February 2014

LIBRARIANSHIP FOR CHILDREN IN 2014

The Children's Book Guild has always included among its members distinguished librarians, including some who wear many hats in the field. On February 20, a panel of
librarians from public and community libraries will discuss the diverse aspects of their work, from evaluating books, developing their collections and their staffs and planning educational programs, to serving on award committees, teaching at local universities and reviewing books for newspapers and journals.

Karen MacPherson is head of the children's department at the Takoma Park Maryland
Library, where she develops the book collection and creates programs that serve a diverse population. For years she wrote weekly columns and blogs for the Scripps Howard News Service and various newspapers. She still reviews books for several journals and continues her blog for the library.

Kathie Meizner is head of the Kensington Branch of the Montgomery County Public Libraries and supervises the wonderful and unique Noyes Children's Library in Kensington. She reviews books for a number of journals, has held several positions in the Guild, served on the Newbery Committee and was chair of the Sibert Committee, which  chooses outstanding nonfiction books each year.

Deborah Taylor is a young adult librarian and coordinator of school and student services at the Enoch Pratt Library in Baltimore. She has chaired the Coretta Scott King Award Committee and the Printz Award Committee, and she teaches courses at the University of Maryland. She also developed and coordinated a wonderful biannual program called Books for the Beast, which brings adults and teenagers together to discuss YA literature.

Maria Salvadore, who will moderate the panel, is a consultant for a number of literacy programs, such Turning the Page and WETA's Reading Rockets. She was formerly coordinator of children's services for the DC Public Library and now teaches courses in children's literature at the University of Maryland. She has served on the ALA Notable Books Committee and chaired the Caldecott Committee.

RSVP NOW!

Date: Thursday, February 20
Time:  11:30 a.m. "social hour"; noon luncheon
Place: Busboys and Poets 
1025 Fifth Street NW (at K Street) 

Menu: All choices $25 ($26 when paid online via PayPal)

:: CHOICE OF SANDWICH (all sandwiches served with a salad of baby greens and house-made kettle chips) ::
• Falafel Sandwich (vegetarian/vegan) with house-made hummus, cucumbers, lettuce, tomato and onion on whole-wheat pita, served with tahini sauce (vegan without tahini sauce) 
• Home-Roasted Turkey Sandwich with Havarti cheese, Dijonnaise, lettuce, tomato and onion on wheat bread
• Grilled Chicken Panini with chipotle mayo, caramelized onions, pepper jack, lettuce and tomato on ciabatta
• Portabella Mushroom Panini (vegetarian) with pesto, roasted red pepper and fresh mozzarella on herb ciabatta  
:: DESSERT ::
Assorted Cookies (family style)
:: BEVERAGES ::
Fountain Drinks (unlimited soft drinks and iced tea), fresh coffee and organic tea 

 

 

IN THIS ISSUE:

1. Honors for Susan Roth
2. The April 5 Nonfiction Award Event

3. Member Nomination: Kitson Jazynka

4. Diane Stanley's Visit to the Guild

5. Member News


THE CHILDREN'S BOOK GUILD CONGRATULATES SUSAN L. ROTH AND CO-AUTHOR CINDY TRUMBORE...

 

 

...for Parrots over Puerto Rico, winner of the 2014 Sibert Medal, which is awarded to the most distinguished informational children's book of the year. Parrots over Puerto Rico is also a 2014 Orbis Pictus Honor Book.

 

SAVE THE DATE: APRIL 5!

Please download the flyer for the April 5 event and share it with friends. It is time to spread the word and RSVP. We are excited to honor Candace Fleming as our 2014 Nonfiction Award winner. 

 

 

MEMBER NOMINATION: KITSON JAZYNKA

 

Moira Donahue nominates Kitson Jazynka for Children's Book Guild membership in the author category. Fred Bowen seconds the nomination.

 

Kitson Jazynka is the author of three books for children: Boys Camp: Nate’s Story (Sky Pony Press, 2013), Martin Luther King, Jr. (National Geographic Kids, 2013) and Carrot in My Pocket (Moon Mountain Publishing, 2001). Kitson is also the author of several forthcoming books: Mission Animal Rescue: Wolves, a deep look into the world of this species’ comeback, due out in May 2014 and published by National Geographic Kids; Mission Animal Rescue: Tigers, due out in April 2015; a biography of Sacagawea to be published by National Geographic Kids in fall 2014; and Boys Camp: Zee’s Story, a middle-grade book due out in early 2015 from Sky Pony Press.

Kitson attended several Guild meetings in 2013 and early 2014. She met lots of new friends, learned a great deal from the speakers and enjoyed the camaraderie of others who love the business of creating children's books. 

 

 

Kitson grew up in Northern Virginia and has been a writer since childhood. She writes for children's magazines, including American Girl, Young Rider and National Geographic Kids. She also contributes to the Washington Post's KidsPost. A lifelong horse lover and equestrian, Kitson writes regularly for equestrian and dog magazines, including Horse Illustrated, Dressage Today, Dog Fancy, Popular Puppies and Natural Dog. In addition, Kitson has written for newspapers, trade journals, corporate marketing organizations and associations. In 2011, she wrote a book for the Washington, D.C., Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Foundation about the creation of the historic memorial.

