Authors and illustrators on SLJ‘s Day of Dialog “Informational Picture Books” panel. (l. to r.) Jonah Winter, Kathleen T. Isaacs (moderator), Thomas Gonzalez, Jim Arnosky, Jennifer Berne, and Elisha Cooper.

Nearly 250 librarians got an information boost from the first panel of authors and illustrators at School Library Journal’s annual Day of Dialog, the pre-BEA event. Moderated by Kathleen T. Isaacs, author of Picturing the World: Informational Picture Books for Children (ALA, 2013), the lively discussion offered Jim Arnosky, Jennifer Berne, Elisha Cooper, Thomas Gonzalez, and Jonah Winter the chance to share more information about their creative processes, who they write for, and why they choose to create nonfiction for young readers.

The prolific Arnosky said he gets inspiration for his work as an outgrowth of his interest in the natural world, which can be seen in his recent Shimmer and Splash (Sterling). “Once I learn about one animal, I wind up learning about a dozen more. My wife and I just get in a truck, go where they live, and stay there for months. It’s a self-perpetuating thing for me.” An illustrator as well as an author, his creative process sometimes starts off as a movielike stream of images, which later gets populated by facts. He knows he’s latched onto a future project when a subject continues to occupy his thoughts. “A book is a special medium; it’s like a poem, or a good song. And it stays with you and becomes a part of your mind,” he shared.

Jonah Winter

Winter also compared writing an informational title to another art form. “An author is like a sculptor. You scrape away at the marble until an actual figure appears.” While writing picture book biographies such as You Never Heard of Willie Mays?! (Random), he is conscious of the images that go along with the story, mindful of the pacing and the format’s usual 32-page count.

Berne agreed with the sculptor motif, and added that, as an author carves away, “somehow the right path appears” which allows you to figure out “what needs to go and what needs to stay.”

Cooper said he relishes working on a project because, “you start off ignorant at first, but then your curiosity takes over, and you fall in love with it.” He added, “there’s an art in the gathering, but an art in the carving down.”

Illustrator Gonzalez, who recently completed work on Alice B. McGinty’s Gandhi (Amazon), spoke from an artist’s point of view. “The pace is given to me, which is a little bit of a challenge, but at the same time it forces me to resolve any issues. I do like to sneak things in here and there; working on a book then becomes like leaving your fingerprint.” Winter responded, “And, that’s what makes a picture book interesting though, the liberties the illustrator can take.”

Thomas Gonzalez and Jennifer Berne

With the current resurgence of nonfiction, especially in light of Common Core State Standards, the need for accuracy in informational books is as important as ever. While the panelists believe that getting the facts right is always a goal, some of them had different opinions on the level of accuracy needed for a children’s title. Gonzalez makes sure to steer clear from anachronisms in his illustrations, “I do spend a lot of time researching on the time period and the subject’s background. You don’t want to include an iPhone in a picture book about Gandhi.”

Berne said she felt strongly that authors are charged with presenting someone’s life to the world, and it’s a crime to change historical facts. “You can see a life through 100 different kinds of lenses, but it still has to be the truth. I feel a real responsibility to the person I’m writing about.” Her On A Beam Of Light: A Story Of Albert Einstein (Chronicle), offers a different look at the famous scientist’s life.

Winter argued, “I believe in staying true to the essence of the figure, but there may be some details that need to be excluded or even altered for the condensed picture book format, which I’ll mention in the author’s note. I know this is a bit controversial, but I want to tell a good story.”

Cooper quipped that in his picture book Train (Scholastic), the trains actually run on time, as opposed to real-life schedules. He shared that the author’s goal is to be factual, but he or she has to move the story forward, and there are countless choices to be made. “We have to draw a line in a certain way.”

(l. to r.) Jim Arnosky and Elisha Cooper

Arnosky, who writes about the natural world, also noted that he treats, “a tree as if it were a historical figure. I feel a responsibility to that tree. And, I don’t want to add anything in my books that kids will have to unlearn later.” Arnosky said he is also very aware of his audience, and is sure to include vocabulary found in everyday conversation. He said candidly, “I don’t use a dictionary. I never did, because if I were talking to my grandsons I wouldn’t try to find a better word, I’d just talk. I make these books for children that are waiting to see another story about animals.”

Berne shared that she writes for kids, and for the adults who read the books to young readers. “It absolutely has to be as good for the adult reader. I try to imagine a whole crowd of people at different ages,” she said, adding that she likes to take into account what the subject of the biography would think about the work as well.

Cooper pictures a smaller audience in his head: “I write for a small group of people who are close to me, who I love and respect.”

Simply put, “The pictures tell the story,” says David Wiesner. The three-time Caldecott Medal winner Wiesner shared his thoughts on visual storytelling,—along with fellow panelists, Lizi Boyd, Oliver Jeffers,  Matt Phelan, and Chris Raschka—at School Library Journal’s 2013 Day of Dialog held May 29 at Columbia University.

Starting with early sketches of his books, notably Flotsam, Wiesner demonstrated his method and how every inch of the book can be used, from endpapers to the spine. It’s “all a part of the storytelling process,” he says.

In this 12-minute clip, Wiesner gives us a peek at his upcoming picture book Mr. Wuffles, whose title character is an inscrutable feline—who encounters the world’s greatest cat toy.

The “Real World Horror” panel at SLJ‘s Day of Dialog 2013 included  (l. to r. ) authors Elizabeth Wein, Julie Berry, Elizabeth Scott, Matthew Quick, Adele Griffin, and moderator Karyn Silverman.

Following Holly Black’s keynote on her recent foray in horror, a panel of YA authors shared with nearly 250 children’s librarians what inspired them to write about “tough stuff” at SLJ’s annual pre-BEA Day of Dialog event. Moderated by Karyn Silverman—SLJ blogger and librarian and educational technology department chair of the Little Red School House & Elisabeth Irwin High School—the panel’s discussion flowed from dark to light, touching on topics such as school shootings and Nazi Germany.

