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Showing posts with label KidLitCon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label KidLitCon. Show all posts

KidLitCon by the Books!

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Well, I'm back from KidLitCon 2019! This year the conference was held in Providence, Rhode Island. This was my third KidLitCon, because I attended in NYC in 2012 and in Baltimore in 2015. See my previous posts about KidLitCon here.

New books I bought at KidLitCon
The Breaking News by Sarah Lynne Reul - My new favorite picture book.
Jasmine Toguchi, Flamingo Keeper by Debbie Michiko Florence, illustrated by Elizabet Vuković - I helped select Jasmine Toguchi, Drummer Girl as the Cybils winner this year in Early Chapter books, so I'm excited to read another book in the series.
The Great Greene Heist by Varian Johnson - recently read and was very impressed by The Parker Inheritance, so I thought I'd pick up another one by Varian Johnson.
The Princess in Black and the Science Fair Scare (#6) by Shannon and Dean Hale, illustrated by LeUyen Pham - Y'all know I love the Princess in Black. Aaaand my husband is a scientist. So.


Free Books I got at KidLitCon
Where the Heart Is by Jo Knowles (advance readers copy)
Ballpark Mysteries #15 The Baltimore Bandit by David A Kelly - a gift from the author! How kind. He spoke on two panels that I enjoyed.
Apocalypse Taco by Nathan Hale (advance readers copy)

Books I want to read now that I've been to KidLitCon
see above! Also...
All Rise for the Honorable Perry T Cook by Leslie Connor
The Truth According to Mason Buttle by Leslie Connor
Shouting at the Rain by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
The Bridge Home by Padma Venkatraman
BunnyBear by Andrea J. Loney - I started reading this picture book at the booksellers table, but someone distracted me and now I really want to finish!
Me Myself and Him by Chris Tebbets - It was fun to hear about his work with James Patterson on the Middle School series.
We Are Grateful by Traci Sorrell
The Infamous Ratsos series by Kara LaReau
Science Comics: The Brain by Tori Woollcott and Alex Graudins
Following Grandfather by Rosemary Wells - I adore Rosemary Wells and apparently she asked Christopher Denise to illustrate this one on her behalf, since it was too close to her.
Grounghug Day by Anne Marie Pace and Christopher Denise
Firefly Hollow by Alison McGhee and Christopher Denise
Also there was a book about emanata mentioned, but I can't find it anywhere... Emanata are the bits that come off of characters heads in comics.
Bruce Block apparently writes great books about filmmaking which one should read if they plan to make graphic novels.

Books I gave away at KidLitCon
Apocalypse Taco by Nathan Hale -- I brought the advance readers copy I got home on Friday night and read it, then passsed it along for someone else to read when I arrived on Saturday. Loved it! Much apocalypse! Many taco! Look forward to seeing it in it's final form, since the arc was uncolored and the final will be two-toned. It's a horror story and I imagine it will be a big hit with fans of his Hazardous Tales books.

The Book of Mormon -- Eight Copies, wow! I brought many copies to KidLitCon Baltimore, but only one was taken from the table. This time all 8 of the copies I brought walked away. I wonder how many people would've taken one if I had brought more.

Books LeUyen Pham loved, as a child new to the USA.
Amelia Bedelia ("Finally someone worse at English than me!" and "So helpful for learning idioms")
The Witch of Blackbird Pond (In 4th grade, her teacher gave it to her with the words, "you are a tropical flower among daisies and roses.")

Other highlights

Seeing sketches for PiB #7 and Best Friends:

Bethany and I drove back and forth to the conference because it was held at Hotel Providence, just about an hour from where we live. I wanted to be certain to be on time for the very first talk on the program -- a keynote speech by LeUyen Pham. Well, sick kids prevented me from leaving as early as I had hoped to, and we arrived right at 9:00 and quickly ducked into the dining room for breakfast. I had planned to inhale my scone and carry my juice with me, so that I could be on time for the keynote, but who should appear right behind me at the breakfast buffet? Uyen Pham! Tada! I said, "If you're here, I know I'm not late!"

