Where the Wild Things Came From

Here is an interesting slide show of picture book art from the nineteenth through the mid-twentieth century, from Slate magazine:

How children's books evolved from morals to madcap fun.

ALSC Offers Grants to Future Children's and YA Librarians

If you are planning to get your MLS and become a children's or YA librarian, you can apply for one of these grants.

A Legislative Victory for Children's Librarians

Congress passes bill calling for collaboration between Head Start and libraries.

This is a great opportunity for libraries in general, and for children's librarians in particular. It's the most public recognition I've seen of the role that public libraries play in early literacy. Take this information straight to your local daycares, and form ye some partnerships! :)

Patron demand watch: Scanimation

So there's this new technology called "scanimation" that will be making its picture book debut this holiday season. It involves a static image that appears to move when the reader rocks it back and forth, and it will appear in the book Gallop!, by Rufus Butler Seder. I imagine this book will be heavily marketed at book fairs and such, so you may be receiving requests. Whether you will want to buy it is another question, but it doesn't look any worse than other gimmick books.

More on this topic from School Library Journal.

Teens Will Get to Chat with Top YA Authors in October

Want to get more teenage girls excited about reading?

Tell them they can chat with Meg Cabot, Stephenie Meyer, Ann Brashares, and 28 other hot young adult authors throughout the entire month of October.

(From School Library Journal)

Should Demco start selling discreet brown wrappers?

From the (London) Times Online:

How judging a book by its ‘girlie’ cover is putting boys off reading.

I'm slightly embarrassed to say that I never saw this downside to the vibrant new book covers that have been appearing over the past few years. I knew there were a lot of girls who would automatically grab a book with a Barbie-pink cover, but I didn't think about all the boys who were alienated by those covers. Then again, I think Saffy's Angel would be a hard book to sell to a boy regardless.

Interesting censorship story.

A high school student in Alabama has checked out the book Sandpiper, by Ellen Wittlinger, and refuses to return it, claiming that it is too explicit for a school audience.

Read more at School Library Journal.

The interesting this is that I had never heard of this book before this kerfuffle, but now I have, and so have thousands of other people. These things tend to backfire.