True Confessions

Thanks to my daily Shelf Awareness email, I had the delight of reading The Guardian's list of Top 10 Food Scenes in Children's Literature. My favorite on this list, of course, was Marilla's raspberry cordial from Anne of Green Gables: poor Anne getting her new friend drunk...priceless. And I found Little Women's appearance on this list interesting, as I never thought so much about the apples in the book.

I had a thought, though, while I was reading this list: "Yep, there's that Enid Blyton again. I can't believe I've never read her books." I'm saying it here, loud and proud: I've never read Enid Blyton. You know who else I've never read? Roald Dahl. That's right. I know what the books are about, and I can recommend them to any kid (I have for years). But never read one. Who else? Yeah, Neil Gaiman - never read his novels. I have tried over and over again to get into Coraline but can't do it. And I have one more I'm dying to get off my chest: Laura Ingalls Wilder. Not a single paragraph.

Do you want to know another confession? Well, I'm going to tell you anyway. I have, at one point, faked reading all of these authors' books. I haven't outright lied...but when other people were talking about them...I sort of nodded my head and put the necessary expression on my face, implying I knew exactly what that person meant. Why? Because it drives me crazy that I haven't read everything, and I hate admitting that I don't have all the time in the world to read.

There. I've aired some dirty laundry. Anything that any of you want to admit?

I'm sort of making a point here. Does this make me a bad librarian because I haven't read these books? No, absolutely not. There are how many books out there? Exactly. How can a librarian be expected to read all of them? I do need to stop sorta-lying, though, about which ones I've read. That's wrong.

So the point I'm really trying to make, of course, is that once again food and children's literature intersect. Kind of.

Eat, drink, and read as much as you can...one book at a time

HarperCollins Spring 2008 Preview

It’s that time of year! Publisher events galore! Autumn is like Christmas for us book loving people! I went to the HarperCollins Spring 2008 preview last Wednesday, and I just RSVP’d for an event with Shaun Tan and a party to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Redwall. And I have nothing to wear to any of them. And I believe I’m one of the few librarians who actually worries about such things. Don’t believe me? Check out the fashion at an ALA conference. I rest my case.

So…the HarperCollins preview. First off, it was the first publisher event I’ve been to since I started this job where I felt completely comfortable. I don’t feel like the new person anymore who knows no one or nothing. Instead, I got to single-cheek-kiss Michael Santangelo and have Kate McClelland tell me how beautiful I am (*blush*). I got to congratulate Patty Rosati on her new baby and talk about the cover of Melissa Marr’s next book with Anne Hoppe. Needless to say, I exhaled a huge sigh of relief.

So what goodies did I see? So many, soooooo many. This is going to be a long post.

1. The next Septimus Heap book, Queste. Unfortunately, I don’t have a cover but, nevertheless, this is going to make lots of kids (and librarians) happy come April 2008.

2. Roscoe Riley Rules, a new intermediate series by Katherine Applegate, promoted as “Junie B. Jones for boys”. We’re always in need of more “boy books” so I’m thrilled with this one. (June 2008)

3. You’re a Bad Man, Mr. Gum! by Andy Stanton, described by Michael Stearns as Monty Python-esque. I don’t know if that’ll help its kid appeal, but I know I’m excited for it! Check out the link for an excerpt. (March 2008)

4. A new picture book by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Gris Grimly: The Dangerous Alphabet. Unlike Wolves in the Walls, the editor says this will be a “true picture book”, in that it will actually be appropriate for the younger crowd. (May 2008)

5. Erin Hunter is also coming out with a new series: Seekers. The first book is The Quest Begins. It’ll be huge, of course. (June 2008)

6. I got goosebumps over the cover of the sequel to The Secret History of Tom Trueheart by Ian Beck: Tom Trueheart and the Land of Dark Stories. The plot sounds awesome – lots of strong female characters, per the editor – and the cover is super dark and foreboding. Chills! (June 2008)

