Fancy Nancy to Come Alive on Disney

"Fancy Nancy," the New York Times bestselling book series by Jane O'Connor and Robin Preiss Glasser, has been optioned by Disney Junior for development of an original animated TV movie and series, as well as for related role-play items and other consumer products licensed by Disney Consumer Products. In addition, HarperCollins and Disney Publishing will collaborate on book editions based on the television series.

The stories, geared towards kids age 2-7, have an underlying theme of self-expression and love of family as they follow the adventures of a girl who likes to be fancy in everything from her creative, elaborate attire to her advanced vocabulary.

Nancy Kanter said, "Children have been captivated by Fancy Nancy's wit and irrepressible spirit for a decade, and we are very eager to give her an even bigger stage on which to perform."

O'Connor said, "This is definitely one of those 'pinch me' moments. When Robin and I met Nancy Kanter and her team, we knew instantly that Disney Junior was the plus-perfect home for Fancy Nancy."

Preiss Glasser said, "After the thrill of seeing my two-dimensional drawings of Nancy and her 'world' come alive in spin-off musicals and ballets, the opportunity to see her animated by Disney is a dream I never would have dared to dream!"

"Fancy Nancy" is now ten years old and over 60 titles, has sold more than 28 million books and has been translated into 20 languages. The series was named 2008's Book Character of the Year by Global License. The series has received two Toy Industry Association's Toy of the Year Award nominations, two LIMA International Licensing Excellence Award nominations and was named the Best Character Brand Program of the Year in 2009.

Heather Has Two Mommies (A New Look and a New Cover)

A twenty-five year milestone has been reached in the telling of a sweet children's book called "Heather Has Two Mommies. Those many years ago, no one wanted to publish the book, but that did not stop its author, Leslea Newman. The book's topic was a cultural and legal flash point 25 years ago, angering conservatives over the morality of same-sex parenting and landing libraries at the center of community battles over placement in the children's stacks.

 Today, Heather — of "Heather Has Two Mommies" — has a lot more company in books for young kids about different kinds of families, but hers was out of print and seemed visually dated. That's why creator Leslea Newman decided on a new version, updating the look of her watershed story with fresh illustrations from a new artist and tweaking the text to streamline.

There's one big change, but you have to squint to notice: Heather's Mama Kate and Mama Jane wear little matching rings on their marriage fingers

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I don't specifically say that they're married but they are.  I don't know where I could have smoothly inserted that into the text. That's not what the story is about. The story is really about Heather.

Heather was Newman's first picture book and is certainly her most well-known. The latest edition, out this month, is from Candlewick Press, with illustrations by Laura Cornell replacing those of Diana Souza.

Newman wrote the story in 1988 after a chance encounter in Northampton with Amy Jacobson, a lesbian mom who was looking for reading material that better reflected her life with her partner — now wife — and their young daughter — now grown.

"Every step I was educating people about our family because there was nothing else," recalled Jacobson. "If I hadn't done it somebody else would have found an author. The book needed to happen."

Newman, a full-time writer and poet at the time, chronicles Heather's love of all things "two," including her moms, one a doctor and the other a carpenter. When Heather joins a home-based play group — changed to "school" in the new version — she is saddened when teacher Molly reads the children a story at nap time focused on a daddy.

Original Cover

As the children chime in with their fathers' occupations, Heather bemoans, "I don't have a daddy," when asked what hers does for a living. The original story has her tearing up as she wonders if any other family looks like hers. The update has the children chiming in with the work of their mommies AND daddies, and it eliminates Heather's tears.

The process of getting Heather published in 1989 was a slow one:

After I wrote the book I sent it to many, many publishers. Small presses, large presses. Children's book presses told me to try lesbian presses. Lesbian presses told me to try children's book presses. Nobody was really interested.

There were about 50 turndowns. That's why she co-published the book with a friend who had a desktop printing business. The two found an illustrator and financed the endeavour mostly from $10 donations, promising each contributor a copy from the 4,000 they printed up.

Passover Kids' Book-Escape from Egypt

I am showcasing a terrific new book for Passover which begins this year with the first seder on the evening of April 3.

When twins Scarlett and Sam bicker about who is going to recite the Four Questions at the seder, their magical Grandma Mina cuts the squabbling short: “Tonight, at the Seder, we don’t just tell the story of Passover. We become part of it.”

This set-up begins Eric Kimmel’s time-travel Passover adventure that transports the duo to the Egyptian desert, back to the time of Moses and Aaron as they prepare to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. The Ten Plagues, Pharaoh’s palace, and the suffering and indignity endured by Israelite slaves come alive for the siblings, who manage to make a podcast of their experience.

Older readers familiar with Kimmel’s hugely popular illustrated books (“Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins,” “Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock” and “The Chanukkah Guest”) will again enjoy his flair for storytelling in the illustrated chapter book that will appeal to school-age kids. It’s a terrific pairing with Kimmel’s earlier “Wonders and Miracles,” a lavishly illustrated seder companion that explains and demystifies the customs and traditions.

Scarlett and Sam: Escape from Egypt

Eric A. Kimmel, illustrated by Ivica Stevanovic

Kar-Ben ($15.95 hardcover, $5.95 paperback, $6.99 eBook); ages 6-9

Harper Lee's Words to Reporter: 'Go Away!'

Here is a little Saturday morning bit of news about the acclaimed literary recluse, Harper Lee.

Lee, of  To Kill A Mockingbird fame, has been in the spotlight perhaps more than she'd like recently.  Last month, her publisher announced that a prequel to her classic titled Go Set a Watchman will publish later this year.  It is narrated by an adult Scout.

The Alleged Book Cover

 The announcement was a surprise to Lee's fans, as she has stated for decades that she doesn't plan to release another novel.

It also has also spurred a resurgent interest in Lee, who appears to decline contact with journalists on principle. But that hasn't kept some from trying. While most attempts to reach out result in crickets, one Alabama reporter finally got a written response from Lee: his crumpled letters, with "Go away!" scrawled across them.

Connor Sheets, a reporter for Al.com wrote: 

I hoped she would confirm that she is in fact lucid and fully in control of the destiny of Go Set a Watchman...I hoped she would help clear up all the questions the world has been waiting to have answered about the circumstances of the book's planned release. [...] It appears that Nelle, as her friends call her, is very much with it, that she is still lucid and that her acerbic, press-averse side is fully intact

World Book Day was Yesterday! Not Too Late to Do Great Things with Books

Yesterday was  World Book Day, an event designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, and is marked in over 100 countries around the globe. 

Bringing together publishers, booksellers, schools and other parties to work together to promote books and reading for the personal enrichment and enjoyment of all, one of the main aims of World Book Day in the UK and Ireland is to encourage children to explore the pleasures of books and reading by providing them with the opportunity to have a book of their own.

There’s nothing quite like losing yourself in a good book.

What's Your favorite book?  I'd love for you to leave a comment here with your choice.  What a better way to begin the day than giving thought to books that have made us laugh, cry, think, dream, learn, and make good decisions about our lives.