Cats on Wednesday -- (Actually Saturday) at ALA Mid-Winter Conference

I'm always happy to see cats -- anywhere -- whether real or otherwise.

At the ALA Conference in San Diego Saturday I came across these delightful cat characters brought to 'life' -- Splat, Pete and Skippyjon.

I couldn't resist taking their pictures!

Splat the Cat (Rob Scotton, author); Pete the Cat (Eric Litwin, author; James Dean, illustrator);  Skippyjon Jones (written/illustrated by Judy Schachner).

American Library Association’s Mid-Winter Conference in San Diego

On Saturday I attended the American Library Association’s Mid-Winter Conference in San Diego. The exhibition hall was filled with librarians, publishers, writers and illustrators enjoying the displays and (like me) loading themselves down with free ARCs, posters and publisher’s catalogs as well chatting with each other. Emphasis among the publishing houses seemed to be on YAs, but I particularly enjoyed the picture book displays. I was gratified to see my own book, Signed Abiah Rose, on display at the Random House booth.

It’s always nice to see familiar faces at such an event—Candace Ryan and Mina Javaherbin were there, Caroline Arnold was signing Polar Bear’s World, and Sherry Shahan was dressed in pretty purple 60s hippy attire in honor of her book Purple Haze, which she was there to sign. Arthur Levine and Dan Santat were chatting and checking out the booths. Everyone seemed to be having a good time. There was the occasional piece of cake or petit four or glass of champagne to energize those of us with tired feet or sore shoulders from toting heavy goodie bags.

It was a fun and enlightening day and a good chance to speak to librarians and publishers alike, and then of course Monday the ALA youth awards were announced! Here’s a few of the awards. I enjoyed both reading tweets and then (once I located the site) seeing the naming of the Caldecott and Newbery award winners just as they were announced! Very fun.


• The Newbery Award was won by Moon over Manifest, written by Clare Vanderpool.
• The Caldecott went to A Sick Day for Amos McGee, illustrated by Erin E. Stead, written by Philip C. Stead.
• The Geisel award was won by Bink and Gollie, written by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee, illustrated by Tony Fucile.
• Ship Breaker, by Paolo Bacigalupi, took the Printz award.

You can find the rest of the awards listed here.

Banned Books Week - Let Others Think for Themselves ....

The practice of banning books is not new.

In Ireland in 1726 Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels was banned for ‘wickedness.’

This year Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do You See? (illustrated by Eric Carle) was briefly challenged, in the mistaken belief that the author had also written an adult book, Ethical Marxism.

On the ALA website is a list of the “ten most far-fetched (silliest, irrational, illogical) reasons to ban a book.” Number six pertains to Trina Schart Hyman’s Caldecott Honor Book, Little Red Riding Hood, which was challenged in 1984 due to a bottle of wine (illustrated on the cover, sticking out of Little Red’s basket) -- “which condones the use of alcohol.”

 Dictionaries have been banned.

So has the Diary of Anne Frank.

And Charlotte’s Web.

Banned Book Week – Think for Yourself

In 1982 the American Library Association took a stand against banning books when librarian Judith Krug established an annual event - Banned Book Week. The purpose was to honor writers, their books and freedom of expression. Book sellers and journalists, authors and publishers associations are sponsoring the event this year. It is mostly due to librarians, teachers and booksellers that most of the books that are challenged are not actually banned. I find it alarming that the opinions of one person might decide for the many what is acceptable to read in a free society.

The three main reasons books are banned are explicit sexual content, offensive content and the vague ‘unsuited to any age group.’ Some books are challenged in school libraries for the reason that they might be inappropriate to the students’ age level. The ALA’s basic policy is that only parents should be in a position to restrict their children’s access to reading matter.

This week is an important time to teach about the First Amendment and to remind us all of the dangers of restricting information. As this year’s Banned Book Week poster reads, “Think for yourself and let others do the same.” Wise and fair advice.