Tiny Treasury

You knew it had to happen… The Gossip Girls book series about growing up in a private school in Manhattan is going even more glam as a TV series. The series, penned by author Cecily von Ziegesar, will be debut on the fall schedule for the CW.

The show stars Penn Badgley, Ed Westwick, Taylor Momsen, Leighton Meester, Chace Crawford and Blake Lively (of Traveling Pants fame) as the heroine, Serena. For a sneak peek, click here.

Gossip Girls, CW, Cecily von Ziegesar, Penn Badgley, Ed Westwick, Taylor Momsen, Leighton Meester, Chace Crawford, Blake Lively

It’s the Friday Fifteen!

Photo credit: (c) Danielle Levitt, New York magazine

Today’s guest is our first ever cover photographer. Meet Ali Smith, who has photographed covers for a number of teen books - as well as collections for her own books.

On a personal note, the first book cover that I saw that Ali had done was Sara Shepard’s Pretty Little Liars:

Now, onto the Fifteen!

1. Where are you now?
Same place I always seem to be…in front of my computer

2. What were your favorite books as a kid?
I loved the Little House series and the Laura Ingalls Wilder biography where they showed photos of her and her family. It was mind blowing for me at the time that the person who’d written that series was an actual person who you could see in photographs. She seemed like an epic hero, not a young girl. Good lesson that the two things could be one in the same.

3. What are you reading now?
I’m reading lots of books related to motherhood. a) because I’m working on my next book of photography that centers around the subject and b) because I labor under the delusion that if I read enough, I will somehow be prepared for my own role as mother when the time comes.

4. Do you have kids?
For six years, I was a devoted stepmother. But the relationship with her father has ended and, sadly, it seems my relationship with her may have ended as a result. Atl east for now. I am planning on having a child soon.

5. What projects are you working on now?
Besides shooting book covers pretty consistently, which I love doing, I’m working on the aforementioned book of portraiture. My first book, “Laws of the Bandit Queens”, was portraits of and life laws from 35 amazing women like Alice Walker, Janeane Garofalo, Sandra Bernhard, Geraldine Ferraro… This one centers on what motherhood and family really are and how a woman can parent well and still maintain a sense of self. I guess I’ve always looked for role models and guidance through my photography.

6. What is your biggest writing or illustrating luxury?
That I get to work in my pj’s. (I work from a home office) except for at the shoots, naturally. Although I have had to do an underwater shoot (for “MIX”) in a bathing suit. It’s fun that each day of work is going to be a bit different.

7. Coffee or tea?
Coffee! Although I’m really trying to switch to tea. If for no other reason, because my coffee habit is costing me a small fortune.

8. Name five artists on your ipod (or mp3 player).

Myself (My latest album came out about six months ago. It’s called “You Showed Me” and is under the artists’ names “Steve Almaas and Ali Smith”. Steve is my ex. The album came out right after the breakup. Fun fun fun.)

9. What would I be surprised to know about you?
I danced at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, with Rudolph Nuryev.

10. What college did you attend (in what subject)?
NYU. Started out for Visual Arts in general but really found myself in photography. Big bonus was I went for free because my mom was a nurse at NYU!!

11. If you weren’t working with kids’ books, what would your dream job be?
Photography is my dream job. If I couldn’t shoot kids’ books, as long as I was shooting, I’d still be in my dream job.

12. What’s the best thing on TV right now?
Hmmm… That really depends. Am I trying to turn my brain off, or really enjoy what I’m watching. I don’t watch much at all anymore because it’s usually awful.
Channels 1 through 36 may as well not exist. To turn my brain off, I love to veg to Bravo’s intensely ridiculous lineup of Project Runway, Shear Genius, Top Chef, etc. But the shows i really love are “Campus Ladies” on Oxygen and “The Sarah Silverman Show”. I wish wish wish they’d put “Little Britain” on the air here!

13. How did you get your “big break” into the field?
Years ago, an amazing woman named Alison Donalty, Art Director extraordinaire at HarperCollins Children’s Books, asked me to fill in for her when she went on maternity leave. I didn’t have any experience in publishing, just as a music and editorial photographer who sometimes did random advertising work. Her faith in me, that I could handle it, was so touching and opened the door to this whole world of photography for publishing which I just love! Sometimes you really need just one person to have faith in you and give you a break. Then when my agent, Shannon Associates, showed faith in me, it really all came together!

14. Which celeb would you want most to meet?
I’ve honestly met all the ones I’ve wanted to. Which is good because it calms you down about that stuff and makes everything seem more attainable to you when you see everyone’s just a person doing their best.

