It’s no secret. Librarians are on the inside track of the children’s book world and publishers are eager to hear what they have to say.
Librarians know the teachers’ required reading lists for their curriculum. They know the sections the kids are lingering in. And, above all, they know which books will be in demand before they hit the shelves for the upcoming season. Such power! Such insight!
Feiwel and Friends met with an amazing group of tri-state librarians and reviewers last week for an afternoon of spring season presentations, fall previews and our trademark F&F cupcakes.
I can’t tell you EVERYTHING that happened at the luncheon, but I can fill you in on the highlights.
Don’t look now but there’s a large blue chimp at the door.
Jean Feiwel and Liz Szabla presented our spring titles. They lead off the presentation with Dodger and Me, Jordan Sonnenblick’s first middle grade fiction title about a fifth grader with an imaginary friend who just happens to be a giant blue chimp in surfer shorts. Trouble ensues. Librarians were excited indeed.
Guests were greeted at the door by a six-foot, blue chimp named Dodger. I kid you not! Dodger welcomed our guests to the Flatiron conference room. Our larger-than-life Dodger standee is traveling this spring with Jordan Sonnenblick for the Dodger and Me tour in Chicago and on the west coast beginning May 16. Middle-graders get to take their picture with Jordan and Dodger on tour and have a keepsake picture so their parents will know Dodger is far from imaginary. (Check out our tour schedule on the Feiwel and Friends home page).
Oh, the wonder . . . The Wonder of You
We chatted about Nancy Tillman’s new title, The Wonder of You—a book to celebrate baby’s first year and a follow-up to her best-selling On the Night You Were Born. We also talked up her upcoming fall 2008 title, It’s Time to Sleep My Love. Our guests were eager to hear more about Nancy Tillman. She’s quite the force in the picture book world and we have her next must-have title.
Librarians were excited to receive a copy of James Preller’s new, middle-grade baseball novel, Six Innings at the luncheon. James is well-known as the author of the best-selling Jigsaw Jones mystery series so he is no stranger to our guests. This spring, he throws the first pitch of the F&F season with Six Innings, a book about baseball-loving boys between the ages of eleven and thirteen playing the biggest game of their lives. (Click to read James’ blog here).
Twisted family thriller, zombies and a book that begins with a bang.
And for good measure, we discussed dads who do not know what’s best featured in the teen thriller, The Compound, by S.A. Bodeen, dished on girls who are blonde, beautiful, popular and dead in Brian James’ teen horror, Zombie Blondes and swore librarians to secrecy about a HUGE fall ‘08 book that begins with a bang called ___________ Whoops. Almost spilled the beans there. Go ask your local librarian for the scoop.