Bethany and I sat down with Uyen and ate our pastries. I introduced Uyen to Bethany and reminded Uyen that we had met before, in Decatur, GA (see my post about that, here) and reminisced that she had showed me the Princess in Black book before the first one had come out. "Wow, I can't remember my life before the Princess in Black!" Uyen said, and then, "Well, I'll have to show you the sketches for book 7!" I couldn't turn that down, and made sure to follow through with her when she had a moment the next day. She also showed some slides of artwork she has done for Best Friends, the sequel to Real Friends, in her presentation on Saturday. I sat by her while she was signing and took photos of her with attendees on Friday evening. What a pleasure! Uyen is so gracious and spunky! When she popped across the hotel lobby to hug me goodbye at the end of the conference, I felt like I had made a friend. 


Meeting online friends:

Speaking of friends, it was such a pleasure to meet some friends that I had only known online to this point. I got to meet several fellow Cybils panelists, including Mel Schuit, Ben Hutchinson and Heidi Feidler. And I loved reconnecting with friends I had met at previous KidLitCon conferences! Ten fabulous pictures are on my instagram. There are always a few that I accidentally miss taking pictures with. That's life, I guess! And don't let me forget to mention meeting so many amazing authors and illustrators. I feel like KidLitCon this year had a higher percentage of authors attending this year than any other year I have attended.

How about you? Been anywhere lately? Got any books on your radar?
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Behind the Scenes: Judging a Book Award

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What is it like to be a judge for a book award?

Tomorrow morning the Cybils winners will be announced! I can't wait to share my opinions on all the Graphic Novel finalists with you.

Back in October 2015, I went to KidLitCon in Baltimore, and was part of a panel that discussed judging book awards. The panel was called And The Winner Is . . .: A Panel Discussion with Literary Award Judges. Here are the notes I made to prepare for that panel.

Celebrating 10 years of the Cybils Awards with founder Anne Levy

 What are the personal rewards for judging a book award? Why do it?

  • Getting to know the other judges/jury members
  • The education you get by reading all the titles, the chance to think deeply
  • The free books ;)
  • You may be bound to secrecy and locked into only reading a certain type of book for a period of time, but as Susan Kusel says, "The chains are so sparkly!"


How does your particular jury influence outcomes?
People have favorites, because of their personal backgrounds and preferences. Sometimes, you win, sometimes you lose. I wrote a huge essay about why another panelists favorite shouldn't win, and convinced the other panelists not to shortlist the title Once, I wrote a huge essay about why a title should definitely be on the shortlist. It seems like huge essays are pretty convincing.

 What's the one thing award judges want bloggers to know?
Whether you're on the selection committee or blogging the results, when you share award-winning books you're helping kids and parents. They want to know what to read and they want it to be vetted. We all like validation. Share the love! Even if you're a beginner pinner, you can pin a winner. ;) A cheesy joke I decided not to make.

Do you pay attention to predictions/buzz for what will win the award?
One part yes and two parts No. Yes: considering availability of a book, No: bringing new books to light, honoring best book even if it has been honored before.

How you become a book award judge? 
I can only speak for the Cybils:
  1. be at least 16.
  2. contribute to a kidlit blog monthly or more
  3. think about what category and round you'd like.
  4. have a couple posts ready to show off in your application.
What surprised you in judging a book award?
yr 1: the badness of the bad nominees
yr7: the great titles that were overlooked and not even nominated

 How do you keep track of all these books and your thoughts on them?

  1. Cybils database
  2. Excel doc or Notebook.
  3. Clay tablets weren't working out for me, because my stylus broke. Another cheesy joke I decided not to make.

Why all the secrecy?
  • you're speaking for a group, not just yourself
  • avoids inflicting hurt 
  • allows extra thought and deliberation

How is reading for awards unique?
  • focused on criteria
  • you read things you wouldn't usually read
  • you're taking notes, discussing, thinking deeply and comparing
  • it has a deadline!

How is being on "The Big 3" (Caldecott, Newbery, Printz) different from judging other awards?
I've never judged one of the big three. I imagine it's much more intense. With Cybils, people don't know you're on this committee. Well, your postman knows you're getting a lot of books in the mail, if you're serving on round one! Average adults didn't grow up reading Cybils award winners, since the Cybils began in 2006. So, you get to explain the award and what it represents.

So, those were my notes. I had forgotten about those bad jokes. Glad I didn't use them. Haha.

