The event, which will run at Tulsa’s Cox Business Center on September 27 and at the Lloyd Novel Center in Norman on September 28, is the brainchild of Jeff Kinney, award-winning author/illustrator of the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series, who wanted to help Moore’s kids and teachers regain a sense of normalcy after the tragedy.

Kinney reached out to friends and fellow book creators Dav Pilkey of the “Captain Underpants” series, Lincoln Peirce of the “Big Nate” series, and Stephan Pastis of the “Timmy Failure” series, who all signed on without hesitation. All proceeds will benefit the Moore Public Schools Foundation for rebuilding the three school library collection that were damaged or completely destroyed by the tornado.

The two events are sponsored by Tulsa City-County Library, TulsaKids Magazine, Universal Uclick, GoComics, The Preservation Framer, The Metropolitan Library, The Pioneer Library, Scholastic Books, Abrams Books, HarperCollins Publishers, and Candlewick Press.

“These authors have never been together under one roof before,” says Gary Shaffer, Tulsa City-County Library’s Chief Executive Officer.  “This is going to be an awesome event for a most worthy cause.  It’s exciting to present these best-selling authors in Tulsa for the first time and to share in the rebuilding of school libraries.  Libraries Change Lives.”

The event will include the sale of autographed books—200 donated from each author’s publishing company—along with one-of-a-kind posters featuring artwork from each author. There will also be raffles of autographed original artwork from each author and other cartoonist memorabilia.

Children’s book classics such as Green Eggs and Ham (1960) and The Cat and the Hat (1957) will be available in ebook format for the first time beginning on September 24, says publisher Random House Children’s. Written and illustrated by the beloved Dr. Seuss (aka Theodor Geisel), 15 titles will make their digital debut on that date, and by November, a total of 41 ebooks will be available for children, parents, and educators. All the Seuss ebook titles will keep the original layouts and iconic illustrations from their print editions.

“The introduction of ebook editions to the Dr. Seuss canon is an exciting milestone that we know will enhance Dr. Seuss’s legacy,” says Susan Brandt, president of licensing & marketing for Dr. Seuss Enterprises, L.P. “When Dr. Seuss wrote The Cat in the Hat more than fifty years ago, he revolutionized the way children learn to read. Today, we celebrate that his impact on reading will thrive for generations to come with these new ebooks.”

Dr. Seuss’s books have sold more than 600 million print book copies worldwide.
The new digital versions also will be published simultaneously as Read & Listen editions that feature brand-new audio recordings of the full text. Perennial favorites such as Horton Hears a Who! (1954); Oh, the Places You’ll Go! (1990); and The Lorax (1971) continue to top the bestseller lists decades after their original publication. Every year, people across the country celebrate Dr. Seuss Day on the author’s birthday, March 2. This year marked the 75th anniversary of The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins (1938), his second published children’s book, as well as the 50th anniversary of Dr. Seuss’s ABC (1963, all Random).

See also:
E-Seuss: The Cat in the Hat and Other Dr. Seuss Titles Go Digital, Coming Very Soon as Ebooks

CHENG, Andrea. The Year of the Baby. illus. by Patrice Barton. Houghton Harcourt. 2013. ISBN 9780547910673. JLG Level: A+ : Intermediate Readers (Grades 3–5).

Anna is the only one who can calm her new baby sister when they go to her frequent doctor trips. Kaylee, who was adopted from China, is not gaining weight, and everyone is worried. At school, Anna has trouble deciding on a topic for her science project. When she and her friends discover that Kaylee eats better when she’s distracted by their singing, they wonder if an experiment could win the science fair and help the baby gain weight. Should the songs be in English or Chinese? Does the type of food matter? Cheng follows The Year of the Book (2012) with a charming sequel that asks as many questions as it answers.

ENGLISH, Karen. Substitute Trouble. illus. Laura Freeman. Clarion.2013. ISBN 9780547615653. JLG Level: CE : City Elementary (Grades 2–6).

Nikki and Deja don’t like their new substitute teacher. He doesn’t follow Ms. Shelby-Ortiz’s rules. He doesn’t follow the plan. He has no control over the class. Writing an anonymous letter to Mr. Willow with some tips about how to handle the misbehavior in their class seems like a good idea. In a misunderstanding, Deja is blamed for a disrespectful action, and she’s sent to the principal’s office. Her explanation and the letter brings consequences that she never expected. Following the rules gets hard, even for Deja and Nikki. New readers will identify with the class, but hope they never have substitute trouble like the girls do.

GAIMAN, Neil. Fortunately, the Milk. illus. by Skottie Young. HarperCollins. Sept. 2013. ISBN9780062224071. JLG Level:  I : Independent Readers (Grades 2–4).

“Where have you been all this time?” asked my sister. “Ah,” said my father. “Um. Yes. Well, funny you should ask me that…I bought the milk…and then something odd happened,” he said. Father proceeds to tell a marvelously inventive story about pirates, piranhas, dinosaurs, volcanoes, and Floaty-Ball-Person-Carriers. Everyone has told a tale that sounds unbelievable, but Gaiman’s new work is a tribute to the art of storytelling. Even the most cynical reader will relax into a far-fetched account of why it took so long to bring home the milk.

KELLER, Laurie. Bowling Alley Bandit. illus. by author. Holt/Christy Ottaviano. 2013. ISBN 9780805090765. JLG Level: HE : Humor Elementary (grades 2–6).

From his picture book debut in Arnie the Doughnut (2003), Arnie returns in a short novel for independent readers. From breakfast to doughnut-dog, Arnie’s life is never the same. Mr. Bing takes him every week to the bowling alley where he is quite popular. During a tournament, Mr. Bing stops using his regular house ball, Bruiser, for his own personal ball, Betsy. It’s a special night, so Arnie arranges for a bowling karaoke version of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” It’s a hit, but something goes wrong with Mr. Bing’s ball. He never throws a gutterball. It’s up to Arnie to investigate the trail of pink sprinkles and get to the bottom of the mystery. Keller’s amusing cartoonlike illustrations keep the action moving and the laughter flowing.

