormous coincidence that two of this year's likely Newbery contenders -- Gary Schmidt's OKAY FOR NOW and Jack Gantos' DEAD END IN NORVELT -- feature eerily similar dustjacket illustrations.

Here's another coincidence: two other likely contenders share similar titles and a fantasy plot element reminiscent of Mary Chase's 1968 cult classic THE WICKED PIGEON LADIES OF THE GARDEN.

Of the two titles, THE APOTHECARY is the more ambitious, broadly-focused novel, but also the more problematic. Set in 1952, the story concerns a fourteen-year-old American girl who moves to London with her parents. Janie's friendship with Benjamin, the son of the neighborhood apothecary, turns into a wild ride of espionage and globe-hopping when it's revealed Benjamin's dad is an alchemist working with other international scientists to prevent a nuclear apocalypse. Janie's measured, almost frosty, first-person narration sometimes tells more than it shows, but the story is well-paced and exciting. A novel like THE APOTHECARY requires the reader to suspend disbelief as the characters work with herbal elixirs that make them speak only the truth (fun!), become invisible (even more fun!), turn into birds (funnest of all!), or reduce a person into a pile of salt and then be restored to human form (that one is really stretching it.) The story occasionally suffers from an issue common to many fantasies: what I like to call "convenient magic." That is, just as the characters are backed into a corner, someone comes up with a facile magical solution to the whole mess. For example, enthralled readers will completely accept the major storyline that has Janie and Benjamin stowing away on a Norwegian vessel to help suppress a nuclear bomb, yet the small scene in which a scientist whips up some special paint that changes the ship's appearance will have some readers muttering, "How con-ven-i-ent!" On the whole, though, THE APOTHECARY is a lively and involving novel that will appeal to a broad range of readers. And Ian Schoenherr's artwork adds a nice touch to the story (why oh why can't we have more illustrated novels for kids?) The hint of a sequel in the book's final pages will cheer readers who want to spend more time with Janie and Benjamin; others will wonder how any sequel can trump a novel in which the characters have already saved the world from nuclear extinction?

In THE APOTHECARY, Janie and her friends transform into birds to escape capture by the "bad guys." Humans living in the form of birds is also a major plot component of Kathleen O'Dell's THE AVIARY, but it is the only fantasy element of this more tightly-focused historical mystery. Almost twelve, Clara has spent her entire life living in the Glendoveer mansion with her mother, the housekeeper for anicent Mrs. Glendoveer. Overprotected and friendless (she's not even allowed to leave the house due to a "bad heart"), Clara is beginning to chafe at the restrictions placed on her life. But a word spoken by one of the birds kept in the backyard aviary soon has Clara and a secret new friend exploring the mystery of the kidnapping and murder of Mrs. Glendoveer's children many decades earlier. Stories of a character from one era (in this case, the late nineteenth century) exploring a family mystery from the past have garnered a lot of Newbery attention in recent years (MOON OVER MANIFEST, WALK TWO MOONS, etc.) and THE AVIARY likely deserves some award consideration as well. Clara is a likable character, slowly and believably asserting her independence for the first time, the plot is suspenseful and exciting, and the novel as a whole is reminiscent of the great books that Zilpha Keatley Snyder published in the late sixties and early seventies -- stories grounded in reality, but with just enough magic to attract fantasy fans as well.

THE GIVER THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

Just when I was dismayed to discover the existence of two Facebook groups called "I Haven't Read Much" and "I Haven't Read Too Many Books Since High School," I was heartened and delighted to learn there is also a Facebook group called "My Favorite Book is THE GIVER."

I don't know if children's author extraordinaire Gary D. Schmidt is a member of that group, but I loved reading the following quote from him:

On my desk are a dictionary and a thesaurus, books by Emerson and Whittier and Longfellow and Darwin, Henry David Thoreau’s journals, a collection of Churchill’s war speeches, two volumes of Shaker hymns, some Tolkien, some Avi, some Katherine Paterson, some Elie Wiesel, THE GIVER, and a statue of a greyhound that has been in my family for four generations.

My own desk is too small and crowded to keep any books on it, but when I lived at my old house, my computer chair backed up to a book shelf where I kept all my M.E. Kerr books within easy reach. Now that I have a library of my own, my M.E. Kerr books are a bit farther away...BUT she also has a special shelving range which, from top to bottom, only contains her books -- an honor afforded no other author in my collection.

Now I have to get up from my desk to reach her books...but they are worth the walk!

What special children's books do you keep on your desk -- or within a handy distance?

Thanks for visiting Collecting Children's Books. Hope you'll be back!

Brunch for September 18

2011-09-18T08:28:00.015-04:00

The days are getting shorter and so is the length of today's blog.

A NEW SEASON...AWARDS SEASON

I'm missing our hummingbirds!

They've left Michigan on their great migration, so sitting on the deck is now a lot less fluttery and fun. I still haven't taken down the hummingbird feeders, but I should. It's downright depressing to watch ants swandive into a feeder, swim around in the nectar...then drown. Not that I'm feeling much interest in these insects since reading EVERYONE SEES THE ANTS by A.S. King. I loved the author's eccentric PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ, but her new YA novel feels like a flop to me (hey, some ants swandive; others bellyflop.) I'm astonished it's getting starred reviews and great word of mouth. What am I missing? I'll read it again if someone can present a compelling argument.

To celebrate the fall, I've been buying a pot of chrysanthemums every time I go to the grocery store and have lined them up around my teeny-tiny gardening plot:

Twenty minutes after taking this picture, the sun rose over the top of the house and lighted up all the mums like fire. By then I couldn't find my camera.

One of the best parts of autumn is that this is the time of year when we all get serious about book awards. Over at School Library Journal, Nina Lindsay and Jonathan Hunt have started up their Heavy Medal blog, which focuses on the Newbery Award. At the Horn Book, Robin Smith and Lolly Robinson have begun "Calling Caldecott," a blog devoted to you-know-what. And a new blog called Printz Picks plans to focus on possible Printz contenders. Should be a fun fall!

ONE FISH, TWO FISH, RED FISH...

Speaking of the Newbery, one title that seems to be quietly picking up buzz is BLUEFISH by Pat Schamtz. The story concerns new-kid-in-school Travis who, at thirteen, is struggling with the loss of his pet dog, his guardian-grandfather's newfound sobriety, and his own illiteracy. But things slowly start to change when Travis gets help with his reading from an understanding teacher and meets two new classmates -- bullied Bradley and an extroverted funny-girl known as Velveeta, who tells part of the story in first-person sections. The relationship between Travis and Velveeta -- both dealing with loss, alcoholic families, and miscommunication -- is particularly involving. The novel's pared-down prose, larger-than-life, yet completely believable characterizations, and realistically offbeat dialogue are spot-on. (Though if this novel does receive Newbery recognitition, its occasional salty language will leave THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY's "scrotumgate" in the dust.) This novel gets so much right on so many levels that the only disappointment lies in the bookmaking. For a story about a kid with reading difficulties, why is the text's font so small? And why are the cover illustration and title (not fully explained until the final chapters) so offputting? Because of these issues, the book may be a hardsell to young readers, but once they open the pages, they'll be hooked by this BLUEFISH.

JIM KJELGAARD

It's always fun to see the titles of children's books -- whether famous or lesser-known -- appear in other works of ficton. Two titles are mentioned in BLUEFISH. Velveeta is reading Markus Zusak's THE BOOK THIEF while poor reader Travis struggles through Jim Kjelgaard's HAUNT FOX. The latter title is rather surprising since the book has been out of print for many years. However, many of Jim Kjelgaard's other books are still around in paperback. Though not as

popular as they once were, they deserve recognition and rediscovery. Born in 1910, Kjelgaard spent his early adulthood working as a trapper, factory worker, and plumber's assistant before making the decision to write for children. His first book, FOREST PATROL (1941) was based on the experiences of his brother, who wanted to be a forest ranger.

Kjelgaard then began a steady career of writing magazine fiction for adults and as many as five books a year for kids. Most of his work stemmed from his love of nature and animals -- particularly dogs. He's probably best known for a series about three generations in a family of Irish Setters: BIG RED (1945), IRISH RED (1951) and OUTLAW RED (1953.)

Unfortunately, Kjelgaard's life and career were cut short by a mysterious illness whose effects left the author so depressed that he succumbed to suicide at age forty-nine.

Some of his books are available in paperback and at libraries, but I'm hardpressed to think of a contemporary author who writes naturalistic dog stories in a similar style. In fact animal stories (with the exception of humorous talking mouse stories, with three Newbery winners -- Lois Lowry, Cynthia Voigt, and Richard Peck -- all publishing such this year alone!) seem to have fallen out of favor in the past couple decades. Will they ever return?

LAMBERT AGAIN...AND A SUBJECT FOR A RESEARCH PAPER

Thanks to all who wrote in with answers to my query about Janet Lambert books. I'm definitely going to track down some of her books, starting with STAR SPANGLED SUMMER, which so many recommended.

