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Good morning, my fine and frisky young denizens of this sphere upon which we make our homes.  I’m particularly chipper today as I’ve just returned from a lovely trip to Boston where I attended the Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards and managed NOT to lose my glasses in the process.  More on that tomorrow, but today I’ve a whole heaping helpful of fun videos for your perusal.

First up, I’m happy to announce that last weekend I conducted a Literary Salon with James Kennedy and Eti Berland on the subject of 90-Second Newbery.  The fun doesn’t really get started until the five minute mark, but that’s the wonders of live streaming for you.  A million thanks to James for figuring out how to get the new YouTube streaming feature to work on his computer at all.  Phew!

Now we’ve a very cool video up next.  Do you like John Steptoe?  Do you like Sesame Street?  Then behold this very early Sesame Street when Gordon-with-hair read Stevie to the viewers.  This is something I’d love for current day Sesame Street to pick up again.  Wouldn’t it be great if Chris (you can see that I’m hip to the current cast) read Last Stop on Market Street to Telly?  It could happen.

In other news, we’ve an election coming up.  Or didn’t you know?  Well I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Aaron Reynolds for a new little show I’m participating in called LadyBird & Friends.  If you want to bypass the whole Betsy talking element to the proceedings, skip to the 18:20 mark where Aaron reads aloud President Squid.  It will be the funniest damn thing you see all day.  The man is a natural performer.

And speaking of natural performers, how did I miss this promotional video for Robo-Sauce when it first came out?  My bad.

Now welcome to New Zealand, where librarians have more fun.  Don’t believe me?  This synchronized . . . I’m sorry.  This synchronised shelving proves it.  Thanks to Jean Reagan for the link.

And for our final off-topic video today . . . AUGHHH!!!!!

Does the clownfish remind anyone else of the Goldfish from Mars Evacuees? Anyone? Anyone?  No?

Just me then.

• First and foremost, this:

That would be Kadir Nelson’s tribute to the Schomburg Library in NYC. A couple things to note about it.  First, in an amazing bit of research you can see that he includes both the old Schomburg Library (now overrun with ivy) and the new Schomburg together at the bottom.  Second, the inclusion of Langston Hughes front and center is particularly clever since Langston is practically the first thing a person sees when they enter the building.  Or rather, Langston’s words which are embedded in the very floor.  I do miss the Schomburg. This brought all that back.

• In all the talks we’ve heard from people about A FINE DESSERT and A BIRTHDAY CAKE FOR GEORGE WASHINGTON, I sometimes feel like we haven’t heard enough from the teachers about how they teach topics like slavery.  That’s why posts like Monica Edinger’s In the Classroom: Teaching About Slavery are so important.  If you read no other link today, read this one.

• This one’s for the librarians.  Want to know all the different rates publishers charge libraries for ebooks?  A handy dandy chart explains all.

• Travis Jonker knew not what he hath wrought when he posted about The Most Annoying Board Book Ever.  I know precisely what book he’s talking about (as does anyone else who has encountered it).  I never get rid of books, as my household will attest, but THAT book I gave away with a flourish when I moved.  I wasn’t going to use precious box space cluttering it up with that monstrosity.  One of the buttons that’s supposed to sound like snoring actually sounds like Darth Vader.  And believe you me, you do NOT want the unsettling feeling that Vader is lurking around your house.

• Me Stuff:  WGN Radio in Chicago and I chatted about How to Keep Your Children Interested in Reading, as I talked up Brightly’s recent list of 50 Best Books for 7- and 8-year-olds.  Such fun stuff.  I’m now their official WGN librarian, apparently.  The gig is mine!

Speaking of radio, have you guys all heard James Kennedy (of 90-Second Newbery and The Order of Odd Fish fame) on Matthew Winner’s Let’s Get Busy podcast?  If you listen to no other interview on that show (and I include my own when I say that) listen to this one.  The two guys basically hit it out of the park right at the start when James mentions the plethora of The Call stories as they relate to ALA Award committees.  The dog church bit . . . seriously, you just have to listen.  And not just because an Oakland newspaper said of James that, “Between his wardrobe choices and excited mannerisms, he had the familiar air of Professor Gilderoy Lockhart in the Harry Potter film adaptations, only he was not a braggart.”  I always think of him as more a Xenophilius Lovegood type, but maybe that’s just the Rhys Ifans talking.

