Wizards Wireless

Last minute predictions

2012-01-22T23:36:00.000-05:00

It's about eight hours until the announcement of the American Library Association's youth media awards. Excitement is in the air here at ALA's Midwinter Meeting in Dallas, Texas.

Who will the Caldecott? Who will win the Newbery? (Who will win the other 16 awards being handed out?)

Excellent questions.

I've been making predictions for the past several years, and I've got to say this is a particularly tricky year. Obviously, every year is completely up in the air, but some years are a bit more predictable than others.

This isn't one of those years.

I'll throw out some names for the Caldecott:
-Wonderstruck
-Blackout
-Me, Jane
-Balloons Over Broadway
-Grandpa Green

and some for the Newbery:
-A Monster Calls
-Inside Out and Back Again
-Amelia Lost
-Our Only May Amelia
-Breadcrumbs
-Shades of Gray

but honestly, I think it's anyone's ball game. I think it's going to be one of those years where the winners are announced, and everyone at the press conference whispers to their neighbor: "What? What was that book?"

You may notice that I left the presumptive Newbery favorite Okay for Now off my list. I think it's a wonderful but flawed book.... and while I'd be delighted to see it win, I just don't think it's going to make it. Also, I put Wonderstruck only on the Caldecott list, because I think the illustrations are far and away the strongest part of the book.

We shall see. It could very well be none of the ones I listed above. Whatever it is, I can't wait to find out.

America is Under Attack

2011-10-03T08:18:00.000-04:00

Kids surprise me. Especially my kids.

Several months ago, I read an advance copy of a great non-fiction book about September 11th called America is Under Attack by Don Brown. Thoughtful, well illustrated, and full of both intriguing and heartbreaking facts, it drew me in and stayed in my thoughts long after I finished it.

Recently, I was giving a presentation to a group of adults about upcoming children's book highlights for fall 2011. I mentioned the book, along with many other upcoming favorites. The adults looked at me in a shocked way. They asked why would anyone want to talk to kids about something like that.

I had shied away from talking with my son directly about the attacks. We had read one of my favorite books, The Man Who Walked Between the Towers, and had talked about it abstractly but without much detail. Then, the 10th anniversary of September 11th happened, and the subject was almost impossible to avoid. We live minutes away from the Pentagon, and the topic was on the radio, in the newspaper and on television every day,

I explained the basic facts as best I could, and then pulled out America is Under Attack. We read it slowly, pausing whenever needed. He asked thoughtful questions and digested what I was telling him. I was grateful to have a book that presented the facts in a clear and direct way.

The biggest surprise was that he was relived. He had been so confused about it, he said. He only knew parts of it, and was glad to have the whole story and know what had actually happened. A few weeks later, he surprised me by going independently to his school librarian, asking for more books on the subject.

In the end, I was impressed. Who knew a 7 year old could be so mature?

See here for an interview School Library Journal did with author Don Brown, and here for a discussion guide from Roaring Brook Press, the publisher of America is Under Attack.

A Golden Birthday

2011-10-01T21:34:00.000-04:00

Ever since I read Roald Dahl's classic book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to my son, he's been unwrapping every chocolate bar he can get his hands on. He opens them slowly, carefully, willing each one to have a golden ticket. When they prove to be just bars of chocolate, he sighs sadly (but recovers enough to eat the chocolate).

With his birthday approaching, my husband and I had decided to get him a new bike, since he's worn his old one into the ground. Instead of just telling him about the bike, or taking him to the bike store, I came up with an idea I'm rather proud of.

I made a golden ticket.

Here's the front:

The back was made from shiny, gold origami paper.

Then I carefully unwrapped a chocolate bar, slipped the ticket in, and wrapped it back up.

I just wish you could have seen his face when he peeled back the wrapping, and like Charlie, finally found a glimmer of gold underneath.

Priceless.

No More Borders

2011-07-20T21:48:00.002-04:00

Over twenty years ago, I walked into the most amazing bookstore. It was enormous, easily three times the size of any bookstore I'd been in before. Books were everywhere, piled high from floor to ceiling. I didn't know there could be so many books in the same place. This was before big box stores. Before the store turned into a big corporation. It was just a neighborhood bookstore back then, but the biggest and most exciting I'd ever seen.

Over the years, I visited that store many times. I watched it move to a larger space, and become even bigger, and if possible, more exciting. I listened to authors, browsed foreign newspapers, read comic strip collections over by the coffee bar and so much more. I found all kinds of books I didn't know existed, including a series about a wizard named Harry. And a few years after that, I waited in line at midnight to buy the 4th book in the series.

Say what you will about Borders. Yes, it was a big corporation. Yes, it took business away from the small, local bookstores I support so avidly. Yes, it grew too quickly and probably sacrificed some quality along the way. But, despite that, it got people excited about books. And it never ceased to amaze me that the public could support the existence of such a large place... just dedicated to books.

Well, that time has come and gone. Borders is being forced to liquidate, after all hopes of salvation from bankruptcy have fallen apart. 11,000 employees are losing their jobs and nearly 400 bookstores are closing. And that's bad news for all of us in the book business.

I'll miss that exciting store that always made me smile. How about you? What are your thoughts about the end of this major chapter in the book industry?

Announcing Pottermore

2011-06-23T08:56:00.008-04:00

J.K. Rowling has made her big announcement! Pottermore, coming in October, will be all manner of things Harry Potter. According to Rowling, the website will be a place where "the digital generation will be able to enjoy a safe unique online reading experience built around the Harry Potter books. " Also included will be numerous new details about the Harry Potter world. Plus, the website will also sell both Harry Potter e-books (which have never before been available) and digital audio books.

See the video below for Rowling's announcement. The animation in the pages of the book is nothing short of amazing.

What all this means, I'm not exactly sure. It combines many of the elements speculated about when Pottermore was launched, including a online interactive experience, the Potter encyclopedia and e-books. We'll have to wait and see what happens in October.

In the meantime, one thing is clear. Rowling is the master of suspense.

Update: There's a lot more information about the website in this article from Publisher's Weekly about J.K. Rowling's press conference this morning.

More Potter!

2011-06-16T16:37:00.004-04:00

Just when you thought it was all over, J.K. Rowling has one more surprise. She has just launched a new website called Pottermore, with no real hints as to what it might be. There's even a countdown clock where you can watch the minutes tick by until she makes an announcement about her next project. You can also follow Pottermore on Twitter and Facebook. Here's an unofficial preview shot... you can find more here.

What could it be? J.K. Rowling's spokespeople have announced that it isn't related to more books... but I'm holding out hope that it could be the long-waited Harry Potter encyclopedia, or an online version thereof. Other rumors are going around that it's a social networking online game site. We'll see. In a few days, we'll find out from the master of suspense herself.

What are your guesses?

Update: The announcement has been made! See this post for more details.

Sometimes a bunny is just a bunny

2011-05-31T14:56:00.006-04:00

Recently, there's been a discussion of Margaret Wise Brown's book Goodnight Moon on one of the children's literature listservs I read. Nothing unusual... after all, it's a classic book and is bound to be talked about from time to time.

But, this discussion has started to get into issues involving incest, gender, sexuality and the domination of the older female bunny... and at this point, I've got to wonder: is it okay for Goodnight Moon to just be about a bunny that says good night to the objects in their room? Does it have to be about anything more than that? Is it about anything more than that?

My guess is no, it probably isn't. I appreciate book analysis as much as the next person, but sometimes I think we tend to over-analyze, especially in the field of children's books. And I think when that happens, some of the sweet innocence of a book can get lost.

For example, after I read the Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, I was struck by the fact that he referred to one of the ghouls as the 33rd President of the United States. It was very specific, and I wondered what he meant by it. So, I went online and found many brilliant theories that it was a reference to Truman's (the 33rd President) ghoulish decision to drop the atomic bomb.

Made sense. But then, I asked Neil Gaiman about it and he said that wasn't the case at all. The real reason was that he wanted to use a president from that era and he decided that FDR was just too cool to turn into a ghoul. He thought about Eisenhower, but in the end, thought the number 33 sounded better than the number 34, and number 33 turned out to be Truman. There's nothing more to it than that.

Moral: sometimes things are really that simple. And sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. Is it okay to let a bunny just be a bunny?

What book do you think has been over-analyzed?

Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?

2011-05-17T18:02:00.003-04:00

Albus Dumbledore.

According to a recent article in the Guardian, J.K. Rowling said the longtime Hogwarts headmaster is the character from her books that she'd most like to have dinner with. I can certainly understand that. Who wouldn't enjoy a nice feast with Dumbledore accompanied by a glass of oak-matured mead?

Wizards Wireless asked the opposite question in 2007: which character would you be least interested in dining with? My readers were interested in avoiding a companion that might turn them into entrees: Aragog finished in the clear lead.

How about you? Which Harry Potter character would you like to dine with? (Personally, I'd skip all the fictional characters in favor of a meal with the author herself).

On the Eve of the Caldecott Awards

2011-01-09T21:28:00.008-05:00

Twas the night before the awards and all through the conference
Librarians were stirring, all full of inference.
The books were placed in the exhibits with care
In hopes that a shiny sticker soon would be there.

The authors were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of phone calls danced in their heads.
And try as they might to take a long nap,
They wondered if awards would fall in their lap.

When up on the Internet there arose such a clatter
They sprang from their beds to see what was the matter.
Away to the blogs they went with a flash,
To read all about the mad, final dash.

To what to their wondering eyes did appear,
But lots of guesses where nothing seemed clear

Now City Dog! Now Country Frog!
Now Amos McGee leaves readers agog!
And Ballet for Martha and Art and Max too!
Will Flora's Windy Day breeze right through?

We'll find out tomorrow in the earliest morn
Which ones met with praise and which ones with scorn
Who won the Caldecott and who won the Printz,
Who won the Newbery and who got jinxed.

The announcements will be made, the winners applauded
The committees all thanked and then lauded
But we all should be happy for 2010
And all the wonderful books. Please authors, do it again!

2011 Caldecott Predictions

2010-08-30T18:26:00.019-04:00

Caldecott predictions already? But, Susan, it's only August.

Yes, I know. But 2010 has been such a fantastic year for picture books that I want to get my predictions in early, before everyone else starts making them. I've seen one beautiful, poignant, funny, wonderful book after another.

Where to start? Here are some of the ones that have stood out from the crowd for me.

There's the beautiful and touching City Dog, Country Frog by Mo Williams, with amazing watercolor illustrations by John Muth.

There's the funny and spunky Dotty by Erica Perl, illustrated by Julia Denos.

There's Feeding the Sheep by Leda Schubert with wonderful text and exuberant pictures by Andrea U'ren. (Don't write this one off as just another "how something is made" book.)

There's the endearing and deceptively simple How Rocket Learned to Read by Tad Hills. (See my review here.)

But, I'm afraid that these books (along with a few others) are going to have to slug it out to see which ones get Caldecott honors.

Because this one blows them all away.

I can hear a question forming on your lips. It sounds something like this:

"David Wiesner?! AGAIN?!! Doesn't that man have enough awards??"

And I have a question for you in return.

"Have you read Art & Max?"

When you do, you'll see that this incomparable illustrator has topped both the competition and himself. Again. Talk about a genius. When a copy of this book finds it's way into your hands, savor it. Read each panel slowly. Spend some time with it. Take a look at this video.

And then, sit back, and wait for January 9, 2011 when we'll find out if Wiesner becomes the most decorated Caldecott Medalist in history.

Book overload

2010-08-30T12:00:00.001-04:00

I've got books all over the house. In bedrooms, closets, bathrooms, on the floor, in bookcases... you name it. Books are everywhere.

Several months ago, I finally got things organized. All the books were on the shelves, neatly divided into categories. And everything was lovely and easy to find. It looked like this.

But then, I went to the ALA (American Library Association) Annual conference. And this year's convention happened to be local, so I got more books than usual. Well, that's kind of an understatement.

Here's a picture of the bellhop's cart when I checked out of the hotel. (Yes, I needed a hotel room... where else would I have stored all the books during the conference?) Keep in mind that every bag on the cart is full of books.

Between that minor influx of books, and the fact that I let my children read the books and take them off the shelves, my library went from that beautiful picture at the top of the post, to this.

After two months of work and several failed organizational methods, I've finally done it. Here's what it looks like now (in alphabetical order, no less.)

That's just the picture books, though (and this picture doesn't even show all of them). Let's not even talk about all the other books waiting to be shelved... or the other eight bookcases in the house.

Let's see how long I can keep it up this time.

Welcome back

2010-08-26T21:26:00.008-04:00

If you're a regular reader of Wizards Wireless, you may have noticed the glaring lack of posts here for a long, long time. That's because I've been blogging over at Booklights for PBS Parents.

Sadly, Booklights is coming to a close. But while I'll miss writing over there, I'm also really excited about writing here again.

And for you comic strip fans, I've also started a new blog called Comic Strip Art.

Welcome back and stay tuned! I've got a stack of wonderful books I can't wait to write about.

How to Write a Book by Dan Brown

2010-07-30T13:25:00.006-04:00

Play Dan Brown Libs! Just fill in the blanks to write your own bestselling novel.

A handsome, brilliant, superhuman man named ______ happens to be doing something in the famous city of ________ when the local Secret Service-level police force named _______ drops by to accuse him of the awful murder in the book's introduction of a brilliant person named _______.

The protagonist eventually joins forces with a beautiful, sexy woman named ___________. Somehow, they end up being wanted by every police force in the entire country of _______.
During the inevitable vehicle chase, there's lots of time to come to the brilliant realization that a secret society called _______ is involved. The society members include every famous person that ever existed.

Many, many pages pass. The protagonist performs countless feats that are physically impossible, no matter how many laps a day they swim in the Harvard pool. Endless information about symbolism, secret societies and the city of ______ is recited... all of which ends up having very little to do with the plot. The bad guys go to a ridiculous amount of expense and effort to keep the _______ safe, which ends up being a relatively unimportant object.

The villain is not the person the reader thought it was going to be, but is instead ________. Someone named ________ who was supposed to be dead suddenly resurfaces at exactly the right moment. The handsome protagonist and sexy woman end up exonerated, in a hotel room, having lots of.... room service.

The end.

The book sells millions of copies.

Tom Hanks and a much younger woman star in the movie.

If you want to write a book by your favorite children's author, try this post.