Matthew Quick, author of The Silver Linings Playbook on which the Oscar-winning film is based, grew up in a blue collar town “where you didn’t talk about depression or mental health,” and where being a young man who cried about books meant that there was something “profoundly wrong with him.” Quick didn’t read much YA fiction as a teen, but revered Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, and Ernest Hemingway as father figures. His new title, Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock (Little, Brown, 2013), centers on a potential school shooter, and was galvanized by a deeper look into recent alarming events. “Literature is the place where I can tell the truth as I see it. I’ve met so many kids that are like Leonard: kids that so many people would easily dismiss, when really they are dark storms on verge of crisis. I wanted to explore what happens when kids don’t pull the trigger,” shared the former educator-turned-author.

Adele Griffin took inspiration from a personal tragedy when writing Loud Awake and Lost (Knopf, 2013): very much like Amber, her main character, Griffin’s own brother experienced a life-altering car accident that left him and his family indelibly scarred. “Fiction can be so humbling. I don’t know why I got the privilege to write this story, but my brother had to experience the actual tragedy,” she confessed. She enjoys writing for teens because “they’re on the brink of their own lives, and have a certain suppleness to their character. They’re willing to be changed and can still be changed.”

Elizabeth Wein. Code Name Verity author, also endured a similar cataclysmic car accident that resulted in her mother’s death, and left her brother quadriplegic to this day. “This experience in my background is what drives me to write about horrible things, and how despite them, you go on living,” she shared. Wein’s new title, Rose Under Fire (Hyperion/Disney, 2013), is a companion novel for the acclaimed Verity, and follows another brave female pilot who is caught behind enemy lines during World War II and is detained in a Nazi concentration camp.

Known for her hard-hitting novels, Elizabeth Scott’s works are a far cry from the “issue-books” and frothy “Sweet Valley” series that were prevalent during her teenage years. The idea for Heartbeat (HarlequinTeen, 2013), about a girl whose mother is brain-dead and being kept alive by machines for the sake of the unborn baby, came to Scott when she read an obituary about a woman in a similar situation. The author opined, “everyone has a well of misery somewhere in their lives and some people are drawn to it more than others. Writing about the dark places that some of us don’t want to see is incredibly liberating, because you’re telling something that needs to be said.”

Quick shared that he tries to make order out of chaos in his books, and he hopes that readers can understand that “It’s not just chaos. We’re not alone.” His biggest fear is not connecting with people through his writing. “You just hope that when you stick your hand out someone will be there to shake it,” he said. Scott is most afraid of people’s inaction. “I’m afraid of people who look away when something bad is happening. How it can be obvious that someone is suffering, and how easy it is to look away.”

Despite the heavy themes, Silverman pointed out that in each of the panelists’ books, redemption came in the form of friendship, and that in these stories, making connections with other people continued to be a saving grace. Julie Berry, author of All the Truth That’s In Me (Viking, 2013), loves titles with romance, but “one of the things that makes me nuts is when romantic stories are spun so that the love interest is the total focus for the main character. Without friends we’re toast—girls should know that their lives gain richness not from some guy, but by a core of female friends.” The mostly-female panel emphatically agreed.

Friendship is the definitive theme in Wein’s Verity, and makes a comeback in her latest book, she noted. While conducting research on Nazi concentration camps for Rose Under Fire, she discovered a common thread: “From reading the survivor accounts, I gathered that if you didn’t have people to count on, then you wouldn’t make it. Friendship had to be present so that my character could survive.”

Wein added that the underlying theme for her new book is hope, something that the authors agreed the real world—and the teens they write for—need to see more each day. In a place where Sandy Hook and other tragedies continue to be in the news, YA novels can be conduits for teen readers.

And Berry argues that this is good for kids. “The scales are falling from their [teens’] eyes. They see the news; they see the truth in their communities. There is no guarantee that you can make it through life unscathed. There are no answers, but the novel is the closest we can come to approach them; there can be a messy resolution, or a blossom of hope.”

From a scratchy nib pen to splatter from a toothbrush, author illustrator Matt Phelan describes the special quality he derives from using traditional media in this clip recorded at School Library Journal‘s Day of Dialog. Featured alongside fellow panelists Lizi Boyd, Oliver Jeffers, Chris Raschka and David Weisner, Phelan described his process for creating a graphic novel in a session on visual storytelling. The May 29 event was held at Columbia University in conjunction with BookExpo America.

In a charming keynote, bestselling author Holly Black shared a poem that she wrote in seventh grade, to the hysterics of the audience at School Library Journal’s annual event held during BookExpo America.

Our full story: “Sharing the Love: Librarians, Authors Talk Kid Lit | SLJ Day of Dialog 2013.”

Holly Black is incredibly brave to read a 7th grade poem of hers featuring her beloved vampires. "teeth and teeth..." #sljdod13

May 29, 2013 1:39 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@medinger

Monica Edinger

Lizi Boyd

After a day of stimulating, substantive presentations at SLJ’s annual Day of Dialog on May 29, Rita Auerbach, children’s literature specialist and storyteller, moderated the final panel of the event, “Visual Storytelling,” which featured a diversity of acclaimed author/illustrators speaking about their art. The panelists were Lizi Boyd, Inside Outside (Chronicle); Oliver Jeffers, The Day the Crayons Quit (Penguin); Matt Phelan, Bluffton: My Summer with Buster Keaton (Candlewick); Chris Raschka, Daisy Gets Lost (Random); and David Wiesner, Mr. Wuffles! (Houghton Harcourt).

Oliver Jeffers

Boyd set the scene by quoting from Rilke—“art is childhood”—and naming the poet the source for the title of her latest book, Inside Outside. “It was as if I was transcribing it from a child’s eye,” she said of her concept book, which begins and ends with winter scenes. Her artwork was inspired by the changing of the seasons in Vermont where she lives, she said, noting that, while winter is her favorite time of year, spring in Vermont offers one special “lime sherbet day” when the leaves near her home begin to bud.

Jeffers drew laughter from the audience for claiming that he didn’t know he had to prepare for today’s event. He continued to entertain as he related some of the the funny (and true) inspirations for his stories, the advantage of being both author and illustrator of a book (which is how he usually works in picture books), and how he came to create the artwork for Drew Daywalt’s The Day the Crayons Quit  (a clever—and tricky—editor was the matchmaker for artist and writer).

Matt Phelan

“I intended to be a fine artist, a painter,” Jeffers told the crowd. “Then I realized I was trying to create this narrative,” for which picture books are perfect for exploring. He said he didn’t consider himself a writer, but “a storyteller who uses words and pictures.”

