Charlesbridge Acquires Mackinac Island Press List By Lynn Andriani - 11/17/2009
Watertown, Mass., children’s publisher Charlesbridge has acquired the rights to the 30-book backlist and several forthcoming titles from Mackinac Island Press of Traverse City, Mich. MIP will continue to operate as a book developer, producing between eight and 12 children’s titles, and one and two series a year.
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Nonfiction Book Reviews: 11/16/2009 11/16/2009
This week: stars for Lynne Olson's Citizens of London, Daring Young Men by Richard Reeves, Susan Krauss's The Search for Fulfillment, and David Kynaston's Family Britain: 1951-1957. Plus: Daniel Menaker, Kathleen Rooney, Larry McMurty, Mikhail Chekhov, Ellen Sandbeck, and more.
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Children's Book Reviews: 11/16/2009 11/16/2009
In this week's children's book reviews: picture books from Peter McCarty, David McPhail, Sandra Boynton, and Arnold and Adrianne Lobel; fiction from Iain Lawrence, Mike Lupica, James Patterson, and Peter Lerangis; and a round-up of the latest pop-up books to hit the market.
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LaHaye Pens New Series for Zondervan By Marcia Z. Nelson - 11/12/2009
Tim LaHaye, co-author of the megaselling Left Behind series of apocalyptic novels, has switched publishers and will partner with lawyer-author Craig Parshall on a new apocalyptic series. Zondervan said it had signed LaHaye and Parshall to produce The End.
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Movie Briefs: 'A Christmas Carol' and 'New Moon' By John A. Sellers - 11/12/2009
In this round-up of film news involving the children’s book world, it was a big opening weekend for Disney’s AChristmas Carol, taking in $30 million; and Little, Brown preps for the long-awaited release of the Twilight sequel, New Moon, on November 20.
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Little Critter Comes to the iPhone By Craig Morgan Teicher - 11/12/2009
The iPhone is increasingly becoming a popular platform for children's books. Mercer Mayer's Little Critter is following Curious George and a handful of lesser-known characters into the Apple App store. The first Little Critter title to be made available as an iPhone app is Just Me and My Dad; it went live in the App Store last week. Somewhat unusually, this is a case where the rights holder, not the publisher, has developed the app...
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Little, Brown Inks Snicket Deal with Handler By Jim Milliot - 11/11/2009
Daniel Handler, who had a long and successful run with his Lemony Snicket-penned A Series of Unfortunate Events series at HarperCollins, is moving to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers in a five-book deal. Under the agreement, Handler will write four Lemony Snicket titles in a new series, with the first due out in 2012. Before that series hits, LBYR will release a Handler young adult novel in 2011 that will feature full-color illustrations by Maira Kalman.
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Nonfiction Reviews 11/09/2009
Starred reviews for: Still Life by Melissa Milgrom; Paper Fortunes by Roy C. Smith; Our Times by A.N. Wilson; The Harvard Psychedelic Club by Don Lattio; Love & War by John and Stasi Eldredge;
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Riordan Sets His Sights on Egypt By Karen Springen - 11/05/2009
Like his Lightning Thief star Percy Jackson, Rick Riordan is a demigod—at least in the eyes of his readers. With the release next May of the first title in his new middle-grade fantasy series, about ancient Egypt, he is set to become a pharaoh, too. In The Kane Chronicles, Book One: The Red Pyramid, kids will meet Carter Kane, 14, and his sister, Sadie, 12, descendants of Egyptian magicians who battle gods accidentally released in the present...
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Movie Alert: Fantastic Mr. Fox By John A. Sellers - 11/05/2009
Following in the footsteps of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, and The Witches, another of Roald Dahl’s much-loved stories—Fantastic Mr. Fox—heads to the big screen on November 13, reimagined as a stop-motion animated feature from Twentieth Century Fox. And the A-list team behind the project is as fantastic as the title character himself...
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Happy Halloween! A Photo Essay 11/05/2009
In what has become a holiday tradition, several children's book publishers celebrated Halloween this past week in high style, and with some inventive book-inspired costumes. Here, we present party highlights—both spooky and silly—in a holiday tradition of our own: the post-Halloween photo-essay.
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Obituary: Esther Hautzig 11/05/2009
Author Esther Hautzig died on Sunday, November 1, at the age of 79. She was best known for her 1968 work, The Endless Steppe: Growing Up in Siberia, an autobiographical account of her family’s life in Siberia during WWII, having being exiled there from Poland. She wrote several other books for children over a career that spanned five decades...
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Invent a Tool for Alex Rider By Sue Corbett - 11/05/2009
Alex Rider's eighth adventure, Crocodile Tears, hits stores November 17 and Penguin is partnering with MAKE magazine to challenge young inventors to come up with a gadget cool enough for the teen spy's arsenal. After all, author Anthony Horowitz says that when he needs a new tool to get his hero out of peril, he goes to his own kids for inspiration. "I look around their bedrooms to see what kind of electronics and such they have littering the place," said Horowitz...
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The Stories Behind Some Autumn Hits By Sally Lodge - 11/05/2009
In this busy fall selling season, several recently released children’s books are moving quite quickly out of the gate. Here we'll take a look at factors fueling the early success of five titles: Blood of the Witch and Fang of the Vampire, which launch Tommy Donbavand's Scream Street series; Ruined by Paula Morris; Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick; and Day Is Done by Peter Yarrow, illustrated by Melissa Sweet.
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Assouline Finds Upscale Niche by Judith Rosen - 11/02/2009
When Wall Street faltered last October, so did the demand for luxury goods. Even so, 15-year-old Assouline Publishing, founded in France by Martine and Prosper Assouline, has managed to maintain its footing by publishing books that are intended to be just as much a luxury brand as watches at Cartier.
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Guys with Books Rock the Road By Sally Lodge - 10/29/2009
Two authors. Two illustrators. Four books. Dozens of appearances. And, by all reports, immeasurable hilarity. These were some of the key components of the Guys with Books author tour that recently sent four creators of new Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers titles on the road...More
Bookfest in Boston By Judith Rosen - 10/29/2009
When the Boston Globe Children's Book Festival announced earlier this year that it was canceling its seventh book fair, the inaugural Boston Book Festival, which was held last Saturday, upped its children's programming. Even with short notice the BBF was able to fit in a number of activities just for kids, from a tea with Catie Copley, the Labrador that inspired Catie Copley's Great Escape...More
Mazer’s Legacy Honored; Memorial Date Set By Claire Kirch - 10/29/2009
Family, friends, and colleagues are honoring in their own ways Norma Fox Mazer, who died of cancer on October 17. Remembrances of Mazer include a memorial scheduled for next weekend and the establishment of a scholarship fund by her family, to which several of her former students and other writers are pledging the royalties from a recent anthology. The memorial service will be held on November 7 at 2 p.m in the Vermont College of Fine Arts chapel...
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