ALA conference tips

2010-06-24T08:00:00.002-04:00

Need some advice for the American Library Association conferences? Try these tips and tricks:

If you ask anyone what their advice is for the annual conference, they will answer "wear comfortable shoes."
Wear comfortable shoes.
If there's an event/luncheon/ceremony that you really want to go to and it costs money..... go. Often, people who buy tickets for events are unable to attend because their plans change. It's easy to find free tickets to events during the conference… keep an eye open for listserv postings and ask people with similar interests if they have a ticket they're not using.
You have to pay for the books at the author signings. Hardcovers are $10, paperbacks are $5. If there's an author you love, it's worth it to lug their book with you from home so you don't have to buy it at the conference. If your favorite author is sitting right in front of you signing books (even if you own the book and forgot to bring it)- buy the book and get it signed. It's worth the $10.
Try to say something to authors that they don't hear all the time. The more specific you can be the better. Instead of saying to a picture book author "I love your illustrations," say "I love the detailed tiger picture in this book. How long did it take you to draw that?" "Why did you dedicate the book to your brother-in-law?" If you know any of their previous lesser known books- definitely mention them.
Make a list of author signings, and a list of publisher booths that you really want to see. To get an extremely hot or popular book, arrive at the booth 15-30 minutes before the signing.
Put everything that sounds interesting to you on your schedule. You never know where you'll end up and it's good to know the locations and room numbers of all possible events.
Take pictures of the authors you see- no matter how stupid you feel about doing it- you'll be grateful ten years later when they win the Caldecott or the Pultizer.
Even if you're not looking for a job right now, get your resume reviewed at the Placement Center. It's always good to have a current copy of your resume handy, and it's great to get such wonderful, professional advice from library managers. If you plan to get your resume reviewed, go immediately to sign up for a slot..... even before you pick up your registration badge. All the weekend's sessions can fill up by the end of Friday.Plan lunch and dinner breaks, otherwise it's really easy to skip meals and wind up hungry and exhausted. Go to lunch and dinner with an old (or new) friend.
Soak it all in and don't be shy. Talk to everyone.... lines are great places to meet people. Go to the informal happy hours, get-togethers for your college, interest group, etc. Collect all the ribbons for your badge you can- for all the divisions you belong to. Makes a great talking point.
Use the bag check at the convention center religiously so you're not lugging so many books around. Keep coming back to it to dump your books. At the end of the day, sort through all the books and freebies you've picked up and take the ones you really want. Ship everything home (even if you're local).
You don't have to do every last thing on your schedule. Make sure to linger to talk to your favorite authors. Place hooky from a session or two. Go sightseeing. Take a nap if you need one.
Go to the booths of the large publishers. You'll find multiple copies of books laid out on the floor or on tables in big stacks. These are free and you can take them. Be sure to check back at the booths several times during the conference because, they'll put out different books on different days. Smaller publishers are unlikely to have free books available.
Ask for books you're interested in. Publishers bring tons of books with them, but don't have the quantities to put every book out in a stack for everyone to take. If there's a book you're dying to read, find out who the publisher is, go to their booth and tell them what book you're looking for. If they don't have a copy with them, they may be able to send you one after the conference is over. Or not. But, it's always worth it to ask. And, even if you don't get to walk away with one, they'll probably have a copy on display that you can take a look at (which is particularly useful for picture books).
Don't take everything you see. There are tons of free handouts available at ALA. Take only what you're interested in (or what a friend or colleague who didn't get to go would be interested in). If there's a free book or an ARC (advance review copy) that you already have access to, or have absolutely no interest in or use for... leave it for someone else. The same rule applies for fliers, tote bags, pens, and all the other freebies you'll see. Don't worry; you'll still acquire tons of free stuff.
Talk to the vendors. Don't just look at them as a source of free books. ALA gives you a chance to share your opinions with the publishers and ask them about your favorite and forthcoming books. The exhibit booths are staffed by editors, publishers, owners and salespeople. They may know an interesting detail about an author or the creation of a book that will help you "sell" a book when you get back home. And they'll be interested to hear your feedback about their books and products. And ask them any questions you have. They know a lot more about their books than what's in the catalogs.
ALA has a free shuttle bus service runs from the convention center to every conference hotel. It's invaluable. Use public transit too, of course… but give yourself permission to take cabs too. Sometimes, the time savings really makes it worth it.
You can never have too many business cards. Even if you have a professional card (and especially if you don't) make cheap personal ones to pass out. You can buy ready to print blank cards from Staples or Office Depot.
Don't enter a drawing, raffle, fill out a coupon or hand over your Expo Card to be scanned, unless you want to be on that company's mailing list. If you do, it's a great way to get their catalogs, and get a free gift.
Enjoy every minute and go again next year.
Ask everyone you see for more advice. You never know what hidden gems you'll uncover.

Got some advice of your own? Please share it in the comments!

Calvin and Hobbes, 15 years later

2010-02-03T19:06:00.017-05:00

Are you a fan of Calvin and Hobbes? (Who isn't?) Then check out this interview with cartoonist Bill Watterson, his first in over 20 years. I have a lot of respect for him for never allowing his characters to be commercially licensed. Also, I think he makes a valid point in the article about knowing when to walk away.

For the first time ever, Calvin and his stuffed tiger will legally appear on something other than a book. The United States Postal Service is releasing a collection of "Sunday Funnies" stamps in July, 2010. Ironically, the Calvin stamp is included with several long running comics that haven't known when to leave the party.

Archie first appeared in 1946, Beetle Bailey in 1950, Dennis the Menace in 1951 and Garfield in 1978. All are still being published, even if the original creator has passed away or is only marginally involved. In stark contrast, Bill Watterson drew every panel of Calvin and Hobbes and it only ran from 1985 to 1995.

As a children's librarian, I can tell you that Calvin isn't going away anytime soon. In fact, it's probably the most popular series at our library. Here's a post I wrote for PBS Booklights about the magic of Calvin and Hobbes.

In 2006, Andrews McMeel released a beautiful three volume set called The Complete Calvin and Hobbes. I've never read it. Do you know why? Because it contains every single strip. If I don't read it, there's always a possibility that I'll find one more book or one more strip I haven't read.

Have you read every Calvin and Hobbes strip and wish there were more? Check out Frazz, currently in the newspaper and on the web. It's got a similar philosophy and sense of humor that Calvin does, with its own quirks thrown in. It's one of my favorite comic strips.

Do you wish Calvin and Hobbes was still running or do you think Bill Watterson walked away at the right time? See the poll on the sidebar.

Susan's last minute Caldecott, Newbery and Geisel predictions for 2010

2010-01-17T23:39:00.011-05:00

Look, it's a new post!

I've been predicting the Caldecott and Newbery Medal books for a while (okay, 2 years) and think I should give this year a shot before we all find out the answers in a few hours. I'm going to try to get these in just under the wire. The press conference is very, very early tomorrow and I have to wake up in a few hours. Did I mention it was early?

There's only one winner I'm going to guess outright... that the Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney will win the Caldecott Medal.

If it doesn't win... there will be gasps if it shows up as an honor and dead silence if a different book wins the medal. Pinkney has won five Caldecott honors and zero Caldecott Medals. But I don't think he should win just because of that (and actually the committee is specifically not allowed to take that into account.) I really think he illustrated the best book of the year, and that's why I hopes he wins.

Caldecott honors: Hard to predict. No clear favorites this year but a lot of possibilities. Here's a couple that may or may not show up on the list:

Otis by Loren Long
Alphabeasties by Sharon Werner (check this one out, it's very cool)
All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrated by Marla Frazee
Moonshot by Brian Floca (I'm not sure where this one will end up. Caldecott? Newbery? Siebert?)
Christmas Magic by Lauren Thompson, illustrated by Jon Muth (this one will never end up on any of the lists, but it's my long shot favorite and well worth checking out)

Newbery Medal: I think this one is a lot harder. There are several very strong books, any of which could win. I'm not sure which one will get the medal and which ones will get the honors. But I wouldn't be surprised to see any of these books turn up on the Newbery list:

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin (I would love to see this book win).
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead.
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly (could end up anywhere- either the medal or an honor)
Crossing Stones by Helen Frost (also a possibility for the Printz).
Claudette Colvin: Twice Towards Justice by Phillip Hoose (this one may end up winning the whole shooting match: the Newbery, the Siebert, the new YA non fiction award, etc. Or it will end up on a multitude of honor lists.)

I think the Geisel might surprise us.

Mo Willems could win for the third year in a row, but I don't think so. (Although you never know). I predict an honor for him.
Duck, Rabbit by Amy Krouse Rosenthal (a book that's gotten a lot of Caldecott buzz, but I think is more likely to win the Geisel or an honor.
Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas (might be a surprise winner).

The Siebert is impossible to guess this year. It was a very good year for non-fiction. Here's some titles that may show up:

Moonshot by Brian Floca
Claudette Colvin: Twice Towards Justice by Phillip Hoose
Written in Bone by Sally Walker
Mission Control- This is Apollo by Andrew Chaikin (it would be very interesting if this book appeared on the Caldecott list).
The Frog Scientist by Pamela Turner
Marching for Freedom by Elizabeth Partridge (could up end on the Newbery list too).

For a complete list of all the awards (and their criteria) and how to follow the press conference live, see this post.

To see my previous prediction posts, try my last minute picks and my earlier choices for 2009. I also predicted Trouble by Gary Schmidt early on, but alas. Here are my predictions from 2008 and my scorecard.

Congratulations to all the lucky people who recieve those 6 am life changing phone calls. Hopefully, the winners don't live in California... like Brian Selznick and Neil Gaiman, they'll get their phone calls at 3 am.

I can't wait to see what happens in a few hours.

Hey, look! What's that over there on the sidebar? A bird? A plane? Nope. A new poll! Actually two new polls... which ALA award winners are you the happiest about and which ones shocked your shorts off.

Update: How did I do? The ALSC award announcements are here, and the YALSA announcements are here.

Got an opinion? I'd love to hear it.

Where have you gone, Wizards Wireless?

2009-07-16T18:18:00.003-04:00

Not too far. Just down the road to PBS Parents. I'm posting weekly at Booklights, a blog about inspiring a love of reading in your child.

That's where you'll find my annual post about the Caldecott/Newbery banquet, complete with an impromptu interview with Neil Gaiman. Here's my banquet post from last year, and here's one of my very first blog posts: the 2007 banquet.

The other two Booklights bloggers are Jen from Jen Robinson's Book Page and Pam from MotherReader. I feel honored to be included with such high caliber writers.

I've been trying to keep up Wizards Wireless, but the demands of work and family (plus the PBS blog) have been taking up most of my time. Don't worry, it isn't going away, though. Look here for my Harry Potter posts (coming soon: my thoughts about the movie of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.)

I had so much fun running the Harry Potter Giveaway contest. I've notified the 5 lucky winners, but all of your answers were fantastic.

Now I've got a question for you. I can repost Booklights posts on Wizards Wireless a month after the orginal post runs. Should I do that? Or are you more likely to read them on Booklights? See the poll on the sidebar and give me some guidance.

Harry Potter Giveaway: Question 2

2009-06-28T22:49:00.005-04:00

There's still time to enter my Harry Potter giveaway contest and win a prize pack of Books 5, 6, 7 in paperback! Full details are in this post.

Question 2: If you could bring one person in the Harry Potter series back to life, who would it be?

Here's the catch: You can only bring them back to life after the events of Book 7 are over.

Spoiler alert: don't keep reading if you haven't finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Several people responded to Question 1 that they didn't like the fact that Sirius died. So, of course, you could bring back Sirius, who was a great father figure to Harry. Or, you could bring back James, Harry's actual father. Or, if you were feeling mischievous, you could bring back Voldemort. Or Fred. Or Dobby. Or Dumbledore. Or the tons of other people that perished during the series. Your choice, but it can only be one person.

To enter the contest, simply reply to this post. Please leave a valid e-mail address or your entry is disqualified. You may leave a comment on any of my giveaway posts until the contest ends on July 7, 2009. If you already commented to Question 1, you get an extra entry by commenting on Question 2. U.S. residents only, please.

Also, be sure to vote in the new poll on the sidebar.

Harry Potter Giveaway: Question 1

2009-06-16T09:00:00.003-04:00

It's only been two short years since we were waiting breathlessly for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to be released.

On July 7, 2009, Book #7 will come out in paperback, and the entire series will finally be available in both hardcover and paperback.

To celebrate, I'm announcing my first ever book giveaway! What am I giving away? Harry Potter books, naturally.

5 winners will receive a prize pack of 3 Harry Potter books in paperback.

The three books are:

#5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

#6. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

#7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

I will be posting a few Harry Potter questions over the next few weeks. To enter the contest, answer the question in the comments. You may enter one time each per question asked. See the bottom of this post for today's question.

Official lingo: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is a breathtaking finish to a remarkable series. The final chapter to Harry Potter’s adventures will be releases in paperback July 7th! It all comes down to this - a final face off between good and evil. You plan to pull out all the stops, but every time you solve one mystery, three more evolve. For more information and fun and games, check out Scholastic's Harry Potter website.
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Question:

If you could change any single event in Harry Potter books 2-7, what would it be?

(Sorry, you can't change an event from Book 1, because if you did, the series wouldn't exist.)

Contest rules :

Please leave an answer (and a valid e-mail address or link) in the comments to enter the contest.
You can leave a comment on any of my giveaway posts until the contest ends on July 7, 2009.
Winners will be chosen at random. If you don't leave me a way to contact you, your entry is invalid. U.S. Residents only, please.

Spoiler warning: If you haven't finished the series, don't read anything after this point. And definitely don't read the comments.

What would I change? It's mentioned several times that the prophecy could have applied to either Neville or Harry. There's a moment towards the end of the seventh book where Harry is preparing to meet his death and he tells Neville to kill the snake. When I read the book the first time, I believed that Harry was going to die. And I thought, what if this is what she intended all along? What if it's really going to be Neville who kills Voldemort in the end?

So, my change would be to have Neville finish off Voldemort. Harry would still live, but Neville would get all the glory.

What change would you make? I'd love to know.

Coming to a shelf near you: Blueberries for Sal!

2009-04-09T14:35:00.005-04:00

I mentioned in this post how sad I was that Blueberries for Sal seemed to be going quietly out of print.

Today, I was thrilled to see this article in this week's Publisher Weekly's Children's Bookshelf. Blueberries for Sal will be back in print again (in a slightly modified edition) with 50,000 copies available in late May or early June.

The article also goes into detail about why Penguin wasn't able to sell the book for about a year.

Welcome back, Sal! We're so happy to see you again.

Is Blueberries for Sal out of print?

2009-03-18T21:43:00.007-04:00

Have you tried recently to buy a new copy of Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey? Have you succeeded? I'm pretty sure the answer is no.

What's going on with Blueberries for Sal? It's not possible that it would go out of print, right? It's a beloved classic and a Caldecott Honor book.

Here's the answer: Blueberries for Sal is sort of, kind of out of print.

I had re-ordered it for my bookstore a few times when I was working as a book buyer. The orders kept being canceled and the reason on the invoice was "out of stock." Since this happened more than once, I asked our store's publishing rep from Penguin what was going on. Here's what I recall of the conversation.

(Note: Since I don't like posting anything unconfirmed and without details, I've been trying for a while to find confirmation for this. But I've scoured the internet and used all my librarian tricks- and can't find any official information at all. If you have a link to a news story, or better yet, if you have direct information, please post it here. I'm sure there's more to the story than what I've heard.)

Our rep said there was a lawsuit involving the book. An injunction has been issued to Penguin forbidding them to sell the book. That means they can't sell it in any form: paperback, hardcover, in a collection, with a CD, etc. So, not only is it not possible to buy the book itself, you also can't buy collections of Robert McCloskey books that contain Blueberries for Sal. If you go to Penguin's website, Blueberries for Sal is listed... but if you try to put it in your cart, you'll get a note that the publisher is out of stock.

Penguin isn't actually out of stock... they have a warehouse full of the books, but they can't sell them. There wasn't any warning, so they couldn't offload them before the injunction hit. My (unconfirmed) understanding is that relatives of the McCloskey family sued Penguin.

Also, it seems to be a permanent thing. The injunction has no end date.

It's breaking my heart to remove copies that are falling apart from our library's collection, because at the moment, it seems doubtful they'll ever be replaced.

If you're desperate to find a copy, you'll have to look for one used. The prices of the used copies on Amazon have skyrocketed recently, so at least the used book dealers know that the supply is scarce. I'd recommend library book sales and used book stores as good places to look.

The strange thing is, nobody seems to know what's going on. I haven't seen any publicity at all. The extremely well informed and savvy buyer at my library didn't know why her orders weren't be filled until I told her. If this is a permanent thing, I'd love to see a little more ruckus raised and more people made aware of the situation.

UPDATE: Blueberries for Sal is coming back! See this post for more information.

How do Caldecott and Newbery winning books get their shiny stickers?

2009-01-30T18:00:00.002-05:00

I just got an interesting comment on this post:

Kim asks: "I was wondering if you could share how long it takes for copies of the winners get the medals on the covers? My daughter and I have been reading and picking our own Caldecott and Geisel favorites for the past couple of months. She understands what the medals on the covers mean now and I'd like to get some of this years winners but want to get them with the stickers on them. I can't seem to find an answer on how long this takes to happen. I assume book stores are sent stickers to put on their current stock?"

