Thurs. April 10, 2003 ACL INSTITUTE, San Francisco PL, www.bayviews.org

April 25-27, 2003 Frances Hodgson, Burnett Conference, 559-278-8116

Thurs. May 8, 2003 ACL Meeting, 9am-3pm, Oakland PL

May 17 & 18, 2003 Bay Area Storytelling, Festival, 650-952-3397

Thurs. June 12, 2003 ACL Meeting, 9am-3pm, Oakland PL

NEWS AND NOTES

Effie Lee Morris Lecture: The Seventh Annual Effie Lee Morris Lecture will be held on Sunday, April 27, 2003, 2:00-4:00pm at the San Francisco Main Library, 100 Larking St. at Grove. This free event will feature Daniel San Souci and Robert San Souci, brothers who write and illustrate folktales together. Their lecture is called "Creative Collaboration With The Picture Book: An Inside View."

Frances Hodgson Burnett Conference: The Arne Nixon Center for the Study of Children's Literature at California State University, Fresno, will host a conference to celebrate the life and work of Frances Hodgson Burnett, author of The Secret Garden and many other books. Speakers scheduled to appear include Booklist columnist Michael Cart and author Alison Lurie. The dates are April 25-27, 2003. For registration information, email anc@listserv.csufresno.edu or call 559-278-8116.

Bay Area Storytelling Festival: The 18th Annual Bay Area Storytelling Festival will be held on May 17& 18, 2003, at Kennedy Grove Regional Recreation Area in El Sobrante. Scheduled tellers include Antonio Rocha from Maine, Bill Lepp from West Virginia, Dayton Edmonds from Washington, Kathryn Tucker Windham from Alabama, and Angela Lloyd from California. For more information, visit www.bayareastorytelling.org or phone 650-952-3397.

Sun Gallery Exhibit on Children's Book Illustrations: There is a Children's Book Illustration Exhibit at the Sun Gallery, 1015 E St., Hayward, which will run through May 2nd. This free exhibit is open Wed. - Sat., 11am-5pm. This year's exhibit features illustrations from multicultural and bilingual books, representing artists from Asia and the United States. Works include Father's Books, a bilingual Navajo/English contemporary story, by Baje Whitethorne, Sr., Salina Bookshelf Publishers, 2001, and Abadeha: The Philippine Cinderella by Myrna J. DelaPaz, illustrated by Youshan Tang, Shen's Books, 2001. Call 510-581-4050 for more information.

"Reading the World" at USF Draws Huge Audience

The fifth annual "Reading the World" conference, the University of San Francisco School of Education's celebration of multicultural children's literature, played to a capacity crowd. Attended by teachers and librarians, Professor Alma Flor Ada and Conference Chair Bev Hock gathered an all-star lineup of keynote speakers. Author/illustrators Gerald McDermott and Leo and Diane Dillon both gave humorous talks, accompanied by slides of their work. Many of their books are folklore picture books, but other speakers covered other genres. Latina poet Pat Mora and Arab-American poet Naomi Shihab Nye both covered poetry. Hudson Talbott was joined by Jaat Penraat, the subject of his book Forging Freedom. During World War II, Penraat helped more than 400 Jews leave the Netherlands by forging travel papers.
The conference also had a wealth of mini-workshops, covering many cultures, countries, and genres of literature. I have attended every year, and this year there seemed to be an effort to include gay/lesbian literature for youth for the first time, and more speakers on the Middle East and Islam, a timely topic. These two subjects seem very important, yet are not always included in children's literature classes.
One highlight of the conference was the annual "Reading the World" award, presented this year to librarian and author Milly Lee (Nim And The War Effort). Presented by fellow author and friend Mavis Jukes, Milly Lee spoke about the importance of all children seeing authors of all colors, with whom they can identify. We congratulate ACL member Milly Lee on this well-deserved honor.
Penny Peck,
San Leandro Public Library

New Special Collected Editions of Favorite Picture Book Authors

These four collections are not intended for libraries, which are better served by the original single volumes. However, those looking for personal copies, to have on the shelf when grandchildren visit for example, may find these an affordable way to collect these books.

