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A Fuse #8 Production
Inside A Fuse #8 Production

Fusenews: “There are no good books which are only for children” – W.H. Auden

Morning, fellow plebes!  And isn’t the weather just fine and dandy these last few days?  It has been in New York anyway.  Which is to say, it feels like we briefly stole San Francisco’s temperatures for our own use this week.  Giving it back is going to be awful.  To take my mind off that, here are some links and hits that might be of interest to you and yours.

  • First and foremost, were you aware that New York Public Library, my good ,sweet, kind, adorable employer, is going to premier a brand new exhibit on Friday, June 21st and that it’s ALL about children’s literature?  Tis true!  Called The ABC of It: Why Children’s Books Matter, the exhibit is curated by the illustrious Leonard Marcus, “The ABC of It draws on collections across the Library to present the literature for children and teens against a sweeping backdrop of history, the arts, popular culture, and technological change.”  In short, it will feature treasures from the NYPL collection, many of which have never seen the light of day before.  And, naturally, Pooh and friends.  I cannot wait!!
  • While I wouldn’t necessarily agree with all the choices in Flavorwire’s 10 Great Kids Books That Have Never Been Made Into Movies (The Giving Tree?!?!), there are some nice ideas to be found there.  Artemis Fowl not being made before is baffling, The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs writes itself, and though Outside Over There was technically already adapted into Labyrinth (check out the credits of you don’t believe me) there’s always room for more.  Thanks to PW Children’s Bookshelf for the link.
  • And now here’s a piece that I haven’t seen on PW Children’s Bookshelf but that would probably fit.  Remember Mara Wilson?  I linked to a piece she wrote last year about why she’s no longer acting.  Mara, as a kid, had a habit of showing up in children’s book adaptations.  Few remember that Mrs. Doubtfire was based on a work of children’s literature, but her star turn in Matilda was clearly from a kid’s book.  Now she’s written a piece called 7 Reasons Child Stars Go Crazy: An Insider’s Perspective.  Witty and urbane it does nothing so much as make me wish she had a blog where I could find such pieces on a regular basis.
  • I can’t help but be a little ashamed to admit that I didn’t know that The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression gives out yearly awards called Muzzles.  These highlight instances where free speech has been restricted.  The awards have been handed out since 1992 and only came to my attention this time around because the 2013 Muzzles feature Amy Timberlake and Adam Rex’s The Dirty Cowboy in the #1 slot.  Very good writing to be found there.  Thanks to AL Direct for the link.
  • Periodically I like to check in on my favorite new blogs.  I’ve mentioned before Views from the Tesseract, the middle grade science fiction and fantasy blog written by fellow NYPLer Stephanie Whelan.  Well a recent post involved this cover image, which sort of made my week:

There are many reasons to love it, but for me it all comes down to the mustache.  That and the hum-dee-hum-dee-hum attitudes of the critters.  Hat tip to Stephanie for the find.

  • There’s a character out there that they’re calling “the French Harry Potter” and his name is Oksa?  I’m hooked.  American publication, please!
  • Things I Do Not Know: The number of children’s museums in the country that take the time to feature children’s literature from time to time.  I just don’t know who they are until it’s almost too late.  Take The Walt Disney Family Museum.  I had no idea such a thing existed, until I heard about its current program Maurice Sendak: 50 Years, 50 Works, 50 Reasons.  It’s only running from May 23 – July 7, so get in while you can (if you happen to have access to the much-mentioned-today San Francisco, that is).
  • So the upcoming ALA Conference is in two weeks or so (gleep!) and I am having a devil of a time finding an outfit for the Newbery / Caldecott Banquet.  Time is running out and I’m beginning a low ebb of panic.  Maybe it’s all for naught but . . . . gleep.  To take my mind off of my worries I was delighted to discover that inside of ALA this year there is a tiny graphic novel conference called Graphicon.  Check out the roster for it here and be as awed as I.  Ima gonna get me a piece of some of that!  Either that or just enjoy this listing of charming Caldecott celebrations happening hither and thither.
  • So you thought you knew all the children’s book humor awards out there, eh?  Thought they began and ended with the Roald Dahl prize in England and the Sid Fleischman Award here in the States?  Think again!  Clearly you haven’t met the Denise McCoy Legacy Award.  As the site says, “Established in 2005, the Denise McCoy Legacy Award honors the author of the previous year’s most humorous children’s book as selected by the committee.”  The winners are great and the award top notch.  Thanks to past recipient Tom Angleberger for the link.
  • Just when I don’t think I can love Jeff Kinney any more he goes and decides to give his town of 6,000 a new bookstore.  As the PW article points out, he’s hardly the first author to go the bookstore route, but he may be one of the few children’s authors to do so.  Louise Erdrich traipses in both the children’s and adult world of lit, after all.  But pure children’s books?  This is the first in my own recent memory.
  • Daily Image:

The only problem with today’s Daily Image is that now I want to watch this show.  Badly.

Maureen Johnson would like this.  Someone go and tell her about it.  Thanks to Marci for the link!

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About Elizabeth Bird

Elizabeth Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

Comments

  1. Chelsea C. says:

    Your wish has come true: http://marawilsonwritesstuff.com/ I really enjoy her writing, too.

  2. I was at a talk given by Eoin Colfer next month and he said that there have been attempts to make an Artemis Fowl film for years but for various reasons it has kept running into problems, but he sounded confident that things had now moved on and we will be seeing one on the big screen within a couple of years. His new book WARP is also good film material.

  3. I love the Daily Image, and I seriously disliked my cataloging class in library school, but…what about catalogers. Make it even broader and say Tech Services.

  4. Pooh!

    • Elizabeth Bird says:

      Well spotted! You’re my official Pooh spotter (that came out sounding weirder than I intended).
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