"Jump at the Sun, an imprint of Hyperion Books for Children dedicated to the mission of creating high quality children's books that celebrate diversity, has entered into a multi-book publishing program with Whoopi Goldberg."
US: February 2004 Archives
New York Post Online Edition: entertainment
Please Don't Kill The Freshman by Zoe Trope
"...a 17-year-old girl whose book "Please Don't Kill the Freshman," written under the pen name Zoe Trope, has won raves from writers like Dave Eggers and Jonathan Safran Foer..."
The Best Answer (washingtonpost.com)
"Yo, Mr. R -- we gonna read today?" A battered copy of a young-adult novel called The Giver materialized from the depths of his baggy jeans pocket as the 11th-grader sauntered into English class at Mount Vernon High School...
So begins a long and well-written article in the Washington Post about a US teacher's disillusionment with the climate of testing. Altohugh it's American, the piece will ring many a chord with those who teach or study in UK schools.
Recommended
"...I should have known what was coming as soon as I saw the chicken wings. We had to raise our scores, she told us.
One way to do that, she said, was "bell-to-bell teaching": Every child's fanny in a seat from the moment the bell rings until the end of class 90 minutes later....
As I drove home from school after that faculty meeting, the trees along the George Washington Parkway cast straight shadows like a bar code. I imagined myself being scanned at some giant checkout counter, an unseen hand ringing up the "product" it was now my duty to "deliver." I pulled over at my favorite spot overlooking the Potomac, where there was a view about which I had composed a line of poetry every morning on my commute for the past decade...
I've discovered that, even though I'm working with more privileged kids, some things are just the same. Like the warm fuzzy teacher feeling I got last week when one of my eighth-graders walked into class clutching a young-adult mystery called Ghost Canoe and asked, "Mr. R, can we read today?"
Boston.com / Your Life / House & Home / For this children's author, pet hedgehog says it all
At home with author Jan Brett and musician Joseph Hearne
By Karen Campbell, Boston Globe Correspondent, 2/19/2004
"When author and illustrator Jan Brett needs inspiration for one of the delightful animal characters populating her award-winning children's books, she need look no further than her own backyard. Four ducks, two roosters, and 11 hens (including six exotic Chinese Silkies) share a split-level henhouse, complete with heated pool and classical music. Brett's menagerie also includes an adorable African pygmy hedgehog, her totem animal. It appears in every book the 54-year-old New York Times best-selling author writes, often tucked discreetly on a border as a little visual game for her most discerning young readers... ..."
Recommended
"[Lee Ann] Rimes has recently made her first foray into children's books, publishing the tale Jag with Sheremet's [her husband's] help. The couple got married in February 2002.
New children's books celebrate Black History Month
Recommendations for Black History Month [US]
"Finding children's books to celebrate Black History Month has never been easier..."
a review of Shelf Life - a collection of short stories edited by Gary Paulsen
"In the introduction, Paulsen discusses his love for books, and how he will never forget the influential people in his life who first introduced him to reading for pleasure. The essay is emotional and describes his own experiences with literature, and how it changed his life..."
Boy writes author who captured imagination
"Twelve-year-old Wesley Speer, a sixth-grader at Waldorf School of Louisville, was so moved by "The Pit Dragon Trilogy" books that he wrote author Jane Yolen, asking her to write another book in the series...."
Contra Costa Times | 02/01/2004 | Fox allows her imagination to soar
"In December, Universal released the feature film "Peter Pan"; coming in October, Johnny Depp will be starring as the Scottish writer Barrie, with Kate Winslet as Wendy, in the biographical film "Neverland."
And then there's Laurie Fox's new novel, The Lost Girls released in January. The playful and dark take on the Pan fable captures four generations of "Wendys" who must contend with the repercussions of their short-lived adventures in Neverland."
