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In the News |
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A Rowling Recap |
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| Rowling. |
The end of the Harry Potter books certainly hasn’t meant the end of J.K. Rowling’s busy schedule. Last week Rowling and Warner Bros. issued a response to a filing by RDR Books, the Michigan publisher that plans to release Harry Potter Lexicon, based on material posted on a Harry Potter fan Web site. In the lawsuit, originally brought by Rowling and Warner Bros. last October 31 in Manhattan, Rowling claims that the proposed RDR work will infringe on her intellectual property rights and threaten the sales performance of her own definitive Potter guide, a book she has long intended to create, with its proceeds going to
charity. RDR maintains that Rowling’s acceptance—and, often, praise—of free Potter fan Web sites, justifies RDR’s efforts to publish the book by fan site editor Steve Vander Ark.
This latest round of legal paperwork also includes statements from Suzanne Murphy, publisher of Scholastic’s trade division; Cheryl Klein, senior editor at Scholastic; Sarah Odedina, publisher of children’s books at Bloomsbury in the U.K.; Neil Blair, junior partner at Christopher Little Literary Agency; and William Landes, professor of law and economics at the University of Chicago Law School. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for March 13, at which time Rowling and Warner Bros. hope a preliminary injunction will be granted.
In an update on her Web site on February 29, Rowling put out another fire: the persistent rumor that the J.K. Rowling personas on MySpace and similar online social networking sites must be real. "No, sorry, not even one of them, though they do seem to lead very exciting lives, these fake J.K. Rowlings," she wrote. "I like to imagine them partying with all my imaginary friends... in some bright and shiny alternative universe. But meanwhile, on planet earth, the dull human J.K. Rowling hasn’t got, and has never had, a profile on MySpace, Bebo or any similar site."
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More News |
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RIF Works to Save Its Budget |
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Last month, President Bush submitted a proposed budget for fiscal year 2009, which eliminated funding for Reading Is Fundamental's book distribution program. Through the program, the organization distributed 16 million free books to 4.6 million children across the country last year. More than 30,000 messages have since been sent to Congress urging the reinstatement of a budget of $26 million for the organization's distribution program. To date 19 senators and 67 state representatives have signed a Dear Colleague letter in support of the organization. RIF is also in contact with local coordinators who are working to spread awareness, particularly in districts where representatives have not yet signed their support. In July, the winners of RIF's 2008 Program Excellence Honors will visit
their Congressional members on Capitol Hill to speak to the effects of the program's elimination. Additional information is available at the RIF Web site. Congress will finalize RIF's budget this September. —John Sellers
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News Briefs |
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Albert Whitman Comes Under New Leadership |
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The Morton Grove, Ill.-based children's book publisher, Albert Whitman & Company, is seeing a changing of the guard. Joe Boyd, who's been president of the house since 1986 (and with the company for more than 40 years) is retiring, along with his partner, v-p and Whitman veteran, Richard Gutrich. Boyd and Gutrich have sold the operation to John Quattrochi and Patrick McPartland, who used to work for Whitman. Quattrochi will serve as president and McPartland will be vice-president.
The 89-year-old company publishes picture books, middle grade fiction and various series, including the Boxcar Children. It's also known for its concept books, on topics ranging from homosexuality (My Two Uncles) to autism (Waiting for Benjamin). It publishes 25 to 30 titles annually and has a backlist of 550 titles. —Jim Milliot
Year-Round Literacy Program to Supplement Toys for Tots
After raising more than $1.3 million during the past two holiday seasons for disadvantaged kids through the Toys for Tots program, Mail Boxes Etc., which franchises 4,400 UPS Store and Mail Boxes Etc. retail locations in the U.S., is planning to do more.
This month, with help from National Football League players like Drew Stanton and Ron Bellamy of the Detroit Lions and Shaun Phillips of the San Diego Chargers, MBE is kicking off a year-round literacy initiative for children of all ages: the Toys for Tots Literacy Program, a companion to the Toys for Tots program founded by the Marine Corps Reserve 61 years ago. In addition to lining up readings in libraries and schools around the country, beginning in New Orleans with long-time Saints announcer Jerry Romig, MBE president Stuart Mathis announced that the company will make a cash donation of $125,000.
Thanks to support from Scholastic, MBE's contribution and every dollar donated by customers at participating MBE franchises throughout the month of March will be used to purchase a discounted Scholastic children's book. Through its Buck a Book program, Scholastic will assist Toys for Tots in selecting age-appropriate titles for distribution to children in need and to the libraries that serve them.
