Anna Myers’ new book, THE GRAVE ROBBER’S SECRET, reviewed in SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL

Anna Myers’ new book, THE GRAVE ROBBER’S SECRET, published by Bloomsbury (Walker), was reviewed in the March 2011 issue of SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL. According to the reviewer, “Myers based this book on the true story of Burke and Hare, who actually murdered people in the 1820s and sold their bodies in Edinburgh, Scotland. She switched the city and took some liberties with the plot; nevertheless, this is a well-written and fascinating look back in time.”

In her presentations at schools (usually grades 3 to 10) and conferences, Anna often dresses as a minor character from one of her books and tells the story from that character’s perspective. She also tells the kids about her writing experiences and offers tips for their own writing. She’s also available to teach writing workshops, speak to PTA or PTO groups, do teacher workshops. An English teacher for 25 years, she feels a special affinity with teachers. For further information about her school visits, please go to Balkin Buddies. 

And we hope you enjoy Anna’s fictionalized account of this fascinating time in history.

Skype in the Classroom

Just recently, Skype launched a free international community site called Skype in the Classroom, an online platform designed to help teachers find each other and relevant projects according to search criteria such as the age groups they teach, location and subjects of interest.

The platform, which has been in beta since the end of December, already has a community of more than 4,000 teachers, across 99 countries.

Teachers need only sign up with their Skype account at the website, create a profile with their interests, location and the age groups they teach and start connecting with other teachers by exploring the directory, where they can also find projects and resources that match their skills, needs or interests.

A members-only community, Skype in the Classroom lets teachers easily add each other to their Skype contact lists or message one another.

Balkin Buddies just joined and we hope more teachers will join in, too.

Author of NILDA and EL BRONX REMEMBERED, Nicholasa Mohr writes article about the Harlem of today

Writing about the history of the neighborhood she loves, Nicholasa Mohr's article was originally published in Spanish by El Nuevo Dia, last weekend, but here's a link to the English version on MyLatinoVoice.com.

We hope you find this as interesting as we did!

The book trailer for Margie Palatini's new book, HOGG, HOGG, AND HOG

A satire of contemporary pop culture, Margie Palatini's new book, HOGG, HOGG, AND HOG, which she also illustrated, will be coming out at the end of March 2011. Published by Simon and Schuster, the book features three trendsetting pigs who make "oink" mania sweep the city. But rather than tell you more about it, we decided to share the book trailer with you instead.

Enjoy!

Elaine Landau discusses her new ‘Ready to Make Music’ series

We asked Elaine Landau to tell us a little bit about what it was like to write her new ‘Ready to Make Music’ series, published by Lerner. Here’s what Elaine told us:

“Shakespeare wrote, “If music be the food of love, play on.” While it’s true that music provides the perfect background for lovers – many of us simply love music. The only thing better than listening to music might just be making those terrific rhythms yourself. My new ‘Ready to Make Music’ children’s book series is all about helping kids pick the perfect instrument to create the music they love.

“In the series, various books describe the pros and cons of learning to play the flute, clarinet, guitar, saxophone, trumpet, drums, and violin. There’s even a book on what it takes to become an exceptional singer.

“These books were a joy to write. Each text is packed with primary source interviews with professional musicians who offered first hand advice on the various challenges they faced. I loved getting to know these very talented people as they shared some amazing stories on what can happen during a performance.

“I poured their advice into these books and am delighted with the end result. Not only does the series convey to kids what it takes to play an instrument, months later I’m still humming some of the beautiful music I listened to while writing the texts. I agree with Shakespeare – musicians should “play on.” Few things equal music in supplying pure delight.”

