Industry News
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Kate DiCamillo Named National Summer Reading Champion
As a Summer Reading Champion, DiCamillo hopes to inspire children of all ages to take advantage of all that their local libraries have to offer. Books give me an understanding …
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“LGBTQ Writers in Schools” Program Coming to New York City
Los Angeles, CA (May 25, 2016) – Lambda Literary, the global leader advancing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender literature, today announced a historic partnership with the New York City Department …
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Authors for Earth Day Kid-Driven Donations Surpass $50,000
From the United States to Israel, thousands of eager students were inspired by this year’s amazing line-up of A4ED authors: Dan Gutman, Linda Crotta Brennan, Jody Feldman, Miri Leshem-Pelly, Peter Lourie, Patricia Newman, Miranda Paul, Jeanie Franz Ransom, Amy …
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The New York Historical Society Announces 2016 Children’s History Book Prize Goes to Pam Muñoz Ryan For ‘Echo’
NEW YORK, NY — Dr. Louise Mirrer, President and CEO of the New-York Historical Society, announced today that author Pam Muñoz Ryan will receive New-York Historical’s 2016 Children’s History Book …
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Curious World, Now Available on Apple TV, Offers Families A New Approach to Story Time
NEW YORK, NY — Global learning company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH), announced today that its interactive content service Curious World™ is now available on Apple TV. The service will be …
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Tackling Tough Topics for Middle Graders
Titles such as George by Alex Gino and (Scholastic Press) and Lily and Dunkin (Delacorte), which portray transgender youth, are leading the way for mature middle grade fiction. Though issue-driven works sometimes …
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First Book Marketplace Redesign Boosts E-Commerce Experience and Impact for Educators of Underserved Children
WASHINGTON, D.C. — First Book, the nonprofit social enterprise, has launched the next phase of its innovative First Book Marketplace (fbmarketplace.org) and First Book Canada Marketplace (fbmpcanada.org), the award-winning e-commerce sites …
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Scholastic Teacher Magazine Shares 50 Sensational Books of Summer
Featured titles include Raymie Nightingale (Candlewick) by former National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Kate DiCamillo, and Sherman Alexie’s new picture book Thunder Boy Jr. (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers). Click here …
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New National Program Offers Unique Tools for Early Educators to Promote Young Children’s Brain and Language Development
NASHVILLE, TN — Global learning company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) and Too Small to Fail, in partnership with the National Head Start Association (NHSA) and the National Association for Family …
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The Undies Case Cover Awards
Nominations are open now through November 1, 2016 for the inaugural Undies. Anyone – including publishers – can nominate titles! Visit Design of the Picture Book for a case cover gallery. For more details …
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Scholastic Announces 2016-17 National Advisory Council Featuring Leading Educational Experts
New York, NY — Scholastic (NASDAQ: SCHL), the global children’s publishing, education and media company, has announced the 2016–17 National Advisory Council (NAC) comprised of leading experts in pre-K–12 education. …
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Registration Opens for Nation’s Most Unique Writer’s Conference
Registration Opens for Nation’s Most Unique Writer’s Conference New Brunswick, NJ – Registration is now open for the nation’s most unique writers conference. The 47th Annual Rutgers University Council on …
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Mighty Media Press Announces Two Winners in the 26th Annual Midwest Book Awards
DEDICATED TO HELPING BUILD CREATIVE, CURIOUS, AND SOCIALLY CONSCIOUS KIDS, MINNEAPOLIS PUBLISHER MIGHTY MEDIA PRESS ANNOUNCES THREE FINALISTS AND TWO WINNERS, INCLUDING ONE LOCAL AUTHOR. Minneapolis, MN—The 26th Annual Midwest Book Awards …
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Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Launches Interactive App that Turns Study into a Game
BOSTON, MA – Global learning company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) today announced the release of StudyPop, a mobile interactive study game that students can play with their friends and classmates. The …
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Wilson Southern Middle School’s Holocaust Project Receives AASL Roald Dahl Miss Honey Social Justice Award
CHICAGO, IL — Ann Yawornitsky, Jennifer Sarnes and Melissa Zawaski from Wilson Southern Middle School in Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania, are the recipients of the 2016 American Association of School Librarians’ …
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DK Launches Braille Line of Picture Books
The series includes board and nonfiction books, pairing braille and textured images with printed text to make stories accessible for both sighted and visually impaired readers. These books are a …
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Librarians Bring Books to Child Refugees
A task force of REFORMA, Children in Crisis is run entirely by volunteers working closely with librarians to support literacy in both Spanish and English among detained youth. Founder Oralia Garza de Cortes spearheaded the …
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The 2016 Guide to the Newbery and Caldecott Awards
CHICAGO, IL — Updated to include the 2016 award and honor books, “The Newbery and Caldecott Awards: A Guide to the Medal and Honor Books, 2016 Edition,” published byALA Editions, …
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Introducing the Hallmark Great Stories Award
Hallmark honors new children’s picture books that celebrate family, friendship and community; inaugural winner to be announced in March 2017 KANSAS CITY, Mo. (May 11, 2016) — In keeping with …
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Industry Q&A with Author Leopoldo Gout
Tell us about your most recent book and how you came to write/illustrate it.