Talking about technique, Phelan, who considers the graphic novel a “medium” rather than a genre, described some of the various artistic styles he employs to set the tone of different stories in his graphic novels, and the ways in which utilizing various sizes of panels can help control a story’s pacing. “I am really fascinated by that, and by the power of the silent panels,” Phelan said.

Raschka also noted that “more and more I’m doing books with fewer and fewer words.” He called it “a fascinating thing to do” but a scary one, too, since “it all hangs on the pictures. You can’t hide behind anything…it has to keep you turning the pages.”

Chris Raschka

Raschka then showed the audience some of the “little books” he creates when he pitches new stories to his editors. Each features color artwork in a bit of a rough storyboard. “This is how Daisy  began—this is what I send to my editors,” he said, revealing some of the vibrant pages within. “I just keep making books like this over and over again, until finally I have a book that everyone likes, but it’s not a hardship for me; this is the closest thing to the art form that I like.”

David Wiesner and Rita Auerbach

Wiesner also talked technique, and demonstrated his use of visual language by taking the audience through his various color and typeface choices in Art and Max, which he uses to identify which character is speaking, plus the very intentional layout of Flotsam. The final version of his award-winning picture book differs from its earlier drafts in many key ways, and Wiesner shared examples of these in black and white to show how the layouts evolved during the publishing process.

The final color version, Wiesner said, aims for maximum storytelling impact. “The turn of the page is the essence of the picture book,” he said. Weisner also revealed some inside spreads of his new release Mr. Wuffles!, whichs includes visual depictions of an alien language, a bug language, and a cat language—but no text. “Is this [really] a wordless book?” he joked.

Ultimately, attendees were left amused and amazed, yet with the feeling of wanting to know more about these artists and their intriguing creative work.

Librarians, SLJ editors, and author/keynote speaker Kevin Henkes enjoy the first Day of Dialog panel.

Built by Books
After a brief welcome by Rebecca Miller, School Library Journal editor-in-chief, who encouraged attendees to tweet their feedback (#SLJDOD13), Henkes was introduced by Luann Toth, managing editor of SLJ’s Book Review, with effusive praise. The modest Henkes addressed the crowd of about 250 librarians, sharing anecdotes about his family’s relationship to books, and the ways in which he encouraged his own children to become passionate readers, starting with the move of his large personal collection of picture books to the family bookshelf.

“I knew their condition would take a nosedive,” he admitted, to lots of chuckles from the audience. “But it was worth it…it helped my children to be built by books.” His efforts also included reading aloud to his children very often and for many years, which he called “something I did right.” He said giving kids access to books and simply “letting the enchantment take over” is “something librarians have always known” how to do—getting the right book to the right kid and letting it “work its wonders.”

Henkes also addressed the hot topic of gender, noting, “Boys do in fact enjoy books about girls, even if they say they don’t…a good story is a good story regardless of the gender of the protagonist.”

Henkes then treated attendees to a read-aloud from his new middle-grade novel, The Year of Billy Miller, which was enthusiastically received by the crowd.

Nonfiction author Jonah Winter, panel moderator Kathleen T. Isaacs, illustrator Thomas Gonzalez, author/illustrator Jim Arnosky, author Jennifer Berne, and author/illustrator Elisha Cooper.

Spotlight on Authors
The day’s programming then launched into a diverse nonfiction panel, “Informational Picture Books,” which featured author/illustrator Jim Arnosky, author Jennifer Berne, author/illustrator Elisha Cooper, illustrator Thomas Gonzalez, and author Jonah Winter, moderated by Kathleen T. Isaacs, author of Picturing The World: Informational Picture Books For Children (ALA, 2013).

The panelists discussed the inspirations for their books; their creative processes; voice and point of view; their thoughts on the audiences they write for; the ethics of historical and scientific accuracy in children’s nonfiction; and the difficult task of editing away extraneous details in order to craft a tight narrative for their books—even when it comes to the illustrations.

“It takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup,” Arnosky said.

Authors Holly Sloan, Ayun Halliday, Gordon Korman, Linda Urban, and Josh Farrar.

Next up was a discussion of middle-grade fiction and graphic novels, “Middle School Drama and Trauma,” moderated by Caroline Ward, head of youth services at Ferguson Library, Stamford, CT. The panelists were Ayun Halliday, Josh Farrar, Gordon Korman, Holly Sloan, and Linda Urban.

The discussion began with each author naming why they are drawn to writing for this particular grade level—“it’s the past and the future right there stacked on top of a complicated now,” Urban noted—and then touched on the role of humor in their books; voice and point of view; and the marketing of tween books, which called back to the keynote in an intriguing exchange about gender appeal.

“After the Nobel Peace prize, there is no greater thing than a librarian saying your book is the go-to book for a reluctant boy,” Korman said, but he stressed, “that doesn’t necessarily speak to the girls who are finding that book on their own. It’s a good lesson to take a step back from our preconceived notions of what a girl and boy book are.” It was a sentiment that resonated with the crowd.

The authors also cited John Green as an inspiration in the field of inspiring cross-gender appeal for his books and characters, and for harnessing the power of social media, which led to a discussion among panelists of the appropriate ways to use the Internet in promoting to the middle-grade level.

YA author Holly Black surprised attendees with a dramatic reading of a poem she wrote as a tween.

Taming the Monsters
At midday, the crowd was excited to hear from luncheon speaker Holly Black, the bestselling author of contemporary fantasy novels for teens and children.

In a hilarious presentation that featured a slideshow of resources, references, and candid photos, Black spoke about the ways that her upbringing—growing up in a 100-year-old house, with a mom who liked to tell ghost stories—has influenced her writing; the inspiration for her latest book, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown (Little, Brown), a young adult vampire tale that debuts in September; and the human race’s fascinating—and complicated—relationship with monsters.

“We absorb what we’re scared of and find ways of making it harmless to us,” Black said, revealing that, as a child, she transformed some of her Barbie dolls into “good” vampires in order to protect her from the “bad” vampires. Black also highlighted for the audience some classics and out-of-print gems of vampire fiction that were among her favorite teen reads, and read aloud a poem about vampires that she had written in seventh grade, to the delight of the crowd.

