Bryan’s reading aloud from his book to the warmly receptive crowd was a tough act to follow but publisher Justin Chanda piqued our interest by noting, “It’s rare to be reminded why you are in the business,” as he introduced The Boy on the Wooden Box, a Holocaust memoir. The book, which debuts late this month, is the story of Leon Leyson, a boy who was saved by Oskar Shindler. Unfortunately, Leyson died before seeing the book’s release.

I was also excited to learn that Bill Joyce, author the of multi-platformed The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (2012) will publish, in cooperation with Moonbot Studios, The Mischievians, a story of global mischief-makers, and that Phyllis Reynolds Naylor will end her “Alice” series with Now I’ll Tell You Everything. In the new book, Alice updates her life up to the age of 60.

In September, Brian Floca’s long-awaited Locomotive will chug onto many of our bookshelves. The month also brings “Talk Like a Pirate Day” (the 19th), which will be celebrated with Pirates Love Underpants, the latest in author Claire Freedman and illustrator by Ben Cort’s “underpants” franchise.

October will also see some timely releases. Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin have reunited their barnyard friends for Halloween in Click, Clack, Boo!  Also for Halloween is The Power of Poppy Pendle by Natasha Lowe, a sweet story about a good witch with bonus recipes.

And then the preview became dogs galore, with the introduction of Debra Frasier’s Spike: Ugliest Dog in the Universe; God Got a Dog by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Marla Frazee; and Bob Dylan’s If Dogs Run Free, based on one of his lesser-known songs. Dylan isn’t the only celebrity with a book based on a song this year: Jewel has debuted Sweet Dreams, while John Lithgow’s Never Play Music Right Next to the Zoo will drop in October. Both books come with CDs.

What do you get when you team up two zany guys like Jon Sciezska and Mac Barnett? You get a redo of a benign book entitled Birthday Bunny into the hilariously entertaining Battle Bunny. It’s a picture book with fun illustrations by Mathew Myers that kids of all ages will find amusing. Who could resist a book that is described as a “hip kid’s Elements of Style” featuring a Tim Burton-ish teacher?

You should also be checking out Thrice Told Tales: Three Mice Full of Writing Advice by Catherine Lewis, illustrated by Joost Swarte.

A couple of trilogies-plus-one books are on their way: Rick Yancy’s Final Descent, the fourth in his “Monstrumologist” series, and Fire and Ash, the fourth book in Jonathan Maberry’s Rot & Ruin series.

Sharon Messenger and Lisa McMann prove to be busy ladies with several books on the fall list. Messenger will debut Keeper of the Lost Cities: Exile and Let the Sky Fall. McMann has three upcoming titles this fall, Island of Fire, the latest in her “Unwanteds” series—described as Hunger Games meets Harry Potter—Bang, the second in her “Visions” series, and Don’t Close Your Eyes.

Those looking for books to meet your Common Core needs will have a wealth of titles to choose from on S&S’s list. For interesting stories about real people, try Jeanette Winter’s Henri’s Scissors, a true life story about Matisse, or The Tree Lady, which tells the story of Katherine Olivia Sessions, the woman responsible for the millions of trees and plants that populate Balboa Park in San Diego. And Let’s Go Nuts! Seeds We Eat may fit nicely into a science curriculum.

Lastly, I was delighted to learn that two-time Caldecott Medalist Nonny Hogrogian and her husband, Newbery Honor Medalist David Kherdian, have collaborated on a new book: Come Back, Moon, which will be released in October.

It’s also exciting to find out that Simon & Schuster has launched a website and app for the parents and educators of beginning readers called Ready To Read; it features classroom guides, activity sheets, and certificates.

First Book staff and volunteers unload boxes of new books at a warehouse in lower Manhattan. Photo by First Book

(This story was last updated at 9:32 a.m. on November 26.)

Those wishing to help school libraries and children’s collections that were damaged by Hurricane Sandy now have an array of giving options, thanks to several disaster relief programs, children’s book publishers, and charities.

Scholastic Book Grants Program announced plans to donate one million books to those in need. The initiative is a partnership with the organization Kids in Distressed Situations (K. I. D. S.) to assist educators, families, and students in the New York tri-state area who have lost reading materials due to the storm. Schools and libraries may apply for Sandy-related book grants through December 31, 2012.

Simon & Schuster’s education and library marketing department is offering aid in the form of donations of 500 “best of” titles to public and school libraries needing to rebuild their collections, according to a press release. S & S has partnered with the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project Literacy Lifeboats Initiative, individual schools, and state and regional associations, including the New Jersey Library Association (NJLA), in these efforts.

The nonfiction publisher Mason Crest, an imprint of National Highlights Inc., donated 500 children’s books to Operation BuddyPack, an initiative by the Heart of America Foundation, to assist schools and students affected by the hurricane.

Mackin Educational Resources, a Minnesota-based company that provides schools and libraries with books, ebooks, and other resources, is encouraging those affected by the hurricane to take part in their online fundraising program, Funds4Books Disaster Relief. For each dollar donated to East Coast schools and libraries, Mackin will provide a 10 percent match.