15. Who is the best book character ever?
Wow! That’s just impossible for me to answer. I tend to associate myself with some of the darker characters… Not anyone in fun teen novels. I got a lot from characters like the main character in Camus’ “The Stranger”, for instance, but he’s not the best character ever. I swing towards brooders. Sorry. That was a lame way to end the interview. i guess i could just say “the pig from Charlotte’s Web” and be done with it.

I would like to add something else since you’ve been talking about “MIX”. This mix program within the Aladdin imprint at Simon & Schuster has been a really great experience. There’s an amazing creative team headed up by art director Karin Paprocki and involving designer Jessica Sonkin, who I’ve had the pleasure of collaborating with on a few covers. It’s exciting to be involved in the development of something like this. It’s pure fun!

I’ve also had the chance to shoot several covers for the Simon Pulse (teen pb books) imprint headed by Russell Gordon.

-

Here are some more cool covers from Ali’s portfolio (click on the thumbnail to expand):

You can check out some more of Ali’s work on her web site. Ali’s agents can be found at Shannon Associates - you can visit the kids’ book section here.

Thanks, Ali, for sharing!

Last night, as I was watching American Idol, I thought to myself, “Jordin Sparks, you’re no Kelly Clarkson.” And then it hit me. I don’t like change. I like for things to stay the same. And that’s not possible.

It feels like life should be as it is in books. Books are, after all, static. Once they’re printed, they are what they are. There’s no flux. No matter how many times I read Gone With the Wind, Bonnie is always going to die, Daisy will always be reckless in The Great Gatsby and Isabel’s marriage will always end badly in The Portrait of a Lady.

I guess this is why I have been so viscerally opposed to the upcoming Nancy Drew movie. It was too different. There was too much change. Nancy Drew - updated - in Hollywood? Say it isn’t so.

But as Jordin belted out her final song last night, I realized that she, like those that followed her, will do just fine. Carrie Underwood did just walk away with a number of CMAs in her pocket. And I have a couple of her songs on my iPod. Sometimes, change isn’t bad. Sometimes, it’s just change.

So, I’ve decided to embrace the new Nancy Drew books and movie. After all, it has the potential to convert thousands of little girls into magnifying glass carrying, book reading, clue sniffing detectives - who absolutely love to read.

And as a result, somewhere, there will be some little girl curled up in her bed pretending to be sleeping reading Nancy Drew by flashlight while her mom admonishes her to go to sleep. Only she won’t because she’s dying to know what happens next. Because some things never change.

Nancy Drew

Okay, you already know that I’m not all that excited about the new Nancy Drew movie (She goes to Hollywood? Horrors!) but interest in the film is really heating up. You can check out the Simon & Schuster site for a quiz, downloadable activities and posters for your Nancy Drew event.

*Props to the wildly talented Deirdre Flint for the lyrics in her song, “Ballad of River Heights”, available on CD (title is “Then Again”). You can have a listen here - it’s at the bottom.

As a parent and a blogger for kids’ books, it’s easy for me to fall into the trap of thinking that every child has access to reading. That’s not true and I know it’s not true but it feels like it should be so, like many Americans, I act like it is. And especially in the United States where we have a significant amount of resources available, it’s really not acceptable.

I received an email today from First Book, a charity that puts books into low income communities, who reminded me that not all children have the luxury of books in their homes. How disparate are lower income communities from my own middle class community? Here are some sobering statistics from firstbook.org:

So, how can you help? If you want to join in the effort, you can make a donation by visiting this page - as little as $5 can provide two books for preschoolers. You can also check out the First Book blog here for news and announcements.

literacy, First Book, firstbook.org, reading, children

I had mentioned earlier that I would post about the transition from book to movie, which hardly ever works. Well, I still haven’t penned that post yet.

But I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to comment on the new Nancy Drew movie, in theatres in June. I just saw the trailer. I can’t say that I’m pleased. You know that I love Nancy. Sigh. What have they done?

Nancy Drew

A sequel to the movie The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is set to begin production in June 2007 in Greece. Director Sanaa Hamri (Something New, as well as episodes of ABC’s Men In Trees and Desperate Housewives) will be at the reins. The original four actresses from the first film (America Ferrera, Blake Lively, Amber Tamblyn and Alexis Bledel) are all in talks to return for the second film.

