Industry News

“Wimpy Kid” author/illustrator Jeff Kinney and “Fancy Nancy” illustrator Robin Preiss Glasser scored the top prizes last night at the sixth annual Children’s & Teen Choice Book Awards (CCBAs) gala, a charity event organized by the Children’s Book Council and Every Child a Reader. The honorees were selected by young readers across the country, who cast ballots at bookstores, school libraries, and on bookweekonline.com for their favorite books, author, and illustrator. The gala heralds the official start of the yearly Children’s Book Week celebration. The CCBAs is the only national book awards program in which the winning titles are chosen by kids and teens.

The Innovations in Reading program recognizes institutions and individuals who strive to nurture and promote love of books and reading. Sponsored by the National Book Foundation, prize winners are awarded up to $2500 each to help fund their initiatives and serve even more readers. This year's winners span the globe, delivering truly unique programs to readers of all ages.

Educators "must be fearless in advocating for our students' needs," says Carolyn Foote. In this debut of her SLJ column, "Project Advocacy," Foote provides school librarians and media specialists with a "seed kit" of inspiration for stepping out and building a professional network and leveraging the autonomy of your library program.

The long-awaited sequel to Dave Roman's Astronaut Academy: Zero Gravity has finally been released! And because there should always be prizes, Dave has created oodles of ways to win stuff. Get your hands on the new title, and blog about it, create fan art, or write a review, and you can win a chance to interview Dave, get a gigantic digital comics collection or original artwork. There's even a special prize just for librarians and educators—one classroom or library will win a free comics workshop (held over Skype) by Jerzy Drozd, creator of Comics Are Great!

May is National Bike Month. Inspire youngsters to get outside and ride with a selection of tantalizing titles about two-wheelers. Whether celebrating a child’s triumphant mastery of this important skill, reveling in the delights of going for a spin, or providing a look at bicycling and its history, these books will get readers geared up for freewheeling fun.

Author Michael Dahl helped give away hundreds of copies of his new picture book Goodnight Baseball (Capstone, 2013) on “Educators Day” at a Saint Paul Saints baseball game on May 9. The day is exclusively for teachers and students, and was the first exhibition game of the minor league baseball team this season.

The Highlights Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to excellence in children’s literature, has announced its creation of James Cross Giblin Scholarship, which aims to honor the talents, contributions, and generosity of the acclaimed children’s author, editor, and publisher.

Update May 14: More on This Story in a New Library Journal Article by Meredith Schwartz From Bloomberg: Cengage Learning Inc., the educational publisher owned by Apax Partners LLP, said it’s seeking to negotiate with creditors on a restructuring plan and may need to file bankruptcy as part of its turnaround efforts. “We will seek [...]

The Summer Reading Program is Loudon County Public Library's biggest event of the year, and for the first time, residents of the Gum Spring area will have the chance to experience it at our new library. We're hoping for a record turn-out for our 9-week program, In Your Backyard... and Beyond.