New York City teachers can turn to the online school charity Donors Choose with specific storm-related requests. A Hurricane Relief Fund donation page had logged more than $77,000 in contributions as of November 12. The New York City Department of Education also offers ways to help afflicted city schools. Donations can be made here.

In addition, the New York City School Librarians’ Association (NYCSLA) is creating a donation program organized by city librarians who attended the New York City School Library System’s 23rd Annual Library Fall Conference on November 6.

The Hudson Valley Library Association (HVLA), made up of private school librarians in New York City, Long Island, Westchester, New Jersey, and Connecticut, is also doing its part with a Google Document on its listserv offering HVLA members the option to ask for specific materials or financial assistance. HVLA will then match those requests with donors.

Urban Librarians Unite (ULU), an organization dedicated to promoting librarianship in cities, is also gathering book donations. ULU is specifically seeking children’s books because these materials usually sit on low shelves where flooding damage is worst. However, they are also accepting YA books, as well as monetary gifts.

Other established national disaster relief programs are renewing promotion of their services in relation to Hurricane Sandy. First Book, an organization that provides new books to needy children, announced a partnership last week with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the Albert Shanker Institute that pledged to match every donation of $2.50 made to First Book, up to $35,000 for new books. Donations can be made here.

According to First Book’s director of communications, Brian Minter, the organization distributed five million books after Hurricane Katrina, and has already raised enough money to provide 20,000 books in the wake of Sandy. In addition to that, First Book is in the process of delivering a truckload of 30,000 books to be distributed in New York at the request of AFT and its New York City affiliate, the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), on November 12.

The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) Beyond Words Grant program, funded by the Dollar General Literacy Foundation and established in partnership with the National Education Association (NEA), offers help replacing school library books, media, and other equipment, as well as financial aid associated with absorbing students from other afflicted schools in states served by Dollar General stores.

While Beyond Words was incepted in 2006 after Hurricane Katrina, AASL issued a new press release about the program on November 9, 2012, stating that Dollar General had distributed over $1.6 million to more than 130 schools during the past six years. Last June, AASL also announced two annual catastrophic grants in the amount of $50,000 for schools in need. Ongoing grants will be awarded to eligible applicants in amounts ranging from $10,000-$20,000.

“We wanted schools to know that assistance is available,” AASL President Susan Ballard told SLJ. “We are hopeful that members along the East Coast in the greater New York-New Jersey area will have a chance to apply for those grants.”

Ballard anticipates that “we will have a greater feel for what the needs are and how we can marshal a plan going forward” after the New Jersey Association of School Librarians (NJASL) conference from November 29 to December 1.

In the meantime, a new page on the New Jersey Department of Education site provides schools in the state with tips for navigating the federal assistance process and directs those wishing to help to the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund.

Also geared toward aid in New Jersey, “YA for NJ” is an initiative in which over 170 YA and middle-grade authors offered items for an online auction, including autographed books, school visits, online meetings. All proceeds will go to the Community Foodbank of New Jersey.

Students whose SAT preparation was affected by Hurricane Sandy also received free assistance from Revolution Prep, an educational software and services provider that offered a free online SAT review session on November 15 to help students prepare for the tests, rescheduled for  November 17 and December 15 because of the storm.

Most New Jersey schools were open on November 13.  Katie Llera, a librarian at Sayreville Middle School, was one of many educators looking forward to returning to school after more than a week without power. Llera took part in volunteer efforts while schools were closed, and she also emphasized the importance of social networking to keep educators and students connected during that time.

Last week, Llera relied upon Edmodo, a social media website for educators, to keep in touch. The site is ordinarily used for her school’s book club, but Llera created other posts to distract students from the stress of the hurricane, offering news about the Garden State Teen Book Awards and information about a Skype chat with fantasy author Gail Carson-Levine. “I was just trying to get them to look forward to school, to keep their mind a little bit off of what’s happening,” she said.

Jennifer Jamison, a school media specialist in the Atlantic City, New Jersey, School District, has been working with Atlantic City Teachers United (ACTU), a group set up last week to help Atlantic City students and their families with basic needs after the hurricane. Though ACTU isn’t officially sanctioned by the Atlantic City Board of Education, it has reached out on the ground and through Facebook to gather donations, dropped off at school libraries, for those who are most in need.

The library at Atlantic City’s Brighton Avenue School was destroyed by the storm, Jamison said. While books are certainly on her radar, at the moment, “Kids don’t have underwear or mattresses.”  At ACTU, “We are collecting necessities,” she explained. “This is not a two-week thing. This will be a year-long initiative.”

As Jamison and others take the steps toward recovery over the coming weeks and months, they will have many ways to seek help.

Books for devastated libraries:

Founded in 1992, First Book provides new books to children in need. To date, the organization has distributed more than 90 million free and low cost books in thousands of communities.