Paperman

Just in case you haven't seen it yet




Lovely story, great pacing and comic timing, and stellar animation--did you notice the lighting? It's beautiful.

My current desktop background

We've been having a lot of cold weather lately. And yes, I know the temperature has been much lower elsewhere in the country. But you have to keep in mind that in LA, we're not prepared for it--we don't have lots of wool sweaters or heavy coats or insulated buildings. When temperature drops to a certain low, farmers start to worry about losing their entire crop of oranges. Anyway, I thought it was time to change my desktop wallpaper/background. This is what I chose:

A lion and lioness with their cubs. Governor's Camp, Kenya
By Brandon Harris via National Geographic
See more of Brandon Harris's photographs from Africa here.

Don't you love it? I usually prefer landscapes for this sort of thing. But this one is so warm and cozy--snuggling, soft fur, warm tones/colors, family, heat (it is in Africa, after all). I wish I could safely and comfortably snuggle with a lion.

ALA Youth Media Awards 2013

Wow, wow, wow.

This was so exciting to watch this year.

CALDECOTT
This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen
Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds, illustrated by Peter Brown
Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen
Green by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
One Cool Friend by Toni Buzzeo, illustrated David Small
Sleep Like a Tiger by Mary Logue, illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski

Woo Hoo!!!! Jon Klassen gets a medal and an honor! (In case you're wondering, that has happened once before in 1947--Leonard Weisgard got the medal and an honor.) This is Not My Hat nearly made it into my picks. Though many people liked Extra Yarn and picked it to win, I'm glad it was This is Not My Hat. I think it's a better book--especially in the illustrations (those undersea scenes are so fantastic). And FIVE honors! Wow!  Sleep Like A Tiger got an honor!!!! No one was talking about it, but it so deserves it. And Creepy Carrots!!!!!!! I love to see a silly, funny book, executed really well receive recognition. (read about Peter Brown getting the call on his blog.) Love Love Love Love these books!! Extra Yarn and Green are both wonderful too. And I had not read One Cool Friend--but I grabbed it from the library today, and I can say it's delightful. But I'm not sure why it was selected over so many other wonderful titles (A Home for Bird, Obstinate Pen, Life in the Ocean). I'll review it soon. Overall I'm very pleased and excited about what the Caldecott Committee chose.

NEWBERY
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate and Patricia Castelao
Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz
Bomb: The Race to Build--and Steal--the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin
Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage

I read 2.5 of these. Very happy to see Schlitz and Sheinkin get nods. Three Times Lucky I started and had a hard time getting into; I returned it when I was 1/3-1/2 of the way through. But it may just be children's lit doesn't hold my interest as often as ya stuff does.

PRINTZ
In Darkness by Nick Lake
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Aliro Saenz
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
Dodger by Terry Pratchett
The White Bicycle by Beverly Brenna

Talk about wild cards! In Darkness is a surprise, and I've never heard of The White Bicycle (has anyone? totally off the radar). I'm sorry to see no Brides of Rollrock Island, but I'm very happy to see Aristotle and Dante. I knew it had something special. I voted it as an honor in the Pyrite Printz on Someday My Printz Will Come (I was 1 of 4--I feel kinda proud that I picked one that won). And honestly I'm glad Code Name Verity didn't get the gold. It's exciting when the favorite is named as a honor, because it opens up the field, and then you think, who's gonna win if it's not CNV?

GEISEL
Up, Tall, and High by Ethan Long
Let's Go For A Drive by Mo Willems
Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by James Dean and Eric Litwin
Rabbit and Robot: The Sleepover by Cece Bell

Yay! Rabbit and Robot! Yay! I hadn't heard of Up, Tall and High, but I got it from the library today (review to follow), and it's a lot of fun.

MORRIS
Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
Wonder Show by Hannah Barnaby
Love and Other Perishable Items by Laura Buzo
After the Snow by S. D. Crockett
The Miseducation of Cameron Post by emily m. danforth

Thrilled about Hartman's win, too.

In the Coretta Scott King and Pura Belpre categories, I'd read a three of the winners/honors. I was very happy to see Jacqueline Woodson get an author honor for Each Kindness, and of course, I'm always happy to see Kadir Nelson get recognized.

