June 2012

 AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE CYBILS

Kid-friendly, blogger-approved! Discover the Cybils, the Children's and Young Adult Bloggers Literary Awards, with an insider's view of the background, criteria, judging and promotion. Get MotherReader's advice on getting out and getting noticed online through blogs and other social media.

Pam Coughlan writes the blog MotherReader, which features book reviews, literary commentary and occasional humor. Founder and administrator of the website KidLitosphere Central, she contributes to the blogger book awards, the Cybils, as the Fiction Picture Book organizer. For nine years, Coughlan worked in the children's departments of public libraries in Northern Virginia, but with layoffs keeping her at home with her teen daughters, she's taking her book-loving act on the road. Join us for our final event of the year, with Pam Coughlan.

Date: Thursday, June 14
Time: 11:15–Social Hour; Noon–Luncheon
Place: Bailey's Sports Grille, 4238 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA (Metro: Ballston)
Menu: Buffet--all choices $25.00

RSVP NOW!

IN THIS ISSUE
1. The Guild supports D.C. Public School Librarians
2. John Bemelmans Marciano at the May Guild Luncheon
3. Member Nomination: Jean Heilprin Diehl
4. Member News
5. Pirate Fun in Frostburg
6. Residency Opportunity for D.C. Artists and Writers


D.C. PUBLIC-SCHOOL LIBRARIANS SUPPORTED BY THE GUILD
by Maria Salvadore

In spite of support from the Children’s Book Guild and its members as well as other individuals and organizations, the D.C. City Council let cuts to the school libraries stand. As a result, the D.C. Public Schools will have fewer librarians in the upcoming year.

As many Guild members know, it is very often the school librarian who makes books and information widely available to students and teachers; in addition, the librarian often arranges author/illustrator visits and generally plays a vital role in a school. 

Pat Brown, manager of Library Media Services for the D.C. Public Schools, reports that “This year, [the chancellor] highlighted that the school system was not able to provide funding for part-time librarians at elementary schools with fewer than 300 students. The result is that 34 schools that budgeted for at least a part-time librarian in FY12 did not budget for one in FY13.”

Efforts to mitigate losing school librarians have not been successful. Nevertheless, Brown remains optimistic, thanking the Guild and others for their support, saying, “This round may be over but the awareness raised through everyone’s efforts puts us in a different place moving forward. We must NOT let up! Now more than ever, we must unite and continue to advocate for our role [as school librarians] in education. We must also truly elevate the programming and instruction we offer our communities and continue to make connections through collaboration.  We must build the model for the future because the students we serve deserve better.”

JOHN BEMELMANS MARCIANO BUILDS ON HIS FAMILY'S LEGACY

 by Fred Bowen
 

To say the speaker at the May luncheon of the Children’s Book Guild, John Bemelmans Marciano, has an interesting background is to understate the case. 

Growing up on a horse farm in New Jersey, Marciano heard lots of stories. From his father he heard about his Italian grandfather, who lost his entire family in a tsunami before World War I. From his mother he heard stories of sipping cocktails with Ernest Hemingway and Dorothy Parker.

Marciano’s maternal grandfather was Ludwig Bemelmans, the author-illustrator of the Madeline books. The little girl who lived in the Paris house covered in vines may be the most beloved character in all of children’s literature. If she is not, then she is certainly on a very short list. Bemelmans, however, did more than produce the Madeline books. He wrote books for adults, movie scripts and New Yorker articles, and he painted New Yorker covers.

Although he never met his famous grandfather (who died in 1962), Marciano kept up the tradition of an eclectic working lifestyle. He was employed as a restaurant kitchen manager, architectural assistant, computer programmer and editor of a small-town newspaper. Then, one day, while working on a nonfiction book about his grandfather, Marciano found an unfinished Madeline manuscript. It became Marciano’s first book, Madeline in America. Marciano was off on yet another career, as a children’s author and illustrator. More Madeline books (and other books) followed, as Marciano tried to evoke his grandfather’s “deceptively simple” drawings.

Lately, Marciano has become part of the Brooklyn art and children’s book scene. He shares studio space with four other Brooklyn children’s book illustrators, and he took part in a recent show at the Brooklyn Public Library, “Drawn in Brooklyn,” which featured the work of 30 children’s book illustrators. In addition, he has established the so-called “Bookmakers Dozen,” a group of local writers and artists that gets together every month to exchange ideas and talk shop. All these experiences underscore how diverse and talented the children’s book field is. They have also driven home to Marciano how hard writers and artists in the children’s market have to work to make a living.

This group, of course, includes Marciano. It can’t be easy to follow a legend and to keep Madeline so beloved.

MEMBER NOMINATION: JEAN HEILPRIN DIEHL

Joyce Schwartz and Ellen Butts are proposing Jean Heilprin Diehl for membership in the Guild. Joyce and Ellen write, "As a longtime member of our writers’ group, Jean is a frequent contributor and an insightful editor of the work submitted by others. She’s attended many Guild functions and would be a valuable addition to our roster."

Jean writes for both children and adults. She is the author of the picture books Three Little Beavers and Loon Chase, as well as Paloma’s Pie (an e-book), and she was a finalist for an SCBWI WIP award for a contemporary novel. Her short fiction has appeared in literary journals, magazines and anthologies. She has received a James Michener Award as well as awards from the Maryland State Arts Council and the Copernicus Society of America.

