Lerner Publishing Group

Free Book Friday!

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay Matvick) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:34:00 +0000

Congratulations to Miss Millie, Bigfoot, and @bmlikdsteens! They are the winners of The Freak Observer, and Catch & Release by Blythe Woolston!

With the presidential election right around the corner it's hard to miss all of the political debates and ads. For many kids this can lead to the question, "How does government work?" Well, we've got the answers in this week's Free Book Friday giveaway! One lucky winner will receive our brand new Searchlight Books ™ — How Does Government Work? series valued at more than $160.00!

As part of the Searchlight Books™ collection, this six book series sheds light on an important civics question—how does goverment work? Informative text, interesting photos, and useful examples will help you find the answer!

To win this brand new series, please leave a comment below or Tweet the following line: "It's Free Book Friday with @Lernerbooks! RT to win the new Searchlight Books ™ — How Does Government Work? series! http://bit.ly/1OrSN." The winners will be announced during Free Book Friday on February 3 so make sure to check the blog to see if you've won!

If you're a teacher, librarian, book club member, or a curious reader, make sure to check out our free Lerner eSource downloads for Searchlight Books ™ — How Does Government Work?

Good luck!

From Farm to Pizza

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Rodgers) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

[Brie Cohen shares her experience at a pizza farm. Who knew?]

This recent cold, snowy weather in Minneapolis has me wishing for summer and a visit to the pizza farm. The pizza farm is an outdoor pizza restaurant on a farm in Stockholm, Wisconsin. And it is beautiful. The farmers there grow every element of the pizza—the crust, the meat, the veggies. Everything. I went for the first time last August.

The pizza farm is open every Tuesday from 4:30 p.m. until 8 p.m. from March until November. Pull into the farm and you are greeted with this fantastic sign.) We got there at about 4:25 p.m., as we had heard many stories about having to wait in long, long lines to order a pizza. My companion and I walked up to the worker writing down pizza orders, standing next to a large chalkboard with the pizza menu written out. We ordered two pizzas (Yes, that’s way too much pizza for two people, but we planned to take a bunch of leftovers home with us!) We picked the roasted beet pizza and the basil pesto pizza. They gave us numbers seven and eight. We were the seventh and eighth order of the night, and our pizzas would be ready in about 10 minutes. They topped our pizzas inside, then brought them outside on a pizza paddle, and slid them in wood burning ovens. After they cooked, the piping hot pies were set in pizza boxes and sliced.

At the pizza farm, you have to bring your own silverware, plates, chairs, blankets, trashbag, drinks, other snacks—everything except for the pizza. We walked out to the grassy farm with our pizzas and saw that some people had fancy tablecloths on tables, crystal dishes, and candles!

We laid out our blanket in the grass, pulled out our dishes and drinks, and sat and ate our farm-to-blanket pizza. Delicious! The beet pizza was definitely the best. Everything was so fresh— how fun that everything we were eating was grown and made right where we were enjoying it.

After we ate, we walked around the farm. We looked at the veggies they were growing and gave a friendly “hello” to the goats.

This place reminded me of several of our Start to Finish titles. These books follow each step in nature’s cycle. Step-by-step you learn how honey is made from a flower, how corn on the cob is made from a corn seed, and how an apple is made from a new tree. I was seeing how the different parts of my pizza were created. This tasty nook in Stockholm, Wisconsin, was my real-life Start to Finish book—From Farm to Pizza.

The Haiti Disaster Through Comics

noreply@blogger.com (Danny Lerner) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 23:52:00 +0000

A recent radio interview on PRI’s The World (Interview) about an important Haitian comic book project focusing on the aftermath of the catastrophic 2010 Haiti earthquake will resonate for anybody involved in comic books and an interest in real world events.

Even though cartoons are largely associated with fun and entertainment–and this subject is anything but–the vivid, graphic nature of the project and its ability to powerfully convey the tragic events and ongoing recovery efforts makes this genre an invaluable tool for understanding the events.

