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.

Bramer and Gentile—who both chair council committees on library services—were joined by Thomas Galante, president/CEO of Queens Library; Anthony Marx, president/CEO of the New York Public Library; and Linda Johnson, the  president/CEO of Brooklyn Public Library; as well as representatives from advocacy group Urban Librarians Unite (ULU) and the DC37 municipal employees union.

The children in attendance spoke from a mini-podium, in the role of journalists, asking the council members questions about library funding, according to Joanne King, director of communications for the Queens Library in Jamaica, NY. Queens alone is facing a proposed cut of $29.6 million, which would force the closure of 36 libraries and the layoff more than 420 staff, King says, noting that citywide, more than a thousand library employees would lose their jobs.

“More importantly,” King says, “millions of New Yorkers would lose access to the valuable free services of their public libraries. More than 75 percent of New Yorkers use their public libraries; yet the libraries…account for less than on half of 1 percent of the city’s budget.”

Adds Galante, “Free public libraries are more critical to the fabric of our democratic society than ever before. We are a digital bridge, a community hub, a center of lifelong learning, and the place where new opportunities are realized every single day.”

More information is available via ULU’s Save NYC Libraries site or Queens Library’s Speakup campaign.

Hachette’s entire catalog of 5,000 ebooks will now be available through OverDrive, Baker & Taylor’s Axis 360 platform, and the 3M Cloud Library, under a pricing and licensing model similar to the one employed by Random House. New titles will be made available to libraries immediately upon publication, and Hachette will charge libraries three times the retail hardcover price for new releases. One year after publication, the purchase price will drop to one and a half times the cost of retail, according Hachette’s announcement. These ebooks are then “owned” by the purchasing library. Licenses do not expire, and titles can be checked out an unlimited number of times under a one book/one user model.

“Our goal is to have authors’ work available on as many bookshelves and platforms as possible, and we’re looking forward to working with public libraries to serve their communities of readers as their reading habits evolve,” Hachette CEO Michael Pietsch said in the announcement.

The news first broke in a New York Times op-ed by NYPL President Tony Marx, who commented on improving relations between the Big Six publishers and libraries over the sale of ebooks.

“While HarperCollins…was the first to provide access, after the [economic] downturn, it limited the number of times each e-book could be lent, while Hachette decided to no longer sell new e-books to libraries, and Penguin, which had agreed to do so, said it might back out,” he wrote. “To their credit, the publishers have now each come around,” with Simon & Schuster and Macmillan also recently announcing pilot programs.

Yet while the situation is improving, “many issues still need to be sorted out,” Marx adds. Between the expiring licensing terms or loan caps or imposed by  HarperCollins, Penguin, and Simon & Schuster, or the significantly higher-than-retail prices charged by Random House and Hachette, ebooks remain very expensive for libraries, during a period of rising demand and declining budgets.

Hachette’s announcement states that its library ebook pricing model will be reviewed annually, with input from stakeholders including the American Library Association (ALA). ALA President Maureen Sullivan today expressed hope that an ongoing dialog may lead to more favorable pricing for libraries in the future.

“We welcome Hachette Book Group’s assertion that they will continue to review their library pricing going forward,” Sullivan said in a statement to the press. “ALA and its members believe that there must be business models with lower price points for which publishers can still make a reasonable profit.”

“With open minds and open communications channels, I believe libraries, publishers and authors will continue to find solutions to bring more content and greater balance to the reading ecosystem.”

Librarians from “Alternative Children’s Library” Panel
l. to r. Allie Bruce, Jennifer K. Hanley-Leonard, Ayanna Coleman, Leah High

With the economy still not fully recovered, what lies ahead for aspiring children’s librarians? Though prospects may seem grim, thinking outside the box may be a solution for those interested in the profession, according to New York Public Library youth materials specialist and School Library Journal blogger Betsy Bird. Bird recently moderated a panel “The Alternative Children’s Library,” in which several children’s librarians discussed their own nontraditional paths to the profession.

The panelists spoke about the challenges that they’ve encountered in their roles and the ways in which their careers differ from those of more typical librarians. Allie Bruce, librarian at the Bankstreet School for Children, an independent K–8 school affiliated with the Bank Street College for Education, is in the unique position of working with very young patrons as well as those with advanced degrees. In addition to providing teachers with materials for lesson plans and helping students look for books, Bruce also often guides students at the college looking for professional reading related to their classes.