I was especially fascinated by this comment from blog reader CLM:

"One flaw with Lambert for a modern reader is that the men are all groomed for West Point but (other than actress Penny Parrish) the women's role is primarily to support them and they rarely even go to college. As I recall, the one character who attends Barnard dies in a car crash!"

There used to be a legend in YA fiction that gay characters always ended up dying in car accidents. This is the first time I've heard of a character who decides to go to college getting killed in a car crash!

But it started me thinking....

For those of you who are fans of "teen romance novels" of the fifties and sixties written by authors such as Betty Cavanna, Anne Emery, Rosamund DuJardin, and the rest: do the girls in these books usually have career aspirations or do they, like CLM describes in Lambert's books, simply long to be married, have kids, and support their husbands?

I've honestly never read any of those old-school romances. I've read plenty of YA novels from the seventies till today which contain romantic elements, but in those books the girls always seem to have career goals and aspirations of their own. I wonder if that's simply because they were written in a post-feminist period...or if even the 1950s books featured girls who had both career interests and an interest in romance and marriage. And IF girls in novels by Cavanna, et al, longed for both, was that true to the time, or simply done to make the protagonist more interesting? I would think a book in which a girl's only desire is to support her man would be pretty dull. Someone should write a research paper exploring how true such books were to their era.

Come to think of it, someone should write a research paper exploring whether the characterizations of boys were true to their time as well. It seems that in most of the books I read -- even those published in the forties and fifties -- boys had big dreams and lots of goals for the future. Strangely, one of the most honored children's writers of the twentieth century, Joseph Krumgold, wrote against that tide. In his first Newbery winner, ...AND NOW MIGUEL, the protagonist doesn't dream of leaving home for the big city, attending college, or finding a special career; he wants to be a sheep herder like his father. Six years later Krumgold won the Newbery again for ONION JOHN. In this novel, the protagonist's father talks about his son someday going to MIT or becoming an astronaut, while all young Andy wants to do is stay home and run his father's hardware store someday. However, it seems to me that such conventional boys were actually "unconventional" for male characters in fiction even back in the fifties....

A COVER ERROR?

I think I've told this embarrassing story before, but it bears repeating with this entry.

Many decades ago, back when RIFLES FOR WATIE was the latest Newbery winner, Mrs. Sieruta went in the hospital and had her first baby -- me. Coming out of the delivery room, she seemed to recall my father saying the baby was a boy. A few hours later she woke up and a little nun (though Mrs. Sieruta wasn't Catholic, the hospital was -- so most of the nurses wore habits) came in carrying the baby. She said, "Here's your brand new daughter!" and my mother said, "Oh...my husband said it was a boy."

Back then, hospitals put little bracelets on each baby -- blue for boys, pink for girls -- with the baby's last night spelled out in beads.

The nun pointed at my pink bracelet and said, "It's a girl."

My mother said, "Are you sure?"

The nun said, "Well, there's only one way to find out for sure."

She unpinned my diaper and said, "Oh...you're right" and handed the new me to the new mom and sat down beside the bed to restring our last name with a set of blue beads.

It's an oft-told tale in our family, but one I've quit telling in recent years because hospital no longer seem to use beads to identify babies. From what I understand, they just wear clear plastic name tags, the same as adult patients.

I did some searching online and the only references to beaded hospital bracelets I could find referred to them as "vintage." (Yeah, I just loved to find out that I'm now "vintage.") But I did find picture frames you can buy for showing off your new baby and the baby's hospital bracelet:

which you will notice is just a plastic band. (Actually, that image is small that the band looks sort of like an EPT test strip which would make areally tacky photo, wouldn't it?)

So...if beaded bracelet and vintage and plastic bands are hip and today, why does the cover of Han Nolan's new, contemporary novel about a teenage mom, PREGNANT PAUSE, feature an old-school bracelet motif?

ARE the beads used anywhere today? Or are modern readers going to look at the cover and thing, "What's THAT supposed to be?"

Are kids going to get it?

Or is putting a beaded bracelet on the cover akin to putting a typewriter on the cover of one of Lauren Myracle's "instant messaging" computer novels?

PROOF THAT WE'RE COOL!

Look what the owner of my favorite bookstore gave me this week:

I've always known that "cool people read" but it's nice to share that thought with others as I carry around this bookbag!

Thanks for visiting Collecting Children's Books! Hope you'll be back.

Because I Grew Up Reading Children's Books...

2011-09-14T06:12:00.024-04:00

If you grow up reading children's books, you'll carry enough images and associations with you to last a lifetime.

I thought about that at 5:45 this morning.

Actually, I think about it all the time -- especially since buying a house last year.

I've always heard that you have to make decisions and concessions when you purchase a home. Do you want the house with the huge kitchen or the one with the big backyard? Would you prefer a walk-in closet or an extra bathroom -- you can't have both?

In my case, I wanted a single-story house. Then I discovered one with a basement just right for a library and changed my mind.

I also would have preferred a house with lots of windows, but when I found one that had a back patio facing a beautiful duck pond, I opted for the pond.

I still love the pond but, you know, I sort of miss having windows!

It's not that the front of the house has NO windows...it's just that the front window looks out at a tiny courtyard -- and the back of the neighbors' garage. The window in my bedroom looks into the same same courtyard -- and the side of the neighbors' house. Everyone who visits says the same thing: "You're really tucked away back here" or "This house is kinda dark" or "Wow, you are really sequestered from the world!"

Because I grew up reading children's books, my dark windowless existence sometimes has me imagining that I live, like Sam Gribley in MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN, in the dark confines of a hollowed-out tree. Or underground, like the mouse family in MRS. FRISBY AND THE RATS OF NIMH.

Lying in bed at night, I can only see one small square of sky from my bed.

Because I grew up reading children's books, this tiny patch of sky makes me feel like Harriet the Spy or Dave Mitchell from IT'S LIKE THIS, CAT -- New Yorkers who lived in the concrete canyons of Manhattan and could probably only see a postage-stamp view of the sky from their beds as well.

Today at 5:45 AM, I suddenly woke up, almost blinded by bright light. My pillow seemed to be glowing in the dark. It took me a second to realize where the light was coming from. The full moon had risen directly into the small square of sky above my window...

...and the moonlight shining on my pillow had woken me up.

(Okay, that looks more like a sonogram than a brightly lighted bed...but you try finding your camera without turning on any bedroom lights, stubbing your toe in the darkness, clicking your camera's on/off switch, selecting the correct setting, and snapping the shutter -- and then tell me how good your photographic skills are in the pre-dawn darkness!)

Because I grew up reading children's books, the whole scenario reminded me of one of my favorite childhood books. First published in England as THE MAGIC BED-KNOB:

Then later merged with a sequel and published in one volume known as BEDKNOB AND BROOMSTICK:

I've only been awakened by moonlight a few times in my life, but every time it happens I'm reminded of the scene in Mary Norton's novel where three siblings, Carrie, Charles, and Paul, discover the village eccentric, Miss Price, on the lawn with a sprained ankle. As they help her home, Paul carries a broomstick that he found on the ground nearby, explaining to the others that Miss Price must have sprained her ankle falling from it; he'd seen her flying on the broomstick for several nights:

"Paul, why didn't you tell us you'd seen Miss Price on a broomstick?"

"I dunno."

"But, Paul, you ought to have told us. We'd have liked to see it, too. It was very mean of you, Paul."

Paul did not reply.

"When did you see her?"

"In the night."

Paul looked stubborn. He felt as if he might be going to cry. Miss Price always passed so quickly. She would have been gone before he could call anyone, and they would have said at once, "Don't be silly, Paul." Besides, it had been his secret, his nightly joy. His bed was beside the window, and when the moon was full, it shone on his pillow and wakened him. It had been exciting to lie there, with his eyes fixed on the pale sky beyond the ragged blackness of the cedar boughs. Some nights he did not wake up. Other nights he woke up and she did not come. But he saw her often enough, and each time he saw her, she had learned to fly a little better. At first she wobbled so, balanced sideways on the stick, that he wondered why she did not ride astride. She would grip the broomstick with one hand and try to hold her hat on with the other, and her feet, in their long shoes, looked so odd against the moonlit sky. Once she fell -- and the broomstick came down quite slowly, like an umbrella blown inside out with Miss Price clinging to the handle.

Because I grew up reading children's books, I've held that image in my mind for nearly fifty years: the young boy awakened by bright moonlight, the amateur witch learning to fly her broomstick right outside his window....

So is it any wonder that this morning, after being awakened by bright moonlight (and wandering around in the dark and stubbing my toe, and taking those photographs), that, when I finally got back to bed, I continued staring up at the moon floating in that tiny square of sky for another half hour...hoping I'd see Miss Price, or some other amateur witch, flying her broomstick through the night and silhouetted against the moon?

Sunday Brunch for 9/11/11

2011-09-11T10:32:00.007-04:00

Today's Sunday Brunch looks back at 9/11, asks if you've ever heard of an author named Janet Lambert, and gathers together a bunch of comments that tell us where children's writers do their writing.

