Author Dick King-Smith died January 4th at his home in England. He was 88. School Library Journal has a very nice piece on his legacy. He wrote more than 130 books. The Sheep Pig was made into the movie Babe.
Dick King-Smith Dies
Authors
It Gets Better
I’m sure many of you are aware of the incredible It Gets Better campaign. Take a look at this beautiful and heart-felt video from author Cheryl Rainfield.
Guardian Old Masters Series
The Guardian has a new series of audio slideshows where “some of the most revered names in children’s illustrated books discuss their works.” They are absolutely delightful. There are two slideshows so far in the collection. The first was with Eric Hill, celebrating Spot’s 30th birthday. The second is with Raymond Briggs.
Both men speak of how they fell into illustrating children’s books and their subsequent careers. I really enjoy the slideshow format with an audio interview accompanying it. A marvelous way to spend some time with beloved characters and artists.
Literacyhead Features Leo Lionni
Literacyhead, a biweekly online magazine, has just published an issue that is an author study of Leo Lionni. They received permission to use over 60 of Lionni’s images on their site, making it a feast of Lionni goodness. Each issue of their magazine offers a writing lesson and a read-aloud lesson that incorporate the visual arts.
The Leo Lionni issue will be available for free until October 5th. Every current issue is available for free. If you are interested in accessing back issues, you will need a membership.
The magazine is put together very nicely with a friendly interface, plenty of great graphics, and a real ease of use.
Make sure you take a look at the Coaching Matters section where I hope you will be as delighted as I was to get a glimpse of Lionni’s baskets of mouse parts.
It’s Time to SPEAK Out
Image by ALA – The American Library Association via Flickr
Laurie Halse Anderson shares the news on her blog that Speak has been called “soft pornography” because of its two rape scenes. What?! How in the world can anyone be turned on sexually by rape scenes written in the voice of the victim. Rape scenes that are violent, repugnant and filled with violation. How ill.
Huge thanks to Anderson not only for bringing our attention to this latest threat to teen books in schools, but also for having the courage to write Speak in the first place. Speak is one of those books that lives under your skin, allows you to deeply understand what it is to lose one’s voice. Speak, unfortunately for Wesley Scroggins (really, could he have a better name? It’s a perfect character name) is the sort of book that readers, librarians and teachers appreciate and deeply love. It is a book worth yelling for, worth speaking for.
Follow the Twitter feed on this subject at #SpeakLoudly.
Jane Yolen’s 300th Book!
The amazing Jane Yolen has just had her 300th book published! What impresses me most about that is what a high quality level she has maintained. I have her latest, Elsie’s Bird on my too-read pile right now and am really looking forward to it.
Huffington Post has a piece by Yolen about the books she has written, whether she remembers writing them all, and the key to her writing:
The two keywords here are passion and joy. I simply have a passion for writing and I do it with joy. How any writer gets through that amount of words without passion and joy, I simply don’t know. Isaac Asimov once said, "If the doctor told me I only had six more minutes to live, I’d type faster." I understand that feeling, here, resonating under the breastbone.
Here’s to another hundred!
Anne Frank’s Chestnut Tree
From Treehugger comes the news that the chestnut tree that was outside Anne Frank’s attic window has fallen. It is the tree that she mentioned often in her diary. The tree was 152 years old and has been dying for some time. There was a support structure holding it up.
It says so much about the power of books and the connections they build that I have tears standing in my eyes. I haven’t read this book for years and years, but I remember it deep inside.
Others obviously do too, since there are six genetically identical species being nurtured which are already 7 feet tall. One will be planted to replace the mother tree. Others are headed to Holocaust museums around the world.
The power and connection of literature continues just as this tree will.
Midnight Sun Is Staked
Image by Getty Images via @daylife
Author Stephanie Meyer has stopped her work on the next installment of the Twilight saga, Midnight Sun.
According to an article in Digital Spy, she says she is “burnt out on vampires” and will take a break for awhile before completing the book, hoping that it will come more naturally with some time off.
Chris Crutcher at Fox Cities Book Festival
Our local book festival is in full swing and today I got to listen to Chris Crutcher talk about book banning and censorship. The audience was entirely librarians and the event wasn’t open to the public though Crutcher will be appearing in local schools too.
We got to hear about the inspiration for Running Loose and Chinese Handcuffs, both based on real-life incidents. His talk was filled with humor and good vibes as well as little sympathy for people who want books censored in schools.
My favorite quote of the presentation was towards the end when he spoke about teens who are not part of the in-crowd needing the books he writes: “If you ban that book, you ban him.” Lovely stuff and a wonderful way to spend a morning.
Waking Brain Cells 