Morning Notes – Some Pig Edition

FOR SALE! ‘CHARLOTTE’S WEB’ ORIGINAL ART

You want to own a piece of children’s literature history? Time to cash in that change jar. Garth Williams’ original Charlotte’s Web sketches are on the auction block – to take a look, click here.

39 CLUES KEEPS ON KEEPIN’ ON

It’s like a sequel lover’s dream. The popular 39 Clues series has spawned a sequel series coming in April. As the saying goes – ride that horse till it drops. Click here for the details.

J.K. ROWLING TO APPEAR ON OPRAH

Note to children’s authors: If you can get your books to sell almost as well as the bible, you too can have a shot at landing on Oprah’s couch. I’ll be tuning in for this. Click here to read.

(Thanks to School Library Journal for the link)

Usually the bestseller lists are like the brown bag lunch I bring to work every day – never changing. But last week we saw some fresh faces and this week there’s more of the same, with first-timers making up a full 40% of the picture book bestsellers and 20% of the chapter book list. Let’s see who’s new.

Picture Books

The Splat the Cat series continues in this Halloween-themed outing. While I’m not a huge fan of Splat, the early elementary kids I work with will be very pleased this new book.

I may end up reviewing this one. The current meta-madness continues in this excellent addition to the Elephant & Piggie series.

This is an odd book. A funny, odd book. Kids should enjoy it like crazy.

Chapter Books

Pleasantly surprised to see this on the list. A *Best New Book* getting its due.

Which books are getting the most critical love? The blog Shelftalker does the work for us, compiling all the starred reviews in one place. A nice spot to check for possible Newbery/Caldecott contenders. Click here to read.

(Thanks to A Fuse #8 Production for the link)

Cool bookcases – hard to resist. @CherylRainfield points the way to the promised land.

Where’s Waldo meets spy thriller. It’s Waldo Ultimatum.

(Thanks to Buzzfeed for the link)

Filed under: Morning Notes, News