I think it's safe to say that Aristotle and Dante (Benjamin Alire Saenz), Bomb (Steve Sheinkin), and Jon Klassen (see caldecott section) were the big winners today. Aristotle and Dante got a Printz honor, won the Pura Belpre author award, and won the Stonewall Award (glbt). Meanwhile, Bomb won the Sibert (award for nonfiction), got a Newbery honor, and the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults. Both books will have so many stickers, I don't know if we'll even be able to see the covers!

Picture This: Creepy Carrots!

Creepy Carrots! by Aaron Reynolds, illustrated by Peter Brown

Jasper Rabbit knows where all the best, crispiest, tastiest, fattest carrots are. He stops by the field all the time--morning, afternoon, evening--to munch on as many as possible. He "couldn't get enough carrots...until they started following him." He can hear them and see there shadows following him, showing up in his bathroom and bedroom, but every time he looks or calls his parents, they're gone. Whatever will he do?

This book is great fun. Inspired by the Twilight Zone and old B-movies, Brown made the very effective decision to illustrate the book in black and white pencil drawings--with the exception of the orange carrots. (...or whatever seemed like carrots a moment ago...) Brown recalls film noir and classic horror in other ways, too--like dramatic lighting, silhouettes and shadows. The hilarious and inventive story (just thinking about carrot stalkers makes me chuckle) is told with effective pacing and key pauses (such effective ellipses). And did you know that the sound of creepy carrots is "tunktunktunk"? It's easy to see the kid appeal here. I'm a fan.

priceless

My Vote: ALA Youth Media Awards 2013

Next week is the announcement of the ALA Youth Media Awards. Though I only read 22 novels published in 2012, I've read over 100 picture books, including every picture book included on a "best of" list. So here are my picks/votes (what I would vote to win--not my predictions). And if I didn't feel qualified to have a pick (i.e. Newbery), I didn't.

MY PICKS

Caldecott
Sleep Like a Tiger by Mary Logue, illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski
A Home for Bird by Phillip Stead

Geisel
Rabbit and Robot by Cece Bell

Printz
The Brides of Rollrock Island by Margo Lanagan

Morris
Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Photographer Spotlight: Danny Green

In 2010, I went to the American Museum of Natural History in Washington DC and stumbled upon the exhibit of the winners of the Nature's Best Windland Smith Rice International Awards competition. One of the winners was Danny Green, in the category of bird behavior:

Puffin in flight, homeward bound by Danny Green, 
bird behavior category winner, Nature's Best 2009

Fantastic, isn't it? Danny Green is based is in Leicestershire, England. Though he considers himself a generalist, photographing many different animals and wildernesses, he does have a fondness for seabirds which shows in his collections. Here are just a few of the stunning photographs he has taken:

Starling Wave by Danny Green 
(black and white category winner, Wildlife Photographer of the Year, 2009) 

By Danny Green

Grey Plover and roosting Knot by Danny Green
(Overall Winner, International Photographer of the Year, 2007)

Red Deer Headgear by Danny Green
(Animal  Portrait Highly Commended, Wildlife Photographer of the Year,  2005)

By Danny Green

By Danny Green

By Danny Green

European Wolf by Danny Green (read about this trip on his blog)

By Danny Green (you can also read about his trip to Finland on his blog)

Yellowstone - Old Faithful at Dawn by Danny Green (this also on the blog)

By Danny Green (also on blog)

Phenomenal photographs--the composition, the lighting, the detail, the color, the composition--impeccable. It was really hard to pick just a few. I highly recommend you look through his galleries and blog.

Oh, and if you were a fan of the Brides of Rollrock Island, you should definitely check out the coastal gallery.

Picture This: Beach Feet

Beach Feet by Kiyomi Konagaya, illustrated by Masamitsu Saito

This is what it feels like to go to the beach, plain and simple. The salty breeze, kicking off your flip flops, running quickly as the sand burns your feet, running into the cool water to cool them off, feeling the wet sand sneak in between your toes in the water, and on and on.

This book is summer and the beach. It doesn't have a narrative, it's simply the experience of a good day at the beach, through the perspective of a child's feet. The illustrations contain a kinetic energy-- they're full of movement and excitement and life--as well as bright summer colors. It reminded me of the joy of having to run quickly to the water to cool my feet and then feeling the wet sand in between my toes. A must for summer.