• Man. I gotta apologize. Somebody somewhere alerted me to the Booktoss piece Say It With Me: Intersectionality and I’ve forgotten who they are.  Mea culpa.  In any case, this is a great piece of writing.  From Beyonce at the Superbowl to Ben Hatke’s Little Robot.  Not an easy connection, but Laura Jimenez manages it.  Kudos.

• I think I failed to post this before, but Mike Lewis did a killer rundown of the CTTCB’s Social Media Institute in his piece Exiting the Echo Chamber.  I am, however, a little jealous at the title.  Wish I’d thought of it myself.

• Why, yes.  I would like to attend a Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry exhibition at the Brooklyn Public Library.  However did you know?  But quick question: When did Wendell Minor illustrate the series?  It makes me happy but I want to see that work.

• Things I’m Surprised More Publishers Don’t Do With Their Backlist: This. I guess it helps if you have a big recognizable name, but still. Now can we PLEASE discuss doing this with William’s Doll?  You want money?  I have money. (Fun Fact: I don’t have money – I just want to see it brought into the 21st century)

Pooh and friends pre-2008

Though it contains an image of the original Winnie-the-Pooh toys that has to be more than eight years old (Donnell Library!), the Huffington Post article Christopher Robin Was Real, And Other Facts About Winnie-The-Pooh’s Author has some nice items in it.  Particularly point #2.  H.G. Wells?  Really?

• Here’s another one for the librarians.  Booksellers too, as it happens.  According to a recent Nielsen Report, Social Omnivores And Book Placement Majorly Influence Children’s Book Buyership.  No surprises there.  What is surprising is that when it comes to selecting books, “The shelf has more influence than the promotional table, window display, bargain bin, etc. combined by a very wide margin.”.  Yep.  Your displays may look all kinds of pretty, but nothing beats good old fashioned shelving when it comes to checkouts/sales.  Who knew?  Thanks to Carl Schwanke for the link.

• Word I Don’t Use Enough: Ostrobogulous. Disagree on peril of defining it (though this may help). Thanks to Phil Nel for the link.

• This Kirkus editorial called Sandra Boynton Slaps Us Around (a great title that) fits in nicely with my post Girls: Beyond Eyelashes and Bows, don’t you think?

• “Where are the children’s books that celebrate working-class values and voices?” is not a question being asked by many folks here in America.  It is, however, being asked in The Guardian by Elen Caldecott.  And it is a question I would very much like us to start answering over here as well.

• Ashley Bryan, the patron saint of children’s literature (as I mentally refer to him) is popping up all over New York City.  Lucky lucky New York City.

• Daily Image:

Alison Morris, currently working as the Senior Director of Collection Development & Merchandising at First Book, is the cleverest crafty person I know.  Years ago she showed me how to make F&Gs into birdhouses.  Now she’s making classic children’s characters into marble magnets.

Want to make your own?  Instructions can be found here.  Cheers, Alison!

Are you aware of the Cozy Classics board book series? How about the felted board book versions of the original Star Wars movies? The other night I had dinner with Cozy Classics creator Holman Wang and we talked about his process. Turns out, the felted characters are needle felted entirely. A lawyer by trade, Holman learned how to felt through YouTube videos. Now what goes around comes around as you watch this oddly soothing time lapse YouTube video of his process. It’s an old video (as the dates at the end attest) but that doesn’t make it any less neat.

And as for the aforementioned Star Wars books, here’s Holman himself talking about his various techniques:

Also at that dinner, someone in attendance mentioned that Larry Wilmore on The Nightly Show had covered A Birthday Cake for George Washington. Come again? Yes, you truly know that a book has left our little orbit when it ends up a discussion topic on a Comedy Central evening show. I wouldn’t exactly call this one workplace appropriate, but I would call it funny. Nice too that while he talks about the book he does not speculate about the creators.

