Sadness: Lloyd Alexander

Members of Child_Lit are reporting that Lloyd Alexander died this morning.

Update:
Horn Book notice (via Fuse #8)
Tribute on NPR by Jon Scieszka
NYTimes Obit

His books are timeless and will be enchanting new readers and old ones forever.

Movie: Inkheart

Attention all Inkhearties and Basta-casting-mourners:

The news from the Cornelia Funke website is that the first tailer for Inkheart will be shown at the Cannes Film Festival.

She told me that it is absolutely fantastic!
AND - today (14 May) she left for London, because Iain Softley will show her the complete first cut of Inkheart.

Once they show it there, we should see it soon. I recall the first look at Fellowship of the Ring was at Cannes.

New Blog

Chad W. Beckerman, the designer of the beautiful, creative, lovely-to-hold-in-your-hand, Last Apprentice books, has a blog Mishaps and Adventures.

After reading several blogs I have notice a need for blog about book design.
In particular Young Adult, Teen and Children's Book design. I will try and write about what I see as common trends good and bad as well as what makes a jacket successful. This is of course all just my opinion and if you feel like I might be leading you astray please by all means lets talk it out.

Let's see where this takes me.

I have become very interested in the design of the books I've been reading recently. I am going to checking here often.

Happy Days

I've had the most wonderful day with books today.

I had a storytelling gig tonight with a group of kindergarteners and some of their older siblings at a local elementary school. I wanted to recreate an activity I used to do this time of year with my own students so I went over to the school early to set up a campfire, a tent, etc.

As I signed in, one of my wonderful former students (and dedicated reader) came in (she is now in college) to see a parental unit who works there. She gave me the most wonderful hug and I got to meet her boyfriend. Boyfriend? Funny how kids stop growing in your mind in 5th grade or when ever you see them for the last time. Gosh, if I had known I was going to see her, I would have brought her a stack of books.

I also had a visit there with another friend whose son (another of "my" kids) finally became an avid reader in 6th grade thanks to Percy Jackson. His mother mentioned that he was on the waiting list for Titan's Curse at his junior high (on a WAITING LIST??? No no no no...)

After I picked up my entling from school and we stopped by the public library where it seemed like Camille's-old-elementary-students-now-in junior-high day. It seemed like every time I turned a corner there was another pocket of old students who seemed wildly enthusiastic to see me (you never know for sure.) I ended up walking and talking the shelves of the YA section with one of them. He kept pulling the books off the shelf as I described them and asking me, "What else is good?" He took a pile over to be checked out. He always was an adventurous and courageous reader.

I got back to the school early this evening to make sure every thing was working and saw yet another teacher friend who is now teaching at this new campus (I think half my old school is there now) and in the course of our conversation realized I had just the picture book she needed for a subject she is introducing this week. Since I am subbing at a jr. high very near her tomorrow, I will drop it off on my way.

The storytelling was very fun and Dragon was in his most cheeky, most annoying element. The coolest moment was when I pulled a small spider puppet onto my fingers to start an Anansi story and one little boy started to sing "The Eensy-Weensy-Spider" and the whole group joined in. Those precious young voices, it brought tears to my eyes.

My 6th grade friend was also there and he now has a Titan's Curse to read. Bah on waiting lists.

When I got home I saw this post at Chicken Spaghetti about Susan's son and Calvin & Hobbes.
I love it when I hear that someone has finally made a reading connection.

Reading is so personal and I take my friends' reading personally. That amazing "right book, right reader, right time" thing is what has always interested me the most about being a librarian. It is always an honor to be a small part of the magic.

Dragon's Keep

Dragon's Keep

by Janet Lee Carey, (Harcourt, 2007)

The first time I saw this book mentioned was on Miss Erin's blog. I was struck by the outstanding cover (I continue to be fascinated by the job book designers do) and frankly, anything with "dragon" in the title is automatically interesting to me.

After I finished reading it, I emailed some junior high librarian friends and suggested they seriously consider putting it on their next order. Click here: Mackin customers / Follett customers

One of them emailed me this week to point out that School Library Journal has agreed with me and has given the book a "starred" review. In Wall Street lingo, that is a "buy" signal.

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Rosalind's mother believes Merlin's prophecy from centuries earlier that stated her daughter would "... redeem the name Pendragon. End war with the wave of her hand. And restore the glory of Wilde Island." She goes to great lengths to have a child and will protect her daughter's future, no matter what it takes.

As the future twenty-first queen of Wilde Island, Rosalind is prepared to marry an English prince when the time comes and re-integrate her family line with the English court. Her branch of the royal family tree was outlawed by King Arthur hundreds of years earlier. There is just one little problem. Instead of a ring finger on her left hand, she has a dragon claw. Only her mother and Rosalind know about her hand and her mother devises a fashion of wearing gloves to hide the "disfigurement" because even a princess might be taken for a witch if the secret got out.

