Some 25 years ago, Chris Van Allsburg created The Mysteries of Harris Burdick, a fascinating book that has intrigued young readers, teachers and librarians alike. The book consisted of just 14 full-page, black and white illustrations, each with only a caption and a short sentence to give any clue to Harris Burdicks’s intent; the book has inspired children and young people across the country to write stories about what they thought was happening on the page. Now, Allsburg offers The Chronicles of Harris Burdick, in which he asked authors of young adult books to unleash their imaginations and provide tales for the mystifying pictures — such as “Uninvited Guests,” “The Third-Floor Bedroom,” and “A Strange Day in July.” Readers will find familiar names — Lemony Snicket, Linda Sue Park, Lois Lowry, and Walter Dean Myers — dotting the title page. The original illustrations accompany the authors’ stories. Short author bios are appended.
For more, watch this hilarious trailer for The Chronicles of Harris Burdick featuring fun cameos from Lemony Snicket, Lois Lowry, Louis Sachar, Kate DiCamillo, M.T. Anderson, Linda Sue Park, Gregory Maguire, Jon Scieszka, Water Dean Myers, and of course, a very mysterious Chris Van Allsburg. Whoa.
Let’s hear it for a fun-filled first weekend in June! Saturday is our annual Children’s Literature Festival with guests Tomie dePaola and artists from the Western Massachusetts Illustrators Guild, and Sunday, June 5th at 11:30 am is our next BookTalk interview segment with Jarrett Krosoczka!
As you probably already know, Jarrett is a very talented, very funny author and illustrator of both picture books, such as the fabulous Punk Farm, and the bestselling Lunch Lady graphic novel series for middle grade readers, the newest of which will be released in September.
Speaking of new books for September, Jarrett is one of the featured authors of the newest Guys Read anthology, Thriller, edited by Jon Scieszka. In celebration of the book’s release, I ran into Jarrett in his best Michael Jackson Thriller costume at Book Expo last week.
Now this is a guy who knows how to draw a crowd! If you want to watch the whole conversation about the upcoming book with Jon Scieszka, Jarrett, Matt de la Pena, Mac Barnett, Jack Gantos and Eoin Colfer, head on over to Jarrett’s blog where he’s uploaded the whole video. I had a great time exploring Jarrett’s website, where you get the option of reading his real bio, his fake bio or his even faker bio. It even has a pronunciation guide for saying his last name (it’s like crow-zaus-ka”).
You may also remember his hilarious video Book by Book: The Making of a Monkey Man that featured a funny star-studded cast such as Mo Willems, Tomie dePaola, and Jon Scieszka. While the video doesn’t seem to be online anymore, you can still view tidbits here, including Zen Master Tomie! How perfect since these two funny guys will both be at The Carle this weekend!
So come by and meet Jarrett on Sunday, June 5th! Andy will be interviewing him in the auditorium at 11:30 am (the Museum doesn’t open until Noon, but we open the doors for this event at 11), followed by a book signing outside the Shop. I know I’ll be purchasing a whole stack of books for my nephew who insists he doesn’t have all of the Lunch Lady books yet! Hope to see you there! And as always, if you just can’t make it to the event, place your pre-order by Saturday, June 4th, and we’ll get your book autographed and shipped to you. You can shop all of Jarrett’s books for sale on our website here.
I’m back from an exciting few days in New York City for the annual Book Expo America (BEA) convention. Although the convention was smaller than previous years, it was jam-packed with workshops, panels, celebrity sightings, book signings, publisher & sideline booths, and of course, books, books, books! There are so many new exciting titles for Fall that I want to share with you and I’m sure I’ll be going into detail about each of them sooner to their release dates. But for now, here’s a quick preview of a few great books to come this Fall:
Picture Books:
Stars by Mary Lyn Ray, illustrated by Marla Frazee (Simon & Schuster/Beach Lane, October 2011)
I am a HUGE Marla Frazee fan. Not only is her artwork in this book dream-worthy, but Mary Lyn Ray’s text is delightfully simple and sweet. Together they examine all the special ways stars (not just the ones in the sky!) appear in our lives. “Pin a star on your shirt and you can be sheriff. Put a star on a stick and you’ve made a wand. If you hold a wand the right way, you might see a wish come true. Not always. Only sometimes. You never know about a wish.” I love that.