My new book is titled Genius – The Game. It is the first in a series of books about child prodigies from diverse backgrounds who come together to change their stars and the world. The launch pad for their revolution is a competition called the Game. There, they will compete with 200 other prodigies in a contest that will not only test their brains but also challenge their ideals.
Genius – The Game explores the outer reaches of technology, the explosive power of young minds, and the bonds of family. It is filled with big ideas and even bigger emotions. But more than just a book, the Genius series is a movement – it is my call to the youth of the world: liberate your minds and you can liberate the planet.
Do you think of yourself as a diverse author/illustrator?
I am an immigrant. Born and raised in Mexico, I went to art school in England before I came to the US ten years ago.
Who is your favorite character of all time in children’s or young adult literature?
I don’t have just one. I love many things about many characters. And they’ve all helped me form who I am today. Some of them include: Max from Where the Wild Things Are, because we all have a secret island we imagine ourselves escaping to (so long as we’re back for supper). Jack in Lord of the Flies, because it’s scary how the darkness can hit us at any moment (and where I come from, you never forget that it’s always looming right around the corner). Of course, I also like Harry Potter. In fact, I like to think of Genius as being a kindred spirit – but instead of using magic, the kids in Genius use their minds.
Hypothetically speaking, let’s say you are forced to sell all of the books you own except for one. Which do you keep?
Ah! What a nightmare. Where would I be without my books?! That’s a tough question and my answer changes frequently but I have never fallen out of love with The Master and Margarita by Bulgakov. The book has everything, from a deep sense of humanity – including all our best and worst traits – to a fantastically grounded inventiveness.
What does diversity mean to you as you think about your own books?
I consider all of us immigrants. It might have happened 100 million years ago, but we all trekked up out of the ocean and onto the land! And all of us are diverse. Sure, there are majorities and minorities and I celebrate the distinctive cultures we’ve developed, but we are all people – all driven by the same needs and emotions. I like to think of my characters less as products of their unique environments or backgrounds and more as humans of the world. This, in fact, is the message at the heart of my books.
What is your thought process in including or excluding characters of diverse backgrounds?
It is not a process. It is instinctual. It’s the reflection of the world I live in. As an artist, I studied sculpture with people from many countries – from Egypt to Japan. As a director and producer, I spent years making music videos with a whole range of diverse people – from elite hip hop artists like Mos Def and Ahmir Questlove from the Roots to David Byrne. Right now, I’m exploring a project with Idris Elba and a Chinese/Thai writer…Truth is: I want my books to be filled with the most exceptional, flawed, emotional, and brilliant characters. If you get beneath the surface, you find that most people come from diverse backgrounds. There is no quota system in my stories, the only thing that drives their creation is my passion, my deepest need, to write realistic but fascinating characters.
Final thoughts
What I see is simple: People lack an understanding of how diversity enriches our culture. The more voices we have in a conversation, they better that conversation will be. I’m not immune to this either. Just recently, my brilliant friend Marlon James taught me incredible things about the West Indies that I was completely ignorant about.
Leopoldo Gout, the producer behind Days of Grace, which A.O. Scott of the New York Times called “a potent and vigorous film,” is also a writer, artist, and filmmaker. He hails from Mexico, studied Contemporary Art at Central Saint Martins in London, and now resides in New York City with his wife and two children.