PEET, Mal and Elspeth Graham. Mysterious Traveler. Candlewick. Oct. 2013. illus. by P.J. Lynch. ISBN 9780763662325. JLG Level: I : Independent Readers (Grades 2–4).

Desert guide Issa finds a baby after a terrible sandstorm takes the lives of everyone but the camel that was transporting her. He raises the girl as his grandchild and teaches Mariama everything he knows. She learns to read the desert for signs of weather and danger. When Issa goes blind, she becomes his eyes. A rich young man comes to Issa for help crossing the wide desert. He refuses the aid of a blind man, preferring to use a magic stone as a guide. Issa learns the party goes to the Bitter Mountains alone, he takes Mariama to search for them. Will they find them before they become lost? Can a blind man save them? Lynch’s gorgeous watercolors illustrate the fable of a Timbuktu guide who blindly let travelers across the vast deserts.

For audio/video versions of these booktalks, please visit JLG’s Shelf Life Blog.

Junior Library Guild is a collection development service that helps school and public libraries acquire the best new children’s and young adult books. Season after season, year after year, Junior Library Guild book selections go on to win awards, collect starred or favorable reviews, and earn industry honors. Visit us at www.JuniorLibraryGuild.com.

Congressman John Lewis, his comics-obsessed staffer Andrew Aydin, and veteran graphic novelist Nate Powell have collaborated on a powerful new graphic novel memoir, March (Top Shelf Productions), that may well take its place among the greatest examples of that genre.

Elected to the House of Representatives in 1977 serving Georgia’s fifth district, Lewis is an icon of the American civil rights movement. As chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), he had a direct hand in the March on Washington in 1963; the voter registration drives of Mississippi Freedom Summer in 1964, and the integrated interstate bus rides through the South known as the Freedom Rides starting in 1961. Lewis was there on Bloody Sunday in 1965, the violent confrontation between marchers and Alabama state troopers on the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma—and has the scars to prove it. His is a remarkable story, ripe for retelling to inspire a new generation.

With the March trilogy, Lewis is doing exactly that. But it might not have happened without Aydin, who met Lewis while working on his 2008 re-election campaign. Growing up the son of a single mother in Atlanta (incidentally, Lewis’s district), Aydin had a natural affinity for underdogs, hence his love of comics—and politics. On the campaign trail, the team would share their personal stories, and Lewis, a gifted storyteller, contributed his own. When talk turned to what the staff members would do after the campaign, Aydin said that he planned to attend Comic Con, the annual comics conference. Teasing ensued. But Lewis came to Aydin’s defense, recalling that he and his friends drew inspiration from a 1956 comic, Martin Luther and the Montgomery Story.

Writing Lewis’s story

Aydin then approached Lewis and proposed that he adapt his life story as a graphic novel. Lewis agreed, on the condition that they work on the project together. Aydin joined Lewis’s staff and began developing the manuscript. He studied Lewis’s memoir Walking with the Wind (S & S, 1998) and interviewed the congressman whenever they could grab an opportunity. Lewis and Aydin submitted the finished manuscript to Top Shelf Productions. Now they had to find the right artist to bring it to life.

Enter Nate Powell, a recipient of the Eisner Award—the Oscars of the comics industry—who had just completed work on another graphic novel with a civil rights theme, The Silence of Our Friends (First Second, 2012). With a visual style that complemented Lewis’s story, Powell also demonstrated a capacity for period research. And he was eager to illustrate Lewis’s memoir.

It didn’t take long for Powell to win over Lewis and Aydin and gain their confidence. “Congressman Lewis and I spent a lot of time talking about what to include,” says Aydin. “But ultimately we had to trust Nate to do what he does best. He is so talented, with such a deep understanding of the comics medium, that at a certain point we had to just step back and let his work bring this story to life.”

Once Powell began breaking down the script, the trio realized that March would be much longer than they’d envisioned—about 500 pages. Aydin suggested a trilogy—a perfect fix, since the story was already neatly divided into three chapters.

Aydin’s narrative also had to be refined for it to shine in graphic novel form. “The most fundamental challenge is finding the line between an accurate representation of real people and their lives and a personal, emotionally expressive way of approaching the narrative visually,” says Powell. That “often requires ‘moving past’ the script entirely, seeing what else might be in the scene that’s not necessarily included in the script.”

This sensibility is evident throughout the book—perhaps nowhere more than in the prologue. In a preview of the Bloody Sunday conflict, the marchers, led by Lewis and Reverend Hosea Williams, apprehensively head over the bridge toward an ominous mob of policemen. A trooper with a bullhorn yells at the crowd to turn back—and moments later, orders an attack. All hell breaks loose. Multiple graphic strategies heighten the tension in the scene: the shifting perspectives; the size, shape, and placement of the panels; the lettering and speech balloons; and the stark black-and-white illustrations.

The chronology

March opens on the morning of President Barack Obama’s first inauguration. As Lewis prepares to attend the historic occasion, he has the opportunity to reminisce about the road that has led to this moment. Flashbacks take readers back to the congressman’s childhood, providing formative glimpses into the life of this Alabama sharecropper’s son. Memories of raising chickens quickly give way to images of racial injustice, early landmarks in the movement—Brown v. Board of Education, the murder of Emmett Till, and the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Lewis entered discussion with Ralph Abernathy and Martin Luther King, Jr. about integrating Troy State College in Alabama as an incoming freshman. But his parents objected and Lewis eventually entered a Baptist theological seminary in Nashville, TN, where the movement came to another critical juncture. “I have thought about that often. Not being admitted to Troy State, my parents not supporting the decision to try and enroll there, that was a blessing,” says Lewis. “If I had gone to Troy State, I would not have met individuals who injected into my heart, into my blood, into my DNA, the very spirit of nonviolence.”

