Chris Barton's Blog: Bartography, page 50
October 29, 2014
Mr. Schu reveals the cover of The Amazing Age of John Roy Lynch
Over at his blog Watch. Connect. Read., librarian John Schumacher has unveiled the cover of my spring 2015 picture book biography, The Amazing Age of John Roy Lynch (Eerdmans Books for Young Readers).
So please go, feast your eyes on Don Tate’s artwork, and enjoy a few words from me about the unusual journeys of our subject and our book alike.
October 28, 2014
Writing advice? Don’t take it just from me — take it from…
Tom Angleberger
Artie Bennett
Judy Blundell
Nick Bruel
Michael Buckley
Bryan Collier
Barbara Dee
Bruce Degan
Ame Dyckman
Marla Frazee
Robin Preiss Glasser
Deborah Heiligman
Victoria Kann
Alan Katz
Jarrett J. Krosoczka
Peter Lerangis
Gail Carson Levine
Brian Lies
CJ Lyons
Florence Minor
Wendell Minor
Marc Tyler Nobleman
Matt Phelan
Peter Reynolds
Judy Schachner
Eric Velasquez
Jane Yolen
We each helped author Katie Davis celebrate the 200th episode of her Brain Burps About Books podcast by chippi...
October 27, 2014
A new title for my next* next book
For a decade now, I’ve had a book in the works about Willam, Harold, and Lew Christensen, the Utah-born brothers who had a huge influence in the development of ballet in the United States. Among their many contributions are the first full-length production of The Nutcracker in the US, in 1944.
And for pretty much all that time, this project — which will be published by Millbrook in fall 2015, with illustrations by Cathy Gendron — has gone by the name Pioneers & Pirouettes.
But no more.
As of thi...
October 26, 2014
Scenes from the public debut of Attack! Boss! Cheat Code!
Thanks for capturing these moments, @msphillipsclass!
The Q&A after my debut reading of Attack! Boss! Cheat Code! A Gamer’s Alphabet at the Texas Book Festival today included the following questions/exchanges/assertions:
***
First Girl: Why do boys go crazy for video games?
Me: Same reasons boys do, I guess.
First Girl: I go crazy for TV.
Second Girl: I go crazy for video games and TV.
***
Boy: Why did you write a book about video games? They turn your brain to mush.
***
Third Girl: Even if you don’t l...
October 22, 2014
Bartography Express for October 2014, featuring Attack! Boss! Cheat Code! A Gamer’s Alphabet
How many copies of my new book, Attack! Boss! Cheat Code! A Gamer’s Alphabet, am I giving away this month to subscribers of my monthly newsletter?
Three.
How many opportunities do readers have between now and November 1 to help me celebrate my new book?
Two.
And how many illustrators of Attack! Boss! Cheat Code! participate in this issue’s Q&A?
One.
(OK, so, that one was easy, since there’s only one Joey Spiotto.)
That’s an extremely high-level summary of what you’ll find in this month’s Bartograph...
October 16, 2014
Attack! Boss! Cheat Code! review in Gifted Homeschoolers Forum
I’m so delighted this morning to see Pamela Price’s review of Attack! Boss! Cheat Code! A Gamer’s Alphabet added to the list of resources offered by the Gifted Homeschoolers Forum (GHF).
Here’s GHF’s description of what they have to offer:
With all the resources available to homeschool families, finding the ones that best fit our gifted and 2e kids can be daunting. Who better to help than families who have tried, tested, and reviewed the actual resources with their own kids? GHF has put togethe...
October 15, 2014
Make art, celebrate video games, win a book!
Joey Spiotto, the illustrator of Attack! Boss! Cheat Code! A Gamer’s Alphabet, has got a kid-friendly, art-loving, videogame-celebrating book giveaway going on.
He’s taking contest entries via Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
I understand that I’m disqualified, but you may know someone eligible — maybe even a classroom or library full of eligible someones…
October 14, 2014
Why, yes — it has been a while…
It’s been three and a half years to the day since the publication of my previous book, Can I See Your I.D.?, and today also brings the release of my new book, Attack! Boss! Cheat Code! A Gamer’s Alphabet.
It was not my intention to go so long between books, and according to my publishing schedule I’ll be making up for lost time in the next year and a half. That said, you probably didn’t even notice the gap — heaven knows there’s lots else in the world more worthy of your attention.
But I notice...
And in between our sets, we can swap hair-care tips
After the Texas Book Festival in Austin on October 25-26, I’ll be able to add “Opened for Ziggy Marley” to my resume.
Remember, parents: You’ll want to arrive early at the Children’s Tent to see Ziggy. Probably, like, 30 minutes early…
October 13, 2014
How to Succeed in (the Kidlit) Business Without Really Crying
I was back at Cynsations as a guest blogger last week, sharing my thoughts on a new book that’s now become my go-to gift for graduates — but which is also quite relevant to those of us in the business of making books for young readers:
[W]hen I heard comedian and TV writer Carol Leifer (“Seinfeld,” “Modern Family”) on a podcast several weeks ago talking about the attitudes toward professionalism and creativity that have come in handy during her four-decades-and-counting career, those reflectio...