Brian responded with this comment: "It generally takes about a month."

I've always been curious about the stickers myself. I'm not sure that I have the definitive answer, but I've worked as a bookseller, a librarian, been a member of the organization that gives out the awards and had a talk with the publisher of an award winning book. I think I have a pretty good idea of what happens. To the best of my knowledge, here's the story behind the stickers.

Kim, before we get to your question, let's back up a little and talk about print runs and the incredible selling power of the Newbery and Caldecott Medals. When a book is published, a publisher decides how many copies to print. These initial copies are all first editions. If a book sells out its print run, the publisher will do additional printings and editions, but not every books gets a second printing.

There's no way a publisher can expect or predict a Newbery or Caldecott. Regardless of the pre-awards buzz, you never know what the committees will actually decide. No matter what the winning books initial print run was (with Hugo Cabret for example, it was quite large) there will never be enough copies to meet the demand. Available copies are purchased immediately by bookstores, libraries, schools, and a huge influx of customers. Typically, within a few hours of the announcements, all available copies of the book are sold out.

By that point, it's impossible to get the book, no matter what. The publisher has no more copies and thousands (I'm not exaggerating) of orders are pouring in. The publisher immediately starts a new and much larger print run to meet the sudden demand. Those copies typically come out within 1-3 months of the award announcement, depending how long the printing takes.

For booksellers, especially ones at independent stores like the ones I worked at, it is crucial to have as many of the winning and honor books in stock at the time of the announcement. If you don't, you won't get that initial rush of sales and you won't be able to get the book back on the shelf for at least a month. See this post for more about that.

Now, let's get back to the stickers. I wish I could tell you that on the day of the award announcement, everyone stops what they're doing and puts the stickers on the books. But really, it's much more mundane and gradual than that.

Nobody gets sent a batch of stickers. (That would be lovely, though). You have to pay for the stickers and they're purchased through the American Library Association Store. Anyone can buy them, incidentally, not just bookstores and libraries.

Even the publisher has to pay for the stickers, plus the cost of paying someone to physically put the sticker on the book. No publisher minds this, though, because of the enormous increase in sales the stickers represent. The publisher puts the stickers on the second printing and every printing thereafter.

Sometimes, with paperback books or books that are perennially popular, the publisher will put a photograph of the sticker on the book. That way, for example, they don't have to keep buying Newbery honor stickers for every copy of Charlotte's Web that is ever published. Sometimes, in later printings, they don't even put the stickers on... it will just say "Newbery Medal Winner" above the title. I don't really understand that, though. My feeling is if you've got it, flaunt it.

Libraries typically have many of the medalists and honor books already on their shelves. Whatever they don't have, they'll order immediately (budget permitting), and they'll receive the second printing a month or two later. My library has rolls of all the various stickers in the area they process books. Eventually, they'll go through the books currently in the collection and add the stickers and will put them on the new books as they come in. School librarians do the same thing.

Bookstores are a different story. All of the copies purchased on the day of the announcements don't have stickers... if for no other reason than that there is simply no time. When I was a bookseller, I watched the winning books go out the door before I could blink. Booksellers typically wait for the second printing of the book which already has the stickers on it.

So the short answer is : it generally takes about a month. Usually a bit longer.

But your question raises an interesting point, which is that not everybody wants the edition with the sticker on it. Sometimes, I'm proud of the unstickered books, because I bought them before everyone else. And at other times, the book look naked to me without the sticker.

So, now you know. Travis at 100 Scope Notes wrote a great post last year predicting where the stickers would end up on the predicted winners. But, since the stickers go on gradually and (except for the ones put on by the publisher) haphazardly, the stickers can end up any place on the book.

Thanks for asking. It's a good question.

2009 Newbery, Caldecott, and Printz winners and honor books

2009-01-26T12:13:00.007-05:00

Here are the American Library Association's 2009 youth media awards winners. The official press release is available on ALA's website.

I'm having trouble getting onto the website at the moment because of the heavy traffic, but I was at the press conference in Denver this morning and was handed a press release after the announcement. I have to catch a plane, so forgive me for not including authors and publishers. All of that information is on ALA's website.

Caldecott Medal: House in the Night
Caldecott Honors: A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever, How I Learned Geography, and River of Words: the Story of William Carlos Williams.

Newbery Medal: The Graveyard Book
Newbery Honors: The Underneath, The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba, Savvy, and After Tupac & D Foster

Printz Award: Jellicoe Road
Printz Honors: Octavian Nothing Volume 2, Nation, Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, and Tender Morsels.

Geisel Award: Are You Ready to Play Outside?
Geisel Honors: Chicken said Cluck, One Boy, Stinky, Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator.

Coretta Scott King Author Award: We are the Ship
Coretta Scott King Author Honors: The Blacker the Berry, Keeping the Night Watch, and Becoming Billie Holiday

Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award: The Blacker the Berry
Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honors: We Are the Ship, Before John was a Jazz Giant and the Moon over Star

Coretta Scott King /John Steptoe New Talent Award: Bird by Zetta Elliott

Schneider Family Book Award for young children: Piano Starts Here: the Young Art Tatum
Schneider Family Book Award for middle grades: Waiting for Normal
Schneider Family Book Award for teens: Jerk, California

Sibert Medal: We Are the Ship
Sibert Honors: Bodies from Ice and What to Do About Alice?

Carnegie Medal: March On! The Day by Brother Martin Changed the World

Batchelder Award: Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit
Batchelder Honors: Garmann's Summer and Tiger Moon

Margeret A. Edwards Recipient (lifetime achievement for Young Adults): Laurie Halse Anderson

Pura Belpre Illustrator Award: Just in Case by Yuyi Morales
Pura Belpre Illustrator honors: Papa and Me, The Storyteller' s Candle and What Can You Do With a Rebozo?
Pura Belpre Author Award: The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom
Pura Belpre Author Honors: Just in Case, Reaching Out, and the Storyteller' s Candle

Odyssey Award: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Odyssey Honors: Curse of the Blue Tattoo, Elijah of Buxton, I'm Dirty!, Martina the Beautiful Cockroach and Nation.

Arbuthnot Honor Lecture: Kathleen T. Horning

Wilder Award: Ashley Bryan

William C. Morris debut award: A Curse Dark as Gold

What are your thoughts? I'd love to hear them. Leave a comment below or vote in the poll on the sidebar.

Susan's last minute Caldecott, Newbery and Geisel predictions

2009-01-26T08:44:00.009-05:00

In October, I posted my early ALA awards predictions. Today is the actual day of the annoucements. In fact, I'm in Denver at the American Library Associations' Midwinter Meeting and am getting ready to head to the press conference in a few minutes. We'll all know the winners within a few hours, but I wanted to post my last minute thoughts. These are the books I want to win, whether that happens, we shall see.

Caldecott: A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever by Marla Frazee
Honor: Bear's Picture by Daniel Pinkwater and Little Yellow Leaf by Carin Berger. (I wouldn't be surprised to see House in the Night by Susan Marie Swanson on this list somewhere).

Newbery: I really wish it was going to be Trouble by Gary Schmidt, but I'm thinking that's not going to happen. I think it's going to be The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman.
Honor: The Underneath by Kathi Appelt, and a few surprises.

Geisel: Red Sled by Patricia Thomas.
Honor: Are You Ready to Play Outside? by Mo Willems and Mr. Putter and Tabby Run the Race by Cynthia Rylant. Plus, a surprise picture book or two.

Siebert: I'll Pass For Your Comrade by Anita Silvey (or at least an honor).

I hope you tune in to the live award announcement webcast (be sure to log-on to the webcast early so you don't get shut out). Click here to find out other ways you can find out about the announcements, both during and after the press conference.

Congratulations to every author who just had their life changed with a phone call.

The real me

2009-01-24T10:56:00.012-05:00

Wondering who I am? After a year and a half of blogging, I'm finally posting my name and photo on Wizards Wireless.

My name is Susan Kusel, I'm a children's librarian in Arlington, Virginia, and I look like this:

The real debate is: where do I put my polls now? Above the picture and info on the sidebar or below it? I can't find a Blogger template that uses three columns.

Revealing my name is pretty much a moot point, because if you Google me, you'll find this blog. But, I just read the third recent link that referred to me as "the children's librarian who blogs at Wizard Wireless" and I couldn't take it anymore. So, the time has come to fully step out of anonymity. I think it's the right decision for me.

Also, on the sidebar, you'll find out a few things about me. As long as I was going for the big reveal, I thought it was a good idea to post a bit of information about me and Wizards Wireless.

I said I don't do reviews on this blog, but actually I have done a couple. To clarify, if I do a review, it'll be about a book I've picked on my own and never an unsolicited one. (Excepting the Harry Potter Lexicon, which I'll be writing about shortly.) That being said, if you want to send me picture books, comic strip collections or books about Harry Potter, I won't complain. And if you've got any original comic strip art kicking around, I'd be happy to take that off your hands anytime.

Have you wrestled with the issue of using your real name on your blog? What conclusions have you come to?

Also, tell me who you are. I honestly have no idea who reads this blog and am always surprised when someone mentions something I blogged about in real life. Leave a comment in this post, join the Wizards Wireless Facebook page, or add Wizards Wireless to "Blogs I Follow" under your Blogger Profile. It would be great to find out who my audience is!

As always, I'm so glad you stopped by.

The Cybils Finalists!

2009-01-01T09:32:00.005-05:00

Head on over to the Cybils (The Children's and Young Adult Bloggers Literary Awards) to see the list of 2008 finalists.

I know the judges worked very hard to come up with such an excellent list. I can't wait for the announcement of the winners on February 14.

And, hey, this year a book I nominated actually became a finalist. Three cheers for Wanda Gag: The Girl Who Lived to Draw, by Deborah Kogan Ray, a finalist in the non fiction picture book category.

How to write a book by your favorite author in ten steps or less

2008-12-27T23:00:00.019-05:00

I love it when I read a great book and then find another book by the same author with a similar plot. Sometimes I get so familiar with an author that I can predict the plot of a book before I open it.

Here's an example:

Basic Harry Potter Plot Summary

Harry is at the Dursleys for the summer and he’s miserable.
An event happens before Harry gets to school. After it’s over, Harry visits Diagon Alley (or Mrs. Weasley visits it for him) and takes the train to Hogwarts.
Harry arrives at Hogwarts and finds out who the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is (who is always someone Harry’s met before school started).
Harry gets a lot of homework and Quidditch practice and games happen.
Major events occur on Halloween and/or Christmas.
Harry, Ron and Hermione are trying to solve a mystery.
Harry and friends study for exams. In the afternoon after the last exam, the answer to the mystery is suddenly discovered.
The climax of the book occurs and something terrible or miraculous happens. Harry meets Voldemort and narrowly avoids death. The climax lasts all evening and takes up several chapters of the book. At the end of it, Harry ends up in the hospital wing.
Dumbledore explains it all.
Harry deep in thought about whatever happened during the climax, takes the train home and dreads another summer with the Dursleys.

Of course, there are deviations to this structure in various books. Harry doesn’t take the train to Hogwarts in Chamber of Secrets, he doesn’t meet Voldemort in Prisoner of Azkaban (although Voldemort is discussed during the climax), he doesn’t play Quidditch in Goblet of Fire, etc. But basically, if you think about it, the events listed above happen in Books One through Six.

**Begin spoiler alert. Don’t read the comment below unless you’ve read the Half Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows.**

One of the things I love in Book Seven is that Dumbledore STILL explains it all. He doesn’t let a minor thing like death stand in his way of summing up the entire plot and explaining every mystery that’s happened during the book.

**End spoiler alert**

Stock plot summaries can work for lots of books. Take a look at this one:

Basic Amelia Bedelia Plot Summary

It only takes five steps.

Mrs. Rogers gives Amelia Bedelia a list of things to do and then leaves the house.
Amelia Bedelia bakes a pie before she starts working on the list.
Amelia Bedelia does every item on the list and takes each task literally.
Mrs. Rogers comes home to find that the house is a big mess and that Amelia Bedelia hasn’t done anything correctly.
Amelia Bedelia’s pie makes everything better again.

This always makes me wonder. Hasn’t Mrs. Rogers figured out by now that Amelia Bedelia is an incompetent maid? Why doesn’t she hire someone else? Amelia Bedelia can open a bakery and contract on the side with Mrs. Rogers to bake pies.

And it's not always plot devices. Some authors seem to have lists of characters that often appear in their books. Here are several reoccurring characters from one of my favorite authors:

L.M. Montgomery's Stock Characters

For those of you who have just read Anne of Green Gables series, believe me, these characters surface in nearly every other L.M. Montgomery book.

Primary characters

A female ingénue who is deeply in love with the house she lives in. She often has a teaching degree and sometimes a college degree (unusual for the time period). She has a creative imagination and writes stories and sells them to magazines for a small profit. She is usually (but not always) an orphan. The story is always told for her point of view.
A handsome, perfect male who grew up with the female ingénue. He crosses signals with her multiple times and moves away (a letter is usually lost or destroyed.) But he always manages to come back three pages from the end of the book at the perfect moment and declare his undying love.
An older female who takes care of the ingénue in a strict and no-nonsense way. She is usually not the ingénue's mother.
An older man who falls in love with the ingénue. He proposes and is engaged to the ingénue, but she only sees him as a friend and she eventually breaks the engagement. (Not in the Anne books, but in many others).

Secondary characters (optional, but usually included)

A wonderful housekeeper that the family couldn’t live without who has a mother that occasionally gets ill.
A gossipy female neighbor who does beautiful needlework and feels there's a enormous difference between Presbyterians and Methodists. (Presbyterians are always favored.)
A female friend who's had a rough life and only opens up to the ingénue.
A female friend or sister that dithers for years over which of two identical men she should marry, and then falls in love with a third man and marries him immediately.
A rich, crotchety elderly woman who dies and leaves her fortune to the ingénue.
Small children who have big imaginations and provide amusing stories about adventures and local people. (The stories are typically the same from book to book.)
A town doctor who makes house calls. (In the Anne books, he’s a primary character).
A town minister.

Setting

A farm on Prince Edward Island near a small town, where everybody’s primary occupation seems to be keeping track of the entire life histories of everyone else.

There are a few obvious exceptions. The Blue Castle is the only book that is not set on Prince Edward Island. And the male hero and the ingenue are together and happy for half the book and not just the last three pages. And Kilmeny of the Orchard is an exception because it's told from the man's point of view, not the woman's.

Conclusions

I love these kinds of books when they're written by a favorite author. Sometimes it's great to find many variations on the same theme. And just because stock characters or basic plot points are used, doesn't mean the books aren't original and delightful.

Also, it makes me intrigued about an author's life and when I see obvious patterns, I like to research them. A lot of it tends to be based in fact as authors frequently write what they know.

Compare the stock characters to L.M. Montgomery's actual life. Her mother died shortly after she was born and she was raised by farm on Prince Edward Island by her grandparents. She had both a teaching license and a college degree. She fell in love with the perfect boy- someone she had grown up with (her cousin) but didn't marry him and married an older man who was a Presbyterian minister instead.

Unfortunately, though, I'll never get to read a Harry Potter book again for the first time. And after a trip to Prince Edward Island and a careful search through tons of used bookstores there, I think I've exhausted all the new-to-me L.M. Montgomery books. But, by knowing the formula, I can also appreciate departures from it. I love Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and The Blue Castle, precisely because they break the mold.

And sometimes, only one book really rises to the top. I liked The DaVinci Code and read other books by Dan Brown. I was disappointed that not only were they all the same, but The Da Vinci Code (which still had flaws) was the best.

A Plea

If you found this post by googling "Anne of Green Gables characters" or "Harry Potter plot summary," please don't use what I've written above for any kind of informational purposes. They're just generalizations, and I hope that you read the books discussed above if you haven't before. Despite what I said, each one truly is unique and I've enjoyed every one. (Some more than others, of course).