Lionni, Leo. Frederick and His Friends: Four Favorite Fables. Knopf, 2002, $24.95, ISBN 0-375-82299-2.
Four of Lionni's best picture books, including three Caldecott Honor books, are collected here, accompanied by a CD recording of the books being read aloud. There is also an introduction by Eric Carle, author/illustrator of The Very Hungry Caterpillar and other stories, a contemporary of Lionni.
The format is the most preferred in these collections: each book appears exactly like it did in the original, with no word or illustration missing. In fact, the page layout is exactly as they appeared in the original - not a cut and paste job, but a reproduction of each page in full. The four books are Frederick, Swimmy, Fish is Fish, and Alexander and the Wind-up Mouse. The CD read-aloud includes pleasant musical accompaniment, and the unbilled actor and actress reading bring dignity and depth to the stories.
The four books show Lionni's talent with different media; two are collage, one is painted, and one is executed in color pencil. But they all have an "openness," due to the use of white space. His stories are all strong in both plot and meaning. Perhaps they seem a little didactic to adults, but children seem to really take to Lionni's stories because they are about something. Lionni had a clear talent for economical but poetic language.
Because this collection preserves the format of the originals, and because the read-aloud CD is so well done, I think teacher's would like this for their classrooms.

Gauch, Patricia Lee. The Tanya Treasury. Illus. by Satomi Ichikawa. Philomel, 2002, $19.99, ISBN 0-399-23952-9.
Three books starring young ballerina Tanya are collected here: Dance, Tanya, Tanya and Emily in a Dance for Two, and Presenting Tanya, the Ugly Duckling. The format presents the three picture books in their original form, with the full illustrations and text.
This seems best suited as a gift to give a young ballet student for her first recital. One thing surprised me; in the first two stories, young Tanya is full of self-confidence. In the last, she is frightened, thinking she can't pull of her role. This inconsistency marred an otherwise pleasant collection.

Brown, Marc. Arthur's Friendship Treasury. Little, Brown, 2002, $18.95, ISBN 0-316-12588-1.
Like the "Tanya" collection, this "Arthur" treasury features three stories, with the complete illustrations and text in the original format of the picture books. The first two stories concern Arthur's desire for a puppy, and they are filled with information on pet care, woven naturally into the humorous stories. Arthur's Pet Business and Arthur's New Puppy work well together, without repeating each other. The final story, Arthur's First Sleepover, is funny but the plot is very similar to an episode of "The Brady Bunch" TV show. Still, this is a nice gift for "Arthur" fans, but libraries should stick with the original individual editions of the picture books.

Keats, Ezra Jack. Keat's Neighborhood: An Ezra Jack Keats Treasury. Viking, 2002, $25, ISBN 0-670-03586-6.
Ten of Keat's stories are compiled here, but NOT in their original formats. The stories are not abridged, but the illustrations are often "shrunk," to fit three or four onto one double-page spread, where originally one of the illustrations would be placed. This reduction changes the pacing of the books, so this isn't the best way to first experience these timeless stories.
However, librarians may enjoy reading the four brief essays by Keats' fellow author/illustrators: Jerry Pinkney, Simms Taback, Reynold Ruffins, and Eric Carle. There is also an introduction by Anita Silvey, helping new librarians understand the revolutionary influence of Keats' inner city, multicultural characters. There is also a seven-page biographical essay on Keats that concludes the book, which features several photos of Keats, and examples of "The Giant Turnip," the unfinished book he was working on when he died in 1983.
The books compiled in this treasury are: The Snowy Day, Whistle for Willie, A Letter to Amy, Peter's Chair, Goggles!, Jennie's Hat, Hi, Cat!, Apt. 3, Louie's Search, and Pet Show!
Too bad the book design of this collection couldn't have preserved the format of the original books, showing the illustrations in full; that would have made this an essential purchase.