Having embraced the ideals of nonviolence, a group of college students, including Lewis, instigate a 1960 sit-in. It leads to a confrontation on the steps of Nashville City Hall where the story closes. The second volume of March, anticipated for 2014, will carry the story to the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham.

Early response

Meanwhile, the first volume—which bears an unprecedented jacket quote from former President Bill Clinton—had earned several starred reviews leading up to its publication on August 13. When Lewis, Aydin, and Powell made appearances at conferences including Book Expo America, the American Library Association Annual Conference, and Comic Con, it was abundantly clear that March’s message was resonating in the way that Lewis had hoped.

“I want young readers to understand that another generation of young people, who tasted the bitter fruits of segregation and discrimination, came to that point where they said, ‘We won’t take it anymore,’” Lewis says. “I would love readers to recognize that it was just ordinary people who believed so deeply that they were moved to act. And I hope they see what it took to be willing to speak up and speak out. They had raw courage, enough courage—literally—to put their bodies on the line. People were prepared to die for what they believed in.”

“I think, today, it is more important than ever for young people—and those not so young—to take a long hard look at some of the things going on around them and ask themselves, ‘What can I do?’” he continues. “Sometimes I feel like many of the things we fought for in the ’50s and the ’60s are being attacked again, and it is up to all of us to work together and keep fighting. We can’t go back. The only place for us to go is forward and each and every one of us has a contribution to make.”

Jonathan Hunt (hunt_yellow@yahoo.com) is a school librarian in Modesto (CA) City Schools. He reviews for Horn Book Magazine and blogs for SLJ at Heavy Medal.

The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano (Scholastic; Gr 6–10) by Sonia Manzano won the 2013 Americas Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature, established by the Consortium for Latin American Studies Programs (CLASP) “to encourage and commend authors, illustrators, and publishers who produce quality children’s and young adult books that portray Latin America, the Caribbean, or Latinos in the United States, and to provide teachers with recommendations for classroom use.”

In Manzano’s novel, 14-year-old Evelyn Serrano lives in Spanish Harlem in 1969. The family is of Puerto Rican descent, and the teenager struggles with her own sense of identity and what it means to be Puerto Rican in El Barrio.

Honorable Mention went to Martin de Porres: The Rose in the Desert (Clarion; Gr 2–4) written by Gary D. Schmidt and illustrated by David Diaz.  The picture-book biography tells the story of the life of the first black saint of the Americas who was born in 1579 in Lima, Peru.

There were also three Commended Titles: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (S & S; Gr 9 Up) by Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Drummer Boy of John John (Lee & Low; PreS-Gr 3) written by Mark Greenwood and illustrated by Frané Lessac, and In Darkness (Bloomsbury; Gr 9 Up) by Nick Lake.

Titles published in 2012 were considered for the 2013 award. Books are judged for their literary quality; cultural contextualization; exceptional integration of text, illustration, and design; and potential for classroom use. The award presentation will be held on October 5, 2013 at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.

Dot Day

Celebrate International Dot Day with its creator, Peter H. Reynolds, at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA, on September 15, 2013 from 1–4 pm EST. The event was inspired by Reynolds’s book for young readers, The Dot (Candlewick, 2003), that “encourages children and adults to unleash their inner creativity through reading, art, and more.” International Dot Day has been celebrated in classrooms and libraries since 2009.

Events at the Carle include a book signing with Reynolds, a storytime, screening of the three films (Weston Woods) in Reynolds’s “Creatrilogy” series (The Dot, Ish, and Sky Color). All the activities are free with Museum admission.

“What began as one little dot on the pages of a book has grown into a movement that has countless people fearlessly expressing their creativity—not only on International Dot Day, but now all year long,” noted Reynolds.

The Pigeon is back, and this time he’s joined by several other beloved Mo Willems characters in Pigeon Presents: Mo…on the Go! (Disney Publishing Worldwide Applications; $3.99 iOS; $2.99 Nook; PreS-Gr 1), an impressive app with a number of entertaining game options.

Child and adult narrators instruct users on how to operate the activities as upbeat piano music sets the playful tone. In the “Pigeon’s Dream Drive” children steer a bus driven by the Pigeon through a maze of streets. The object? To pick up ducklings without being caught by a mad cow. Honking horns, barking dogs, and quacking ducklings add to the fun.

“Dance-o-Rama,” featuring Gerald and Piggie, asks users to choose three dances for each character to perform on a stage to the tune of disco music. Leonardo the Terrible Monster hosts the “Monster Maker,” which requires swiping the screen to choose from an array of body parts to build a creature. Children can also create Knuffle Bunny-inspired pictures using the iPad camera. The sepia photos with stickers of characters from the book can then be saved or shared via email.

Willems makes cameo appearances in both the “Monster Maker” and “Dance-o- Rama” (where he shows off some fancy footwork), and he’s the host of the “Mo’s Squillems,” a drawing activity designed for one or two players. In that game, children create pictures based on a squiggly line provided on the page. Each visit brings a new line, offering endless possibilities.

Mo…on the Go! is more than just pure entertainment; it encourages imaginative play and problem solving. The variety of options, the focus on creativity, and Willems’s quirky humor will have young fans (and adults) returning again and again.—Cathy Potter, Falmouth Elementary School, Falmouth, ME

Moss published his first children’s book, Zin! Zin! Zin!, at the age of 69. It uses the instruments in an orchestra to illustrate the concept of counting and the parallel concepts of solos, duets, trios, etc. Illustrated by Marjorie Priceman, the book received a star review from School Library Journal and was awarded the 1996 Caldecott Honor.