This is a story of obsession in many ways. In her efforts to see her daughter gain the throne, Rosalind's mother will do anything, not unlike the headline-making "cheerleader mom."

Rosalind is obsessed by what she perceives as a physical flaw and desperately endures "cures" from physicians, who are not allowed to know her specific ailment, in hopes of fixing it. This echoes news stories today about the growing number of young adults seeking cosmetic surgery.

Carey's plotting is complex and riveting. Her characters are real and compelling.

First rate!

Thank you, thank you, thank you Harcourt for remembering my request at TLA and sending it to me.

Interview with Janet Lee Carey at Cynsations

Janet Lee Carey Website

Capoeira

Capoeira by George Ancona, (Lee&Low, 2007)

When I received this book from Lee & Low I was trying to puzzle out the pronunciation of the title when my entling said, "Are you trying to say 'capoeira,' as in the martial art?"

Yes, how do you know about it?

"Well, in Full Metal Alchemist there was a character..."

Who says you can't learn things from manga and anime?


Well, now that I have read this well designed and beautifully photographed book, I know what capeoira is.

Capoeira--it's a game, a dance, a martial art! For those who play capoeira, it is a way of life.

The history and importance of this art form in Brazilian culture are explained. The language of the capoeira is Portuguese. Drumming, instruments, singing, clapping and acrobatics are all part of this game/martial art.

George Acuna's photography has captured the motion and flow of athletes, sometimes in mid-flight, on the streets of Brazil and the academies in the USA. The students at the Mandinga Academy in Oakland, CA perform for many of the photographs in the book.

Capoeira encourages strength, strategy and discipline and fosters respect for teachers, education and work. This book is an excellent introduction and may intrigue many kids to investigate this art form.

There is a glossary and pronunciations guide at the back as well as a list of online and author sources.

By the way you pronounce it ( kah-poo-AY-rah)

The Office

Ok, got around to watching this week's episode of The Office over the weekend. Loved the Harry Potter references.

Paraphrasing here, not a transcript:

The office goes to the beach. Michael has team games planned for them.

Dwight names his team: "We will be Gryffindor!"
Jim: "Not Slytherin?"
Dwight: "They're the bad guys, Jim"
Jim: "I know"
Jim: "I guess we will be Voldemort"
Dwight: No, no, not "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" NO!

Jim's Team Chanting: "Vol-De-Mort! Vol-De-Mort! Vol-De-Mort! Vol-De-Mort!"

Dwight pounding on Andy in the inflated sumo wrestler suit shouting: "Gryffindor! Gryffindor! Gryffindor!"

Loved Pam's speech.

Princess Nevermore and Cam's Quest

Princess Nevermore: Updated and Expanded Edition by Dian Curtis Regan (Darby Creek, 2007)
Cam's quest : the continuing story of Princess Nevermore by Dian Curtis Regan (Darby Creek, 2007)

Quinn is princess of the underground medieval style kingdom of Mandria. Her only destiny in Mandria is to be a fairy tale princess and married off at the age of 16. The kingdom is connected by magic, through a wishing pool, to the outer world (our world) and Quinn and her childhood friend Cam dream of visiting it. As an apprentice to a magician, Cam knows some magic and tries to send himself and Quinn to the surface but ends up only sending Quinn by mistake. Lost in our world, she is rescued by a man and his two teenage grandchildren who take her home with them and enroll her in high school.

The idea of a medieval princess surviving in a present day high school works well in the story. When Quinn addresses a teacher as "Sire" he thinks she is being a smart aleck. Her discovery of the comfort of blue jeans and the fun of make-up are entertaining. The technology of this world seems like a kind of magic to her even though she knows there is no magic left on the surface of Earth.

The tension in the book rises as Quinn becomes the focus of attention of the campus ne're-do-well and the window of time she has to return to Mandria begins to close. Because she has fallen in love, she questions whether she even wants to return.

Cam's Quest picks up sometime after Princess Quinn gets back to Mandria. Cam loves Princess Quinn from afar but knows he can never marry her as he is an orphan and knows nothing about his parentage. Eventually he too must pass through the wishing pool to discover the truth about his past. In the meantime the princess has got her back up against the convention that she MUST marry and she runs away.

You can take the girl out of the blue jeans but you can't take the blue jeans out of the girl.

In the forward to the first book, Dian Curtis Regan mentions that she began writing the book when she was just out of her teens and the book does put me in mind of Eragon with its straight forward plotting and very earnest characters.

