Parenting Party

Kane/Miller is one of several co-sponsors of the upcoming Parenting Party happening May 22nd at The Airport Lounge in San Diego.

Travel and commUNITY are themes for the first annual Happy Healthy Hip Parenting Party.

Tickets are $10 per person ($15 at the door). Each guest will receive two drink tickets and a chance to win some FABULOUS prizes throughout the night. Appetizers will be served until 9:30pm and there will be music and fun to help keep the party going.

We hope to see you there!

The Blogabilities are Endless

Every time I blink, another blog is created. I continue to discover noteworthy blogs dedicated to children's literature or reading, in general. Each one is just as creative as the next since its the personality of the writers that make them each what they are.

Here are just a few blogs that I discovered in the last few days:

BITCHING ABOUT BAD BOOKS

This is quite fun. It's one reader's thoughts as she dissects the words she reads and what occurs in her mind as she reads them. Her site does come with a few warnings:

Some Warnings
Bad books and bitching combined can get mean. If you can’t stand it, don’t read it. Nobody forces you to. I do respect the determination and efforts of the authors who manage to finish and publish a book. But that doesn’t mean that the book is good. Nobody’s perfect and some people just can’t write.

I speak and write English pretty well but I’m no native. Errors and faulty grammar will occur.

I also got sidetracked on her other site (equally amusing).

On a completely separate subject, I also found READ TO ME, DAD, A Blog for that New Dad in all of Us to be quite entertaining. Check out this recent post about this dad's first full day with his daughter, Eva.

Don't you wish all dads were like this? My dad has never changed a diaper in his life. Seriously.

May is...

Get Caught Reading Month

Healthy Vision Month

Paul Needs Specs

National Bike Month

A Bicycle for Rosaura

Marta and the Bicycle

Marta y la bicicleta

Be Kind to Animals Week (May 4 - 10)

The Deliverance of Dancing Bears

Reading is Fun Week (May 4 - 10)

Tibili, the Little Boy Who Didn't Want to Go to School

Mother's Day (May 11)

When Mum Was Little

Selma

National Transportation Week (May 11 - 17)

Crazy Cars

On the Road

CHILDREN'S BOOK WEEK (May 12 - 18)

National Backyard Games Week (May 19 - 25)

Playing with Stuff

Slugs Return from Capistrano Day (May 28)

Sally and Dave, A Slug Story

Arbor Day

This is the Tree Author: Moss, Miriam Illustrator: Kennaway, Adrienne Country of Origin: England Ages: 5 - 9

Awards: Outstanding Science Trade Books "What a lovely book! Both the language and the illustrations are exceptional. Since the baobab tree is basically unfamiliar to the most of us, the snippets of factual information are fascinating." - Children's Book Review Service "Lush illustrations and lyrical prose convey the respect that this tree deserves." - Green Teacher "This book is perfect for use by teachers or homeschoolers who are studying the habitat of the African savannah or about the animals of Africa." - The Thinking Mother "The illustrations by Adrienne Kennaway...are colorful, soft, and full of details that small children will love discovering...it’s the magical poetry and inviting pictures of the African plains that children and parents will remember." - Curled Up Kids

Interesting Articles of the Week

I hesitate to comment on these thought-provoking articles and yet...

Who Shares the Biggest Responsibility For Reading to your Children?

I'm all for equality when it comes to parenting, but if one parent is not setting a positive example in an area that the other parent feels important, this certainly has an effect on the other parent's "responsibilities," does it not?

Million Dollar Babies

I just have one word to say - Momcierge!

Diversity in the Classroom

Very disturbing that this type of racism is still being "taught" in our schools.

What are your thoughts?

Blogger's Tea at the Adolphus

Kane/Miller was one of five sponsoring publishers at the Dallas Blogger's Tea at the Adolphus put together by author, consultant and teacher, Anastasia Suen.

Along with representatives from August House, Lee & Low, Peachtree, and Charlesbridge, we were surrounded by great librarians, consultants, authors, and of course kidlit bloggers.

Each and every person in attendance walked away with a book (or two) and several authors and illustrators were on hand to sign books as well.

Anastasia put together a wonderful event and we look forward to seeing what's in store for next year.

Books for New Babies

As of 2007, the average birth rate for the whole world is 20.3 per year per 1000 total population, which for a world population of 6.6 billion comes to 134 million babies per year.

This has never been more apparent than this weekend where we attended Baby Celebration L.A. Held annually at the Los Angeles Convention Center, this event included maternity & baby/toddler fashion shows as well as a play area and diaper changing station for the hundreds of families that were in attendance.

Our books were a hit and we were especially pleased to present our Toddler Tales series and our books for babies (and new siblings):

From Spain
What's Going On?

From Australia
Let's Play!
Little Brothers Are...
Little Sisters Are...
Sophie's Big Bed
When I Was a Baby

From Belgium
And After That...

From England
I Don't Want to Go to Bed!
I Want My Pacifier
I Want My Potty
I Want Tooth
Say Please!
Wash Your Hands!

From the Netherlands
Will You Carry Me?

This Day in History - April 10

April 10, 1866: ASPCA is founded

Kane/Miller has two titles honored by the Henry Bergh Children's Book Award:

From Australia

The Deliverance of Dancing Bears
by Elizabeth Stanley
*ASPCA Henry Bergh Children's Book Award
*ASPCA Henry Bergh Illustration Award

From England

Lucky:
A Dog's Best Friend
by Gus Clarke
*ASPCA Henry Bergh Children's Book Award Finalist

Happy Birthday Anji!

Today is Anji Yamamura's birthday! She is the author and illustrator of Hannah Duck, a new picture book from Japan.