In her SLJ review, Jane Marino called the book, “A delight for music classes as well as a great introduction to the concert hall” and noted, “This title will surely be met with applause.”

The book came about when a family member who worked for Simon & Schuster viewed a scrapbook kept by Moss’s wife, Anne, of all the poems he wrote to her and his children on various special occasions. “The book came together magically,” Moss once said. “I look at it as the moment when I integrated my love of books and music into a tangible form that could be shared with the world.”

The author also said that his love of doggerel inspired him to write such lines as “Fine FRENCH HORN, its valves all oiled/Bright and brassy, loops all coiled,” and “FLUTE that sends our soul a-shiver;/FLUTE, that slender, silver sliver.”

The composer and arranger Marvin Hamlisch wrote a score for orchestra to accompany the book and, in 1998, Moss read his work accompanied by Hamlisch and the Pittsburgh Symphony.

Moss went on to write two other music-themed books. Our Marching Band (Putnam, 2001) is a story of young instrument-toting hopefuls who transform themselves into an energetic, smartly uniformed band, while Music Is (Putnam, 2003) uses rhymes to talk about the importance of music. In its review of the latter, SLJ notes that the text shows how music “appears in all aspects of our lives, from the mundane ‘music in the elevator,/sometimes music on the phone’ to the exciting ‘Brass or strings, when played with brio,/lift my spirits to the sky.’”

Moss was born in Brooklyn on November 17, 1926, and grew up surrounded by music and books. His father owned a beauty parlor where the radio was always tuned to WQXR (the same station where Moss would later make his career in broadcasting). As a child he frequented a second hand bookshop, where he found Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs, as well as adventure stories by Jack London, James Oliver Curwood, and Zane Grey.

At seventeen he joined the Army and, after World War II, he entered the field of radio. He is survived by his wife Anne, four children, and two grandchildren.

In an interview with the Parent’s League of New York, Moss once said that the final lines from Music Is provide a fitting coda to his sentiments about music and its influence on his life:

If there never had been music,
If it never did exist,
What would life be without music?
Think of what we would have missed!

On July 31, 2013 (Harry Potter and author  J. K . Rowling’s birthday), Scholastic unveiled a new look for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Author/illustrator Kazu Kibuishi created new covers  for each of the titles in beloved series. The book covers were revamped in time for the 15th anniversary of the U.S. publication of Rowling’s series opener.

Kazu Kibuishi in front of the newly revealed cover that he illustrated for the new edition of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  Photos by Mark Tuchman.

For more photos of the Harry Potter birthday/cover reveal celebration, check out the slideshow below.

Join us to hear Kevin talk about his work, his inspirations, and The Year of Billy Miller–an acclaimed and irresistible story about friendship, siblings, and the perils of elementary school. And take this chance to ask him your questions live!

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Sponsored by: Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, and School Library Journal

Moderator: Betty Carter – Professor Emerita at Texas Woman’s University, reviewer for Horn Book Magazine

Scheduled Event Date: Tuesday, September 17, 2:00 PM EST – 60 minutes estimated

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Hilari Bell. Fall of a Kingdom. Bk. 1. 2003

________Rise of a Hero. Bk. 2. 2005.

________Forging the Sword. Bk. 3. 2006.
(The Farsala Trilogy). S & S.

Holly Black. Tithe. 2002

__________Valiant. 2005
(Modern Faerie Tale Series). S & S.

Elizabeth C. Bunce. A Curse Dark as Gold. Scholastic. 2008.

Bruce Coville. The Monster’s Ring. (first pubdate: Knopf, 1982). 2002.

____________.Jennifer Murdley’s Toad. 1992.

(Magic Shop Series). Houghton Harcourt

Esther Friesner. Nobody’s Princess. 2007.

_____________.Nobody’s Prize. 2008.

(Princesses of Myth Series). Random.

Rachel and Mike Grinti. Claws. Scholastic. 2012.

Shannon Hale. Enna Burning. 2004.

____________. River Secrets. 2006.

(Books of Bayern Series). Bloomsbury.

Rachel Hartman. Seraphina. Random. 2012.

Robin McKinley. Beauty: A Retelling of the Story Beauty & the Beast. HarperCollins. 1978.

_____________.The Blue Sword. HarperCollins. 1982.

_____________.The Hero And the Crown. HarperCollins. 1983.

_____________.Deerskin. Ace. 1993.

Garth Nix, Abhorsen. (Abhorsen Trilogy). HarperCollins. 2003

Nnedi Okorafor. Akata Witch. Viking. 2011.

Terry Pratchett. Wintersmith. (Discworld Series). HarperCollins. 2006.

J. K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Bk. 3. (Harry Potter Series). Scholastic. 1999.

Delia Sherman. The Freedom Maze. Big Mouth House. 2011.

“I like strong women who stand up for themselves… there aren’t enough of those” “kicking butt doesn’t have to mean weapons” GOLD. #sljst

— The Brigand (@bookrarian) July 24, 2013

Also love the talk of newer titles mixed with older fantasy books. A great reading list for sure. #sljst

— Jennifer Rummel (@yabooknerd) July 24, 2013

Acclaimed author/illustrator Ashley Bryan celebrated his 90th birthday at the Simon & Schuster Children’s fall preview on July 25. The winner of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal, and the Coretta Scott King–Virginia Hamilton and Coretta Scott King Awards was joined by librarians, publishing professionals, and fellow children’s books artists.

Author/illustrator Ashley Bryan, Donna Isaacs, and author/illustrator Paul O. Zelinksy hold a copy of Bryan’s next book, Can’t Scare Me. (l. to r.)  Photo by Rocco Staino

Santa Clarita Public Library‘s (CA) summer reading program is in full swing at their Canyon Country branch.

The Magic of Food and More program with Lincoln Bond.

Michael McCarty storyteller extraordinaire

 

Jewelry created by teens at the Trash to Trinkets program. Photos courtesy of the Santa Clarita Library Tumblr.