The Man in the Moon (Guardians of Childhood) by William Joyce (Simon & Schusters/Atheneum, September 2011)
The first in a new series by picture book legend William Joyce, this book introduces the Guardians of Childhood – a league of familiar childhood figures including The Man in the Moon, Mother Goose, the Easter Bunny, the Sandman, the Tooth Fairy, and Santa Claus, whose task is to look over the children on Earth and protect them from darkness and nightmares. This book shows how the Man in the Moon (and in fact, the moon itself) came to be and is full of spectacularly colorful illustrations, complete with fantastical moonmice and moonbots. I especially love how the children of the Earth communicate with the Man in the Moon through their lost balloons! While this works well as a standalone picture book, I’m certainly excited to see what comes next, including a major motion picture in 2012.
I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen (Candlewick, September 2011)
This was my unexpected gem of a discovery at BEA this year. A bear’s hat goes missing and he asks each animal he encounters if they have seen it. Children and adults will both love the deadpan and slightly dark humor, reminiscent of Emily Gravett’s books, with the its surprise, laugh-out-loud ending. The book’s design is especially exceptional and noteworthy, with it’s use of color in both the illustrations and text, as well as the pacing and page turns. Definitely look for this one in September.
Grandpa Green by Lane Smith (Roaring Brook Press, August 2011)
A beautifully illustrated picture book that explores family history through a garden of memories, imaginative topiaries and the bond between granfather and grandson.
Drawing from Memory by Allen Say (Scholastic, September 2011)
While I consider myself being very familiar with Allen Say’s work (see our 2007 exhibition Allen Say: A Sense of Place), I didn’t know Say’s early beginnings in cartooning. Told in a scrapbook-like format, filled with photographs, sketches and cartoons, this book is not only a story of Allen Say’s journey to becoming an artist, but also an incredibly touching tribute to his mentor and sensei, Noro Shinpei. Say fans will enjoy the many references to his earlier picture books, as so many of those stories were based on his own life and those of his family and friends.
Middle Grade: Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick (Scholastic, September 2011)
In the tradition of Caldecott-winning The Invention of Hugo Cabret, once again Brian Selznick has masterfully woven together illustrations and text in a gigantic masterpiece. Two children, set apart by 50 years, find their paths intersect in the most wonderful way. A book for any museum lover, I just have to share this one quote:
“A curator’s job in an important one, for it is the curator who decides what belongs in the museum. The curator then must decide exactly how the objects will be displayed. In a way, anyone who collects things in the privacy of his own home is a curator. Simply choosing how to display your things, deciding what pictures to hang where, and in which order your books belong, places you in the same category as a museum curator.”
Guys Read: Thriller edited by Jon Scieszka (Walden Pond Press, September 2011)
I really enjoyed the first two Guys Read anthologies and find them an excellent handsell for both reluctant AND avid readers in the store. Includes 10 thrilling short stories by children’s book greats like M.T. Anderson, Walter Dean Myers and Jarrett J. Krosoczka, edited by the fabulously funny Jon Scieszka.
The Chronicles of Harris Burdickby Chris Van Allsburg and 14 other authors (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, October 2011) TheMysteries of Harris Burdick, Chris Van Allsburg’s 1984 masterpiece that included simply 14 strange illustrations with only a short bizarre caption for each one, has always been a great book for the imagination. Artists and writers alike have been using this book for years as a leaping off point to imagine their own stories. What could possibly have led up to this bizarre situation? What’s going to happen next? Finally 14 well-known children’s book authors, including one by Chris Van Allsburg himself, have written their own short stories to accompany each of the book’s illustrations.
Around the World by Matt Phelan (Candlewick, October 2011)
By the creator of The Storm in the Barn, here’s another wonderfully accessible historical fiction graphic novel. The book traces the amazing stories of three remarkable figures who, inspired by Jules Verne’s Phileas Fogg, each broke records by traveling all the way around the world. Thomas Stevens in 1884 went around the world on a bicycle, Nellie Bly in 1889 was the first female to make it around the world in less than 80 days, and Joshua Slocum in 1895 made the journey in a small sailboat.