Coldest Girl is the first book Black has written that features vampires, even though her fascination with the iconic characters goes back to childhood. “I didn’t know if I had anything to add to the conversation,” she noted. It was only after contributing, on request, a short story to a recent vampire anthology, that “it turned out I had all these thoughts and feelings and memories” on the subject, she explained. “I had forgotten all the things I told you about today.”

Added Black, “in our domesticated hearts is a yearning to get close to death and escape…and maybe watch others get close and not escape. We are fascinated by extremes of human behavior and our own monstrousness. Imagine how much weirder and worse it could get.”

Her latest novel aims to do just that. “What might seem glamorous from a distance is pretty horrific close up,” Black said of some of the key plot points in Coldest Girl. “It’s also about a girl like me who grew up on scary bedtime stories. Her story is my story.”

During a Q&A session immediately following her talk, Black revealed that she is halfway through writing a new YA faerie book that she’s calling The Darkest Part of the Forest; that a sequel to Doll Bones is not in the cards at the moment—“I don’t have an idea about what that would be that wouldn’t be a little bit sad, and by a little bit sad I mean really sad,” she said; and that the secret to the famed hidden library in her Massachusetts home can be found at www.hiddendoors.com.

“You, too, can have a secret anything,” she joked.

Authors Matthew Quick, Julie Berry, Adele Griffin, Elizabeth Scott, and Elizabeth Wein.

From Darkness to Light
During the afternoon, attendees experienced two panels seemingly at opposite ends of the spectrum: “Real-World Horror in YA” and “Visual Storytelling.”

SLJ blogger Karyn Silverman, high school librarian and educational technology department chair of the Little Red School House & Elisabeth Irwin High School, got things going as moderator of “Real-World Horror.” Panelists were Julie Berry, Adele Griffin, Elizabeth Scott, Matthew Quick, and Elizabeth Wein.

In an intense discussion, each author shared titles of some of the books they read as teens as well as the reasons they now write for teens, the sometimes very personal inspirations behind their most compelling and acclaimed books, and the role of such themes as hope and friendship in such dark, real-world stories. The authors also shared some of their greatest fears in life.

Author/illustrators Lizi Boyd, Oliver Jeffers, Matt Phelan, Chris Raschka, and David Wiesner.

Rounding out the day was the compelling “Visual Storytelling” panel, featuring author/illustrators Lizi Boyd, Oliver Jeffers, Matt Phelan, Chris Raschka, and David Wiesner. It was moderated by Rita Auerbach, children’s literature specialist and storyteller, who told the crowd, “we have five of the finest artists in the world for you, truly a distinguished panel.”

Each artist explained in depth the extent of their creative processes and discussed pacing, economy of word choice, variations in storytelling formats (including near-wordless books and graphic novels), conventions of the genre and ways to break them. Attendees were treated to visual examples of the artists’ most popular work and previews of their newest titles, truly a highlight of the day.

As Wiesner put it, “Everyone here, we work dramatically differently, but it’s an amazing art form and an amazing world to be a part of.”

Added Auerbach, “Explore their books further and find all sorts of wonders!”

Roger Sutton and Rebecca Stead chat with picture book winner Jonathan Bean after the announcement.

“The Boston Globe-Horn Book awards have always had an independent spirit and this year is no different,” Sutton says. “Each of the judges brings a unique perspective on children’s literature, which combined always makes for a wonderful variety and high quality of winners and honor books and almost always provides us with a few surprises as well.”

Celebrating its 46th year, the awards showcase the best in children’s and young adult literature in each of three categories: picture book, fiction and poetry, and nonfiction.

PICTURE BOOK AWARD
The best picture book is Building our House (Farrar), which is written and illustrated by Jonathan Bean. Honor winners in the category are Open this Little Book (Chronicle) by Jesse Klausmeier, illustrated by Suzy Lee, and Black Dog (Candlewick), written and illustrated by Levi Pinfold.

FICTION AWARD
The best young adult fiction book is Eleanor & Park (St. Martin’s Griffin) by Rainbow Rowell. The two honor winners in the category are Seraphina (Random) by Rachel Hartman and A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty (Arthur A. Levine Books).

NONFICTION AWARD
The best nonfiction book is Electric Ben: The Amazing Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin (Dial Books), written and illustrated by Robert Byrd. The two honor winners in the category are Dreaming Up: A Celebration of Building (Lee & Low), written and illustrated by Christy Hale, and Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who Changed America (Disney) by Andrea Davis Pinkney and illustrated by Brian Pinkney.

The awards are chosen by an independent panel of three judges appointed by Sutton. This year’s judges are: Chair, Sarah Ellis, Horn Book reviewer, author, and teacher at The Vermont College of Fine Arts (Vancouver, B.C.); Pamela Yosca, children’s librarian and library consultant at MATCH Charter Public High School (Jamaica Plain, MA); and Karen Kosko, retired school librarian (Cambridge, MA).

The winning titles must be published in the United States, but they may be written or illustrated by citizens of any country.

The awards will be given at a ceremony on October 4, 2013, to kick off the two-day Horn Book at Simmons Colloquium (October 4 and 5, 2013) in Boston, MA. The following day, the award winners and honorees will be featured in talks, panels, and small group sessions for librarians and educators.

Authors of SLJ’s DOD 2013 panel “Middle School Drama and Trauma.” l. to r. Holly Sloan, Ayun Halliday, Gordon Korman, Linda Urban, and Josh Farrar.

From tragic turning points to budding first love, some of the most talented and up-and-coming authors for the middle grade audience shared their insights on the writing process, connection to their intended audience, and how humor plays a part in all of their works at SLJ’s annual Day of Dialog.

Held at Columbia University’s Faculty House and moderated by Caroline Ward, head of youth servicesat Ferguson Library in Stanford, CT, the second panel of the day focused on themes of friendship, loss, identity, and overcoming great obstacles. Ward posed several questions that led to lively conversation among the panelists.

The speakers noted that readers between the ages of 10 and 12 were special because they’re beginning to take charge of their own opinions and experiencing important emotions for the first time, something Josh Farrar noted was “gold to authors.” Farrar explores first crushes in his book A Song for Bijou (Bloomsbury, 2013), a tale about Alex, a boy who falls for Bijou, a girl who relocates to Brooklyn, NY, after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

The prolific Gordon Korman incorporates humor in most of his titles, including Hypnotize Me (Scholastic, 2013), which features a main character who doesn’t know that he’s descended from the two most powerful hypnotist bloodlines on the planet. Middle schoolers see humor in their world and often use it to protect themselves, noted Korman. The other panelists agreed that because of the age level of the protagonists, there will always be some underlying humor in even an issue-filled book for tweens. While Farrar’s story is about a survivor of the tragic earthquake, humor and positive relationships lighten the tale’s mood and offer hope.