9/11

Just sitting on the deck of my house, I see the world change from day to day. Yesterday morning I saw a green apple fall from one of the trees out back. My tomato plants are starting to shrivel and turn brown, and I worry that we won't have enough warm weather for the remaining tomatoes to ripen. The hummingbirds haven't been to the feeder in two days and I wonder if they've already left us for their great migration. And every night it seems the chirping of crickets gets softer and softer. I know that one evening I'll step outside and hear only silence. It seems so funny that I can note these minute changes on a daily basis, yet huge chunks of time -- such as the ten years between September 11, 2001 and September 11, 2011 -- can pass in a blink.

In fact, it seems like no time has passed at all.

I don't even need to close my eyes to remember exactly how I felt that morning when the world seemed to be falling apart.

You too?

A few weeks later I happened to be in New York and, of course, went to "Ground Zero" which looked exactly the same as it did on TV: with beams and girders sticking into the air like reaching arms and smoke still rising from the ground. The smell was awful...and you could even taste it in your mouth. I can even taste it now if I think about it.

It seems as if I can find a children's book connection to any event -- and that includes 9/11.

Of course, in this case, a children's book was front-and-center during the whole thing that morning.

Remember MY PET GOAT?

It was the book that President Bush was reading to a classroom of Florida students when he was notified of the tragedy.

In a way it's odd how littlepublicity MY PET GOAT received in the days after 9/11. You would have expected it to hit the bestseller list. You would have expected to hear the author interviewed on TV. You might even have expected a tawdry "Special September 11 Edition" of the book.

Yet none of that happened and, even ten years later, details about the book remain murky.

Over time we learned that it wasn't an individual book but rather a short story in a school textbook called READING MASTERY II : STORYBOOK 1 by Siegfried Engelmann and Elaine C. Bruner.

And the media didn't even get the title right! It wasn't MY PET GOAT but, instead, THEPET GOAT. According to Wikipedia, it's "the story of a girl's pet goat that eats everything in its path. The girl's parents want to get rid of the goat, but she defends it. In the end, the goat becomes a hero when it butts a car thief into submission." I'm not even sure who wrote this story. Some attribute it to Engelmann and Bruner, but my experience is that textbook editors generally select short stories from previously published books or assign the writing to freelance authors.

I'd sure love to know who wrote this story which suddenly played a role in one of my important days in a nation's history. And I'd love to read it. I just looked online and discovered that copies of READING MASTERY II : STORYBOOK I are available for as a low as $1.00 a piece. Maybe I should get one for my book collection to represent the day that everything changed for our country.

DID 9/11 HAVE AN EFFECT ON CHILDREN'S BOOKS?

Most of the 9/11 children's books I've seen have been thin informational volumes geared for school and public libraries.

Can you think of any examples of GREAT September 11 books for kids -- whether picture books, novels, or nonfiction?

FIREBOAT : THE ADVENTURES OF THE JOHN J. HARVEY by Maira Kalman comes to mind.

What else?

LOVE IS THE HIGHER LAW by David Levithan is an interesting YA novel on the subject, but I'm not sure it's a truly great book.

THE MAN WHO WALKED BETWEEN THE TOWERS by Mordicai Gerstein isn't a 9/11 book per se, though this story of the Twin Towers does quietly acknowledge that the towers are now gone. We'll never know, but it's interesting to ponder whether this book would have won the 2004 Caldecott if the events of 2001 had not occurred and the towers were still standing. Did the memory of September 11 play any role in its selection?

Come to think of it, were the events to 9/11 reflected in any Newbery choices?

Four months after September 11, 2001, the Newbery went to a book very far away -- in both time and place -- from what was still so heavy on our hearts and minds. The winner was Linda Sue Park's A SINGLE SHARD, a novel set in 12th century Korea. (On the other hand, the story does concern two pieces of beautiful pottery being senselessly destroyed and the protagonist carrying on despite adversity...so maybe there's a tiny connection?) Actually, if you look at a list of the ten Newbery winners since September 11, 2001, you'll note that very few take place in contemporary America.

CRISPIN : THE CROSS OF LEAD by Avi and GOOD MASTERS! SWEET LADIES! by Laura Amy Schlitz are set in medieval England; THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX by Kate DiCamillo is a fantasy. Cynthia Kadohata's KIRA-KIRA, Lynne Rae Perkins' CRISS CROSS, Rebecca Stead's WHEN YOU REACH ME, and Clare Vanderpool's MOON OVER MANIFEST are all set in America's past from 1917 to 1979 (with a bit of the future included in WHEN YOU REACH ME.) The only two Newbery winners set in the present day since 2001 are THE GRAVEYARD BOOK by Neil Gaiman and THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY by Susan Patron, though reviews of both books pointed out that these stories seemed to take place in another time...so that the occasional mention of computers and cellphones actually seemed jarring. I'd like to draw some grand conclusion from all this, suggesting that we're still shying away from the post-9/11 world -- but then the Newbery always has had a lot of historical fiction winners, so perhaps that would be unfair.

I've been on Facebook for a few months now (feel free to "friend" me unless you're a mean person -- in which case, don't bother) and posited this question: "Did 9/11 have any effect on young adult fiction?" then offered my own theory: "I'm thinking of the untold number of YA dystopian novels featuring teenagers trying to survive in barren, wasted worlds after the "ultimate disaster" has occurred. And what of the other literary phenomenon of the past decade: vampires? More than scary stories of horror (and romance), do they really represent a longing to avoid death through supernatural immortality?"

Jenny S. replied: "Personally I think it's a combination of 9/11, anxieties about global warming, Afghanistan and Iraq, political and economic turmoil, etc. that have contributed to the general angst that makes dystopian novels generally very popular in this time period."

Sean B. replied: "I think the popularity of dystopian and vampire themes pre-dates 9/11. I remember reading Noah's Castle way back in the late 70s and the Anne Rice books in the 80s. 9/11 has probably contributed to the dystopian fad, but I think its been growing in popularity for a long time. First the cause was the Cold War, then overpopulation, now global warming. And vampires have become more and more trendy as we've become more youth-oriented (tho I confess...I do still love The Lost Boys...)"

Yes, I know that both genres have been around for decades, but I do find it odd (and somehow telling) that dystopian and vampire books have been pretty much taken over the YA field in the past ten years.

Facebook friend Liz B. offered this: "I just have to mention Mal Peet's new novel, LIFE : AN EXPLODED DIAGRAM in this context. Spanning 1960s to 2001, it's an exploration of how war affects subsequent generations, how love can survive maiming and brutality, how one's personal life is shaped by huge political events. And it is a dream to read."

Hmm...could THIS be the great September 11 novel I've been looking for?

I happen to have a galley that my bookstore friend gave me. I plan to start reading it this afternoon.

Seems like a fitting day for it.

REVIEW : A PLAGUE YEAR

Although the novel begins on September 10, 2001 and is set not far from the Pennsylvania crash site of Flight 93, Edward Bloor's A PLAGUE YEAR concerns a different American tragedy: the effect of methamphetamine addiction on a small town. The story is narrated by Tom Coleman, a junior high student whose main goal is to attend college in Florida and leave Blackwater, PA, far behind. During a school year in which his class studies Daniel Defoe's JOURNAL OF THE PLAGUE YEAR and performs a play about that seventeenth-century catastrophe, Tom watches as a meth crisis consumes his hometown, bringing with it violence and murder while turning friends and neighbors into "zombies." Bloor's novels are always ambitious -- stuffed with subplots, characters, and thought-provoking insights. A PLAGUE YEAR is no exception. The author is painting a large landscape here, rather than a small portrait, so the story is overpopulated (readers may need to keep a list of who's who), filled with big scenes (including more than one major robbery at the grocery store where Tom works) and seems to be written in a purposefully-exaggerated way. How else to explain that nearly every person in Tom's life seems to be struggling with some form of substance abuse? Yet despite the novel's heightened reality and narrative sprawl, there are occasional lowkey moments involving family dynamics, friendship, romance, and personal hypocrisy which are stunningly limned. It's a scary, emotionally-draining ride and although I just finished it yesterday, I already want to read this powerful novel again.

MORE BLOOR

Looking at Edward Bloor's website today, I made an interesting discovery.

In addition to the Bloor novels so many of us know and love (including TANGERINE, CRUSADER, and TAKEN), he has also written a novel available only in the e-book format.

It's called MEMORY LANE and is described this way:

Memory Lane, America’s most popular new theme park, promises to provide its guests with “golden memories.” Choose any week—from 1950 to the present—and Memory Lane will recreate it for you in amazing detail: the foods, the clothes, the TV shows, even the schools. You will soon forget about the present and start living in the past.
 
But is that a good idea?
 
Alice hopes Memory Lane will provide a week of personal healing and of family bonding. Instead, Alice and her cousins Patrick and TJ find themselves struggling with a pair of psychotic bullies, and with the pain of young love, and with a shocking family secret that was, perhaps, better left buried in the past.

