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Did you know that AnyNewBooks lets you know, for free, about any new books in the genres you select? I just discovered them. I’ve selected “children’s” and “teen” book categories, and also Kindle ebooks. It sounds like a great way to regularly find out about new books being published.

Have you ever used this service before? Do you know of another one?

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day is being developed as a “high-concept family comedy” movie by Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum), according to Cynopsis Kids (via Variety). Rob Lieber (Septimus Heal: Magyk) will write the screenplay. Apparently there was also an animated musical special and a musical theatrical based on this much-loved book.

I’m not sure how I feel about this book being made into a movie. I happen to LOVE this picture book. And…er…I don’t see how a picture book becomes a full-length movie. I haven’t much liked the few movies I’ve seen based on picture books I love. Have you?

What I always come back to, though, is that if this gets more people to read the book, maybe it’s a good thing.

What do you think?

Children’s book Simeon’s Gift , written by Julie Andrews Edwards and Emma Walton Hamilton (her daughter) is being transformed into a play. The book is about Simeon, a minstrel who wants to marry Sorrel, and is convinced that to do so he must create a song so beautiful that she will love him, and to create such a song he must hear new sounds to create his own music. So he sets out on a quest to free the music in his soul.

The story was originally written by Julie Andrews Edwards and her daughter Emma to help Emma as she had to travel back and forth between her divorced parents, and was illustrated by Emma’s father, Tony Walton.

The five-actor musical will premiere in 2009 at Bay Street Theater, Sag Harbor, NY with a recording narrated by Julie Andrews Edwards. You can read more about it here.

The Cybils nominations end in 3 days. The Cbyils are book awards given to the best children’s and teen books–books that are high in both literary quality and kid appeal. The books go through two different judging panels, and the panels are made up of children’s and YA book bloggers.

ANYONE can nominate a book. Yes, that means you! You just need to leave the book title you want to nominate in the comments of the book category (fiction picture books, teen fiction, etc) on the Cybils blog–by Wednesday!

I’ve gone through the lists of nominated books (which was a long task, let me tell you) and there are some really stellar books that haven’t been mentioned. Really, really good books that deserve a mention. Because each person can only nominate one book per category, I can’t nominate them. But you can! If you like the books I mention, please consider it. (And if you haven’t read them, pick them up!)

Here are the great 2008 books I think are missing:

Picture Books

• Chicken, Pig, Cow by Ruth Ohi

Go here to nominate a fiction picture book.

Middle Grade Books:

YA books:

• Breakfast at Sadie’s by Lee Weatherly

Go here to nominate a YA book.

An “offensive word” in Jacqueline Wilson’s latest novel, My Sister Jodie (Random House, UK), will replaced with another as a result of three parent complaints, according to The Guardian. Three complaints? What is it with books that makes people jump on them? Movies and television have people swearing, having sex, and murdering each other, but nobody tries to get them banned or replaced.

My Sister Jodie has sold 150,000 copies in the U.K. since it was published last March, including through Asda, a supermarket chain that “is now in the process of withdrawing it from stores.” I find that so sad–removing a book on the basis of a word. Did they even read the book? Did they see if it spoke emotional truths, told a good story, helped illuminate something?

The word that people objected to was “twat,” which Jacqueline Wilson used intentionally to show cruelty, to show a “nasty character.” When a word is used in context, and it reveals things about the way people treat each other, should that word be deleted because some people find it offensive? I don’t think it should. I think books can help children and teens prepare and arm themselves for real-world experiences that they might not yet have had, in a way that just telling them about it won’t. I think those books are important. And it sounds like My Sister Jodie might be one of them.

I haven’t read My Sister Jodie yet, but I’ll bet that Jacqueline Wilson was drawing out the characters, and that the reader would not sympathize with the boyfriend putting down the girl. When so many children and teens experience misogyny or bullying, shouldn’t they have somewhere to turn to that accurately shows some of their experience, while offering some hope? (Wilson’s books usually seem to offer hope.)

What do you think? Should a word be erased from a book?

Thanks to Shelf Awareness for the info.

A woman was arrested for not returning two library books to the Grafton Library–White Oleander and Angels and Demons. I understand the library wanting their books back, but that sounds a little extreme to me.