Ward’s inquiry to the novelists about writing gender specific novels stirred up passionate reactions from the crowd. Linda Urban, author of The Center of Everything (Houghton Harcourt), whose main character turns 12 while coming to terms with her grief following the death of her grandmother, made a plea to the editors and publishers in the room to create gender neutral covers for middle grade titles. Urban argued that the cover art often will make the book interesting to either girls or boys, even though the story itself might have more universal appeal.

Ayun Halliday, author of Peanut (Random), a graphic novel about a girl who fakes a peanut allergy in the hope that she will get sympathy and make friends in her new school, raved about her novel’s unique cover design, which features a single peanut against a blue background, and has no obvious intended audience. Holly Sloan, a former TV and film screenwriter, wrote Counting by Sevens about a 12-year-old girl genius whose world is forever changed when her parents die in a car crash, declared “There are no books for boys or girls. There are books for people”.

Keynote: Kevin Henkes

Kevin Henkes is he author and illustrator of close to 50 critically acclaimed and award-winning picture books, beginning readers, and novels. He received the Caldecott medal for Kitten’s First Full Moon in 2005 and a Newbery honor for the novel Olive’s Ocean. He is also the creator of a number of picture books featuring his mouse characters, including the #1 New York Times bestsellers Lilly’s Big Day and Wemberly Worried, the Caldecott honor book Owen, and the beloved Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse. Also among his fiction for older readers are the novels Junonia, Bird Lake Moon, The Birthday Room, Sun & Spoon, and his upcoming novel for middle-grade readers The Year Of Billy Miller. He lives with his family in Madison, Wisconsin. You can visit him online at www.kevinhenkes.com.

Panel I: Informational Picture Books

Moderator: Kathleen T. Isaacs, author of Picturing The World: Informational Picture Books For Children (ALA, 2013)

Panelists: Jim Arnosky, Shimmer & Splash (Sterling) Jennifer Berne, On A Beam Of Light: A Story Of Albert Einstein (Chronicle) Elisha Cooper, Train (Scholastic) Thomas Gonzalez, Gandhi (Amazon) Jonah Winter, You Never Heard Of Willie Mays?! (Random House)

Panel II: Middle School Drama and Trauma

Moderator: Caroline Ward, head of youth services, Ferguson Library, Stamford, CT

Panelists: Ayun Halliday, Peanut (Random House) Josh Farrar, A Song For Bijou (Bloomsbury) Gordon Korman, Hypnotize Me (Scholastic) Holly Sloan, Counting by Sevens (Penguin) Linda Urban, The Center of Everything (Houghton Harcourt)

Publishers’ Pitch I

Brilliance Audio, Candlewick Press, Chronicle Books, Harlequin Teen, HarperCollins Publishers, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Lerner Publishing Group, Little, Brown and Company

Luncheon Speaker: Holly Black

Holly Black Is the bestselling author of contemporary fantasy novels for teens and children, including Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale and the #1 New York Times bestselling Spiderwick series. She has been a finalist for the Mythopoeic Award and the Eisner Award, and the recipient of the Andre Norton Award. Holly lives in Massachusetts in a house with a secret library. Her website: www.blackholly.com.

Panel III: Real-World Horror In YA

Moderator: Karyn Silverman, high school librarian, educational technology department chair, Little Red School House & Elisabeth Irwin High School

Panelists: Julie Berry, All the Truth That’s in Me (Penguin) Adele Griffin, Loud Awake and Lost (Random House) Elizabeth Scott, Heartbeat (Harlequin) Matthew Quick, Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock (Little, Brown) Elizabeth Wein, Rose Under Fire (Hyperion)

Publishers’ Pitch II

Listening Library/Random House, Random House Children’s Books, Penguin Young Readers Group, Scholastic, Sourcebooks, Sterling Publishing, Blink, Bloomsbury Children’s Books

Panel IV: Visual Storytelling

Moderator: Rita Auerbach, children’s literature specialist and storyteller

Panelists: Lizi Boyd, Inside Outside (Chronicle) Oliver Jeffers, The Day the Crayons Quit (Penguin) Matt Phelan, Bluffton (Candlewick) Chris Raschka, Daisy Gets Lost (Random House) David Wiesner, Mr. Wuffles! (Houghton Harcourt)

Designed to be an essential road map to the event, the guide aims to help library professionals navigate the more than 1,000 booths and the hundreds of author signings scheduled throughout the weekend. It includes publishers’ booth numbers, times and locations of book signings both in booths and in autograph areas, a list of ARC and book giveaways, and the buzz on a few hot new titles being featured this year.

The guide also includes previews and descriptions of all the new children’s and young adult book releases, making it a resource for non-attendees as well.

You can sign up here to receive your free copy.

There’s an auction website where you can preview the art. For the first time, if you can’t be present at the event, you will have the chance to bid on these terrific pieces online a week before.

Tickets for the auction and reception on May 29 from 5:30 to 7:30 pm are $99. Tickets are free to all member bookstores of the ABC Children’s Group at ABA.

Story Time App

Bookboard, a children’s book subscription service on mobile devices, is debuting its first release—an app for the iPad. They will be releasing 300 picture books, beginning readers, and chapter books for kids up to age 12. With a subscription ($29.94 for 6 months or $8.99 on a monthly plan), you have unlimited access to all the titles and get up to four child reader accounts. Each book has a read-to-me option, and Bookboard suggests additional books based on what the child has been reading. Among the titles are Mechanimals by Chris Tougas (Orca, 2007), Fun in the Mud by Anna Prokos (Red Chair Pr., 2010), I Bruno by Caroline Adderson (Orca, 2007), and Pierre Le Poof! by Andrea Beck (Orca, 2009). You can visit Bookboard’s website for a free trial.