Smart, funny, and frightening, Memory Lane is Edward Bloor’s most powerful and insightful novel to date.

Gee, now I want to read it. But I like books with paper pages. I hope I'm not going to have to break down and get a Kindle just to keep up with all my favorite authors in the future!

CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY : BOY, WAS I WRONG!

My brother sent me an e-mail the other day asking me the value of a first-edition of Road Dahl's CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY.

The question was asked on a TV quiz show.

I didn't have a clue, but guessed $500.

Boy, was I wrong!

My brother wrote back to say that, according to the quiz show, the correct answer was $4000.

I then did some searching on the internet and discovered that while some first editions of this book are available in the $4000 range, there are also some in the $8000 to $12,000 range!

And if your copy is signed by Roald Dahl it may be worth as much as $19,000!

I don't have a copy of this book myself -- not even a paperback.

But if you have a hardcover copy, hurry over to the shelf to see if you have a first edition. From what I've read, it must be published in the United States by Knopf in 1964 (strangely, it was published here in America three years before it was published in England.) The binding is red, the lettering on the spine is gold, and the top edges of the pages are stained red. There must be no ISBN on the dustjacket and the publishers' colophon, found on the last page of the book, contains six lines of text. Later printings only contain five lines.

If your copy meets those specifications...congrats!

And if it's also signed by Roald Dahl...BIG congrats!

DO YOU KNOW JANET LAMBERT?

I recently came across a small collection of dustjackets by a teen writer from the 1950s and 1960s named Janet Lambert.

I must admit, I never heard of her.

Of course I wasn't around in the 1950s...well, I wasn't around for most of that decade, but I spent much of the sixties in public and school libraries and don't ever recall seeing the author's name either. Of course they are not the kinds of books I probably would have read in the sixties, but you'd think I would have picked up the name by osmosis -- the way I know Betty Cavanna, Adele DeLeeuw, Rosamund Dujardin and other romance writers of the era by name without having read any of their books.

Anyway, I figured Janet Lambert must have been less popular than those other gals since I never heard of her before.

Then I did some searching online and discovered that her novels are very collectable. No, they're not up there in CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY territory, but first editions of the Lambert books are often in the $300 price range.

Who knew?

According to Wikipedia, she wrote 54 novels between 1941 and 1969 and most appear to be included in small series such as the "Penny Parrish" series, the "Jordan Famiy" series, and several others. I'm wondering now if her books did not appear in my libraries because they were considered "series books" or if they were there and I just didn't notice them.

Was Janet Lambert a widely popular author or a "niche" author beloved by a select few?

Based on their value today, her books are still sought after by collectors today. There are even a couple webpages devoted to them. And it appears that a few were even republished in paperback during the past decade.

Has anyone read these books?

What did you think of them?

WHERE DO THEY WRITE?

I was amused to read what author Fran Manushkin listed as a her occupation on her Facebook page: "Writing in bed as a full-time children's book writer."

This got me wondering where other children's authors do their writing.

Poking around on the internet today, I came up with these answers:

Tricia Springstubb (author of MO WREN, LOST AND FOUND): "the library where I work in the children’s room. I’m very strict about all this! I have a desk by a window that looks out on the street, so I can watch people go by."

Gary D. Schmidt (OKAY FOR NOW) : "I have a study in a small outbuilding away from the house. It has a desk, a lamp, more books than should be in any one room, and a woodstove. I work at a typewriter, and keep lots of scrap paper around me. This means, by the way, that if anything comes out pretty awful, I can just open the woodstove and burn it all. The feeling of relief is remarkable."

Ellen Wittlinger (HARD LOVE): "I have a small writing room in my home. It's overcrowded with books and papers, but it's my nest."

Maggie Stiefvater (SHIVER) : "Anywhere, so long as I have my headphones on. I do have a lovely desk that I spend a lot of time at, but I write on planes and couches and floors as well."

Jack Gantos (DEAD END IN NORVELT) : :"I have an office at home where I write. Plus I travel a lot (I visit students in schools and at book conferences) and so I write on airplanes, in restaurants and coffee shops, and just about anywhere an idea strikes me. I always have a pen and journal in my pocket so I write when the idea is fresh to me."

Sandra Scoppettone (TRYING HARD TO HEAR YOU) : "I always thought it would be wonderful to write in a diner or a cafe, but I've never been able to do it. What I do is to sit down at my desk in my office at about 9 in the morning and write until about noon or one."

Eion Colfer (ARTEMIS FOWL) : "I write in my office in the garden. It is close to the house but even crossing the garden is enough for me to feel I am going to work."

Betsy Byars (SUMMER OF THE SWANS) : :"When I started writing, I was living in a very small apartment with my husband and two little daughters. I wrote on the kitchen table. I'd keep my typewriter beside my place, and I'd push it aside to eat and then pull it back in front of me. Now I have a studio and a computer, but anyone who really wants to write will find a place."

THANKS

Thanks for visiting Collecting Children's Books. Hope you'll be back.

Sunday Brunching with E.B. White's "Sad Disaster"

2011-08-28T15:03:00.002-04:00

This is the first time I've blogged in two weeks. Sorry for the absence. As many of you know, I am writing a book for Candlewick Press with Elizabeth Bird of the Fuse #8 blog and Julie Danielson of Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast . Two weeks ago we finally finished our latest draft and the days since then have been spent reading, editing, cutting, rewriting, restruturing, and sending thousands of e-mails back-and-forth saying, "Do you think...?" and "What about...?" and "Hmmpf! If you insist!"

It's a daunting task, because the manuscript is currently 562 pages, stands three times taller than my laptop, and weighs more than my brother's dog.

It's due at Candlewick by Labor Day so no wonder I haven't been blogging.

Yeah, yeah, I know: Betsy and Julie haven't stopped blogging over the last two weeks. But in my own defense, I should say:

* Those two have more pep than a pair of Energizer Bunnies. On my best days, I couldn't keep up with them on their worst days. While they're editing, blogging, and keeping up with a hundred activities like those plate-spinners on the Ed Sullivan Show, I'm slumped over my laptop, drooling on my computer....

* They are a lot younger than me. I think if you added their ages together, they'd still be younger than I am. How am I supposed to keep up with that? Come to think of it, I doubt they even know what the Ed Sullivan Show was!

* They both get paid for blogging. I write this blog for free. If someone wants to pay me for writing Collecting Children's Books, I'll wake up, wipe the drool from my computer, and get blogging as well.

Anyway, two weeks is a long time to go without writing a blog, so I'm going to take a break from manuscript editing to write a brief blog today. If you're reading this from the east coast, I hope you've emerged from Hurricane Irene safe and dry!

E.B. WHITE'S "SAD DISASTER"

I'm so old that not only do I remember the Ed Sullivan Show, but I also remember a time when E.B. White had only written two children's books, STUART LITTLE (1945) and CHARLOTTE'S WEB (1952.)

I was just a kid going to grade school in the midwest when TRUMPET OF THE SWAN was published in 1970...but even to me, the publication of E.B. White's third children's book was a Big Deal. It seemed like everyone was talking about it. I'm sure there were articles in the newspapers and in magazines. After all, a new book after eighteen years deserves attention...especially when the novel that preceded it was already acknowledged as a modern classic.

When THE TRUMPET OF THE SWAN was published, it appeared in all kinds of stores that didn't usually sell children's books: airport gift shops, and stationery stores, and department stores. We couldn't wait till it turned up at our school and public library and I think both those places ordered two or three copies at a time when that was almost never done.

Then the book arrived...and I was disappointed.

First I was disappointed by the cover illustration. To me E.B. White = Garth Williams, whose distinctive artwork (whether in White's books or the "Little House" series, or anywhere else) automatically elevated any book it accompanied. The cover and illustrations of THE TRUMPET OF THE SWAN just looked ordinary to me...like the illustrations you'd find in any book of that era.

I always wondered why Garth Williams didn't illustrate this book as well. I learned recently, in Leonard Marcus's DEAR GENIUS : THE LETTERS OF URSULA NORDSTROM, that Mr. Williams was approached, but was just too busy to take on the project at that time. And editor Nordstrom didn't feel she could wait till he was available since E.B. White was in frail health and might not be around much longer. Garth Williams would later express regret that he didn't illustrate the book.

I wonder if the publisher, Harper, ultimately agreed with me about the quality of Edward Frascino's illustrations -- because when they issued a thirtieth anniversary edition in 2000, it was elegantly reillustrated by Fred Marcellino.

But of course you can't judge a book by its cover. It's the inside that counts. And when I read THE TRUMKPET OF THE SWAN, I was disappointed as well. Looking back from a distance of forty years, I can't really remember my specific objections to the novel. I guess it just seemed ordinary too...it didn't have the same kind of resonance that attaches itself to your bones and makes you carry the book inside you for the rest of your life, the way STUART and CHARLOTTE did. Now if I were any type of dedicated blogger, I'd go back and re-read the book today and share my opinions as an adult, but I don't have the time (remember that 562 page manuscript tugging on my sleeve) or the energy (remember, I'm old) but I'll try to put it on my to-do list and report back here eventually.