“In some ways, I do see myself as an academic librarian,” Bruce tells SLJ, “because I assist grownups with research questions and need to have a thorough grounding in the history of children’s literature, in addition to teaching kids every day.”

Jennifer K. Hanley-Leonard, of The New York Society Library, a private, members-only library located on the Upper East Side, often finds herself in similar situations. While she primarily works with children and their parents, some of her patrons are writers who come to the library in order to get a feel for emerging trends in the industry, to look at current illustration styles, and to research potential publishing houses to pitch.

The career of Ayanna Coleman, Events Associate & Librarian at the Children’s Book Council, differs perhaps the most from the other panelists. She has yet to see a juvenile patron in her library, she notes. Because the CBC is a nonprofit association whose primary goal is to let publishers work together on common issues, the bulk of its visitors are adults in the publishing field rather than children seeking pleasure reading. Coleman describes her role as more a curator than as a children’s librarian: in addition to event planning, she is charged with maintaining a collection of books published over the past year by CBC members, as well as an ongoing collection of award winners. She often meets with editors and designers who browse materials to stay abreast of what other houses are publishing, and fields questions about weeding and maintaining the collection from visitors enrolled in children’s literature classes.

The panelists emphasize a need to be creative when entering the field. Leah High, children’s librarian at the Nolen and Watson Libraries of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, says her flexibility positively impacted her career trajectory. While she was unable to find a job after receiving a fine arts degree, working in a public library after college inspired her to attend library school. Her experiences as a high school librarian and later as an after-school program coordinator, combined with her art background, eventually made her an ideal fit for her current position.

Similarly, Coleman’s original intent was to work in children’s publishing. However, finding it difficult to break into the field, she chose to obtain an MLS in order to “learn about one of publishers’ biggest clients.” Although attending library school without the goal of working as a school or public librarian was unusual, Coleman saw it as an opportunity to give herself an edge in a competitive industry. She tells SLJ, “I was all the way in the Midwest and had a very shadowy idea of how I was going to make myself stand out—hoping the library degree would do it.”

Despite the varying paths the panelists have taken, above all, they are united by their genuine love for the subject. Although Coleman’s degree has resulted in a career that is far closer to the publishing industry than to traditional librarianship, ultimately she believes that she is fulfilling the same objective as her peers. “The reason, first and foremost, that I wanted to go into publishing was to find amazing stories that kids would connect to and make sure those stories got published,” Coleman tells SLJ. “As long as I get to put thought-provoking books in the hands of youth, one way or another, I think I would be happy.”

Bruce concurs. She advises those just starting out in the field to, “figure out what your little brand of librarianship is going to be” and emphasizes the importance of following your passions and interests. “Don’t lose your sense of fun about whatever you’re passionate about.”

Connie Hsu, Sofia Quintero, Zetta Elliott, and Betsy Bird.

With the announcement of the Youth Media Awards only weeks in the past, talk turned to those such as the Pura Belpré and Coretta Scott King Awards. Several of the panelists discussed how these awards were a way for them to see themselves represented in literature. Little, Brown book editor Connie Hsu described growing up as an Asian American child in Alabama, and how gravitating towards books that received these awards was one of the few ways she was able to see worlds outside her own, adding that, “As a young person growing up, those awards helped me identify where I could see myself on the page.”

However, author Zetta Elliott noted that simply honoring authors of color wasn’t enough, and underscored the need to examine these awards more closely. Citing a study by Kyra Hicks that found that sixty percent of the Coretta Scott King awards go to twenty percent of writers, she voiced her frustration that fewer new and lesser-known authors are being honored. She also expressed concern over the fact that so many biographical or historical titles receive this honor, as she believes that while these books are admittedly well-written, children may not connect with them.

“Black children get the Brussels sprouts and liver books,” Elliott said. “They get the books that are good for them, they get the books that aren’t necessarily fun and exciting that would perhaps attract some of the reluctant readers in the black community.”

The panel also delved into more subtle obstacles to diversity. In some cases, the panelists said, simply including culturally diverse characters isn’t enough; attitudes are the problem. Quintero brought up the racially-tinged backlash after The Hunger Games was cast. When characters that were clearly depicted as darker-skinned were cast as actors of color, she said, many white readers were perturbed. “Even when there are characters of color on the page, people don’t see them.”

Along these lines, Elliott raised a common issue in many YA novels: white-washing covers, or depicting characters of color in such a way that draws attention away from their ethnicity on the book jacket. Elliott brought up Alaya Dawn Johnson’s recent steampunk novel The Summer Prince, which is set in an African-descended community in Brazil, but whose cover features the female protagonist in profile and from behind, making her racial identity far more ambiguous.