Do you have other questions about what it's like to judge for a book award? Please ask! 

If you've been a judge and want to answer or add to one of the questions above, I'd love it! 

Leave a comment below.

__________



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Introducing Non-fiction November! #NFNovember

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Hey! It's November!


So at KidLitCon I was on this great panel called CYBILS: Nonfiction Roundtable with Ellen Zchunke and Jennie Rothschild and we had Jennifer Wharton and Amy Broadmoore with us via technology.

We talked about being part of the Cybils, and about reviewing Non-Fiction books, and we unveiled #NFNovember ! Basically, if you blog/write/share about non-fiction for children and teens this November, we want to hear about it and share the love. If you've never reviewed a non-fiction book, this is a great month to start.

So over at On The Shelf 4 Kids, Ellen's blog, she has a google form where you can submit a blog post that you'd like to have featured.

Here at Everead, you can just leave a comment on this post if you've got some non-fiction love to share. Throughout the month I'll check out what y'all leave below, and bring some of it up into my own posts. I may also end up featuring some of the ones submitted at Ellen's blog, depending on how much is submitted here, how much is submitted there, and how much time I have.

Let's party! 
What great non-fiction books do you love? 
What questions do you have for me?

Leave recommendations and links in the comments, tag tweets and instagrams and other social media with #NFNovember.

p.s. The document that we made with the audience at the Roundtable can be found here. I definitely want to check out a book that Amy mentioned, From Cover to Cover by Kathleen Horning. It's not the first time I've heard her rave about it. Apparently it suggests that the careful reviewer of non-fiction will look at 1) accuracy 2) organization 3) writing style 4) illustration and 5) design. Something to strive for! I've put the book on hold at my library, but if you want to shop it, that's here (affiliate link, wink wink).


 Leaf your comments below! 
(Oh, yes I did)


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KidLitCon 2015 - a quick report

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Just had to pop in real quick to say I loved KidLitCon.

It was so great to be in a place with people who were all the exact same kind of nerdy as I am.

I thought the conference was the perfect size. Big enough that it was definitely a conference and not just an oversized book club, but small enough that you could meet and connect with a lot of people.

I got to meet all the people on my list of "people I must meet at KidLitCon." Yes, I had an actual list, mostly of people whose blog and faces I know from Cybils and twitter and such. And, I feel like I went beyond super-bonus-level by meeting so many really cool people that I wasn't even planning on meeting. Without exception everyone I met was kind and intelligent.

I loved all the sessions that I went to, and the two that I presented in went really well. Better than I expected!

While I was at the conference, I was tweeting some of my favorite quotes from people.



I also put up some fun instagrams:

Party in Balltimoar!!! #KidLitCon @mmfbooks

A photo posted by Alysa Stewart (@everead) on

I feel like I didn't get my crazy eyes quite crazy enough. But hey, I turned the sky pink and used three exclamation points, so . . . come to think of it I should have used more exclamation points. This may be my only regret about the whole shebang.


And I just wanted to tell you that when I was on the phone with my kids, my two-year-old Jubilee did the cutest thing ever.
"Can I talk to mommy?" I heard her ask.
"Yes," I heard my husband say.
Then she queried, "Mommy can I have a snack?"
Hahaha! "Of course you can! Daddy will get it for you."
We had the exact same conversation the next night, too.

In short, I came away from KidLitCon feeling inspired with so many great ideas and feeling empowered to do them through new knowledge and community support. If you're thinking about going next year, just start planning now. So worth it.

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Two Cool Things: Cybils and KidLitCon 2015

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When I get asked for reading recommendations, I often go to the Cybils shortlists. If you've been reading Everead for a while you'll know that I love the Cybils. I recommend them highly as a place to find good books. They're divided into fifteen categories, and they make it easy for me to find what I'm looking for. An early reader? Yes. A YA realistic fiction book? Gotcha covered. New poetry? Yes! There is more than Shel Silverstein out there. All the books on the shortlists were published in the year prior. This is new, good stuff.  I like to think of the Cybils as the "bloggers choice" award. The criteria for winning are that a book have 1) strong kid appeal and 2) high literary merit. (Kind of like Kix. Kid-tested, adult approved.)