7. Kevin Henkes has a new novel coming out: Bird Lake Moon. I don’t have a pic of the cover for you, but I thought it was a bit too subdued. Nevertheless, I expect greatness inside. (May 2008)
8. I got really excited about a debut author, Jody Feldman, and her book The Gollywhopper Games, which was described as “Encyclopedia Brown goes to Charlie’s chocolate factory.” Ooooh, intriguing! I have the galley and can't wait to read it. (February 2008)

9. The pièce de resistance! Fancy Nancy: Bonjour Butterfly! I’m such a Fancy Nancy geek and this one does not disappoint. It’s trés magnifique! That’s a fancy way of saying it’s wonderful. (February 2008)

10. And I’m just at the tip of the iceberg! I didn’t talk about Gail Carson Levine’s Ever, the Kanns’ Purplicious (sequel to Pinkalicious), Not a Stick by Antoinette Portis, or Laurence Yep’s Dragon’s Child. Not to mention an adorable picture book called Woolbur by Leslie Helakoski and illustrated by Lee Harper. Keep your eyes open because you will no doubt see Woolbur with face-out placement on B&N’s ubiquitous wall o’ picture books.

Phew! I’m exhausted. I still didn’t tell you about everything, but I think this is enough for now.

Note: A big thank you to HarperCollins for all these links and photos!

Bits and Pieces

I'll launch right in. The sooner I get this done, the sooner I can keep working on my Best of 2007 (so far) list...

• First, the kidlit blogsphere comes through again. Grace Lin’s husband Robert passed away recently, and the wonderful ladies over at Seven Impossible Things are rallying kidlit bloggers to bring attention to Robert’s Snow: for Cancer’s Cure. Get involved for a great cause!
  
  
• Gail Borden Public Library in Elgin, Illinois has a conversation with a space station. A 10-year-old boy was quoted as saying “This is a once-in-a-lifetime event!” Now that is a cool programming idea!
  
  
• Some workman – some poor schmuck who will never live this down – broke a sprinkler pipe in the National Library of Scotland. Luckily, no irreplaceable, valuable books were damaged. The original manuscript of Origin of the Species? Phew! It’s safe. Nevertheless, my heart did a thump-thump while reading this article, asking, “What if? What if? What if the books hadn't been saved?”
  
  
• The Online Education Database listed the top 25 librarian bloggers, by the numbers. The bad news is that Fuse #8 isn’t on there, which is criminal in my eyes. The good news is that MotherReader is (#27). Huzzah!
  
  
• Roger posted a Newsweek article about the over-diagnosing of disorders in children. I’ve known so many of these “quirky” kids in my lifetime – I was one, my daughter is one, and countless kids we see in the library are quirky. It makes me that much more grateful we have just a few characters in children’s literature to guide us through: Ramona, Harriet, Olivia, Lily… But why am I drawing a complete blank on boy characters? I know they're out there. I'll mull that over...
  
  
• Not Your Mother’s Book Club has a lovely summary of an author event with Jerry Spinelli. I’ve had the honor of meeting him a couple times now, and they described his charm and warmth so well. With his gentleness, smile, and eyes, you can’t help but blush when you’re talking to him. And oddly enough, every time I’ve talked to him, I seem to end up talking about his wife’s books more. And, of course, he never seems to mind.
  
  
• Neil Gaiman’s online journal is another one of my new favorite author blogs as well.
  
  However, I have a confession to make.
  
  Come closer.
  
  I don’t want everyone to know this.
  
  Okay, ready?
  
  *I have never read a Neil Gaiman book.*
  
  It’s just a weird fluke-y sort of thing, but I haven’t (well, unless you count Wolves in the Walls. But everyone has read that). My initial impression is that his stuff is sort of "out there". Not to mention that the cover of Coraline scares the stuffing out of me. But oh, how I love his online journal. I’m developing quite the crush on him. Particularly since he just changed the picture of himself and he’s looking cuter than ever. I know, I know. What a rotten way to go about evaluating children’s literature and its creators. But I’m just being honest.
  
  
• Speaking of being honest, check out Justine’s rejection letter for Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer. Oh, if only she really had been an editor at the time and rejected it then. It would have saved me so much trouble in college.