A New Golden Book-Grumpy Cat!

Random House Children’s Books has acquired the rights to the Internet meme Grumpy Cat for a series of three Golden Books. The first title, The Little Grumpy Cat That Wouldn’t, is scheduled for publication on July 26, 2016.

“The deal came together so quickly,” says Chris Angelilli, v-p, editor-in-chief, and director of license publishing, who is overseeing the program. “The acquiring editor, Christy Webster, is a huge Grumpy Cat fan. She reached out to Grumpy Cat’s agent, and he said ‘yes’ right away. He didn’t even have to think about it.” The deal was met with enthusiasm throughout the company, he adds, where many employees have Grumpy Cat calendars or captioned cartoons at their desks.

“Christy is such a huge fan and lives and breathes Grumpy Cat, so the story came together naturally,” Angelilli continues. “And the illustrator, Stephanie Laberis, who had been working on some original non-licensed Golden Books for us, accepted the job before she even heard the payment or the deadline. She loves Grumpy Cat.”

The frowning kitty, whose official and fan-generated images on social media are accompanied by captions such as “Good morning... No such thing” and “I purred once… It was awful,” has accrued eight million Facebook followers over the past three years and inspired an array of licensed merchandise ranging from swimsuits to Grumpuccino-brand coffee. Ongoing Grumpy Cat publishing includes titles such as Grumpy Cat: A Grumpy Book and The Grumpy Guide to Life from Chronicle Books; Dynamite Entertainment’s comics; and coloring, sticker, and paper doll formats from Dover Publications.

Newly Found Dr. Seuss Manuscripts to be Published by Random House

Following the recent discovery of an original manuscript and sketches by beloved children’s author Dr. Seuss, a new book by the late author will be published in July and at least two other titles are planned, publisher Random House announced Wednesday.

“What Pet Should I Get?” will be published on July 28, nearly 24 years after the author’s death. It will be the 46th book by the man whose publications have sold more than 650 million copies worldwide and appealed to generations.

His books have featured imaginative illustrations of fantasy characters and employed engaging rhyme. According to Random House, the new title will focus on a child's excitement over selecting a pet, and will feature the brother and sister characters introduced in Seuss’ “One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish.”

Among the most famous titles written and illustrated by Theodor Seuss Geisel, whose books were published under the pseudonym Dr. Seuss, are “The Cat in the Hat,” “Green Eggs and Ham,” “Horton Hears a Who!” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!”

Several of the books have been adapted into films, including “Horton Hears a Who!”, “The Lorax” and “The Cat in the Hat.”

His final book before his death, “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!”, was published in 1990. He died in Sept. 24, 1991, at the age of 87.

From "What Pet Should I Get?"

A box filled with pages of text and sketches was found shortly after Geisel’s death when his widow, Audrey Geisel, was remodeling her home, according to Random House. The box was set aside and rediscovered in 2013 by Geisel and Claudia Prescott, Geisel’s longtime secretary and friend, the publisher said.

The text and illustrations for “What Pet Should I Get?” were found nearly complete.

Geisel’s widow called the discovery “undeniably special” but not surprising.

“Ted always worked on multiple projects and started new things all the time -- he was constantly drawing and coming up with ideas for new stories."

Thirty Early Truman Capote Stories Discovered

A Swiss publisher was searching for chapters of Truman Capote’s unfinished final novel last summer when he stumbled upon a different find. While poring over Capote’s writings and papers at the New York Public Library, the publisher, Peter Haag, discovered a collection of previously unpublished short stories and poems from Capote’s youth.

Truman Capote
Portofino, Italy
Leonida Barezzi/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images        

Four of the stories, believed to have been written from 1935 to 1943, appear in German translations in the German publication ZEITmagazin. Those stories will be seen in German more than a year ahead of the scheduled release of the full collection, a dozen poems and roughly 20 stories, by Random House in English and by Kein & Aber in German.

Editor David Ebershoff says:

By the time Capote was writing these early stories, his voice was already formed. Reading the manuscripts — with his corrections and edits — is fascinating. You can literally see a young genius at work. I don’t use that word lightly, but these early stories show that Capote’s talent and way of experiencing the world was with him from a very young age


Even in translation, Capote’s style is immediately recognizable in the short stories, under the titles “Miss Belle Rankin,” “This Here Is From Jamie,” “Saturday Night” and “The Horror in the Swamp,” laced with his incisive attention to detail and themes of longing for love and acceptance, and the transience of life.

Capote, who died in 1984, at 59, is believed to have written these works between the time he was 11 and 19, although not all are dated.