(click images to expand)

The first installment of the project called "Tents Beyond Tents" was published online by the comic book site Cartoon Movement.

The project is spearheaded by Portland, Oregon cartoonist Matt Bors who teamed up with two talented Haiti natives–author Pharés Jerome and artist Chevelin Pierre.

Comics Journalism Editor Matt Bors (Photo: Caroline Bins), Pharés Jerome (Photo: Pharés Jerome), and Chevelin Pierre (Photo: Sandra Cériné)

Marco Werman, host and senior producer of The World, interviews Bors who discusses the genesis of the project, its current goals, and the Haitian comic book community in general.

This graphic approach to understanding one of the most graphic disasters ever witnessed in North America is but one step (and much more needs to be done) in communicating this unimaginable trauma brought to the Haitian people.

Indeed, Graphic Universe is in a prime position to take part in future publishing projects that advance a better understanding of this world event.

The Lists

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Karre) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:26:00 +0000

Congratulations to Steve Brezenoff and Ashley Hope Pérez.

Steve’s Brooklyn, Burning showed up Best Fiction for Young Adults and the Rainbow List Top Ten at ALA Midwinter.

Ashley’s What Can’t Wait also earned a spot on Best Fiction for Young Adults.

Carolrhoda Lab is a very proud imprint today.

Checking-In from Digital Book World

noreply@blogger.com (Adriano Fruzzetti) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:48:00 +0000

Just a quick update this week before I head to my most anticipated DBW panel of the week: What publishing can learn from the romance genre. Ooh la la!

Apple's iBook Author announcement from last week is either old news or inconsequential among industry leaders; it has not been mentioned. NBC's launch of an interactive e-book publishing division has.
Buzzword: Interoperability. One of the current industry challenges is figuring out how to provide content in all formats. Lots of emphasis has been placed on mobile eReading devices. Publishers that can provide more content in more ways are on the right track. Every speaker is quick to point out, however, that success still hinges on quality content.
There is a great debate over the future of print books. Are they going away? The children's book publishers don't think so. Barnes and Noble agrees. According to B&N, readers love the touch and feel of a hardcover book, and enjoy buying a physical object... they just don't want to take it to the beach. What do you think? Are eBooks and mobile eReaders only a convenience? Do you prefer digital books over print books for other reasons?
Finally, check out www.storybird.com, a very neat website that offers a unique writing outlet.

We're halfway through the conference, and my pride and confidence in what we're doing at Lerner Digital has never been higher. Many of the challenges, questions, and issues that other publishers are struggling with have already been addressed by us. Our digital products are easy to use, easy to access, and easy to love!

Where Do You Sit in the Digital Age?

noreply@blogger.com (Domenica Di Piazza) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 13:00:00 +0000

This delightful animated video (above) has been making the rounds among book people lately. It struck me as an intriguing counter to the article from the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop (logo top, link to article below) about a recent study focusing on kids and ebooks. Very interesting preliminary results.

Where do you sit with all this? Are you on one side or the other? Or, like me, do you straddle the fence?

http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2012/for-reading-and-learning-kids-prefer-e-books-to-print-books/

Check in next week for more from TFCB!

Free Book Friday!

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay Matvick) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 17:38:00 +0000

Congratulations to Ben Anderson! He is the winner of our brand new My Favorite Horses series from Lerner Publications!

With the big ALA and YALSA award announcements coming on Monday, we wanted to honor last year's William C. Morris YA Debut Award-winning author Blythe Woolston! If you loved The Freak Observer, wait until you get your hands on her brand new novel, Catch & Release!

Polly Furnas had The Plan for the future. She'd marry Bridger Morgan, for one. Go to college, have a career, make babies. Etc. All the important choices were made.

It was all happily-ever-after as a diamond-ring commercial.

The Plan did not include a lethal drug-resistant infection. It did not include a disfigured face that scared people away. It certainly did not include Odd Estes, an ancient Cadillac, fly fishing, miles of open road, or a loaded gun. But plans change. Stories get revised and new choices must be made.