 

Photo by Elena Seibert.

Leonard Marcus might just be the busiest man in the world of kid lit. In June, the children’s literature historian and scholar launched a critically acclaimed exhibition at the New York Public Library (which he curated) and had a book published that celebrates the life and work of Maurice Sendak (which he edited). This summer, he will also publish his latest biography, a book on Randolph Caldecott, while his introduction for the 75^th anniversary edition of Kenneth Grahame’s The Reluctant Dragon (Holiday, 1938) comes to print. Does he ever sleep? Says Marcus, “I just love what I’m doing so I kind of can’t wait to get started in the morning.”

Over coffee in a café in New York City’s West Village, Marcus—who is as soft spoken as a kindergarten teacher trying to soothe a rowdy classroom—shared with School Library Journal some of the details of his many recent projects, some insider knowledge of children’s literature history and icons and his belief that picture books might be the solution to saving all physical books.

Marcus has curated many exhibits, but “The ABC of It: Why Children’s Books Matter,” an exhibition at the main branch of the New York Public Library featuring nearly 250 books and artifacts, is his most ambitious undertaking to date. The New York Times calls the show, “remarkably rich,” and Monica Edinger, children’s book author, teacher, and blogger, describes it as, “wonderful—witty in design and delightful in the actual objects on display” on her blog, Educating Alice.

Working with a full-time assistant and a design team, Marcus spent a year meeting with library special collection curators, researching and selecting objects for the exhibit. He specifically wanted to avoid showing the “greatest hits of [the] New York Public Library” or a “march through history,” he explained. “Those are the two traditional ways of exhibiting children’s books,” Marcus said. “And they don’t really let people into the story. They tell people that you’ve got to follow along. I wanted this to be much more immersive and to allow people to start with what they knew, the familiar books that were their favorites for personal reasons, and then to be surprised by finding that those books belong to a much bigger story that can be sorted out and told.”

Listening to Marcus speak about the objects, elements, and scenes in the show—which include an 1826 edition of the Grimm’s fairy tales, a recording of E.B. White reading Charlotte’s Web (Harper, 1952), and a gallery that focuses on challenged books—his enthusiasm for his life’s work is palpable. He said that the invitation to curate the show was, “basically being given the keys to the kingdom of all these great collections of art, manuscripts, photographs, prints, and, of course, the children’s books.”

Marcus has a history degree from Yale and a degree in poetry from the University of Iowa Graduate Writers’ Workshop. He is as comfortable talking about Tocqueville and Whitman as he is about Margaret Wise Brown, about whom he wrote a landmark biography, Margaret Wise Brown: Awakened by the Moon (Beacon Pr, 1992). And when it came to discussing the late children’s book author and illustrator Maurice Sendak, Marcus was able to draw on his friendship with the famously guarded man to inform his scholarship—a source of knowledge that guided him as he edited the catalogue, Maurice Sendak: A Celebration of the Artist and His Work (Abrams, 2013), for a current exhibition of Sendak’s art for the Society of Illustrators in New York City.

Author Paul O. Zelinsky, who contributed an essay to the catalogue, told SLJ, “Leonard has always impressed me with his knack for seeing how things fit together. And with the way he follows through on his curiosity, with these fascinating books and shows as the result.” Other authors and contributors include Sendak authorities Justin G. Schiller and Dennis M. V. David, whose collection is also showcased in the exhibit and catalogue.

Marcus’s enthusiasm for research is evident in his many books and, most recently, in his introduction for The Reluctant Dragon: 75th Anniversary Edition (Holiday, 2013). The vice president and editor-in-chief of Holiday House, Mary Cash, says that “Leonard’s requests for catalogues, advertisements, and other related materials lead several of us on a delightful scavenger hunt around the office….We copied a hefty pile of letters and documents for Leonard, which he packed up and took home. Several months later we received a witty and eloquent introduction that put the book in the context of its time while making a persuasive case for its continued relevance.”

To research his biography of Randolph Caldecott, Randolph Caldecott: The Man Who Could Not Stop Drawing (Farrar, Aug. 2013), Marcus traveled to England and dug through the archives at Harvard University’s Houghton Library.

When asked about the future of picture books, Marcus drew on his many years of knowledge as well as his experience curating the “The ABC of It” to provide a ready answer about the future of print books as a whole. “I describe in the text for the show [how] the picture book and the artist book are really the laboratory in which the future of the book will be decided because these are the most experimental formats within the realm of the physical book,” he said. “And so there plenty of great ideas there to be had, from which everyone can learn.”

Picture books are always pushing limits and exploring new possibilities that are only possible with print, he says; therefore, they make a case for print books to continue to exist alongside digital.

In the immediate future, Marcus, whose research and lecture invitations have taken him to locals as far flung as Singapore, is excited to be staying put in Brooklyn, where he lives with his wife, the picture-book artist Amy Schwartz. But he’s already working on his next projects: an exhibition for the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art of the late Bernard Waber’s art and a book of interviews with graphic novel creators for Candlewick Press.

And after that? He’d like to do more exhibitions and keep staying busy doing the work he loves.

Marc Simont created the cover for SLJ‘s
December 2002 Best Books issue.

Acclaimed children’s book creator Marc Simont, who illustrated nearly 100 children’s books, died on Saturday, July 13. He was 97. His many honors include a Caldecott Medal in 1957 for the art in Janice May Udry’s A Tree is Nice (1956), and Caldecott Honors for illustrating Ruth Krauss’s The Happy Day (1949) and his own The Stray Dog (2001, all HarperCollins).

The Paris native, who was born in 1915, was influenced by his Catalan father—Joseph Simont, a staff illustrator for the magazine L’Illustration—to pursue a career in the arts. He attended art school in Paris and immigrated to the United States at age 19, where he trained at the National Academy of Design in New York, alongside Make Way for the Ducklings Caldecott-winner Robert McCloskey. Simont lived his last days in West Cornwall, Connecticut.