Your Turn

How about you? Is there an author whose plot summary, typical setting and stock characters you know even before you start reading one of their books? Post it below. If you chose to write your own post about it, I'd love to see it and please include the link in the comments.

Which children's book author would you like to meet?

2008-12-10T11:52:00.004-05:00

In the past few weeks I've gotten a change to hang out with Emily Gravett and Jennifer Holm, two of my favorite children's book authors. Stay tuned for details... including how long it took to write and illustrate Orange Pear Apple Bear and the name of the newest (and yet to be published) Babymouse book.

This got me to thinking. Due to a lucky combination of working in book stores, attending conferences, being active in the Kidlitopshere, and founding a book club, I've had the chance to meet many amazing authors and illustrators in the last few years. And, I hope to meet many, many more.

This leads me to ask a few questions.

1. Which authors\illustrators have you met or talked to via e-mail? Which experience were the most meaningful to you?

2. Which authors\illustrators would you most want to meet or to e-mail you? (Caveat: they have to be alive, so that it would actually be theoretically possible to meet them or receive e-mail from them).

I have to mull about my answer to Question 1 a little longer.
Question 2 is easy though. J.K. Rowling, of course.

How about you?

An Annoucement/ Plea for Help

2008-12-08T19:49:00.007-05:00

I'm delighted to finally be able to share some very exciting news. Starting in mid-January, Jen Robinson, MotherReader and I will be working together on a children's book blog for PBS! Topics will include getting kids interested in reading, early literacy and reviews across a variety of genres.

It's really an amazing opportunity and I'm so honored that PBS wants me to be a part of it. None of it would have been possible without Gina Montefusco from PBS and Jen Robinson who have been the driving forces behind this project.

We're trying to come up a terrific name for the blog. Got any good ideas? Please, please, please send them my way. I'm usually good about this kind of thing, but this time I'm drawing a blank (probably because it's PBS and a lot of people will see it). I know you creative folks out there in the Kidlit world can come up with something perfect.

P.S. This blog isn't going away because I'll be writing for PBS only once a week. And yes, I promise, I'll start updating Wizards Wireless again. Sorry for the long drought.

Happy Beedle the Bard Day!

2008-12-04T09:43:00.001-05:00

You've flown your Firebolt to the nearest bookstore.

The Amazon.com owl has tapped on your window.

And now…

you have the Tales of Beedle the Bard in your hot little hands.

You open it, see how big the font size is, and dive right in.

You're finished in less than an hour.

WAIT! Don't do that.

Read slowly. One story at a time. Savor it.

When's the next time you're going to get a chance to read original J.K. Rowling stories set in the Harry Potter world?

Not anytime soon, I can tell you.

After you've enjoyed the book, come back and tell Wizards Wireless what you think.

I'd love to hear your opinions, even if you've only read part of the book.

And be sure to take the new poll on the sidebar.

Easy Halloween costumes for characters from children's books

2008-10-24T17:00:00.001-04:00

Looking for a quick and easy Halloween costume you can make yourself? Try these great ideas from fellow bloggers for characters from popular children's books. These ideas work for both kids and adults.

Maureen from Confessions of a Bibliovore suggests:

Fern from Charlotte's Web: a farm girl costume
Mrs. Whatsit from A Wrinkle in Time: Crazy scarves, hats and skirts.
Harry Potter: Graduation gown, round glasses and a mascara scar

Pam from MotherReader suggests:

The Cat in the Hat: get a red and white striped hat and a black tail. Wear all black. Cut the "bib" from a white T-shirt/undershirt. Tie a red bow around your neck with cloth. Draw on whiskers.

Andrea from Three Silly Chicks suggests:

Pippi Longstocking: Make a wig with red warn and wire.
Waldo: Dress in red and white striped clothing and a stocking cap. Go from house to house asking if anybody if they've seen Waldo.

Wendie from Wendie's Wanderings suggests:

Professor McGonagall: Use your grad gown. A loooong pretzel makes a good wand. It's great for keeping that feather in the air, too. Additional suggestion from Susan: Add glasses, a witch hat and put your hair in a bun (if possible).
Little Red Riding Hood: A red cape and carrying a basket (with a wolf inside it).
Wear an orange blouse and put pumpkin eyes, nose, and mouth on the back of it. You could be Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater or The Great Pumpkin.

Stacy from Booktopia suggests:

Viola Swamp from Miss Nelson is Missing: Black dress, striped tights, black nails, messy black wig.

From my friend Cate, who always has great suggestions:

Knuffle Bunny: Put on bunny ears, a tail and whiskers.

Also, see this post from last year, for some punny Harry Potter Halloween costume ideas that Cate and her husband came up with.

My ideas:

The Pigeon from Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus: Dress in blue. Draw on a beak. Carry a toy hot dog and a bus.

Do you have any more ideas? I'd love to hear them. Please leave them in the comments.

Change of topic

2008-10-22T00:05:00.016-04:00

Many people have told me that they think of Wizards Wireless as a bookseller blog.

But, when I first started writing it,

I was a library school student.

Then I became a bookseller.

And now I'm about to start a new job as a children's librarian.

It'll be interesting to see how the blog changes as I change careers.

But, it will still be about what it's always been about:

Children's Books,

Comic Strips,

and Harry Potter.

I want to say

to all my regular readers.

Feel free to drop me a line.

There will be a brief hiatus but I'll

soon.

New Books by Mo Willems

2008-10-15T10:30:00.007-04:00

I was flipping through the Hyperion 2009 spring children's catalog today and noticed this:

Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed: Coming January 6, 2009.

It's about a naked mole rat named Wilbur who likes to wear clothes. I saw a sample page in the catalog... it was pure Mo. I'm hoping to get my hands on an advance copy in the near future.

Also, two new Elephant and Piggie books are being published soon.

Are You Ready to Play Outside? Coming October 28, 2008.

Watch Me Throw the Ball!: Coming March 17, 2009.

As I've mentioned before on this blog, I'm a big Mo Willems fan. (For a goofy picture of me standing next to Mo, see this post). And I've noticed that I get two kinds of reactions to Mo at the toy/book store where I work. About half the customers are huge fans of Mo, and the other half haven't heard of him.

Why are so many people not aware of him? Because he's so new to the children's book scene.

His first book: Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus was published in March, 2003. That was only five years ago. Take a quick look at his complete bibliography, and see what he's published since.

2003

2004

2005

Leonardo the Terrible Monster
Time to Say Please!
The Pigeon Loves Things That Go! board book
The Pigeon Has Feelings Too! board book

2006

Edwina the Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct
Don't Let the Pigeon Stay up Late!
Knuffle Bunny video (2007 Carnegie Medal Winner)
You Can Never Find a Rickshaw When it Monsoons (illustrated travel journal for adults)

2007

Knuffle Bunny Too (2008 Caldecott Honor book)
Elephant and Piggie: Today I Will Fly!
Elephant and Piggie: My Friend is Sad!
Elephant and Piggie: There is a Bird on Your Head! (2008 Geisel Award winner)
Elephant and Piggie: I Am Invited to a Party!

2008

The Pigeon Wants a Puppy!
Elephant and Piggie: I Will Surprise My Friend!
Elephant and Piggie: I Love My New Toy!
Elephant and Piggie: Are You Ready to Play Outside?

2009 (through March 2009)

Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed
Elephant and Piggie: Watch Me Throw the Ball!

Mo loves to use exclamation points! 14 of the books listed above (or nearly 3/4) have exclamation points in the titles!!!

By the spring of 2009, Mo will have published twenty one books. And, he's won five major awards along the way: 3 Caldecott honors, 1 Gesiel, and 1 Carnegie. Plus, the majority of his books are bestsellers. It takes many writers and illustrators a lifetime to do what he's done in five years. And let's not dismiss the six Emmys he won as an animator for Sesame Street.

Pretty unbelievable, isn't it?

Which of his books do you like? See the poll in the sidebar.

What's Missing from the Cybils: Early Readers

2008-10-11T22:58:00.028-04:00

Have you nominated a book for the Cybils? Hurry up, there's only a few days left. Nominations close on October 15, 2008. Anybody can nominate one book per category.

I've compiled a list of books in the early reader category that are eligible, but haven't been nominated yet. To the best of my knowledge, all the books I've mentioned below are designed for beginning readers, are 64 pages or less and have a publication date between January 1, 2008- October 15, 2008.

There are three exceptions that don't meet the 64 page limit, and if these books aren't eligible for the Cybils, then they should be eligible for the Geisels and the Maryland Blue Crab Young Reader Award. They are:

Mercy Watson Thinks Like a Pig by Kate Dicamillo, illustrated by Chris Van Dusen
The Mozart Question by Micheal Morpurgo, illustrated by Michael Foreman
The Twin Giants by Dick King Smith, illustrated by Mimi Grey

All three books are published by Candlewick. Although they have roughly 72-80 pages, Mercy Watson Thinks Like a Pig and The Twin Giants in particular have appropriate word choices, white space, and liberal use of illustrations throughout the text. I'd definitely consider them early readers. But, we'll leave that up to the judges.

I'm so glad that the early reader category has been established as part of the Cybils (and I'm honored to have been the one to suggest it). I think this genre is extremely important and I've always felt that these kinds of books go unsung. If you click on the Amazon links I've provided below, you'll notice that almost none of these books have been reviewed yet, even though some of them have been published for nine months. After you put in your nomination, drop by Amazon or Barnes and Noble and leave a quick comment or review.

Last year, while all the Newbery and Caldecott predictions were being posted everywhere... the only books I saw on anybody's Geisel prediction lists were Mo Willems' Elephant and Piggie books. I love these books, and I'm delighted that There's a Bird on Your Head won the Geisel, and I think it was well deserved. But, Mo Willems just started writing early readers and he's not the only one in the game.

Here's a list of titles that haven't been nominated for a Cybil yet:

Amazing Animal Journeys by Liam O'Donnell

Annie and Snowball and the Teacup Club by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Suçie Stevenson

Ape Adventures by Catherine E. Chambers

Basketball Bats by Betty Hicks, illustrated by Adam McCauley

Family Vacation by Fiona Lock

Fancy Nancy at the Museum by Jane O’Connor

Flood! by Marion Dane Bauer, illustrated by John Wallace

Goof Off Goalie by Betty Hicks, illustrated by Adam McCauley

Greek Myths by Caryn Jenner

Journey of a Pioneer by Patricia J. Murphy

Just Five More Minutes by Marcy Brown and Dennis Haley, illustrated by Joe Kulka

Let's Play Soccer by Patricia J. Murphy

Lulu's Wild Party by Paula Blankenship, illustrated by Larry Reinhart

Mercy Watson Thinks Like a Pig by Kate Dicamillo, illustrated by Chris Van Dusen

The Mozart Question by Micheal Morpurgo, illustrated by Michael Foreman

My First Ballet Recital by Amy Junor

Pete's Party by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by David Gordon, Loren Long and David Shannon

A Pony Named Peanut by Sindy McKay, illustrated by Meredith Johnson

Quack Shack by Harriet Ziefert, illustrated by Yukiko Kido

Snow Dogs: Racers of the North by Ian Whitelaw

Snow Trucking by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by David Gordon, Loren Long and David Shannon

The Spy Catcher Gang by John Kelly and Kate Simkins

A Trip to the Theater by Deborah Lock

The Twin Giants by Dick King Smith, illustrated by Mimi Grey

Volcano! by Marion Dane Bauer, illustrated by John Wallace

Wagon Train Adventure by John Kelly and Kate Simkins

Welcome to China by Caryn Jenner

Wet Pet by Harriet Ziefert, illustrated by Yukiko Kido

Zoom! Boom! Bully by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by David Gordon, Loren Long and David Shannon

Click here to nominate in the early reader category.

In addition to this list, another great place to look for ideas is the Mock Geisel blog, created by the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Check out the new poll on the sidebar to see if you've nominated a book in every category.

Lawsuits and bookstores, oh my

2008-09-09T08:22:00.006-04:00

I thought I'd share a pair of articles from the New York Times.

First, the big news: Harry Potter Author Wins Copyright Ruling

This was an incredibly complicated case, with lots of potential precedents hanging on the verdict. To me, the key sentence in the ruling by Judge Patterson (which isn't in the New York Times article, but which you can find at the Leaky Cauldron) is:

“While the Lexicon, in its current state, is not a fair use of the Harry Potter works, reference works that share the Lexicon’s purpose of aiding readers of literature generally should be encouraged rather than stifled.”

To read the full 68 page decision, see this PDF on the Wall Street Journal's website.

What do you think? Leave a comment or vote in the new poll.

And second: Children's Bookstores, Hanging On
I was surprised with this one. It only briefly mentions the two famous children's bookstores in Manhattan: Books of Wonder and the Bank Street Bookstore... and then focuses on the Scholastic Bookstore. Don't get me wrong, Scholastic's store is fantastic. But, it's owned by a publisher and doesn't feature the variety of publishers that other independent stores do. For some great children's bookstores (and to find one near you), check out the Association of Booksellers for Children.

Also, the article mentions the closing of a famed bookstore in Alexandria in 2007, (A Likely Story) but does not mention the fact that a new children's bookstore reopened in the same location in 2008 under new management as Hooray for Books!

Travel and activity books

2008-08-25T17:00:00.004-04:00

Since I work as a children's book buyer at an independent store, you might logically assume that I buy board books, picture books, novels, and non-fiction. I do, of course, but I also buy sticker books, coloring books, hidden picture books, dot-to-dots, mazes, word searches, puzzles, cloth books, audio books, book and CD sets, calendars, workbooks and handwriting books.

I thought I'd share some of the gems I've found in these categories. They're the kind of books that rarely get reviewed, but that lots of customers ask for.

Need a really simple dot to dot book? Try Buki's great, compact activity books. They're terrific for kids ages 3 and up who are learning how to do dot to dots. They come in a lot of varieties and shades of complexities and fit easily into a backpack, purse or diaper bag.
On the other end of the spectrum, anyone who thinks they're too old for dot-to-dots should try the amazing puzzle books published by Monkeying Around. The books are accurately titled The Greatest Dot to Dot Books in the World. Each puzzle contain a variety of symbols and directions and there's no way to tell what the object is before you complete it. Younger kids might want to stick to volumes 1-3 or the Greatest Newspaper Dot to Dots. Older kids and adults should try Volumes 4-6.

My favorite one of all is The Greatest Dot to Dot Super Challen ge: Book 6, which has many as a thousand dots per puzzle. I've been having so much fun doing the puzzles, each of which is incredibly creative and inventive. Some puzzles are made up entirely of symbols, or words, or compass points. Check out their free sample pages for a small taste of what I'm talking about. The puzzles in Book 6 are much more elaborate and challenging than the samples. These books are fabulous for traveling or relaxing. I'd also recommend them for someone who's sick or in the hospital and looking for something fun to do.

Looking for unique coloring books? Check out Mindware, which carries a variety of fun and creative options. Some of my favorites include Microdesigns, Threads (intriguing quilt patterns to color), Animal Habitats, and Modern Patterns (where you can color molecules!)

In a similar vein, I also like Sterling's series of Kids' Mandalas. They're a little easier and a little less complicated than the Mindware books, and I find them soothing and a lot of fun to color.

Lots of kids enjoy finding hidden pictures, but I've found that the Where's Waldo and I Spy books can sometimes be too intense and complicated for the under 5 crowd. Looking for something a little easier? I highly recommend Usborne's 1001 Things to Spot series.

The objects are (relatively) easy to find and are identified by both number and picture. That means that a child doesn't have to be able to read to use these books. I've found them to be great books for traveling or going to restaurants. My son also enjoys reading a page a night as part of his bedtime stories.

Got any other recommendations? I'm always on the look out for creative, imagining and challenging activity books.

For Better or For Worse: Stop!