"According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 12.8 million children live in poverty," notes MBE's Mathis, who views the Toys for Tots Literacy Program as a way
to help children break the cycle of poverty. Toys for Tots will continue to distribute playthings to children during the holiday season. For more information on the literacy program, booksellers can email Toys for Tots. —Judith Rosen
Back in Stock
When the announcement came at the American Library Association's midwinter conference in January that Laura Schlitz's Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village, illustrated by Robert Byrd, had won this year's Newbery Medal, Candlewick Press couldn't have been more pleased. Just one problem. The Cambridge, Mass.-based publisher had gone through most of its first two printings of 12,000 copies combined, and a third printing for 8,000 copies was on order at a printer overseas.
As of last week, Schlitz's book, which received a starred review in PW, is back in stock. It has returned to press one more time, for 79,000 copies, giving it a total in-print figure for the trade of 99,000 copies. An additional 15,000 copies were printed for book clubs. —Judith Rosen
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Book News |
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Bestselling Chinese Series Makes U.S. Debut |
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As the world’s athletes head to China this summer for the Olympic Games in Beijing, HarperCollins is hoping that a children’s book character currently making the reverse journey will attract his share of attention, too. Last August, HarperCollins U.K. acquired the first eight titles in Hongying Yang’s Naughty Ma Xiaotao series (there are 18 in all), which have been renamed Mo’s Mischief; this April the books will be published simultaneously in
Britain and the U.S.
This chapter book series has sold more than
10 million copies in China, making Yang that country’s bestselling children’s author. Originally published by Jieli Publishing House, the books center on the daily adventures of Mo Shen Mo, a Chinese boy with a knack for getting into trouble. "He can be really mischievous, but has a really good heart," says Phoebe Yeh, editorial director at HarperCollins Children’s Books, who edited the series along with Nick Lake, an editor at HarperCollins U.K. "My comparison is really [Beverly Cleary’s] Ramona the Pest. [Ramona] is a little quirky, and so is Mo."
After the books were translated into English, Yeh edited the books in conjunction with Lake in the U.K. She says that aside from a few vocabulary differences, the British and American editions are essentially the same. "We talk about grades, they talk about forms. So some of the school terminology
is different," says Yeh. "But the essence of the characters is the same. The whole idea is to really give kids living outside China [a look at] what it is like
to be a third-grader in a big city [in China]."
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In Brief |
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Author on Call |
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Mother-daughter book clubs continue to gain popularity, but one group recently not only read a forthcoming book, but got to speak with its author as well. As part of Houghton Mifflin's efforts to reach out to mother-daughter clubs, the publisher sent advance galleys of the May YA novel Girlwood by Claire Dean to members of a book club outside Boston (seen here) and created an online discussion guide. In keeping with the book's mystical and environmental themes (a girl's family troubles lead her to discover a magical grove in the woods), the members planted evening primrose (an edible flower), determined the color of each
other's auras (Dean offers an aura quiz on her Web site) and asked the author questions by phone. The Boise, Idaho-based Dean has agreed to make herself available for future phone calls with other mother-daughter clubs. |
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A 'Nightmare'-ish Performance |
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With a fall visit by author Dean Lorey as their inspiration, students at Strayer Middle School
in Quakertown, Pa., performed a play based
on Lorey's 2007 book, Nightmare Academy (HarperCollins), last Thursday. The show
was also a fundraiser—rather than charging admission, donations were collected for the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Lorey's next Nightmare Academy book, Monster Hunters, arrives this fall. |
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'Battle' Winner Decided |
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Penguin has announced the winner of its Ranger's Apprentice sweepstakes. Eleven-year-old Kai Kau of Provo, Utah (r.), has won a trip to have lunch with series author John Flanagan. Kau will meet Flanagan in Las Vegas, the closest stop on his book tour for The Battle for Skandia (Mar.), the fourth title in the series. Of his win, Kau says, "It is not very often that you meet the person who writes the books you like to read." Entry forms for the sweepstakes had been distributed nationwide through chapter samplers in store displays. |
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A Banner Occasion |
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The Orion School, a small public school in Redwood City, Calif., recently hosted its sixth annual Children's Authors and Illustrators Festival. Each year, six to eight authors and illustrators turn out for a daylong event during which they give presentations, speak with children and sign books. The school's classrooms each "adopted" one of the guests and created banners based on his or her work. This year's participants included Katherine Tillotson (Penguin and Little Blue), Eric Rohmann (A Kitten Tale), Elissa Haden Guest (the Iris and Walter series) and Candace Fleming (The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary School). Here, Haden Guest gives her presentation with the help of some students—and a
megaphone. |
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Planets Align for Contest Winner |
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Ten-year-old Maryn Smith of Great Falls, Mont., has won the Planetary Mnemonic Contest held by National Geographic Children's Books, which invited children to devise a new mnemonic device for the 11 planets in the solar system (including the dwarf planets Ceres, Pluto and Eris). The contest tied into the publication of Planets, Stars and Galaxies: A Visual Encyclopedia of Our Universe (2007) by David Aguilar; next month singer Lisa Loeb will release a song based on Smith's entry ("My Very Exciting Magic Carpet Just Sailed Under Nine Palace Elephants")
in conjunction with the release of another National Geographic title by Aguilar, 11 Planets: A New View of the Solar System.