Richard Scarry’s Best Lowly Worm Book Ever! is Making Its Entrance

According to Publisher's Weekly and Sally Lodge, Richard Scarry’s Best Lowly Worm Book Ever!, a never-before-published book starring this Tyrolean hat-sporting character, will be released by Random House on August 26. 

The author’s son, Richard (Huck) Scarry Jr., discovered the manuscript and sketches for Best Lowly Worm Book Ever! in his father’s studio in Switzerland several years ago. Huck, an author and artist in his own right, decided to complete and color the illustrations for the book, which, true to Richard Scarry tradition, playfully introduces childhood words and concepts.

Photo:  Marco Pasini

The studio search was prompted by Neil Dunnicliffe, Huck Scarry’s editor at HarperCollins U.K., who asked him if he was aware of any sketches that his father, who died in 1994, may have done for any unpublished books. “I agreed to have a look around his studio, and in no time I came across a large, gray cardboard portfolio leaning against one of the legs to his drawing table,” he explained. “There were quite a number of sketches inside, but little that would be ready to bring forward as a book, with one exception: a book about Lowly, with all the texts typewritten and taped in place with rough, thumbnail sketches of the layout. The book looked pretty complete.”

Emulating my father’s style, and above all his sense of humor, is always a challenge for me, but I think I got it pretty right this time.

Mallory Loehr welcomed the new Lowly Worm adventure to the house’s ongoing Richard Scarry publishing program. “The rebranding of Richard Scarry’s beloved backlist titles has been a huge undertaking and we are so pleased with the outcome,” she said. “This new Richard Scarry title is an even bigger reason to celebrate, and that it is about Lowly Worm, one of the iconic Scarry characters, makes the celebration that much more exciting.”

The Bestselling Children's Books of 2012

How about a look at the bestselling kids' books of 2012.  Some surprises and some, not so much...

For children’s books, without a doubt, the Hunger Games was the story of the year. Its performance far exceeded all other books for children and teens.

 In 2012 Suzanne Collins’s dystopian trilogy sold an astounding 27.7 million copies: 15 million print books and 12.7 million e-books. Of that print number, 8.8 million was for hardcovers, since only the first of the three books is available in paperback. 

Though the Hunger Games was already a huge phenomenon before the March 2012 release of the Lionsgate film, the movie launched book sales into the stratosphere. Back in 2010, Hunger Games books sold 4.3 million copies, which jumped to 9.2 million in 2011; that number tripled in 2012, making for a 201% increase over previous year sales. 

Rick Riordan’s books show a different sales pattern, because a movie is not currently driving sales (the first film from his Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, The Lightning Thief, was released in 2010; Sea of Monsters is due in theaters this August).

 Riordan’s various myth-based series sold a combined 5.6 million copies in 2012 (2.52 million in hardcover, 1.79 million in paper, and 1.27 million e-books). Those numbers are up slightly over 2011, when five million books were sold, though still down from 2010’s high-water mark of 10 million.

Other bestselling franchises of note: a combined 2.7 million copies sold of James Patterson’s assorted series; 2.1 million copies sold of Rachel Renée Russell’s Dork Diaries; two million copies of the first two books in Veronica Roth’s Divergent trilogy (#3 is due out this October); and 1.4 million Big Nate books by Lincoln Peirce. 

Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series may have declined from its glory days, but it still sold 1.1 million in 2012, with almost half of that coming from e-books. Harry Potter, however, is virtually gone from the lists, with just one title (the first in the series) appearing on our paperback backlist chart.

Figures were supplied by RandomHouse in confidence for ranking purposes only; Penguin supplied e-book figures in confidence for ranking purposes only.

New Kids' Book by Bob Staake--And a Trailer Sneak Peek

The preview for Bob Staake's new book, Bluebird, has just premiered. The beautiful, wordless book tells the story of a boy, a bird, and some bullies. It is aimed at the 4 to 8 crowd.  The book was launched this past week by Random House’s Schwartz & Wade imprint. 

Please view the trailer at the bottom of this post!

 Bluebird is a complete departure for Staake who has written or illustrated more than 55 children’s books, is a New Yorker cover artist, and has done illustrations for a variety of publications, including the Washington Post, the New York Times, Vanity Fair, and the Wall Street  Journal. 

 When asked in an interview by Sally Lodge, he said the following: 

 

In  2002, I was walking around Central Park on a quintessentially gorgeous spring day. The trees were flowering and the light was perfect. And there was a bird that seemed to be following my path. And I thought, “I’ve got do something here. There must be a way to capture this moment in a book.” And as I walked along, I thought about how to take this simple, lyrical moment and tell it in a story – with no words.