The movie is a follow-up to the original book based on the wildly popular Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series penned by Ann Brashares.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Sanaa Hamri, America Ferrera, Blake Lively, Amber Tamblyn, Alexis Bledel, Ann Brashares

451 Press has a new Harry Potter blogger!

I know what you’re thinking, “Thank goodness!” It’s true. As a children’s book blogger, I really should be mentioning Harry Potter. And I will. Book launches and stuff? I got that covered. But really important Harry Potter details? I can’t be relied upon to do that. Remember, I’ve never read a Harry Potter book before and I still haven’t figured out the difference between fantasy and science fiction (though that may change since I just received two fantasy books to review).

The new blogger, Maddy, has read them. All of them. So she will have lots to say, I’m sure, about the upcoming final edition and what it all means. Don’t forget to check out Hogwarts Herald for all of the latest!

Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling, blog, 451 Press

If you’re the mother of a toddler, this is a question that you hear more than once. At a certain age, it’s about “Why?”

Why is a pretty important question, though. You need to understand the “why?” behind facts. If you don’t ask the right questions - like why - you never get the bigger picture.

That’s why this web site, Just One More Book, is pretty cool. It’s a compilation of podcasts about favorite books and why they’re favorites. Stop by and check it out.

podcasts, children’s books

One of my readers (cleverly disguised as the Easter Bunny) gave me a copy of Robert Louis Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verses as a book that she felt tied into the gardening theme for March.

I had this book as a child and remember it quite well. In fact, I parodied one of the poems in the book for a competition when I was in grade school (I was 10 or 11). So, on this, the last day of March, I figured I’d wrap up with the original and my version.

Thanks for indulging me.

Robert Louis Stevenson’s “My Shadow”:

I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me.
And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.
He’s very very like me from the heels up the head.
And I see him jump before me as I jump into my bed.

The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow.
Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow.
For he sometimes shoots up taller, like an India-rubber ball.
And he sometimes gets so small there’s none of him at all.

He hasn’t got a notion of how children ought to play.
And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.
He sticks so close beside me, he’s a coward you can see.
I’d think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me.

One morning very early before the sun was up,
I rose to find the shining dew on every buttercup.
But my lazy little shadow like an arrant sleepyhead,
Had stayed at home behind me, and was fast asleep in bed.

Poetic insert (authored by me, performed by my friend, Shannon):

“Please don’t waste anymore of our time!
Going on about your shadow; what a silly rhyme!
Stand back and I’ll tell you of a problem that’s real!
My bratty little sister, now that’s a big deal!!

My poem, parodying “My Shadow” called “My Sister”:

I have a little sister who’s as mean as she can be.
And how I got stuck with her is truly beyond me.
She’s very, very sneaky, and she always gets her way.
She follows me around a lot and copies what I say.

She goes into my dresser drawers, and pulls out all my clothes.
She smears my lipstick on her face, and mascara on her nose.
She likes to take her stuff, and throw it on my floor.
And when I think she’s finally gone, she comes back bringing more!

I tried to talk it over, but I hadn’t yet been told,
How hard it is to talk to a rambunctious four year old!
I wish that she’s behave, I really wish she would.
She does things when she shouldn’t, and doesn’t when she should.

Sometimes i get so fed up, I don’t know what to do!
But Momma says when I was four, I was like that, too.
I guess I seem ungrateful, but it’s really just a cover.
Because down, deep inside me, I really, really love her.

And the finale:

Which is worse? You decide…
We’re leaving it up to you!
A pesty little sis that tags along?
Or a shadow that sticks like glue?

Of course, life with you was okay.
You were always good enough!
‘Cause when you were small you never, ever
Did that kind of stuff!
… Or did you?

It was fun for me to read my old grade school poem and its accompanying Cast of Characters biographies. According to the program, my stage name was “Cayenne Pepper” whose interests included “volleyball, mountain climbing, old movies, acting, collecting penguin paraphernalia and gymnastics.” My goal in life was to become an “International Corporate Lawyer”. It brought back some nice memories.

I think it’s so important to surround your children with stories, poems and books. You never know where it might lead. Reading opens up worlds of possibilities. It allows you to dare to think big… even if you’re a small town girl in rural North Carolina like I was. I actually did become an international corporate lawyer (though my focus is mostly on international tax)… and I still love to read.

Robert Louis Stevenson, My Shadow

When I was a kid in the 80s, I used to love those Choose Your Own Adventure books. You remember the ones… They were paperback books where the reader had the chance to determine the outcome of the characters by making choices about what happens next.