In Catch & Release, Blythe Woolston—winner of the 2010 William C. Morris YA Debut Award—takes readers on a remarkable journey while examining the meaning of survival.

For this week's Free Book Friday, three lucky winners will receive the new paperback edition of The Freak Observer and a hardcover copy of Catch & Release! To win both books, please leave a comment below or Tweet the following line: "It's Free Book Friday @Lernerbooks! RT to win The Freak Observer and Catch & Release by @BlytheWoolston! www.lernerbooks.blogspot.com." The winners will be announced during Free Book Friday on January 27 so make sure to check the blog to see if you've won!

If you're a teacher, librarian, book club member, or a curious reader, make sure you download our free bookmarks and discussion guides for Catch & Release at www.lernerbooks.com!

Good luck!

Passing the Torch

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Cavallo) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 22:47:00 +0000

One more thing that caught my eye today: a reflection from Katherine Paterson on her two years as the National Ambassador For Young People's Literature. It’s worth a read even if Bridge to Terabithia didn’t reign over your tween reading favorites as it did mine. Paterson’s lofty goals for her tenure as Ambassador (“I wanted to turn the world upside down”) are pretty inspiring.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/katherine-paterson/post_2779_b_1181492.html

Game-Changer?

noreply@blogger.com (Anna Cavallo) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 22:26:00 +0000

Revolutionary, a new era, a reinvention. These are the words being used to describe Apple’s new iBooks 2 and iBook Author software, unveiled today at the Guggenheim in New York.

Check it out: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/content-and-e-books/article/50255-apple-enters-the-textbook-self-publishing-market.html

iBooks 2 will allow for a more interactive textbook learning experience, and likely a cheaper one (depending on whether someone already has the not-so-cheap hardware needed to use the app). But the bigger buzz—including the growing number of comments that follow the article linked above--seems to be focused on iBook Author, the new do-it-yourself book creation tool. (Adriano presciently described it as GarageBand for e-books in his blog post on Tuesday.) While the digital revolution has already rendered self-publishing an appealing and viable option for many authors, Apple’s foray into the self-publishing world is sure to attract new faces. With the brand’s trademark focus on making things intuitive and pretty, what self-publishing author wouldn’t want to create a richer, more interactive, easily shareable book with less work?

The obvious upside of this for readers would be just that: self-published books with quality text content getting better visual and interactive content, with less time and effort perhaps translating to lower cost. Not to mention instant accessibility. The downsides, of course, include an ever-larger pool of online resources—many of mediocre quality, at best—to sift through in searching for information.

Meanwhile, Lerner Digital will continue to put out more high-quality eBooks and interactive content (see Adriano’s posts and our website!). Check out our eReader App, iBooks, and the Journey Into the Deep app for products tailored by our brilliant designers and creative team.

How do you feel about the growing ease and accessibility of self-publishing? Concerns? More good than bad? Anything you wish publishers were doing differently in response? Let us know!

2008, the year of the image

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Karre) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 22:22:00 +0000

Three significant things happened for me in 2008: My son was born; I began working at Carolrhoda; and I got serious about photography. All three are actually quite related.

I wanted this job for lots of reasons, but one of them was so that I could make books that my son would be interested in now. I wanted to learn about photography because the first photos I took of my son after he was born were frustrating to me (I can’t quite bring myself to write disappointing, because they are of my son). And as a texty person jumping into the world of visual story telling, I felt like photography would be a way to engage that part of my brain so that I could communicate with illustrators in some way the resembles how I communicate with writers.

Photography has paid more dividends than that, though. There’s a world of adult visual storytelling through photos that’s been at least as beneficial to how I approach text. A few photo books leap to mind as being just as inspiring for my inner prose artist as my inner visual artist:

Bruce Davidson’s Brooklyn Gang
Roy Decarava’s The Sweet Flypaper of Life
Robert Frank’s The Americans
The whole Vivian Maier story

When I’m stuck for something to say about a text, I now find myself turning to photography to reboot my imagination.

