Marilyn Singer's A FULL MOON IS RISING is on Bank Street's 2012 Best Children's Books of the Year

We just learned that A FULL MOON IS RISING, by Marilyn Singer, published by Lee and Low, will be on Bank Street College of Education's 2012 Best Children's Books of the Year.

This list is one of the most comprehensive annotated book lists for children from infancy up to the age of 16. Committee members review over 6,000 titles each year for accuracy and literary quality and consider their emotional impact on children, choosing the best 600 fiction and nonfiction books, which are then listed with annotations according to age and category.

Please join us in congratulating Marilyn Singer on A FULL MOON IS RISING being included on the 2012 list.

Joanne Rocklin's ONE DAY AND ONE AMAZING MORNING ON ORANGE STREET wins 2012 Northern California Independent Booksellers Book of the Year

We just learned that ONE DAY AND ONE AMAZING MORNING ON ORANGE STREET, by Joanne Rocklin, is the winner of the 2012 Northern California Independent Booksellers Book of the Year in the Middle Grade Readers category.

The NCIBA (Northern California Independent Booksellers Association, presents the Northern California Book Awards every Spring. Awards are given in various categories for books published for the first time in the prior year and written by an author residing in Northern California. Submissions come in from publishers and bookseller colleagues and finalists in each category are chosen by NCIBA committees. A Finalists Ballot is then distributed to all member bookstores, and owners and all employees of those stores are eligible vote for the winners.

Please join us in congratulating Joanne for her book being a favorite among bookstores across Northern California and winning this award.

An interview with Marilyn Singer on Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations blog

Don't miss Kate Hosford's two-part interview with author, Marilyn Singer, author of the immensely popular MIRROR MIRROR (Penguin), on Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations blog. 

Here’s part one. 

Here’s part two.

Marilyn's latest books include THE BOY WHO CRIED ALIEN (Hyperion), A STICK IS AN EXCELLENT THING: POEMS CELEBRATING OUTDOOR PLAY (Clarion/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), EVERY DAY'S A DOG'S DAY: A YEAR IN POEMS (Penguin), A STRANGE PLACE TO CALL HOME: THE WORLD’S MOST DANGEROUS HABITATS & THE ANIMALS THAT CALL THEM HOME (Chronicle), THE SUPERHEROES EMPLOYMENT AGENCY (Clarion/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), and TALLULAH'S SOLO (Clarion/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt).

Joanne Rocklin's ONE DAY AND ONE AMAZING MORNING ON ORANGE STREET wins 2012 Beatty Award

We are pleased to announce that ONE DAY AND ONE AMAZING MORNING ON ORANGE STREET, by Joanne Rocklin, is the 2012 John and Patricia Beatty Award winner.

Sponsored by Book Wholesalers, the Beatty Award honors the author of a distinguished book for children or young adults that best promotes an awareness of California and its people. A committee of CLA members selects the winning title from books published in the U.S. within each given year.

This award will be presented at the California Library Association’s annual conference this coming November. It will be held in San Jose, California and the author has been invited to receive it at a CLA luncheon on Saturday, November 3rd. 

Please join us in congratulating Joanne on this prestigious California award!

Johanna Reiss, winner of a Newbery Honor for THE UPSTAIRS ROOM, has a new website

In 1973, The Upstairs Room was a Newbery Honor Book, an American Library Association Notable Children's Book, a Jane Addams Peace Association Honor Book, a New York Times Outstanding Book of the Year, and a School Library Journal Best Book. Available now as an e-book from Graymalkin Media, it is about Johanna Reiss's own experiences during World War II, when she and her sister, Sini, hid from the Nazis by living hidden in the upstairs room of a farmhouse owned by a Gentile family. The sequel, The Journey Back, also available as an e-book, explores the aftermath of what happened after those experiences and is a vivid testimony to everyone whose lives were changed forever by World War II.

Where is she now? In classrooms, talking to students about her life, bringing history alive for them in a way few people can do anymore. Writing books about what happened to her after she came to America. A Hidden Life, written for adults, is one of those books, and now she is working on a memoir that will continue her story where her other books left off. And she is keeping in touch with her many fans through her new website. Are you a fan? A school interested in hearing more about her history or finding out about her author visits? A writer curious about her writing workshops? Or someone she has touched through her books or author visits? You won't want to miss this opportunity to visit her again.   

Learn more about Yona Zeldis McDonough, author of the 2012 Sydney Taylor Notable Book, THE CATS IN THE DOLL SHOP, in this interview in the Children's Book Review

In early December 2011, Nicki Richesin's interview, "Yona Zeldis McDonough: From Madame Alexander to Marilyn Monroe," was published on the Children's Book Review's blog. Learn more about Yona Zeldis McDonough in this interview, from her Brooklyn background to her interest in dolls to her new biography about Laura Ingalls Wilder for Holt.

And by the way, THE DOLL SHOP DOWNSTAIRS and THE CATS IN THE DOLL SHOP are being translated into Chinese to be sold in China.

Marilyn Singer’s THE BOY WHO CRIED ALIEN reviewed in School Library Journal

The following review for The Boy Who Cried Alien, by Marilyn Singer (published by Hyperion/Disney) appeared in the March 2012 issue of School Library Journal:

“Truth is, indeed, stranger than fiction as seen in this picture book redemption of the fabled boy who cried wolf. Given the retro cartoon illustrations packed with energy and action, children can approach the text in two ways: they can choose the “silent movie mode” and read only the subtitles in the ornate boxes that span the tops of the pages, or they can turn on the sound, so to speak, and read the rhyming speech bubbles. Some are in alien-speak, a foreign tongue in which the first and last letter of a word are transposed. (Translations are in the back matter.) Aliens Carlig and Dreab (you do the translating) need fuel for their rocket ship, which crash lands in Malarkey Lake, and since cows are found on their planet, Yeah, as well, they know that belching bovines are a fine source of gas. Larry the Liar, first rebuked by his townspeople, helps the aliens get home (they were en route to Hollywood for an audition). He becomes a hero and sets up his own school of fibbing. “Larry, you were underrated/just ‘cause you prevaricated./Now you have the admiration/of Malarkey Lake’s whole population.” As you see, this is a story chock full of humor and silliness. For reluctant readers, suggest the silent movie mode. For a second read, they can dive into the speech bubbles and alien language. Some readers will even create their own rhyming quatrains in alien-speak.”

What a clever idea, Marilyn!