Although I wasn't crazy about THE TRUMPET OF THE SWAN, it appears that everyone else pretty much loves it. White is usually said to have written "three chldren's classics" and the dustjacket for the anniversary edition claims this novel "along with E.B. White's other masterpieces...has been a favorite of generations of young readers."

Back in 1971, THE TRUMPET OF THE SWAN was nominated for a National Book Award and went on to win a William Allen White Award. Its editor, Ursula Nordstrom expressed shock when it did not receive the Newbery Medal, writing to White's wife: "Well, I just heard that Andy did NOT win the Newbery. It is utterly incredible. What won was a Viking book entitled THE SUMMER OF THE SWAN [sic]. Did you ever hear of anything so odd?...I am simply DISGUSTED."

Despite this talk of awards, I wondered how critics at the time of publication felt about TRUMPET. Did they also consider it award-worthy or were they, like me, somewhat lukewarm about the book?

John Updike reviewed it for the New York Times Book Review (you can always tell how important a book is considered by the pedigree of the critic; Updike wrote this one and, I believe, Eudora Welty did the Times review for Charlotte's Web.) Updike said that TRUMPET was not as "sprightly" as STUART and was "less rich in personalities and incident" than CHARLOTTE, but went on to rave that TRUMPET "is the most spacious and serene of the three, the one most imbued with the author's sense of the precious instinctual heritage represented by wild nature."

Writing for the Saturday Review, Zena Sutherland called the book "a masterpiece."

Other reviewers were more measured, but still quite positive, as when Kirkus Reviews points out some reservations but admits that, during certain powerful moments, "reservations have a way of evaporating."

Junior Bookshelf notes the novel's "disconcerting mix of fact and fantasy," but also mentions the novel's "compassion and wisdom and real feeling for the joy of the free life of the wild."

So in general, it seems that everyone liked the book and found it successful.

Or did they?

I recently came across some fascinating inside info in a personal letter. Written in June 1970 by Lavinia Russ, the children's book editor of the Publishers Weekly, and sent to a very well-known children's book editor, the letter accompanied a small present -- a book of E.B. White's essays for adults. And Ms. Russ signs off with a bit of gossip about White's latest book, THE TRUMPET OF THE SWAN.

In case you can't read her handwriting, she says: "Trade secret: his newest one is a sad disaster."

I'd sure like to see the Publishers Weekly review of TRUMPET OF THE SWAN. Did it reflect Ms. Russ's opinion that the book was a "sad disaster" or was it generally positive, like most reviews of the era? If it was positive, what does it say about the book review world if everyone was praising this book publicly but (trade secret!) offering different opinions behind closed doors?

And now I'm curious about how others feel about this book. Were you underwhelmed by it like I was as a kid, or do you think it takes its rightful place among E.B. White's "trio of classics"?

FROM BOOKSTORE TO PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

And who is this Lavinia Russ who dared to diss E.B. White's work?

For many years in the 1950s and 1960s she worked at Scribner's Bookstore in New York, buying and selling children's books. She was so esteemed in the children's book industry that she was ultimately asked to serve as children's books editor at Publishers , working there from 1965 to 1973.

If you'd like to know a little more about her, you might want to track down her 1969 memoir, THE GIRL ON THE FLOOR WILL HELP YOU, which is composed of brief, mildly-humorous essays about working in a bookstore with, of course, an emphasis on children's books. Some of Russ's comments about her favorite types of books ("written with a joyful wonder and read with wonderful joy") are spot-on; others are equally powerful, but a bit diminished by old-school sexism ("The man who first defined a children's book as a meaningful book -- that's the villain I'm after. I shall find him some day, but I have a hunch he will turn out to be a woman and that I shall find her at a wedding reception, a Barbie Doll passing as the mother of the bride.")

I was particularly struck by Russ's list of books "about people, ideas, and things that I couldn't bear to have anybody grow up without knowing." She says the list is for readers up to ten and "If they don't choose their own books after that, they're in trouble -- and so are you." I would have reprinted the list here, but it's over seven pages long. But I'm impressed by the fact that, although over forty years old, the list holds up very nicely today, filled with titles such as THE ANIMAL FAMILY, FROM THE MIXED-UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANKWEILER, HARRIET THE SPY, THE GHOST IN THE NOONDAY SUN and many others.

n fact there are only twelves titles on the list that I have never heard of before. Since they appear to be picture books (never my strong suit), I'll have to ask you if these unknown-to-me titles are still read and enjoyed by kids today:

CELESTINO PIATTI'S ANIMAL ABC / Celestino Piatti
ELIA / Bill Peet
IT'S WINGS THAT MAKE BIRDS FLY / Sandra Weiner
THE LEGEND OF THE WILLOW PLATE / Alvin Tresselt and Nancy Cleaver; illustrated by Joseph Low
LOOK, THERE IS A TURTLE FLYING / Janina Domauska
MR. BROWN AND MR. GRAY / William Wondriska (I've never heard of this author, have you?)
NUBBER / William Lipkind ; illustrated by Roger Duvoisin
ONE SMALL BLUE BEAD / B.B. Schweitzer ; illustrated by Symeon Shimon
ONE SNAIL AND ME / Emilie McLeod ; illustrated by Walter Lorraine
STORY OF A LITTLE WHITE TEDDY BEAR WHO DIDN'T WANT TO GO TO BED / Dorothy Sherrill
THE STRANGE DISAPPEARANCE OF ARTHUR CLUCK / Nathaniel Benchley
THE THREE POOR TAILORS / Victor Ambrus
THE TOMTEN / Astrid Lindgren

Incidentally, this card was laid in my copy of THE GIRL ON THE FLOOR WILL HELP YOU:

No, I did not know the author; whoever owned the book before me must have.

I wonder who that was!

SAME COVER, DIFFERENT BOOKS

We've discussed in previous blogs that the current use of stock photos has occasionally caused two books to unknowingly have the same cover. It recently happened again with the paperback reprints of last year's winner of the National Book Award for Young People's Literature, MOCKINGBIRD by Kathryn Erskine and Will Allison's adult novel LONG DRIVE HOME. People Magazine even included a piece about the duplication:

Personally, I was thrilled to see this mention. Anytime a children's book gets even a glancing bit of publicity in magazine like People, it increases the book's visibility and increases sales.

A RETURN

Earlier I wrote about what a big deal it was when E.B. White "returned" to children's books in 1970 after an eighteen year absence.

It appears we are about to experience a similarly momentous occasion, with Nancy Ekholm Burkert releasing her first picture book in over twenty years.

I'm not a picture book expert, so if I have any facts wrong here, I hope someone will write in to correct me. But I will go out on a limb and state that Nancy Ekholm Burkert may be the most honored and admired children's book artist with the smallest body of work.

In fifty years, she appears to have illustrated a scant dozen or so volumes, beginning with JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH in 1961, and including John Updike's A CHILD'S CALENDAR in 1965, SNOW-WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS in 1972, and VALENTINE AND ORSON in 1989. This is a far cry from many children's books artists who, particularly early in their careers, illustrate as many titles as they possibly can. Yet despite, her small output, Ms. Burkert is one of our most honored creators. SNOW WHITE was a Caldecott Honor Book. VALENTINE AND ORSON won the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award. She has been honored with a monograph about her work (1977's THE ART OF NANCY EKHOLM BURKERT, edited by David Larkin) and in 2003 she was the second artist (only after Maurice Sendak) to exhibit her work at the Eric Carle Museum.

So you can see why it is indeed a Big Deal that she's publishing a new picture book this fall, at the age of 78. The book is MOUSE & LION, an adaptation of the Aesop fable by her son Rand Burkert.

It's already getting raves and I imagine it will turn up on many Mock Caldecott lists this fall.

Of course you may now be thinking, like I am: what rotten timing!

After all, Jerry Pinkney just won last year's Caldecott for THE LION AND THE MOUSE, an adaptation of this same fable.

Will this coincidence hurt Ms. Burkert's chances of winning the Caldecott?

Technically, it should not. The award committe is supposed to judge only the book in hand and not take into account any outside considerations, such as the same plot being used in a recent Caldecott winner. Having said that, the committees have historically done a fairly good job of changing things up, with different types of books with different artistic styles winning from year to year -- though of course there have been exceptions (Leo and Dianne Dillon winning two years in a row; two books about snow winning consecutive awards in 1948 and 1949.) Personally, I think it would be a kick to have THE MOUSE AND THE LION and LION & MOUSE show up on a Caldecott list with only one year separating them. Rather than making it look as though the Caldecott committees tend to pick the same types of books over and over, it would instead demonstrate a certain bravery in not caring "how it looks" to reward the same, similarly-titled story twice in three years, but instead honoring the artwork that is deemed best.

A REQUEST

A blog reader and Facebook friend just sent me this request:

"Does anyone remember a children's book about a giant with a drawing of the giant looking in the window of the house? What was the name of that book? Anyone, anyone...? It is not BFG, not JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH and not THE SELFISH GIANT."