The Choose Your Own Adventure series was actually launched a year before the 80s, in 1979 by Bantam Books. Since that time, almost 200 CYOA book titles have been published worldwide totaling about 250 million books.

In 2003, the series went out of print. In response, R. A. Montgomery, the creator of the original series, decided to bring the series back. Together with his wife, he formed a new company, Chooseco, in 2004, in order to relaunch the series.

In 2006, a number of the books were re-launched, complete with a face lift to add to the appeal; new titles for the series are being released in 2007. CYOA also added even more endings for its existing stories which can be found on the company’s web site. To find the endings, readers have to engage in a series of interactive puzzles and games (my personal junior high nirvana). And if that wasn’t enough technology for you, the company has made one of its books, The Abominable Snowman, available as an iPod audio download.

Additional series were added to the publishing mix including a younger series (the Dragonlarks) for elementary school-aged children and The Golden Path, an illustrated, interactive seven-book fantasy epic packaged with collectible cards.

In other words, CYOA is picking up its game. And folks are taking notice. Or are they?

Clearly, the ad guys at DaimlerChrysler haven’t been paying attention or they might not have chosen a “Choose Your Own Adventure” ad campaign to trademark for their new Jeep Patriot. The ad campaign includes print and TV ads, as well as an interactive web site and movie. As a result, Mr. Montgomery and Chooseco LLC announced today that they have filed suit against DaimlerChrysler, BBDO Detroit, Organic and Marvel Entertainment for trademark infringement. Chooseco is also seeking an injunction against DaimlerChrysler and its advertising partners to prevent them from continuing to use the trademark in its ad campaign. Chooseco’s prior requests that Daimler Chrysler, BBDO, Organic Interactive and Marvel cease and desist the use of th trademark have been denied.

According to their press release, Chooseco publisher Shannon Gilligan maintains:

The misappropriation of the Choose Your Own Adventure mark by Jeep is particularly harmful as Choose Your Own Adventure books have also promoted interactive adventure and active lifestyles for boys and girls for over 20 years. The series maintains a large fan base of original readers who are now in the exact demographic Jeep targets. An internal market study done by one of our licensees indicated a 75% recognition rate of the Choose Your Own Adventure brand among 25-35 year olds. Choose Your Own Adventure has enormously positive associations for these young consumers. This Jeep ad campaign is a gross abuse of our brand.

It will be interesting to see what happens next. On the one hand, I wouldn’t expect that this would be a battle worth fighting for DaimlerChrysler. On the other hand, they might enjoy the boost in publicity that they will surely get for the new campaign, which was just launched two weeks ago.

One would guess that, somewhere in a cubicle at Jeep headquarters, there’s a storyboard marking out their options. If they choose option a… Stay tuned.

Click here to digg it!

Choose Your Own Adventure, Jeep, DaimlerChrysler, Patriot, Chooseco

One of the cool things about a blog is that it’s not static, meaning that you can make updates as new information becomes available. In other words, when I’m wrong, I can tell you.

Remember this post? I was excited to join a new book swap.

Mea culpa. I made a huge mistake.

The company has a long way to go in terms of customer service and working out the kinks. As a small business owner myself, I understand that glitches happen, things go wrong, mistakes are bound to crop up. But the measure of a good business is how you deal with those mistakes. This is not paperbackswap.com’s forte and I believe, perhaps its ultimate downfall.

This is the scoop: I received requests for three of my books at different times. I sent two without incident. On last Friday, after lunch, I received a request for the third book. I was to mail it by Sunday, which was impossible with my schedule. I sent a notification that it would take an additional day. As it turned out, I couldn’t mail it until Wednesday. I sent a note to the requester who said, “No problem”. The company sent me an email reminder on Wednesday after I had sent the book; I indicated that I had sent it. On today, I received an email that the request was automatically canceled by the company for my failure to reply (which I had done). I checked the FAQs and they weren’t helpful, so I went to the “Contact” page. I called the company and left a message asking how to proceed; I did let them know that I was not happy about the entire incident. Their reply? When I logged into my account an hour later, I got an “Account Frozen” message with the following post:

Account closed, at your request. We are sorry that we cannot telephone members personally. If you would like to communicate with us, please contact us by email at librarian@paperbackswap.com.

I did send an email and received no reply.

If this is the level of customer service to expect, then this is not the experience that I thought it would be. So just say no to paperbackswap.com! Sorry that I recommended them, I should have taken them for a longer test drive before I created the post. Lesson learned. Save yourself a little heartache, and avoid them altogether.

paperbackswap.com

Last year, Katherine Paterson, author of Bridge to Terabithia (and also The Great Gilly Hopkins, one of my favorite books ever), won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for Literature. Terabithia was also awarded the Newberry Book award. So, it was only a matter of time that the book would be made into a movie. The movie opened last month to mixed reviews and is still in theatres today. It has grossed nearly $75 million to date.

