Elizabeth Bird signs with ALA
Betsy Bird, the blogger of A Fuse #8 Production has signed with ALA to write a book with the working title “KidLit: Finding Old and New Classics in Your Collection.” Before talking with Betsy about a concept for the book, I was captivated by her distinctive, engaging voice in the blog. I was also amazed that she not only could read so many new children’s books, but also go to so many publisher parties, and still find time for so many blog posts. In the book, Betsy will share her tips for keeping up with the new literature. What caught my attention is that she has her eyes on forgotten gems as well. The Winged Girl of Knossos, by Erick Berry, is one she mentioned in a telephone conversation. On her blog she describes it as “a retelling of the Icarus myth that would go over like gangbusters with today’s Lightning Thief loving crowd.”
Betsy Bird was in the Chicago area this past weekend for the first Kidlitosphere blogger conference, which she reported on in few posts. Another ALA Editions author, Adrienne Furness, who blogs at What Adrienne Thinks About That also attended.
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October 12th, 2007 at 9:08 am
Please, please, please, do not call it “kidlit” anything. It’s not such a bad moniker for use in informal conversation, or in blogs directed at other librarians. However, children’s literature already has enough trouble getting the respect it deserves in the world without burdening it with cutesy labels which tend to belittle, demean, infer insubstantiality…
October 12th, 2007 at 12:07 pm
Congratulations!!
October 12th, 2007 at 2:58 pm
Irene, thanks for the comment. You make a good point. I was afraid “children’s literature” seemed formal or and textbook-like. Kidlit might be flip.
October 17th, 2007 at 9:35 pm
This was a very interesting topic of conversation at the first gathering of children’s literary bloggers in Chicago a week-end or two ago. Bloggers use the term “kidlit” because it is easy to say with a minimum amount of syllables. Yet during a discussion we were reminded by the author Ellen Klages that there are people out there who find the term “kidlit” or “kiddie lit” offensive. To my mind, there stands a world of difference between the two terms, but at the same time I should acknowledge that one of my favorite books is “Kiddie Lit: The Cultural Construction of Children’s Literature in America” by Beverly Lyon Clark. Clark delves deeply into the term and, in the end, embraces it. I’m afraid that with the growth of the children’s blogosphere, you may hear the term only increase in usage from here on in. In the meantime, I’ll think over the title and decide whether or not it “infers insubstantiality” as is suggested.