This one doesn't ring any bells for me. I do seem to recall stories featuring shrunken people or dolls in doll houses in which a human character (looking like a giant) peers into a tiny house.

Does anyone have any guesses?

(And if you'd like to join me on Facebook, don't hesitate to send me a "friend" request.)

SO IT'S COME TO THIS...

This morning I went grocery shopping and passed two people standing beside the road, holding up six foot tall signs advertising Borders' Going Out of Business Sale. As each car passed, they'd shake their signs saying "50-70% OFF! Everything Goes! Including Fixtures!" at the vehicles.

So it's come to this -- begging for bookstore customers...hustling for hardcovers... panhandling for paperbacks.

Remember when going to a bookstore was a destination...something you looked forward to doing...a treat?

I don't think I've seen anything so sad and deperate as those two people shaking their bookstore signs at strangers on a busy street.

I've heard that Borders is selling anything and everything at this point. If it somehow found its way into the warehouse, it's sellable -- and that includes food and clothing. Someone on a blog mentioned buying something at Borders' sale and finding a Target sticker on the bottom of it.

After grocery shopping, another errand took me right past the Borders in question, in Novi, Michigan. I remembered when it first opened up at a different location in the same mall. I particularly liked the dark and cozy young adult section at the back of the store. Then they moved to a much bigger space at the far end of the mall. It seemed more industrial, but it was still a fun place to visit. There were a lot of cars in the parking lot this morning -- bargain hunters picking through the remains.

If they'd all shopped there regularly, maybe Borders would never have closed.

WHAT IF?

Earlier in the week I received this postcard from a book buddy:

It's a picture of The Strand in New York City -- one of the world's great bookstores. It seems like I'd heard about it all my life, so I couldn't wait to go there in person the first time I visited New York in 1979. Since then, I've been back too many times to count. Every time I've visited New York, I've carved out time to stop at the Strand nearly every day of my trip. I'd squeeze down the narrow aisles of fiction (and often come across things that were valuable...or at least valuable to me); roam through the big wire shelving units full of brand new "review copies" in the basement, all fifty percent off the original price; I'd sit on the floor in the children's section, looking at galleys shoved willy-nilly on the bottom shelf; I'd buy hardcovers at $2.00 a piece and have them shipped home -- one time so many that a neighbor saw me opening the boxes on my front porch and asked if I was opening a bookstore; I'd also take the private elevator upstairs, clinging to the wall while it shook from side to side, to visit there rare book collection. I used to have a second job and set aside the paychecks just to finance twice-a-year trips to New York to see plays and visit the Strand and Books of Wonder. Since losing that job (Sieruta job firing #319) I haven't been back to New York even once...and I've heard the Strand has gone through some renovations. Maybe someday I'll be back. Unlike Borders, I hope the Strand remains open and waiting for me.

Anyway, the front of the Strand postcard clearly sent me down memory lane...but the back of the card intrigued me too. My friend had written:

Hmm, what if? What if?

Usually when I hear about contests where you can win a new car or a vacation or new kitchen furniture, I say, "I'd sell the prize and put the money on my mortgage."

But what if you received $1000 and it could only be spent at this kind of wide-ranging bookstore?

Would I spend it on one or two very expensive books that I could never otherwise afford?

Or would I buy lots of lots of low priced books so I'd never have to worry about running out again?

Would I buy books in a subject area that I've always wanted to explore (such as astronomy) but never had the money?

Would I buy gifts...maybe buy a couple hundred dollars' worth of books for a stuggling school or public library.

I don't know...but it's sure fun to think about!

What would YOU do?

THANKS

Thanks for visiting Collecting Children's Books. I hope to be a little more diligent with blog writing in the coming days. Hey, maybe I'l even write a midweek blog this week. There's just this little matter of a 562 page manuscript I must attend to first!

August 7 Brunch Featuring Lucy, Zuccchini, and Birth Day Gifts

2011-08-07T02:15:00.028-04:00

Yesterday was Lucille Ball's one hundredth birthday.

Tomorrow is "National Sneak Zucchini on Someone's Porch Night."

We're celebrating both events here at Collecting Children's Books, as well as providing some additional facts and opinions on kids' books old and new.

PUT ON A JACKET AND GET SOME RESPECT

Yesterday was the one hundredth anniversary of Lucille Ball's birth.

When I was a kid, watching reruns of I LOVE LUCY on the local UHF station (does anyone under forty remember UHF?), it seemed like everybody loved Lucy. It wasn't until I grew up that I met a lot of people who said they didn't like the show. But even those who confess they never cared for Lucy's noisy slapstick humor, should be able to admit her importance as a cultural icon. Even Google featured an I LOVE LUCY logo on their homepage yesterday.

Though Lucy had a place in most of our childhoods, she didn't have any connection to children's books.

Or did she?

Did you know she "starred" in her own 1963 children's book, LUCY AND THE MADCAP MYSTERY?

The book was issued by Albert Whitman of Racine, Wisconsin, a company known for publishing cheap, formulaic books featuring TV stars. I always think of them as "dime store novels," as that was about the only place you ever saw them. Most libraries did not own them, nor were they stocked by most regular bookstores. You normally found them at Woolworth's or K-Mart, on display near the toy section. Released without dustjackets, the books had glossy illustrated covers, pages that were already turning yellow before you bought them, and they sold for a dollar or less. If a TV show was popular with kids, its characters often ended up in Whitman novels. Thus Whitman issued volumes about the Lennon sisters, placing these real-life girls in fictionalized mysteries:

And placed the fictional Walton kids in historical novels:

I'd like to learn more about the history of Whitman books. Though chiefly known for cheap commercial books, there apparently was a time when Whitman was a more serious publisher. In fact, one Whitman publication, PECOS BILL by James Cloyd Bowman, was even named a 1938 Newbery Honor Book.

Though they've continue to publish lots of gimmicky commercial volumes, in recent years Whitman has also begun releasing some original, high-quality fiction and nonfiction. David Patneaude started his career with Whitman, publishing such books as SOMEONE WAS WATCHING and FRAMED BY FIRE. Peg Kehret wrote a couple autobiographical works for Whitman as well; I've always thought that SMALL STEPS, Kehret's memoir of surviving childhood polio, might have been considered for the Newbery Medal if the bookmaking (cheap cardboard cover, no dustjacket) hadn't been so substandard compared to most trade books published at that time.

A couple days ago I was at the bookstore and noticed these two new young adult novels:

Originally published in Great Britain, GUANTANAMO BOY by Anna Perera and THE POISONED HOUSE by David Ford, are both making their U.S. debuts this season -- and both have received some good reviews. Looking at the books, I was surprise to discover they were published by Albert Whitman. Unlike most of the books they've published over the decades, these novels have nice cloth binding and dustjackets. They are "bookstore books" rather than "dimestore novels." It appears that, after all these years, Whitman is again joining the world of quality trade books for young readers.

SQUASHED!

Tomorrow is "National Sneak Zucchini on Someone's Porch Night."

This vegetable holiday was inspired by the fact that so many gardens are overrun by zucchini that, not only can't you use them all, you can't even give them away!

So the idea is that you sneak out at night and leave gifts of zucchini on other people's porches.

I wish I had that problem!

When I planted my container garden this spring, more than one person advised me to plant zucchini since "ANYone can grow zucchini...even you."

Well, I proved them wrong.

My zucchini plants have grown large and leafy and almost every day I'm greeted by two or more neon yellow blossoms on the plants.

But no zucchini.

Let me correct that: I did harvest a single zucchini.

One morning I went out to check my plants and saw something dark green among the leaves and blossoms. I reached down and discovered -- oh my gosh! -- a full grown zucchini laying in the pot. It had literally appeared overnight. (No, I'm serious. I'd looked in that pot the day before and there was nothing...yet the next morning there was a squash as big as my size ten-and-a-half shoe!) I was thrilled. I immediately picked it and ran around telling everyone about my great success growing zucchini.

That was three weeks ago.

The plant is still thriving and the blossoms are still blooming, yet I haven't another zucchini for myself...much less dozens of extras to sneak onto people's porches.

I looked online for help and learned that my blossoms are apparently not being properly pollinated by bees and insects. The article suggested self-pollinating by picking the male blossoms and, er, inserting them into the female blossoms. But how can you tell a boy flower from a girl flower? Besides, just the idea of performing such a procedure felt a little dirty to me.

Since I can't sneak a zucchini onto your porch tomorrow, I thought I'd instead suggest a bunch of children's books about zucchini and squash instead. I started compiling a list (ZUCCHINI and ZUCCHINI GOES WEST by Barbara Dana; SQUASHED by Joan Bauer.) But then I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw this title:

Suddenly I was back in first grade, where I first encountered this story in our reading primer. I was actually off sick the day our class read the story, because I remember coming back to class the next day, reading it, and being overwhelmed by the phase "squash-you-all-flat" which was so long I couldn't even try to pronounce it. I remember asking the teacher "what this word means" and she told another student to provide the answer. I was delighted by the phrase and remember repeating "Mr. Bear Squash-You-All-Flat" over and over.