Prose people, tell me, what worldless things fuel your imaginations?

No content for your iPad? Apple may have the solution. Lerner Digital definitely does!

noreply@blogger.com (Adriano Fruzzetti) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:41:00 +0000

Apple has organized an "education announcement" that will take place at the Guggenheim museum in New York on Thursday. While the details of the event remain a mystery, internet speculation is pointing to the release of a "GarageBand for e-books" software that will allow authors to publish direct-to-digital content.

In the same way that GarageBand allowed musicians to record and produce mp3s on their own, and iMovie helped Mom and Pop take the next step in home-movie production, Apple is seemingly poised to release an application that will make publishing eBooks and textbooks directly to iPad affordable for publishers and authors alike.

Across the country, tens of thousands of iPads have been purchased by K-12 schools and libraries with digital learning in mind. Many of those institutions have found they're all dressed up with nowhere to go. The iPad is a potential gold-mine for Apple in the education sector, but without the right content, it's little more than a paper weight- or worse- an angry-bird-tossing distraction.

While we all have to wait until Thursday to find out what Apple is brewing, I can tell you right now that Lerner Digital already has over a thousand amazing eBooks available for your iPad! Head over to www.lernerbooks.com to view our collection. Any books you purchase there are automatically viewable on our free Lerner Digital eReader App for iPad. The eReader App is extremely easy to use and allows Lerner Digital eBooks to be checked in and out of your library system and read anywhere.

Next week: Blogging from Digital Book World!

Chinese New Year

noreply@blogger.com (Carol Hinz) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 19:11:00 +0000

Are you ready for Chinese New Year? It’s one week from today! 2012 will be the year of the dragon.

For spring 2012, we have a new set of books in the Cloverleaf Books brand, our nonfiction picture book brand for grades K-2. The new set is all about Holidays and Special Days. Chelsea's Chinese New Year is one of six new titles. Each book features a young protagonist who has something related to the holiday that he or she wants to accomplish. In the case of Chelsea, she’s trying to stay awake for all the fun! In the course of the story, readers learn about preparation for the big day as well as common ways to celebrate.

Here’s one especially interesting tidbit I learned from Chelsea's Chinese New Year: People tell different stories about how Chinese New Year Started. One story tells of a monster named Nian. Nian showed up at New Year’s time. But people learned how to scare Nian away. The monster was afraid of loud noises and the color red.

So remember to wear something red next Monday!

Free Book Friday!

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay Matvick) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 15:31:00 +0000

Congratulations to @missmillie78, Marcelino Ugalde, and Jenn Koehler! You have all won copies of The White Zone by Carolyn Marsden!

This week, one lucky reader will win our brand new My Favorite Horses series from Lerner Publications!

My Favorite Horses is sure to appeal to kids with a passion for horses and riding. Each title focuses on a different horse breed, from Arabians to American Quarter Horses. This series by Elaine Landau introduces readers to the characteristics of each breed, provides a breed history, discusses traits of the breed, and offers information on horseback riding and horse ownership. The text also provides ideas for how kids can get involved with horses—even if they can't actually own one.

To win this great new series worth more than $130.00, please leave a comment below or Tweet the following line: "It's Free Book Friday! RT to win the new My Favorite Horses series from @Lernerbooks!www.lernerbooks.blogspot.com." The winners will be announced during Free Book Friday on January 20 so make sure to check the blog to see if you've won!

If you're a teacher, librarian, book club member, or a curious reader, make sure you check out our free Lerner eSource materials for My Favorite Horses on lernerbooks.com!

Good luck!

