MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Upcoming Events for Children’s Librarians
NEWS AND NOTES
Summer Reading Ideas: As has been ACL’s custom for the past few years, members are urged to bring Summer Reading Program leftovers to the September meeting. Bring 50 copies each of reading logs, game sheets, book lists, etc. for us to exchange, and hopefully get new ideas for next summer.
Wild Things Movie: Universal studios is starting production on a feature film version of Maurice Sendak’s Where The Wild Things Are. BayNews will post news on the director, release date, and other information when it becomes available.
Hardy Boys for the New Millennium
"The Hardy Boys" series of mystery novels turns 75 next year, and publisher Simon & Schuster is looking to reinvigorate the series, which still sells more than a million books a year.
The duo of Frank and Joe now carry cell phones and use home computers to solve the mysteries, which include contemporary issues like online crime. But sales are lagging, so the publisher appointed Anne Greenberg and her staff to evaluate the series, to keep it "fresh and relevant."
Narnia – Land of Spinoffs and Toys?
HarperCollins, the publisher that owns the rights to C.S. Lewis’s "Narnia" series of fantasy novels, is planning to create new books, from novels to picture books, as well as toys and stuffed animals based on the series, to be available by 2003.
Mixing fantasy with Christian allegory, the seven Narnia novels have sold more than 65 million copies, and are available in 30 languages. The first book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, first appeared in 1950. Due to Harry Potter’s influence on popularizing fantasy, the Narnia books are in greater demand than ever, and it appears as if HarperCollins wishes to capitalize on that demand.
The new novels, picture books, and toys will be created by authors not yet named. A confidential in-house memo has surfaced, which states that HarperCollins intends to avoid direct links to Christian imagery and theology. This news has shocked fans of the series, because many think the series ties to Christianity are inherent to their success, popularity, and literary quality.
OBITUARIES
Elizabeth Yates: Newbery Medalist Elizabeth Yates McGreal died at age 95 in New Hampshire on July 29, 2001. Yates received the Newbery Medal for Amos Fortune, Free Man, Dutton, 1953, a historical novel based on the true-life experiences of a slave who bought his freedom and assisted other slaves in obtaining freedom. Her book Mountain Born, Coward, 1944, was a Newbery Honor book, an animal story about a lamb named Biddy. Yates wrote more than 50 books, ranging from books for children to adults, and fiction as well as nonfiction.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Dear Friends,
Your vital contribution to the School of Education arrived this week, and we would like you to know how deeply grateful we are for your gift. Because of the thoughtful and generous contributions such as yours, scholarships, professorships, equipment, and research are created to further the excellence of the University of Wisconsin. The vision statement at the University of Wisconsin states, "Philanthropy will mean the difference between the maintenance of a great university and the evolution of an extraordinary one."
Sincerely,
Jane L. Urbaska, School of Education
University of Wisconsin, Madison
[Ed: This letter was sent in response to ACL’s donation of $100 to the Charlotte Zolotow Award which is given annually by the University of Wisconsin.]
WEBSITES WORTH BOOKMARKING
Jon Scieszka, author of the "Time Warp Trio" series, The Stinky Cheese Man, and other hilarious books, has started a reading initiative called "Guys Read: A Literacy Initiative For Boys." The project has an official website, but it also entails outreach to public and school libraries with posters, bookmarks, and tip sheets for those of us who want to hook up good books to young people.
Scieszka was prompted to start this project because of the problem of male illiteracy: many more boys than girls read below grade level, fewer boys than girls read for recreation, etc. Because he is a former school teacher, he knew of the discrepancy between the reading level of boys and girls. So this initiative was begun to facilitate reading for pleasure for boys.
The website has tips for teachers and librarians as to the need for nuturing reading in boys, ways to get boys excited about books, and other ways to inspire boys to read. Most helpful was the list of books popular with boys, divided into age groups, which include the books of Daniel Pinkwater, Harry Allard, and others. I would guess this booklists will be expanded in the future. The website also encourages boys to email "Guys Read" with suggestions of books they would recommend to other boys.
PUBLISHER DEMPSEY-PARR INSULTS ISRAEL
Due to the vigilance of one grandmother, Toys R Us and Best Buy stores no longer carry books from publisher Dempsey-Parr. Not wanting publicity, the grandmother is only known as "Marilyn" in the news releases on this story. She had gone to Toys R Us to buy a children’s encyclopedia for her grandchildren, and was dismayed to find the British publisher had omitted the Israeli flag from the listing on the countries of the Middle East, that the Atlas didn’t include Israel, and that their dictionary listed all world languages except Hebrew.
Besides the omissions, there was a pattern of anti-Israeli comments. For example, Jerusalem is defined as "a holy city for Muslims, the followers of Islam, as well as Jews and Christians. The Dome of the Rock is the city’s most holy Muslim Temple." Their Children’s First Encyclopedia lists the Six Day War as "Israel invaded the Sinai Peninsula." When Marilyn wrote Toys R Us, they didn’t seem concerned, but her letter to the Best Buy chain, which also carried books by Dempsey-Parr, was met with concern and action. Best Buy pulled the books immediately, and when a step further by urging Toys R Us to do so as well, which they finally did.
Libraries will want to check if they have any of the children’s reference books by Dempsey-Parr, and examine them carefully for these omissions and errors.