Recycle and Earn AV Equipment

Do you have old, used headphones just taking up space your library or classroom? Now you can recycle them—think Earth Day!—and earn cash or points that you can redeem for new technology. Califone, a manufacturer of audiovisual equipment and supplemental curriculum products, has partnered with FundingFactory, a free program that recycles electronic waste. Once you turn in your old headphones, you can earn points to purchase new headphones or headsets from Califone. “Our partnership supports a broader definition of what it means to be green, providing schools with the unique opportunity to recycle end-of-life headphones and headsets and minimize waste,” said Tim Ridgway, vice president of marketing for Califone. “Not only can educators take action to keep e-waste out of landfills, they can raise funds at the same time to meet their evolving technology needs.”

In addition to headphones and headsets, check out FundingFactory’s qualifying items list of other electronics and equipment that can be recycled for cash or points, such as laptops, mp3 players, ink cartridges, and more. For more information or to register for this recycling program, visit FundingFactory’s website.

Children’s Books That Inspire Volunteerism

The Corporate Volunteer Council (CVC) of Atlanta is asking for nominations of children’s books (kindergarten through 5th grade) to be considered for the 11th annual Carol D. Reiser Children’s Book Award. The books—works for fiction, poetry, folklore, non-fiction, or anthology published in the U.S. for children in kindergarten through 5th grade—should “inspire community service and volunteerism.” The judging panel includes national literary experts and representatives of the CVC of Atlanta. The nomination process is simple. Just download and complete a nomination form and mail it in with copies of the book to the CVC of Atlanta according to the instructions on the form by May 30. The awards will be presented in August at the Decatur Book Festival and in September at the CVC of Atlanta’s IMPACT Awards event that honors excellence in corporate community engagement.

The CVC of Atlanta is a professional association of Atlanta businesses that promotes employee volunteerism and provides a forum for networking, etc. Carol D. Reiser is a co-founder and past president of the CVC.

Street Lit Awards

The 2013 Street Literature Book Award Medal (SLBAM) winners and honorees have been announced in the young adult fiction category as well as the adult fiction, nonfiction, and emerging classic categories. On the Flip Side: A Fab Life Novel (K-Teen/Dafina) by Nikki Carter is the winner in the Young Adult Fiction category. The three honorees in that category are: How to Get Out of the Way of Your Own Self (Grand Central) by Tyrese Gibson, Shattered (Grand Central) by Kia Dupree, and Back to Me (Harlequin Kimani TRU) by Earl Sewell. Titles were nominated in each category based of their popularity in school, public, and academic libraries in the U.S. The awards committee consisted of librarians in school and public libraries.

According to The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Street Literature (ALA, 2011), Street Literature can be defined as a literary genre “where the stories, be they fiction or nonfiction, are consistently set in urban, inner-city enclaves. Street Literature of yesteryear and today, by and large, depicts tales about the daily lives of people living in lower income city neighborhoods. This characteristic spans historical timelines, varying cultural identifications, linguistic associations, and various formal designations.” Make sure to check out a complete list of SLBAM winners from 1999 to the present.

Romance Is in the Air

Are your teen patrons romantics at heart? Romance Writers of America has just announced the 2013 RITA and Golden Heart Award finalists. The RITA award for published romance fiction novels and novellas features 12 categories, including one for Young Adult Romances, while the Golden Heart (unpublished romance fiction manuscripts) boasts 7 categories (including Young Adult Romances). A novel can be entered for the RITA Award by the author or the book’s publisher. For the Golden Heart Award, the authors can enter their manuscripts—and many finalists sell their manuscripts based on their exposure during the judging.

The RITA Young Adult Romance finalists are: Bound by Erica O’Rourke (Kensington/KTeen), The Farm by Emily McKay (Penguin/Berkley), Robin LaFevers’s Grave Mercy (Houghton Harcourt), and Pushing the Limits (Harlequin Teen) by Katie McGarry.

The Golden Heart finalists in the Young Adult Romance category are: Camp Awakening by Bonnie Staring, Hidden Deep by Amy DeLuca, Leath’Dhia/Birthright by KariMiller, Miranda Perry’s Imported Prom Date by Sheri Adkins, Sticks and Stones by Kimberly MacCarron, Summer of Supernoval by Darcy Woods, and Ten by Holly Bodger. The winners will be announced at a black-tie awards ceremony on July 20 at the 2013 Romance Writers of America Annual Conference in Atlanta, GA.

International Kid Lit Award

Argentinian illustrator/author Isol (Marisol Misenta) has won the coveted Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, an international children’s literature award given each year by the Swedish government to an individual or organization working “in the spirit of Astrid Lindgren” to “safeguard democratic values.” There were 207 candidates for the award this year, including Eric Carle and Michael Morpurgo.

The winner was selected by a jury of 12 international children’s literature experts who noted that “with a restrained palette and ever-innovative pictorial solutions, [Isol] shifts ingrained perspectives and pushes the boundaries of the picture book medium. Taking children’s clear view of the world as her starting point, she addresses their questions with forceful artistic expression and offers open answers. With liberating humour and levity, she also deals with the darker aspects of existence.” Isol’s work, including her 1997 debut Vida de Perros and Tener Un Patito Es Util, has been published in 20 countries. Isol will receive 5 million SEK (about $760,000), the largest award for children’s literature, in Stockholm on May 27.

The award honors Lindgren (1907–2002), best known for her “Pippi Longstocking” series. Among the previous recipients of the award are Shaun Tan, Philip Pullman, and Maurice Sendak.

“It was a wonderful night celebrating some of the stars of children’s publishing,” said Renee McGrath, a librarian with New York’s Nassau Library System, about the two-hour event sponsored by SLJ and the Association of American Publishers.

More than 200 media specialists and youth librarians gathered for dinner and to hear the authors and illustrators speak at the Holiday Inn as part of the many events that kicked off Book Expo America.

“I liked the diversity of authors, with three who are very established and two who are newer to librarians,” said Tiffany Emerick, a librarian at Valley Elementary School in Bensalem, PA, referring to Stephens, a TV producer, and Valente, an adult fantasy and science fiction writer, who are writing their second book for the youth market. “I also appreciated that they wrote and illustrated for a diverse age level.”

In preparation for the dinner, moderator and SLJ’s Book Review Editor Trev Jones, says she stayed up until the wee hours of the morning reading Stephen’s The Fire Chronicle (Knopf, 2012), the second book in the “Books of Beginnings” series, about three siblings on a perilous quest to find their parents. Stephens, who’s taking a break from the world of television, said that as a preschooler he “wanted to be a writer-or a T-Rex”.