Problems Chip Hilton never had…

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Karre) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 22:08:00 +0000

“If the sport of football ever dies, it will die from the outside in. It won't be undone by a labor lockout or a broken business model — football owners know how to make money. Instead, the death will start with those furthest from the paychecks, the unpaid high school athletes playing on Friday nights. It will begin with nervous parents reading about brain trauma, with doctors warning about the physics of soft tissue smashing into hard bone, with coaches forced to bench stars for an entire season because of a single concussion. The stadiums will still be full on Sunday, the professionals will still play, the profits will continue. But the sport will be sick.”

I remember when my father let me take all of his old Chip Hilton novels home to Michigan from his boyhood bedroom in Omaha, Nebraska. I remember reading them alongside Matt Christopher and various other sports novels of generations past (their datedness never struck me).

Sports fiction like this has been a part of kidlit for a very long time, of course, and franchises like Chip Hilton and Matt Christopher seem to be as immortal as Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. Indeed, in looking for familiar covers to the chip Hilton books on the web, I discovered that Chip was still a three-sport varsity athlete in new editions of the stories.

There is clearly something eternal about sports stories for kids, but I also think there’s something very important going on in the world of youth sports, and I really hope that books keep pace. I’ve written about this before, but it really hit home when I read this Grantland article by Jonah Lehrer about football from which comes the quote above. If you’re interest in sports and writing for children, I urge you to read it.

Pioneer Trina Robbins Interviewed in Popular Comic Book Website

noreply@blogger.com (Danny Lerner) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 00:53:00 +0000

One of Graphic Universe’s most acclaimed writers—Trina Robbins—author of the popular Chicagoland Detective Agency series and the highly praised single title Lily Renée, Escape Artist—was recently interviewed by the esteemed comic book website CBR (Comic Book Resources). Interview. CBR, a pillar in the comic book community, has numerous awards to their credit, including a 2011 Eisner Award for "Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism" and an Eagle Award in the UK for "Favourite Comics-Related Website", also in 2011.

The noteworthy and informative interview covers Ms. Robbins fascinating career—spanning over 40 years—as both an author/illustrator as well as a consummate historian. Ms. Robbins is as well-versed in the Golden Age of comics of the 1940s as she is in the underground movement of the 1960s and early 70s, of which she helped pioneer.

In the interview Ms. Robbins touches on such varied topics as her nostalgia for Golden Age publishers like Fiction House to her recent collaboration with illustrator Anne Timmons for the Lily Renée book.

When it comes to all things comic book there are few with as much knowledge and passion as Ms. Robbins and this interview is a must read for anyone with even a hint of interest in the colorful and ever captivating field.

Starting the New Year with a Smile

noreply@blogger.com (Domenica Di Piazza) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 13:00:00 +0000

I just got a letter (left) from my niece's oldest daughter, who is five. She got stationery for Christmas and was eager to use it to thank me for sending her some leaf art we had done together earlier this winter so she could put it in the picture book I gave her for Christmas.

Which picture book, you ask? None other than Laura Purdie Salas's new book with Millbrook, A Leaf Can Be.... (cover, above right).

As we were reading the book together over the holidays, my niece's daughter exclaimed, "Oh, this book is pretty!" That comment, along with her charming letter, reminds me, yet again, why I love working in book publishing. It's great to know that my work and that of my colleagues makes a young girl appreciate beauty...and use her new stationery! Gotta love those pink hearts.
Happy New Year!

Check in next week for more from TFCB!

[photo: courtesy of Yours Truly]

Markle’s Book Explorers

noreply@blogger.com (Carol Hinz) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

If you read this blog regularly or read children’s nonfiction regularly, then you surely know the name Sandra Markle. Sandra has written more than two hundred nonfiction books for children. We have published her books in both our Lerner imprint and Millbrook Press. Highlights include the Arachnid World series, Animal Heroes: True Rescue Stories, and The Case of the Vanishing Golden Frogs: A Scientific Mystery. In fact, that last book just won the Science Books & Film Prize!

Sandra, The Case of the Vanishing Golden Frogs, and some gorgeous New Zealand flora.