2008-08-20T07:40:00.005-04:00

In today's strip, what made Elizabeth stop the limousine on the way to her wedding?

Did she see her Uncle Phil leave the hospital?

(Did Warren's helicopter just land?)

It looks like Elizabeth is going to figure out by herself what's going on with Grandpa Jim. I like that.

Update:
Based on Thursday's strip, I see I was completely wrong about this one. Yes, obviously, I knew that in Wednesday's strip Liz was yelling at the kids to stop because they were driving her nuts. But, there was such an intensity in her expression (beyond even wedding day jitters), that I thought the "Stop!" was more than just a punchline and was a set-up for the next day's strip. Plus, Tuesday's strip had been about Uncle Phil leaving the hospital. So I thought it was likely that they passed the hospital on the way to the wedding and Liz was going to figure out what was going on with her grandfather.

Ah, well.

For Better or For Worse: Grandpa Jim

2008-08-18T19:29:00.008-04:00

Please forgive the lack of posting I've been doing as I finish up graduate school (only 3 more days left!) But I wanted to take a quick break from working on finals to ask what everyone thinks about the latest development in For Better or For Worse.

Quick update if you haven't been following it lately. The current storyline is ending on August 31st (see this article for more details). We're in the middle of Elizabeth and Anthony's wedding, which was moved up so that Grandpa Jim would be alive to see it. And then, on Saturday, August 16, here's the strip that ran.

So, what do you think? Is he going to make it? Are they going to move the wedding to the hospital? Will Liz be told about what's going on before or after the wedding? Is Grandpa Jim still going to be with us when the current timeline ends on August 31st? Leave a comment or vote in the new poll (or do both.)

Bookstore Profile: BookHampton

2008-08-11T20:00:00.000-04:00

I'm proud to feature a guest post about the BookHampton bookstores in New York. Thanks so much to Rocco Staino for his in-depth post about this group of independent bookstores and the unique personality of each one. I'll have to plan a trip to the Hamptons to check out these terrific stores. Without further ado, here is Rocco's post (accompanied by the wonderful pictures he took).

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I would like to thank Wizards Wireless for this opportunity to blog about some of my favorite children departments in independent bookstores. With the advent of the major book chain stores it is becoming more difficult to find those independent bookstores each with their own character. Therefore, when I come upon such a store I can not help myself but to go in.

Each summer I spend sometime in Watermill, New York but most people just call it “the Hamptons.” According to Wikipedia, “the Hamptons are a well known playground for the rich who own summer homes there as well as a seaside resort frequented by the middle class residents of New York City during the summer months for weekend getaways.” I am neither rich nor own a summer house there but I do enjoy the beach and the cultural offerings of the area.

While traveling through the Hamptons, I always make sure I stop in at BookHampton. It is an independent bookstore with four locations: South Hampton, Sag Harbor, East Hampton and Amagansett. I recently made the effort to stop at each location and gave their children’s department a close look. Each store is distinctly different reflecting the community in which it is located.

South Hampton
The South Hampton store has a distinct room at the rear of the store inviting children into KidsHampton.The warm space offers much opportunity to browse the selection which is large and varied. The young adult offerings are also extensive and definitely supplies the latest of all the popular series. I would say of all the stores the children collection is definitely the most extensive.

This, according to BookHampton owner, Charline Spektor, is due to the longtime store manager, Jane Cochran.

Sag Harbor

The Village of Sag Harbor, an old whaling town, has a more New England feel to it. This is carried over into the BookHampton located there.

When I visited on a sunny July afternoon, I found a dad with his son nestled in a warm leather chair reading together. In addition there was a thirteen year old boy checking out the collection. Although the area is not as large as South Hampton the area does have a cozier feel.

East Hampton

The Village of East Hampton is most decidedly the most posh of the Hampton with retailers, such as Tiffany & Company, Ralph Lauren and Gucci lining the Main Street.

Well, I guess, most people are spending most of their time in those stores rather than buying children’s books. Out of the four BookHamptons, East Hampton had the least inviting area and selection for children. This may be because a short drive from East Hampton is the newest and cutest BookHampton located on the green in the Village of Amagansett.

Amagansett

Spektor gushed about the store that “was designed with children in mind. There is a lovely space facing out into the green, filled with windows and natural light, and we've built in wide cushioned window seats, perfect for children and grandparents!”

Each Saturday, there is a puppet show on the green and there is a story time at the store preceding the show.

Spektor added that “Of course it is the selection of children's books that makes a store great, and BookHampton has a wonderful mix of classics and what we believe are soon-to-be-classics.” I found this to be true in all the stores. They have displays of well loved titles along side of such celebrity titles as Bernadette Peters’ new children’s book, Broadway Barks or pop-up books by Robert Sabuda or the new odd shaped and visually appealing interactive book, Pyramids and Mummies, by Anne Bolton.

If you happen to be on the east end of Long Island take a detour from the beach or people watching to checkout any or all of the BookHampton locations.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you, Rocco!

This post is part of the Wizards Wireless series of bookstore and library profiles. If you'd be willing to write a post about a library with a great children's department or a terrific independent bookstore that specializes in children's books, I'd love to feature it on my blog. See this post for more details about my search for guest bloggers.

Tales of Beedle the Bard to be published

2008-07-31T21:17:00.005-04:00

There's big Harry Potter news today... which is very fitting, considering that today happens to be the birthday of both Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling.

Shortly after publication of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling wrote the fairytales of Beedle the Bard mentioned in the 7th book. However, the book was never published... six copies were given to friends and the seventh copy was auctioned off for charity. Interestingly enough, the winning bidder in the auction was Amazon.com.

(Warning: If you click on the announcements below, they contain spoilers for the sixth book.)

It was just announced that the Tales of Beedle the Bard will be published on December 4, 2008 and will include both the tales themselves (translated by Hermione) and commentary by Albus Dumbledore. Both a standard edition (for $12.99) and a collector's edition (for $100) will be available. The royalties for the book will go to J.K. Rowling's charity: the Children's High Level Group.

I'm thrilled about this development. I throughly enjoyed the other two books J.K. Rowling wrote for charity: Quidditch Through the Ages and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I'm delighted to see Beedle the Bard in print, and happy to support a charity. This way, the fairytales will be accessible to everyone, and become part of the Harry Potter canon. I'm also wondering (although it's hard to tell without having read the stories themselves yet) if this book will be a way to introduce younger children to J.K. Rowling's writing.

Thank you, J.K. Rowling, and happy birthday!

What do you think about the publication of the Tales of Beedle the Bard? See the new polls in the sidebar.

Q and A about ALA

2008-07-25T12:00:00.004-04:00

Question: There were so many excellent blog accounts with compelling text and terrific pictures of the 2008 American Library Association conference that people posted immediately after returning from Anaheim. Does anyone have mediocre pictures with scanty text posted a month after the event?
Answer: Absolutely! Wizards Wireless is happy to fill that need.

Question: Hey, Susan, where have you been? Why haven't you posted here for a while? Do you have a dramatic and compelling reason for not blogging?
Answer: No, it's a pretty boring reason, really. I've been busy with term papers, the ALA conference, a family vacation, work, etc. etc. But I keep meaning to post. Does that count?

Question: Did you know that you're in a YouTube video that's been making the rounds of the Internet?
Answer: You mean this one?

Question: Did you feel slighted by the Project Runway people?
Answer: Why did they have a problem with the color black? Seriously, though, I'm honored to have been in it, and extremely impressed with all the editing and effort that Jim Averbeck and Maria van Lieshout put into it. And I think the whole video is hysterical, even though I've never seen the real Project Runway.

Question: How on earth did you get in the video?
Answer: I was at the Newbery/Caldecott Banquet. Jen Robinson (of Jen Robinson's Book Page) and I were walking by Betsy Bird (of Fuse #8), and Betsy asked if we'd do an interview. I was hoping they'd lose the footage or at least film it without sound, like what accidentally happened with Mo Willems' interview, but, nope. You can see all the interviews at On the Red Carpet at ALA.

Question: If you had a time machine, what would you do?
Answer: Stop myself from yanking the straps of my dress back up during the interview. I think you could play a drinking game by counting the number of times I did this. Ironically, the dress was originally strapless and I added the straps to make it more comfortable. Also, as long as I had a time machine, I'd change the answers I gave to the questions Betsy asked me. As soon as she asked me about books that I thought should have won, my mind went completely blank. Plus, maybe I'd use my time machine to prevent a few world wars.

Question: What, in fact, did you wear to the Newbery/Caldecott banquet?
Answer: I said in the Red Carpet interview that it was a bridesmaid's dress. That's true, but not the whole story. It was actually the bridesmaid dress from my own wedding... I liked it so much that I bought one for myself after the wedding and it's my favorite formal gown to wear. (Don't worry, I wore a white dress at my wedding).

Question: Do you have a good picture of Brian Selznick's sparkly shirt from the Newbery/ Caldecott banquet?
Answer: Here's a close-up of the shirt he made himself (or at least, he put the sparkles on it himself).

Question: Brian Selznick doesn't look happy enough in that picture and he was absolutely euphoric that evening. Do you have a picture of him with his eyes closed, standing next to Caldecott chair Karen Breen?
Answer: Sure.

Question: What about a picture of you standing with Mo Willems where you both look like deer in the headlights? Ideally, the picture would have Jacqueline Woodson standing behind you half obscured, and an unidentified person walking in front of you.
Answer: Here you go.

Question: How about a picture where Mo looks really cool and goofy and you look like an idiot because you had an impossible time keeping a straight face?
Answer: Try this one.

Question: Did the lovely Jen Robinson take both pictures, after you elbowed people out of the way so that you could stand next to Mo?
Answer: Yes, she did. And talking to Jen at the banquet was definitely one of the highlights of the whole conference for me.

Question: Did you use the thirty seconds you had in the receiving line talking to Mo to mention that you're in a book club with MotherReader? Did Mo know exactly who Pam was and ask if she was at the banquet? Did this make Pam's day when you mentioned it to her at a book club meeting?
Answer: Yes.

Question: Did Jacqueline Woodson speak to you in sign language after you complimented her on the excellent ASL descriptions in Feathers?
Answer: Yes. She seemed very touched that someone noticed her descriptions, and she signs quite well.

Question: Did you give any accurate advice in this post about the Newbery/Caldecott banquet?
Answer: No, not really. It wasn't as formal as I said, and I ended up caving in and wearing my nametag over my evening gown (which Wendie Old astutely pointed out).

Question: Were you surprised at the lack of quality totebags on the exhibit floor this year?
Answer: Definitely. I had to actually buy a totebag, because I couldn't fit everything into the bright orange one included with the conference registration.

Question: How could you possibly buy a totebag when you own a million free totebags that you've picked up at various conferences?
Answer: (I think this question may have been submitted by my husband). Because it was an incredibly cool one from Unshelved, and I'm always happy to support Unshelved.

Question: What did the table in your hotel room like like before you packed?
Answer: Like this, but this doesn't include all the stuff I had in my totebag.

Question: Do you have a good picture of Laura Vaccaro Seeger signing books?
Answer: Yes, and for once, it's actually a decent photo.

Question: Did you have an amazing time at the blogger get-together at the Feiwel and Friends suite?
Answer: It was terrific. I felt like I was one of the cool kids for probably the first time in my life.

Question: Do you have a photo of Laurie Halse Anderson and Betsy Bird about a second before they met for the first time where neither of them are looking at the camera? Is Betsy wearing a Minnie Mouse dress? Are Monica Edinger and Jen Robinson in the background?
Answer: Yes, yes, and yes.Question: Do you have a better picture of Jen and Betsy?
Answer: Yes. Here's one from the Newbery/Caldecott banquet.

Question: Will you ever learn to use Photoshop?
Answer: Probably not any time soon. But if I did use Photoshop, you wouldn't be able to see this slightly demonic picture of Horn Book Editor in chief, Roger Sutton with red eyes. (If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you'll see what I mean).

Question: Could you drop Mo Willems' name any more in this post?
Answer: No, I don't think that would be possible.

Question: Are you blatantly ripping off Dave Barry's "Ask Mr. Language Person" columns by interviewing yourself?
Answer: I prefer the word "homage."

ALA Convention: Disneyland

2008-06-29T11:17:00.017-04:00

Greetings from the American Library Association Annual Convention!

Welcome to Disneyland...

where statues are taller than castles

where Mary Poppins is waiting to greet you

where you can stand in line for everything

Including season passes

where the benches have mouse ears

where only serious items are sold in the shops

where danger lurks around every corner

where the staff is always smiling

even when It's a Small World is closed

and where everyone carries a bag.

Things I learned at Disneyland:
Librarians make fantastic park companions.
They're incredibly organized and they show up early.

Academic librarians can run faster than you think.

Acquisitions librarians research everything.

A good way to get to know a library director is to sit next to one on Space Mountain.

More advice for the ALA convention

2008-06-23T00:00:00.016-04:00

I'm going to my second American Library Association Annual Convention this week and I can't being to tell you how much I'm looking forward to it.

As soon as I got back from last year's convention, I wrote a post about the things I learned. Here are a few more tips (mainly geared to attendees interested in children's books). Feel free to add your own advice in the comments.

My first piece of advice comes from Maria at Library Praxis.
Go to the sessions you want to go to... not the ones you think you should go to.

What should you wear?
Last year I noticed that for the most part attendees were dressed pretty informally. I think you could get away with jeans and a nice shirt... although slacks look a bit more professional. If you have a job interview, bring along a change of clothes for the interview.

Make sure to wear comfortable shoes. You'll be doing a lot of walking.

Plan ahead.
Use ALA's Event Planner. Visit the ALA Annual wiki. Make a list (or a spreadsheet) of everything that looks interesting to you. Obviously, you can't go to everything, but it's nice to have all the options in front of you.

Be spontaneous.
I know, I just told you to plan everything out. But, also remember that you don't have to do every last thing on your schedule. Make sure to linger to talk to your favorite authors. Go to lunch with an old (or new) friend. Take a nap if you need one.

Advice for the exhibits
I'll admit, I copied some of this from my post about the Book Expo, but a lot of it applies to ALA too.

Go to the booths of the large publishers.
You'll find multiple copies of books laid out on the floor or on tables in big stacks. You can take these (for the most part). If there's a publisher that you're really interested in, you might want to check back at their booth later during the conference, because they'll put out different books on different days. Smaller publishers are less likely to have the funds to do this.

Ask for books you're interested in.
Publishers bring tons of books with them, but don't have the quantities to put every book out in a stack for everyone to take. If there's a book you're dying to read, find out who the publisher is, go to their booth and tell them what book you're looking for. If they don't have a copy with them, they may be able to send you one after the conference is over. Or not. But, it's always worth it to ask. And, even if you don't get to walk away with one, they'll probably have a copy on display that you can take a look at (which is particularly useful for picture books).

Don't take eveything you see.
There are tons of free handouts available at ALA. Take only what you're interested in (or what a friend or colleague who didn't get to go would be interested in). If there's a free book or an ARC (advance review copy) that you already have access to, or have absolutely no interest in or use for... leave it for someone else. The same rule applies for fliers, tote bags, pens, and all the other freebies you'll see. Don't worry; you'll still acquire tons of free stuff.

Talk to the vendors
Don't just look at them as a source of free books. ALA gives you a chance to share your opinions with the publishers and ask them about your favorite and forthcoming books. They may know an interesting detail about an author or the creation of a book that will help you "sell" a book when you get back home. And they'll be interested to hear your feedback about their books and products. And ask them any questions you have. They know a lot more about their books than what's in the catalogs.

Are you going to the Newbery/Caldecott banquet?
Here are a few things I noticed during this sublime event last year.

This was described to me as the "librarian prom" and I think that's a fitting description. It's definitely a black-tie event. Wear the nicest dress or suit that you feel comfortable shoving in a suitcase and dragging with you to the conference. I brought my conference name tag with me to the event, but just couldn't bring myself to put it on over my evening gown.

