Monica Edinger's Blog, page 32
August 15, 2015
Barry Cunningham, Harry Potter’s Fairy Godfather
Last fall I was atFILIJ, a fabulous children’s book festival in Mexico City, along with many luminaries including Barry Cunningham, a legendary British editor who is now perhaps best known for having discovered Harry Potter. It was lovely spending time with Barry, a delightful fellow. Attendees constantly requested photos with him, something he did with good-nature each time. Barry’s own publishing house, Chicken House, continues to produce stellar books which are available in the US through...
August 6, 2015
In the Classroom: First Week Read Alouds
I don’t go back to school till after Labor Day, but know that many others are going back now. Like other teachers, I think carefully about the books I read aloud that first week. My way of connect to kids is very much through books. And so I Iook for books that will relax them, see me as someone safe to be around, and consider that this is likely to be a good school year. Ideally the first book will be school-related, but not necessarily. There are many, but tend to be for younger kids. I’m f...
July 27, 2015
The Holocaust and White Privilege
I was surprised last fall when, during a day of equity training at my school, some of my white Jewish colleagues struggled with the idea thatthey wereprivileged. This was due to theirawareness of historical anti-semitism against Jews, especially the Holocaust, even though, in most cases, theirown immediatefamilies had not experienced this firsthand. As someone who is first generation German Jewish and did have immediate family who had experienced this, I was puzzled. My father, who fled Germa...
The Hololcaust and White Privilege
I was surprised this fall when, during a day of equity training at my school, some of my white Jewish colleagues struggled with the idea thatthey wereprivileged. This was due to theirawareness of historical anti-semitism against Jews, especially the Holocaust, even though, in most cases, theirown immediatefamilies had not experienced this firsthand. As someone who is first generation German Jewish and did have immediate family who had experienced this, I was puzzled. My father, who fled Germa...
July 26, 2015
Who’s Alice: An Evening with Kate Burton, David Del Tredici, Andre Gregory, and Monica Edinger
In 1982 the acclaimed actress Kate Burton launched her career portraying Alice in the critically acclaimed Broadway revival of Alice in Wonderland. With Alice Symphony, Haddock’s Eyes, In Memory of A Summer Day, and other works, Pulitzer Prize winning composer David Del Tredici has conjured the sounds of wonderland throughout his career. In 1968 director Andre Gregory and his The Manhattan Project, a renege troupe of alternative theater performers, flung audience down a reinvented, psychedeli...
July 24, 2015
Which Charlotte’s Web character are you?
July 22, 2015
Another Iconic American Author with a Newly Discovered Book
“Why, then, did … leave this one in the drawer?”
No, that isn’t someone asking aboutHarper Lee. It isNew York Times children’s book editor Maria Russowondering about Dr. Seussin herthoughtful reviewof his new posthumously published book, What Pet Should I Get? I’d already seen the positive review by Michiko Kakutani’s for the weekday New York Times (done in Seussian rhyme no less), but it is Russo’s for the Book Review that really gets to the heart of the matter.She situates her review within...
July 21, 2015
Alice at the Morgan Library
There’s asplendid newAlice: 150 Years of Wonderlandexhibit at the Morgan Library here in NYC and you can read my report on it over atThe Horn Book Magazinehere. The exhibit is uptill October so you’ve all got plenty of time to get to it. And I should say, the museum, in addition to this wonderful exhibit, is well worth visiting.
July 14, 2015
New Trailer for the SyFy Series of Lev Grossman’s The Magicians
I’m enjoying the BBC’s Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (while revisiting the book via the audio edition) tremendously and am certain to be sad when it is over. So I am encouraged by this clipfrom the forthcoming Syfy series of Grossman’s The Magiciansas I liked the books very much (though they are totally different from Clark’s book). There’s an earlier teaser trailer here.
July 10, 2015
My Thoughts on The Guardian Children’s Fiction Award Long List
Today the longlist for the Guardian Children’s Ficton Award was revealed. I love this prize and discovering new titles through it (especially ones that aren’t published in the U.S.). Here they are with some commentary from me:
Five Children on the Western Front by Kate Saunders.I first learned of this book when it was shortlisted for the Costa Prize and immediately ordered it from the U.K. I thought it outstanding (my review here) and was thrilled when it won the Costa. Very happy to see it o...