Some days later, we put on a theatrical production of this story in the back of the classroom. I'd like to think the teacher chose me for the part of Mr. Bear because of my great dramatic talent and not simply because I looked like I could do a lot of damage if I squashed someone. I remember we used a broken bulletin board leaned against the wall to represent the animals' houses and my fellow actors, playing those animals, hid underneath it. The teacher reminded me repeatedly that I was only supposed to pretend to sit on top of the bulletin board, not actually squash any of my classmates to death.

It wasn't until today that I discovered MR. BEAR SQUASH-YOU-ALL-FLAT wasn't just a textbook story, but a picture book, written by Morrell Gipson, illustrated by "Angela," and published by Wonder Books in 1950. From the research I've done today, it appears that I'm not the only one who remembers this story from their childhood; a reviewer on Amazon even mentions performing it as a play in Cub Scouts. Today's research revealed that demand for this book during the eighties and nineties was so high that copies were selling for $600-$1000 each! In 2000, Purple House Press published a special 50th Anniversary Edition with an afterward by cartoonist Gary Larson, who loved the book as a child. Purple House even issued 250 signed and numbered copies. (Author Morrell Gibson was still around to sign them in 2000 and she's still around today -- living in New York at age 92!) When these new editions hit the market, prices for the original volume went way down in price. Now you can purchase a re-issue for under $15, an original edition for $40 or so, or even a signed limited edition for under $100.

If you don't have any squash to hide on people's porches tomorrow night, consider reading this "squash story" instead.

BORN TO WIN

Over at the Horn Book blog this week Roger Sutton asked, "have you ever noticed how much the menfolk of the children's book biz love to count things? Ask Peter Sieruta or Jonathan Hunt or Ray Barber about what-won-what-when-and-how-many-times and prepare to be amazed. Maybe Travis Jonker should design some Newbery-Caldecott trading cards, complete with stats on the backs."

Although I like the idea of Newbery-Caldecott trading cards, I must object to Mr. Sutton's characterization. What poppycock! I've got better things to do than sit around "counting things." And I'd like to think I have a greater interest in the overall "big picture" of children's literature than just trivia and trivialities!

On a completely unrelated topic, I was just wondering this week where all of our Newbery and Caldecott winners were born...so I compiled the following lists:

Newbery Winners' Birthplaces

California / Laura Adams Armer, Scott O’Dell, Elizabeth Borton de Trevino, Russell Freedman, Paul Fleischman, Susan Patron

Connecticut / Armstrong Sperry, Eleanor Estes, Emily Cheney Neville

Hawaii / Lois Lowry

Idaho / Carol Ryrie Brink

Illinois / Cornelia Meigs, Elizabeth Enright, Irene Hunt, Karen Cushman, Richard Peck, Linda Sue Park, Cynthia Kadohata

Indiana / Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Kansas / Clare Vanderpool

Maryland / Elizabeth Foreman Lewis, Karen Hesse, Laura Amy Schlitz

Massachusetts / Eric P. Kelly, Rachel Field, Esther Forbes, Elizabeth George Speare, Cynthia Voigt

Michigan / Marguerite de Angeli, Nancy Willard, Christopher Paul Curtis

Mississippi / Mildred D. Taylor

New Jersey / William Pene DuBois, Joseph Krumgold

New Mexico / Ann Nolan Clark

New York / Elizabeth Coatsworth, Ruth Sawyer, Walter D. Edmonds, Robert Lawson, Carolyn Sherwyn Bailey, Elizabeth Yates, Madeleine L’Engle, E.L. Konigsburg, Robert C. O’Brien, Paula Fox, Joan Blos, Sid Fleischman, Louis Sachar, Avi, Rebecca Stead

North Carolina / James Daugherty, Betsy Byars

Ohio / Lois Lenski, Virginia Hamilton, Robin McKinley, Sharon Creech

Oklahoma / Harold Keith

Oregon / Beverly Cleary

Pennsylvania / Elizabeth Janet Gray, Lloyd Alexander, Jerry Spinelli, Kate DiCamillo, Lynne Rae Perkins

Utah / Virginia Sorensen

Virginia / Arthur Bowie Chrisman, William H. Armstrong, Cynthia Rylant

Washington, D.C. / Jean Craighead George

West Virginia / Jean Lee Latham

Wisconsin / Marguerite Henry, Ellen Raskin

Wyoming / Patricia MacLachlan

Canada / Will James, Monica Shannon

China / Katherine Paterson

England / Hugh Lofting, Charles Finger, Susan Cooper, Neal Gaiman

Hungary / Kate Seredy

India / Dhan Gopal Mukerji

Netherlands / Hendrik Willem Van Loon, Meindert DeJong

Poland / Maia Wojciechowska

Caldecott Winners' Birthplaces

California / Berta Hader, Leo Politi, Margot Zemach, Diane Dillon, Arnold Lobel, Mordicai Gerstein

Connecticut / Leonard Weisgard

Florida / David Diaz

Illinois / Elizabeth Orton Jones, Lynd Ward, Alice Provensen, Martin Provensen, Paul O. Zelinsky, Emily Arnold McCully, Eric Rohmann

Iowa / Stephen Gammell

Massachusetts / Virginia Lee Burton, Ed Emberley, Blair Lent

Michigan / Gerald McDermott, Chris Van Allsburg, David Small,Erin E. Stead

Minnesota / Peggy Rathmann

New Jersey / Robert Lawson, David Wiesner, Brian Selznick

New York / Dorothy Lathrop, Louis Slododkin, Maud Petersham, Marcia Brown, Barbara Cooney, Ezra Jack Keats, Maurice Sendak, Nonny Hogrogian, William Steig, Leo Dillon, Richard Egielski, John Schoenherr, Simms Taback

North Carolina / Gail E. Hailey

Ohio / Robert McCloskey, Evaline Ness

Pennsylvania / Katherine Milhous, Trina Schart Hyman, Chris Raschka, Beth Krommes Jerry Pinkney

Washington / Thomas Handforth

Washington, D.C. / Mary Azarian

Wisconsin / Marie Hall Ets, Kevin Henkes

Austria / Ludwig Bemelmans

China / Ed Young

England / Paul Goble, David Macaulay, David Wisniewski

France / Marc Simont

Germany / Edgar Parin d'Aulaire

Italy / Beni Montresor

Japan / Allen Say

Latvia / Nicholas Sidjakov

Mexico / Berta Hader

Netherlands / Peter Spier

Hungary / Miska Petersham

Norway / Ingri d’Aulaire

Poland / Uri Shulevitz

Russia / Nicholas Mordvinoff, Feodor Rojankovsky

Switzerland / Roger Duvoisin

I'm fascinated by the fact that the top state on both lists is New York. Sure, many writers and illustrators end up living in the Big Apple during their lives...but this is a list of where they were born -- before they ever picked up a pen or paintbrush. Yet fifteen Newbery winners and thirteen Caldecott winners hail from there.

I also found it interesting that Illinois was the birthplace of seven Newbery winners AND seven Caldecott winners...and the coincidences continue when you note that California was home to six Newbery recipients AND six Caldecott winners. And to make things even more spooky-coincidental, Pennsylvania had five winners of each award.

It's also intriguing to note which states aren't represented. In all the years of the Caldecott, the winners have come from just fifteen states, the District of Columbia, and a smattering of foreign countries. I'm not surprised that more Caldecott winners than Newbery winners were born overseas; after all, art is visual and doesn't necessarily depend on language. Less than half the U.S. states have provided us with Newbery winners. We haven't even had a Texas storyteller among the recipients of the Big N.

Of course, this list only refers to birthplaces. Many of these creators actually grew up in other states and those places may have informed their work much more than a state where they born and then moved from as an infant. And we should take into account the place where they chose to settle as an adult. For example, we usually associate Robert McCloskey with Maine, even though he was born in Massachusetts.

But those are lists for another time, another blog...if I were a person who sat around making lists of facts and figures of this sort!

MAIL CALL

It's always nice to get an unexpected package in the mail.

This week I received an envelope from Grand Marais, Minnesota. Since I don't know anyone who lives there and had not ordered anything from there, I was very curious to see what was inside! I opened it up and discovered a hardcover copy of one of this year's most talked-about novels for young readers, THE MOSTLY TRUE STORY OF JACK by Kelly Barnhill.

Things got even more exciting when I opened the book and discovered it was inscribed to me:

It turned out that a good friend had arranged for me to get a signed (signed pre-publication, no less!) copy of the book from a small store in Minnesota. I was very excited and grateful...and now can't wait to read this book! Thank you!

ABOUT THAT STORE

Incidentally, the book came from an author signing at Drury Lane Books, a small independent bookstore owned by writer Joan Drury. One visit to the store's website made me feel like packing my bags and taking a field trip.

Here's a picture of the store from their website:

And here is a picture of Grand Marais, Minnesota:

According to their site, "Once a month, on the evening of the full moon, Drury Lane Books sponsors a reading around the fire. By the lakeshore, people gather to listen to someone read from their own or others' work."