Attention New Yorkers: Marilyn Singer is autographing TALLULAH’S TUTU at Books of Wonder on 3/27/11 from Noon to 1:00 pm

On March 27, 2011 from Noon to 1:00 p.m., Marilyn Singer and Alexandra Boiger,  the illustrator of TALLULAH'S TUTU, will give readings, do some drawing, and autograph together at:

Books of Wonder. www.booksofwonder.com

18 West 18th Street

Between 5^th and 6^th Avenues

(close to the Union Street subway station)
New York, NY 10011
(212) 989-3270

An interesting tidbit about Javaka Steptoe’s JIMI: SOUNDS LIKE A RAINBOW

If you've been reading this blog, you know that Javaka Steptoe's JIMI: SOUNDS LIKE A RAINBOW won a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor, hit the NEW YORK TIMES bestseller list, and has had starred reviews. But here's an interesting tidbit you might not know -- the material Javaka used to illustrate JIMI came from used plywood from Jimi Hendrix’s old Seattle neighborhood. That made me take another look at the book. How about you?

To learn more about Javaka Steptoe, take a look at his website.

Javaka Steptoe's JIMI SOUNDS LIKE A RAINBOW and Marilyn Singer's MIRROR MIRROR are included in CLA’s Notable Children's Books in the English Language Arts

The Children's Literature Assembly of NCTE has announced its 2011 Notable Children's Books in the English Language Arts, and both Javaka Steptoe's JIMI SOUNDS LIKE A RAINBOW and Marilyn Singer's MIRROR MIRROR are included on the list.

The seven-member national committee select thirty titles each year that best exemplify the criteria established for this award list. Books considered for this annual list are works of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry written for children, grades K-8. The books must meet one or more of the following criteria: deal explicitly with language, such as plays on words, word origins, or the history of language; demonstrate uniqueness in the use of language or style; invite child response or participation; have an appealing format; and be of enduring quality. They must also meet generally accepted criteria of quality for the genre in which they are written.

Please join me congratulating Marilyn and Javaka on being included in this list.

The first major conference Alex Flinn, the author of BREATHING UNDERWATER and FADE TO BLACK, ever attended

We asked Alex Flinn what it was like the first time she went to a major conference. Here’s her response:

The first major conference I ever attended was NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) in Atlanta, Georgia in 2002. I was surprised to be invited because I wasn't very well-known. I was speaking at ALAN (the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents), which had a lot of big young adult authors like Chris Crutcher and Paul Zindel (I was very glad I got to hear Paul Zindel, whom I had read as a teen, speak at the ALAN breakfast shortly before he died). I was very concerned about what to wear, and a friend said, "Wear black, so it won't show if you spill something on yourself."  I still follow this advice for conferences.

What I remember about the conference was that it was very big and overwhelming. I recently went back to NCTE and was surprised to find that it wasn't nearly as big as either ALA (the American Library Association) or IRA (International Reading Association), but at the time, it seemed very huge. What fascinated me about it was the number of free galleys being given away, and also the opportunity to see in person the well-known librarians whose names and opinions I knew only from e-groups and reviews. I was like a fangirl the whole time, going, "Oooh! Teri Lesesne! Wow! Patty Campbell!" They knew me, too! There was an editor from my publisher who took me around to everything, bought me lunches and even took me to the Coca Cola museum. It was nice but I was also a little freaked out by the attention. I'm sort of a loner. It reminded me of the episode of Seinfeld where Jerry's agent kept warning him about every contingency like he was some big star who needed to be coddled. However, I was very proud of myself to be able to demonstrate to the editor that I actually knew some people there, and people were fans of my work.

Another thing I remember was Bill Morris showing me around the Books and Authors luncheon and sitting by me at the Harper dinner. He was such a nice man and made everyone feel like a star.

For my talk, I was supposed to share time with an author named Louise Plummer. I went right out and got her latest book, A Dance for Three, which I loved, but I wasn't really sure how our speeches were supposed to dovetail. I couldn't get in touch with her, so the editor just said, "Make your own speech that takes half the time, and ask if you can go first." I did that, and boy, was I surprised when Louise went up and spent most of HER speech talking about MY book, Breathing Underwater, instead of her own. She was such a lovely, generous person. After we spoke, the next author up, Sonya Sones said, "I'm going to talk about Louise Plummer's books."

They were giving away my book, Breathing Underwater, in the goody bags at ALAN. The day after I spoke, I met a librarian, Terri Moore, who said she'd gone right back to her room to read the book and really liked it. Last year, I saw her again at a conference in Texas, and she reminded me of that meeting, but I remembered. NCTE was a great place to make connections, which lasted for years. My books, Breathing Underwater and Fade to Black, which were the books that were in the bags the two times I spoke at ALAN, are still on required reading lists all over the country, and I'm sure it was because of going to the conference. 