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Q&A |
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Denene Millner and Mitzi Miller |
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Bookshelf talked with Denene Millner and
Mitzi Miller about their new novel, Hotlanta (Scholastic/Point, Apr.).
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You two previously collaborated on The Angry Black Woman’s Guide to Life and The Vow. Was the writing process the same here?
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Millner: We wrote those books with another co-author, Angela Burt-Murray, who is now the editor-in-chief of Essence. When we wrote our first book, The Angry Black Woman’s Guide to Life, we were all working together as editors at Honey. We’d get together on the weekends and do a lot of giggling and talking and eating, and not a whole lot of writing. Now, because I am in Georgia and Mitzi’s in New York, we do everything by email and by phone. We make sure we have a really, really tight outline, and we do our best—at least Mitzi does—to stick to it. There’s still a whole lot of giggling going on and a whole lot of gossiping. Occasionally we get a few things done.
read more
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Featured Reviews |
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 How I Learned Geography |
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 Uri Shulevitz. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $16.95 (32p) ISBN 978-0-374-33499-4
In a work more personal than Caldecott Medalist Shulevitz (The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship) has ever before offered, he summons boyhood memories of WWII and shows how he learned to defeat despair. Having fled Warsaw shortly after the Germans invaded in 1939, the child Uri and his parents eke out a miserable existence in Kazakhstan. One day, Father comes home from the bazaar with a huge map of the world instead of food. Uri, only four or five, is "furious," and as the couple sharing the one-room hut eats that night, the husband noisily chewing a crust "as if it were the most delicious morsel in the world," Uri hides under his blanket to cover his envy and rage. But shortly after his father unrolls the map, the boy is swept away by exotic place-names ("Okazaki Miyazaki
Pinsk,/ Pennsylvania Transylvania Minsk!"), picturing them remote from his hunger and suffering. As Uri taps into his artistic imagination and draws maps of his own, Shulevitz's pictures shed their bleak, neorealist feel, and his beaten-down younger self becomes a Sendakian figure—sturdily compact, balletic, capable of ecstatic, audacious adventures. The story and its triumphant afterword demonstrate that Uri masters much more than geography; he realizes the importance of nurturing one's soul. Ages 4-8. (Apr.)
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My Dog May Be a Genius |
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 Jack Prelutsky, illus. by James Stevenson. Greenwillow, $18.99 (160p) ISBN 978-0-06-623862-3
Familiar yet inventive, exuberant and silly, this consistently fresh assortment of light verse and expressive cartoons lives up to the haute goofiness of the best Prelutsky/Stevenson work (The New Kid on the Block). This collection of more than a hundred poems includes Prelutsky's distinctive mixture of real and fictitious animals, outlandish pets, wistfully subversive students and anti-establishment characters. There are enough verses about burping and homework to satisfy the usual suspects, but they'll also stick around to find their imaginations jump-started. Wordplay and nonsense include the alliterative items on Sandwich Sam's menu ("beetle beet banana blubber, chigger cheese chinchilla chalk") and the incomparable pun in the poem "Today It's Pouring Pythons," in which the
ballgame is called "anaconda rain." Humor and whimsy abound, and Stevenson's clever art extends the comedy, but never overshadows the text. He somehow makes elephants look "extremely graceful,/ light and limber on their feet" in "I'm Dancing with My Elephants," and he can make eccentricity plausible, as when a father and son engage in their traditional July 4 buttering of their noses in "My Family's Unconventional." Like the words in the poem "Some Chickens," the pairings in this volume are "pure poultry in motion." Ages 5-up. (Mar.)
Reviews from the March 3 issue of Publishers Weekly.