For 2012, Sandra is launching something new: Markle’s Book Explorers. The program is open to ten schools in the Unites States. Sandra will supply each of the schools with a copy of any of her books published during that year plus copies of any of her books that receive special awards. She will also provide a virtual visit to the school (via Skype) and respond throughout the year to up to six emails from students (as shared by their teacher).

If you’re a teacher or librarian at a U.S. school, head on over to Sandra's blog to get all the details!

Free Book Friday!

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsay Matvick) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 15:11:00 +0000

Whew! We survived the first week back after holiday celebrations and a very happy New Year! So let's celebrate again with Free Book Friday! This week three lucky winners will win The White Zone by Carolyn Marsden!

Nouri and his cousin Talib can only vaguely remember a time before tanks rumbled over the streets of their Baghdad neighborhood—when books, not bombs, ruled Mutanabbi Street. War has been the backdrop of their young lives. And now Iraq isn't just at war with Americans. It's at war with itself. Sunnis fight Shiites, and the strife is at the boys' doorsteps. Nouri is Shiite and Talib is half Sunni. To the boys, it seems like only a miracle can mend the rift that is tearing a country and a family apart.

In early 2008, Iraq experienced a miracle. Snow fell in Baghdad for the first time in living memory. As snow covered the dusty streets, the guns in the city grew silent and there was an unofficial ceasefire. During these magical minutes, Sunni and Shiite differences were forgotten. There was no green zone, no red zone. There was only the white zone.

Against this real-life backdrop, Nouri and Talib begin to imagine a world after the war.

To win this amazing new book, please leave a comment below or Tweet the following line: "I want to read The White Zone by Carolyn Marsden from @Lernerbooks! RT to win! www.lernerbooks.blogspot.com." The winners will be announced during Free Book Friday on January 13 so make sure to check the blog to see if you've won!

If you're a teacher, librarian, book club member, or a curious reader, make sure you check out our free downloadable discussion guide , bookmark, and Lerner eSource materials on lernerbooks.com!

Good luck!

A Favorite

noreply@blogger.com (Sara Hoffmann) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Sometimes people ask me if I have a favorite among the books I’ve edited. I always tell them no. Asking me to pick a favorite book is a bit like asking a parent to pick a favorite child. All my projects are my babies.

Having said that, there’s usually a book or two each season that sticks with me in a particular way. In the Spring 2012 season (not yet here for all of you but long-since passed for we text editors), that book was undoubtedly our Gateway Biography of Steve Jobs (cover pictured).

I grew up with Apple computers. I used them in school from kindergarten on. I learned to type on my Mac at the same time I learned to write. How many of you remember playing Oregon Trail? And naming your party of settlers after your classmates, then shouting to your BFF across the room that she’d just come down with dysentery? I did all that on a Mac.

These memories were very much with me as I edited Steve Jobs. Plus, I was reading the Walter Isaacson tome on Jobs at the same time as I edited, so my morning and evening bus commutes were all about Steve Jobs too. I was immersed.

My takeaway impressions of Jobs? He was a difficult person. A quirky person. But above all, a brilliant person. And he gave me a brand that has been with me my entire life—something I can’t say about too many other brands. I hope our volume does justice to Jobs's amazing legacy. I encourage you to read it and form your own impressions.

Trifurcation

noreply@blogger.com (Andrew Karre) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 22:20:00 +0000

Read this.

I have said before, and I now feel more confident in saying it again: electronic picture books prove just how high tech paper picture books actually are and the conversion from print to digital is way trickier for picture books than for just about any other form. I think Shatzkin’s excellent overview is just more evidence.

Removing the paper element from a novel (“immersive reading” in Shatzkin parlance) does nothing or next to nothing to the content. The same cannot be said of picture books, where the constraints of paper bookmaking are built into the tradition of picture book creation. No novelist drafts for a trim size. Picture book artists most definitely sketch for an aspect ratio, if not a specific trim size. Form and content are damned near inseparable.