The woman, Heidi Dalibor, ignored four library notices, two phone calls and two letters, and the Grafton Library then turned the case over to the police. Heidi Dalibor then ignored the court date–and when she did, the police arrested her. Heidi paid her $170 fine and was released, but STILL doesn’t intend to return the books because, she says, “they’re paid for.”

I started to lose a little sympathy, hearing that, but I still think arresting the woman for not returning two library books was overkill. What do you think?

You can watch the video here.

Thanks to Neatorama for the link.

Now this is interesting. I don’t know whether or not it’s true, but according to The Guardian, via Gawker, a big publisher put an ad in Craiglist to hire 14 people to fake the autograph of two co-authors for a best-selling novel, with the workers to be paid $25 for every 200 books they sign.

The ad says that the fake signing will take 8 hours a day for 2 days in Los Angeles, and that each signing will take 15 seconds or less. At that rate the 14 people could sign up to 53,760 copies.

Why hire fake signers? Because the authors don’t want to sign all those books? Granted, those are a LOT of books, but I’d love to have that kind of “problem”!

And what about the people who are purchasing signed copies? I assume they’re buying an autographed copy because they want something that came directly from the author. Isn’t that…cheating them? What do you think?

You can see the ad on Gawker.

Thanks to Shelf Awareness for the link.

According to Cynopsis Kids, two new TV shows are in production based on Budge Wilson’s book Before Green Gables(the prequel to Anne of Green Gables). Japanese publisher Shinchosha is producing an animated version of Before Green Gables, and a new live-action 3-hour TV movie Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning is in production in Canada, to be aired on CTV. The live-action movie sounds appealing to me.

I’m not much into organized religion, but if I was, I think I’d want to attend one of minister Susan Sharpe’s picture book sermons. Sharpe created a mini-series of sermons called “Story Book Theology;” each week’s sermon is based on a famous children’s book, and includes scripture to help apply the lessons. The books Sharpe has used include Judith Viorst’s Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (I just love that book) and Dr. Seuss’ Oh, The Places You’ll Go. Sharpe said: “My desire is that through using children’s books, which can relate to a child, that they can relate to the child in us.”

I get that. I think I’d enjoy listening to some of what she has to say. How about you?

You can read more about it here.

Two new YA authors (Stephanie Kuehnert and Alexa Young) have come up with a fantastic book promotion idea that will not only help promote their own books, but also other authors’, while promoting reading for teens AND raising money for a charity (Virgin Unite charity). Sound interesting? The event is called Rock n’ Read.

Rock n’ Read is a festival where musicians and authors will come together on stage to perform their songs and read from their books. The recording artists who will perform live include Lucid Nation, Noah Stone, Norfolk, and Dirty Spanglish, and the YA authors who will read from their books include N.L. Belardes, Cherry Cheva, Megan Crane, Kim Culbertson, Stephanie Kuehnert, Alyson Noël, Rebecca Woolf and Alexa Young.

It’s free to attend, though there’s a suggested donation of $10. For each $10 ticket you buy, you’re entered into a raffle to win prizes including signed books, CDs and more.

The first ROCK ‘N’ READ event will take place on Sunday, July 13, 2008, from 3:00 to 6:00pm at the Hollywood & Highland Virgin Megastore (6801 Hollywood Blvd., CA USA). If you’re an author or musician interested in taking part or donating books or CDs, you can contact them at their site.

Stephanie Kuehnert is the author of I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone, and Alexa Young is the author of Frenemies.

A reader poll conducted by Random House & Zogby came up with some interesting results. Though some people cry that ebooks are going to take over, at the moment, 82% of readers said they prefer to curl up with a printed book rather than read an ebook.

(That fits me. I like ebooks, but I’d much rather read a printed book. There’s many lovely things about the printed book that ebooks just don’t have–like the smell of a book, the comfortable weight of a book in your hand, and visually seeing how far into the book your are. How about you? Do you prefer printed books, or ebooks?)

The survey also found that most book buyers go to the bookstore knowing what they want to buy, but are often tempted into purchasing other books once in the store. (That sounds like a good thing for authors and publishers–and readers. I think it’s good to find new books that appeal to you.)