Kirkus Reviews assessment: "Like nothing you have seen before." Is it Bob's magnum opus? I'd say "yes.. so far." Who knows what he'll do next?

 He does all of his illustration work using a pre-OS X version of the Macintosh operating system and Photoshop 3. He doesn't use a stylus, and instead does everything with a mouse.  His new trailer, seen at the bottom of the post, was premiered by Boing Boing.  

 Kirkus Reviews says of the book:  "Like nothing you have seen before."  Take a look, and see what you think of Bok Staake's new offering.

Children's Author Patricia MacLachlan Honors Newtown Residents with New Book

Authors are helping Sandy Hook, Connecticut residents according to Publishers Weekly.  Children’s author Patricia MacLachlan is writing a picture book she says she was inspired to create after speaking with an illustrator friend, Steven Kellogg, who has lived for decades with his family in the Sandy Hook section of Newtown.
 

Patricia MacLachlan

MacLachlan, who is the author of the book Sarah, Plain and Tall, among others, is friends with illustrator Steven Kellogg a resident of Sandy Hook for many years.

The book, called Snowflakes Fall, uses the title object to discuss themes like the differences among individuals and how time can heal. In Ms. MacLachlan's words:

I wrote this book after my dear friend Steven Kellogg told me of his sadness and concern for his community, and children everywhere,” the author told Publishers Weekly. “This is a sadness that the world felt, and that I felt too. What brought us comfort was the idea of renewal and memory and, while writing every word, I thought about all children touched by loss.

Patricia MacLachlin and Nancy Stewart
Illinois Reading Council Conference
March, 2012

Mr. Kellogg said:

It is my hope that this book will celebrate the laughter, the playful high spirits, and the uniqueness of the children of Sandy Hook, and of children everywhere. 

The book will be released by Random House Children’s Books this coming fall. The imprint of Random House will, together with Random House, make donations to an organization of MacLachlan and Kellogg’s selection that benefits Sandy Hook victims as well as to a yet-to-be-decided national organization that centers on children.

The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins by Dr. Seuss is Seventy-Five Years Old!

I have a soft spot in my heart for this Dr. Seuss classic.  I used to read it to my students when I taught elementary school.  Have a look at what is happening to the book.

According to Publishers Weekly, he was a man of many hats, both literally and figuratively. As Dr. Seuss, the prolific children’s author, he wrote 46 books for children, and as Theodor Seuss Geisel, he was an ad man and political cartoonist who collected hats, hats, and more hats – much like the title character in his 1938 classic, The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins.

In honor of the 75th anniversary of that title, Random House Children’s Books, which has sold 600 million Seuss books in 30 languages and 95 countries, is launching Hats Off to Dr. Seuss!, a yearlong celebration of the good doctor with a focus on some of the issues dear to his heart – children’s literacy and health, and the joy that creativity could bring them.  The commemoration includes several programs in honor of Geisel, who died in 1991 at age 87.

The author had a private collection of hats, said to number in the hundreds.  Geisel began collecting hats in his 20s and was known to wear them – and insist his editors wear them – when in need of inspiration for a word or a character. The star of the show is undoubtedly the tall red-and-white-striped topper sported by the wily feline star of The Cat in the Hat (1957).

In a partnership with Dr. Seuss Enterprises and the Jeff Gordon Children’s Foundation, an organization dedicated to finding a cure for pediatric cancer, Random House will donate Seuss books and Seuss-themed hats to children’s oncology hospitals in the JGCF network.

For its 75th anniversary, The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins has been converted to full color – the first Seuss title to get such a treatment.

 Originally published in black and white with flashes of red for the hats that magically appear on the title character’s head each time he removes one, the new edition, published in January, now features greens, blues, and yellows. 

It should be a fun read in its new colored state.  A renaissance of sorts for a classic.

'Green Eggs and Ham' Selected as First Book's 100 Millionth Giveaway

Here is another interesting post originally from Publishers Weekly.  Have a look.

The literacy organization First Book approached a momentous milestone – its 100 millionth brand-new book donated to a child from a low-income family. But the big question became which book should it be? 

Staffers encouraged the public to vote for one of 10 children’s titles to receive the honor. More than 14,000 votes were cast, and the winner was Dr. Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham, published by Random House.