I have been selected as a Cybils judge again this year! Hooray! So from October 1-15 a form will appear on the Cybils site where anyone can nominate their favorite kidlit/YA book of the year (specifically published in the last 12 months). In fact, please do this if you can! Anyway, once all the nominations are in the first round Cybils panelists read all the nominees in a category and pick 5-7 of them for a shortlist. These are announced Jan 1. Then second round Cybils panelists decide which of the shortlisted book should be this year's winner, and those are announced on Feb 14.

This year I will be a Round 2 judge in the Graphic Novels category. So thrilled.




2. Speaking of thrilling stuff, I'm going to KidLitCon again this year! So memorize my face (above) and find me if you're going to be there.

I went a few years back when it was in NYC. It was a great experience. Though I never properly blogged about it (only wrote this excited bit and this recap of the first leg of my trip), I loved connecting with other bloggers, and hanging out with my brother Ransom who met me in the city.

This year is going to be even more awesome because I am on two panels! Whaaat? I'm pinching myself that I get to be presenting. And twice over! I will be on a panel about non-fiction and on this panel about judging book awards. I'm totally starstruck by the people I'll be presenting with. Wish me luck!




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KidLitCon 2012 - Day 0 + PALACE OF STONE GIVEAWAY

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My KidLitCon adventure began a day before the actual conference, so I'm calling this installment of the report "Day 0."

On this lovely Thursday, I met up with my friends Rachel and Marie just after 1 p.m. We drove the three hours to Chicago in style - with Rachel at the wheel and lots of yummy snacks. Ladies' road trips are the best, and the talk always makes the time fly.

Our first stop in Chicago was IKEA. (I know, this has nothing to do with KidLitCon or even books but just wait! I am about to impress you with my amazingness!) At IKEA I helped Rachel and Marie get their furnitures all picked out and such, and I finally got a new set of measuring cups for myself. I've been missing the 1/4 cup for a long time, since I melted it that one day. (Wait for it ...)

Rachel, on a spinny cow stool.
Marie, on a pink plastic chair.

We were about to check out when -- oh no! -- Rachel had lost the claim slip for the bed she was buying. The checkout lady called up to the furniture lady and while they tried to get it sorted, I slipped back into the warehouse part to look for the missing paper. Three aisles and two false alarms later, I found it! (Permission to be amazed: granted.) And where did I find it? Underneath Rachel's cell phone. That's right, her phone was almost lost forever in IKEA Chicago. (And now I am taking a bow, to all your applause.)

Quickly, we loaded our purchases into Rachel's Expedition and zoomed off to Anderson's Bookshop (and here's where the books come in). We snuck in just a minute or two late for Shannon Hale's appearance.

Shannon gave as charming and vivacious a presentation as I have ever seen her give. She was, in fact, jumping up and down at one point. Very lively. She took questions from the audience and talked about how going back to writing Miri's voice (for Palace of Stone) was easy for her -- typically, she said, she starts with a story and then finds the character in the drafts. This time, of course, she knew Miri well and had to find the story.

Shannon told us that she is working on a series of Easy Readers, to be called The Princess in Black. The series was inspired by her then-four-year-old daughter who was wearing a skirt and naming the colors. "Pink is a girl color, purple is a girl color, but black isn't a girl color," she said. Shannon protested. Her daughter countered, "Princesses don't wear black." So the books will be about a pretty pink-clad princess who, by night, dresses in black and rides out to do battle with monsters. She is also working on a science fiction book set in the present day -- as yet untitled.


After questions, Shannon Hale signed books. And this is where things start to get lucky for you, Evereaders. I couldn't wait until the end of September to read a Shannon Hale book that came out in August. And I couldn't get a spot in the signing line without ordering a book from Anderson's. So . . . I have an extra, signed copy for one of you!

A signed copy of this excellent book, delivered to your mailbox?
Learn how to win, below!
Just leave a comment on this post (perhaps you will tell me a question you would have asked Shannon Hale?) to be entered in the contest. Whoever asks my most favorite question will win. Or, if I can't decide, it will be a random drawing. Either way, I will announce the winner next Wednesday, October 10.

{This contest is now closed, but you're still welcome to comment!}

Good luck! I hope you win!