By the way, Breathing Underwater is being re-released next year with a new cover and updated content (e.g., no beepers!  No Beanie Babies!). I hope those English teachers will be happy about that. They've been very supportive of the book.

View Jan Spivey Gilchrist's Fox News Chicago interview of 3/20/11 online - link provided

Yesterday, we mentioned that Jan Spivey Gilchrist and Nicole Smith, the director of Nicole Gallery would appear on a show called Perspectives on Fox News Chicago on Sunday, March 20, 2011 at 12:00 noon, discussing Ms. Gilchrist's artwork, several pieces of which are on display during the March 11-April 30, 2011 retrospective exhibition at the Nicole Gallery at 230 West Huron, Chicago, IL. Now you can see this interview online. The whole program is 22:10 (22 minutes 10 seconds), but the portion containing Jan and Nicole starts on the 17th minute, so we suggest you scroll through it to 16:59.

If you have any trouble viewing it here, go to http://www.my50chicago.com/dpp/our_programs/perspective/Black-Business-Survival-032011 using Internet Explorer so that you can jump forward to the 17th minute. We tried it on Mozilla Firefox first and it didn't work very well, which is why we're suggesting Internet Explorer.

We hope you enjoy it.

Illustrator Jan Spivey Gilchrist appears on Fox News Chicago on March 20, 2011 at 12:00 noon!

Jan Spivey Gilchrist and Nicole Smith, the director of Nicole Gallery will appear on a show called Perspectives on Fox News Chicago (Channel 50 locally in Chicago) on Sunday, March 20, 2011 at 12:00 noon, discussing Ms. Gilchrist's artwork, several pieces of which are on display during the March 11-April 30, 2011 retrospective exhibition at the Nicole Gallery at 230 West Huron, Chicago, IL. We hope you'll tune in to see them on Fox.

As you may recall, in addition to her fine art, Ms. Gilchrist is the illustrator of a number of award-winning children's books, including Eloise Greenfield's THE GREAT MIGRATION, their latest collaboration. For further information about her books as well as the presentations she does in schools, please visit Balkin Buddies.

The news program will also be on YouTube and Fox Network, and we’ll post the link as soon as we have it.

Attention New Yorkers: Celebrate Marilyn Singer’s TALLULAH’S TUTU with a free ballet performance at the Third St. Music School on 3/24/11 – 7:00 p.m

On March 24, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. in New York City, there will be a free performance of Marilyn Singer's new picture book, TALLULAH'S TUTU. Come celebrate the book's release, which is dedicated to the Third Street Music School's ballet students, with a special dance performance by the school's students while Marilyn Singer narrates. Copies of the book will be available for purchase, and Marilyn Singer and Alexandra Boiger, the illustrator of TALLULAH'S TUTU, will be on hand to autograph them. Here are all the details:

Third Street Music School Settlement

Anna-Maria Kellen Auditorium

235 East 11th Street

(between 2nd Avenue and 3rd Avenue)

New York, NY 10003

telephone 212-777-3240

Also, Kirkus Reviews is now featuring blogger Jules Danielson on children's books, whose very first posting is an interview with Marilyn Singer!  

From Nancy Elizabeth Wallace's Bag of Fan Mail

Attention Chicago Landers: Jan Spivey Gilchrist is signing at the Magic Tree Bookstore on March 19, 2011 at 1:00 pm

Illustrator Jan Spivey Gilchrist

will autograph several of her titles

including but not limited to the following:

Saturday, March 19, 2011

from 1:00 to 2:00 pm

The Magic Tree Bookstore

141 N. Oak Park Avenue * Oak Park, IL 60301

telephone 708-848-0770 * www.magictreebooks.com

To celebrate THE GREAT MIGRATION, which was recently nominated for the NAACP Image Award and received starred reviews in Horn Book and Booklist, this book signing event will include a fun and interactive presentation by Ms. Gilchrist. Designed to educate and entertain at the same time, the event will also include a contest and the winner will receive a free illustration of him or herself.