 

 

A longtime member of SCBWI, Kitson earned a bachelor’s degree in writing and communications from George Mason University. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband, their two young sons, a dog and a cat. Her horses live the good life in Potomac, Md.

 

 

 

MULTIFACETED, MULTITALENTED DIANE STANLEY

by Jennifer O’Connell and Susan Stockdale

Diane Stanley has created more than 50 books and has won so many prestigious awards that it would be difficult to name them all, but in 2000 she was honored for her distinguished body of work with the Washington Post/Children’s Book Guild Nonfiction Award. On January 16, she returned to address Guild members again and inspired listeners with her grace, humor and immense talent.

Stanley shared the journey of her enduring career, one in which she has reinvented herself several times. An avid reader and artist since childhood, she began as a medical illustrator, having obtained her master’s degree in medical and biological illustration from Johns Hopkins University. Later, when she had a young family and read constantly to her three children, she fell in love with children’s books.

After teaching herself how to create illustrations for books, Stanley brought a portfolio to New York–and the rest is history. With the 1983 publication of The Conversation Club, she became an author as well. Her formal training in medical illustration and the attention to detail that it required have influenced her work over the years. As an illustrator she has employed various techniques, “whatever the book called for,” she said. She has worked in woodcuts, egg tempera, pastels, acrylics, gouache, colored pencils and, early in her career, pen and ink with overlays. When talking about her famous biography series, she said that each book’s illustrations reflect the culture of the time. Cleopatra was illustrated in a mosaic style; Saladin, in delicate Persian miniatures.

In time, as Stanley saw the “Golden Age of Illustration”--the years when Maurice Sendak, Arnold Lobel and other great illustrators were in their heyday--fading away, and publishers were dealing with slashed budgets, she realized that the publishing world was changing. As a result, her style of illustration was less in demand. She decided to change too, to put away her paints and write novels.

Stanley described moments of great inspiration while writing–as when the second half of her novel Bella at Midnight came to her “like a gift from a muse, in the middle of the night,” she said. “I knew as I was writing that something was happening. I was once again finding my footing.” She also talked of experiencing “flow,” which she described as a single-minded immersion in her work, when she feels a positive, energized, spontaneous joy, even rapture. At these times she has to force herself to leave her desk. I think many of us have experienced this feeling!

Guild members and their guests all left Busboys and Poets feeling invigorated and motivated. Thank you, Diane Stanley!

 

MEMBER NEWS

MARTY RHODES FIGLEY will present a program and sign her book President Lincoln, Willie Kettles, and the Telegraph Machine during Presidential Family Day at the National Portrait Gallery on February 15, from 1 to 3 p.m.

 

LAURA MURRAY was thrilled to receive the news that her picture book The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School was chosen as a 2013-2014 nominee for the South Dakota Prairie Bud Book Award and is a 2014-2015 Indiana Young Hoosier's Picture Book Award nominee as well.

Reading Rainbow has created a narrated and animated interactive version of SUSAN STOCKDALE's picture book Fabulous Fishes. Children can click on the illustrations and see fish fly, seahorses dance and waves crash across the page. This format will be available soon as a subscription app for "Reading Rainbow Kidz" on the iPad and Kindle Fire.

 

 

Also, Susan's first picture book, Some Sleep Standing Up (long out of print!), has been licensed for publication in China by the Foreign Language Teaching and Research Publishing Company. 

 

 

 

On February 7 and 8, JENNIFER O'CONNELL will give a presentation on the creation of The Eye of the Whale and how to use it in the classroom at the annual conference of the Maryland Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education (MAEOE), in Ocean City. Jennifer will also participate in an authors/artists walk, during which she will sell and sign her books as well as limited-edition archival prints of her illustrations.

 



 



Attention, Guild Members: At the April Nonfiction Award celebration, the Guild will present a basket of members' books to a Washington, D.C., school. Please bring your book donations to the February or March meeting.

 

WE ♥ BOOKS!



Thanks to all of you who responded to my request for titles of books Guild members have written for children ages two through five. The staff at East Gate Montessori School reviewed all suggested book titles and selected those they felt were a good match for their students, and we ordered many of them. Books will be on display and available for public purchase from Hooray for Books! on Wednesday, February 26, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., at the opening of the school library, 43665 Tall Cedars Parkway, Chantilly, Va. you have friends who live in the area, please invite them to attend. -- Mary Bowman-Kruhm



********

Tweet Your News!

Do you have a publication date for a new book, a local appearance coming up or an award nomination to tout? Don't be shy! The Guild has its own Twitter account (@ChildrensBookGuild) and is looking for news to tweet. Just send your news to Caroline Hickey (carolinesmithhickey@gmail.com), preferably already edited to fit the 140-character limit. If you'd like to include a link to a webpage with more information, the URL must be included in the 140 characters. URLs can be condensed at a number of sites, including http://www.tinyurl.com. If this sounds like too much effort, just send whatever you have to Caroline and she'll make the magic happen.

 

*********

NOTE ABOUT THE CHILDREN'S BOOK GUILD NEWS: Would you rather print your newsletter than read it online? Current and past issues now available for printing on the Guild's website at http://www.childrensbookguild.org/guild-newsletters. Look for the "Newsletter" tab on the left side of the Guild website. There is also a "Printer Friendly Version" link on the top left hand side of this blog.

***********