Monica Edinger's Blog, page 59

Preview of AFRICA IS MY HOME

Just discovered that you can see several pages ofAfrica is My Home, the author’s note, and the selected sources pageby clicking on Amazon’s Look Inside feature. (For more about the book as well as a more detailed bibliography gohere.)

Thalia Book Club Camp

Here in New York City is a unique venue called Symphony Space where you can see a recording ofSelected Shorts, go to a screening of theNational Theater Live, watch dance and musical performances, and get involved with a range ofeducational activities. They have a special commitment to children’s literature with awesome eventsand a very special summer camp — the Thalia Book Club Camp. This is a summer program for kids who love to read and love books. The activities are extraordinary. They take...

Uma Krishnaswami’s The Problem with Being Slightly Heroic

Divi is back! Back in DC briefly, after a year in India, for the American premier of the latest movie starring the irrepressible diva Dolly Singh, whom we first met in The Grand Plan to Fix Everything. Of course, as in any Bollywood movie worth its salt, nothing goes as it should. Eager to see her best friend Maddy, Divi finds that someone new has arrived on the scene and wonders if they are still the BFF they were before she went away. Within hours of their arrival Dolly’s passport goes miss...

Happy 90th Birthday, Ashley Bryan!

Living in New York City as I do, I’m regularly invited to seasonal publisher previews. While these are centered around editors presenting upcoming books, sometimes there is a fun extra — an author or illustrator makes a brief and interesting presentation. As enjoyable as these what happened yesterday at Simon & Schuster’s fall preview was pretty special for it began and ended with a celebration of Ashley Bryan whose 90th birthday was July 13th.

Ashley Bryan is absolutely one of the most remark...

Ms. Rowling Explains About Mr. Galbraith

I’m listening to Robert Galbraith’s Cuckoo’s Calling and enjoying it very much. And I’m one who absolutely loved that Rowling did this as she did. For those who want to know more from her about just why and how and so forth go to theGalbraith website and scroll down to the FAQs. Smart lady, that Ms. Rowling.

In the Classroom: Authors as People

Two teachers in recent blog posts had some interesting points to make about meeting authors.

In “Fangirl” Donalyn Miller writes about often feeling starstruck when coming into contact with her favorite book creators.

Meeting authors isn’t like meeting Cameron Diaz to me—it’s like meeting Picasso. Writing is an art. Authors are artists—painting images with words, sculpting worlds to explore, evoking emotions that make me feel more alive. When you are a fan, reading is art appreciation.

In “Author...

How To Promote your Book While Using a Pseudonym

I just finished reading an articlerelated to the recent revelations about the author of The Cuckoo’s Calling, and was amused by Jody Picout’s comment: “She wouldn’t have been able to go out and promote the book.” But, taking a cue from Lemony Snicket and Daniel Handler, maybe she could.

Scene: the event section of a book store. There is a happy buzz as an enthusiastic crowd of mystery readers wait for the author, a debut writer, to arrive. Their conversations are about the writer’s intriguing...

Barbara Robinson’s The Best School Year Ever

While I was familiar with other books by the author Barbara Robinson, who passed away last week, it was The Best School Year Ever that meant the most to me. There was a period when I started each school year reading it aloud and I always made sure to tiptoe my whole class past the teacher’s room so they could decide if it fit the one described by Robinson. The book was funny then; the kids always loved it. More than ever after September 11th which was the first day of school for my NYC 4th gr...

More About Roxanne’s and My Caldecott Banquet Attire

See a bunch more Red Carpet interviews (with some pretty awesome types) here.

Chris Grabenstein’s Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library

How about a contest in a new-over-the-top-cool library? The one in Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Libraryinvolves a wealthy wacky Willy Wonka-like game-maker (and creator of the library), a varied bunch of kid competitors ( a la those inCharlie and the Chocolate Factory, but, with one exception, much nicer), and a completely awesome library (textual eye-candy for book lovers). Locked-in to the library overnight, the kids race against the clock to find their way out using clues of ever sort —reb...