I am not in any way saying that there is no place in the world for electronic picture books. I am, however, saying that the transition to digital for picture books is going to look different and it might not even be a transition.

Humor for Librarians

noreply@blogger.com (Robyn Chapman) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 22:28:00 +0000

Unshelved is a webcomic by librarian Gene Ambaum and cartoonist Bill Barnes. Book lovers, librarians, and teachers (that is to say, most of Lerner's audience) will appreciate this light hearted look at every day life at the library. Every Friday their Unshelved Bookclub reviews a variety of books (there are usually a few graphic novels in attendance). Some of their reviews are delivered in cartoon from. It's a smart approach, and method I hadn't seen before.

In a recent review (a non-cartoon one, sadly) they took a closer look at the first volume in On the Case with Holmes and Watson, Sherlock Holmes and a Scandal in Bohemia. Gene Ambaum had this to say:

"Why I picked it up: My nine-year-old daughter loves Encyclopedia Brown and the BBC TV show Sherlock, and I was hoping for an adaptation that was accessible and entertaining.

Why I finished it: It’s both. Rohrbach’s drawings are large, simple, pleasant, and nicely colored, and many look like they might have been block printed. And the adaptation keeps a lot of the plot and tone of the original intact.

I'd give it to: My daughter, along with the next two books in the series. She’s really going to enjoy the way Holmes uses disguises and special effects to thwart the blackmailer."

A Little Holiday Reading

noreply@blogger.com (Robyn Chapman) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 20:44:00 +0000

I have a special fondness for classic romance comics. It's a genre that has long since died out, but in its hey day (the late forties though the early fifties) it was HUGE. In 1949 romance comics, comics made for girls and young women, outsold all other genres. It's a fact that is missing from most comics history texts. Collections of old romance comics are hard to find, so when I stumbled across Agonizing Love I bought myself a xmas present.

In its pages I found these gems:

A classic meddling mother story.

A story about a disabled vet's who returns home after the war. Can she love a man with a claw?

Among the female comic pioneers who dabbled in romance comics is Lily Renée, whose early life was chronicled in Lily Renee, Escape Artist by Trina Robbins.

For more on romance comics, I recommend From Girls to Grrrlz, also by Trina Robbins.

Magic

noreply@blogger.com (Domenica Di Piazza) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Okay, so I said I wasn’t going to post on the 27th, but I saw the Bolshoi’s Nutcracker last week via HD transmission and was completely transfixed. I hadn’t seen this ballet since I was in high school, and it felt totally fresh and new. And magical. A great way to come to the end of the year and think about all the possibilities for 2012. Happy New Year!

[If you don’t have time to watch all 12:55 minutes of the clip, move ahead to about 11:30 minutes to see the magnificent leaping red prince. Wow!]

Check in next week for more from TFCB!

Happy, Merry

noreply@blogger.com (Carol Hinz) — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 14:00:00 +0000

illustration from the very lovely forthcoming A Leaf Can Be . . . by Laura Purdie Salas, illus. by Violeta Dabija, Millbrook Press, Spring 2012

All The Comics Fit to Read

noreply@blogger.com (Robyn Chapman) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 19:32:00 +0000

Lily Renée, Escape Artist was included in this past Sunday’s Bookshelf in The New York Times Book Review. Reviewer Pamela Paul had this to say:

"This graphic biography, illustrated in a retro comic book style that befits its subject, describes the life of Lily Renée Wilheim, a Jewish Kindertransport refugee who became a graphic artist of superwomen comic books in New York. Raised in a well-off family in Vienna in the ’30s, Lily saw her idyllic childhood descend into one of prejudice, tragedy, Kristallnacht and, finally, escape. This is a smart little biography that will appeal to history buffs, comic book fans and anyone who likes a gutsy, pioneering heroine."

The theme of the column was "voyages". Lily Renée was reviewed alongside another graphic novel, Around the World by Matt Phelan. It looks like we're in good company, I look forward to reading it!