Monica Edinger's Blog, page 76
August 15, 2012
Revisiting: Rebecca Stead’s First Light
I read Stead’s debut novel First Light when it came out in 2007 and remember quite enjoying it. Having recently enthusiastically reviewed her latestLiar & Spy which was recognizable as being by the same person who wrote When You Reach Me (which I also reviewed), I became curious about this first book. If I read it now, familiar with those other two books, would it also feel like a “Rebecca Stead” work?
I remembered aspects quite well — the dual narratives, one of a boy going with his mother an...
August 14, 2012
Revisiting: Jean Merrill’s The Pushcart War
I was saddened to hear of Jean Merrill’s passingas she wrote one of my all-time favorite children’s books, The Pushcart War. And so to memorialize her and to draw attention to a book that may not be so well-known today (in fact, it seems to be out of print) here are a few of my thoughts and memories of this delightful work.
I don’t know when I came across it, but it was one of my absolute favorite books to teach years ago. It is the story of a war between Lower East Side New York City pushcart...
August 12, 2012
A Sequel to E. Nesbit’s FIVE CHILDREN AND IT
Probably because E. Nesbit is not as well-known on this side of the pond I was not aware that Jacqueline Wilson was tapped to do a sequel to Five Children and It. I loved this book both as a child and an adult — it is, for those unfamiliar with it, the clear inspiration for Edgar Eager’s books, say the wonderfulHalf Magic. I’ve always thought that there are two sorts of Nesbit lovers —- those that go for her non-magic books like The Railway Childrenversus those (like me) who go for the magic...
August 10, 2012
Gorgeous Gorey
I am flummoxed that I was completely unaware of the Gorey Preserved exhibit that ends tomorrow (it was extended a week) at the Columbia University Rare Book & Manuscript Library. The exhibit went up in March and I live three blocks away, but I only learned about it last week through Eve Bowen’s superb NYRB article “A Treasure Trove of Gorey.” Of course, I immediately went over to see the exhibit in question. It is absolutely splendid and reminded me yet again why Gorey endures. He was a uniqu...
August 9, 2012
Chaplin Coming to Broadway
So I’ve been watching warily as a Chaplin musical gets ready to open on Broadway in a couple of weeks. I became aware of it a few years ago when it started out at the La Jolla Playhouse then titled Limelight and was not overly impressed by the clips I saw. The title references Chaplin’s late film about an old clown and I feared the musical would simply be maudlin and not capture the fun and wit that I love about Chaplin at his best. However, it has been retitled and seems to be a bit more upb...
August 8, 2012
Philip Pullman Interview
Bookwitch has a terrific and expansive interview up with the one and only Philip Pullman. A taste:
About his forthcoming collection of Grimm stories:
One of the things I wanted to do, was to use this as a chance to say something about stories.These are very good examples of a pure story, and I talk about when a good one works, and why, and why that one doesn’t work so well. Pull it apart in the middle and you can do this to it, and that to it, how they work better. I’ve taken liberties with qui...
August 6, 2012
Reviewing Niceties
Reading Jacob Silverman’s “Against Enthusiasm: The Epidemic of Niceness in Online Book Culture” has me yet again doing my own navel-gazing. “Not nice” for my 4th grade students can be code for anything they don’t like. Good thing that I’m thick-skinned enough at this point in my career to know that their identifying me this way is generally temporary due to one irritating moment and that soon enough something else will happen to redeem me in their eyes.
When it comes to the world of children’s...
August 3, 2012
August 1, 2012
2012 KidLitCon Registration Has Opened
Being a blogger who focuses on children’s literature I am a member of the Kidlitosphere, but have never been able to attend any of the yearly conferences. However, this year I will not only be attending, but I’m —gulp — helping to organize it as it is being held in my town, at the New York Public Library no less, September 28-29, 2012. As it is in NYC we are able to do something I’m especially excited about: Friday previews with publishers, something I’ve been working on this week. The partic...
July 31, 2012
IBBY, Matilda, Beatrix, and Me
I’m heading to London next month post-Olympics for IBBY*’s annual International Congress. While I’ve long known of this remarkable annual event this is the first year I’ve been able to attend and I’m very excited indeed. Here’s how the theme “Crossing Boundaries” is described:
London – a city of many cultures – provided the early inspiration for the theme of this congress. Within this one vibrant city, communities from Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa, the Middle East, China, Greece and Latin Amer...