During his long career, the prolific author/illustrator collaborated with publishing heavy hitters such as Ruth Krauss, James Thurber, and Margaret Wise Brown, and his art is represented in collections as far afield as the Kijo Picture Book Museum in Japan. His impact, however, is not limited to the children’s literature sphere. He was selected as the 1997 Illustrator of the Year in his hometown of Catalonia, and The Lakeville Journal, a community newspaper near his recent home in Connecticut, regularly featured his political cartoons.

Luann Toth, managing editor of School Library Journal’s book review, served on the Caldecott Committee that chose The Stray Dog as an honor book in 2002. The heartwarming tale chronicles the adoption of a charming dog by two siblings. “We fell in love with the book’s gentle humor yet distinctive line. Simont’s expressive and gorgeously rendered watercolors capture the emotions and energy of the simple story and make it irresistible,” she shares. “Looking back over his long and amazing career, it’s easy to see Simont’s well-earned spot among the greats of children’s literature.”

Kate Jackson, editor-in-chief at Harper Children’s, remembers Simont as a great illustrator and an even greater person. She met Simont for the first time when he dropped off a manila envelope containing the story and art for The Stray Dog, hoping that the publisher would add it to its list. “Reading the story as I looked through the art, I remember thinking that it was absolutely perfect and beautiful as it was,” she tells SLJ.

From editorial to sales, all of Harper’s departments were keen on the book’s presentation, Jackson says, adding, “Anne Hoppe, who was already a great admirer of his work, volunteered to participate in the editorial process as well. It was an altogether joyful experience: a labor of love for the house. As much as the editorial group cherished him, the designers adored him.”

Philip Nel, children’s literature professor at Kansas State University and biographer, recalls his short but memorable experience with Simont. While researching for a biography on the husband-wife team Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss, Nel reached out to the artist about his relationship with the pair. “Simont was the illustrator for Krauss’s The Happy Day; and he was such a gentleman,” Nel says. “He was so generous in sharing his memories of the couple and faxing his correspondence about their projects. His passing marks the end of a certain generation of artists that worked on children’s books even before Maurice Sendak: Syd Hoff, Robert McCloskey, P.D. Eastman, Georges Prosper Remi [Hergé].”

Nel also says was struck by the soft-spoken and kind artist’s willingness to help someone he didn’t know, and how he continued to create children’s books late in life, winning Caldecott Honors more than 50 years apart.

Notably, Simont was also responsible for the art in books for older readers. He completed the unique illustrations in Bette Bao Lord’s In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson, and was the longtime collaborator on the “Nate the Great” series (Delacorte) about a child detective and his dog assistant, Sludge. Beverly Horowitz, publisher at Delacorte Press, tells SLJ, “We were deeply saddened to hear the news of Marc’s death. His artwork is iconic to Marjorie Sharmat’s Nate the Great, and will continue to identify the series as a treasured classic to generations of readers.”

Simont illustrated the first 20 books from 1972 to 1998.

Toth described his works as “timeless treasures that will live on for generations to come.”

Adds Jackson, “He was a wonderful, generous, and kind human being, in addition to being so creative. It was such a privilege to know him.”

Simont is survived by his wife, Sarah Dalton Simont, and his son, Marc Dalton Simont.

From The Horn Book: Marc Simont’s Sketchbooks

From top, created by: Mellie Ryan; BGM;
and Hilde Kuyper.

As Johnson hoped, hundreds of visual responses poured in from fans—ranging from the intriguing to the hilarious—some of which were later hosted in a slideshow by The Huffington Post. “I was surprised at how many people appear to be good at Photoshop, and how quickly they could generate so many high-quality images. But I wasn’t surprised at the general wish to do so,” Johnson tells School Library Journal. “Once you look at the subject, it just starts to open up, like a weird flower.”

Johnson’s favorite overall response, she says, is from Jennifer Lynn Barnes, YA author and professor of psychology and YA literature. “This discussion led to her writing these amazing scientific pieces about gender, and how that might relate to some books become ‘big books,’” she says. “Finally, the science!”

Johnson was also pleased to see teachers and librarians getting in on the action, inviting their students to participate in the challenge and sparking additional discussion. “I was thrilled,” she says. “The Number One place for this to go is into the library and the classroom. It’s nice that there was a hullaballoo online, but there are always hullabaloos online, and they’re forgotten a week later. Teachers and librarians are the critical torchbearers for this.”

Johnson’s notion to raise the issue with fans struck her after yet another female author friend’s new book was assigned a decidedly “girly” cover by its publisher—and was promptly categorized as “chick lit” by reviewers despite its content, a pervasive and common occurrence for YA authors, Johnson says. “I was just looking at the radically different response it was getting to a similar book just released, one written by a guy,” she says. “What surprised me was the number of people who said, ‘Whoa. I never noticed that before.’ I’m glad it got around.”

Created by: Kuelthador; Miller; Mellie Ryan; and Brandy.
(All credits from left to right, top to bottom.)

What also surprised Johnson, she says, is the storm of media coverage that followed—especially in the UK—along with intense online discussion as fans and other bloggers who wanted to weigh in on these issues of publishing, culture, and gender sought to be heard. At the beginning, “I definitely didn’t think I was launching anything,” Johnson says. “It started with a simple tweet about the gendered nature of book covers. But it only takes one shot to start a battle, so it all kicked off.”

Did media outlets understand the type of conversation she was hoping to inspire, or did they miss the mark? “Some did, some didn’t,” Johnson says. “Strangely, the coverage really took off in England. It was all over the place there—The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Daily Mail. Even Jacqueline Wilson chimed in, which was amazing,” Johnson says.

Created by: Stephen Denes; Book Revels; slodwick; and Electric Sheep Comix.

