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I usually begin with a video of myself whenever I’ve a chance, but this week I’m preempting my own face because this video is the coolest thing ever.  By the time I left New York Public Library its Rose Reading Room had already been closed for half a year.  Now you get to see the room in a time lapse video looking cooler than ever.  52,000 books are shelved here in two minutes.  Trust me – you won’t be bored.

This month I hosted one of those fun little interviews I do from time to time on my show Ladybird and Friends. This month the interviewee was Mike Grosso of the new feminist middle grade novel I Am Drums.  He’s great.  The book’s great.  We have fun.  But if you really want to skip to the weird part, be sure to also go to about 28:34.

And just to keep it all in the family, my husband’s book The Secrets of Story is out and available for purchase.  To prep you a bit, Matt’s been creating short interesting videos to highlight some of the ideas in the book.  This one’s about objects.  I’m a fan.  Check it:

You’ve heard of book trailers, surely, but audiobook trailers? This one for Adam Gidwitz’s magnificent The Inquisitor’s Tale will make you a believer. Let’s see more of these in the future!

Meanwhile, over at 100 Scope Notes, Travis Jonker swore that if he ever heard of a children’s book creator on television, he’d watch. Then he heard that Oliver Jeffers was on an Irish talk show called The Late Late Show. So what does he do? He tracks down the Irish video link. That’s dedication, people. That’s chutzpah. And we are the beneficiaries:

N.D. Wilson.  He writes middle grade children’s books.  Good ones too.  Books that get a lot of critical attention.  But apparently that’s not enough for Mr. Wilson. Oh no.  He has to go out and actually write and direct a real as real movie.  It’s called The River Thief and it has a limited national release and is on VOD.  Check out the trailer here if you’re curious:

Fun Fact: The creation of this movie, from concept to end of production, was three weeks. That includes the three days it took to write the script. Here’s a behind the scenes on that, if you’re curious.

Next UP: Not safe for work.  Not really.  But anything that takes the “sexy librarian” stereotype and turns it on its head/tongue is fine by me.

And for the off-topic video, I warn you.  This bad lip-reading will get caught in your head.  This is the earworm to rule all earworms.

Ah.  Sweet screen capture.  Only you could give me the chance to get just the right angle on this video of M.T. Anderson singing (YES, singing!) his Delaware song.  And truth be told, the man does a lovely acapella rendition of the ode.  The only thing that could make it even more complete would be to hear Hank Green set it to music.  Of course, Hank is more of a tenor and could not do justice to Anderson’s lilting baritone.

*blog posting is briefly put on hiatus as I rewatch Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone From Your Pants for the umpteenth time*

Ahem.  Very well.  In lieu of a Hank adaptation, let’s just watch Anderson sing this again.  Only instead of being at SCBWI in LA, it’s an even more recent video taken by Kathi Appelt at the Vermont College of Fine Arts.

Throws himself into it a bit more, does he not?  I think he’s loosening up as he goes.  By October I will insist upon the addition of props.  Or at least a monk or two for back-up.  Thanks to Kathi for the link!

My problem with this next video is not the content.  I welcome the sexy librarian stereotype.  Heck, I’m a fan.  No, what shames me about this next clip is that I had no idea there was a Britcom out there called The Old Guys.  What kind of a Britcom fanatic am I if I do not keep up with the times?  There’s more out there than just The Good Neighbors (slash The Good Life) after all.  Here then is a clip in a library.

Thanks to AL Direct for the link.

Someone once asked me whether or not there is a single repository for all the videos out there of children’s authors and children’s illustrators talking about their life and art.  There isn’t as far as I can tell, but that doesn’t mean we can’t just start collecting now.  Here then is illustrator Oliver Jeffers giving a talk about his own art.  I can understand the Ungerer and the Sendak influence, but I have to admit that The Giving Tree baffles me.  Such a divisive book.

3 Comments on Video Sunday: “And barbarian lords with feathered hair . . . from Delaware!”, last added: 8/15/2010