“I like to be surprised; to open a book
and hear a voice I haven’t heard before,” Simon Boughton has said. That delight
in the fresh and new spurred him to pursue an impressive career in children’s
publishing.
Boughton, who held his first publishing
job at London-based Kingfisher books, moved to the United States in 1986 and
worked as an editor at Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers and,
subsequently, Crown Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Random House
Children’s Books. In 1994 he was made publishing director of Alfred A. Knopf
and Crown Books for Young Readers.
He left Random House in 2000 to start
Roaring Brook Press, where books he acquired, edited and published included,
among others, the Caldecott Medal winners My
Friend Rabbit, by Eric Rohmann,
and The Man Who Walked Between the
Towers, by Mordicai Gerstein; Caldecott Honor books by Lane Smith; Printz
Medal and Honor books by Marcus Sedgwick; and National Book Award finalists by Steve
Sheinkin. He oversaw the launch of the First Second graphic novel imprint and in
2009 was made publishing director of the newly created Macmillan Children’s
Publishing Group, where he continued as publisher of the Farrar Straus & Giroux
for Young Readers, First Second and Roaring Brook Press imprints until leaving
in 2017.
In 2018, Boughton joined W. W. Norton
& Company, the
country’s oldest and largest independent, employee-owned publishing house,
to develop Norton Young Readers, a new children’s and young adult publishing
program. On Thursday, October 17, he will speak to the Children’s Book Guild
about the process, challenges and choices involved in starting a new publishing business in today’s market.
Date: Thursday, October 17
Menu: All choices $25 ($26 when paid online via PayPal)
:: CHOICE OF SANDWICH (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)
• Honey-roasted turkey sandwich with Havarti cheese, chipotle mayo, lettuce, tomato and onion on white bread
• Grilled-chicken panini with chipotle mayo, caramelized onions, pepper jack, lettuce and tomato on ciabatta
• Avocado panini with roasted red peppers and melted cheese on multigrain bread
IN THIS ISSUE:
1. Catherine Reef to Receive the 2020 Nonfiction Award
2. Philip Lee and June Jo Lee Create Books for Young Readers and Eaters
3. Member Newsby Liane Rosenblatt, Chair, Nonfiction Award Committee
The 2020 Nonfiction Award Committee of the Children’s Book
Guild of Washington, D.C., is pleased to announce Catherine Reef as the Nonfiction
Award Winner for 2020. Through dozens of nonfiction books for young adults and
middle school students, Reef has produced a body of distinguished and
award-winning work, notable for impeccable research, insightful
interpretations and writing that keeps readers engaged.
Catherine Reef’s biographies offer an in-depth study of
legendary figures who represent different eras and fields of endeavor, such as
Queen Victoria, Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera and Sigmund Freud. Her carefully hewn
character portrayals are evident in all her biographies. Her ability to weave intricate research into
a compelling narrative keeps youthful readers involved in the lives of authors
such as E. E. Cummings and Ernest Hemingway. Her historical studies mainly cover topics in
African American history: Buffalo Soldiers, black explorers, African American soldiers serving in the Civil War, the African diaspora and the resettlement of African Americans in
Liberia.
Twenty-one of her books written from 1996 to 2018 have received significant distinctions. For example, her 2018 publication, Mary
Shelley: The Strange True Tale of Frankenstein’s Creator, was a Junior Library Guild selection for 2018; it received a NOBLE Book Award for Young
Adult Nonfiction, 2018, and was included among YALSA’s Excellence in Nonfiction titles, 2019; the Cooperative
Children’s Book Center Choices, 2019; and Bank Street College’s Best Children’s
Books of the Year, 2019. The number of
books honored show Catherine Reef to be a prolific writer who produces highly
regarded works. Her newest book is Sarah
Bernhardt: The Divine and Dazzling Life of the World’s First
Superstar, which will become available in June 2020.
Nonfiction Award Committee members Winifred Conkling and
Rashin Kheiriyeh and adviser Maria Salvadore marveled at Reef’s
ability to hook readers early and place characters in complex emotional and
political contexts. Many thanks to them
for their spirited discussions about Reef’s books.
THROUGH READERS TO EATERS, PHILIP LEE AND JUNE JO LEE FURTHER CULTURAL LITERACY
by Rhoda Trooboff
Guild
members and guests at the September 19 lunchtime lecture at Busboys & Poets
enjoyed a delectable talk by Philip Lee and June Jo Lee about the intimate
connections among food, culture and literacy. Strengthening those connections
forms the core mission of the Lees’ 10-year-old San Francisco-based small
independent publishing house, Readers to Eaters (R2E). Linking “good reads and
good eats,” June Jo Lee, a food ethnographer, and Philip Lee, a co-founder of
Lee & Low Books, designed Readers to Eaters to “make food a bridge” to
literacy and cultural understanding.
The
Lees cited findings from the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Family
Dinner Project, which links food access, shared family meals and healthy
culture-based eating habits with physical, mental, social, psychological and
ethical wellness. Logically, since food promotes well-being and literacy among
children, and since foodways are deep resources for cultural understanding, it
follows that high-quality books about food from all cultures are essential
ingredients in the children’s publishing industry.