After beginning work as an illustrator, Anji Yamamura moved to Tokyo where she taught herself the art of wood engraving. Her work takes a variety of forms, including picture books, and has won numerous awards.

This Day in History - April 8

April 8, 1974: Aaron sets new home run record

Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth's home run record back in 1974 (although it's been surpassed, of course).

What records have you broken? Encouraging children (of all ages) to reach for the stars, these are the Kane/Miller books that should inspire the artist, athlete and dreamer in all of us!

From England

Hit the Ball Duck
by Jez Alborough

From England

Dan's Angel:
A Detective's Guide to the Language of Paintings
Written by Alexander Sturgis
Illustrated by Lauren Child

From Switzerland

Marta and the Bicycle
Written by Germano Zullo
Illustrated by Albertine

From Australia

Bobbie Dazzler
Written by Margaret Wild
Illustrated by Janine Dawson

From Germany

What Eddie Can Do
by Wilfried Gebhard

This Day in History - April 6

Can I just say how great I would do playing Trivia Pursuit since I started receiving the This Day in History newsletter from The History Channel?

April 6, 1896: First Modern Olympic Games
"In Athens, 280 participants from 13 nations competed in 43 events, covering track-and-field, swimming, gymnastics, cycling, wrestling, weightlifting, fencing, shooting, and tennis."

Kane/Miller has published hundreds of titles in its 25 years, representing authors and illustrators from over 20 countries, and although we don't cover all of the sports mentioned above, there is a brief reference to weightlifting in Could a Tyrannosaurs Play Table Tennis.

Could a Wannanosaurus lift weights?
Illustration by Andrew Plant

We also cover soccer (The Team series) and baseball (Hit the Ball Duck), so whether you're an athlete, dinosaur aficionado or alphabet book collector, these titles are a wonderful choice for active readers!

Young Readers (& Writers)

I spent last week in Minneapolis, representing Kane/Miller at the national conference for the Public Library Association.

Actually, I stayed in St. Paul (where I was born and raised) with my parents. My son traveled with me to experience the meaning of Spring: watching the final bits of snow and ice melt.

We flew from San Diego on the same flight as Brian Selznick, author/illustrator of award-winning The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Brian, my son and I, and a hand full of other travelers spent almost that entire day in the San Diego airport as our 8:45am flight was delayed by nearly five hours.

Brian, on top of the fact that he is a brilliant illustrator and a fabulous storyteller, is also a great individual. He was genuinely interested as my son showed him how his toy worked and explained the fundmanetals of having a car that changes into a robot. I have a great respect for anyone who takes the time to listen to a child - especially when one is waiting at the airport.

While at PLA, I purchased two signed copies of one of Jon Scieszka's new books - one for my son, the other for my nephew. They both loved the book, of course.

After explaining to my son how lucky he is to have such a wonderful library of books (some of which he has yet to grow into) and the opportunity to meet authors and illustrators, it occurred to me that it might be something he can comprehend just yet.

But, as he often does, my son surprised me. Last night at dinner, he announced out of the blue, "When I am a grown-up, I'm going to write a story and there's going to be NO pictures."

I can't wait.

This Day in History: April 2

I'm spending more time learning about history lately. (Having a young boy interested in non-fiction certainly helps!) Researching today's date, April 2nd, I discovered that there are three events which tie in with several Kane/Miller books.

April 2, 1513: Ponce de Leon discovers Florida

What does this have to do with our books? Ponce de Leon was searching for the Fountain of Youth when he landed on the coast of Florida. He claimed the land for Spain, and Kane/Miller claims these books from Spain:

Brush
Written by Pere Calders
Illustrated by Carme Sole Vendrell

Marc Just Couldn't Sleep
Written by Gabriela Keselman
Illustrated by Noemi Villamuza

Sebastian's Roller Skates
Written by Joan de Deu Prats
Illustrated by Francesc Rovira

What's Going On?
Written by Elena O'Callaghan
Illustrated by Africa Fanlo

April 2, 1805: Hans Christian Andersen is born
Hans Christian Andersen, one of the world's greatest storytellers, is born in Odensk, near Copenhagen.

Every other year IBBY presents the Hans Christian Andersen Awards to a living author and illustrator whose complete works have made a lasting contribution to children's literature.

This award is the highest international recognition given to an author and an illustrator of children's books. Even being nominated is a prestigious honor, as only one author and illustrator are selected per country.

Ana Maria Machado, of Brazil, won the Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing in 2000 and Robert Ingpen, of Australia won the Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration in 1986. Other Kane/Miller nominated authors/illustrators include Lila Prap (Slovenia), Jutta Bauer (Germany), and Tony Ross (England).

Nina Bonita
Written by Ana Maria Machado
Illustrated by Rosana Faria


Ziba Came on a Boat
Written by Liz Lofthouse
Illustrated by Robert Ingpen


1001 Stories


Why?
by Lila Prap


Selma
by Jutta Bauer


The Little Princess series
by Tony Ross

April 2, 1941: Life of Riley radio show debuts
Many people wonder where the saying, "Living the life of Riley," came from. Some say it stems from the title of this famous radio show that was on the air for ten years. Others say it goes back much, much further.

We say, "Release Your Inner Riley," will be a common phrase once the current generation gets their hands on Colin Thompson and Amy Lissiat's picture book, featuring the famous rat.

From Australia

The Short and Incredibly Happy Life of Riley
by Colin Thompson & Amy Lissiat

Baby Celebration

Join us Saturday, April 12 - Sunday, April 13
Los Angeles Convention Center
Booth #434