The poll also found that “when asked what makes them want to buy a book, 60% said suggestions from friends and family members, while nearly half (49%) said they are influenced by book reviews.” More than a third of the respondents said they purchased a book because of a quote from another author (which is neat to hear), and when they find a book they like, most readers make a special effort to find other books by the same author.

Most of the respondents purchase books online or at chain bookstores, while almost half also purchase books at independent bookstores.

AND more than half of the readers who responded to the poll said that they judge a book by its cover. The cover makes a difference.

Want to read the poll results in more detail? Head over here.

Thanks to PubRants via Nathan Bransford Literary Agent for the link.

Readers of Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance novels are up for some fun; Random House and Paolini have created a team-based online game– Vroengard Academy–that works as an online and offline scavenger hunt, where players solve puzzles and look for clues in both the real world and online, based on the books. The clues include messages from Paolini.

Vroengard Academy started June 2nd and will continue until September 26th, concluding just after the launch of the 3rd book in the Inheritance cycle, Brisingr. The game also includes a weekly sweepstakes, plus a grand prize for one player who will win a trip to meet Christopher Paolini near his home in Montana.

This sounds like a lot of fun for readers who enjoy Paolini’s books–and also an innovative and fun way to promote the books. I would have loved something like this when I was a teen–something that rewarded me for reading books I loved.

There seems to be a proliferation of book covers for YA books being blatantly copied and used in other books. Read Roger has just written a post showing the latest of these–a copy of Lisa Yee’s Stanford Wong Flunks Big-time. I understand that sometimes it’s hard to be creative–but taking someone’s idea and copying it so closely? Isn’t that…wrong?

Children’s author Max Elliot Anderson (Secret of Abbott’s Cave, Mountain Cabin Mystery) released a bottle with a message in it into Rock River, Illinois. The clear plastic bottle is decorated with blue tape–perhaps to make it stand out–and inside is a card, instructing the finder what to do. When the person returns the card to Anderson, Anderson will send a set of his children’s mystery and adventure books to the person who found it. The bottle also includes a forever stamp, so that it won’t cost the finder anything to claim the prize, no matter when they find it.

I think this is a really neat idea on a lot of levels. It may get some children who live in the area interested in finding the bottle and going on a real-life treasure hunt–which seems perfect for children who enjoy adventure and mystery novels. It is also a fantastic and innovative promotional idea, which may help Anderson get some new readers or people interested in his books. And it may encourage some children to hear about it to read Anderson’s, or other authors’, adventure novels. What great summer fun! I know I would have loved to find such a bottle when I was a kid. Or any bottle with a message in it.

You can read more about it here.

Harry Potter fans will be interested in knowing that a special Harry Potter anniversary edition of the first Harry Potter book–Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone–is going to be published by Scholastic and Arthur A. Levine. The book will include exclusive bonus material from JK Rowling, and new cover art and an inner illustration by Mary GrendPre (the artist who did the artwork for the US Potter books) depicting Harry looking into the Mirror of Erised. The book will be published September 23, 2008.

Thanks to Cynopsis Kids for the info.

There’s so much neat stuff out there in kidlit blogs right now!

Here are just a few:

I *love* Polly Dunbar’s picture books–most especially Flyaway Katie. If you like her books, you might be interested in checking out the interview 7-Imp conducted with Polly Dunbar. It includes a lot of lovely color illustrations.

There’s a neat article from the Denver Post about how online book reviews help new or “unknown” authors get their books noticed and sold. Thanks to Jen Robinson for the link, who found it through Gail Gauthier. Check out Jen’s post for a lot more great links.

Jen also has the schedule for the Summer Blog Blast tour for this week, where a lot of wonderful children’s and YA authors are being interviewed, including Adam Rex, David Almond, Polly Dunbar, Mary E Pearson, and more.

Justine Larbalestier has an interesting discussion about writing the same book over and over, or different ones, and also what appeals to readers.

And there’s so much more good stuff out there. Dip your toes in!

I found P.L. Frederick's blog, Small and Big from a post she sent me..and have loved it ever since. Her humor and art is great fun. Lots of wit there. I have been enjoying the jokes and her insights on them.