If you don't have a table number on your banquet ticket, I highly recommend going into the dinner as soon as the doors open. The majority of tables are reserved for publishers or groups... so you have to search for a bit to find a table that doesn't have a placard on it. I made the mistake last year of dawdling when the ballroom doors were opened. (I had a good excuse, I was talking to a famous author who was standing behind me in the drinks line). I ended up scrounging for a seat in the back. On the other hand, the people seated in the back of the hall got to go through the receiving line first at the end of the night, and I got to talk to every single author honored during the evening.

What if you really want to hear the Newbery and Caldecott speeches but can't afford the banquet? The speeches are open to conference attendees. Go to the ballroom after dinner is served (last year the event organizers listed an approximate time when dinner was expected to be over). There are chairs on the side of the ballroom where you can sit and listen to the speeches for free.

Are the Printz Awards different from the Newbery/Caldecott banquet?
Yes. The authors of all the honored books get to give a speech. This is not true with the Newberys and Caldecotts, where you only hear from the winners and not the honor recipients.

I'd wear nice slacks, a suit, or a dress to this event. Jeans are definitely not appropriate.

Can you recommend a good book (or a good plan) for seeing Disneyland in a short period of time?
Check out the Unofficial Guide to Disneyland. I've used it on incredibly crowded days and holiday weekends at Disneyland and it's worked perfectly every time. It has touring plans that help you get through the park in the most efficient way possible, and it's always saved me an enormous amount of time waiting in line. No matter how exacting their plans seem, follow them. They know what they're talking about. Even if you don't have a full day to devote to Disneyland or California Adventure, this book is still worth a quick read. It gives a rating and analysis of every ride and attraction, which helps you plan your limited time.

Older editions of the book are fine for a lay of the land and to find out how how Disney's rides are structured... but I recommend using the touring plans only from the most current edition because things change so rapidly at Disneyland. Incidentally, the admission prices in the 2008 edition are already out-of-date. Check the official Disneyland website for the current prices and operating hours.

Are you a children's literature blogger?
I'm organizing a pizza dinner on Saturday night for bloggers and anyone interested in children's books. For details, see this post.

Anything else?
Above all, have a great time and enjoy the convention.

Kidlit Blogger Dinner at ALA

2008-06-16T08:36:00.002-04:00

Are you going to the American Library Association convention this year? Do you blog about children's literature? Come join us for an informal pizza dinner Saturday night.

Here's the information:
Date: Saturday, June 28, 2008
Time: 6:30-8 p.m.
Location: Marri's Pizza, http://www.marrispi zza.com
Address: 1194 Katella Avenue, Anaheim, CA 92802
Phone: (714) 533-1631
It's about a block and a half from the convention center.

Also on Saturday afternoon, Betsy Bird of Fuse #8 is organizing an extremely cool kidlit blogger event. The times of the two events are staggered, so that you can hang out with Feiwel and Friends, and then join us for pizza.

Let me know if you're planning on coming, so I can make a (relatively) accurate reservation.

P.S. You don't technically have to be a kidlit blogger to come (I attended this get together last year and it inspired me to become a blogger). Basically, it's for anyone interested in children's literature.

Hope to see you in Anaheim!

Doonesbury is back

2008-06-16T08:27:00.002-04:00

After a three month sabbatical, Doonesbury has returned today with new installments. I'm glad to see it back.... I was getting tired of reruns.

For Better or For Worse: the end is coming

2008-06-12T15:56:00.008-04:00

Lynn Johnston addressed a few recent reader comments about For Better or For Worse on her blog yesterday. What interested me most was this quote: "I have a limited time left here and every strip, now, is a statement that leads to the August 30th conclusion."

I think that's the first time I've seen a definite date for the end of the strip. Until now, I've just heard that it will end no later than September. Although, as I understand it, For Better or For Worse won't really end... it's just the current storyline in the present day with Liz, Anthony, Grandpa Jim, etc. that will conclude on August 30.

An eager reader

2008-06-11T21:03:00.005-04:00

A young customer asked me for the new Percy Jackson book today. I showed him The Battle of the Labyrinth, the fourth book in the series. It was just released a little over a month ago.

Nope. That wasn't what he was looking for. He'd already read the fourth book. What he wanted was the FIFTH book.

New Harry Potter prequel story online

2008-06-11T17:34:00.008-04:00

The Harry Potter prequel written by J.K. Rowling that has been in the news recently is now available online. Before you get too excited.... I should warn you that it's not an excerpt from an upcoming book. It's a stand-alone short story that was auctioned off for charity.

To read the story, go to the Waterstone's website, click on "read our authors' stories" and then select "J.K. Rowling" at the top of the list. It's two sided, so after you finish the first half, be sure to click on the arrow on the right-hand side to read the second half. It's hand-written, so it takes a little while to read. After you read it, come back to Wizards Wireless and vote in the new poll in the sidebar.

J.K. Rowling posted a short account on her website about writing the story (she says she felt like a relapsing addict) and confirmed that she is NOT working on a Harry Potter prequel book.

I thought it was a great little vignette of Sirius and James on the motorbike. It takes place a few years before the first chapter of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and it's delightful to see Sirius and James having so much fun. It whetted my appetite for more about the pre-Harry days, but it sounds fairly definite that there are no plans in the works for that. Alas.

The Order of the Phoenix has T-shirts? I thought they were a (relatively) secret society.

Hooray for Books!

2008-06-09T23:08:00.005-04:00

Last December, I was very sad to report that A Likely Story went out of business. It was a wonderful independent children's bookstore in Alexandria, Virginia and I was quite sorry to see it go. I wrote in my post that I wish something could have been done... and it turns out that something has.

Trish Brown and Ellen Klein (former employees of A Likely Story) have just recently opened a new children's bookstore called Hooray for Books in the same location as A Likely Story. There are some subtle differences such as toys, games and plush (in addition to the wonderful selection of books).

It's so lovely to welcome them (back) to the D.C. independent bookstore community. Hooray for Books had a soft opening on Saturday, June 7 and the grand opening is on Saturday, June 21. Visit their shiny new website and blog to catch the excitement of the owners and staff. Best of luck and I can't wait to visit.

Mr. Still In Print

2008-06-02T22:00:00.004-04:00

At least once a day I hear a customer say one of the following things:

"I loved this book when I was a kid."
"I haven't seen this book in years."
"I can't believe this book is still in print!"

It always makes me happy when someone finds a much-loved and unexpected book in our store. Books such as Goodnight Moon and The Very Hungry Caterpillar never get a "I can't believe you have this book" comment. Most people know how popular those books are and expect them to still be in print. It's the surprises that get reactions.

Obviously, different people remember different books, but here are a few that consistently get commented on:

Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel and The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton. Sometimes, Katy and the Big Snow and Choo Choo invoke memories too.
Millions of Cats by Wanda Gág
The Lonely Doll by Dare Wright
The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge by Hildegarde Swift and Lynd Ward
Any book by Bill Peet
Any book by Leo Lionni
Any Choose Your Own Adventure book

And the number one series that gets exclaimed over the most? Without a doubt, it's Roger Hargreaves' Mr. Men/Little Miss series. Don't know what I'm talking about? Here's a refresher:

Did you just say to yourself: "I can't believe those books are still in print!" You did, didn't you?

Yes, thankfully, these wonderful miniature books (with only a couple of exceptions) are currently in print and available from Penguin. New books in the series continue to be published every year, despite the fact that Roger Hargreaves died twenty years ago. The new books are written by Roger's son, Adam Hargreaves.

It is unbelievable how many people remember these books from their childhood. And almost everyone says the same thing: "I always wanted to collect ALL the books." If you've ever seen a Mr. Men or a Little Miss book, you'll know that on the back of every book is an illustrated list of the other titles in the series. One of the coolest things I'm able to do as a bookseller is to order all the titles listed. And, best of all, I get to watch them go home every day with customers who have remembered them for years, or ones who have just discovered them.

Do you remember these books? See the new poll on the sidebar.

What books have you been thrilled to see again?

Advice for the Book Expo

2008-05-25T22:16:00.010-04:00

Are you going to Book Expo America (BEA)? Need some helpful hints? Here’s what I learned from this wonderfully enormous book trade show. (For an overview of the conference, check out this post.) See below for advice about how to get free books, meet authors, and not break your back. If you’re looking for tips for authors, they’re at the end of the post.

Plan ahead
Make a list of the authors and publishers that you're the most interested in. Don’t be embarrassed to bring a spreadsheet (your friends will only make fun of you for a few minutes, and then they'll start using it.)

Authors sign books in two places… in the official autograph area and in their publisher’s booths. The advantage to the autograph area is that you can see several authors in a short period of time without running around the convention center. The advantage to the in-booth signings is that you can be walking around the exhibits and stumble upon your favorite author. It’s also a good way to discover an interesting book. Both formats work fine.

To make sure that you see all the authors you want to see, make a list before the conference starts. BEA has a variety of autograph schedules on their website that are vital to the planning process. I typically rely on the ones sorted by date and time, and the Friday/ Saturday/ Sunday schedules at a glance.

Go through BEA’s list (it will take a little time, but it’s absolutely worth every minute) and create a spreadsheet. Write down every author that sounds interesting to you and list the day, time, booth numbers (both for the booths in the autograph areas and the publisher booths) and the title of the book that they’re signing. If you’re using Excel or a similar spreadsheet program, when you’re done with your list you can sort it by day and time, so you’ll have a complete schedule of what booth to go to at what time. Even though you might have more authors on your schedule than you think you could ever see in a limited time period, put them all on your list just in case something else takes longer or shorter than you expect.

It’s important to know which book an author is signing because some authors autograph more than one book during the course of the convention. You want to know which book you’re standing in line for. BEA is not the place to bring previously published books for authors for to sign. The authors and publishers are there to publicize this year’s books, not last year’s.

It's also a good idea to make a separate list of all the publishers that you're really interested in. Sort this spreadsheet by booth number, so that you'll find the publishers as you walk up and down the endless aisles. Book Expo has pavilions, which are essentially groups of similar publishers. For example, all the travel publishers will be in the same general area. This isn't to say that all the travel publishers will be there, but if there's a pavilion on a subject you're interested in, that's a great place to start.

As you write up your publisher list, you'll notice that some large publishers seem to be sharing the same booth. This typically means that a publisher has multiple imprints (see this post for more about what an imprint is). You'll find that these publishers have one huge booth but are displaying many different catalogs and books because their company owns several smaller companies.

Get there early
There are a few high-profile authors that you need tickets for in order to attend their signings. As soon as you arrive (even before the exhibit hall opens) go immediately to the ticket booth in the lobby. The tickets are free and you can get up to four tickets per day (meaning 1 ticket for 4 different authors). They run out quickly, so be sure to get to the ticket booth early.

Don't take everything you see
There are tons of free handouts available at the BookExpo. Take only what you're interested in (or what a friend or colleague who didn't get to go would be interested in). If there's a free book or an ARC (advance review copy) that you already have access to, or have absolutely no interest in or use for... leave it for someone else. The same rule applies for fliers, tote bags, pens, and all the other freebies you'll see. Don't worry; you'll still acquire tons of free stuff.

Books are heavy
Obviously, you already know this. But, after you cram 50 free books into a tote bag, you'll realize that you can't physically stagger around the conference center anymore and you'll start judging books by weight, not quality.

Here's a tip for how to avoid breaking your back. As soon as the exhibit halls open on the first day, find the mailing center. It's usually in the back of the exhibition area and you can use it for directly mailing books home from the convention center. There are lots of empty boxes available. Write your name (or the name of your bookstore, library or organization) in big letters on the outside of the box and put it somewhere you'll remember it (like next to a pillar). Every few hours, come back to the box and dump out the books you're lugging around. At the end of the conference, mail the books home directly from the mailing center.

What if you live in the city where the Book Expo is being held? Shouldn't you just drag the books to your car instead of paying for postage? Nope. I tried this the first day of the Book Expo I attended which was in my home town and it was impossible, even with a personal courier service (my husband and his car) parked just outside the exit. I lugged 3 (or maybe four) BOXES of books across the convention center (the mailing center was in the back of the exhibit hall... nowhere near the exit). I didn't have a dolly or a cart (because they’re not allowed in the exhibit hall) and it was awkward, painful, and incredibly time consuming. The next day, I mailed the books home... and it was worth every penny not to go through that again. If it's not in your home town, don't even think about it. Just mail the books home.

Even if you decide not to mail the books... you should still set up a box in the mailing center so you have a place to put the books during the convention. If there's something extremely valuable (like a signed first edition by your favorite author that you don't want to lose under any circumstances) you may want to keep it with you. But, as the day goes on and your tote bags get heavier (and you pick up a surprising number of signed first editions by your favorite authors), you'll probably end up putting more books in the box (or boxes) than you expect.

How do you get free books?
You've walked up and down several rows in the exhibit hall and you don't see any publishers giving away books. You can't seem to acquire even two or three books... let alone the boxes I've mentioned above. Here's how:

Go to the booths of the large publishers. You'll find multiple copies of books laid out on the floor or on tables in big stacks. You can take these... and if there's a publisher that you're really interested in, you might want to check back at their booth later during the conference, because they'll put out different books on different days. Smaller publishers are less likely to have the funds to do this.

Ask for them. Publishers bring tons of books with them, but don't have the quantities to put every book out in a stack for everyone to take. If there's a book you're dying to read, find out who the publisher is, go to their booth and tell them what book you're looking for. If they don't have a copy with them, they may be able to send you one after the conference is over. Or not. But, it's always worth it to ask. And, even if you don't get to walk away with one, they'll probably have a copy on display that you can take a look at (which is particularly useful for picture books).

Go to the autograph sessions. The books being handed out (both in the autograph area and the in-booth signing) are free. Plus, you get the author's signature and a chance to talk to them. If an author has no line in front of them at an autograph session, and their book sounds interesting, go up and meet them. You may discover something special. I found this was a great strategy to find new picture books I hadn’t heard of.

Talk to the vendors
Don't just look at them as a source of free books. The Book Expo gives you a chance to share your opinions with the publishers and ask them about your favorite and forthcoming books. They may know an interesting detail about an author or the creation of a book that will help you "sell" a book when you get back home (in a bookstore, in a library, in a review, etc.) And they'll be interested to hear your feedback about their books and products. And ask them any questions you have. They know a lot more about their books than what's in the catalogs.

Talk to the other attendees
The book industry is fully represented on the floor of the convention center. Talk to the people that you're standing in line with and sitting next to at lunch. BookExpo is a great melting pot of booksellers, librarians, publishers, authors and anyone else you can think of that has an interest in books. It's a great place to get advice and new ideas.

Advice for authors
I’m not an author, but here’s what I would do if I were one. First, if I were anywhere remotely near the town the BookExpo was being held in, I would make it my business to go to it regardless of whether my book was being published this year, next year or last year. Once there, I would go out of my way to meet everyone connected with my publisher.

Authors already know their editors, obviously. But, as a book buyer, I don’t meet with editors, I meet with sales reps. (For an great description of what a rep does, see Alison Morris’ excellent post at Shelftalker.) The reps are the ones on the front lines doing the selling, and they’re also the people standing in the publisher booths talking to passerby during the conventions. Introduce yourself to them. If you’ve had a book published recently with that house (or it’s forthcoming in the current season), they probably already know who you are and have most likely talked to tons of buyers about your book. Talk to them and listen to their feedback. If every book buyer hates the cover of your book, or loves the main character, they’re the ones that hear it. Don’t neglect to talk to the publicists either, who are another crucial part of selling your book. Basically, if they’re part of your publishing house in any way, get to know them.

Be nice during the autograph sessions. Remember that the people waiting in line to see you are (for the most part) booksellers and librarians. Each one has the power to get your book into the hands of hundreds of people. Don’t be rude to them. They’ll remember. As a bookseller, I can tell you that when a customer loves a particular author’s books, it’s a real treat to be able to say that the author is just as lovely in person.