I liked the cover art for the two books very much and I note that Cam's Quest is an upcoming Junior Library Guild selection.

Interview with Dian Curtis Regan at Cynsations
Dian Curtis Regan Website


Review copy from Raab Associates

Everyday Pasta

Happy Mothers Day!



I received this new book from Entling no. 1 as a Mothers Day gift. The recipes look wonderful but seeing the title page signed "To Camille" by Giada's own hand is too much fun. Reading the story of how I came to own this signed copy is priceless. My entling's account follows.

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So I see in the "Taste" section of The Dallas Morning News that Food Network icon Giada De Laurentiis will be appearing at a local Border's bookstore for a signing of her newest culinary achievement, Everyday Pasta. Not only is she a cable foodie's one-stop shop for Italian cooking 101, she's also a favorite of Mom and Grandmom. Perfect Mother's Day present!

Now, if you know nothing else about my family, you should understand nothing is ever as easy as just seeing something in paper and being able to go.

It seemed simple enough. Giada's signing had two basic rules: 1 - You had to have a ticket; and 2 - You only got a ticket if you bought a copy of the book from that store, that day.

But there were a limited number of tickets. And a limited number of books. Ticket holders were divided into Group A and Group B. Only the first 100-ish people who bought books could be in Group A. And, of course, only people in Group A could have their books personalized. Everyone else just got a signature because otherwise the poor chef would be at the store for days.

So how do I get a ticket, buy the book and get in Group A? I got there early.

I did happen to have a bit of after-Thanksgiving, Black Friday experience, so I knew to wait for the store to open. Border's opened at 9 a.m., so I left my place at 6:45 a.m. and arrived at 8:15 a.m. I expected maybe one or two people to be there - after all, it was a cookbook not a Nintendo Wii.

I was 30th in line!

The lady first in line had been there since 5 a.m. Fifteen minutes before the store opened, another 80 people showed up, shuffling into line - some wearing slippers - tightly gripping Starbucks and McGriddles.

When the doors opened, Border's folks nicely lined us up on a predetermined path, marked by blue masking tape on the floor. Thirty minutes later, I had two copies of the book and a hot pink ticket with GROUP A stamped on the front like a Southwest Airlines boarding pass.

Giada, however, wouldn't be there for almost another 9 hours. Her signing started at 6 p.m., and Border's folks advised people (again) to get there early. So I went to our company's downtown office, worked until about 4:30 p.m. and cut out early to go grab a spot in line. I arrived at 4:55 p.m., again expecting (since I was more than an hour early) to be tenth or so in line.

I was 40th!!!

Group A folks - me included - lined up on another predetermined path, this one marked with beige masking tape, winding in and around the music section. I stood next to a mom with three little kids who wanted to see how high they could stack all the books they knocked off the shelves. When they were asked to stop - by Border's folks, NOT their mom - they decided to see how fast they could spin a magazine stand around and around. (Answer - fast enough to make magazines fly out and knock over their stacks of books.)

Giada's "people" showed up around 6 p.m. An assistant came in first to preview the setup and directed more movable books displays to cordon off the signing table. Local police also had to have time to look over the crowd (about 700 of us, according to an after-event Morning News article).

Giada herself arrived about 6:40 p.m. (Just a reminder, I'd been there with the spinning, twirling, dancing children since before 5 p.m.)

She came in the through the back and was so tiny and nondescript most people didn't even seem to notice her entrance. The first signs of applause started almost as an accident but revved up quickly as she got to the center of the store and waved to everybody, grinning that big, big smile.

After her arrival, things moved quickly. Names for the books' intended were written on sticky notes, which were stuck to the to-be-signed page. When it was your turn, you handed your books (opened and stacked) to her assistant who checked to make sure you hadn't written anything else on the sticky note. When it was your turn, she handed your books to a Border's manager who put them on the table in front of Giada.

With a quick flourish, she signed the books and - if you were lucky - chatted you up a bit. I manage to stammer out (I was a bit star struck, after all) that the books were for my mom and grandmom who just loved you and all your shows. She smiled, said that was great, and made me promise to have them cook something for me since I wasn't getting a book for myself.

Resisting the urge to curtsy, I scurried out of the way (still following the beige masking tape). Once you had your books signed, you were allowed to congregate outside her "green zone" to ogle and take pictures.

All in all - a great experience for me. Hopefully Mom and Grandmom will have as much fun using their cookbooks as I had getting them.

Next time I'm home you both owe me some ziti!

Choir

Since we have just attended the year end choir concert and just attended the annual choir banquet, the following YouTube offering that Entling no. 3 found struck a particular chord!

The scary thing is that I can identify all the songs.