Big Books in the Big Apple

Just back from a swoop through the New York publishing offices on a buying trip for Raising Readers.

I have over 237 board and picture books in play (and stacked on my office floor) to select from for the literacy group's upcoming book selection committee meeting.

The group gives 12-15 books to Maine kids from birth to age 5 at their well child doctor visits. The organization has given out 1.2 million books in the last seven years!

If under pen point I had to choose the work I love the most, it would be hunting down and narrowing down what books amongst 1000's published each year, the group considers.

Also on my "to do" are events for Raising Readers, building an annual anthology for 5-year-olds, and maintaining their Blog.

Here I am pictured with Anne Quirion and Diane Skog from Raising Readers, happy as a clam to be headed into the Scholastic Store to read picture books upon the long tail of the Marc Teague dino.

More pictures.

Illustration Huzzahs

Huzzah! Huzzah! The brilliant Melissa Sweet has been feted as such this morning in the New York Times Book Review.

Her stunner of a many-layered tribute to the poetic mind of William Carlos Williams, River of Words (Eerdmans Books for Young Readers) has been named "Best Illustrated."

You must get your dear paws on this book to savor the collage of fonts, old book covers, watercolors, and bits of this-and-that that mirror Williams' creativity. Read a brief interview with Melissa about the book.

Also honored for her collage work is Carin Berger, the final guest in the sorely missed Lunch Box Series. Her book The Little Yellow Leaf is stark and startling. A beautiful treatise on patience and the passing of seasons. Lovely, lovely work.

The other "well met" choice is genius, Kadir Nelson. His book We Are the Ship collects his breathtaking portraits of the Negro Leagues. You have not seen light until you have see light reflected off his figures and faces.

View a slide show of the 2008 Best Illustrated from the NYTBR.