When's the next full moon? How many miles to Grand Marais? Wouldn't it be fun to visit?

SPEAKING OF FIELD TRIPS...

...is anyone up for a trip to Vancouver, British Columbia? The same friend who sent THE MOSTLY TRUE STORY OF JACK just sent me this fascinating article about MacLeod's, Canada's "last great bookshop," from Maclean's Magazine.

This photo from the article alone should attract any book lover:

A MONSTER CALLS

The package from Grand Marais was not my only surprise this week.

On Friday I stopped at my bookstore and the owner gave me this:

I peeled off the Post-it and nearly crowed with joy.

A MONSTER CALLS is one of this fall's most-anticipated books and I've been anxious to read it for months. My bookstore friend had requested an ARC, but her sales rep instead gave her a copy of the hardcover edition published earlier this year in Great Britain by Walker Books. It's a bit battle-scarred, but that just proves how many other people have read and enjoyed it.

A MONSTER CALLS has quite a backstory. In an Author's Note, Patrick Ness explains that the original story was conceived by writer Siobhan Dowd who "had the characters, a premise, and a beginning. What she didn't have was time." Ms. Dowd was just establishing herself as a brilliant new voice with books such as A SWIFT PURE CRY and BOG CHILD when she died of cancer at age 47 in 2009.

Patrick Ness has taken Siobhan Dowd's original idea -- which concerns, not surprisingly, cancer and death -- and created a powerful and elemental tale that has the feeling of a modern classic.

As his mother suffers from cancer and muses over the yew tree in the backyard, Conor begins suffering from nightmares, as well as visits from a monster which assumes the shape of the yew tree. In a series of grim meetings, the monster tells Colin three enigmatic tales that the young boy only partially understands, although each reflects in some way Colin's current experiences at home and school. Jim Kay's illustrations perfectly match the dark, grotesque tone of the story -- a story which ultimately transcends the horror genre and, despite its profound sadness, delivers the protagonist into the light of understanding and acceptance.

A BIRTH DAY GIFT

What do you give a newborn baby as a "welcome to the world" gift?

I always try to give a book.

A couple of my favorites for newborns are THE REAL MOTHER GOOSE and Iona and Peter Opie's I SAW ESAU.

Those who follow this blog know that I am writing a book for Candlewick Press with Elizabeth Bird of the Fuse #8 blog and Julie Danielson of Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast .

You probably also know that Betsy and her husband just had a baby. Julie and I wanted to give a gift to baby Lily but this time a book didn't seem like the best idea; Betsy had already received dozens of signed books from friends at a baby shower.

So instead we settled on having a quilt made -- with a children's book theme of course!

Jules knew a woman in the children's book world who makes quilts and commissioned one with an ALICE IN WONDERLAND theme.

It wasn't until the quilt was almost finished that it suddenly hit us: what if the fabric utilized the Disney version of ALICE? Oh no! Heresy for children's book people! As it turns out, our fears were unnecessary, as the fabric was just right and the quilt turned out better than we ever expected:

The person who made the quilt even sewed a beautiful label/gift tag on it. (I'm so glad she did that, because if it were up to me I would have probably attached it with staples or duct tape. I just don't have a knack for that kind of thing.)

Last week Jules traveled to New York on business and presented the quilt to Betsy:

And now baby Lily has her very own children's book quilt, to crawl on, spit up on, sleep on, and dream on...for years to come!

Well, hopefully she won't be spitting up on it for years to come.

But we hope she keeps dreaming.

And maybe someday she'll pass the quilt on to her own children.

SPEAKING OF GIFTS FOR KIDS....

I already mentioned a couple of the books I like to give newborn babies.

When kids get a little older, I still prefer to give them books more than any other present. Sometimes I give them old favorites of mine (Beverly Cleary is always a good choice) or I'll get them a brand new book that's receiving a lot of acclaim. And of course I usually try to find a book that matches that particular child's particular interests.

I recently joined Facebook (feel free to "friend" me at "Peter D. Sieruta") and reconnected with an old friend who moved to Chicago many years ago. Last week he posted a picture on Facebook of a Christmas gift I gave his oldest son in 1991:

Twenty years ago this fall I spent every night after work writing a "bedtime book" for then-five-year-old Austin. There was a page for every single day of the year, each containing an original story or poem or nonfiction piece, illustrated with my own horrible artwork. When I got it all done, the 365 pages (plus title page, etc.) were too much to fit into one binding, so I had it bound in two separate books, Volume I -- January through June and Volume II -- July through December. Over the course of the next year, Austin's parents read him each day's entry before bedtime. And I got to read him my own stories whenever I babysat, which was very fun.

I worked so hard on that book -- writing 365 stories in less than three months -- that I actually got carpal tunnel syndrome in my right wrist and could barely open a doorknob for the next year. But the satisfaction I got from writing it -- and, now, from learning the family still owns and remembers the books in 2011 -- makes it worth it!

SAYING GOODBYE TO WILLIAM SLEATOR

Just six weeks ago I used this blog to write an appreciation of William Sleator's 1974 novel HOUSE OF STAIRS. Now comes word that Mr. Sleator, whose other mostly science fiction and suspense novels include INTERSTELLAR PIG and the autobiographical story collection ODDBALLS, has died at age 66.

Though gone too soon, his books will continue to be read and enjoyed.

THE RETURN OF MARY ANDERSON

Over three years ago I wrote a heartfelt tribute to author Mary Anderson, whose books are among the most-remembered and requested books by kids who grew up in the seventies.

If you are among them, you will be pleased to hear that Ms. Anderson's books are returning in audiobook format.

STEP ON A CRACK was released first, and YOU CAN'T GET THERE FROM HERE followed last week.

Now is your chance to rediscover Mary Anderson -- or discover her books for the first time!

Thanks for reading Collecting Children's Books. Hope you'll be back soon!

Fallen Comrades

2011-08-02T20:00:00.001-04:00

This past Sunday I blogged about a wave of layoffs occurring at the library where I work -- and the very real possibility that I might lose my job.

Thank you to the many people who wrote expressing their sympathy and support.

Yesterday we learned that all the layoffs have now been announced. Those of us who did not receive pink slips are "safe"...at least for now.

Upon learning this news, I wanted to jump high in the air, punch my fist toward the sky, and shout "YES!"

But before my toes could leave the ground, my arm was already falling to my side, fingers slowing uncurling from a fist....

What about all the people who did lose their jobs?

In the weeks leading up to these layoffs, most of my co-workers were offered a "buyout" opportunity. Concerned about losing their positions, fifteen library employees decided they'd retire early with a small package of benefits. Then came last week's layoffs and seven additional employees were let go, including both my bosses.

I imagine there is not much jumping and fist-pumping going on at their homes right now.

Add them to the thousands who have recently lost jobs in other libraries -- with school libraries particulary hard hit. Then there are the eleven thousand Borders employees soon out of work. Last month the Los Angeles Times let go of their freelance book reviewers and columnists. Has the children's book world ever fully-recovered from that day a couple years back when so many editors were fired and so many imprints were shut down? And what about all the writers who are having an increasingly hard time getting published today, unless they're writing about dystopian futures or blood-sucking vampires? (These days you may actually get rejected because your book doesn't suck.)

I'm tempted to call all these people casualties of war -- a war against literacy, information, education, knowledge, storytelling, and the word.

But then I think: c'mon, Sieruta, you are being way overdramatic. I need to remind myself that people in nearly every occupation have been losing jobs in massive numbers. The whole country seems to be hurting these days. It's only because my own field is being affected that this feels so personal, so pivotal.

We can argue about what caused this crisis. Was it the bad economy? Cuts in government funding? The rise of the e-book? New business models? Whatever the case, the end result is the same: thousands of unemployed book advocates...book lovers..."book people."

Where will they go now?

Sure, some will find work in other libraries and bookstores but, obviously, most will not; there will simply not be enough jobs for them. These folks, who seldom made big bucks -- finding greater satisfaction in placing the right book into the right person's hand -- will now be forced to move into other fields.

Even though they may be working in different jobs, I think we'll still be able to recognize them.

Look out for the security guard with a paperback in his pocket.

The bank teller who sets up an after-hours reading group.

The friend who helps you research your gardening questions or income tax problems.

The old lady down the street who tells stories to children on her front porch.

The mailman who starts a conversation about that package from Amazon he just delivered.

The chef who keeps his spice rack in Dewey Decimal order.

Okay I'm joking about that last one.

But I am serious about this: even though these fallen comrades may no longer be employed in libraries and bookstores, they will always remain "book people" and I doubt they'll be able to stop themselves from doing what they do best: answering questions, supplying information, sharing stories.

Some may see them as security guards, bank tellers and mail carriers, but on the inside they'll always have a different identity.

Casualties of war?

Or maybe now just warriors of another type.

Call them the Reading Regiment.

The Information Infantry.

The Literary Legion.

The Book Brigade.

Still fighting the good fight.