Ms. Gilchrist is also available to give presentations at schools throughout the year.

For further information about her school visits, please contact:

Balkin Buddies

telephone 718 857 7605 * email catherine@balkinbuddies.com www.balkinbuddies.com

On 3/21/11, Catherine Balkin and Elizabeth Levy do a Skype chat at the Computers in Libraries Conference in Washington, DC to demo how it works to school librarians

At the annual Computers in Library Conference, author appearance coordinator Catherine Balkin (me) and children’s book author Elizabeth Levy will be on Internet@Schools program stream. 

I’ve been arranging author visits in schools for over 20 years, and in the last few years, the way authors and students connect has changed due to the internet, so for the last two years, I’ve been researching and working on Skype chats for authors in schools and libraries. I’ll be sharing what I and the authors and artists I work with have learned with the school librarians at the CIL11, and children’s book author Elizabeth Levy, with whom I’ve worked for most of my career in publishing, is going to share her perspective on online chats. The conference will be held at the Hilton Washington in Washington, DC, but Liz will remain in New York and will Skype with me at the conference. Thus, we’ll be demonstrating a Skype chat for the audience as well as talking about them.

Elizabeth Levy has written over 90 award-winning children’s books, among them MY LIFE AS A FIFTH GRADE COMEDIAN, which has always been a particular favorite of mine because she took a course in stand-up comedy to research it – a tool I know she uses in her school visits! Her latest book, DANGER AND DIAMONDS, A MYSTERY AT SEA, illustrated by the Caldecott winner, Mordicai Gerstein, marks the beginning of a new series, for PARROTS AND PIRATES will be coming out this fall. I’m looking forward to doing another program with Liz – how can I go wrong with a stand-up comedian on stage with me!

If by chance you’re in Washington, DC on March 21 from 1:30 to 2:30 pm, I hope you’ll drop by to see our program, or pass this information along to friends in the area. Here’s information on how to register for the conference. 

And please visit Balkin Buddies whenever you would like to have an author talk to your kids in person or online!

NANCY ELIZABETH WALLACE TALKS ABOUT WHY SHE WROTE POND WALK

We recently asked Nancy Elizabeth Wallace to tell us why she wrote the books she did. Here’s what she had to say about POND WALK:

 

Why did I write…  POND WALK

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE being out in nature in all seasons. – looking… listening…touching… sometimes when I am with naturalist friends, sometimes alone. Sometimes I can even taste it.  The idea for POND WALK came not from a pond walk but from a pond kayak.

One summer day, my husband Peter and I were carrying our kayaks to the dirt beach at Grout Pond; there were two boys scooping up salamanders, so we did, too. We looked and touched and took photographs of them, and then we let them go. I tracked down a croaking frog sitting in a forest of cattails along the shore and he posed for his photo.  Floating on the pond were ducks and geese, quacking and honking. There were dragonflies and damselflies flitting in the air. The damselflies with their bright turquoise bodies landed on our arms and hats. During our circumnavigation, we paddled by water lily pads and lovely white lily blossoms. Four turtles sunned themselves on a partially submerged log. As we approached, they plopped into the pond…. and I knew, this would make a great Buddy book!

And it became one!

Published by Marshall Cavendish, POND WALK was reviewed on 1/15/2011 in Kirkus, which admires “Wallace’s handsome cut-paper collages” and describes the book this way: “Buddy the little bear returns for a lesson in limnology, the study of bodies of fresh water…” and “[as] Wallace imparts her pond knowledge, she fashions a day of simple pleasures—poking around, drawing, picnicking, snoozing—that is a heart-gladdening exemplar.”

Gerald Hausman, whose latest collection of tales, THE AMERICAN STORYBAG, is on Kindle, shares snippets from some of his fan mail

Gerald Hausman recently shared some of his fan mail with Balkin Buddies, and we pass it on to you…

“Mr. H,

I like your stories in DOGS OF MYTH. You’re not too bad looking either.”