The three of us at Wendy's after the signing.
Why did I take no photos of Shannon Hale?
It is a mystery even to myself.
p.s. Oh yeah! After the bookstore we went to dinner and then to our hotel. I was very relieved that it wasn't shady -- since I booked it online two nights before. For some odd reason I got the biggest thrill walking into the hotel room. I yelled, "We're here!" Somehow being in the hotel made New York and KidLitCon the next day seem so much more real. Day 1 report, coming soon!
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Micro-reviews: one of everything!

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I'm so excited and overwhelmed! Tomorrow I leave for New York City (my first time there as an adult) and KidLitCon (the conference for children's literature bloggers)!

But. Before I go, I have to tell you about some of the books I've been reading lately. Great stuff!

Palace of Stone by Shannon Hale -- This is the much anticipated (by me) sequel to Princess Academy. Miri and friends are headed for Asland and going to stay in the ...(dun dun dun) Palace of Stone! (That stone being Linder, the stone their village quarries, of course). It is set over the course of 6 months, and I confess the gaps in the timeline threw me at first. Once the action became more closely spaced in time, probably the last quarter of the book, it really hooked me. I don't know if that says more about the writing or about me as a reader, but there you have it. Loved the themes, loved the characters (well, the lovable ones), and the story overall.

Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip Volume 1 by Tove Jansson -- Charming! I read this one a while ago, and then started seeing references to Moomin everywhere. Moomin is loveable and silly and has friends and family of all types. Most memorable for me: Moomin on the Riviera, which was such a spot on story about vacations! The strip originally ran in London in the 1950's.

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente -- I'd heard so many good things about this book, and I could tell from the title that I was either going to love it or hate it. Loved it! It reminded me of The Neverending Story, except that one dragged for me a bit, and this one didn't. Also I liked September much better than Bastian. I think there's a sequel coming out sometime, but it's not a cliffhanger.

Caddy's World by Hilary McKay -- As far as I'm concerned, the only problem with the Casson family books is that they make me forget that the Cassons aren't real, so I have to burst my own bubble when I imagine going to England to visit them. Hilary McKay is my absolute favorite realistic fiction author. For fans of the series (which started with Saffy's Angel) this one is actually a prequel, set in the year Rose was born and focusing on Caddy's experiences. My biggest problem with this one: too much grouchy Bill and not enough lovely Eve. :-)

Library Wars: Love & War Volume 6 by Kiiro Yumi -- These books just make me laugh so much. I read this volume in one sitting at the end of a rather rotten day and it says something that by the end I was in the mood to belly-laugh at Dojo and Kasahara's antics. It's manga, and reads R to L (backwards to us native English speakers).

B is for Bulldozer: A Construction ABC by June Sobel and Melissa Iwai -- This one is the most recent winner for beloved picture book at our house. I grabbed it from the library and a couple of days later I said to Jacob, "This book has a nice flow. I appreciate that, since I have to read it over and over and over." Sobel's lovely poem takes us through the construction of an amusement park from beginning to end. Iwai's bold illustrations are our first clues that it is a park being built. The text and illustration work together seamlessly, and it was an immense hit with my two year old.

How about you? Read anything good lately?
...And now I must pack....

Alysa
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KidLitCon 2012

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I'm SO happy to say I will be going to KidLitCon 2012! I really cannot convey my excitement properly. But this is telling -- twice the conference has made it into dreams I've dreamt recently (one good, one bad).

* New York City * Children's Literature * Blogging * Making new friends *

It sounds so awesome to me! Which means I think I'm headed to the right place. If you're going, too, let me know so I can look for you. I'll be the tallish one with the longish brown hair and -- shoot I don't think that's going to cut it. I'm going to have to distinguish myself somehow...


Update: The Conference was great! I recommend KidLitCon to book bloggers, book reviewers, authors, illustrators and book lovers. We got to meet with publishers and see their upcoming titles in person. We got to hear speakers on SO many great bookish topics. We traded books, we ate dinners, we ran around the city at night looking for souvenirs:


One of the highlights for me was meeting Grace Lin. I love her books Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (a gorgeously illustrated chinese fairy tale story) and her Ling and Ting series for early readers (These two cute, hilarious twins and their jokes and antics)! 

I wrote about my adventures getting to KidLitCon here. Or perhaps you'd like to see the notes I took at a Newbery Authors event in NYC right after the conference? You can see those here. 
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