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see all of this week's reviews
including our web exclusive Annex *
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On-Sale Calendar |
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April 2008 |
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| 1 |
Narnia Chronology by Mary Jane Wilkins, illus. by Mark Edwards (HarperCollins, $22.99 ISBN 978-0-06-124005-8). 500,000 copies.
The Clique Summer Collection: Massie by Lisi Harrison (Poppy, $6.99 paper ISBN 978-0-316-02751-9). 350,000 copies.
In Grandma's Arms by Jayne C. Shelton, illus. by Karen Katz (Scholastic/Cartwheel, $6.99 ISBN 978-0-545-06868-0). 100,000 copies.
Goosebumps HorrorLand #1: Revenge of the Living Dummy by R.L. Stine (Scholastic, $5.99 paper ISBN 978-0-439-91869-5). 100,000 copies.
Goosebumps HorrorLand #2: Creep from the Deep by R.L. Stine (Scholastic, $5.99 paper ISBN 978-0-439-91870-1). 100,000 copies.
Hotlanta #1
by Denene Millner and Mitzi Miller (Scholastic/Point, $8.99 paper ISBN 978-0-545-00308-7). 100,000 copies.
The Pigeon Wants... by Mo Willems (Hyperion, $14.99 ISBN 978-1-4231-0960-0). 250,000 copies. |
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Alphabet by Matthew Van Fleet (S&S/Wiseman, $19.99 ISBN 978-1-4169-5565-8). 350,000 copies.
Septimus Heap, Book Four: Queste by Angie Sage, illus. by Mark Zug (HarperCollins/Tegen, $17.99 ISBN 978-0-06-088207-5). 250,000 copies.
The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall (Knopf, $15.99 ISBN 978-0-375-84090-6). 150,000 copies.
Jealous? by Melissa de la Cruz (S&S/Aladdin, $9.99 paper ISBN 978-1-4169-3407-3). 100,000 copies. |
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| 10 |
Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway (Razorbill, $16.99 ISBN 978-1-59514-191-0). 100,000 copies. |
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| 15 |
Big Plans by Bob Shea, illus. by Lane Smith (Hyperion, $17.99 ISBN 978-1-4231-1100-9). 100,000 copies. |
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| 22 |
Fancy Nancy's Favorite Fancy Words
by Jane O'Connor, illus. by Robin Preiss Glasser (HarperCollins, $12.99 ISBN 978-0-06-154923-6). 200,000 copies.
Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen (Viking, $18.99 ISBN 978-0-670-01088-2). 200,000 copies.
Warriors: Power of Three #3: Outcast by Erin Hunter (HarperCollins, $16.99 ISBN 978-0-06-089208-1). 200,000 copies.
Once Upon a Time in the North by Philip Pullman (Knopf, $12.99 ISBN 978-0-375-84510-9). 100,000 copies.
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Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr (HarperTeen, $16.99 ISBN 978-0-06-121468-4). 125,000 copies.
The Joys of Love by Madeleine L'Engle (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $16.95 ISBN 978-0-374-33870-1). 100,000 copies.
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Click here for PW's complete
2008 On-Sale Calendar
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Galley Talk |
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Ellen Scott, manager
of the children's department of The Bookworm in Omaha, Neb., talks about a favorite spring title. |
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Just wanted to make some noise about a first book called Savvy by Ingrid Law (Dial/Walden Media, May). Any book set in Nebraska is close to our hearts out here, but Savvy is particularly wonderful. The Beaumont family is unique in their special talents that appear on their 13th birthdays.
The two older brothers' savvy skills are electrical and turbulent in nature but when Mibs turns 13, her savvy is one of seeing things in an extraordinary way. With this skill she somehow hopes to save their father, who lies in a hospital with severe injuries from a traffic accident. A bus journey from Hebron to Wymore to Lincoln begins with Mibs aiming to end up in Salina, Kansas with her father. Mibs' savvy—she can read people's minds if they have ink on their
skin—is a wonder and a mystery, but can it help her get to her father? Wonderful characters of all ages find wonderful friendships! A great read aloud for teachers and parents alike! What is your savvy?