Book trailer time. N.D. Wilson has always created the best book trailers. Remember the one he did for Ashtown Burials? Or Boys of Blur?  Well, the latest premiered on Entertainment Weekly very recently:

Thanks to Aaron Zenz for the link.

So I ask James Kennedy the other day to name his favorite 90-Second Newbery Film Festival co-hosts.  And he rattles off a bunch of names but one that he was particularly impressed by?  Nikki Loftin, author of Nightingale’s Nest.  Don’t believe me?  Then check out this killer opening Nikki and James did together.  That woman has pipes!

Of course, I already had insider knowledge to Nikki’s singing prowess.  Two years ago she created a video for Jules Danielson and myself and . . . well, if you just can’t get through your day without seeing a children’s author belting out classic Rogers & Hammerstein on a roof, then are YOU in luck!

And finally, for our off-topic-but-not-really video, I bring you information from beyond the grave.  We all know Michael Jackson, and many of us know Bob Fosse.  Now see how eerie it is when you put one on top of another.  If The Little Prince movie did nothing else, it gave us this:

Hallo, folks!

So today is the last day of National Library Week.  In celebration, enjoy this delightful video from Common Craft for your average non-library literate layman.  If you are a librarian, show this video to those members of your family who heard you had to get a Master’s degree and asked you, “What? So they teach you how to put your hair in a bun and go ‘Shh’ all day?”

More info here.

There is a saying in my family: A music video isn’t viral until soldiers perform a version of it.  Admittedly it’s a relatively new saying.  The same might also be said for librarian parody videos, though.  When they’re doing a song you haven’t heard of, you best be looking that puppy up.  Case in point . . .

The moment he’s reading Beloved sort of stands out.  Otherwise, perfectly fine.  The ending is pitch perfect.  Thanks to Melanie for the link.

One more.  This time with a Taylor Swift-centric vibe.  Author Patricia Hubbell ought to be well pleased:

In other news I was so pleased to see James Kennedy and his 90-Second Newbery shenanigans appear on this recent episode of Kidlit TV.  You should watch it if, for no other reason, the fact that you get to see Ame Dyckman briefly prance.  And prance she does!!

Next up, the Mazza Museum!  I love that place, but the smiling blonde is way way way perky.

Speaking of perky, Scholastic ups the ante with a professional announcer talking up their summer reading challenge.  Not a bad idea.  Offer kids the chance to be in a world record and watch your participation numbers skyrocket.

Here we are in the glory of spring.  With all the beauty just ah-popping outdoors, what better time to sequester ourselves inside to watch mad videos about children’s literature related affairs?

So first and foremost, you may have seen me make mention of the fact that I had a podcasting-related Children’s Literary Salon last weekend.  My Lit Salons are monthly gatherings of children’s literature enthusiasts who come to the main branch of NYPL to watch me finagle different topics out of incredibly interesting people.  People often ask me to record these, but at this time there is no place online for such talks to live.  Happily, that problem was solved recently when Katie Davis (Brain Burps About Books) , John Sellers (PW KidsCast), and Matthew Winner (Let’s Get Busy) came over and Matthew recorded the whole dang thing.  This is, insofar as I know, the very FIRST time a moderated event has covered this particular topic (children’s literature podcasts).  With that in mind, enjoy!

“John Newbery ate every single book he ever read”.  That was going to be my subtitle for today’s blog post.  I may still have to use it at some point because it’s one of the highlights of this James Kennedy / Libba Bray interaction at the recent 90-Second Newbery show here in NYC.  For years, I’ve been sitting on my laurels with my Randolph Caldecott music video.  Now I’ve been royally trumped and it’s all thanks to the song “What Would John Newbery Do?”  I can’t top this.

And now, with the approach of the Children’s Book Week Awards, time to break out the big guns.  And these, ladies and gents, are some SERIOUSLY big guns!

Turns out the CBC collected a whole CHUNK of these videos and they’re just out there!  Like this one starring two of my favorite author/illustrators, Amy Ignatow and Brian Biggs.  You must be SURE to stick around for the ghost of David Wiesner.  And it backs up my theory that every person in my generation has one rap song memorized.  Mine’s “Shoop”.

Nice use of “Rock Lobster” too.