June Jo
Lee and Philip Lee reminded listeners that when moving from one cultural
setting to another, food is “the part of your cultural identity that you hold
onto the longest.” Both recalled their personal food-culture histories, which started
in their childhood homes. Born in Seoul, Republic of Korea, June Jo Lee moved
to Houston with her family as a toddler. Her early interest in culture and food
led her to study anthropology at the University of Texas at Austin and to
specialize in food ethnography at Harvard and then as a corporate consultant.
In addition to fulfilling her roles as publisher and author, she works as
Google’s resident food ethnographer (which, she says, “helps to fund R2E”).
Philip Lee
was born in Hong Kong and moved with his family to Los Angeles when he was 14.
He began reading for pleasure only after taking a job at the University of
California Berkeley’s campus bookstore. His first job in publishing was with
the magazine conglomerate Condé Nast in the 1980s, where, as “the only person
of color” in junior management, he was charged with “forward planning” and
alerted the corporate executives to the likely impact of a younger and more
culturally diverse U.S. population on their industry. In 1991, he left Condé Nast and with Tom Low founded Lee & Low to
highlight diversity in children’s books, “consistently and intentionally, with
diverse artists of color, new voices, new talents.”
The
Lees launched Readers to Eaters at a pop-up shop at a San Francisco street
market in March 2009, soon after First Lady Michelle Obama opened her garden at
the White House. R2E’s list now comprises 10 books. Its most recent title is
June Jo Lee’s first book for children, Chef Roy Choi and the Street Food
Remix, co-written with Jacqueline Briggs Martin and illustrated by
Mexican-Angeleno graffiti artist Man One.
Several
Readers to Eaters books are part of a series, Food Heroes, which features urban
gardeners, chefs and food-truck cooks. Because of their passionate dedication
to food, cultural understanding and children’s literature, June Jo Lee and
Philip Lee can themselves be regarded as Food Heroes. I hope one day someone
will be lucky enough to write a book about them!
MEMBER NEWS
SUSAN STOCKDALE will lead an art workshop and sign books at the 2019 Fall for the Book Festival, located at 999 University Drive in Fairfax, VA, on Saturday, October 12, from 1 to 2:15 p.m.
Two new books by LAURA GEHL will be released in October. The first is Baby Botanist, the third book in the Baby Scientist board book series, illustrated by Daniel Wiseman and published by HarperCollins. The second is Always Looking Up: Nancy Grace Roman, Astronomer, a picture book biography of the "mother of Hubble," published by Albert Whitman and illustrated by Louise Pigott and Alex Oxton.
MARTY RHODES FIGLEY is honored that this fall her book The True Story of Jim the Wonder Dog will be the school-wide read aloud at J. Frank Hillyard Middle School in Broadway, VA. On October 21, Marty will visit the school, present an afternoon talk to the students and join in their Literacy Night celebration—including a spaghetti dinner.
New from KALLI DAKOS is Recess in the Dark (DC Canada Educational Publishing, August 2019), a collection of 24 poems that offers a new perspective on how students live in the Canadian North, complete with stunning illustrations by Erin Mercer of that country’s natural beauty.
A former teacher and reading specialist, Kalli taught at Sir Alexander Mackenzie School in Inuvik, Northwest Territories. She has returned on author visits to encourage the children to write about their fascinating lives above the Arctic Circle. This book was inspired on one of these trips, when “recess in the dark” was chosen as a favorite writing topic.
In September, Scholastic released two books by MOIRA ROSE DONOHUE: Tree Frogs: Life in the Trees and The U. S. Constitution: Why It Matters to You.
BRENDA SEABROOKE's third story written as Dr. Watson, "The Curse at Barcombe Keep," was just published by MX in England to benefit the school for children with disabilities in Arthur Conan Doyle's former home Upshaw.
MAGINATION PRESS has several authors attending regional trade shows around the country, most recently: Lysa Mullady at the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance; Merriam Sarcia Saunders, Danielle Dufayet and Julie Dillemuth at the Northern California Booksellers Association; Julie Dillemuth, Kathryn Gonzales and Danielle Dufayet at the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association; and Kathryn Gonzales and Pat Mora at the Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers Association.
Two books published by Magination Press, Frank J. Sileo's Bee Calm: The Buzz on Yoga and Dufayet's You Are Your Strong, have been named winners in the 2020 Teachers' Choice Awards, presented by Learning Magazine.
SUE FLIESS has two new books out this fall! How to Trick a Christmas Elf (Sky Pony Press, September 17) follows four children as they devise a plan to sneak a peek at their elf’s naughty-or-nice list by crafting a miniature sleigh to distract him.
Sue's Little Golden Book Robots, Robots Everywhere! recently appeared on Today with Hoda & Jenna, as part of a library for a baby, in a nursery created for a new mom.
Catch Sue at some upcoming local appearances.
THE GUILD'S ROSTER HAS BEEN UPDATED
The Children's Book Guild Roster has been updated and is available on the website to download under Member Contacts on the https://childrensbookguild.org/member-contacts. If you do not have the passwords to gain access, please contact our membership chair, Amy Hansen at amy.hansenATnasw.org.
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NOTE ABOUT THE CHILDREN'S BOOK GUILD NEWS: Would you rather print your newsletter than read it online? Current and past issues are 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.
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LITERARY EVENTS SPONSORED BY POLITICS AND PROSE: The literary calendar at Politics and Prose lists many upcoming programs that may be of interest to Children's Book Guild members: http://www.politics-prose.com/events. Among October's speakers is HENA KHAN.
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