You can watch the trailer here:

A lot of the criticism of the movie stems from the argument that it is not true to the book. Quite frankly, I can’t say as I haven’t (1) read the book (though it’s on my list) nor (2) seen the movie. But it has got me to thinking… Watch for a post later in the week about books that made the leap to the movies…

Bridge to Terabithia, Katherine Paterson, The Great Gilly Hopkins, Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, Newberry Award

I am soooo a child of the 80s. I wore rubber bracelets. I wore crinoline skirts with high tops. I had about a zillion brightly colored scarves strategically tied around my wrists, in my hair, you name it. Neon colors popped out of my closet. My earrings never matched. I wanted to be Madonna.

At the age of 30-something, I still want to be Madonna. And not pop star Madonna. I want to be self-assured, business-woman, mother, successfully published author Madonna. That’s right, Madonna has gone all respectable on us.

I realize, on some level, this is “old news”. But not really. When The English Roses came out about three years ago, I thought it was a flash in the pan. I figured that it was Madonna re-inventing herself and that this new “children’s book author Madonna” would fade away. I was wrong.

Madonna has gone on to author several more children’s books (the English Roses Collection consists of five: The English Roses, Mr. Peabody’s Apples, Yakov and the Seven Thieves, The Adventures of Abdi, and Lotsa de Casha) and has a website dedicated to promoting the books. I have to say, the web site is extremely cute. Like the illustrations in the books, the website illustrations are very 60s fashion pop in nature. There’s an About page, which explains why Madonna wrote the books in the first place, information about the characters in the books and a fun and games section with coloring pages and more. And of course, it would be the Material Girl’s site without a shop where you can buy books, fashion items and more.

In 2006, Madonna updated the original English Roses book with the version, The English Roses: Too Good to Be True. In keeping with her international stature, the book was translated into several languages including Chichewa, the national language of Malawi. Malawi is, of course, the country where Madonna visited last fall to adopt a child, one year old David Banda.

Last year was also the first time that I took a peek at the books. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Did I love them? No. Did I hate them? No. The illustrations are delightful - Jeffrey Fulvimari is really very talented. The characters are cute and the dialogue is well done. And the stories do have a point, the overreaching theme in each book is a moral. In The English Roses, the moral is “… in the future, you might think twice before grumbling that someone else has a better life than you” no doubt geared at those folks who think that Madonna and daughter Lourdes have a picture-perfect life. I think the moral comes across as a little preachy - and maybe it’s because it’s Madonna. I’m willing to admit that I have a hard time believing that Lourdes leads anything but a pretty cushy life, and that taints my view of the book. A fair assessment? Of course not - but it’s kind of like if I read a romance novel from Steven King - I’d totally be expecting one of the protagonists to be revealed as an axe murderer. And with Madonna? Well expecting tolerance and humility from a woman who, as a tween, I watched reveal that her goal was to “rule the world” is kind of difficult. A little ironic, considering the whole point of her book is about not being so judgmental. Maybe I should read up a bit? At any rate, my view of the book, like that of many, is tainted by her celebrity. On the other hand, I suspect that her celebrity was directly responsible for the book being published. Quite the catch-22.

All of that said, the books are an enjoyable outing. If your kids are looking for a sweet story, beautifully drawn, you might want to take a peek. It’s not great literature but I suspect the kids won’t complain.

Madonna, The English Roses, Mr. Peabody’s Apples, The Adventures of Abdi, Lotsa de Casha, Yakov and the Seven Thieves, The English Roses: Too Good to be True, Jeffrey Fulvimari, Chichewa

Oh yeah, the bargains keep coming. First, the skinny on paperbackswap.com and now this…

Simon & Schuster has announced that you can download the ebook Swashbuckling Fantasy: 10 Thrilling Tales of Magical Adventure by Margaret Peterson Haddix and Obert Skye and Alan Snow and Anne Ursu and Jane Johnson and Kai Meyer and Linda Buckley-Archer and D. J. MacHale and Scott Westerfeld and Holly Black - for free. You can download it in one of four formats, for Adobe Reader, Microsoft Reader, Palm Reader and Mobipocket. Enjoy!

(And psst, for more hot tips like this, subscribe to this blog’s feed!)