Though many believe that the answer is to stop putting figures on covers at all, Elliott feels that this is a copout. “We can’t surrender. We cannot give up that easily,” she said. “We have to put authentic images, accurate images on the cover.”

The panelists agreed that above all, education—at all levels—was key. Elliott, who currently teaches at the Center for Ethnic Studies at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, emphasized the need to offer training and workshops to writers and editors in order to establish cultural competence. For her, it’s vital that “people can look at a piece of literature and learn how to identify bias, how to identify distortions.”

Quintero also related an experience with the publishing industry that she said displays the pressing need not just for diversity but for awareness and cultural sensitivity. Quintero, who identifies as Afro-Latina, described having a Latina editor turn down one of her manuscripts. The rationale? Because the book’s protagonist was living in foster care instead of in a large extended family, her editor didn’t find her “Latina enough.”

Ultimately, literature is important to helping young people to be culturally sensitive and aware, Elliott stressed. “The way that the world is changing, they need to be able to demonstrate cultural competence,” she advised. “They need to understand their own cultural location but be able to communicate cross culturally with others, and books are an excellent way to do that.”

Kid lit authors Adam Gidwitz, Jeanne Birdsall, Elizabeth (Betsy) Bird, Rebecca Stead, and N.D. Wilson at the NYPL.

Earlier this month in New York City, authors Jeanne Birdsall, Rebecca Stead, and N.D. Wilson had lunch with librarians to informally discuss middle grade fiction. The authors joined the group ahead of the New York Public Library‘s Children’s Literary Salon “Middle Grade: Surviving the YA Onslaught,” an event that also included Adam Gidwitz, author of In a Glass Grimmly (Dutton, 2012).

One of the many topics addressed by the writers was the ambiguity of just who is the middle grade reader.

“I think the middle grader is in that period of time where they’re moving away from identifying as just a family member, but they haven’t yet gotten identify as part of the peer group,” said Jeanne Birdsall, author of the Penderwicks (Knopf) series. “They’re learning to be individuals.”

Meanwhile, Newbery-winning author Rebecca Stead pondered, “Kids’ brains are unfolding rapidly, and there’s this golden moment where they’re so curious and intellectually able. They want to ask big questions and juggle plot puzzles and casts of characters.” And that’s what she gives them in her books; her most recent is Liar & Spy (Wendy Lamb, 2012).

And N.D. Wilson, author of the Ashtown Burials (Random House), amusingly recounted Birdsall’s definition of middle school readers as having the intelligence and none of the hormones.

Afterwards, School Library Journal followed up with the authors to talk more about their childhood literary inspirations, writing for the middle grades, and what they hope their books give to kids.

Middle-grade authors N.D. Wilson, Jeanne Birdsall and Rebecca Stead after a NYC luncheon with librarians.

What were your favorite books from your middle school years?

Jeanne Birdsall:
My favorite authors from my middle grade years (1960 through 1963) were E. Nesbit, Edward Eager, Noel Streatfeild, Mary Norton, and C. S. Lewis. These people wrote extremely well, and with intelligence and humor. (Not that Lewis was a barrel of laughs, but he taught me about honor and for that I’d forgive him anything.) Also important for me was how these authors insisted that siblings, indeed families, can be a good thing. Since this didn’t match my personal experience, their books gave me hope that a kinder, gentler world might possibly lie outside the walls of my own home.

Rebecca Stead:
In middle school I read a lot of science fiction—Robert Heinlein, Anne McCaffrey, Ray Bradbury, comic books. I think escape was the name of the game.

N.D. Wilson:
The Lord of the Rings, especially The Two Towers, for typical boyhood escapist reasons [and] King Solomon’s Mines, because it made me realize how many stories were out there that I had yet to encounter. Also, every Tintin I could find because they were hard to get, deeply mysterious, and practically perfect in every way!

Is there a “trick” to being a middle school author?

Jeanne Birdsall:
There absolutely is a trick to being a middle grade writer. It’s all in the hair. If you don’t believe me, ask Laura Amy Schlitz, one of the best among us. Seriously? To write for children—of any age, not just MG readers—one must be able to feel the emotions of those children. As adults, we’ve learned that hurt fades, pain lessens, the joy we lose will be replaced by new joys, and the boy or girl who seemed at age eleven to be the only possible love forever and ever…wasn’t. Because children haven’t had time to gain this perspective, their emotions, good and bad, can be overwhelmingly intense. When writing for them, that’s where you start. Frankly, it can be uncomfortable.