This classic faced some tough competition. Other contenders for the 100 millionth book designation, gleaned from the list of the most popular titles First Book has distributed to its network of 40,000 local schools and community programs across the U.S. and Canada over its 20 years in operation, were A Wrinkle in Time; Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type; Diary of a Wimpy Kid; Eating the Alphabet; Guess How Much I Love You; Martin’s Big Words; The Snowy Day; To Kill a Mockingbird; and Where the Wild Things Are.

“We were cheering,” says Kyle Zimmer, co-founder and president of First Book, of the polling results. “Of course we would have been delighted to have any of our publishers win. But Random House has been front and center in supporting us for a long time, and of course everyone knows how wonderful Dr. Seuss is, and what an important part of American culture his books are.”  First published in 1960, Green Eggs and Ham has sold approximately 15 million copies in North America.

First Book staffers announced the winner of the poll on November 15.  After the announcement, Zimmer presented four-year-old Chase-Kennedy Williams with the 100 millionth book and read Green Eggs and Ham aloud to the girl and her classmates, all of whom received a copy to take home.

December is a busy time for First Book, which has launched a social-media initiative with HMH Children’s Books to give away up to 25,000 new copies (donated by the publisher) of The Polar Express to children in need. “During this season, we’re trying to reach a lot of children,” Zimmer says. “We know that kids have a chunk of free time over the holidays, and we’re working with schools and other groups to make sure they have books to read during school vacation. Given the economic times, people are tuned into the fact that more schools and families are struggling, and we really appreciate publishers who offer an influx of donations at this time of year. We all need to lend a hand.”

Judy Blume Books Being Offered in eBook Format

A large group of Judy Blume books are coming to the digital market.

Random House Children's Books announced Wednesday that 13 stories by the million-selling author will be coming out as e-books this year, starting with 10 on March 21. "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret"; "Deenie"; and "Blubber" are among the favorites that will be available for downloads.
 
In a statement released by Random House, Blume says her fans have been "patiently waiting" for e-book editions and she's happy they can "choose which format works best for them to enjoy their favorite books."

For those of you who have been Judy Blume fans for years, this is the chance to get her books in a new format, thanks to Random House.

Enjoy!

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/03/07/4318445/13-judy-blume-books-coming-out.html#storylink=cpy

Chike and the River by Chinua Achebe

Chinua Achebe's  "Chike and the River" (Random House) reminds me of a of a folk tale, even though it's set in the modern world. It was first published in 1966, eight years after the author's pivotal novel "Things Fall Apart."   It is the first of his four children's books and is the story of a curious boy named Chike who yearns to cross the Niger River.  Why?  Just to see what's on the other side.

As his mother's only son, Chike is sent away from their bush village to school, where he lives with his uncle in a house crowded with tenants.  "In Umuofia," Achebe writes, "every thief was known, but here even people who lived under the same roof were strangers to one another. Hiss uncle's servant told Chike that sometimes a man died in one room and his neighbor in the next room would be playing his gramophone. It was all very strange."

All the requisite English traditions are in evidence at Chike's school.  Football (soccer), cramming for exams and English food are part of his school life.  The boys are told such things as, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.  A ridiculous thing to say in a society where children fetch water at dawn.

This is a young adult book that, at every page turn, tugs at the notion of tradition versus modernity.  It describes the Africa of today with precision.

I've seen for myself, in the Rift Valley in Northern Kenya (a different area but connected to the struggle of past and present), this clash of new and old.  There, herders who have no electricity, cars or modern medicine, wear Micky Mouse tee shirts and have modern wrist watches.  They, indeed, are living on a bridge of time, and I've often wondered what that must be like.  This coming of age story, on so many levels, addresses that reality in a profound way.

The Lost Stories of Dr. Seuss Coming Soon!

A “Zinniga-Zanniga," feisty felines and nervous goldfish are all included in seven rarely-seen Dr. Seuss stories and can be found in The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories.  The book will be published this September by Random House.

The stories originally appeared in Redbook Magazine in 1950 and 1951 but never made it to book form.

 They were tracked down by Seuss expert, Charles D. Cohen, who has written an introduction to the book.

The title story involves a sneaky cat, a silly duck
and a bad decision.  “Gustav the Goldfish" is an early, rhymed version of A Fish Out of Water, a book by Helen Palmer, Geisel’s wife.

Readers will also meet “Tadd and Todd,” a band of hungry creatures who follow a boy home in hopes of “Steak for Supper,” and “The Strange Shirt Spot,” the source for the bathtub-ring scene in, The Cat in the Hat Comes Back.

For all you Seuss lovers, here's your chance for more!  The new book will be launched on September 27, 2011.