In the News
 The Power of the Pen
On Monday evening, the PEN Children's and Young Adult Book Authors Committee presented a panel discussion, called "Who Will Speak for the Child: An Evening of Literature and Law." The panel, which included authors Walter Dean Myers and Deborah Ellis, discussed not only the importance of human rights and the impact of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, but also why the United States has been so reluctant to ratify the treaty that it helped to write... more » » »
 'Sesame Street 'Launches E-Book Line
On Tuesday, Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization that produces Sesame Street, launched its first e-book collection for young readers. There are currently five Sesame Street e-books are available to read online for free; the company will add more titles next month. Titles are available as flip e-books, audio e-books, and interactive e-book formats, with activities to enhance reading and learning skills... more » » »
 ScrollMotion's Move into Kids' e-Books
ScrollMotion is already a well-known player in the e-books-for-iPhone field, and one of the biggest, having produced e-book versions of well-known titles from the major publishing houses. With the exception of a few children's titles, ScrollMotion has mostly focused on adult books—until now. The Manhattan-based company is about to launch 30 new titles in a new format, Iceberg Reader Kids, which takes kids' books on the iPhone further than anyone else has so far... more » » »
- ‘Amazon Breakthrough Novel’ Contest Goes YA
For the third year in a row, Amazon and Penguin have teamed up for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, an international writing competition that offers new writers a chance at publication. Earlier this week, it was announced that there would be two prizes for this year's competition, one of which will be for the best young adult novel. Also new this year: the competition is open to novels that have been previously self-published. Up to 10,000 manuscripts will be accepted for the contest... more » » »
- Consumer Product Safety Commission Recalls 'Monday the Bullfrog'
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has recalled some 140,000 Monday the Bullfrog plush books because a plastic eye on the frog of the children’s books can detach, posing a choking hazard to young children. Simon & Schuster, which publishes the book, has received reports of three eyes detaching after use, and one book that was packaged with a detached eye. There have been no reports of injuries. more » » »
Blogs
- ShelfTalker: A Children's Bookseller's Blog
Elizabeth Bluemle, Co-owner, Flying Pig Bookstore, Shelburne, Vt.
2009 STARRED BOOKS WRAP-UP
Here's the complete list of 2009 books for children and teens that have received starred reviews. (Note: we are cheating a tiny bit. There will be a few more stars twinkling in through the end of the ...
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- A Fuse #8 Production
Elizabeth Bird, Children's Librarian, Children's Center at 42nd Street
Kirkus Closing?
So it might seem. From The New York Times: Editor & Publisher and Kirkus Review, two venerable chronicles of the newspaper and book publishing industries, are closing as their owner, Niel...
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- Good Comics for Kids
Brigid Alverson, Comics Journalist, School Library Journal
Links: Kiddie Komix Kontroversy
The debate over all-ages comics continues to rage on multiple websites; Kevin Melrose sums it up handily, with links and commentary, at Robot 6. Meanwhile, the retail site ICv2 talks to Marvel publish...
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Book News
 Hoping for “the Next Stephenie Meyer”
That a publisher is championing the notion it's landed the next Stephenie Meyer isn't very surprising, but Dutton certainly seems to be speaking in more than hyperbole when it compares its newest author to the bestselling author from Utah. Last week the Penguin Young Readers Group imprint laid down a seven-figure advance for three books from debut novelist Ally Condie, in a heated auction featuring seven other houses. Condie, who started writing seriously once she became a stay-at-home mom (like Meyer)... more » » »
 British Comedian David Walliams Makes Book Debut
A fashion-loving boy goes to school disguised as a girl in David Walliams’s first novel, The Boy in the Dress, illustrated by Quentin Blake, which Razorbill released today. Originally published by HarperCollins U.K. in 2008, the book marks a new career path for Walliams, well known in England as co-creator and costar of the award-winning TV sketch comedy show, Little Britain... more » » »
 ‘The Polar Express’ Celebrates a Quarter Century
In 1985, Chris Van Allsburg's The Polar Express first invited children to climb aboard a magical train for a Christmas Eve journey to the North Pole. To commemorate the book's 25th year, Houghton Mifflin recently released an anniversary edition with a 250,000-copy first print run. The volume includes a CD of Liam Neeson reading the story, a metal ornament featuring an image of the Polar Express conductor, and a new author's note assuring readers, "There is a seat on the train for you..." more » » »
Q & A
 Q & A with Hilary McKay
Q: Do you have strong childhood memories of reading A Little Princess?