Jean has worked as a newspaper and radio reporter; a teacher, editor and book reviewer; and a writer for educational publishers. She has also had a few more colorful avocations, such as circus clown, fish cutter and radio folk show host. Jean has lived on four continents and currently resides in Maryland with her husband, journalist Jackson Diehl, and their children.

MEMBER NEWS

To thank the great states of Vermont and Rhode Island for including her novel When Life Gives You O.J. on the master lists for the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award and the Rhode Island Children's Choice Book Award, ERICA PERL is offering free Skype author visits to interested classes, libraries and reading groups in either state and waiving her usual requirement that the kids read the book first. She encourages any school or group to make a donation to First Book in honor of her visit. She has a personal fundraising page (www.firstbook.org/ericaperl) and is happy to help anyone else interested in setting one up.

FRED BOWEN's latest book, Quarterback Season, was included on the International Reading Association--Children's Book Council's 2012 Reading List: http://www.reading.org/Libraries/Awards/ChildrensChoices2012_web.pdf

MARC TYLER NOBELMAN's nonfiction picture book Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman will be out July 1 from Charlesbridge. Early reviews and tweets are trickling in and so far the reception is universally positive.


JANE HARRINGTON is teaching a children's literature course (as well as college composition) at Southern Virginia University in Buena Vista, Va. Jane is also starting a low-residency MFA program in fiction at Carlow University (Pittsburgh) and will begin work on it in June at Carlow's residency in Dublin, Ireland!

No Sleep for the Sheep, by Karen Beaumont and illustrated by JACKIE URBANOVIC, will be included in The Family Bedtime Treasury, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.  It has also been chosen for the 2012 Texas 2x2 reading list, and it has been named to the Bankstreet

Best Children's Books of the Year 2012 in the under-five category.  

JACQUELINE JULES is excited to report that she will be a featured speaker on the Friday Author Panel for the Longwood University Summer Literacy Institute: The Joy of Reading.

http://www.longwood.edu/assets/education/Summer_Literacy_Institute_2012_Flier.pdf

JENNIFER ALLISON presented awards to winners of the Montgomery County Council of the International Reading Association (MCCIRA) Young Authors Contest on Saturday, May 26. Also, Jennifer will be moving with her family to Chicago this summer but plans to remain a nonresident member of the Guild. Let her know if you find yourself in the Chicago area for a book event: jennifer@gildajoyce.com

BRENDA SEABROOKE's literary short story Potiphar's Wife was just published in Kerem, Creative Explorations in Judaism, by the Jewish Study Center, Inc., in Washington, D.C.

SUSAN STOCKDALE reports that Pomegranate Publishers has published note cards and a block puzzle featuring her picture book imagery. These items are available online at pomegranate.Susan+stockdale and in selected stores worldwide.

                                                                                   

Also, Susan looks forward to participating on a "Nonfiction Book Blast" panel at the American Library Association's Annual Convention in Anaheim, Calif.

The Bronte Sisters, by CATHERINE REEF, which will be released in October, received an early starred review from Booklist.

 

The Mangrove Tree: Planting Trees to Feed Families, written by SUSAN L. ROTH and Cindy Trumbore, and also illustrated by Susan, is the winner of the Jane Addams Children's Book Award in the Books for Younger Children category. The award honors children's books of excellence that promote peace, social justice, world community and the equality of the sexes and all races.

Susan Roth and Uma Krishnaswami at the International Reading Association convention in Chicago, where Susan learned she had won the Jane Addams Award

 PIRATES TO INVADE FROSTBURG!

The Children’s Literature Centre at Frostburg State University and Frostburg First are teaming up to provide a day of pirate merriment, tales and treats, on Wednesday, July 11. Buccaneer activities, including crafts, a treasure-hunt and a presentation by children’s author George Ella Lyon, will take place throughout the day, beginning with registration at 9:30 a.m. at City Place
on Water Street. Visiting pirates will be challenged to discover the secret pirates’ den, where pirate stories and songs will be shared. All are encouraged to dress as pirates. Frostburg businesses and restaurants will be open, with special bargains for visiting buccaneers.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the Children’s Literature Centre at 301-687-3133 or clc@frostburg.edu. Space is limited. Pirate crews of five or more are encouraged to contact the Centre to reserve space.

A SCHOOL-BASED RESIDENCY PROGRAM FOR D.C. ARTISTS

The D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities is offering a new funding opportunity to individual artists.The purpose of the Artist Residency in Schools (ARIS) program is to support student learning in and through the arts by placing D.C. artists in classrooms through a school-based residency. A residency involves a teaching artist providing workshops to elementary, middle or high school students in D.C. public schools or public charter schools.

The primary focus of ARIS is to support projects that integrate the arts and a non-arts subject, such as math, history, social studies or language arts. The program will also support residencies designed to introduce or enhance student knowledge and participation in a particular art form, such as dance, design, folk and traditional arts, literature, media arts, music, theater and visual arts, only if it is supported with a curriculum.

ARIS guidelines and full instructions about the mandatory residency components may be found at http://dcarts.dc.gov/DC/DCARTS/Grants/Guide+to+Grants#2

All individual artists seeking to work with youth must submit proposals through the Artist Residency in Schools program. Individual artists may not apply to the Arts Education Program.

There will be a workshop to review the guidelines and program components on Wednesday, June 6, from 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. (D.C. Commission Offices – 1371 Harvard Street NW).

Carlyn Madden, arts education manager, is also available by appointment for individual technical assistance (carlyn.madden@dc.gov).