Valente told the audience about her love of libraries. Her first kids’ book, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In a Ship of Her Own Making (2011), debuted at number eight on the New York Times bestseller list last May-and her second book in the series, The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There (2012, both Feiwel), about a girl from Omaha who’s spirited away to fairyland, is expected out in October.

“Valente was the perfect closing speaker, and I had tears in my eyes as she shared her love of libraries,” said Emerick, whose publisher Macmillan will post her remarks on its website.

Marian McLeod, a librarian at Connecticut’s Darien Library, tweeted that the evening was “librarian heaven,” as Collier, Frazee, and Green charmed the audience with stories about their works.

Frazee, who has received two Caldecott Honors for her work, showed slides of her family growing up and the books that paralleled particular family and publishing events over the last 25 years. Her latest book, Boots & Shoe (S&S, 2012), was inspired by the recent addition of a puppy to her family.

Green (above) , author of the New York Times number one bestseller, The Fault in Our Stars (Dutton, 2012), discussed growing up in Orlando and his mother’s social activism.

Collier, who has written a Caldecott Honor and a Coretta Scott King-winning title, spoke about his artwork, particularly, Fifty Cents and a Dream (LittleBrown, 2012), which is about the young Booker T. Washington and is written by Jabari Asim,

The audience ended the evening on a high note.

“These authors made the audience consider the infinite possibilities, from the realistic to the fantastical,” said Susannah Richards, an associate professor of education at Eastern Connecticut State University. “There was something for every reader.”

Emerick is already looking forward to attending next year.

“I was honored to attend, and I love that it said “first annual” on the invite so I can look forward coming for years to come!”

See also:

SLJ 2012 Day of Dialog: Keeping Middle Schoolers Engaged

The Horn Book’s editor in chief Roger Sutton and 2010 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award-winning author Rebecca Stead (W hen You Reach Me, Random House) announced the winners today at BookExpo America in New York.

“The Boston Globe-Horn Book awards are unique for so many reasons-the winners are books that are frequently unusual or under-the-radar choices,” says Sutton. “Because of the small judging panel, there’s always an excellent chance for surprise. Each year, the judges uncover some amazing treasures that I think will delight adult readers as much as the intended audience of children and young adults.”

Celebrating its 45th year, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards are among the most prestigious honors in the field of children’s and young adult literature. Winners and two Honor Books are selected in each of three categories: picture book, fiction and poetry, and nonfiction.

Following is a list of this year’s winners and honors:

Picture Book Award Winner:

Extra Yarn (Balzer + Bray, a HarperCollins imprint) by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen

When young Annabelle finds a small box containing a never-ending supply of yarn of every color, she does what any self-respecting knitter would do: she knits herself a sweater. Then she knits a sweater for her dog. She continues to knit colorful garments for everyone and everything in her snowy, sooty, colorless town-until an archduke gets greedy.

Picture Book Honor Winners:

And the Soldiers Sang (Creative Editions) by J. Patrick Lewis, illustrated by Gary Kelley

And Then It’s Spring (Roaring Brook Press, a Macmillan imprint) by Julie Fogliano, illustrated by Erin E. Stead

Fiction Award Winner:

No Crystal Stair: A Documentary Novel of the Life and Work of Lewis Michaux, Harlem Bookseller (Carolrhoda Lab, an imprint of Lerner) by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie

Lewis Michaux opened the National Memorial African Bookstore in Harlem at the end of the Great Depression with an inventory of five books and a strong faith that black people were hungry for knowledge. For the next 35 years, his store became a central gathering place for African American writers, artists, intellectuals, political figures, and ordinary citizens. In a daring combination of fiction and nonfiction and word and image, 36 narrative voices are interwoven with articles from the New York Amsterdam News, excerpts from Michaux’s FBI file, and family papers and photographs.

Fiction Honor Winners:

Life: An Exploded Diagram (Candlewick) by Mal Peet

Code Name Verity (Hyperion) by Elizabeth Wein

Nonfiction Winner:

Chuck Close: Face Book (Abrams) written and illustrated by Chuck Close

Chuck Close’s art is easy to describe and especially attractive to children because he creates only portraits-in almost every possible medium with an intriguing trompe l’oeil effect. This book explores how his life story and so-called disabilities relate directly to his style. In this Q&A-style narrative, Close himself answers with a clear voice without a hint of famous-artist self-aggrandizement or angst.

Nonfiction Honor Winners:

The Elephant Scientist (Houghton) by Caitlin O’Connell & Donna M. Jackson, photographs by Caitlin O’Connell and Timothy Rodwell

Georgia in Hawaii: When Georgia O’Keeffe Painted What She Pleased (Houghton) by Amy Novesky, illustrated by Yuyi Morales

Sutton appoints an independent panel of three judges to choose the awards. This year’s judges are: chair Thom Barthelmess, curator and lecturer, Butler Children’s Literature Center, Dominican University in Chicago, IL; Lauren Adams, high school English teacher and former The Horn Book editor; and Megan Lambert, instructor at the Center for the Study of Children’s Literature at Simmons College in Boston, MA.

The winning titles can be written or illustrated by citizens of any country, but they must be published in the United States.

Check out a complete list of previous winners.

See below for more coverage of SLJ 2012 Day of Dialog:

• Walter Dean Myers Vows to Close the Reading Gap

• Keeping Middle Schoolers Engaged

• Pushing the Picture Book Envelope

• #SLJDOD Twitter Feed

• Pictures from SLJ 2012 Day of Dialog

The best nonfiction books also aren’t afraid to show a strong point of view, says author-editor Marc Aronson, another member of the panel on “Dynamic Nonfiction for Kids and Teens: Exploring informational books that spark curiosity and stimulate inquiry.” In fact, “the key to the Common Core is the idea that all nonfiction inherently has a point of view,” says Aronson, referring to our nation’s new education standards, which will require young learners to read 55 percent informational texts by the time they reach eighth grade and 70 percent nonfiction texts as high school seniors.

So do kids’ book authors ever write nonfiction that’s aimed at plugging holes in K-12 schools’ curriculums? asked panel moderator, Susan Marston, editorial director of Junior Library Guild, a collection development service that’s owned by SLJ‘s parent company, Media Source. “I don’t worry about the curriculum,” says Fleming. Instead, she concentrates on finding stories that kids will find genuinely interesting.