A: Oh, yes. As a child, I read the novel so many times. In fact I read it and reread it until my copy almost fell to pieces. My sister and I knew the novel so well that we could actually recite it. It became almost like theater to us. more » » »
In Brief
 Over the 'Moon' for Grace Lin
Last Friday, author Grace Lin made an appearance on The Today Show to discuss her middle-grade novel Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (Little, Brown, July), which Al Roker had chosen for his Al's Book Club for Kids. Roker also announced his latest pick—make that picks: The Secret of the Old Clock and The Tower Treasure, the first books in the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys series… more » » »
 Stars of Stage and Page
Dancers took to the stage at the auditorium of Scholastic's New York City headquarters, when the publisher recently hosted students from the Dance Theatre of Harlem to celebrate the release of Beautiful Ballerina by Marilyn Nelson (Sept.). Seen here with the dancers featured in the book are (l. to r.) photographer Susan Kuklin, Nelson, Dance Theatre of Harlem director Endalyn Taylor, and Scholastic Press v-p and executive editor Andrea Pinkney… more » » »
 From 'White Noise' to White Christmas (Trees)
Pop-up book artist David A. Carter has been busy. Hot on the heels of his new book, White Noise, being named a New York Times Best Illustrated Book, he set out on tour for the title (here, he demonstrates a pop-up mechanism while on the road). And last week he appeared on The Martha Stewart Show, where he demonstrated how to make pop-up Christmas tree decorations… more » » »
 Carl's Bookstore Adventure
Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park, Wash., has gone to the dogs—or, rather, one fairly famous dog went to the store last week. Carl, a Seattle native along with his owner, Alexandra Day, has starred in numerous picture books, most recently the wintertime adventure Carl's Snowy Afternoon (FSG, Nov.). The Rottweiler, seen here with a young fan, showed off his math skills during the event (he can bark out answers to problems as long as the answer is less than five)… more » » »
Featured Reviews
 Cupcake
Charise Mericle Harper. Disney-Hyperion, $14.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-4231-1897-8
The plucky hero of this story may be a "plain and white and ordinary" cupcake, but Harper (Fashion Kitty) shows she's no fan of vanilla endings, leaving unresolved the conflict she sets up in the beginning. Cupcake is convinced that his relatives—Happy-Face Cupcake, Pink Princess Cupcake, and others—have more pizzazz than he does, until he meets a candle with the same problem and a bright idea. Harper's black-outlined cartoon characters appear on sparsely decorated, pastel pages to cheery effect, but it's the line-drawn facial expressions that provide most of the action... more
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  Incarceron
Catherine Fisher. Dial, $17.99 (448p) ISBN 978-0-8037-3396-1
Fisher (the Oracle Prophesies series) scores a resounding success in this beautifully imagined science fantasy set in a far future where, many years earlier, civilization was artificially frozen at late-medieval levels in order to save the world from dangerous technologies. Simultaneously, all of the world's malcontents and madmen were sealed into an unimaginably vast, sentient prison named Incarceron, where a dedicated group of social engineers intended to create utopia... more » » »
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Rights Report
Jean Feiwel and Liz Szabla at Feiwel and Friends preempted North American rights in a six-figure deal for 17-year-old Alexandra Adornetto's YA angel trilogy. In the three books, called Halo, Hades, and Heaven, angels are sent to Earth and one of them, a teenage girl, falls in love with a mortal boy. Halo will pub in fall 2010. This is the author's second trilogy; her Shadow Thief trilogy was published by HarperCollins Australia when she was 14. Jill Grinberg of Jill Grinberg Literary Management was the agent.
In an auction for a two-book deal, Elizabeth Bewley at Poppy/Little, Brown Books for Young Readers acquired Flynn Meaney's debut novel Bloodthirsty, a coming-of-age tale starring Finbar Frame, a skinny, moody, super-pale teenage guy who decides to become a vampire. Or at least fake it… to get a date. Daniel Lazar at Writers House did the deal for North American rights.
Mandalay Pictures has optioned the film rights to debut novelist (and Stephenie Meyer publicist) Elizabeth Eulberg's forthcoming YA novel, The Lonely Hearts Club, due out from Scholastic/Point at the end of December. In the story, a heartbroken high school girl decides that high school boys are losers, and founds the Lonely Hearts Club, refusing to date further during high school.
Disney has optioned movie rights to Fallen, a YA novel by Lauren Kate. In the book, which Delacorte released this week, A girl is torn between two charismatic young men, unaware that they are fallen angels who have battled over her for centuries. The deal was for all four Fallen books, which were developed with Tinderbox, a packager currently devoted exclusively to producing the series. Mark Ciardi and Gordon Gray will produce the film under the Mayhem Prods. banner.
Winter's Tail, the Scholastic picture book inspired by the true story of a dolphin that was rescued off the Florida coast and taken in by the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, has been bought for the movies, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The movie version, from Warner Bros.-based Alcon Entertainment, will be called A Dolphin's Tale and will center on a boy who befriends an injured dolphin who lost its tail in a crab trap. Charles Martin Smith will write and direct. The book was written by the team behind the bestselling picture book Owen and Mzee.
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