“The problem was, a lot had headlines that basically said, ‘Look at these trashy girly chick lit covers!’ Which misses the entire and extremely subtle and prickly point of how we define ‘girly’—and why ‘girly’ also seems to lead to the default assumption that said books are light, breezy, and trashy, often of generally poor quality.”

This is the heart of the issue, Johnson notes.

“The term “chick lit” drives me absolutely insane, as it has no real, identifiable meaning except books by women, for women,” she explains.

“I’ve never seen ‘chick lit’ used in a positive critical light. It’s invariably something seen as lesser than literature. It’s wrong. The label gets slapped on things pretty indiscriminately. The only common factor is that the books are by and for women. Period. Easiest case in point: Jane Austen. I’ve seen so many people call Jane Austen ‘chick lit.’ It goes on and on.”

Created by: Hannah; Emily Rosenfield; Miller; and Monica.

But there are no easy solutions for solving the dilemma, Johnson admits. “This is a bigger and more complex problem,” Johnson says, noting that “publishers really just want to get the books out there. I can’t fault them for that.”

She adds, “Selling books is hard, and people are only trying their best to keep books in the marketplace. It just also happens to be true that some of the decisions made about how to present and package work end up influencing how we value certain stories over others.”

Created by: Rosianna; Gillian Berry; Autumn; and Ardawling.

This realization led Johnson to start putting together an “action plan” to help keep the conversation going. “Many teachers and librarians got into it right away, and their students started making amazing covers instantly,” Johnson says. “The kids got it within seconds. That was excellent to see.”

Johnson currently is considering creating a downloadable Coverflip lesson plan for educators, because, going forward, these teachers and librarians [will] “be the ones coming up with the solutions, not me,” she says. “But I’d be thrilled to have some of those discussions.”

Best Christmas, a story that first appeared in McCall’s Magazine, starred an unlikely family of children, the Herdmans, who take over a church Christmas pageant (mainly because they heard snacks were served). In the end, the children give an unconventional and surprisingly touching interpretation of the Christmas story. “The Herdmans bring a chaotic sincerity and authenticity to the evening that is truly moving,” said School Library Journal in its review.

In the United Kingdom, the book is known as The Worst Kids in the World (Red Fox, 1996). Robinson went on to write two sequels featuring the Herdmans, The Best School Year Ever (Harper, 1994) and The Best Halloween Ever (HarperCollins, 2004).

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever has sold over 800,000 copies and was adapted into a play, first performed in Seattle at the Children’s Theater in 1982. ABC television also produced a television movie of the story in 1983 starring Loretta Swit, for which Robinson wrote the screenplay. Elaine Stritch read the audio version of the book.

In 2012 the book was named the No. 73 Top Children’s Novel in the YA list compiled by SLJ blogger Betsy Bird, based upon recommendations from her readers.

The original 1972 cover.

“She made an original Christmas story that was honestly real, human and touching,” Bird said in her entry. “Her book lasted and lasted and lasted and remains pretty much the top Christmas chapter book for kids out there outside of A Christmas Carol.”

Catherine Balkin, former executive at Harper and founder of Balkin Buddies, which arranges author visits to schools and libraries, says Robinson was “funny, charming, and kind.” Balkin also notes that, “Barbara spent many years going around the country visiting schools and talking to students. This well-loved author will be missed by a great many students, including those who are now adults.”

Robinson was born in Portsmouth, Ohio on October 12, 1927, to Theodore L. and Grace Mooney Webb.  After her father’s death when she was three years old, her mother, a teacher, raised her alone.

She attended Allegheny College, from which she received an honorary doctorate of letters later in life.  In 1949, she married John F. Robinson of Berwyn, PA.

After college, Robinson worked as a librarian in Sewickley, PA. One of her earliest published works is Across from Indian Shore (Lothrop, Lee and Shepard, 1962).

Robinson is survived by two daughters, Carolyn and Marjorie, and three grandchildren: Tomas, Marcos, and Lucas.

Send your pictures of the week to sdiaz@mediasourceinc.com

In celebration of its 25th Anniversary of children’s publishing, Chronicle Books hosted a cocktail reception at the American Library Association Annual conference that included a raffle of original artwork inspired by the company’s spectacles logo. The pieces were created by many award-winning and bestselling illustrators, including Tom Lichtenheld, Sophie Blackall, Taro Gomi, and more. The artists presented the prizes to the raffle winners.

Illustrator Tom Lichtenheld and children’s literature professor Susannah Richards. Photos courtesy of Chronicle Books.

Illustrator Vladimir Radunsky presented original art  to Susan Faust, librarian at San Francisco’s Katherine Delmar Burke School.

An acclaimed artist in many mediums, Meade is perhaps best known for her intricate woodblock prints, and among children’s librarians for her more than 30 picture books. These include Hush! A Thai Lullaby (Melanie Kroupa/Orchard Books, 1996), written by Mingfong Ho, which was named a Caldecott Honor book in 1997; and John Willy and Freddy McGee (Marshall Cavendish, 1998),  for which she was named an honoree for the Charlotte Zolotow Award for Creative Writing.

“Holly Meade was so special. [Her] warmth and wonderful spirit permeated her whole being—and her art,” Melanie Kroupa tells School Library Journal. “With her own special way of viewing the world she created a style all her own: unpretentious and full of life. In illustrations that reflect her own elegant simplicity, Holly allowed us to step into a story and see the world in a fresh way….The books we did together remain some of my very favorites:  Hush! A Thai Lullaby, Boss of the Plains by Laurie Carlson, and Goose’s Story by Cari Best [an SLJ Star Book in 2002], to name a few. Each is distinctive in its own way thanks to Holly’s vision and illustrations. Her woodcuts of recent years are truly wonderful—so alive and fresh!”

