Susan Raab hosts new blog “Artstomarket”

Susan Raab is interviewing some of the best in the arts business and publishing their fascinating advice on her new blog “Artstomarket.”  Read great tips like “do’s and don’ts in the arts business” by Roxie Munro and Steve Light, advice on networking and making yourself “visible and indispensable” from Michael Astrachan,  President and Creative Director, XVIVO LLC.  This great blog was created in conjunction with the workshops coming up at UConn on September 28, 2012, for students in the morning and folks working in the creative arts in the afternoon.

Claudia Rueda wins Nati Per Leggere Award

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Claudia Rueda

Claudia Rueda, a former Billie M. Levy Travel Grant recipient, reports some very good news:

The Italian edition of my book NO (published in English by Groundwood) has been the recipient of this year’s Nati Per Leggere (Born to Read) Award!!! This award aims to support the best editorial production for preschoolers in Italy and to recognize the creativity and commitment to the Born to Read project.

The national programme “Nati per Leggere” is meant to inspire an early interest in books and reading. The project is supported by the Italian Library Association (AIB), the association of pediatricians (ACP) and the child health centre (Centro per la Salute del Bambino, CSB).

Here’s the link to their site http://www.natiperleggere.it/index.php?id=174

Congratulations, Claudia!

Chris Raschka wins 2012 Caldecott Medal!

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Congratulations to Chris Raschka for winning the 2012 Caldecott Medal for A Ball for Daisy, a wordless book about a little dog whose favorite possession is accidentally destroyed.  When interviewed on NPR, Raschka tells Robert Siegel of All Things Considered that creating the book was “certainly a challenge. It went through many, many variations.”  This is Raschka’s second Caldecott Medal; his first was for Hello, Goodbye Window in 2006 and in 1994 he received a Caldecott Honor  for his Yo! Yes?  Raschka appeared at the 2008 Connecticut Children’s Book Fair and we hope to see him again soon.  Congratulations, Chris!

Katie Davis, Grace Lin win 2012 SLJ Trailee Awards!

Many congratulations to NCLC donor and Connecticut Children’s Book Fair favorite, Katie Davis, for her well-deserved School Library Journal Trailee Award given annually at ALA for the video trailers that best promote books for children and teens.  “Book trailers raise awareness about the big power of little books to reach readers,” said Davis after learning that she had won. Davis, who also illustrated the book that she co-authored with her husband Jerry Davis, thanked “all those nice little chickens (and people!) who voted” for her entry. In the category of Publisher/Author Created for Elementary Readers , the trailer tells the story of Little Chicken’s Big Day, when Little Chicken goes with his mother to do errands and gets lost.  The School Library Journal web site has more information about the Trailee Awards including winners in other categories, such as Grace Lin’s Award in the Student Created for Elementary Readers category for Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (Little, Brown, 2009; Trailer by the members of the Bookie Woogie Book Blog).  Grace Lin appeared at the 2011 Connecticut Children’s Book Fair and we hope to see her again soon.  Congratulations, Katie and Grace!

New James Marshall book dummy donated

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The family of the late Coleen Salley have donated James Marshall’s book dummy for his “The Cut-ups cut loose” to the NCLC. The charming, 32-page dummy is accompanied by a letter from Mr. Marshall to Ms. Salley with a note about “our little book.” The dummy is black and white with some color on the title page. The book was published in 1987 by Viking Kestrel and is dedicated to Ms. Salley. This piece is the only item in the Marshall Papers for this title. Thank you, Salley Family, for this important addition to the NCLC.

CT Book Festival Gets Great Review

In addition to lovely comments from our presenters, exhibitors, and attendees, the Windsor Patch posted this great review of the first ever Connecticut Book Festival.  Many thanks go to everyone involved,  especially to the wonderful authors and  presenters, volunteers and workers, food vendors, exhibitors, performers, therapy dogs and their friends, and of course the attendees who came out to enjoy the Festival.  Special thanks go to Bill Thomson for judging our Sidewalk Chalk contest and generously providing signed posters to loads of kids (some bigger than others), and for handing out four copies of his book Chalk to contest winners.  The Mystic Paper Beasts were also a hit with children of all ages.

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