That’s also Sue Macy’s approach. “If it’s a good story, it’s a good story,” says Macy, a panelist and the author of Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (National Geographic, 2011). “I write about topics that aren’t in history books, aren’t in the textbooks, topics that I wish were in them,” says Macy, who drew the biggest laugh of the session when she explained how people once worried that the shape of a bicycle seat might cause a woman to have an orgasm.

As for those conventional textbooks, Aronson would love to get rid of the ones that target state histories: “It’s the worst idea ever,” he explains. As nonfiction writers, “our goal is to create an immersive experience” for young readers and offer them stories that that they will truly care about.

One way of doing that is by giving students both print and digital content, says Brenda Murray, Scholastic’s senior editor for nonfiction and Discover More, a series that pairs traditional books with specially developed digital titles. “Nonfiction, and especially, digital materials are important for kids,” says Murray, and “help motivate readers, especially reluctant readers.”

That’s a message that Aronson can get behind. “This is a revival tent, and I want you to be my apostles,” he told the crowd of hundreds of librarians, publishers, and other children’s book lovers. “Please put nonfiction books into digital form. If we want kids to have the best in nonfiction with a point of view, those books must be available in either paper or digital. Amen!”

From Left: Sharon Creech, Joan Bauer, Eoin Colfer, James Dashner, Jennifer Hubert Swain, Rebecca Stead

Middle school students are a “hormonally charged” bunch who are “full of complex contradictions” and just “want a voice,” say authors who participated in SLJ‘s 2012 Day of Dialog on June 4 at New York’s Jacob Javits Convention Center.

Rebecca Stead, winner of the 2010 Newbery Award for When You Reach Me (Random, 2009) and a panelist in “Minding the Reading Gap: How to Keep Middle School Readers Engaged,” says she draws on her own childhood experiences when writing to “build a story out of small moments.” Her latest, Liar & Spy (Random), a funny tale about destiny, goofy brilliance, and courage, is expected this August.

Joan Bauer, who received a 2001 Newbery Honor for Hope Was Here (Putnam, 2000), says she was haunted by “middle school ghosts” during a recent visit to her old school, where she was reduced to a “social zero.” She now uses the power of fiction to share her past experience and give readers hope that the pain does end.

Sharon Creech, 1995 Newbery winner for Walk Two Moons (HarperCollins, 1994), says during author visits, she often sees a shy child holding one of her books close to their chests, and then approach her to say, “How did you know this was what I was thinking?”

Eoin Colfer, author of the “Artemis Fowl” series (Hyperion) says he still can’t understand why he was forced to read classics such as Henry James’s The Portrait of a Lady, ” about an American heiress who travels to America, instead of Nobel Prize-winning English author William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, about British schoolboys who are stranded on a tropical island. His favorite reading spot was the trunk of his family’s car.

James Dashner, who writes the “13th Reality” fantasy series, describes himself as “supernaturally dorky” during his middle school years. His “most magical” moments growing up in Georgia were spending his summers sitting in front of the air conditioner and reading.

The topic of ebooks drew mixed reactions from panelists, with Colfer warning that books shouldn’t compete with technology. Dashner agreed, adding “anything that gets kids reading can’t be bad.” Meanwhile, Stead sees the convenience of ereaders, saying she was touched when her son, a middle schooler, recently put a paperback to his nose and remarked on the distinct smell of print books.

To see what other had to say about this and other Day of Dialog panels on Twitter using the hashtag #SLJDOD.

(l. to r.) Amy Krouse Rosenthal, Jon Klassen, Tom Lichtenheld, D.B. Johnson, & Mac Barnett

The picture book isn’t dead—in fact, it might be entering a golden age, say some of the most talented and innovative children’s book creators during SLJ’s Day of Dialog.

Moderated by New York Public Library Youth Materials Collections Specialist, Betsy Bird, the panelists on “Pushing the Picture Book Envelope” gave the audience a visual delight that included a presentation of each book trailer, along with rousing commentary from each creator.

Bird, also an SLJ blogger, dubbed Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld, collaborators on Wumbers (Chronicle), the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers of children’s literature for their ability to bring “the sound of numbers” in their latest book by using word and number gymnastics. Lichtenheld cites William Steig’s CDB! (S & S, 1968), a collection of pictures with captions written in code, and MAD Magazine, as visual influences, while Rosenthal mentions her love for “tinkering with language” and wordplay as the inspiration behind their work. She says this title appeals to children who aren’t necessarily born readers but who need to be led to the “reading party” through nontraditional themes.

Mac Barnett, author of Chloe and the Lion (Hyperion), crosses into the meta-fiction category, breaks down the fourth wall, and gives him and illustrator Adam Rex active roles as protagonists in their rambunctious picture book. Influenced by Jon Stone’s classic, The Monster at the End of This Book (Random, 1971), which also speaks directly to its audience, Barnett says he’s always enjoyed fiction that escaped the artifice of the “book” and strains the tension between text and image. Evident in the book trailer, this author/illustrator pair’s tongue-and-cheek humor elicited peals of laughter from the audience.

Jon Klassen, an Irma Black Award Finalist, opened with a trailer to This is Not My Hat (Candlewick), the sequel to his award-winning I Want My Hat Back. He says kids are just looking for a good story. Like one of his favorites, P. D. Eastman’s Sam and the Firefly (Random, 1958), picture books have to grab readers’ attention right from the start.

D. B. Johnson, author/illustrator of Magritte’s Marvelous Hat (Houghton Harcourt) and a longtime illustrator of picture books, made a splash with his surreal Magritte’s Marvelous Hat. He believes authors and illustrators of children’s books have to “embrace the nonsense,” let imagination and creativity manifest in new and groundbreaking ways, and not be so tied down by the latest trends. As long as visual language continues to be kids’ native language, then the picture book will continue to be successful, he says.”There’s a purity in it” that can’t be achieved through other mediums.

Maurice Sendak’s recent death was on the panelists’ minds, with Johnson calling him a god. Klassen admired Sendak’s ability to look right at a reader and “tell it to you straight.” Barnett agreed that Sendak was among the first picture book trailblazers, stating that the form is still an arena suitable for innovation and challenge, and contrary to popular belief, we just might be entering into a new golden age of the picture book.