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Rights Report |
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Andrea Pinkney at Scholastic has acquired world rights to a historical picture book by Newbery Medalist Lois Lowry. Crow Call, which will be illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline, is scheduled for publication in fall 2009. Set in post-World War II America and based upon events in Lowry's childhood, Crow Call tells the story of nine-year-old Liz,
as she becomes reacquainted with her long-absent father after his return from the war. Phyllis Westberg of Harold Ober Associates represented Lowry, and Nancy Gallt of the Nancy Gallt Literary Agency represented Ibatoulline. |
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Margaret Raymo at Houghton Mifflin Children's Books has made a two-book deal with debut novelist L.K. Madigan. Flash Burnout chronicles a chaotic year for sophomore Blake, who, when he took a picture of a passed-out street person for his photography class, didn't expect to find himself ditching his girlfriend, prowling skid row and tracking down his best friend's long-lost mother. Flash Burnout will pub in fall 2009; the second, as yet untitled novel will come out in 2010. The deal for world rights was made with Jennifer Laughran at Andrea Brown Literary.
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In the Media |
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From the Telegraph: According to a new British survey, more than 50% of parents believe that childhood is over by the age of 11.
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From the New York Times: Single-sex education is gaining traction in American public schools.
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Also from the Times: Blake Nelson, author
of Paranoid Park, interviewed director Gus Van Sant, whose film adapation of Nelson's novel opens this Friday.
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And also from the Times: A rumination on the work of William Steig, occasioned by the current Steig exhibition at New York City's Jewish Museum.
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From the Harvard Crimson: A Harvard senior grouses (tongue-in-cheek, we hope) that J.K. Rowling will be his graduating class's commencement speaker, saying that "much more worthy" speakers could have been booked, rather than "a woman who thinks it's okay to write 700-page kiddie-lit."
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From MTV.com: A night on the Manhattan movie set of Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist.
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From the Baltimore Sun:
An interview with Maryland-born author Jeff Kinney, whose Diary of a Wimpy Kid is topping bestseller charts.
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From Multichannel News: Disney and Nickelodeon are battling it out for tween viewers.
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From the Associated Press: Children's book art is gaining mainstream appeal for collectors.
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Did You Miss? |
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From PW Comics Week: Canadian children's publisher Groundwood Books is making its first foray into the world of graphic novels with the publication of Skim, a coming-of-age story by Mariko Tamaki, illustrated by Jillian Tamaki.
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From our sister magazine, School Library Journal: While the Twin Cities are renowned as a hub of literary publishing activity, Minneapolis and Mankato, a small city
80 miles south of Minneapolis, also have both quietly developed over the past 75 years into two major, overlapping centers of children's educational publishing: from large companies like Capstone, ABDO and Lerner, to small presses like Creative Company and Child's World, to niche publishers like Free Spirit, and TeachMe.
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Letters to the Editor |
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Last week we ran a letter from a reader who wondered about whether ratings, similar to those devised for CDs and TV shows, could be put onto books. Here are a few responses.
I, too, would love to find an interest level on books. As a middle school librarian (6th–8th grades), I've made some horrible choices! As a mother of girls, I knew I should have read some of their books first! I do appreciate Web sites like Amazon.com that use School Library Journal's reviews of kid-lit since their reviews always include age levels, but not every book that I consider for my kids or the library have been reviewed and rated by SLJ. Horn Book and Booklist are others who review but don't list age interest levels as consistently as SLJ. Still, this doesn't help us when we're browsing for books. I vote for an IL to be posted above the UPC/ISBN.
Susan Dunlop
Have you considered asking your local librarian or bookseller for book recommendations? We don't have time to read everything, but we read as much as we can, as a significant part of our work is reader's advisory. There are also many Web sites devoted to reviewing children's and teen books (often by young readers themselves). Even reader comments on Amazon can be helpful.
Chidren's reading abilities and tastes are so very different that even with an age-advisory label you may still have trouble matching a book to your child. Who exactly will decide what is appropriate for whom? I am sure I speak for many librarians and booksellers when I say that the best part of my job is talking about and sharing books with others—please, please, take advantage of this service!
Maya Escobar
Children's Dept.
Cambridge Public Library
Have a different take? Let us know!
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Mark Your Calendar |
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The New School in New York City is hosting a series of forums this spring on writing for children. The third will take place on Tuesday, March 25 from 6:30–7:30 p.m. It will feature Jude Watson, author of several Star Wars books, supernatural suspense titles Premonitions and Disappearance, and the Internet-based Danger.com mystery series. Tickets cost $5 and can be ordered from the New School box office by calling 212-229-5488. For more information about the series, call 212-229-5611.
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New in ShelfTalker |
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On a recent road trip, Alison stopped at Lyrical Ballad in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Armchair travelers can navigate the store's labyrinthine aisles via Alison's photo gallery here.
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