Penny Peck,
San Leandro Public Library

Re-releases, Special Editions

Dixon, Franklin W. The Hardy Boys' Guide to Life. Simon & Schuster, 2002, $8.95, ISBN 0-689-85541-9.
Quotes and quips from Joe and Frank Hardy, the Wally and Beaver of the kids' mystery set. In this small, gift novelty, we hear words of wisdom, taken from the Hardy Boys books. The quotes are grouped into mini-chapters according to topics like manners, handy catchphrases, or handy instruments.
This would make a fun gift, along with cash of course, to a boy on his Bar Mitzvah, or becoming an Eagle Scout, or some other rite of passage. My favorite quote: "Spin the man around with a judo grip and follow that with a punch to the jaw that will land him on the floor. Follow this by saying, "If you want me to step out of the way, just ask politely."

Brown, Margaret Wise. Little Fur Family. Illus. by Garth Williams. HarperCollins, 2003, $12.99, ISBN 0-06-051898-7.
Covered in fake brown fur and ensconced in a box, this story, by Goodnight Moon author Margaret Wise Brown, concerns a small bear family that "lived in a warm wooden tree." Perfect for young preschoolers, this reassuring story about family security is as cuddly as a teddy bear without being overly sentimental. The fur covered book is pleasant to hold, and the story and pictures work well together. A nice gift edition.

Zion, Gene. Harry the Dirty Dog. Illus. by Margaret Bloy Graham. HarperCollins, 2002, $17.89, ISBN 0-06-026866-2.
To be fair, this was always one of my favorite stories, maybe because my family had playful dogs just like Harry. In this new edition, the pictures have been "freshened up," with splashes of blue in the sky and a little more color in the pictures. But the illustrations still depend on Zion's strong black lines, and there is still the familiar olive green and yellow dominating the pictures.
The plot is familiar but dynamic and fun: Harry has so much fun playing in the neighborhood, that he gets so dirty his family pretends not to recognize him. The characters now look "retro," so they actually don't look dated! A great new edition to replace old, worn copies.

Taylor, Elizabeth. Nibbles and Me. Simon & Schuster, 2002, $15.95, ISBN 0-689-85334-3.
Yes, this is movie star Elizabeth Taylor, with a reissue of a book she wrote and illustrated as a child, which was first published in 1946. At that time, she was best known for two films co-starring animals, National Velvet and Lassie. Here she recounts her pet chipmunk Nibbles. Clearly she has a great love for animals, but her references to her "Mummie," her mother who was a noted stage mother, and to the studio people like Louis B. Mayer are just for fans, not for the child reader.

Williams, Margery. The Velveteen Rabbit. Illus. by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher. Adaptation by Lou Fancher. Atheneum, 2002, $16.95, ISBN 0-689-84134-5.
Shortened to about two-thirds its original word length, Fancher chose to adapt this classic for her "wiggly two-year-old." The shortened version contains most of the plot but the charm is gone; in fact, because it is briefer, the Rabbit's change seems too quick, too sudden. The illustrations, done in oil on paper, are full page, facing a page of text. I would stick with the original.

Cooper, James Fenimore. The Last of the Mohicans. Illus. by N. C. Wyeth. Atheneum, 2002, $18.95, ISBN 0-689-84068-3.
Who thought condensing this classic novel into a 52 page picture book was a good idea? Even with Wyeth pictures, this cannot do justice to the original - in fact, I would recommend the film version over this, if the person cannot read the original. And, the publisher could have incorporated Wyeth's lovely oil paintings into the novel as color plates, so there is no reason for this abridgment. Also, the plot elements and somewhat archaic language regarding the Native Americans won't work with children; teen and adult readers will be able to put it into historical context, and they can read the original.

Penny Peck,
San Leandro Public Library