Don’t be discouraged if nobody is in line to receive a free autographed copy of your book. There are so many books and authors at the convention that sometimes even famous authors can have little to no line in front of them. Every person who does get a copy of your book, (no matter how many or few that number may be) has a chance to discover your work, so enjoy talking to the people who do come up to you. And remember, that it takes a little time to get established. Two years ago, I saw a big stack of free copies of Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney available at the BookExpo. A few people took them, but I passed the stack several times during the conference, and it didn’t move much. Now that Diary of a Wimpy Kid has been on the bestseller lists for a while, I’d imagine those same books would go in a heartbeat today.

Go to the booths of publishers that produce books in the field you work in. If you’re a writer of cookbooks, check out other cookbooks and see what other people are writing. If you write early chapter books, pick up a stack of early chapter books to get an idea of the current state of the genre. Talk with other authors and publishers who work in your genre to get advice, feedback and share tips.

Above all, have fun. It’s wonderful to meet old, new and potential friends, colleagues, and fans, to get to know your publisher, to interact with other authors in your field and make wonderful discoveries.

And, if (like me) you can’t go to the Book Expo this year, don’t worry. There’s always next year. If you have any helpful hints, I’d love to hear them. Let me know in the comments if you have advice for Book Expo attendees, and I’ll be sure to try it out next year when the convention is back on the east coast.

New edition of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

2008-05-21T08:00:00.003-04:00

Scholastic is releasing a special 10th anniversary edition of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. There's new cover art depicting Harry looking into the mirror of Erised, as well as additional artwork from Mary Grandpré. Plus, there's a tantalizing comment in the press release about bonus material from J.K. Rowling. To see the new cover up-close and personal, plus a beautiful illustration of Hagrid and the first years sailing across the lake, go to Scholastic's website.

I love the new cover, particularly the way you can just barely see the shadows of Harry's parents in the mirror. I'm not quite sure why there's a skull and a glass eye on the right hand side of the illustration.

My husband recently made an interesting point about the cover of the American edition of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. There was such an unbelievable amount of secrecy about revealing the plot of the book before the publication date. And, yet, the cover of the book shows the absolute climax of Book 7 and the whole series.

It was right under our noses for 3 1/2 months and nobody picked up on it. I've got to give Scholastic a lot of credit for being gutsy.

There are two new polls up on the sidebar about the new edition. One of them asks if you like the old cover better than the new one. Here's a picture of the original cover of the American edition so you can compare:

Poetry Friday: Freedom Again

2008-05-16T15:24:00.004-04:00

For poetry Friday today, I'm celebrating the end of another semester of graduate school. In honor of the occasion, I'm repeating an original poem I posted in the fall.

It's going to be a short-lived break, though. Summer school starts in two weeks.

The Poetry Friday round-up today is at Two Writing Teachers.

Freedom
Free from papers to write
Except for grocery lists.

Free from assigned books to read
Except for bedtime stories.

Free from homework to do
Except for work around my home.

Completely free.
Utterly free.

Until next semester.

Goodreads update

2008-05-15T08:00:00.003-04:00

A few months ago I wrote a post about Goodreads, a social networking site for booklovers that I had just joined.

I've been using Goodreads for a few months, and it's really been surprisingly useful and fun. A lot of my Goodreads friends are kidlit bloggers who I admire and respect and it's great to see their ratings and reviews of books. The reviews are generally a cut above the reviews on Amazon, while still letting you see a wide variety of opinions. And I've been having a lot of fun with the "compare books" feature, where you can see what book ratings a friend has in common with you.

Plus, it's helped me keep in touch with friends and trade recommendations with them. About a month ago, I was at an event with a friend I hadn't seen in a few years. But we both knew everything the other person was reading, thanks to Goodreads. It felt like we'd been having a long conversation over many months about our favorite (and not so favorite) books.

As I've mentioned before, I read lots of picture books in F&G (fold and gather) format to prepare for meetings with publisher reps. The final books won't be published for several months. For example, the books I read tonight will be coming out in September through December. I'd love to hear other opinions on these books, but I haven't found a good forum yet to discuss advance copies.

So, now I'm trying an experiment. I've added to my Goodreads list all the F&G's I've read in the last few weeks. There will be more to come as I have more meetings. It's very odd to review and rate books that no one has commented on yet, but it also lets me be completely honest, precisely because I don't know what everyone else thinks yet.

I'm also hoping this will help me remember all the books months later when they're released. If you read advance copies because you're a book buyer, a reviewer or an extremely lucky person, I'd love to hear your opinion about any not-yet published books. If you're curious about which books I'm talking about, look at the Goodreads box in the sidebar or click on my Goodreads profile to see very brief reviews.

Have you been using Goodreads? Based on the huge amount of reviews I see whenever I log in, it looks like a lot of you are. What do you think about it? Do you check in frequently to see what your friends are reading? Does it help you get recommendations? See the new poll on the sidebar, which doesn't really ask any of those questions.

Meme: 5 Things About Me

2008-05-13T21:29:00.016-04:00

I was tagged for this meme by Sarah at The Reading Zone and by Stacy at Welcome to my Tweendom. (Wondering what a meme is? There's a good definition here).

The rules of the meme get posted at the beginning. Each person answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the blogger then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read the player’s blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

What were you doing five years ago?
I was the facility manager at a children's theater and I was coordinating the company's move into a brand new building. I was dealing with movers, buying pianos, packing and unpacking boxes, and a million other details. I can't believe that it's been five years already.

What are five things on your to-do list for today (not in any particular order)?

Finish my term papers for graduate school (which is the reason there haven't been too many posts here lately).
Read bedtime stories to my son.
Order books for the store I work at.
Look through book catalogs for upcoming publisher meetings.
Write my friend to thank him for putting me in the acknowledgements section of his book. His book just came out today, and when I got my copy, I saw that he had thanked not only me, but my whole family! That was a fantastic and incredibly thoughtful thing for him to do (and totally made my month). I should really tell him that.

What are five snacks you enjoy?

raspberries
strawberries
blackberries
blueberries
tomatoes

What five things would you do if you were a billionaire?

Buy books for everyone I knew
give money to libraries
give money to non-profit children's theaters
give money to struggling independent bookstores
endow scholarships

What are five of your bad habits?

Chewing my nails.
Not being as good a correspondent as I would like to be.
Buying too many books.
Having millions of books on my to-be-read pile.
Flipping ahead in a book to make sure a character I like is going to make it.

What are five places where you have lived?

Maryland
Massachusetts
Maryland
California
Maryland

What are five jobs you’ve had?

Counselor at a boy scout camp
Receptionist
Box office manager
Director of a performing arts center
Researcher

What five people do you want to tag?
When tagging other people for memes, I pick blogs that are recent additions to my blog roll. That way even if they don't end up doing the meme, you can still check out their wonderful blogs. Don't worry, I won't be offended in any way if you don't want to do it.

In no particular order:

Jenny's Wonderland of Books: a new blog from a librarian and a children's literature historian (and a fellow classmate a few semesters back).
No Want Decaf!: a blog written by an editor at a children's publishing company. I'm having so much fun reading this blog and seeing her perspective.
Destined to Become a Classic: isn't that a great name for a blog? This is a lovely blog about children's books for the middle grades.
Rosie the Ribbeter: a funny blog about fairy tales written by my friend Cate. I know she's mentioned starting a blog several times, but didn't know she had actually done it... so it was a nice surprise to discover that she had already written several posts.
Job Hunting Librarian: A great blog for librarians in the D.C. area seeking jobs. My guess is that if Jess does do the meme, it will probably be on her more informal I have a blog?

The day before

2008-05-05T17:55:00.004-04:00

I just read a great post from Jen Robinson about her excitement for The Battle of the Labyrinth, the highly anticipated fourth Percy Jackson and the Olympians book. Jen, I hope you're not jealous that I've already handled the book. A whole box, in fact.

Publishers are very good about getting books to bookstores just before the release date. They want you to have enough time to process the book and get it in your computer system, but not enough time so that the booksellers can read the whole thing and post it on the internet. Also, they want to remove the temptation for the bookstore to sell it early.

What this means is that you get the book everyone is talking about a day before the book is released to the public. And, sometimes, even that one day can be tortuous.

A recent example is Mo Willems' new book, The Pigeon Wants A....
The object that the pigeon wanted was the subject of a huge publicity campaign. The book arrived at my store the day before the publication date, and I finally found out that the pigeon wanted a puppy. But I couldn't tell anyone. It was quite difficult to read speculation about it when I knew the answer. It was a relief when the next day arrived and I could put the book on the shelf, talk about it and write a blog post about it.

The worst of all was when Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince was published. I was working at a large independent bookstore at the time. I helped carry boxes of the book into the store and couldn't read it. See this post for the rest of the story.

But, whatever discomfort it might cause me, it's very important not to sell books until the release date. For one thing, bookstores often sign affidavits. But, more than that, it's just not fair or ethical. As the sign on the Percy Jackson box said (or something to this effect): "Be a true Olympian! Don't sell until the release date."

The good thing, though, is that I only have to wait a day. The publishers have to keep those secrets far longer than I do.

The Man Who Walked Between the Towers Documentary

2008-04-30T20:35:00.015-04:00

I was thrilled to discover this morning that a documentary has been made about Phillipe Petit's amazing tightrope walk between the towers of the World Trade Center on August 7, 1974.

You may know Petit's name from Mordecai Gerstein's Caldecott winning picture book The Man Who Walked Between the Towers. And if you don't know the book, give it a try. It sums up Pettit's incredible feat perfectly and succinctly and it's my favorite picture book.

For more about the documentary and Phillipe Petit, see David Segal's article "Traversing the Towers In a Moment of Joy" in today's Washington Post. The film is currently playing at the Tribeca Film Festival. I can't wait until it comes to a theater near me.

My favorite books to read aloud

2008-04-28T08:00:00.007-04:00

This weekend I volunteered to do a storytime for kids at a huge outdoor festival. It was quite a challenge because people were constantly coming and going. The kids ranged from babies to ten year olds. There was loud music playing in the background and there were tons of other events going on in the immediate vicinity. I had to shout to make myself heard.

Plus, I was right near an enormous tent where 50,000 free cupcakes were being handed out.

So, I had some competition.

What to do? I decided to use my all time favorite books, the ones that always work as read alouds, no matter what. I did some old classics, which was very effective because it drew in an audience, and I mixed it up with a couple of new favorites. Here are the magic books I used, and they attracted a crowd despite the strong allure of the cupcakes.

Bark, George by Jules Feiffer
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems
Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed by Eileen Christelow
Go Away, Big Green Monster! by Ed Emberly
Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems
Monkey and Me by Emily Gravett (the British edition)
The Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone
The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog by Mo Willems
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

I've got a much longer list of books I use for storytimes at the store I work at, but that's a much quieter and calmer environment. I've got the books above memorized, and they've never failed me yet.

I'm not sure if this list would work for everyone, because each storyteller has their own style. My style works best with books that are funny and have audience participation.

I'm curious, if you do storytimes or read to kids (your kids or anyone else's), what books always work for you?

You want to know more about the cupcakes, don't you? There's more about them here and here and fabulous pictures here.

Book club bliss

2008-04-27T15:15:00.010-04:00

I've wanted to be in a book club for years, but have never been able to find one that reads children's literature. I finally stopped looking and started a book club myself.

We've had a few meetings so far, and it's been pure heaven. The DC Children's Literature Bookclub (DC Kidlit for short) is a terrific mixture of children's librarians, teachers, library school grad students, bloggers, authors and parents. The meetings have been insightful, thought provoking and a lot of fun. It's wonderful to be able to have in-depth conversations about good books with fellow children's book lovers.

If you live in the Washington DC area, (or are in town for a visit) you're welcome to join us. We read a book from a different genre each month. All meetings are on Sunday afternoons at 3 p.m. at the La Madeleine Bakery in Tysons Corner, Virginia.

Here's the upcoming reading list and schedule:

May 4- Early chapter book: The Talented Clementine by Sara Pennypacker
June 1- Juvenile fiction: The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry
July 13- Non-fiction: We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson
September 7- Poetry: This is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness by Joyce Sidman

If you'd like to join the bookclub and vote on upcoming selections, e-mail me at: wizardwireless [at] gmail [dot] com, and I'll be happy to add you to the group's listserv.

The People in Pineapple Place

2008-04-23T08:00:00.000-04:00

Every now and then I discover a fantastic book that I know I'll love forever. I found one today. It's called The People in Pineapple Place and was written by Anne Spencer Lindbergh (the daughter of Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh). It was originally published in 1982.

It's a fantasy set in Washington D.C. about a street of people that are only visible to newcomer August Brown. August gets frustrated that no one else can see the wonderful world he's found (wouldn't you?) but he has great adventures with the (mostly) invisible children of Pineapple Place.

Why did I love it so much? It's timeless and believable in the way a good fantasy should be. It's set in my hometown and I just loved the descriptions of places I know well, such as the National Gallery and the carousel at Glen Echo Park. The characters were endearing. It had a terrific ending. And, most importantly, I could see kids reading this book and loving it as much as I did.

Monkeying Around

2008-04-15T08:00:00.007-04:00

I made a monkey of myself last week.

I ~~drew the short straw~~ had the opportunity to wear a costume as part of an event our store was participating in.

I think I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. No, I can't resist. I have to add captions.

Getting dressed.

Putting on the feet.

Adding the head.

Putting on the hands.

Taking off the head to help a customer.

Trying to have a serious conversation with a customer while wearing a giant monkey costume.

The complete outfit.

Off to greet the public.

Observations I made while I was Curious George:

It's hot in this thing.
I don't know how those people at Disney do it.
I can't see.
It's really hot.
It's very cute when kids run up and hug you.
You don't need to smile when someone takes a picture of you.
Did I mention that it's hot?

No one can make a monkey out of you if you do it yourself.

The power of being read to

2008-04-08T08:00:00.004-04:00

The Kentucky Post has an inspiring article about prison inmates recording children's books on tape. The tapes get sent to the kids of the inmates, so that they can hear their fathers' voices (sometimes for the first time).

Do you remember...

2008-04-07T20:00:00.003-04:00

...the first book you ever read?

Not the first book that was read to you (obviously), but the first book that you read all by yourself.

I do. It was a book called Susan's Special Summer by Joyce Boyle. I loved it because the main character had my name. It was one of my favorite books and my mom read it to me countless times. I remember being so excited the first time I could read it to myself. It took forever.... I just pulled it off my shelf and I see that it's 96 pages long... which was overwhelming at the time.

It's about a girl named Susan who spends the summer in a cottage with her parents before her baby brother is born. She explores the park near the cottage, has a wonderful encounter with a librarian, and gets to know her grandmother better. It also has a great map in the front of the book that I remember poring over. It may not sound exciting... but it was the book that helped me enter the world of reading (and that was exciting). It was published in 1954, has been out of print for a while and no one seems to have ever heard of it but me. It's got a special place in my heart and I remember every detail of it.

Do you remember that triumphant book where you finally cracked the code? If you do, I'd love to hear what it is.

I'll take picture books for $500, Alex

2008-04-04T08:00:00.005-04:00

I'm a bookseller at an independent toy store. Or, perhaps I'm a permanent contestant on a game show called "Name That Children's Book!" It's hard to tell.

When I worked at a large independent bookstore, I frequently relied on the computer when someone asked me a question. I looked up authors and titles. I did subject searches. I checked if we had the book in stock. I found out what section it was shelved in.

The store I currently work at doesn't have a computerized inventory for books (because the computer program is set up to handle toys, not books). And, even if it did, I would rarely use it. I work primarily in the back of the store (where the books are) and the computer (which doubles as the cash register) is in the front of the store and is hard to access when it's busy (which is all the time).