Meade was born in Winchester, Mass., on September 14, 1956.  She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1978, and went on to explore a variety of artistic mediums in her work, such as drawing, collage, printmaking, basket making, and fabric design. Though she enjoyed a career as an independent artist, beginning in 1992, she also brought much to the world of children’s books, which she called “the other focus of my work life.” She added woodblock printing to her many talents in 2002, after a workshop with printmaker Hester Stinnett at the Haystack Mountain School.

Her woodblock printing techniques are featured in many of her more recent picture books—such as David Elliott’s series that includes On the Farm (Candlewick, 2008), In the Wild (2010) and In the Sea (2012)—as well as in her stand-alone art works, which can be viewed online via her own Reach Road Gallery site.

Numerous online tributes and memorials have already begun to appear this week from colleagues and friends who have since learned of her death, including one from Curious City, the children’s book consulting company founded by Kirsten Cappy, urging friends and fans to donate copies of her picture books to the Maine Children’s Cancer Center Program (MCCP) in Meade’s honor. “It is utterly heartbreaking to think there will not be another children’s book illustrated by Holly Meade,” Cappy says.

Notes Julie Danielson, co-creator of the Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast book blog, “Holly’s work was simply beautiful….may her legacy live on in her exceptional illustration work.”

Meade is survived by her father, Russell Meade; brother, Jeffrey Meade; sister, Andrea Lawson; daughter, Jenny Smick; son, Noah Smick and his wife, Micki; and grandson, Nathan Smick.

“I have never entered a school library for a visit without noticing one of Elaine’s books,” says Alix Finn, author of Towering (HarperTeen, 2013). “Elaine’s boundless energy was an inspiration to many, and her giving personality made her a friend. She will be greatly missed by many.”

This April, she was part of the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) School Library Month Community Gallery. “A school library is the jewel of any school. It’s a place where students can learn and grow,” Landau said. “There’s no better place for anyone to be!”

Always an advocate for librarians, she dedicated each book in her “The Best Dogs Ever” (Lerner) series to a different member of the profession, including Carl Harvey, past president of AASL and school librarian at North Elementary School, Noblesville, IN.

“Elaine easily tackled non-fiction topics and made them so understandable for student readers,” Harvey tells School Library Journal.  “She certainly will be missed, but her memory will live on each and every time one of her titles is checked out and enjoyed by a child.”

Another book in the series was dedicated to Diane Chen, who in 2012 said of Landau’s work: “Often when I pick up a nonfiction title that reads clearly and is popular with students, I look to see who the author is and discover…Elaine Landau.”

Says Landau’s editor at Lerner, Sara Hoffman: “There are no words to express the sorrow I feel over the loss of Elaine Landau, an immensely talented longtime Lerner author whom I was also privileged to call a friend. Elaine’s impact on the school and library publishing world is immeasurable, as is her impact on those of us fortunate enough to have known her.”

Many of Ms. Landau’s titles have been included on prestigious awards lists and have also received a number of honors including: ALA/YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, International Reading Association’s Children’s Choice and IRA Young Adult Choice, NCSS/CBC Notable Children’s Trade Books in the Field of Social Studies, NSTA/CBC Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children, Bank Street College of Education’s Best Children’s Books of the Year.

“Besides being an extraordinary nonfiction writer, Elaine was a mentor to many in the Florida SCBWI and her boundless energy and encouragement were an inspiration to fellow writers, many of whom considered a good friend,” says Catherine Balkin, founder of Balkin Buddies, which arranges author visits to schools and libraries. “Elaine’s contributions to children’s non-fiction will live on in her many readers, and those of us who had the privilege to know her personally will miss her greatly.”

Landau is survived by her husband, Norman Pearl, and her son, Michael Pearl.

The exhibit spans five centuries with one of the earliest items being a rare copy of Aesop’s Fables with His Life: In English, French & Latin illustrated by Francis Barlow dating from 1666. Visitors are taken through the history of children’s books as it relates to history, the arts, popular culture, and technological change.  A children’s book is a “message in a bottle” that shows the “hopes and dreams of each generation,” Leonard Marcus told a group of reporters who previewed the exhibit recently.

Both children and adults can step into the Great Green Room of Margaret Wise Brown’s Goodnight Moon (Harper & Row, 1947) or answer questions relating to children’s books that appear on a monitor.  Children can also slip through Alice’s Rabbit Hole or pet a fur wall devoted to Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are (Harper & Row, 1963).

While researching objects for the exhibit, Marcus solved a mystery. He had come across an ivory carving of Tweedledee and Tweedledum (characters from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland) without any documentation. Photos of the objects were sent to other children’s literature collections to solicit information. A letter from Carroll in the collection of Philadelphia’s Rosenbach Museum & Library explained that it might be from a parasol handle originally given to the “real” Alice by Carroll. Marcus turned the carving over to find the hole for the umbrella handle.

The familiar names of Garth Williams, Madeleine L’Engle, Maurice Sendak, and Judy Blume are featured in the section entitled “Raising a Ruckus,” which focuses on books that caused controversy in their day.  Superman, the Avengers, and the Justice League make an appearance in the “Lights Out: Reading Under the Covers” area, which is devoted to kids and comics.

At the turn of the last century it was common for libraries to have signs stating “No Dogs or Children Allowed.” Some of the librarians who helped change that custom are featured in the exhibit. Anne Carroll Moore, a New York Public Library’s children’s librarian, is featured; she began the library’s Best Books List, co-founded Children’s Book Week, and helped launch the Newbery and Caldecott Medals. Also included is Pura Belpré, the New York Public Library’s first Puerto Rican librarian. She began bilingual story hours and, in 1996, the American Library Association and its affiliate REFORMA began an annual award named in Belpré’s honor to recognize outstanding Latino writers and illustrators.

The exhibit, which is free to attend, opens June 21, 2013, and will run through March 23, 2014.