Kate DiCamillo is the new National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature. She’s a perfect pick. SLJ gave me the honor of interviewing Ms. DiCamillo for the February issue and they included an excerpt in their Ambassador announcement. Click here to read.

… a book for kids. Among all books published last year, a children’s book took the top spot. That’s cool. Can you guess what it is? Difficulty Level: Low. Click here to find out.

Real headline alert! Talk about filling a niche. Click here to read.

Sturdy for Common Things Blogger Rebecca has started a Tumblr of things found in library books. Full of promise, this idea is. She’s taking submissions, so I’m planning to send these:

In the past I’ve talked about the excellent display potential of Unshelved Book Club comics. The hits just keep on coming, people. The latest book talk in comic form is a perfect fit. Click here to read.

The finalists for the Cybils awards are up. Click here to take a gander.

The people’s choice format Nerdy Book Club Awards have also been announced. Click here and scroll through for all the winners.

The Qwikpick Papers: Poop Fountain! by Tom Angleberger. On shelves May 20, 2014

Very smart, Amulet/ABRAMS. Here we have a repackaged version of Tom Angleberger’s first book The Qwikpick Adventure Society (which I reviewed way back on aught eight). That book (originally published by Dial) was picked up by Amulet, received a facelift (see: new cover), and will be the jumping off point for a new Qwikpick Papers series. A great idea.

Here’s to kicking off 2014 by keeping focused on the important things.

As @colbysharp reminds us, the big awards are right around the corner.

And now for the cool thing of the day. A lift the flap book meets a Choose Your Own Adventure book, creating something entirely wonderful.