Rebecca Stead:
No, sadly, if there are any tricks to writing (for middle-graders or anyone else), I have not discovered them. It’s just staying open, working hard, and a maintaining a willingness to revise.

N.D. Wilson:
Retaining the taste of a middle school reader. There are many, many books that I love across pretty much every genre and market, but middle grade adventure/fantasy is like my mama’s apple pie to my imagination. It’s where I find the deepest internal resonation.

In the NYPL literary salon, it was said during the discussion that “different books do different things.” What do yours do?

Jeanne Birdsall:
None of us can know what our books do, but only what we fervently hope they do. Here’s my wish list. Make children laugh. Give them comfort and hope, and temporary shelter. If they need assurance that all grown-ups aren’t bad, give that to them, too. Promote the idea that books are the best place to find every answer to every question, or at least attempts at such. And, maybe most important, encourage the belief that reading is a delightful way to spend your life, now, later, and on and on until the end.

Rebecca Stead:
I hope my books invite readers to enter and to be themselves, to draw their own conclusions. I often feel most like myself when I’m reading.

N.D. Wilson:
I aim high even though I’m unlikely to ever completely succeed. I hope that my books awaken a sense of wonder in my readers, a discovery that this world (our world) is a fantasy world, and an itch to explore and know as much of it as can be known by just one character living inside such a massive story.

NYPL’s salons are regularly scheduled events hosted by NYPL Youth Materials Specialist and School Library Journal blogger Elizabeth Bird. You can listen to this salon below.

All things Dr. Seuss were in the air Monday at the 42nd branch of the New York Public Library, including a sea of students sporting Cat in the Hat  hats in an attempt to set a Guinness Book World Record, a read-aloud of Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? by NASCAR Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon, and even a visit from the Cat in the Hat himself. These festivities marked Random House Children’s Books and Dr. Seuss Enterprises’ launch of the “Hats Off to Dr. Seuss!” campaign, a yearlong celebration of the famed children’s book author that coincides with the 75th anniversary of The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins.

This first stop for the campaign also included an announcement of a new partnership between Random House Children’s Books, Dr. Seuss Enterprises, and the Jeff Gordon Children’s Foundation, an organization dedicated to finding a cure for pediatric cancer.

Meghan McCarthy, Susan Kuklin, Sue Macy, and Deborah Heiligman at NYPL’s Ethics & Nonfiction Panel.

The best juvenile nonfiction strives to be both entertaining and enlightening, but writing a book that is both factually accurate and enjoyable can be a big challenge, says author and illustrator Meghan McCarthy. McCarthy was on hand recently to discuss these issues with some of her peers at New York Public Library’s latest literary panel, “Ethics and Nonfiction,” held on January 5. NYPL Youth Materials Specialist—and SLJ blogger—Betsy Bird moderated.

For these authors, a strong commitment to conveying the truth is paramount. When Deborah Heiligman wrote Honeybees (National Geographic, 2002), it wasn’t until the last possible minute that she noticed a factual error that the book’s illustrator had made: several bees are depicted flying in curlicues, not in a beeline as the insects actually travel. While it was too late in the publishing process to correct the mistake, Heiligman’s consternation over this relatively minor detail illustrates the strict allegiance that many authors have to accurately representing their subjects.

Panelists addressed the tension between crafting a good story and correctly portraying their subject. “It’s so hard to…infuse the story with excitement and stick to the letter of the law,” said Sue Macy, who wrote a precise history of women’s basketball in Basketball Belles (Holiday House, 2011) but wished that the book had been more entertaining in places. “I fight myself on this all the time because you want people to read the book but you also want to be accurate.” She is currently dealing with this very issue as she works on a picture book on women’s roller derby in the 1940s. One moment in her book—a character jumping over the railing during a game—may not have actually occurred, but Macy (who will note for readers that this detail represents creative license on her part) believes this addition will enliven the narrative.

Though Heiligman disagreed with Macy about this particular example, she, too, acknowledged the difficulty of adhering to the facts when constructing a narrative. In her picture book The Boy Who Loved Math (Roaring Brook, 2013), the story of Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdös, she eliminated a line about how her subject’s sisters died of scarlet fever while he was being born, stating that she felt this would set a depressing tone and distract young readers from the rest of the book.