“Mr. Hausman,

Your story about the dog that died saving the baby made me cry all night.  Why did you write it?”

“Gerald Hausman,

Your book EAGLE BOY is outstanding.  I’m probably going to pass it on to all my friends.”

And here is a complete letter from a middle grade student:

“Dear Mr. Gerald Hausman,

I am a seventh grader at North Ridge Middle School.  I am writing this letter to respond to your novel, NIGHT FLIGHT.

   

I really liked how Max is kind of weird, you know how he hates Jews and he’s interested in guns.  And when he acts “different” when “someone” poisons the dogs.  And how Silky the flying squirrel had babies (I LUV animals).  Also how you used such detail, for example: “The lake lay flat like a bowl full of cool green Jell-O.”  Jeff wanted to be like his father.  I know how when Jeff and Max went into that ice cold water (pure pressure), well something like that happened to me.  When I was younger I found a bird’s nest with eggs, and took care of them until they were old enough to live on their own.  (Just like when the boys took care of the flying squirrels).  When you said they were racing to see which one would drown first, well, I once heard about a girl who didn’t feel like she fit in so she started doing drugs just like her best friend.  She got hooked, overdosed, and died.  I know or seem to know how that feels, to do something everyone else is doing and you know it is wrong. 

I also have a few questions about yourself.  How do you relate to this story?  What happened, that encouraged you to write this book?  Did you and your friend really have a race to see who would drown first?”

If you’re a fan of Gerald Hausman’s books, we hope you’ll send us some comments and we’ll share them with him.

Book Trailor to Wendell Minor's HENRY KNOX: BOOKSELLER, SOLDIER, PATRIOT

If you haven't seen the 1 1/2 minute book trailer to HENRY KNOX: BOOKSELLER, SOLDIER, PATRIOT by Anita Silvey and illustrated by Wendell Minor, you can view it here.

Enjoy!

Wendell Minor's MY FARM FRIENDS is a real treat for pre-schoolers

MY FARM FRIENDS just released in January and is already charming preschoolers everywhere.

"This book begs to be read aloud... young listeners will want to visit this iconic farm over and over," says Kirkus. "Well-tailored to a preschool audience," says Publishers Weekly, and according to Booklist, MY FARM FRIENDS has "...cozy, playful rhymes that young children will love to hear many times over.

Wendell’s warm watercolor-and-gouache artwork was inspired by real farm friends he had as a child. Is it any wonder preschoolers find them irresistible!

ATTENTION CHICAGO LANDERS: Come see artist Jan Spivey Gilchrist at the Retrospective Exhibit Reception at Nicole Gallery in Chicago on March 11, 2011 - 5:30 to 8:00 pm

Margery Cuyler, author of numerous books and publisher of Marshall Cavendish Children’s Books is on the NBC program, “The Celebrity Apprentice,” on March 13, 2011

Margery Cuyler is multi-talented. Not only is she the author of such books as BULLIES NEVER WIN, SKELETON HICCUPS, and KINDNESS IS COOLER MRS. RULER (published by Simon and Schuster) and editor and Publisher of the Marshall Cavendish imprint at Marshall Cavendish Corporation (a leading North American publisher of encyclopedias, nonfiction series, young adult and children’s books), she is now – drum roll, please – a television personality!

Margery will be featured on an episode of NBC's alternative series, “The Celebrity Apprentice,”  airing March 13th (9/10 PM ET/PT).

In the episode, the star-studded cast featuring celebrities such as Gary Busey and La Toya Jackson will split into two teams and engage themselves in one of the most prominent niches in the book publishing industry - children’s literature. Both teams will author an original children’s picture book to help raise money for charity. Their works will be evaluated by author/editor/publisher Margery Cuyler and by actress Robin Holly.

The winning celebrity team will present their charity with a check. Produced by Mark Burnett Productions in association with Trump Productions LLC, “The Celebrity Apprentice’s” executive producers are Eden Gaha and Page Feldman, the co-executive producer is Nancy Gunn, and last season, the show raised over $1.25 million dollars for charity.

We are certain the entire children's book publishing community will be tuning into the show on March 13th. We hope you will, too!