For those of you who were at BEA, what favorite upcoming books did I forget to mention? It’s going to be so hard to wait until Fall!
With all the snow storms we’ve been getting, the incessant shoveling and slipping on ice, your family might be in need of a good laugh. I know I am! To add a little sunshine to a dreary winter day, here are a few recommendations for books that will get you and your kids laughing out loud.
Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas (Beach Lane Books)
Dust bunnies make surprisingly fabulous characters in this is brightly colored, simply illustrated picture book. These dust bunnies love to rhyme, but poor dust bunny Bob isn’t so good at it. When they’re in danger of being cleaned up (they are dust, after all), we realize Bob was trying to save the day the whole time. A great book to read out loud, 3 to 5-year-olds will especially get a kick out of the fact that Bob can never quite get it right.
Bark, George by Jules Feiffer (Michael di Capua Books)
Another character who can’t quite get it right is George in this hysterical picture book mix-up. Each time George tries to bark, another animal sound comes out! “Quack-Quack!” “Oink.” The repetitious text “No George. Pigs go Oink. Dogs go arf. Now, bark George” encourages helpful toddlers and preschoolers to share their own animal noises in between giggles. A twist brings this silly book to an especially funny close.
Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin, illustrated by Betsy Lewin (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
If you haven’t already seen this bestselling Caldecott Honor book, pick up a copy right away! Little ones used to not being in charge will delight in the farm animals’ hilarious attempts to negotiate with Farmer Brown to get what they want. A few sequel books have emerged with these same characters, but this book is most certainly the best.
Serious Farm by Tim Egan (Houghton Mifflin)
Nothing funny about farming. In this picture book, another farmer’s animals have also been plotting. Farmer Fred takes everything much too seriously. He never cracks so a smile. So the animals decide it’s up to them to make him laugh. Their silly attempts will make readers giggle, but it will take something quite silly indeed to get Farmer Fred to crack a smile. With delightful deadpan humor, best enjoyed by older picture book audiences (4 to 6-year-olds perhaps), this book proves there is something funny about farming.
Imogene’s Antlers by David Small (Dragonfly Books)
In this ridiculously silly picture book, Imogene wakes up one day with antlers on her head. It makes certain every day things quite difficult as you can imagine (and stresses her poor mother!) but the antlers turn out to be quite useful. Readers will especially laugh at the delightful illustrations which add so much meaning and humor to the simple straight-forward text.
Want more laughs? Try any of the books my favorite go-to funny guys: James Marshall, Mo Willems, and Jon Scieszka. Other favorites? Fortunately by Remy Charlip, Bad Kitty by Nick Bruel, Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Watts, and A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever by Marla Frazee are all terrifically funny. What books make you and your kids laugh? Tell us in the comments below!
The Carle Museum sends their congratulations to Katherine Paterson, the new National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature! In the next two years during her term, she’ll work to promote children’s literature and literacy across the country. Paterson, who has made tremendous contributions both with her award-winning books and service to the children’s literature community, is a perfect choice for the job. You can read more about Paterson and her new position in this wonderful New York Times article by Motoko Rich here.
We were lucky enough to host previous ambassador, Jon Scieszka, here at The Carle for an educator appreciation night and booksigning last year. Scieszka had teachers and librarians howling in their seats with stories of his own teaching days and childhood memories while Mo Willems doodled cariactures of him in the audience. And in case you were wondering, yes, Scieszka really did wear his ambassador medal the whole time.
Although fairly new, the position of National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature does so much to relate to children and create lifelong readers. We are looking forward to the work Katherine Paterson will do as ambassador and wish her the best of luck. Congratulations!
We were lucky enough to host previous ambassador, Jon Scieszka, here at The Carle for an educator appreciation night and booksigning last year. Scieszka had teachers and librarians howling in their seats with stories of his own teaching days and childhood memories while Mo Willems doodled cariactures of him in the audience. And in case you were wondering, yes, Scieszka really did wear his ambassador medal the whole time.