Authors also discussed the problem of how to proceed when not all the facts are available to them. When Susan Kuklin wrote Iqbal Masih and the Crusaders Against Child Slavery (Holt, 1998), the story of a Pakistani boy who became an activist against child labor, she came across conflicting information about the boy’s death. Unsure whether his death at age 12 was an accident or murder, she included both possibilities in her book. In this case, this was a “blessing in disguise,” as it provided opportunities for students to debate this question for themselves.

Panelists concluded by discussing the problem of information that some might see as inappropriate for younger readers. When working on Mary Leakey: In Search of Human Beginnings (W.H. Freeman and Co., 1995), Heiligman had some reservations about depicting Leakey’s affair with Richard Leaky, wondering if it would affect book sales, but ultimately included it. Macy said that when she was recently asked to write a middle-grade book on astronaut Sally Ride, she needed to be able to include that Ride had a same-sex partner, Tam O’Shaughnessy. Though her publishers were wary of the book being labeled a coming-out biography, Macy felt strongly that she needed to incorporate Ride’s relationship with O’Shaughnessy in order to honestly portray her life.

Ultimately, Heiligman’s words underscored the importance of accuracy in children’s nonfiction: “We have to make the choices as nonfiction writers to be…honest and true.”

Bullied when she was a girl, author and illustrator Frieda Wishinsky got payback by using her childhood persecutor as source material for her books. So Long Stinky Queen (Fitzhenry and Whiteside, 2000) is about two elementary school students who turn the tables on a bossy classmate, while You’re Mean, Lily Jean! (Albert Whitman, 2011), shows how a little girl finds a funny, effective way to stand up to her older sister’s overbearing new friend.

Wishinsky, the author and illustrator of over 60 picture books, says that her experience of being bullied taught her the importance of asserting herself. One of several authors participating in “Bullying in Books for Youth,” a New York Public Library Children’s Literary Salon on October 20, she advises using humor to outsmart bullies, much as her characters have done.

Authors Paul Griffin, Madeline George, and others on the panel, which coincides with National Bullying Prevention Month, discussed their personal encounters with cruel classmates, the healing power of books, and their advice to young people today—the bulliers along with the bullied.

Like Wishinsky, author Susane Colasanti drew from her own experiences when writing her semi-autobiographical novel Keep Holding On (Viking, 2012) about an abused girl who is teased and taunted by cruel classmates. “My purpose with every book is to reach out to teens and help them feel less alone,” she said.

Moderator Betsy Bird, NYPL youth material specialist and School Library Journal blogger, observed that current books often give the topic nuanced treatment by blurring the lines between bully and victim or by depicting perpetrators sympathetically. For instance, Dav Pilkey’s Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Return of Tippy Tinkletrousers (Scholastic, 2012), about two boys who take revenge on their tormenter with a series of pranks that soon become far worse than the original bullying.

Others concurred that the persecutor/victim divide is not always so clear. Paul Griffin, who has worked with incarcerated and at-risk teens since 1989, observed that bullies themselves are often victims of abuse. His own young adult novel, Stay with Me (Dial, 2011), includes a scene where a persecuted boy lashes back at his attacker, becoming a victimizer himself.

Similarly, author Colasanti imbued the antagonist of Keep Holding On (Viking, 2012) with a complex backstory and motivation for her malicious actions. Like Griffin, she feels that books showing bullies as well-developed, realistic characters, rather than one-dimensional villains, are much more powerful.

The authors also touched on how books can lead to positive changes in the lives of their readers. Griffin described an experience with a troubled teen during a school visit. One student responded enthusiastically when Griffin read a passage depicting a graphic act of brutality from one of his novels. Griffin learned that the teen was being severely bullied and was on the brink of violently retaliating. According to Griffin, “That kid that day needed to hear that scene” in order to voice his problems—bibliotherapy in action—and the author was able to ensure he received the support he needed.

George’s novel, Looks (Viking, 2008), about the unlikely bond between two outsiders—a silent overweight girl and a sharp-tongued anorexic poet—may provide therapeutic value of a different sort, she suggested. The book’s ambiguous ending offers only a “very slender thread of hope” that life will improve for her protagonists, she said. Panelists agreed that starkly realistic, honest works like this with uncertain resolution often resonate most with teens, as they did with George when she was a young adult.

Participants concurred that the best way for young people to cope with bullying is by having the courage to reach out to others. Griffin advocated getting young people together to discuss their problems, and Wishinsky agreed: “Don’t be that isolated kid, get a friend. If you can give anyone advice, it’s get a friend…so you’re not alone.”