As the book person, I constantly get asked questions from both customers and colleagues. Some are ones that you can't use a computer for: "what books would you recommend for a 3rd grade boy?" or "what's that book with the blue cover?" But, there are still plenty of straight children's literature trivia questions. Here's a few that I was asked yesterday.

"Who wrote Clementine?" Easy one. Sara Pennypacker. Orange and white cover, it's face-out in early chapter books. The sequel just came out in paperback.
"There's this book written in the early 1900's about two brothers... and one is always outsmarting the other." The Great Brain series by John Fitzgerald. Actually, the first book was written in the1960's but it's set at the turn of the 19th century. Look in juvenile fiction under F.
"Do you know the Jesse Bear book?" Yes. It's called Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? by Nancy Carlstrom. It's in the paperback picture book section. I just reordered it. We should have it.
"The author of Amelia Bedelia wrote another series. What's it called?" Peggy Parish. Clues in the Woods. Mystery section.
"Where is Diary of a Worm?" Hardcover picture books, under C for Doreen Cronin. "Does it come in paperback?" Nope.
"Who's the author of Lentil?" Robert McCloskey. Red book. Paperback picture books. We have 3 copies.
"Do you have any books about pirates?" Sure. We even have a whole pirate section. They're right next to the dinosaur books.

I'm always surprised at what I remember. I don't always realize I know the answer until someone asks a question. And, it's wonderful when you can find the book that someone is looking for.

Now I have a question of my own. Is there a bonus round?

Oh, and don't forget to vote in the new poll.

What the Pigeon Wants

2008-04-01T08:23:00.008-04:00

Mo Willems has written a new Pigeon book, that's being released today. In a brilliant marketing move, the publishers have kept part of the title a secret. In all the publicity material, the book is called "The Pigeon Wants a..."

What exactly, the pigeon wants, has been a matter of guesswork and the subject of a contest. And, I've got to applaud Hyperion for keeping it under wraps. The title wasn't in the spring 2008 catalog. There were no early samples available. Heck, the name of the book wasn't even on the packing list, and the books were turned upside down inside the box.

But, now the big moment has arrived, and after keeping the secret for 18 hours (since the box arrived at my store), I can tell you that the Pigeon wants a..... Puppy.

And I can also tell you that it's a lovely, funny book. Mo Willems uses the standard pigeon formula, but deviates a little, which works really well. This looks like a great read aloud book that doesn't require as much screaming as previous Pigeon books. Plus, in a surprise plot twist, the pigeon actually gets what he wants for once. I'm curious to hear what other people think about it.

Who to call?

2008-03-28T09:00:00.004-04:00

There are only seven U.S. publishers of children's literature.

No, not really. There are dozens. Hundreds. But, as a bookbuyer for an independent store, it sometimes it feels like there are just seven. Why? For several reasons.

First, (as you might expect) the big companies have bought the little companies. Little, Brown was bought by Time Warner. Time Warner was bought by Hachette. So, when I want to order a book by Little, Brown, I call Hachette.

Second, the big companies have tons of imprints. Arthur A. Levine Books (the U.S. publisher of Harry Potter) is an imprint of Scholastic. When I want to order an Arthur A. Levine book, I call Scholastic (except that HarperCollins does the distribution for Scholastic... see the next point... so actually I call HarperCollins.)

Third, a few of the really large publishers handle the ordering and distribution for publishing houses other than their own. For example, Random House handles the sales for National Geographic Books. Random House doesn't own National Geographic, they just take the phone calls, place the orders and ship the books. By contracting with Random House, National Geographic doesn't have to hire their own distribution staff.

If a customer asks if we have a book in our store, my first mental question is always: who's the publisher? And not just who is listed on the dust jacket. The copyright may say Dutton, but I know that Dutton is owned by Penguin. What I really want to know is: who do I call? You can't go by who the author is. Lots of authors have more than one publisher. For example, half of Sandra Boynton's books are published by Simon and Schuster, and the other half are published by Workman.

And even once you know who the publisher is, it's never straightforward. For Candlewick, you have to call Random House. For Scholastic, call HarperCollins. For First Second (which is an imprint of Roaring Brook) call Macmillan (which used to be called VHPS). And on and on and on. You get used to it after a while, but it's tough remembering who owns and distributes who. I've got a long spreadsheet with all this information on it and it's filled with cross-outs and additions.

Houghton Mifflin just bought Harcourt. Kingfisher moved from Houghton Mifflin to Macmillan. It never stops.

And, obviously, this situation exists outside of children's books. In a previous job, I worked with scientific and technical books and we dealt with hundreds of publishers. Still, there were about seven gigantic companies we were always calling. Interestingly, the major publishers in that field are completely different than the major publishers of children's books, so I had to learn a whole new set of imprints and distributors when I changed jobs.

So, to me, it feels like there are only seven children's publishers. Even though I know that's not true.

Poll results

2008-03-27T21:00:00.004-04:00

I'm going to clean up the sidebar a bit, and post the results from a few recent polls.

Question: Have you seen the movie Cars?
Answers:

A few times (9 votes)
Nope (9 votes)
Once (6 votes)
Approximately 8 million times. I've lost count. (4 votes)

I made a few recommendations for books based on Cars in this post... in case you're a parent (like me) who has seen the movie more times than you'd like to admit.

Question: My reaction to the Thursday, March 14 for Better or For Worse strip is:
Answers:

Bleah (14 votes)
Finally (7 votes)
Mixed (3 votes)
Yay (2 votes)

For those who haven't been following For Better or For Worse lately, the March 14th strip I'm referring to is about Liz and Anthony getting engaged. According to the poll results, there don't seem to be a lot of fans of this development. I think what mainly bothers me about it is that it's been fairly love-less so far. It feels like they're making a business deal.

Question: Harry Potter 7 is being released as two movies. What do you think?
Answers:

I love it. They'll have time to do it justice. (14 votes)
I'm reserving judgment until I see it. (9 votes)
I don't like it. Seems like an odd choice. (8 votes)
I don't care either way. (5 votes)

I'm not sure which way to vote on this one. Actually, I think I agree with all four options.

There are two polls up now. One is based on this post about the ALA conference and the BookExpo. And I just added a new poll. I feel like I read a lot of books... but am always awed by how many books other librarians, booksellers and bloggers read. So, I'm curious. Taking this past week as an example of a typical week, how many new books (including picture books) have you read? They don't have to be newly published, just new to you.

Should you go to BookExpo America or ALA?

2008-03-24T09:00:00.009-04:00

There are two huge conventions coming up for people in the book industry:

BookExpo America: May 29-June 1 in Los Angeles, California.
The American Library Association's (ALA) Annual Conference: June 26-July 2 in Anaheim, California.

Should you go to one of them? Both? I've been to both BookExpo and ALA and here's a comparison of the differences between the two that might help you decide.

The biggest question I have for you is: what's your reason for going?

To get free books.
BookExpo, hands down. There are certainly free books at ALA, but nothing compares to the sheer quantity of books you'll stumble away with from BookExpo. Someone once told me that they associate Book Expo with physical pain because of how many books you end up carrying around. To give you an idea of what they're talking about: at ALA, I walked away with bags of books. At BookExpo I walked (and dragged) away boxes of books.

To attend sessions, workshops and programs.
ALA definitely wins out on this one. BookExpo is a trade show and the exhibits are the main event. ALA is an enormous convention, and the exhibits are only one part of it. ALA has every kind of program, awards ceremony, discussion group and meeting on the topic of libraries and books you can imagine. There are programs at BookExpo too, but they take up only a few rooms in the conference center. The programs at ALA take up the meeting rooms of nearly every major hotel within five blocks.

To network with colleagues.
It depends on who your colleagues are. Booksellers? Go to BookExpo. Librarians? Go to ALA. For everyone else... such as bloggers, teachers, authors, the answer to this question is a little more fuzzy. If you want to talk with people about literature, then ALA is the place for you. BookExpo tends be more focused on the business aspect of things.

To meet authors.
This one is a tough call, but I think that BookExpo wins out in terms of sheer quantity. Here's a sampling of authors I met, spoke to and got autographed copies of their new books in ONE DAY at BookExpo. They include: Marc Brown, Tomie DePaola, Dave Barry, Ridley Pearson, Eoin Colfer, Lane Smith, Andrew Clements, Marc Teague, David McPhail, Mo Willems, Sandra Boynton, Ann M. Martin, Jon Muth, and Daniel Handler (a.k.a. Lemony Snicket). The scary thing? That's only about half of the authors and illustrators I talked to that day.

In all fairness to ALA, there are an enormous number of authors there, too. If you're looking to hear authors talk, ALA is the place because of the plethora of fantastic and unforgettable speakers. They appear in workshops, give keynote addresses and beautiful award acceptance speeches. Plus, they're signing books all over the exhibit hall. You certainly won't lack for authors to meet at either conference.

To see every publisher in the known universe.
BookExpo. People who have only attended ALA may find this hard to believe, but there are even more exhibits at Book Expo than at ALA. How do I know? Both conferences were held at the D.C. Convention Center within the last two years. The ALA exhibits took up three ENORMOUS exhibit halls. The BookExpo exhibits took up all five exhibit halls.

On the other hand, I don't think that this really matters. Just about every major and minor publisher has a booth at both conferences. You'll see all the same publishers no matter which one you go to.

Are these conferences worth going to?
Absolutely. They're both wonderful, enriching and exhausting experiences. You'll meet more people (including famous authors) then you could have dreamed possible. You'll talk with countless people who love books as much as you do. You'll walk away with a ridiculous number of free books, pens and totebags. You'll get a terrific preview of the upcoming year in the book world and you'll feel prepared and on top of things as new books get released.

Which one should you go to?
That's a question you have to answer for yourself. It depends a great deal on where the conferences are located (in relation to where you live) and what your goals are. If you are a book lover, and in the book industry (or write reviews)... I'd recommend going to one per year, budget permitting. Alternate which one you go to each year, if you can. And if you're a librarian who has never been to the BookExpo, or a bookseller who has never been to ALA, give those conferences a try. You won't regret it and you may start looking at your industry from a different perspective.

Unfortunately, this year, both ALA and the BookExpo are in Los Angeles, only a few weeks apart from each other. This is great for people who live on the West Coast, but pretty depressing for the rest of us.

Plan ahead
If you can't go this year, go next year. Here are the upcoming locations for both conferences:

2009: BookExpo in New York City, ALA in Chicago.
2010: BookExpo in Washington DC, ALA in Washington D.C.
2011: BookExpo in Las Vegas, ALA in New Orleans.

ALA actually has all their convention dates planned between now and 2014, but even I can't think that far ahead.

In the next few weeks, I'll post specific advice for each conference.

Poll results: Harry Potter books

2008-03-23T08:00:00.000-04:00

I tallied up the results of this poll a while ago but keep forgetting to post them.

The question: Which books mentioned in the Harry Potter series would you like to read?
The answers:

Tales of Beedle the Bard (11 votes)
Enchantment in Baking (10 votes)
Hogwarts: A History (10 votes)
Curses and Counter-curses (Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying, and Much, Much More) by Professor Vindictus Viridian (9 votes)
Basic Hexes for the Busy and Vexed (6 votes)
History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot (6 votes)
Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore by Rita Skeeter (6 votes)
Rune Dictionary (6 votes)
Adventures of Martin Miggs, the Mad Muggle (5 votes)
Charm Your Own Cheese (5 votes)
Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles by Wilhelm Wigworthy (5 votes)
Powers You Never Knew You Had and What To Do With Them Now You've Wised Up (5 votes)
Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts (5 votes)
Saucy Tricks for Tricky Sorts (5 votes)
Weird Wizarding Dilemmas and Their Solutions (5 votes)
Advanced Potion-Making by Libatius Borage (4 votes)
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander (4 votes)
One Minute Feasts: It's Magic! (4 votes)
Practical Defensive Magic and Its Use Against the Dark Arts (4 votes)
Standard Book of Spells by Miranda Goshawk (4 votes)
Blood Brothers: My Life Amongst the Vampires by Eldred Worple (3 votes)
Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble (3 votes)
Invisible Book of Invisibility (3 votes)
Men Who Love Dragons Too Much (3 votes)
Numerology and Gramatica (3 votes)
Ancient Runes Made Easy (2 votes)
Death Omens: What To Do When You Know The Worst Is Coming (2 votes)
Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard (2 votes)
Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit (2 votes)
Flying With the Cannons (2 votes)
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger (2 votes)
Moste Potente Potions (2 votes)
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore (2 votes)
Sonnets of a Sorcerer (2 votes)
Unfogging the Future by Cassandra Vablatsky (2 votes)
Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch (1 vote)
From Egg to Inferno, A Dragon Keeper's Guide (1 vote)
Intermediate Transfiguration (1 vote)
Jinxes for the Jinxed (1 vote)
Magical Me by Gilderoy Lockhart (1 vote)
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling (1 vote)
Monster Book of Monsters (1 vote)
Quidditch Through the Ages by Kennilworthy Whisp (1 vote)
Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches (1 vote)
Voyages With Vampires by Gilderoy Lockhart (1 vote)
Wanderings With Werewolves by Gilderoy Lockhart (1 vote)
Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe (0 votes)
Break With a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart (0 votes)
Flesh-Eating Trees of the World (0 votes)
Fowl or Foul? A Study of Hippogriff Brutality (0 votes)
Gadding With Ghouls by Gilderoy Lockhart (0 votes)
Gilderoy Lockhart's Guide to Household Pests (0 votes)
Handbook of Do-It-Yourself Broom Care (0 votes)
Holidays With Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart (0 votes)
Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean (0 votes)
Nature's Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy (0 votes)
Prefects Who Gained Power (0 votes)
Spellman's Syllabary (0 votes)
Travels With Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart (0 votes)
Year With The Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart (0 votes)

I agree, I'd love to read The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Thanks to Amazon (see this post) we can now at least read plot summaries of each story. Maybe this book will be published one day. That would be wonderful.

I'd also love to get a copy of all the cookbooks in Mrs. Weasley's kitchen. Enchantment in Baking and One Minute Feasts: It's Magic! would both be a real asset in my ridiculously busy life.

I'd like to read all the Gilderoy Lockhart books (although it appears that no one else would)... simply because I need a good laugh. Think of the humor value of those books!

I'm surprised that Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard got any votes... it was the assigned book in Professor Umbridge's class and sounds very boring.

I'm curious about the rest of The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore, particularly the chapter about Harry and Dumbledore. But I also think this book would drive me crazy and I'd end up flinging it across the room before long.

If I lived in the wizarding world, I think I'd be the only person (other than Hermione) who would have read Hogwarts, a History from cover to cover.

For those who voted for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander and Quidditch Through the Ages by Kennilworthy Whisp you're in luck. J.K. Rowling has published these books and they're very funny (and useful when reading the Harry Potter series). I highly recommend them for die-hard Harry Potter fans.

A question for bloggers

2008-03-21T08:00:00.003-04:00

What aspects of blogging have surprised you the most?

I'll go first.

The rich community of children's literature bloggers.
When I started, I had no idea how many blogs there were about children's books. I've been delighted to find such a bright, talented and generous community. I've learned so much about children's books and blogging from all of you.

How many people read my blog.
I thought that maybe a couple of people would read my blog occasionally. I've been overwhelmed (in a very nice way) with the number of people who read, comment and subscribe to Wizards Wireless. There have also been far more links to Wizards Wireless from other blogs than I would have dreamed possible, and I consider each one a huge compliment.

Who reads my blog.
Friends and family members from all over the country. People who have never met me. Librarians. Parents. Teachers. Authors. My brother. More people than I could have imagined.

That I still have something to say.
My main concern about starting a blog was that I'd run out of things to say after about a week. It's been nine months (and over 200 posts) later... and there's so many things I still want to talk about. Looks like I should keep writing.

Your turn. What's surprised you about blogging?