We’re about three days away from El día del niño, otherwise known as the day of the child.  Unfamiliar with Dia?  Not anymore.  Here’s a quickie recap for those of you who are curious:

Día means “day” in Spanish. In 1996, author Pat Mora learned about the Mexican tradition of celebrating April 30th as El día del niño, the day of the child. Pat thought, “We have Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Yes! We need kids’ day too, but I want to connect all children with bookjoy, the pleasure of reading.”  Pat was enthusiastically assisted to start this community-based, family literacy initiative by REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library & Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking. El día de los niños, El día de los libros/Children’s Day, Book Day, also known as Día, is a daily commitment to link all children to books, languages and cultures, day by day, día por día. Many resources and an annual registry are available at the Association for Library Services to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). Every year, across the country, libraries, schools, and community organizations, etc. plan culminating book fiestas creating April Children’s Day, Book Day celebrations that unite communities.
Join us!

Interested in participating? It’s not too late.  Best of all, here’s a video from previous years of what folks have done in their libraries.  Viva Dia!

We’ve sort of an embarrassment of riches this year in terms of trans boy picture books (see the 7-Imp recap of this very thing here).  Now one of those books, Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress, has a book trailer that hits on the tone about right.  Let’s put it up on the big board!

Thanks to Fred Horler for the link.

This next one is a fictional tie-in to a nonfiction subject.  Which is to say, a CCSS dream.  I’m not usually on board with rhyming picture books, but this one actually gets away with it!

And for the off-topic video of the day, we all love Neil deGrasse Tyson.  This is the video of him slowed down ever so slightly.  He loves it.  Shows it at his talks sometimes.

And for fun, you can watch the original here:

If you’ve read my blog in the last year you may have heard me mention a little something called the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival.  Said aloud it sounds like The 92nd Newbery Film Festival (which is not too far off since 2012 will be the 90th Newbery Award).  However the entire premise was this: Kids from around the world (yes world) filmed 90-second or so versions of various Newbery Award and Honor books.  They sent these books to YA author James Kennedy (of The Order of Odd-Fish) and he collected, curated, organized, tightened, and generally got them into working order.  Now James received more than 100 entries, so those were culled down to a select few that he is showing in three theatrical showings.  Here in New York our film festival this past Saturday was the first and played in the main branch of the library system.  Subsequent showings will be held in Chicago and Portland, Oregon.

For this performance, James had a difficult job ahead of him.  Essentially he had to take the best aspects of what you get at your average school play and avoid the pitfalls such performances normally contain.  He also had to wrangle some special guests and actors because a festival of just films might be fine, but it wouldn’t be kickin’.

So it was that co-master of ceremonies Jon Scieszka, Newbery Award winner Rebecca Stead, author Ayun Halliday, her hugely talented children India and Milo, and the kids of Writopia Labs all gathered together to put on what I can only call a helluva show.

My job in all of this was simple: Bring water to performers. Keep the calm.  Don’t panic.  Don’t let the auditorium fill to above capacity.

Well, three out of four ain’t bad, right?  Turns out that while I excelled in the calm/no panic/water area, I had a hard time coming down on the auditorium rule.  How could I help it?  James’s show was clearly a hit.  Here’s what it looked like before the latecomers started sneaking in:

I would have been displeased if I hadn’t been so thrilled.

The show started off with a bang.  Scieszka and Kennedy brought to mind the old vaudeville acts of old.  In their pseudo-tuxes the two managed on the spot to create two characters out of thin air.  Jon, the gleeful worldly New Yorker with a gleam in his eye.  James, the hardworking up-and-comer form Chicago with a chip on his shoulder in the face of Jon’s smugness.

The show began with James’s version of A Wrinkle in Time, that magnificent video that went viral (90,400 views of it on Vimeo alone).  After it ended James reminded everyone that this is going to be an annual film festival.  “So if you’re inclined, start thinking about what 90-second Newbery films you might want to do for next year’s film festival. You’ll be thinking, ‘I can do that, but a million times better.’ DO! You don’t have to have a dance party at the end.”

5 Comments on The 90-Second Newbery Film Festival: New York Style, last added: 11/7/2011