Pincus, who spoke at the lecture, “Avoiding the Echo,” encouraged bloggers to explore other passions outside of children’s and YA literature. He mentioned Susan Taylor Brown, who blogs about poetry, but who’s also attracted a larger following by sharing her love of photography on her Facebook page. He also suggested that bloggers visit seemingly unrelated sites, explaining that once he stumbled upon a crafting site that drove traffic to his blog by linking to one of his posts. Although Pincus’s own blog isn’t craft-related, he spent time posting on the site and recommends doing the same because new fans can turn up in unlikely places.

Pincus advised bloggers to turn into trustworthy experts in their fields by publishing high-quality content and establishing a reliable online presence. Pincus brought up Lee Wind, whose blog I’m Here, I’m Queer, What the Hell Do I Read, which examines books with LGBTQ themes geared toward young people. Wind often moderates comments for hateful speech and provides a safe space for teens. Since his site is often used as a resource for young adults questioning their sexuality, Pincus also cited him as a blogger who’s succeeded in reaching audiences far beyond fans of children’s literature.

Pincus also advocates blogging about niche topics, rather than just writing about children’s books in general. For example, the popular blog, The Children’s War, also explores historical fiction and nonfiction set during World War II.

Above all, Pincus urged bloggers to share their love of children’s literature with others.

“Bring your love of the world of children’s literature to the rest of the world because they do want to hear it. They just don’t know it yet.”

From left: Biophilia co-creator Curver Thoroddsen, Bjork, Chris Shoemaker, NYPL's young adult programming specialist. Photo: Jonathan Blanc, NYPL

Biophilia uses the track listing from Björk’s 2011 album of the same name to create 10 “in-app experiences” that explore the relationships between technology, art, music, and natural phenomena, using an innovative approach to teaching kids about science and music. The apps, designed by Björk, along with interactive artist Scott Snibbe and a team of developers, includes an interactive game, musical animation for each song, an animated score, lyrics, and text that help students learn about different musical features while exploring the ideas behind each song.

“It’s not a bookish thing,” Bjork said at the unveiling the educational program on Tuesday. “You cannot learn to make music … from a book. There are things you can only learn from books, but it’s also important to introduce the physical aspects. So for me, it was very important to make, somehow, music education that was physical.”

Starting in July, two NYPL branches—one in the Bronx and the other in Harlem—will offer five weeks of Biophilia programs aimed at middle schoolers. The classes will expand to additional branches in September and October. The program is free, and there is no cap on the number of participants, says NYPL’s Adenike Olanrewaju. From July 6 to December 30, the Children’s Museum of Manhattan will host daily drop-in programs for children ages 3 to 11, including summer camps and school groups.

“The world of education is changing, and I am so proud that the library is involved in providing programming and supporting the tools that will allow young people—our future—to continue to learn in new, interactive, and exciting ways,” says NYPL President Anthony W. Marx. “The Biophilia app makes knowledge more accessible to children, and inspires them to learn more—both key missions of the library, as well.”

The inspiration behind Björk’s educational apps came from the heavy academic emphasis she experienced during her formative years in music, and says education should be more hands-on. The Biophilia education program is scalable, making it easy for any teacher or librarian to adapt for classroom use.

“I’m so honored that the New York Public Library and Children’s Museum of Manhattan are up for this,” says Björk, a longtime advocate for education through the arts. “I’ve spent four years on Biophilia, and these are dream homes for the project.”

This isn’t the first time Björk’s mixed her music with New York City kids. Last February she joined forces with the New York Hall of Science in Queens to present a three-week educational program for middle schoolers also focused around her Biophilia app album. She developed similar programs in Manchester, England, and her native Iceland.

Fast Company magazine included Björk in their list of the “100 Most Creative People in Business,” and earlier this week, Snibbe presented the singer with the Webby Award’s “Artist of the Year” honor for her work integrating science, art, and technology. The New York Times described Biophilia “among the most creative, innovative and important new projects in popular culture,” and iTunes named the app one of the top five music apps of 2011.

“Biophilia is at the forefront in the development of arts-based education and the development of a child’s creative thinking,” says Andrew Ackerman, CMOM’s executive director. “Its portability allows for learning to take place anywhere—at school, the library, and in a family setting at home. By leveraging the extensive network of the Center for Arts Education in combination with the NYPL, we will be able to reach thousands of children and teachers over the next six months.”

Information about NYPL’s Biophilia programming and CMOM’s Biophilia programing is now available.

Check out Björk’s Biophilia moon app tutorial.